SOUL FOOD.

Thought I would give and update of the things Japanese life brings.

To begin, SOCKS. They love socks. With good reason too as you take your shoes off in all homes, most restaurants and some parts of uni. Obviously my grey English cotton numbers were not going to cut the mustard so I branched out into glittery, frilly, woolly and patterned, outshining the grey by a mile.

Second on today's musings is restaurants. Quite a few, in Nagoya at least, have plastic examples of their food before you go into the restaurant. Just in case you don't like the look of it I suppose but the other thing about Japanese restaurants is they all sell the same stuff... Maybe there was a sale on at the plastic food shop this month.

And to round up today's post, umbrellas. Now I'm not talking about the flimsy fold up variety which always, ALWAYS breaks, but the larger, sleeker variety. Come rainy season no body wants to be caught out so there are always a stack, whatever the weather, in every shop and ones to borrow at uni and most public places. Just in case you have an especially fancy umbrella, or maybe as a reminder to pick it up again, they also have umbrella locks. Like bike locks you position your brolly at a clasp, lock in and leave with the key. When you are finished and ready to brave the elements you are sure to still have your beloved friend. Not that any one would steal it for fear of the public eye. I don't quite understand this yet, but its something to do with social behaviour and