Our Visit to the Embassy and Other Stories...

We decided we needed to get the annual Remembrance Day poppies. We headed out a few days ago to the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. The building is huge - it looks like either the alien spaceship in the movie Stargate, or some military compound/bunker complex. To get in, the first thing you must do is walk past a non-speaking guard guy and ride up this huge escalator. If you don't walk, it takes a few minutes. Once we got inside, we marvelled at the absolute emptiness of the place. A tv plays some tourism video, there are quite a few Inuit carvings, and a lone hockey effigy of Guy Lafleur. There was a secretary/receptionist who never said a word as we made a donation and picked up our poppies (it's self-serve). There was another guard in a little booth who also remained silent. Not one person said a word to us the entire time we were there. It was a little depressing and not very welcoming.

In other news, I'm happy to report Leonard Cohen finally has a new album (not a collection of old stuff as previously mentioned), Dear Heather. Seems ok so far - fits the sombre post-election mood. :D