Back with a vengeance!

Or at least, the heat is.

We've been lucky in that this summer has been a little more mild than previous summers, probably thanks to all the typhoons we've had recently.

But, of course, it's still summer, and it's been nice and sweltering again the past few days.  Nothing like feeling the sweat drip down your back after merely 5 minutes outside! 

For some reason, summer is a time when a lot of people (ahem.. women) like to cover up.  Everywhere i see stores selling UV-protective clothing, like 'arm warmers' (i'm not sure what they're called in this case, since they aren't meant to keep your arms warm) and scarves and full-face sun visors.  So you end up seeing people walking around looking like this:

From the people i've talked to, the reason for this has more to do with wanting to prevent freckles and tans, and keep there skin looking nice and pale, than it has to do with preventing skin cancer.

Umbrellas are a very common sight too on sunny days.  I can't diss on those though, because if i still had mine i'd be using it too.  Portable shade, it's genius!  And while a lot of companies here hand out advertisements in packs of tissues (very handy, i'm almost never without a pack of tissues in my bag), in the summer a lot of places advertise on uchiwa fans, so if you're out walking around you'll likely be handed one, and it's hard to pass them up when you're looking for any way to ease the torture.  I myself have a small collection of fans that i have displayed on my wall.  They make for good souvenirs too. :)

Melons seem to be a huge hit in the summer, despite being ridiculously overpriced at times.  Some "gift" melons can cost around $50, but the ones being sold at the market down the street from me are going for about $15. Melon soda and other melon-flavoured things are very popular here too, and today i happened to find some melon-flavoured Ciscorn Cereal (pretty much Japanese Corn Flakes).  I've tried all the other flavours- plain, frosted, chocolate, and my favourite maple pancake!  I was intrigued by the melon though and had to buy some. 

It's.. okay.  Haha.  Can't say i'm crazy about it.  Normally i love fruity cereal like Trix and Froot Loops and such, but this cereal tasted too much like melon soda, and while i do like melon soda, soda in cereal-form with milk on it is just.. eh.  I'll be sticking with my maple or frosted ones, thank you very much!