Today…was interesting. I had made plans to go to an Indian buffet with one of my Japanese friends, and ended up inviting a friend from my program, who also brought along a friend! Sheesh! Anyway, my host mom reminded me that the buffet is only during the week, and the weekend is super pricey, so I (an American) took everyone (a guy from Montreal, a guy from China, and a guy from Japan…multicultural!) to a cool vegetarian cafe I like (selfish eh) called Deva Deva. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I felt it was a unique experience in Tokyo.

Worth mentioning is the train ride with my program buddy and his friend, before meeting up with my Japanese friend at the station in the city where the restaurant is…holy crap I gotta quit these run-on sentences, and all of these parentheses… We got on the first car, and for the first time, we could see everything in the train’s path (thank god no one jumped in front of the train, as the line we were on is a popular choice for suicides…), as well as the driver. Very cool, and I wish my dad had been there to see it (I will show him a video of it at least).

After eating, we headed over to Ginza, a journey of my program friend’s design. He was looking for a 2008 limited edition Luis Vuitton bag for a friend. Yeah, that would be about 3 grand. Fortunately for everyone, we had my Japanese pal to help us get around, and we checked out a few stores, but none carried the rare bag. We also went to the Ginza Apple store, which, as they usually are, was awesome. In this case, unsurprisingly given Tokyo’s density, elevators are in the stead of the usual staircase. Very cool elevators which can hold 24 people each (and remind me of my commute), by the way. Unfortunately for my native friend, he could not check out the iPad, as it is as of yet unreleased. Back outside, Ginza is awesome, it reminded me of NYC.

Famous Ginza Intersection

Afterward came the icing on the cake…the delicious Ginza cake. The very cool guy from Montreal had been to Ginza the day before, and suggested we check out the absurd Abercrombie and Fitch store. On the way, we walked down the enormous streets, some of which which cars were banned from today, and passed Ginza’s famous intersection (I will post a pic soon).
Alas, we followed the sickeningly strong scent trail of cologne to a long line of people near a fully shuttered building. After waiting a grand total of one minute, we were whisked inside to what the Montreal guy (sorry, I don’t names on the blog!) had described as a theme park full of dancing and or half naked “beautiful” people. On that subject, our Canadian friend noticed a girl from one of classes was working at the store! Apparently A+F routinely combs SILS at Waseda for sexy foreign students who fulfill their absurdly narrow definition of attractiveness… hrm. I imagine Keio University is popular for ideally beautiful Japanese employees… The ideal beautiful human for the place was quite clear, with absurd homo erotic paintings of white blondish ripped males doing very “manly” things.

Anyway…please excuse my tangent, when we arrived, we entered yet

The Stairway to Hell-Abercrombie and Fitch Ginza

another disturbingly crowded elevator, and were brought to the 7th floor by a topless male model. From there we made our way through the dark, club music filled labyrinth which is GINZA ABERCROMBIE AND FITCH-LAND. Again, I will post a(n obscure) pic. It really was like being sober in a club, one which should by all means be awkward, but because of the uber confidence of the employees, absolutely makes one feel like they should be dancing. The (Western-style) clothes, apparently much more expensive than those in the states (the friend from my program was wearing a AF shirt from the US), and lined up in identical rows, made the place seem like a factory for churning out perfect samples of sexy, preferably white and male, huMANity.

We finally made it to the ground floor, thoroughly coated in cologne, and faced with a large cabinet full of manly gear, including guns and skis and the like… forgot to mention the giant moose’s head upstairs… Of course, on our left, we were flanked by a topless man posing with Japanese shoppers who were very happy to have their picture taken with him.

CRAZY *$@!

Tokyo Trip Day 3

Our final day of sight seeing was much more relaxing and we enjoyed spending time with our friend Fumi. Alyssa and Fumi used to be roommates in NYC, and she graciously set us up with a place to stay and took us out to a great burger shop. We stayed closer to Mitaka the last day and traveled back to Gifu in the late afternoon.

After two solid days of walking, 12 hours minimum each day, we were exhausted. We woke up on our last day and shopped around Mitaka. There are quite a few department stores and even a few little boutiques that are as pretty as they are costly. Just South of the Mitaka station is a big street and shopping area. On Saturdays (our last day there) the street is shut down to car traffic and opened up for pedestrians and bikers. They played traditional Japanese music over the speakers as well. It made this part of Tokyo feel a bit smaller and more welcoming.

After walking around a bit we met Fumi who took us to a wonderful burger shop at the next train stop Kichijoji. The American shop felt like little America. It was complete with American kid’s books, campaign signs, street signs and license plates. And of course…REAL American Burgers! Normally our burgers are either McDonald’s or the Japanese version of an American burger. Japanese burgers usually have huge buns, egg, strange sauces, lots of lettuce and a little round patty of meat. The shop, The Village Vanguard Diner, makes theirs just like an authentic American burger shop. It was a fantastic last meal in Tokyo.

Afterward we walked back to Mitaka through a beautiful park. It was relaxing and fun to watch the parents with their kids. Japanese kids are some of the cutest in the world! Parks in Japan are relatively simple and are more beautiful for it. After the parkwe picked up our bags, walked to the station with Fumi and said our goodbyes. Then we took the train to Tokyo station, the the bus back to Nagoya, then a train to Gifu and finally drove from Gifu station to home.

