After around 14 months, I’m back in Japan, but this time is not on pleasure. Funnily enough, I still feel rather comfortable here as I’m also from the big city.

A couple of things that I have noticed (relevant or not) below:

* The current fashionable look for ~18 year old women is small shorts with long tights. Wouldn’t work in Finland.

* There seems to be much more contacts between Japan and China. I met in the plane a Japanese woman who is married to a Chinese man and lives in Shanghai. I’m also watching a Chinese movie subtitled in Japanese at the moment.

* Tokyo has always felt a little futuristic. Both times I’ve been here it feels I’m experiencing the future of other cities. Definitely I would like more parts of Mexico City to look like this, not just Santa Fé.

* Surprisingly enough, I feel more comfortable here than in Paris or London (even though here I don’t speak the language) only because people are more polite. The service level is also excellent compared to what you get in Europe.

* Even coming from an expensive Nordic country, shopping here is pricey.

Time to sleep for me now.