White Magnolia

Winter white.  White magnolia flowers are blooming in the neighbourhood.  This tree at riverside shrine was elegant in the sunshine last Friday.

After the Typhoon

I wasn't the only one out on my bicycle today. I joined this fellow to look at the waters of the Tamagawa River.  The river was fast flowing, but nowhere near as high as the water marks indicated it had been yesterday.  Tokyo has engineered many flood prevention strategies such as the high dyke walls along the river.  Apparently part of the wall upstream failed and there was flooding in Kawasaki on the other side of the river.
The photo below shows the flattened flood plain next to the river - normally this is used for baseball and soccer pitches.
Happy to see blue sky after the rain (and earthquake) of Saturday.

The Koban and Glasses

The Koban is the Police Cabin.  There is one in most neighbourhoods, usually at a busy intersection.  This one is in Futakatamagawa. I love the police bike parked out the front and the floral display.  Best of all I love the glasses that can be seen in the close up, ready for visually challenged clients - so helpful - so Japanese.

Food Halls

Department store food halls in Tokyo are a gourmet delight, with savoury and sweet delights and food treated as a work of art.

Tonight I explored the Tokyu Food Hall at the local Futakatamagawa Mall and bought food for dinner.  Baked eggplant with miso from a stall with an autumnal feel, for 500 YEN (approx $7AUD) and 100g of an avocado and broccoli salad for about the same amount - that is a small, expensive, but tasty salad!

Bike Parking Part 2

The bike parks have special racks to park the bicycle.  The bike is clipped in and locked.