The Weekend...

...is too short. I managed to get to the gym yesterday AND today; pretty impressive considering my laziness on weekends. I found out they have a yoga class on Wednesday afternoons, so I might give that a try. Gyms in Japan are usually very expensive (upwards of about $120 CDN/month) but there's a community gym with limited hours nearby for about $2.50 CDN a go, so I'm lucky. The air quality is terrible lately so I really can't do much outside. Even though Tokyo's air quality is normally terrible, in the fall people can burn things - leaves and such - in their backyards, creating a terrible smell. Right now there is a haze that noticibly decreases visibility - the other side of the river is difficult to see at times!

In other news, I'm enjoying Quicksilver, another of Neil Stevenson's novels. Pretty good so far although a bit slow in places. Good plague descriptions though!

We also watched Bubba Ho-tep which was hillarious, although I found it a bit depressing in places (but in a good way).

Toby isn't feeling well right now. We're both having a bit of a hard time with allergies, probably due to the air outside being full of crap. Back to work tomorrow, but it's only a four day week for me (since a I worked a bunch of crazy weeks back in October).

One other thing: I forgot to mention that before we saw Bubba, we went to the Maple Leaf sports bar in Shibuya (Canadian). Now that's what I imagined the embassy would be more like. The staff were really friendly and the food was great (I had a cheeseburger - I don't think I've eaten that much meat in one sitting since I was back in Canada). Suprisingly, they served us only in English (even the Japanese staff). We went with our friend Joe, who is leaving to go back to the States. We've made so many good friends over the last year and they are all leaving at the same time! :(