I’m typing this on a little PC in a tiny cubicle in a manga kisa, or “manga cafe,” one of several decent options available if you miss the last train. I had a good nap on the padded floor, and we’ll be heading out soon to catch the first train out of Yokohama to our friend’s house.
The N’EX (Narita Express) train to Yokohama yesterday had an almost constantly beautiful view out the window. Japan is so lush in the summer. And perhaps because of all the buildings and bridges at odd angles, as well as the foliage, it seems like the shadows are deeper here, giving a higher contrast vista than I’m used to.
The weather is hot and humid, as expected. No thunder yet. But it’s not too hot, by my standard. I was sweating a bit last night, when we were out of the strong breeze blowing in from Yokohama Bay.
I’ve taken several photos and videos, and doodled some. I’ll share those when I have some downtime on my own computer.
We’re in the car on our way to the airport. The sky is misty in L.A., and the air is cool. I think it’ll be hot and humid when we land at 3:00 in the afternoon.
When I visited Japan two years ago, LAX and Narita felt much the same, except for the humidity at Narita. I’d left Narita on a bus to meet my brother at Omiya. Getting off the bus in Omiya, the weather was the same, but instead of the concrete and sooty scent of (I would guess) every airport, the air smelled of bread and flowers.
This time we’ll be going to Yokohama from Narita, to meet an old mutual friend. David says Tokyo had thunderstorms yesterday or the day before. I hope we have hints of that, or a bit more, to make for interesting skies. But only a bit more, please.
I leave for Japan with my brother on Tuesday. It’s been a struggle to make it work, and I think it’ll be a wonderful trip. I’ll take lots of photos and some videos, so look for them over the next few weeks.
I’ve just started joveyol.me. My main site was taking the shape of a blog, so I decided to break out the journal to this domain. I’ll be updating slowly at first, though soon I want to use it as the voice of the site, serving updates and little bits of drawings and works in progress.
