I have to admit, I opened the Lindt chocolates immediately and had a few of them. Yum!

First time to go to Poco-a-Poco again since getting back to Japan, and the first time to visit at lunchtime. At lunch they give out coffee, which was nice to have with their lovely large プリン dessert.

I love the top control dial with the aperture-priority, shutter-priority and manual modes. Combined with the front function ring, which changes its function with each mode, it makes it very easy to adjust the settings for different conditions. Although it's slightly larger than my last Canon Ixy 900IS, the lens aperture opens to F2.0 at 28mm. Oh, and it shoots HD (720p) video too.

Although, in hindsight, it was a little too fishy for me. It's the special at the moment, at 花月 in 権堂.

His 特製ラーメン (ramen special) for ¥850 (£6.50) comes with three slices of meat and an egg. Since the last time I came, a year or so ago, he's added onions on top. As we left, though, the master came out and gave us some bad news; he's going to leave the shop at the end of December due to health issues. He suggested that there could be somebody taking the shop over, but it was a bit of a shock, because the master of Kanaya studied his ramen making from the master of Buaiso, now Ichibun. With him leaving, the old ramen taste I used to enjoy all those years ago at ラーメンぶあいそー could be no more. That's sad.

Tonight we had sushi for dinner at Kurazushi (くら寿司). I noticed that they've finally caught up with Kappazushi (かっぱ寿司), in having a moving train-like device to bring ordered food to your table. While Kappazushi uses a Shinkansen bullet train, this one at Kurazushi is a whale with their characters on the front and back. Fun!

Believe it or not, this jet engine-looking thing is a heater -- the Blue Jumbo Heater 380 -- for heating huge halls and the like. It puts out such a large amount of heat that it needs a protective mat on the floor (I guess to stop scorch marks) and was used with a railing to stop people walking directly in front of it. I wonder how quickly it burns through its tank of kerosene.

After the gym today, I walked towards Zenkoji temple with my gym buddy, and we went for lunch at Komatsuya, an Italian restaurant that opened in Nagano about a year and a half ago. Their lunch sets change daily, comprising a starter and bread, a drink, and two choices of pasta; I opted for the creamy mushroom sauce at ¥1050 (£8), with him going for the tomato aubergine sauce at ¥950 (£7). A larger portion can be requested for ¥200 (£1.50) extra, which of course we both did.

I ordered the 'gonbutonkotsu' (great pun that) ramen at ¥800 (£6) with an egg added for ¥100 extra. Then afterwards I had to order more of the fat noodles for ¥100. I liked it a lot, especially as I'm a fan of the thick noodles.

僕が注文したのは極太んこつっていうダジャレを含んだ、とんこつスープの太麺。８００円で、味付け玉は１００円。ちなみに替え玉は１００円。太麺が大好きな僕にとっては、かなり美味しかった。ぜひもう一度食べに行きたい。

Thanks to a friend of mine, I got a discounted rate for the first three months, and didn't pay any joining fee. The machines in the gym are excellent; I guess they must be some of the newest LifeFitness have to offer.

Not only do they have touch screens and are usable in many languages, but every cardio machine has a 17"-or-so Sharp AQUOS flat screen bolted to the top, with a remote control and headphone extension cable. Underneath the control area there is even a port/cable to charge an iPod/iPhone, and a USB socket, for saving progress etc. Pretty cool!

On the way out though, something clicked as I realised that they have built their swimming pool on the first floor *above* the ground-floor car park. Even if it's a quarter of the size of a full olympic pool it must weigh more than 500 tonnes(!), so surely it would be safer to have the car park above the pool?

For lunch today we went to a small place just out of town. It costs just ¥400 (£3) for their ramen, which is surprising in itself, but the most surprising thing is that they give a bigger portion to men (男盛), and a smaller portion to women. That could never happen in England, as they would get in trouble for sexism.