I have three things to write about today, all pretty much unrelated. :)
Today a group of us from Tokyo Here and Now were meeting at the Starbucks in Roppongi. The Tokyo Here and Now schedule was pretty full, so we didn't have much of a chance to socialize and get to know each other then. After checking google maps, I decided a walk would be some good exercise. The Roppongi Starbucks (Roppongi is in Minato ward, where more of the expats live) is about 5.5 kilometers from our apartment and would take me right through Shibuya, which I'm trying to learn better. About 20 minutes into my walk, I passed Viron, the French bakery I wrote about back on Jan. 12. It took me WAY longer to get there that day taking the train. That was before I realized how close something in Shibuya might be and before I had really figured out how to use the maps on my iPhone. I made it to Roppongi in a reasonable amount of time - I'm getting pretty good with my iPhone. :) It was a great walk on a pleasant day. I also walked home so that I could hit Tokyu Hands in Shibuya on my way home. I will admit to being a wee bit tired later that day.
Unfortunately, our plumbing issues are back. The same issue I wrote about at the end of January has reappeared. Yesterday morning we called the property management company. A plumber arrived in the afternoon yesterday, along with some associates, spent several hours, and then told us he'd be back the next afternoon. Multiple plumbers came back again today and again spent several hours. At some point a representative from the property management company arrived at the apartment to check on the progress. He's been here before when we moved in and later to bring us some more keys, so I already knew he didn't speak English. Drew and I had talked about the three of us meeting him at the station and going to a restaurant nearby for dinner. We really haven't eaten out much since we moved into the apartment (though Domino's is still a staple). I asked the representative how much longer the plumbers thought they would be, and he answered me in Japanese, and I understood him! THAT is very rare. It helps that his answer was very short. :) And yes, the plumbers did finally fix the problem.
Today was White Day in Japan. The Japanese do celebrate Valentine's Day, Feb. 14. However, it is usually the women giving gifts, normally chocolate, to the men on Valentine's Day. White Day occurs one month later, and it is for the men to give gifts to the women (especially if the woman gave them a gift the previous month). According to what I saw on Wikipedia, it was first celebrated in 1978, started by the National Confectionery Industry Association, and it is also celebrated in a few other Asian countries. It is more a holiday for younger people. Both of my Japanese teachers, who are women a few years older than I am, said their husbands did not give them anything for White Day and that it was for younger people. They also said that Japanese husbands are lazy (or at least theirs are).
Drew wanted to write about White Day:
You've no doubt heard the expression it's better to be lucky than good; well, even the good deserve to get lucky from time to time and today was my day! In the office today my admins explained the Japanese traditions of Valentine's day and White day. It seems like the grief I got from Jen for being out of the country for Valentine's day was misplaced - it wasn't poor planning, I was waiting for the appropriate holiday. A quick tour through our metro station on the way home and I had a bunch of candy, a nice cake for dessert, and a beautiful bouquet of flowers! Yeah, I planned it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Jen's rebuttal:
First, he's full of you-know-what. Second, the "grief" he got was a little good-natured ribbing. Third, the flowers he brought me were a cemetery arrangement.
Japanese phrase of the day: san jup-pun means "thirty minutes"
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