Pictures

With how much I write, I don't think I post enough pictures. So in order to satisfy your insatiable desire for voyeurism . . . here's more pictures and less words.

My Hood

This is the apartment building that I live in. Good ole' Hime Tifany. Strange, all of this time I never noticed the sign in Romaji letters.

The view of my apartment from the front (or back - I don't really know which one it is. I just know that this is where I come in and go out.) I live on the second floor.

I ride down this little street every day.

This is where I park my "ride." Mine's the black one with the blue umbrella.

The creepy graveyard I have to pass by every night on my way home from work.

The driving course next door.

The main road off of my street.

A woman doing some gardening alongside the river stream gutter I don't know what it is.

The Family Mart around the corner.

The grocery store across the street from me. It's called "Co-op." Thank God for this place.

"Sir Barks A Lot" - The annoying dog in front of my apartment.

Yours truly. (I know it's blurry, but I like how brown my locs look in this picture.)

I found heaven an art store.

Visiting Bob

This guy is one of my dearest friends from High School (and one of the reasons that I came out to live in Japan in the first place.) So yeah . . . he's kind of a big deal.

I thought his living room was really cute, so I took a picture.

After trying to catch up on the past 6 years and reliving High School memories, I crashed on his futon/couch for the night.

Bob had gone to work when I woke up, but left out some coffee, cereal and this nice little note.

. . . now that's a real friend!

When I saw the "New Jersey" postcard on Bob's refrigerator, I got a little nostalgic.

A store with a very strange name.

Taking a "Me Day," visiting the local Art Museum.

Summer Festival

Strange girls at the festival who were not shy about posing for this picture.

I've seen quite a few of these kinds of ladies out here.

A Few of my Favorite Things

I caught "the cooking bug" a little before I moved out to Japan. Occasionally (despite a long day of work), I'll go home and whip up a meal. On this particular night I made spaghetti.

My kitchen is microscopic as you can see.

Every week, I have dinner with the wonderful people from my congregation.

And they. can. COOK!!!

A sister from my congregation was kind enough to bake this for me.

It's like a huge loaf of chocolate chip bread, but they were calling it a "pancake."

I'm addicted to reading and eating kakigori (shaved ice).

Every other day I go to the same Udon noodle place and order dinner and kakigori as dessert. The people get a kick out seeing me so much, but they know I'm a good customer and are always very kind.

I have wonderful friends and family who send me all kinds of awesome goodies. This is the first of many boxes I would receive.

I received some flowers from home the other day.

More pics to come . . .