We snapped this photo of Tokyo Tower on the bus ride home.

You’ve all heard of normal wagyu beef but the 3 best wagyu producing regions are the Matsusaka, Kobe and Yonezawa. Of these 3 regions, the one that most beef lovers agree is the best would be wagyu coming from the Matsusaka prefecture in Mie.

Doing some research on the internets, I found out from a site called Paul’s Travel Pics that the best place to try some of this Matsusaka beef was at Steak House Satou, located in Kichijoji.

Below, you can see people queuing up from some grilled wagyu meatballs, hugely popular. The queue grew to triple that length while I was eating

This is the entrance to the restaurant upstairs, it’s quite small and easy to miss.

Super narrow and steep staircase up

Counter setting

A look at the very small interior. I’m already sitting at the extreme end of the restaurant.

Here are the busy chefs working in the tiny open-air kitchen to make beef teppanyaki for the customers. It’s hard to imagine having 4 chefs for such a small restaurant!

And finally the Tokusen sirloin set that I have been waiting for, 180 grams of glorious Matsusaka grade A5 beef!!

What can I say that hasn’t been said about Matsusaka beef already? The dense marbling of fat in the meat makes it so succulent and juicy when they cook it, and it is really so soft and tender like tofu that when you put it in your mouth and press your tongue on it, all the beefy flavour explodes in your mouth.

There must have been such an orgasmic expression on my face because the manager was so impressed that he had to give me his name card!

A closer look at the steak. Costs only 8,400yen here but the manager told me that at other restaurants it would be around 20,000 yen.

サトウ吉祥寺店 (Steak House Satou)
1-1-8 Kichijoji-Honcho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo

i traipsed down to kichijoji today in all my resplendent finery. very proud of my bow, i was. the effect is rather different from what the dress was designed to look like, but i really like what i did with it here.

kichijoji is somewhere to the west of tokyo, about half an hour from shibuya, and the terminal station on my train line. it is one of those up and coming suburban areas with adorable little streets, lots of good food and al fresco dining, and interesting shops – just the kind of place i like to spend an idle afternoon in, popping in and out of vintage stores, having a leisurely tea, and trying to take good pictures. or clearly, not.

inokashira park, one of the best places for viewing sakura blooms in spring, is also located close to the station. the route i choose to take to the park always brings me past this ancient yakitori place. i am not sure if the place is really old, or only made to look old, but smoke from the grill clouds the streets nearby, and on sundays when they do a roaring trade, it really gets into your hair and clothes. but i still might enter one of these days, just to experience being served by young men in muggy white t-shirts and towels around their necks.

and my prize find today – a pair of old iron scissors for my dad. i remember these from my childhood. like the manual sewing machine that mum still uses… all the things that feel as if they belong only in yellowed photographs. can it be that i am only just approaching 30?

- outfit details –
dress: some shop in new york. the village…?
denim jacket: gap
tights: tutuanna
black patent pumps (not in pictures): payless

Architectural proposal

Tokyo – Inokashira Koen -Japan

Submitted September 2009

I am in Tokyo for a couple of days after attending a conference. This morning I did a research interview and after writing up my notes, I took the train out to Kichijoji to buy some yarn. My favorite Tokyo yarn shop, Yuzawaya, is right above the train station, but first I went to find another shop called Avril. It was in a nice list of yarn shops in Tokyo that I have used before, but I had never tried to find this particular shop. It was also described in a knitting blog. What caught my eye was the explanation that the shop is connected to Habu in New York although it has a completely different name. That meant they would have some unusual yarns, probably including the paper yarns that I’ve been playing with.

The instructions said the shop was about five minutes down Nakamichi Dōri, across from a post office. I checked the map in the train station and located the street and even where the right block was supposed to be. Although I had come out the wrong side of the train station, I walked around under the tracks and found Nakamichi Dōri, which turned out to be one of those wonderful Japanese shopping streets full of little shops. I lived on one of them about 25 years ago so I always enjoy finding them. This one included the usual shops for daily necessities but also a lot of funky clothing stores. I located the post office easily, but  there was no sign for Avril in sight.

Fortunately, I had written down the precise address. Street addresses are very difficult to follow in Japan because they refer to blocks rather than a sequential numbering of the buildings (which are often numbered in the order they were built in that particular block!). There is often a sign for the block number posted on a telephone pole, if you know where to look. The block across from the post office was too low a number, so I kept walking and checking the telephone poles and the right block was just a couple of blocks farther down. There was the Avril sign, which led inside an apartment building to Avril’s door, just as it had been described in someone’s knitting blog.

The shop was tiny and bustling with customers, including two people weaving on rigid heddle table looms at a back table. Much of the yarn was on cones–a good sign that it really was a weaving shop. I found some bamboo tape yarn that looked similar to washi yarn, and then found some lovely white washi yarn that was almost translucent. The tag said it was 100% washi, but also identified it as linen, so it was paper made of linen fibers. It was surprisingly inexpensive, especially compared to the prices at Habu in New York, at less than 5 yen per gram. Although I am not normally into dying, I couldn’t resist it and picked up two skeins of 148 grams each.

