Park Sundays and Saitama

The mood hasn't changed here one bit. It has been raining on and off for days now. I don't know if this is normal when the seasons change, but I am beginning to feel a little claustrophobic from the endless gray of the sky and the constant blow of flakes of rain. It is not the kind of rain we have in the tropics. The rain here does not fall in droplets, but a spray of fine mist. Ironic. I am in the biggest City in the world yet my movement is limited. Guess where this boils down to.

My Sunday was pretty packed. I woke up early for a scheduled meet up with a friend to go watch a festival nearby. But waking up is hard when you know you will face a blast of freezing air outside your room. Sometimes, even a tiny patch of skin not covered by the blanket screams for help. It is that cold now. And so I was late. I reached my friend's apartment 15 minutes late. I rang the doorbell a couple of times but nobody answered. I thought he must still be asleep. I waited for a couple more minutes until I realized this is impossible. An apartment here is not what you think it should be. What they call an apartment here that costs a little more than a decent condo unit in the Philippines is a mere room, no bigger than the average room in boarding houses scattered around cities. So I realized that he could not miss out the loud ringing of the doorbell as his bed is just a step away from the door. He wasn't there anymore. 

I left, a little disappointed that I wouldn't be able to see the festival. Without any other plans for that day, I tried my luck and biked (bikes are the main modes of transpo here) all the way to Inokashira Park (井の頭こえん） near Kichijoji station (吉祥寺えき). I haven't been around that part of the world yet, so I was a little hesitant. I didn't want to get lost. But I said to myself the hell, if I get lost, I had all the time of the day to find my way back. Fortunately enough, I found my friends somewhere in the midst of all the people. So my day plans got back on board.

After the festival, we went to Saitama (埼玉） to go to the John Lennon Museum. But, it was an hour ride by train, so by the time we got there, it was already closed. But still, we were able to have photo-ops at the lobby and some were able to buy memorabilia from the souvenir shop. Next door to the museum was Saitama Super Arena. And Metallica was having a concert. It would have been nice to watch, but well...