Photo blog is ready!

Check out the PHOTO BLOG that Kenn put together. It will include all the pics we take from Tokyo and anywhere else we visit while we are out here. It's separated by location/categories and it looks great! Check back for updates. I'll keep linking to new sections in my blog when we add new photos :)

So here are some more of my recent observations in Tokyo - some funny, some interesting, and some ever-so-slightly irritating...

- I may have said this before but they play the most random music in the most random places. For example you can be sitting at a cafe or a bagel shop having breakfast and they're playing gangsta rap. It's hilarious. I've heard the explicit version of Akon's I Wanna Love You at the entrance of the snow resort and in the grocery store. If only they understood the lyrics... it ain't just swear words that these Japanese families are listening to...

- Japanese people seem to like to cover their books. On the subway, I noticed that almost everyone reading a book has put a cover on it. Are they embarrassed to let people see what they are reading??

- I observed a mother and her 2 young children on the subway last weekend. The 2 kids were fighting over a handheld video game. The mother saw this and told them to stop and hand it over to her. She didn't yell, just quietly whipsered and held out her hand. The older sister immediately stopped but the little boy took the game. He was probably around 4 years old, he looked like he was going to throw a fit. The mother continued to ask him calmly and quietly for the game over and over until he finally handed it over. The whole situation was fastinating to me. How the mother was stern but never screamed. How the kids were being kids but were so obedient as if they knew better not to have a tantrum in public. If this scenario took place in the States, I bet there would have most likely been plenty of screaming, yelling, and tears.

- On the people-mover walkways that I take to get from the subway to my office, I've been noticing a lot of people in a rush these days. Maybe it has something to do with the time, I'm usually on them close to 10am nowadays and maybe people are rushing to punch in by 10? Anyway, people kind of do this light jog as if that's any better than just walking quickly. Sometimes you get a whole bunch of people sort of running together in a pack. Even women in their ultra high heels and short skirts. I find it irritating to have groups of people running by you on moving walkways.

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend!