More snow last week

There was yet more snow in Tokyo last week. This video is from the 3rd. I heard stories of people staying at home because of the snow which made me smile. We got only a few centimetres. In Canada, it would take 50 centimetres to keep us house-bound. Of course, Tokyo doesn't have the snow-clearing capabilities we have in Ontario.

Winter Walk

We wanted to take a nice long snowy walk this afternoon, but we had to cut it short because of all the slush and wet, falling snow. Some young j-hooligans threw a snowball at us, and I returned the throw on our way back past them. They were stunned. We saw this sleepy cat warming him or herself on the side of a house.

See the short video for a view of the snowy outskirts of Tokyo. After last year's snowless winter (except for a brief snowfall at the start of Spring 2007), Tokyoites must be quite surprised.

A Candy Lunch

In Tokyo last summer (right near Tokyo station) we passed a restaurant which seemed to be hosting an interesting event. A number of people were lined up, eagerly awaiting entry to whatever was going on inside. We soon discovered that in the rear of the restaurant, they were hosting a candy lunch. You can see one the "meals" above. There were 3 or 4 options to choose from with various entrees, mains, and desserts. Of course, it was all just candy, but the presentation was fun, and the place was really nice, as you can see below.

Whole Lotta Snow

A little bit out of focus, but you get the idea. Today, we had lots of snow. There were no cancellations, surprisingly, and the snow ended up disappearing in the late afternoon. It was nice while it lasted, and finally felt like winter!

First snow in Tokyo

Isn't it beautiful? We finally get a nice white winter in the big metropolis.

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Actually, this picture doesn't come close to reflecting the true nature of this evening's snowfall. To understand what we're experiencing here, imagine very slowly falling snow, very sparsely distributed in the air, looking very much like volcanic ash, drifting slowly to the ground, and vanishing. Canadians would laugh and say "That's not a snowfall!" but I'm happy with it.

Maybe school will be cancelled tomorrow!