Exploring my new neighborhood. Yokohama is a harbor city. Numerous canals stretch from the city towards the bay, like this one, just 50 meters from my place at Motomachi. A canal like many others. A little stinky, little dirty, with two storey highway above and along. My attention has been rivet by some randomly parked old boats. Big and small ones - all have their great days passed away long time ago. Some of them served as bars others as passenger ferries. Abandoned like this there are telling stories from a quite recent history. It's worth stopping by and look for a moment.

Time slows down, giving a chance to listen second hand ticking. The process of calming down the soul has been started by Leningrad State Ballet, showing Nutcracker. Indispensable walk among the illuminated Tokyo streets apparently caused us forgetting about human traffic jams and cheap shop Christmas mood. We were just hovering above this all picking the best feelings only.

Exceptionally this year I feel no Christmas upcoming. Maybe because a rut I was in during the year is now more visible; maybe because I'm recently lack of some emotions? Me third year in Japan doesn't make my day. I see it best when I browse some far archives of my blog, such a different approach I had before. I need change, a decision of the kind I made almost three years before. But it's much more difficult to make such a decision now, when I have something to loose.

Tired after 35 hours traveling over three continents, fans of Argentinian club Boca Juniors are singing anthem to their team, starting in this weeks Toyota Cup. Hushed by Dutch crew and irritated Japanese, half hour before landing in Tokyo, they are stretching club flag over the others passengers heads and banging the luggage hatches.





I'm back in Japan, pleasantly surprised by separate immigration windows for re-entrants, ought not to appear ever. Generally all the mess about the new policy of taking the fingerprints and photos, made by media is false. It doesn't make the clearance longer, it takes about 15sec together with taking a photo.
I've seen K-9 team at the baggage claim for the first time as well, equipped with drugs search trained dogs. They haven't react on sausage fortunately ;)