Paper yarn from two shops in Kichijoji

After a bit more poking around I found a shelf with some of the same washi yarn that had been dyed. It was considerably more at 20 yen a gram, but that was still pretty reasonable. The hard part was picking colors. They had black, brown, grey, light green, and a dark red. The back of the store opened onto a little Japanese garden, half of which was filled with big boxes of yarn! I took the yarn to the garden to check the colors and finally settled on a 50 gram skein of light gray and a larger 165 gram skein of the dark red.

This washi yarn is narrower flat strips than the commercial kind I had bought before, but has the same crisp feel.  It is very light, so one gram is about 6 meters long, compared with 4.25 meters per gram of the commercial type. These are also solid colors, whereas what I bought before is variegated. In my earlier experiments with the commercially packaged washi yarn, I found that using only the paper yarn in the weft eats up a lot of yarn very quickly and produces a quite stiff material, but alternating a second weft produces a much more flexible fabric and also makes one skein go a lot farther.

I will probably use the dyed yarn in some placemats, and I’m thinking that at least the dark red will go with some of the rayon ricrac I have in my stash. I have no idea what I’ll do with the white. I don’t think I can use the Wilton cake dye method with linen, as I think it only works on animal fibers. Right now I can’t quite see using tghe yarn in its pure white state, although it might be really nice with a colored warp and second weft. Or I might be able to tag along the next time our handweavers group has a dying party. Rather reluctantly, I decided not to buy some bamboo tape yarn in a soft blue gray. It was even wider than my commercial paper yarn, and there was only one skein of the color I liked.

Satisfied with what I had found at Avril, I went back to the station and began my usual systematic search through the big yarn department at Yuzawaya. After a pleasant hour and a half of looking at everything, I ended up with four small balls of novelty yarns to use as accents in my Mobius shrugs, and four skeins of the paper yarn called Leafy that I bought in June. This time I got it in autumn shades, again with an eye to some of the shades of rayon ricrac that I have on hand. I’m pleased with my purchases, and even happier because I was able to satisfy my yarn shopping urge without spending too much money. I spent four times as much on books yesterday, which is as it should be!

Les deux derniers jours iront très vite : un petit tour à Kichijoji, histoire de voir encore Inokashira Koen (vous commencez à connaître mes tours touristiques), puis Shibuya la peuplée et sa faune qui laisse ma mère comme une tortue devant une feuille de salade trop grande pour elle.

A la maison, les parents de Chiaki ne changent pas une formule qui gagne et débarquent pile quand on passe à table pour manger les gyouzas maisons de leur fille, les bras chargés de cadeaux de bon goût alors qu’on n’avait quasiment rien pour eux o’_’*.

Y sont vraiment généreux, ça me tue un peu…

Sinon, traduire ne me gène pas trop, sauf quand je comprends pas la question (une autre tradition : faire des phrases composées en quasi-keigo alors que c’est clair que je ne les capterais pas).

Mais le problème vient plutôt d’une différence de conception : par exemple, c’est quand la mère de Chiaki demande à la mienne si ca va mieux, qu’elle se fait moins de soucis maintenant qu’elle est ici.

Euh, pardon ?!

Elle comprend mal que le petit dernier étant à l’étranger, les parents ne se fassent pas un mouron pas possible. C’est ça : pour le japonais, l’étranger, c’est le danger, c’est le sacrifice, c’est l’éloignement de la mère patrie, de la famille, c’est une souffrance pour ceux qui gardent le foyer.

Alors la réponse « mais non, pourquoi ? Je suis contente parce qu’Ismael a l’air de se plaire ici, qu’il a la chance de refaire une vie nouvelle, d’etre avec celle qu’il aime et de rencontrer plein de gens super, comme vous entre autres », c’est proprement surréaliste pour eux.

« Et le mariage, ça ne vous tarde pas ? »

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaahhhhhHHHH, ils l’ont fait !

Hélas, ma mère étant foncièrement du même avis que moi, voire pire, elle répondit qu’elle ne voyait pas vraiment l’intérêt, et que quand bien même, elle ne voyait pas en quoi notre vie privée la concernerait, que les choix sont nôtres et que c’est de s’aimer qui compte, blabla, tout ce truc de hippies que je leur ai déjà servis, mais qu’ils avaient du mettre pour un caprice d’adolescent attardé.

Après quoi, ma copine en rajoutait une couche en japonais. Poum.

Bon voyage, en business class Swiss (merci les déclassements au départ de Tokyo !). Reviens quand tu veux !

Arrêtez de baver dans l’eau, bande de connards !

From Kichijoji Station

Here are some photos from the Hanami this year.  Taken around the first week of April, when the cherryblossoms were in full bloom and I was oblivious of the unimaginable things to come. 

somewhere near my apartment

a beautiful sunny day

Inokashira Park was so beautiful it was almost magical.  (Ok, this one is a “matrona” shot. A lot of things have changed.)

and this was our view while eating our bentous.

Photos were taken using an Orizont 35mm film camera.

It’s almost time for the annual festival of confectionery that tastes of gross flavourings/carved turnips and mischief, depending on where you live.

For what it’s worth, I love Don’t Wiggle and Chic +.

