Yesterday there was a breaking news story about a monkey that was spotted at Shibuya station and, after twenty minutes sitting on top of signage for the Tokyo Tokyu Toyoko line (now that’s a mouthful) managed to elude police and run out of the station, skirted dangerously close to the busiest pedestrain intersection in the world, turned onto a back street and climbed onto the Yamanote Line, heading towards Harajuku. The monkey wasn’t seen after that- if it made it without getting hit by trains it could have either found its way onto Takeshita St (which to this day I still refuse to pronounce correctly) in Harajuku, freaking out a lot of freaks, or could be somewhere in Yoyogi park, which is probably slightly better until the bands start playing. The report, which lasted twenty minutes of live crosses and people with cameras chasing after a running furball, was a welcome respite from Japan’s skewed coverage of the Olympics. I enjoyed the softball though, and the table tennis. I still refuse to call baseball interesting. Not as interesting as a monkey running around terrorising Tokyo.

I have a plan now, a plan that I may have had before but now it seems more like a realistic goal. With a million yen of savings per year for the whole time I’m in Japan (I can do that pretty easily, probably more) which could be two years or it could be five, I would start in Southern Japan during the summer Seishun-18 time, explore the whole of Japan on rediculously cheap local trains, get up to Wakkanai in Northern Hokkaido and then ferry across to Vladivostock, and then from there travel by train across to St Petersburg, etc. etc. onto London. With something like $30,000 to spend that could make for a pretty sweet holiday, and I could come back to Australia in February or Japan in April, to study…this is at least a year away, probably more. Re-contracting information comes out in October, hopefully before I go up to Tokyo to see Radiohead.

The convenience store in Shiomi-Cho is opening next month. Nothing to say there except it will be convenient. Ice cream at any hour of the day or night. And, you know, other conveniences like not-very-good onigiri, small dodgy condoms, hot canned coffee even in summer, and not having to make breakfast every day. And alcohol, because that’s exactly what I need more of. But it will be good to have the after-party option, after the liquor store closes at eight.

On that matter I’m giving up drinking, except at office events. For the sake of money and because I felt like I was drinking just because. Also because my belly is getting a bit more belly-tastic. I’m also trying to cu back on crap, getting rid of one of my surfboards, organising and actually reading my books, finally getting through Guardian Weeklies and London Review of Books(s) that I’ve been meaning to catch up on properly since May.

I’m starting a Kumon correspondence Japanese course, far more expensive than the alternative (just learning it myself and speaking Japanese to people) but I’ve found I need motiviation to study. Hence I also may sit the JLPT again in June or December next year, level 2 again is my score isn’t very good, and a dismal attempt at level one if my score is good.

Meeting an ALT who did my job five years ago made me feel that my time here will have to end one day. The three year rule no longer applies, and maybe by the time I’m here for five years it will have been extended. Who knows. Five years is a long time though- a long time without lasagne, a long time to have the same song stuck in your head (when I get back to Perth I want to blow you all away with my karaoke. It may not be good but it is enthusiastic), a long time to be in a long distance relationship, a long time without real vegetarian food and real cafes. I’ve heard the longer you live here the harder it is to go back to somewhere not so green, not so safe, harder to get away from well paid, easy work. But I have no reason to get away yet.

I’ve made two discoveries that make being vegetarian in Japan far easier- fish stock does not actually enhance the taste of yakisoba, and miso soup doesn’t actually taste very good. Now I’ve just got to find sauces without fish in them.

The yogurt lady is here, reminding me that paisley is an undervalued fabric.

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