It's raining nekos and inus!

I tried trapsing around Tokyo this afternoon in search of Daien-Ji, a temple built in 1615 and allegedly fairly close to my hotel. To commence said adventure, I looked up "umbrella" and "please" and then practiced for a good 30 minutes before making my way to the concierge desk:

"Ka-sa, ku-da-sai."

And he brought me an umbrella! It worked! If this doesn't go to show you that hard work and practice pays off, I don't know what does!

Of course, I then march outside to a rain-free afternoon and through seemingly back-roads of Ebisu, the neighborhood in which I'm staying. Having planned my way to Daien-Ji, I quickly got lost, but found UNI-QLO where I scored a pair of jeans and a super jacket!

After the pit stop and circle-walking around Meguru, I started to head back to the hotel when I got caught in one of the craziest rain storms I can remember. Streets were flooding. Small Japanese dogs were floating off. Scooters were stalling. As for me, save my soaked pants, I was ultimately protected by my hard work and practice.

"Ka-sa, a-ri-ga-to!"