Today I went on a long bike ride. I rode from Fukodaimae to Kashii. On my trip I took a few pictures. The weather was great today. A little cold, but the sun was shining. I stopped off at Aeon mall where I saw hundreds of people lining up for their turn to win a prize from the grocery store’s lottery. Basically you turn a handle and it makes the balls in an octagonal box go round and round until a ball pops out. The value of your pize depends on what color ball you draw. It looked like most people won vouchures or discounts on merchandise, because nobody walked away with a very big smile while I watched from the Starbucks across the way. I had a hot dark cherry mocha coffee. It was probably one of the best coffees I’ve ever had.

On my way home I saw a girl in a junior high school uniform get clipped by a car while she was riding her bike uphill. The girl wasn’t injured. She gave me the stink-eye when I looked at her as I rode past. The driver was a young thirty something lady in a white mini-car. The driver was more shook up than the girl, who just looked pissed off.

While I was waiting for a train to pass I overheard to college age girls behind me talking about their friend Midori. According to them, Midori likes chubby guys and she recently bought a t-shirt. Also one of the girls was very sleepy. She told her friend that she only got six hours of sleep. It wasn’t the most interesting conversation, but that’s just an example of what Japanese girls talk about.