It is now time to address more lifestyle changes.

As I mentioned in my chart, I am taking cooking lessons now from Hema Parekh and she is opening my eyes to the wonderful world of Vegan cooking. Yes, I said vegan cooking. It really amazes me that there is such a plethora of dishes that are sans meat and so full of flavor. I am cooking with “exotic” ingredients like lotus root, burdock, miso, tofu and I really love it. Cliff and Chase are being as supportive as carnivores can be, and much to their chagrin, I have resumed “Vegetarian Thursday Dinner” night. I can’t promise they aren’t sneaking off to the convenience store for beef jerky after I go to bed, but hey, at least at dinner time I see a few mouthfuls.

My picture of the day (POD) consists of another lifestyle point and that is transportation. Lately I have been bemoaning the inconvenience of not having a car, but truth be told, I still enjoy the freedom. I just started listening to Fox News thanks to my TuneIn radio app, and I hear gas in the States is $3.50/gal. It used to bother me so much to hear such things as an SUV driver. Now I just feel bad for everyone back home. I also have to admit that I LOVE my ride. I had no idea bicycles came with such vast accoutrement. I am still thinking about adding a rearview mirror and maybe a cup holder (since the Soy Cafe has become almost a daily ritual). The other day at tennis, the other ladies were coveting my ride because it was without extra seating. Evidently, I had the “non-mommy” vehicle. Here are some pictures of different pimped out bikes you might see in Tokyo:

Back Seating

Front Seating

I think this is the biking world's SUV

I give it up for these ladies. Almost every bike also has the basket and sometimes the front and back basket. I really waited before I “broke down” and had one installed, but I tell you it was the best thing ever. Although, I really don’t understand how they are able to drive these vehicles with a child in the front or the back or BOTH! Sometimes, when I just have a bag of fruit in the front, it’s enough to throw my sense of balance off. I have trouble driving straight with that load, but I guess you have to be more careful with a child up front than a melon. I went to a bike shop called Le Cyc and they have an English speaker who is fantastic and if you buy the accessory there, they’ll install whatever.

These are images of my bike:

My Pimped out Bike

My "Dashboard"

Good times friends. This is literally how I roll.

Mailing Stuff: OK, so I finally got the hang of going to the apartment mailbox area and checking for packages and parcels. I don’t know why, but, I guess in the back of my mind, I thought, I had left EVERYTHING behind in the America including mail. One day I discovered that to send a letter, I could not just throw it into my mailbox. One you have to put the delivery address on the front and your address on the back. I was so excited to have the opportunity to use my oh-so-cute pre-printed address stickers, I slapped one on the front of an envelope only to have it mailed back to me. So that is addressing the envelope. A stamp is easily purchased at any convenience store (Kombini) and will cost 80 Yen ($1.04) for a single letter. Then you need to look for big red boxes like these:

This is where letters are posted. I don’t know why the postman can only deliver mail, but that is just the way it is.

One last thing, I keep forgetting to let you all know, but now that I am an iPhone user, I am finally getting to play all those fun app games. Right now I’m into Words with Friends (User ID User48366607). I haven’t figured out how to change that fantastic userID yet. But if you have any games you are playing that you like, let me know, always interested in something to do on the train.

Tomorrow I am running my first Cub Scout meeting. I am kind of nervous, because I don’t have a lot of patience for naughtiness and I enjoy disciplining young boys but hopefully, I wont shatter too many young minds.

Until next time…