Snow in Tokyo!

For everyone who's been asking about my health, thanks for your concern. I'm feeling a lot better, like almost normal. For the last few days, anyone who's talked to me lately will know that my voice has been terrible. Today I've done nothing but rest, and my voice has definitely improved. I almost sound normal! Also, something that's not so noticeable is I've been having trouble with deep breaths and it felt like I was wearing a really tight shirt at all times, constricting my breathing. That feeling is almost gone too! At any rate, I'm back to normal!

But, I'm not here to talk about my health today. I'm here to talk about last Sunday. Last Sunday was my breaking point. I'd spent so much time cooped up in my room doing nothing and/or homework, I couldn't take it any more. I HAD to get out. If I had to sit in my room for one more day and do nothing, I would have gone crazy. Keep in mind, at this point, it had been over two and a half weeks since I'd left my house for recreational purposes.

So, I mailed my friend, asked if she would humor me and tolerate my terrible voice for lunch in Kichijoji. Her response was "I've been hankerin to get out too.. Snooow!" My first reaction was "Snow?" And then I looked out my window.

Yeah. Snow. For those of you who don't know, it snowed in Tokyo last Sunday. And it snowed pretty hard for Tokyo. From what I've learned, it doesn't snow every year, and while it's not a BIG deal, it certainly is worth paying attention to.

My street was unusually quiet.

Mitaka was fairly dead for a Sunday, but the most bored security guard in the world was out.

So, me and my friend went to eat some tasty, tasty Korean food and then headed to Inokashira park. The first thing I saw entering the park was a lovely snowball fight.

Seeing that completely warmed my heart. Which was good, because it was damned cold out!

But the whole park was quite lovely.



I even saw a bird (quail?) in a tree.

Umbrellas seem to be the norm around here. No rain jackets, few ponchos, tons of umbrellas. Also, this next picture kind of gives you an idea of how hard it was snowing.

The ducks didn't seem to care too much, though.

It was bitterly cold. The wind was raging too. Here's another good example of how harsh it was out.

So, what does one do on a day like this?

Go inside for a cup of coffee!

There is this cute gelato shop that was also a cafe. It's right next to the park, so we thought it would be good to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee and get warm. It was really a nice place. I didn't get any gelato, though.

And here's the shop from the outside.

If that wasn't enough, we walked maybe half a block and spotted this really cute cafe. They also had signs out for cake. After being cooped up for so long, I was certainly not anxious to go home, so we went in. The cake was amazing.

It looked even better than the picture showed. It was not cheap, but it was great. Also, the waiter was amazing. My friend dropped a 10 yen coin on the ground and even before it stopped moving, he was on his hands and knees with a flashlight looking for it. He was so overly charming, even if the coffee and cake was bad, I would recommend it just for that.

And on the way home, I noticed a snowman in front of Freshness burger!!

I'm not sure about today as it's been raining, but as of yesterday, portions of this snowman were still standing.

So, that was my snowy Sunday in Tokyo. It was a lot of fun. I'm sure it wasn't good for my physical health, but it was necessary for my mental health.

Now that I'm feeling better, I expect my adventures to be more frequent.