Chuo Line, Kichijoji Station

Throwing away trash in Japan is complicated. =( They separate the trash into “burnables”, plastic, plastic bottles, paper, and unburnables. Each day you can only throw out one category(from Monday to Friday) Apparently, you can’t put out trash the night before, so you have to place your trash out sometime before 8am. So today no one woke up in time, and we weren’t able to throw the burnable trash out.  =/ Hopefully soon we get the hang of it =)

Today was the first day of Silver week. Silver week is a week in Japan where there are 3 straight holidays in a week, making it like a 5 day break. Today was Respect for the Aged day, an appropriate day to celebrate Mike’s birthday. xD

We took Mike out around town for his birthday, going to a ramen place for lunch then Kichijoji to wander around the shopping areas. I was really happy because I was able to buy two notebooks that I wanted, in addition to a weekly planner I needed to use before school starts. After exploring Kichijoji, we went to Shinjuku to find a shabu shabu place for Mike’s birthday dinner. Shinjuku was such a different area than the rest of the places we visited. There were SOOOOO many people there, and people were much more trendy and fashionable there. You can really tell people were dressing up nicer than in Mitaka and Kichijoji.

Shabu Shabu! It was $20 for all you can eat for 90 minutes =D

yay! I finally have some cute notebooks to write in! The left is a notebook plus a calendar slipped into the back sleeve, and the right is just a notebook

Afterwards we went to the girl’s apartment in Iidabashi, had a surprise cake for Mike, had a meeting discussing logistics, and then prayed together. Then we got back home and met Lillian, the Taiwanese STINTer who arrived in Tokyo today. =)

Today, when I stood in a jam packed train, I reflected on what I saw before me and why I felt that way. First, I think many of us know the feeling we get when we’re surrounded by a lot of believers. Imagine yourself in a Promise Keepers event, or a Women of Faith, or Urbana, or just some massive gathering of believers worshiping the Lord. It’s such an encouraging and blessed feeling when you are in the midst of so many believers. It feels like you are surrounded by light. Now, imagine yourself surrounded by those same amount of people, but none of them know the Lord. They are all perishing and they don’t even know it. It felt like I was the only light in the darkness. That sinking realization of the perishing world is that I felt today when I gazed around in the packed train or in the middle of Shinjuku with hundreds of Japanese buzzing around me. I pray that the Lord will use me as a servant to let His name be known.

Just an intersection in Shinjuku. The picture doesn't give justice to the massive crowds that were out and about

Prayer requests:

1. May the Lord bring my teammates Matt + Robin by this Friday =)

2. May my heart continue to be burdened for the people around me.

3. I will be meeting with students tomorrow for the first time! They are from Toyo university and they are looking forward to meeting us. They know we are a Christian group, and they are interested in us. =) May the Lord bless the party and sleepover tomorrow (9-22-09)

In Kichijoji, the exact place where this was taken.

In Kichijoji, but really it could have been anywhere outside any convenience store.

Baptiste parti, ma vie n’a plus de sens et mon existence n’est qu’une vaine peau de babybel jeté au sol de la cantine scolaire.
J’ère de parties navrantes en anniversaires pathétiques, de relents gerbitifs dans le train de nuit en discussions d’ascenseurs, aux portes du désespoir comme Dante, balloté par les vagues du destin que la Providence daigne jeter sur mon néant existentiel.

J’arrête, sinon on pourrait croire que j’en fais trop.

Cela dit, oui, j’ai un nombre incalculable de photos de fêtes toutes moins mémorables les unes que les autres, impubliées parce que je suis un fainéantasse blasée, mais aussi parce que je n’ai rien à en dire.
Par exemple :

1- Anniversaire de Mamoru, chéplusoù et chépluquand (ah si ! le 20 avril).

Imagine que tu vas t’entasser dans le fond d’un Izakaya en attendant ta bouffe surtaxée, qu’il y a 20 personnes et que tu connais tout le monde par coeur sans avoir la moindre idée de si oui ou non, quelqu’un partage ta passion pour le sexe anal parce que bon, on va pas parler des choses personnelles quand on se voit, puisqu’il y a toujours 18 faux-potes-que-tu-connais-pas-vraiment-non-plus autour, environ.

立ち回る

たちまわる ・tachimawaru . Bien jouer son jeu

Imagine que c’est censé être une surprise, et que le Mamoru, le jour même de son anniversaire, est invité par 2 copaings à boire un verre « entre eux » à l’Izakaya en question,

mais sachant aussi que depuis 2 ans TOUS LES ANNIVERSAIRES sont des putains de fausses surprises, avec tes vrais amis,

mais aussi un tas de pièces rapportées coincées dans l’ombre à t’attendre un briquet à la main (pour le gâteau blanc de crème quelconque) pendant que la bière tiédit sur la table et que les filles trépignent dans un énorme effort d’automotivation digne d’un concert des Poëtic Lovers.

Imagine que Taiki ou Yusuke ne seraient PAS en retard, et donc ne croiseraient pas ledit ensurprisé dans la rue juste avant, pour une raison quelconque (achat de clopes, coup de fil, guet, etc.). Non ? T’as raison, c’est inimaginable.

Par contre, tu peux imaginer la tête coupable, l’excuse en bois et l’accord inavouable qui se passe afin que tout le monde ne soit dégouté d’être arrivé à l’heure pour rien.

Mais il est mignon, ce couillon !

Alors soit les Japonais dans leur vingtaine sont stupides comme des buches de Noël, soit ils sont vraiment super-méga-sympas entre eux, à faire semblant et respecter les rituels à la con.
Dans les 2 cas, ils m’invitent, et ça aussi, c’est épatant, vu ce qu’ils prennent dans la gueule.

