Hello you lot, Here is an up date on how I`m getting on in the land of the rising sun. I`ve been here a week now and some how managed to survive. On Sat I bought a bike for about GBP50, itfs a gshoppingh bike, with a basket on the front, a dynamo powered light, built in lock. It might only have one gear but I have already done about 15miles, well you have to try these things out donft you? I have found out that I live on an island in the middle of a river and two cannels. The place is called Ichinoe and I live just north of the Tube station. You have never seen so many bikes, even more then in Amsterdam! You have to register a new bike with the Police, which cost 500yen or GBP2.50. Kevin, at work, says that because Japan is such a low crime country that the police spend all their time checking up on that bikes are registered, as that is about the only crime that is committed! Not finding it too difficult getting to work. I have to take two Tube trains and it takes about 40 mins. And, yes, sometimes the carriages are very cramped indeed! When it gets like that, people entering, get on the train backwards so as not to see who they are pushing into. At the moment Commuting is part of the fun, but I would expect that it would become very wearing after a while. Food here is very expensive; a pack of three onions is GBP1.00! Even rice is costly, would you believe it? I only have a very small fridge with no freezer compartment and one cooking ring that is built into the sink! I`ll take a photo of it so that you`ll believe me. I also have a microwave and rice cooker but the controls and all in, you guessed it, Japanese! Have figured out how they work by trial and error but the rice I made last night was a bit of a disaster. But after 1hour you`ll eat anything! Found a supper market that sells lots of Weston things like bread and milk. So I`m going to have an egg and bacon sandwich for lunch! My accommodation is OK but the walls are Paper Thin and you can hear the neighbours doing almost everything! Good thing this is a gSingles apartment blockh, as most people only live here in the week and go home at the weekend, or it could be very embarrassing. Its like living in a caravan. The biggest problem with it is the light, even though it has a big French window at one end, because it is in the middle of the block and on the ground floor and the block next to it is so close, you have to put the light on in the middle of the day to read, even when the sun is shining! Have taken to sitting outside my front door in the afternoon as it catches the sun. And all I look out over is a car park. Now why couldnft they have turned the block around, then I would have had loads of light. I cant do it first thing in the morning as itfs a bit too cold to sit outside in. They recycle all the rubbish here and you donft have a rubbish bin or anything. There are loads of complicated instructions on how to dispose of different types of stuff. But they are all in Japanese! I just go out and put my rubbish in the street bins, when I can find one. It is very clean and tidy here, you only see the occasional piece of litter. On Sunday Reza (from work) and Yoko (his wife) came over and Yoko told me what all the controls on all the electrical equipment did. Now I can use the washing m/c! Its like something out of the 60`s. It is top loading and has only about 2 settings gfasth or gslowh. It only washes at 30C as well. We went to lunch together and I have taken some pics. The raw tuna was OK but I prefer my fish cooked. After they had gone, I went for another cycle to the south and found a big park by the river or sea and it has a big Ferris wheel there. I didnft go on it because the wind was getting up but will give it a go when its not so windy. Last night there was a storm and everything was wet this morning. It looks like it was the first rain in months. Sorry the hear that its been cold and snowy in England, I think I got a suntan on Sunday, before it got to windy and I went inside. Once I have enough good pictures I`ll put them up on a website. Cheers. Paul [Week 1] [Week 2] [Week 3] [Week 4] [Week 5] [Week 6] [Week 7] [Week 8] [Week 9] [Week10] [Afterwards] Home