hiding from a magical flying carpet of desert

I have just returned from 3 days in Tokyo. I visited clients with a senior colleague to learn more of "the ropes". Then we had some meetings... Then I stayed an extra night so that I could see a friend who lives in Tokyo. I had lots of fun and did a whole lot of learning but it does feel good to be home!

However, terribly strong winds kept me from having a deep sleep last night.

Those howling winds did not come empty handed. They brought along the Gobi Desert.
o_0
What I thought was fog and clouds turned out to be a trillion specks of sand.

I didn't take pictures but you can see a news clip about the yellow sand we had today( click HERE).
The sand has made cars and windows dirty and it has given me a sore throat too!

The dust that covers Japan and Korea (and of course the sandstorms in Mongolia and China) have been growing in proportion these past few years.

Today's blanket carpet of yellow sand was extra harsh....

If you are thinking "well it's just sand!" then please know that it is not only messy but it is also unhealthy.

If you have hay fever, then a spell of a runny nose and watery eyes is "normal". The real danger is in the toxins that attach themselves to the sand as they "fly" over China's industrial zones... of course Japan has industrial zones too, but the chemicals found in the sand are said to be quite toxic and have matched with the chemicals China has been founds to use.... thus the sore throat?

this is a picture I took in Kitakyushu, Japan (2010 March)

So...I have had to hang my wash "out to dry" in the house instead of outside as it is usually done.

socks and shawls

Since I did not want to go outside and get wrapped up in a veil of sand, I decide to clean my room...which ended up being a mini treasure hunt instead.

I found out that I must be liking the colors blue and green since that seems to be my latest buying trend:

blue wrapping paper, green envelopes, blue and green tape, blue bird clothes pin, a blue silver button and
in the very back...a four-leaf-clover tin box

Even a book that I have been meaning to read has a beautiful blue on the cover...

Marie Mutsuki Mockett.

I have not been deliberately looking for authors with an "Asian background"... but one book has led to another...

bought this one by Jamie Ford last week

which led to this one

The Asian American Superhero Anthology "Secret Identities"

which led to this one...

a graphic biography of the mathematician/philosopher Bertrand Russell

Oh dear...the top layer of things on my desk are what I bought last week....what will I find if I dig any deeper?

Spider-Man Train

I had to work on Saturday but was rewarded with an interesting view of one of the trains that take you to Universal Studios Japan.  There are several different types, but this one has got be my favorite...

Spider-Man!  

I have had archnophobia ever since I looked a spider in the eyes at the age of 9.

It happened on a nice summer day.  I was looking outside a window gazing at the small patch of yard outside when I noticed a hole the size of a pea, in the windowsill.  I was a daydreamer from birth, so I imagined a small fairy living inside the hole, and with a big grin on my face I peered inside.  I will never forget the dark glassy eyes staring back at me, probably in fear, after all I was much bigger than the spider.  But the little creature beat me at the stare down.  It took only a few seconds for me to realize what I was staring at and bang my head against the window as I ran away screaming, hands flailing abut.

But I have always liked Spider-Man and although I did consider reconsidering my "fanship", the super hero spidy has always had a place in the comic-nerd section of my heart.

When you travel to different places in the world you get to find some mighty cute trinkets like the mobile phone strap to the left of the above picture.  Spider-Man is up on a castle roof with a "shachihoko"- a mystical creature with the head of a lion and body of a carp.  This was a present from my husband from when he went on a business trip to Nagoya - a place famous for chicken wings, miso nikomi udon (udon noodles in a miso broth) and of course, golden shachihokos (check here for a picture http://opencage.info/pics/large_1232.asp).

The Amazing Spider-Man comic with President Obama on the cover is something I found at a comic book store in Kobe.  I went to the store in search for Coraline related stuff and came home with this instead.  It was kind of expensive (about US$8) but thought it would be something neat to have.

American comics are pretty popular in Japan but maybe not as popular as manga is overseas.

I went through a manga phase as well.  More or less for necessity.  I came to Japan in my teens and when you need a conversation starter, manga is a good way to go.  It also helped me to learn how to read Japanese.  I still think that comics/manga are a good way to learn languages.

However, my passion now lies with novels and non-fiction, so my manga collection is tucked away in boxes.