2 – L’anniversaire d’Aki-chan, un autre jour…attends, ça va me revenir….

Je suis surement un mauvais coucheur, mais quand j’entends « surprise » et « resto hispano-italien » dans une même phrase, je m’aigris et me fane comme une orchidée arrosée de pisse de Canadien défoncé égaré dans un jardin botanique batave.

Pour la surprise, vous aviez compris.

Pour le resto…Sakurai disait que les cuisiniers indigènes qui font de la cuisine italienne, c’est juste qu’ils n’étaient pas assez bons pour faire de la française. Méchant, mais jouissif.

Alors, mettre les ritals et les Ibères dans le même sac, pensez…

C’était pas mauvais du tout, maintenant je peux l’avouer après avoir moufté de mon mieux. À Kichijoji, au “kelkechose” bar, faut pas espèrer non plus que je m’en souvienne. Tables longues, peu d’intérêt dans les nouvelles filles présentes, on fume dehors, le gâteau arrive,

- Tiens, c’est cadeau !
Oh, fallait pas !

Dernière commande, on va où maintenant ? OK, on bouge.

Et là, ça se corse : l’une de nous (je vais pas dire ma copine, mais ça me tente) a réservé par téléphone dans un bouge du coin, pour dix.

Sauf que là, bizarrement, personne ou presque ne veut rentrer à la maison, et les adieux des trois tondus en partance s’éternisent, ce qui fait qu’on arrive à 13 au boui-boui, avec un retard monstre. Et bien sûr, pas assez de place.

Au moment de se casser, un monsieur très excité vient nous expliquer qu’il faut payer quand même, parce qu’ils ont réservé, et que c’est 10.000 yens.
Kwaaaa ? Je me pousse de peur de lui en coller une…

Le bon sens voulait que tout le monde se casse d’un coup pour le parc attenant, laissant le mec sur le carreau (j’ai plus de morale dans ce domaine depuis longtemps), sauf qu’un Japonais qui s’enfuit, ça traine de la chaussure et ça fait semblant de flâner, tout ça…résultat, le manque flagrant de communication entre les bernacles sera fatal : arrivé au parc d’Inokashira, on est rejoint par 3 buses restées en arrière…et rattrapées par le tenancier, qui les fait payer. Je rêve…Tout le monde passe à la caisse pour rien.

Je ne saurais dire qui me désole le plus dans l’affaire.
Le prochain anniversaire, c’est qui ?

Pari päivää meni ilman kirjoittamista, mutta ehkä osin siksi, notta hirveästi ei tapahtumia ollut. Eilen käytiin Shibuyassa, Kichijojissa ja Nakanossa.

Shibuyassa käytiin Hachikon patsasta silittämässä. Hachikohan oli siis Akita-rotuinen koira, joka odotti joka päivä isäntäänsä töistä Shibuyan aseman edessä. Lopulta kävi kuitenkin niin, että isäntä kuoli, mutta Hachiko jatkoi odottamista. Ja Hachiko jatkoi odottamista 10 vuotta kuolemaansa asti. Hachikosta lisää.

Kichijojissa oli käytettyjen kimonoiden liike, jonne suunnistimme. Liikkettä pitävä rouva oli hiirmu mukava, sovittelimme kimonoita, hän opetti kuinka sitoa obi (kimonon vyö) ja muutenkin juteltiin niitä näitä. Esa tosin jutteli enimmäkseen, koska oli ainoa joka japania osaa kunnolla puhua. Itse kuuntelin vierestä ja koitin ymmärtää mistä oli milloinkin kyse. Ja ostin sitten kimonon!

Kimono on tuollainen tummansininen/harmaa, jossa on pientä ruudutusta. Obin ostin myös. Olimme niin mukavia asiakkaita, että rouva antoi meille anteliaasti vielä alennustakin. Oma kimononi obeineen tuli maksamaan 6300 jeniä, eli semmoiset vähän alle 50 euroa. Ei paha silkkikimonosta ja -obista! Esakin osti kimonon, ja jos matkan loppupuolella on vielä varaa, niin käyn ostamassa samasta paikasta vielä hakaman.

Seuraavaksi kävimme Nakano Broadwayllä, jossa oli tarkoitus olla huiman paljon otakuliikkeitä. Muutama Mandaraken manga- ja figuuriliike löytyi, mutta harmittavasti suurin osa liikkeistä vietti juuri sitä ainoaa lomapäiväänsä.

Tänään käytiin Roppongissa. Sieltä löytyi hyvä kirjakauppa, jossa teinkin ostoksia, mutta en kerro mitä. Salaista . Sitten kävimme syömässä paikallisessa burgeripaikassa Mos Burgerissa ja sattumalta löysimme hyvän pelihallin, jossa vietimmekin loppupäivän. Lopuksi oli tarkoitus lähteä Jennin asuinpaikkaa kohti kurkkimaan erästä matsuria, eli festivaalia, mutta tieto matsurista olikin väärää, ja se onkin vasta perjantaina. Huomenna siis eläinpuistoon ja matsuriin.

Haleja ja pusuja Riikalle <3 Suomeen saapuu jo kahden viikon kuluttua yksi pieni, söpö ja runoileva tuliainen.

