bayshore line

I love highways. Its existence runs through my veins, probably because I've lived in the States. We used to use Route 280, New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway to make visits to Japanese weekend school on Saturdays and cram school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My parents still are heavy users of highways here in Japan.

Japanese highways, in comparison with American highways are narrower and more expensive, which lowers it's value as a social infrastructure, but I love the way how things are built more neatly here. Roadside lights are installed with even intervals, making a fantastic chain of light during nighttime. This effect was seen from the bus we took on the snowboarding tour on Kanetsu Expressway and it was quite beautiful. My favorite route to drive on is Bayshore Route of Metropolitan Expressway. It's new, clean and smooth and its width reminds me of New Jersey Turnpike.

My mom and I used Yokohama Yokosuka Road and the Bayshore Route of Metropolitan Expressway to visit Yokohama Sogo today to purchase gifts for my friends and their families in the States. It's only a week more to go until I visits my fellows in New Jersey.

We did buy some food in Sogo's "depa-chika" too along with few other things. There, most of the confectioneries were putting up kiosks for Valentine's Day with crowds of women surrounding it, competing each other to buy chocolates for whoever she's planning on giving. This sight really disgusted me.

Here in Japan, Valentine's Day is recognized as a day where girls give guys gifts(mainly chocolate) to show her love towards him. Not only that, but women here are "moderately" enforced to give chocolates out to all of men around her, which is an act we call "obligation chocolate". These acts are really weird and confusing in my opinion.

I'm not going to explain the whole story behind St. Valentine's Day but orignally, it's a day where you show your true feeling to your love, whether you're a guy or a girl. Since Valentine's Day is established as a day where girls give guys gifts, there's another day made on March 14th, a month after Valentine's Day we call "White Day", which is basically the opposite of Japanese style Valentine's Day: a day where guys return girls with gifts.

Girls here attempt to get expensive branded goods, in return of chocolates. What a shame...