around the neighbourhoood

have had more free time recently, and it was really nice to cycle around today as it was warm AND sunny. superb weather in my opinion, although it's going to get a little colder again all too soon, starting wednesday.

i discovered some nice sights in the neighbourhood, like this interesting house - more like a collection of houses actually - with brick walls. i quite like it, but someone else said that it looked gaudy. i like it all the same, as it's houses here are often nothing more than plain and dull coloured.

a closer look at the grilles:

 

i like the lamps outside the houses too, and the glass on the windows:

also chanced upon a nice looking cafe, although the pictures didnt turn out that great:

small cafes like these are quite commonplace in japan - there are quite a few scattered around my neighbourhood - but they're often patronised by old folk and reek of cigarette smoke. one thing i really dislike about japan is that people can smoke indoors. in more eateries than there ought to be, the air can be so thick with smoke that you literally choke and find it hard to breathe.

japan also has no visible form of land use planning and zoning, so it's not uncommon to find elongated buildings like these that fit into the little strip of land that it's standing on:

i looked into the office located in the building below, and it was tiny and really odd shaped. what i honestly dont understand is why people bother to construct buildings like these when they're such inefficiently shaped and cramped!