Nozomi and I spent the day in Kichijoji a few days ago and it was terribly fun. I’ve been to Kichijoji several times and this makes the final visit.

Nozomi in front of another mural!

I like the look of vintage Japanese advertising.  We didn’t go in here but I’ve been to a couple old izakayas during the year that have been around for decades and they always have an interesting feel. There’s one in Ginza that’s directly under the train tracks (so you can’t hear anything except the thundering tracks every few minutes) and staffed entirely by old men. Kind of place that might be worth a vist if you come to Japan. Just be adventurous and venture off the main roads now and then.

And then right next door – Cafe Montana! Haha oh the creativity. That’s what I love about areas like this. West Tokyo is the best. Its also home to Koenji and Shimokitazawa which I’m sure you’ve noticed I think are endlessly fun to explore.

I think I was on the verge of going blind

We got popsicles and strolled through Inokashira Park for a bit. That’s a suika, or watermelon popsicle – in the shape of a slice of watermelon! The black “seeds” are little chocolate chips!

Then we wandered around looking for a game center to take those purikura I posted on my “blogiversary” so I got a few pictures inside. Film sure gives the place an interesting look.

Haha coincidentally Momo won these for us the next day! Oh mame-shiba..(warning: its a very strange (but cute) video).

Then dinner and dessert in DevaDeva Cafe, which Ryoko kindly showed me last week!

Pretty huh?

This picture came out pretty romantic, no? I like that I can use my camera to stare directly at the sun and I especially like that that man in the middle is holding his arms out.

Anyway thanks for reading. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the photos if you care to share them. And if you’re new to the blog please check out my website and my flickr – I update them both frequently. : ) Man, could I have possibly given you any more links to click on in this post!?

Oh and upcoming: Shimokitazawa (on film, finally), and CLIMBING MT. FUJI (!! wish me luck!!)

*click images for full view

I’ve been bragging to people back home for some time now about the wonders of Japanese convenience stores so its about time I do a post already. I think because convenience stores in The States are almost always connected to gas stations they have a fairly gritty image – but in Japan they always stand alone. Open 24 hours (generally), squeaky clean, filled daily with fresh meals, any kind of alcohol you want, and a constant rotatation of new seasonal foods, toys, prizes and the like, Seven Eleven (7-eleven in the U.S.) in Japan seriously is convenient. I can’t even tell you how many times my friends and I have forgone eating out to just get a cheap meal from here.

This one is in Kichijoji.

Notice the four different bins outside on the left – cans, pet bottles (plastic bottles), burnable trash, unburnable trash – Japan has some pretty serious recycling laws – read this if you’re interested.

Nozomi turned bright red when I took this. I think its pretty interesting that half of them are anime.

Ok, I’m just being funny by only taking a picture of these magazines, but when you enter there is usually a whole wall of magazines. Seven Eleven is kind of stingy about this and often seals their magazines (esp. these kind – adults only!), but in most convenience stores you can come in, read and entire fashion magazine, for example, and walk out without buying it.

The frozen dessert case is my new favorite section because of this unbearable heat (maybe its just the humidity that bothers me). My favorite is the one on the bottom middle (白くま）- its full of fruit and azuki beans. Others include a waffle filled with vanilla ice cream and chocolate, orange, grape, soda, royal milk tea, and cherry popsicles.

Make-up, panty-hose, dental care products, sunscreen, and the like. I heard recently that a few 7-elevens in Japan are going to become pharmacies as well -so long mom & pop drug stores!

The great thing about Japan (esp. for those exhausted salarymen) is that you can drink in public. Grab a beer at the conbini and drink it while you’re waiting for that packed train home. On the left side of this case are all the beers – almost all Asahi brand, and on the right are “Chu High” – these are kind of like canned cocktails – shochu and soda in various flavors.

You can buy just about any variety of alcohol here. Below this shelf they also have liter and 2 liter sized cartons of sake and sho chu for $10-20. If you’re curious about the prices in this photo, just move the decimal two points to the left to get an idea of the dollar amount – the exchange rate is 100yen to $1.06 right now.

This is what I’ll miss. On the left, bentos of everything you can imagine – pasta, omuraisu (omelette rice), chicken katsu, various donburi, typical style bento with rice, fish, vegetables, all kinds of noodles – soba, ramen, somen (hot or cold), salads, side salads. On the right – onigiri heaven. Rice balls (maybe they should be called rice triangles?) with fillings like salmon, tuna, seaweed, curry, korean style bulgogi, sour plum, all wrapped in seaweed, or made of fried rice, or wrapped in egg and spam, or mixed with furikake (seaweed/salt seasoning) – basically anything you can think of. I think I could live off of these. I can’t explain how incredibly enjoyable they are.

No crust on these sandwiches. Flavors above are, from left to right: Ham & Cucumber salad (I think), Ham Katsu (katsu= breaded and fried), Chicken Katsu, Looks like fried egg, ham, and lettuce, Tuna and Egg (half and half), and Lettuce (its called “Lettuce” but it obviously has other stuff too).

Notice: the pokemon stuffed animals and action figures for sale, the microwaves they will heat up your bento or noodles in, the hot water machines for heating your cup noodles or tea, and the awesome uniforms.

What do you think of the tour? Thoughts? Questions? Disagree with me on anything? For a related post – check on Ben’s guest post about working at Family Mart from a few months ago.

