Turn your back for a second......

When I came back from my three week trip there was a house in our neighbourhood, just near the train line, where an empty plot of land had been when I left. It takes getting used to - a neighbourhood that metamorphosises as soon as you turn your back - you have no choice but to move with it. Life also seems to get more disposable by the day - Yuka's already discussing a possible change from her three month old mobile phone.

In comparison, the changes in Scotland had either been underway when I left or not of particular note. The large harbour development hadn't really come on much (which the planners reckon will transform Glasgow's riverside to the bustling, cosmopolitan hub that it's been striving towards for many a year but that is unfortunately cut off from the existing community by the small matter of a dual carriageway - the weather also has its part to play) and most places hadn't changed one bit, which was kind of nice and made Japan easy to return to.

When I got back to Osaka we wandered around the neighbourhood like a pensioned couple "oh remember there used to be a tree there", or "look - there's another new parking lot". There was a new convenience store too, within a kilometre of the house, as well as everything we didn't see.

Sometimes you really think you're imagining it.