stuff has happened!

Shot of public fountain.
Police box at Imperial Palace. Note the white police bicycle and the bamboo broom.
Nijuu Bridge at the Imperial Palace.
Maya being cute.
Walkway through the park near the palace.
Ridin' in style.
Ridin' in style at the Police Museum in Ginza. They have little uniforms in stock so parents can dress their kids up as cops.
Close up of the cutest little officer on the planet. Later, he booked me for possession.
Guy with all of his belongings on a bicycle, taking a break to play with his dogs.
Another shot, revealing his too-small women's top, and his short, tight pants.

So, apparently I'm going to be on Japanese television.
I was waiting for Maya in front of Akihabara station when I was accosted by someone from a program on TV Tokyo. He was looking for foreigners who could speak even a little Japanese, for an interview on their cultural experience in Japan. We went over a form that comprised a list of questions he was going to ask me, such as "What is your favorite Japanese word?" "What has shocked you most about Japan?" and "What is your favorite Japanese food?"

Pretty much the only question I found easy to answer was the last one: unagi-don.

Anyhow, all I did was fill out the form. I'm going to be interviewed on camera whenever I show up tomorrow, although the interview is going to be conducted entirely in Japanese. Even though it's just for fun and the program is airing at six in the morning, I find myself apprehensive about making a fool of myself on national television. There are probably going to be as many people interviewed as he was able to capture during the day, and the interviews will probably be edited together into a tiny window in the typical chaotic Japanese entertainment TV fashion, so I don't think I have to worry about ruining my (nonexistent) reputation.

Shinjuku is a city of cats. At least it is so to me.

First, they have a cat cafe there, where patrons pay hard-earned yen (about $17 each, I think) to be admitted to two cat-filled rooms for an hour.
I found the situation, once I was inside, to be remarkably funny. The interior is fitted with an assortment of cat climbing towers and the walls are lined with wide shelves, each within jumping distance of the next, and many of them adorned with reposing cats. There were around three dozen cats in all, each individually described and named on identification picture sheets. There were low leather chairs and tables with menus, and while you waited for your coffee and snack you could pluck a cat teaser from a series of wall-mounted brackets and try in vain to get the attention of a passing cat.
That's another thing that I found funny about the situation- the cats are actually very unpleasant; aloof and effete. Each one came with a card from a breeder, they are pampered all day, and they would sooner shrink away from your hand than look at you. It's understandable, since they're constantly getting harassed by grabby cat-loving couples all day, but the impression that the cats were standoffish elitists wasn't exactly alleviated by the pretentious classical music that was playing the whole time. At any rate, they were cute and it was a novel experience.

Shinjuku Central Park is home to a roving collection of reasonably well-fed cats. Actually, all of the cats in Shinjuku, even the ones in the entertainment district, are pretty well cared for. From time to time you notice a plate of scraps or even proper cat food laid out on the sidewalk near the door of a restaurant, and a wary cat standing nearby. The cats in the park are fed each morning by an old man and woman who come as a couple to hand out food to them. The park cats are actually pretty friendly.

Oh, and Japan is home to some of the best kebab stands on the planet. My favorite one is in Shibuya, near that famous intersection (you know, the gigantic Hachiko scramble crossing that was in "Lost in Translation" etc; the one that is flooded every few minutes with a chaotic sea of thousands of people ^ ^). In fact, Maya and I wandered around Shibuya for almost four hours, carving a wide ring around the station, at several points leaving Shibuya entirely, looking for it. And we finally found it, and how tasty it was.
I don't know if they have them in the States, but their defining characteristic is a gigantic haunch of beef and/or chicken rotating slowly on a vertical spit next to a hot plate. Every once in a while the hairy guy who lives in the stand (jk) takes a machete to the hunk as it rotates, and turns the delightfully spiced slivers of meat that fall off into delicious wraps or other kebab-themed foods.
Actually, writing this has made me hungry, so farewell until next time...