*click images for full view

I had mentioned Inokashira Park in Kichijoji before which you can check out here.

I went again yesterday and got some good pictures. I actually saw some parts of the park which I hadn’t seen before including a pretty sweet shrine. On the weekends in the park there are also various musicians giving free performances as well as artists selling their photography, jewelery, pictures etc. All in all it was a good day out!

michelle and liam left tokyo on friday to visit other friends of theirs in nagano and after that they are off to kyoto, i think.

i can’t believe they have already come and gone.  my husband and liam had a fantastic time talking about sports, playing all the different wii games and basically looking around tokyo.

michelle and i also had a fab time, chatting, chatting and chatting.  we also had a super time visiting the sites around tokyo.

techan and i really enjoyed having them here and they are welcome any time.

on the first day, we made rice balls and went on a picnic/bike ride around our neighbourhood.  musashino city is a great place to live and very fresh and green at the moment.  we enjoyed lunch at nogawa park and then rode our bikes in the pissing rain to a small bamboo forest where people used to live thousands and thousands of years ago.

the campsite area near the bamboo forest actually has some human remains so we had a look at those before heading back home drenched.

the next day michelle, liam and i went into the city area to have a look around.  we went to meiji jingu in harajuku, walked to shibuya and ate ramen, looked at tokyo city from the metro building in shinjuku and visited tokyo hands.  a very very busy day.

the next day we rode our bikes to kichijyoji for a picnic lunch, strolled around inokashira park and did a bit of shopping.

this one is for you michelle cause you know how much i looooove this flower.

inokashira park shrine.

on wednesday, we decided to go to mount takao.  it didn’t rain so much which was nice but it was extremely foggy at the top of the mountain.  coming down was a little scary and slippery but we all made it down in one piece.

i took many photos of the statues on the top of mt takao but this one is my favourite.

this is my favourite photo, coming down the mountain.  the person closest to the camera is my sexy husband, then liam and michelle.

on thursday, michelle and liam did their own thing.  i had to work so they did a day trip to kamakura.

it was time to say good bye on friday but we went for a quick bike ride to koganei park to have a look at an out door museum.  koganei park is very  beautiful in the spring.  it has the most amount of cherry blossom trees in tokyo.  a good idea not to go on the weekend as it is very crowded.

inside an old thatched farm house.

and an old stationary shop.

i have heaps of photos from the past two or three weeks but these are just a few of my favourites.

see ya mich and liam.

This post is long overdue. A couple of weeks ago I went to see DJ Donna Summer at an event here called Murder Channel Vol. 22. In addition to the DJs, live bands, like local punk/noise stars Melt-Banana, also played. There were mosh pits, and my friend’s bag burst open onto the floor after being smashed into. The moshers politely avoided the little area until we’d picked everything up.

Donna Summer played a super high-speed set that was at times pretty incredible, and just a little too much at times, too. If you took your mind or body off the beat for just a moment, the music sounded deceptively like typical hyper-speed techno, but delving into it was rewarding.

I was working till midnight and so missed some of the other artists I wanted to see, like Himuro Yoshiteru.

The show was at the famous Star Pine’s Cafe in Kichijoji, one of the Tokyo’s most fun and interesting areas, about 20 minutes west of Shinjuku. I wanted to mention this the day after the event but I started writing this post and didn’t remember I’d started it until today.

Andres

Le Parti des Sphincters Ankylosés, tendance “Bleue”*.

[*Il ne s'agit pas de bleus à cause des coups de boutoir des marteaux-pilons de la rondelle (a.k.a. la tendance "Rouge", ou encore "Rosette Sanglante"), ni d'une hypothétique noblesse consanguine -on est sur une ile, TOUT le monde est consanguin de toutes façons - mais de leur peau, légèrement teintée suite à l'ingestion répétée de permanganate de potassium et la constipation qui en résulte. Ils ont pour hymne "A l'aube de l'an 2000, pour les jeunes, c'est plus l'même deal" du Suprème NTM...jaguar-gorgon, popopopoppo!]

政党 ・ seitou ・parti politique

Je ne serais en “vacance” qu’à partir du dimanche, donc…Pendant quelques jours, Baptiste m’accompagne au travail.

A Tama Plaza, histoire de manger un curry chez “Indo no Tonari” (allez-y, c’est bon et pas cher. Voilà pour la propagande), puis à Kichijoji le vendredi, où on part en avance histoire de voir la Parc d‘Inokashira Koen.

Ca faisait longtemps que je n’avais pas fait le chemin qui mène à mon ancienne guest house : on descend à Mitakadai, le petit légumier est encore là mais le bar-tapas a fermé. Toujours les batailles de falots politiques placardés sur le cairon, prêt à manger des cacas mous que je rêve de leur jeter en guise de dessous de table. La guesthouse a l’air morte.

ブロック塀

ぶろっくへい ・ burokkuhei ・mur d’enceinte en parpaings

Le parc est gris, c’est pas la saison où quoique ce soit fleurit ou fane en un interminable camaïeux de couleurs automnales, mais c’est tout de même joli. Ou du moins, ça ressemble moins à une attraction touristique que dans les rushs des hanami.

On y croise les japonais de la vrai vie (ouais, les autres c’est rien que des morts-vivant comme dans Biohazard**), qui visitent et mangent des yakisobas de kombini sur un banc pendant que 2 gaijins imbéciles font du limbo sous les branches des cerisiers centenaires (devinez qui ?).

