i follow the forecast religiously!

If you know me, you would know that I hate the cold. I can survive in a hot stuffy room with no fan in summery Malaysia, but put me in an air-conditioned room and I'll do whatever is needed to stay warm. That's why I was glad my roommate back in MMU had the same preference. Our room had the fan set on 1 or 2, but my other grrlfriends had theirs on 3, but even that was considered hot.

But after coming to Japan, I have had to learn to deal with both extremes. The hot & humid summer and the cold blistering winter. It was still fine in Niigata, probably because insulation was good and we had proper heating/cooling system in the buildings.

People always wondered why I can't stand the cold in Tokyo when Niigata has more snow. That's because I was living on campus; so my daily routine only involved going to school and back, and through the covered walkway protected from the snow outside. Even if I were to drive out of campus, my car had heaters. The uni had heaters, the shops had heaters, everywhere! It's so unlike Tokyo where everyone walks. Walk to office, walk to school, walk to shop. I'm exposed to the elements out here. Add the wind and the temperature drops further. That's why I feel like Tokyo's colder!

In fact I think because Niigata has heavy snowfall, it has built its buildings and homes better. I remember going to sleep snuggily in my campus dorm in cold winter days. Tokyo houses are so old and usually made of wood, very bad materials for a comfy sleep at night. Furthermore, the side of the wall where my bed is, is 3/4 windows which covers almost from top to bottom. So if I wake up on the wrong side of bed, I feel icicles forming my nose frozen.

The temperature in Tokyo is not that much different from Niigata, probably 5 degrees apart. But the ironic thing is it hardly snows here. So cold and yet no snow - The cold is not justified! People are telling me February will be even colder. It's already hovering around 3 degrees today, how am I going to survive next month? Perhaps the snow this weekend is something I could look forward to. This is the first time I see this snowman on the weather forecast (as opposed to Thursday's flurry), so this must be real!