On colds and coziness

I used to scoff when people would tell that Tokyo was really cold in the fall and winter. Like "Shut up, I'm from the great white north, I've known cold you wouldn't even believe", but shit, this place is freezing. Why the hell is there no isolation at all in these walls? I mean, I knew they were thin, but I thought that the apartment being tiny would make up for that. Yeah, that's not the case. Come night time, this apartment can be dubbed mini-Siberia.

Today I wandered out into the world, even though Saturdays in Ikebukuro aren't really my thing. It's pretty damn crowded, seeing as it's one of the major hubs here in Tokyo, but I'd reached the point where I haven't bought a new bra in forever, and decided to try to get that done. Bra shopping in Japan is a bit of a special feeling - it makes me pretty happy I'm no more than a C-cup, really. 36C is probably the biggest size most stores cater to. Then again, the store people are the loveliest people on the planet. Really. Walk in, look a little lost, and suddenly you have a girl smiling at you like you have the ability to fart rainbows, dashing around to find you the very best bra she can, apologizing profusely for not having white (seriously, what store doesn't stock white bras?), accompanying you to the changing area and carefully, personally removing all of the hangers and presenting you with the clothes you want to try on in the most appealing and tasteful way imaginable. "Ring the button if you need anything!" because changing rooms come equipped with that here. It's amazing. Even without ringing, she'd occasionally come by, going "Ogyaku-san, do you need anything? Is everything alright in there? Can I get you anything?" If there's one place on earth where the customer is king, it's Japan.

Once the you're done trying everything, there's no need to hang anything back in their original place, like in Stockholm - you just hand the stuff you don't want to the people, and they'll take it with a smile, thanking you graciously for considering any of it. Then, once you've payed, they'll wrap it up all pretty with pink tissue paper, before issuing you a 'bra passport', specifying the date, the bra you bought and in which size, for your convenience, along with discounts for next time. Discounts for returning customers are very much a thing here, from contact lense places to hair salons; everywhere I go, people give me discount cards with little stamps. Are Japanese people especially frugal or something? Not that I'm complaining. I find it kinda endearing.

One thing that really bothers me is how hard it is to find good desk lamps. Seriously. It's so hard to find one that doesn't feel offensive in my home. I don't know why - even stores like Muji, that can usually do no wrong, don't cater to my lighting needs. Ceiling lamps galore, but finding a decent lamp for the fish and my night stand feels like a never ending search. The same goes for tea pots. In this, the land of tea, I thought that finding a good tea pot would be a breeze. They have really cute mugs and great ceramics in general, so why not? But it's proven extremely difficult. They do sell the traditional kind, but they're small - like really small. I know I live alone and all of that, and that I probably don't really need a larger teapot than two or three deciliters, but it's not just for tea - I want it to be decorative. Quite frankly, I want everything in my home to be decorative. I'm striving to make everything as cute and cozy as humanly possible.