Jaunt about Japan

Winter seems to have arrived in Japan, which means we get a lot of cloudy brisk days. I wish I had my winter coat. Yesterday we braved the cold and took dad to the zoo. Needless to say the animals were not as lively as they were earlier in the fall, but I still loved seeing all the little tortoises (I'm totally getting one when I have a place of my own). On our way to the zoo, we walked along the backroads where restaurants put out their empty bottles. Mom collects unique saki bottles and found 2 she liked, so I suggested she put them in my backpack. Unfortunately, they were not completely empty and got old saki all over my bag, notebook, and novel. Smelled awful and I was really pissed off. But we got it clean, cut off the cover of the book, and got a new notebook. Today we went train hopping to Nakano where a mall there has one of the largest collection of manga stores in Japan. I really wish I could speak and read Japanese. It was like a collectibles store on steroids times 100, CRAZY! However, I still managed to find some fun figurines from an anime I like but I was sad I couldn't find Fruits Basket characters anywhere. Then it was off for sushi where I am the source of everyone's entertainment, this includes customers, my parents, and the sushi chefs because I don't like raw fish. Basically, I eat cucumber rolls without wasabi, as plain as you can get in sushi and then today I got some rice with sesame and seaweed but everyone thinks I'm a big baby. Not too fun. However, it was the day for seeing odd people on the trains. This girl all in pink came stumbling onto the platform apparently drunk as a skunk (it made her look a bit mentally challenged). She even had pink bows on her cell phone! They call it a gothic style here I guess, but basically it makes the girls look like little Bo Peep!