[**Resident Evil pour la France. Sinon, jetez donc un oeil sur Gore From Outer Space, si vous aimez les films imbéciles et les politiciens nippons)

On mange des brochettes sur un banc en regardant les canards avant de passer à l'observation (avec un léger haut-le-coeur) des carpes-tellement-voraces-que-même-un-mollard-flottant-les-contentent. Youpi.

Adage japonais : plus le yakitori est sale, meilleur il est.

La leçon se passe bien, une madame Watanabe un peu intimidée d'avoir devant elle 2 barbus concentrant à eux seuls plus de virilité que 70% des mecs du quartier réunis nous dévoile son périple italien, un voyage organisé pendant lequel elle n'a eu que 30 minutes libres pour acheter 2 sacs, 2 portefeuilles et 1 porte-monnaie dans une boutique Vuitton (ça coute combien, tout ça ?), la pauvrette. Mais bon, elle est vraiment sympa alors on lui passe, n'est ce pas...

Puis c'est Shimotakaido, pour une autre leçon (je suis seul avec l'élève, cette fois) suivi d'un petit passage chez mon marchand de café préféré qui -après avoir prit une photo la dernière fois- se sent obligé de donner sa carte.C'est gentil, notez : on n'a pas des rapports comme ça avec tous les vendeurs. Je rapelle que Tokyo, c'est parfois cordial mais ça reste souvent froid...Et saluons l'effort notable de parler aux étrangers sans qu'ils soient à même de vous répondre sans au moins 2 fautes de synthaxe dans la phrase.

D'ailleurs... Sa copine-qui-vend-des-bagels donnera aussi la sienne, après une approche communicative de légende à insérer vite fait dans les manuels de survie pour autistes :

Anooo...vous êtes français ?

Voui ?

Ahhhh....euh....regardez
[elle a un pin's de la tour Eiffel sur son coupe vent en polyester]

Ah…ben…Tu es allée en France ?

Non, mais je voudrais trop !!

Tu apprends un peu le français, alors ?

Ah, non plus, pas du tout !

Ah….euh…uhuh…

Uhuhuh….

…………………….

…………….

C’est pas la crampe ultime, mais c’est un peu chaud, là…En principe, si tu adresses la parole à quelqu’un, tu as au moins UN truc à lui dire.
Ben non. Montrer un pin’s suffit. Dont acte.

Rentrons à Shoinjinjamae…On va se baffer un Ramen dans le boui-boui à coté de Summit, non ?
Summit est un supermarché, mais comme son nom est toujours écrit en katakana, beaucoup de japonais dont ma copine n’ont aucune idée de ce que ça veut dire. On prononce SAMITO, ce qui m’évoque plutôt le protocole des sages de Sion et les colonies d’Ebron que le poulet d’Iwate et son ponzu. Mais ça ne regarde que moi.

スーパーマーケット

すうぱあまあけっと ・ suupaamaaketto・supermarché

En tout cas, je choppe la honte en faisant le mec qui sait commander en japonais…Sauf que je me souviens plus ce que j’ai bouffé la dernière fois, alors j’hèle la serveuse et lui demande la suggestion de l’échoppe. Ces 2 trucs, là ? Ok, un de chaque.
Baptiste obtient le truc que j’ai déjà gouté (ouf !) et moi, le ramen à assembler soi-même. Sauf que sur le coup, je me loupe et vais pour verser la soupe sur les nouilles au lieu de faire l’inverse, ce qui a pour effet de déclencher l’hilarité de la cuisine qui a le bon goût de nous bloquer avec un sens inné de la politesse pendant la première minute de slurpage, genre « j’évalue les décibels et checke, au cas ou il feraient d’autre bulles ».

Cela dit, on se casse le ventre, comme on se le cassera presque tous les jours, d’où les 2 kilos 5 de trop que je me traine désormais.

Samedi, je travaille, donc là suite, c’est dimanche à Asakusa.

As I mentioned in the previous post (Click here to see it), for 母の日 (Mothers Day) yesterday my wife and I went on a date and then our daughters prepared a delicious カレーライス (Curry & Rice) dinner!

It was a very nice day.

For our date, my wife and I first stopped by the 神田祭り (Kanda Festival). (Click here to see my short mention about this festival on my Festivals In Tokyo page).

The 神田祭り (Kanda Festival) is one of the three biggest festivals in Tokyo.

From there we went to 吉祥寺 (Kichijouji) in western Tokyo and looked around there.
We had a late lunch at the very popular 「いせや」 (Iseya) restaurant.
This restaurant is famous for it’s やきとり (skewered chicken). It’s not a fancy-type restaurant like those in 表参道 (Omotesandou, Tokyo) or 六本木ヒルズ (Roppongi Hills)…it’s a blue-collar kind of place.
But the food is very good but not expensive…so they have many customers. (Actually, I feel more comfortable in working class type places than in five star restaurants. It’s my style.)

We had a good food…and a few beers.

After lunch, we looked around some more…then we went home to enjoy the wonderful dinner that my daughters made for Mothers Day!

It was a very nice day.

Here are some photos from the 神田祭り (Kanda Festival):

Making カルメ焼 ("Karume-yaki")