Okay, so I just experienced my first earthquake. I’m sitting in the cheapest Internet cafe in Kumagaya, trying to decide whether it’s worth blogging on the world’s stupidest keyboard (the space bar is smaller than the shift key, and the extra space to the right of it is taken up with a key that switches the computer into “Kanji mode”, turning everything I type into a series of symbols. The bloodlust is rising.), when the entire building starts shaking in all directions. It was very mild - nothing fell off the shelves, the walls didn’t crack, people didn’t even look up from what they were doing - but it was also very, very cool. They happen once a month here, or thereabouts. In case the big one hits, I have compiled a list of things I’m going to loot:

- More PDA’s for my friends
- The Zoom MRS-1266 home recording system from the Nittoh Mall (I don’t care how many corpses I have to trample)
- The contents of the kitchen at Mos Burger (I’m hungry, and they’re healthy for fast food)
- The robotic James Brown toy from an idol shop in Kyoto (After commandeering a Nozomi Shinkansen)
- An AIBO ERS-7 for James Brown to ride into battle in his new role as head Robo-Knight for the New Way
- A trolley full of fish-shaped fruit pies

Last couple of days in point form for later…

Wed night
- went to A-Bar with Katie, a fellow hosteller from San Diego. Met up with a whole bunch of sozzled Irishmen and an American/Arabic couple living in Kyoto.
- The arabic gentleman promised to take us to a great bar when A-Bar closed. It turned out to be his friend’s open-air Kebab shop. His friend is Iranian, and therefore doesn’t speak Arabic, so they conversed in Japanese, which seemed odd at the time.
- The Irish group became increasingly incoherent, so we went off and found another bar, Ike, run by a Japanese guy who has an almost superhuman obsession with the Rolling Stones. Nice place.

Thursday
- Went to Nara with Katie. That same day, we later found out, a temple burned down killing the wife of the priest. It wasn’t me.
- Saw world’s largest wooden building, which is actually 2/3 of it’s original size (it was rebuilt a few centuries ago). It contains a 13m bronze-and-gold statue of Buddha, surrounded by intricate wooden statues of other god-like creatures.
- Saw Japan’s second tallest pagoda (by a few centimeters - the tallest is in Kyoto)
- Fed a few of the many deer that wander the park, using special bicuits designed for the purpose. Deer go sleepy-bye-byes now.

Friday
- Caught Hikari Shinkansen back to Tokyo. Went to Shinjuku and bought iMac DV (400MHz, 128MB RAM, 13GB HDD) for Matt
- All went out to a Jazz club called Acoustic House Jam, deep in Omiya’s brothel district. The act was called BLUESION, a mixture of BLUnts and frESION cows. Beef smokers.
- Was soundly beaten by Matt at the Taiko drum arcade game.
- Had some photos taken at PuriKura. Painted glowing, jewelled cocks onto them.