For a city that boasts such a huge population of bicycle riders, Osaka is a terribly unfriendly place to ride. Not only do you have to loop through and around the maddeningly random and impossible to predict pedestrian traffic, but finding a place to legally park your bike, once you reach your destination, is also difficult. Bike racks are rare; cyclers are not supposed to park in front of most train stations, but nearly everybody does anyway. The cops usually only come around once a day to take illegally parked bikes, so as long as you know when they come -- the rationale goes -- you're fine.
I'm chicken. I will park my bike in front of a station if I absolutely have to, but I usually try and find a paid parking lot instead. I may be one of the few people who actually routinely utilize the underground parking garage at Namba Parks. Today's photograph was snapped on the way back from the gym (in the rain. Without an umbrella. Because I'm smart.) heading towards the paid lot in front of Abeno Lucias. It sucks paying 150 yen to park your bike, but to me it's worth the peace of mind.
Cultural note: in Japan, most houses contain a piece of furniture called a kotatsu. This heavenly device is merely a low table with a heater built underneath, usually with some sort of blanket surrounding it to keep the heat in; you can put your legs underneath it and keep toasty and warm even in the most incliment of weather.
Sounds nice, right? If I stay here through another winter, I plan on buying one.
Anyway, that was all prelude to say that Japan, there are no kotatsu in America! I am sure it is a joke, but you would not believe the number of students that ask me this on especially cold days.
I really would love one of those action figures, though.
Mother, you would be pleased to know that Womanizer came on MTV Japan's top 20 download countdown as I was walking the treadmill at the gym today. I was very happy for it, as the rest of the countdown was super sentimental and wistful, and the last thing I need to be known for is the weepy foreigner at the gym.
(That said, there is no reason for Otsuka Ai's new song Ai to have such a sappy video. It's a crime against humanity, by which I mean me.)
My favorite part of working out is coming home and eating candy.
WTF is up with those action figures XD I'd love to see a fight between Darth Vader and Pres. Obama, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure he's nowhere near as muscular as they've portrayed him XD
wow..womanizer is so over...now its all about "poker face" by lada gaga or some name..anyway, is that your bike with the basket?...or is it the baby bike next to it?...if so, you need a baskets and whats with that green seat..keep on trucking honey
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