Urban Oasis

Sure, Tokyo is crowded, hectic and it smells real (real) bad sometimes, but once you get in the groove, life here is achingly convenient. On a weekday, I get out of bed, take the train to wherever my classes are, walk to the client, walk back, take the train home and after a few sherbies, hit the sack. Easy, yes, but if you don't stop and drag your brain out of your shoes occasionally, one day you could wake up and find yourself lobotomised.

One of my clients is in a very uninteresting, industrial part of Ota-ku, near Haneda Airport. For two years I've taken the same path past the garbage disposals (you can't even begin to imagine the putrification of this area in summer) over the effluent infested river to the training centre, like a zombie on valium.

Today, a glimpse of red caught my eye at the end of an alley as I was walking to class, and, having a bit of time to kill, I investigated what turned out to be the local shrine of a proud working class and a bevy of stray felines. Ha! It's just as well I had my kawaii little Sony Cybershot on me...

Sorry, I know 4 is an unlucky number, but I'm too tired to be superstitious...