Day 3

After yesterday's rain, today was another warm sunny day. Today was also the day I bought my new bicycle! There are many cyclists around here and everyone cycles on the pavement, which makes it a bit safer but not not so much for pedestrians! There doesn't seem to be many rules for cyclists in Japan and they ride in any direction and anywhere, which can make things a bit confusing at times, I have already had many near misses. I had forgotten how much fun cycling can be, its been about ten years since I last road a bike but after initial wobbles I was zipping around town with the wind in my hair. Most enjoyable!

My first destination on my new bike was to the local council office where I had to apply for my Alien Registration card which all foreigners are required to carry at all times if they are staying in Japan more than 90 days. This was fairly painless, thanks to the help of my partner, but meant a lot of waiting. While I was waiting for my number to appear on the screen, a guy sat right next to me and straight away said 'hello!'. This man was from Afghanistan and had been living in Osaka for around eight years, I was initially taken aback by how forward he was but I guess he didn't get much chance to speak to many non-Japanese people. We spoke for a while and eventually he gave me his business card and told me if I needed any help I could give him a call. I was not quite sure what to make of the whole situation!

In the evening I cooked a meal for the first time in our new kitchen. This was also my first time to cook with octopus and my new favourite mushroom, 'eringi'! This has a kind of rich, buttery flavour and is one of many interesting types of mushroom available here.

Another interesting day!

 Eringi Mushroom

My New Bicycle!