Goodmorning. I woke up today to a rain-spattered window and cold feet! The first time since being here that I have actually been cold inside my little room...a significant milestone for me! It is apparently currently 16 degrees and the forecast is for rain all day, although I won't even notice for the most part. Sitting in a my cave in a shell with a heater on I only know from the soggy raincoats and "aren't you cold?" questions that perhaps it's not the most pleasant of days! My secret hideaway is cosy, but I've been hidden away there a lot this week and am getting a touch of cabin fever I think. The sound of my own voice is getting old and walking is seeming increasingly like a rare luxury! However, I shall soldier on and brave the wet raincoats, crowded trains, umbrella pokes and frizzy hair until I reach my cocoon of familiar, albeit repititious, comfort from which I will dutifully produce magical moments to warm the hearts of those rainsoaked souls who venture into the water.

Don't forget your raincoat...and your umbrella, rainboots and scarf! xx

"The magic is as wide as a smile and as narrow as a wink, loud as laughter and quiet as a tear, tall as a tale and deep as emotion. So strong, it can lift the spirit. So gentle, it can touch the heart. It is the magic that begins the happily ever after."

...don't forget your raincoat...

Eating cornflakes in bed at 10:44pm I find myself oddly happy on my own and resigned to the fact that tomorrow is another day just like the last. This thought, however, is not a pessimistic one, and hasn't come about due to any lack of inspiration or change...no, it's just a feeling that's nice to have sometimes when you're eating cereal in bed at 10:44pm; happiness.

I am, meanwhile, finding myself falling back in love with the phenomenon that can only be understood after one spends time living everyday life in this profoundly perplexing place. It is found in moments when you will hear me say "only in Japan!" Nowhere else have I witnnessed the dichotomy that presents itself to me daily here - a fascinating intertwining of innocence and experience; seriousness and childishness; ignorance and knowledge; sense and nonsense!

There is so much more to be said, but I'll leave it there so as not to spoil my calm sense of cornflake-fuelled contentment with tiredness.

Goodnight, speak soon, take your coat xx

"I still believe in paradise, but now I know it’s not some place you can look for. It’s not where you go, it’s how you feel for a moment in your life when you’re a part of something. And if you find that moment, it lasts forever."

Don't forget your raincoat xx