Tokyooooo!

I'm IN TOKYO. Like, right now. How is that even what I don't know <----incoherent gibbering

I've already been here for nine days and we're flying out tomorrow, so today is my last full day in Tokyo and it's very sad.

As sad as this Stitch at the Shibuya Disney store who seems to have eaten a non-degistable bear? Sadder.

Because I only have one more day, this is going to be a super short post, and I'll post more later.

My flight from Vancouver to Tokyo was in the teeniest, tiniest Japan Airways seat, and I spent the entire 10 hours trying to stretch my legs into the aisle without getting them chopped off by the drink carts. THE AGONY. The Japanese people next to me had plenty of space and were sitting on their knees and putting their feet up on the backs of the seats in front of them like they were at home on a sofa, and I was maaaashed and it hurrrrteeeeed. They were probably like "Why is that big monkey person not fitting in his seat and constantly moving around" YEAH WELL SORRY.

At Narita I was picked up by a car and a snazzy person in a black suit, and my mom flew in from Dubai late that evening, and we met at the hotel, and the next day our adventures began.

Stefan, adventuring.

Here are bunches of random pictures and observations before I run off.

- People in Tokyo are so nice. I'm sure that's a generalization and there are mean people, too, but I haven't met any of them and when walking around a city of 14 million people I feel like that's a fairly massive accomplishment. The general atmosphere when you talk to someone is utmost politeness and helpfulness, and if you look suitably lost and forlorn there's a good chance someone will stop and ask you your troubles.

I did a signing at Kinokuniya Bookstore one of the days, and everyone there was THE NICEST, so shout-out to them, and thanks again so much for having me! Mona, the lady right next to me, is the foreign book buyer there and patiently answered all of my questions about Japanese culture and was generally awesome. Thanks, Mona!! :)

The man to my left is the bookstore boss. He gave me a guide to Tokyo as a gift. Also, this picture was taken toward the end of the signing, and we sold all the copies of The Peculiar they had, so thank you everyone for coming!

- Japan is way more modern that most countries in a lot of ways, but flip phones and fax machines are still things here.

- Grape flavored sweets. Everywhere. I love it. That fake, chemical, nasty, awful grape flavor is one of my favorite things ever, but in Tokyo grape things here actually taste like grape. Iz crazy.

Healthy choices.

- Umbrellas. All the time. Rain or shine.

Ew, sunshine, get it off.

- Slurping is allowed. If you don't slurp your soup, it means you don't like it very much.

Me learning to drink soup properly. I couldn't bring myself to slurp, but LOOK AT THOSE EXPERTLY HELD CHOPSTICKS.

- Most of Tokyo seems to be a giant shopping mall. Seriously so many shopping malls. And Gucci stores. Probably one Gucci store per capita, because who wants to share a Gucci store.

- It seems very bright all the time, even when it's cloudy. I think it's because of all the glass from the skyscrapers reflecting the light. If you go to Tokyo, take sunglasses.

- There are little cars:

And big gravestones:

- Tokyo's not really one city. It's six or seven cities that are really, really close together and connected by a super efficient subway system, and all the mini-cities we've been to have similiar lights and sounds, but really different atmospheres.

- There are more restaurants in Tokyo than any other city in the world, and the food is amazinnnnng. I'm going to do a whole post about the food, and I apologize in advance if that is uninteresting to you.

I really need to go now, ahhh. By time I post again I'll probably be in Dubai, and apparently it's over 40 degrees centigrade there (100F) which means if I went outside I would instantly fall to the ground and burn and claw my way back to safety. In other words, I will have lots of time to write blog posts, and reviiiiise. I've been revising busily on DMP and deleting vast swaths like "AHAHAHA" and then crying because my editor and agent had to read that garbage. More soon! Bye! :)

Vermilion-lacquered bridge at the Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens.