* today I saw a "bonzai dog" (actually a teeny weeny French poodle with pompom head, tail and cuffs) with shoes on. Beat that! Little blue denim trainers all neatly laced up.
* next to the stationery at the shop, you find little plastic containers. Are they empty? No. They have monster beetles in them. Alive. For sale. Only going for about £3. Called "Rhinoceros beetles" used for traditional beetle fighting. Yes, 2 of these get put into one container to fight it out with their little horns. That's wierd. But definitely one step wierder is that they sell these fighting beetles next to pens, paper and glue. Hello logic? ;-)
* then, opposite the stationery-and-fighting-beetle aisle, there are rows of slot machines. For adults? Guess again. For kids. Little children throwing in their chips to win some money. Was I shocked? Yes. We're not going back there with the kids! And that was an ordinary store. Like Tesco/Pick 'n Pay / Real.
* if you sneeze in Japan, it must be ignored. Don't say "Bless you" as it highlights your plight. (And so, this is how Michael was gently "guided" by a Japanese colleague. Actually kind of them, agreed.)
* the last time we were went swimming (ie before the ear infection), a mother arrived with her 3-4 year old. They did some serious warm up exercises (very serious stuff). Stetching high, stretching low. 10 minutes I'd estimate. And then proceeded to step gently into the ca40cm deep water and wade and then float on their floaty float. Possibly not very much danger of pulling a muscle there. Or maybe I'm too careless? That could be! ;-)
* over the last few weeks, I spotted a tall man in our building, with blonde hair, baggies and a T-shirt carrying out the rubbish in the early morning/evening. He was wearing my green crocs. 4-5 sizes smaller than his own shoe size. Michael!!! (I could take it no longer and found some manly slip slops. He packed in his skiing socks, but forgot any form of shoe apart from his work shoes. Aha. 3 more weeks. Just 3 more weeks till it arrives! Come on ship, hoist those sails!)
* But did you know that an even wierder sighting of Michael with my smaller shoes on tiptoeing around in public...is the traditional Japanese slip slop. It's wooden and has a platform and 2 heels. The men think they're cool. Quite commonly seen. Don't worry, Michael. The crocs look wonderful on you. Hot actually!
a rhinoceros beetle
