…PURIKURA!!
Eller pura din kura, som Sabina säger, hehe.

Då var allt klart.. alla inställningar, bilder, webadress, reklam på Facebook osv osv.. allt KLART!
Om ni vill hitta ett gammalt inlägg finns det på denna adress:

http://www.dimsum.se/blogg/Purikura.nu/

Jag satt och tänkte på alla för och nackdelar med att flytta till WordPress.
Jag kom inte på mycket men det jag tänkte på var..

Fördelar: Jag kommer kunna se kommentarer. Jag kommer kunna blogga från min iPhone. De hade massor av olika applikationer som gjorde sidan mer användarvänlig och praktisk.

Nackdelar: Jag kan inte lägga upp hur mycket bilder som jag vill. Utrymmet på WordPress är 3 GB och vill man uppgardera detta så måste man betala. Hoppas dock det är engångssummor och inte per år. Jag kan inte heller designa inläggen hur jag vill, om jag inte lär mig massa kodning och det orkar jag verkligen inte just nu.

Så det var inte så mycket att tänka över.. WordPress vs iWeb.. WordPress är vinnaren!

Here we go again…

I’ve spent the morning reading “You know your not in Houston any more” lists and looking up the menu for Outback Steakhouse to see if they actually have Blue Bell ice cream. Seriously contemplating going. If only there was Mexican food here… My eyes kinda teared up when I saw “tex-mex” nachos on the menu.

I would kill for a buffalo cheeseburger from Bubba’s accompanied by a few Shiner Bocks. I’d kill a buffalo.

Entering into Texas-withdrawl, I beginning to dream about juicy steaks, fried okra, pecan pie, taquitos, kolaches, tortillas, and BBQ ribs. This morning I lay in bed thinking about how I could and did frequently eat alone at cafes or little burger joints, without any feelings of being alone or abnormal.

Perhaps this spurs from my little jaunt into Japanese cuisine last night. I came into a large amount of money (large to me, I’ve somehow been subsisting on 5000 yen a week… Lord knows how. I spend 2000 yen in transportation. 1000 yen, at least, in drinking. And that leaves 2000 yen for food even with the 100 yen shops, it’s cutting it close. Needless to say, I’m finding it easier and easier to pull on my skinny jeans in the mornings.– oh, the money came from working at the TJK high school festival last weekend. It’s about 6000 yen for having a great time.) and wanted to celebrate with a real meal. The friends I could contact all had plans and since I left my phone in my apartment I was unable to call Naomi, who usually shares Thursday’s evening meal time with me. I decided to try eating alone. In Aobadai, the station near my apartment, many restaurants thrive on the commuters who pass through. I really wanted Ramen since the weather has turned cold. I’d been to one of the Ramen shops with Naomi so I knew the drill (some restaurants here have specific ordering rituals, like purchasing a ticket prior to entry that states what you want and then handing it over as you seat yourself, other places have menus with pictures which makes it easy to order, others have only Japanese– also some restaurants require you to take off your shoes or sit in a specific place or have a group with you). And wanted to eat there, however, as I passed by the Ramen shop, no one was in there so I walked onwards. It was early yet- 5:30pm. I found an Indian restaurant, a Jamaican bar, a German sausage shop, a few Japanese izakayas, an Italian cafe,  a curry shop and some quick dining spots in addition to a McDonald’s, A KFC, and a Wendys. Lots of the places didn’t open until 6 so I walked around for a little while and decided that for my first forray into the world of single dining I would go to the quick dining spot which has cheap meals and the ticket dispenser thing. I followed a young woman inside and ordered. I was the only gaijin and sat at the long table that circles the kitchen. I placed my ticket down and tried to figure out what to do with myself. In America, I’d have a book and a secluded table to myself but here I was out in the open where everyone could see I was an American female and eating alone. The other female seemed to be getting something to go and shortly departed into the night. I was surrounded by men. But then my food came and I began my meal with a mumbled “Itadakimasu” threw some pickled ginger over the meat bowl, broke an egg over my rice, and handled my chopsticks like a pro. Ate as fast as I could since speed in eating alone is imperative here. These kids are in and out in like 10 minutes. I later got a tummy ache… in the future I will eat a a steady pace. Anyway, since I overcame the first eating alone challenge I will not explore some of my other options. Might even go to the mysterious cafe right near my apartment; they have no windows and only the entry door which is wooden… sometimes when I pass by it’s slightly ajar and I can see some people inside.

Anyway, TJK high school festival was immeasurably fun! I woke up early on Saturday and met my friend Yuki in Shibuya to take a bus to the TJK high school campus.

The entrance to TJK High School

The school itself was huge in comparison to my college. We made out way up to the 6th floor and to the TJK college booth. It was an advertisement for the multicultural dimensions of the college and we offered Hello Kitty trinkets in exchange for successfully completing a quiz on international things (the quiz itself was only 8 questions long but was quite difficult… There would be a poster board filled with information on a subject and then a question relating to the subject: highest grossing film in the US, which word is not from the American Indians, what do Finnish people believe that Santa rides, what country does not border China, ect…) I with the help of a translator got 7 questions right ( the one I got “wrong” was highest grossing film of 2009 which I said was Transformers and actually is… the answer they gave was X-Men… and because they were wrong I didn’t get a Hello Kitty trinket >.<). No one actually got all 8  questions right on the first day… so there were lots of Hello Kitty things left over for the second day.

My job was to hand out the impossible quiz.

Our booth was set up in a classroom.

Harumi and I greet all the passers-by and give them chupa-cups!

The TJK International Team!

English and Korean are some of the languages taught to TJK so we represented those countries!

I got to sneak away from my post to attend a traditional tea ceremony. This is after the ceremony. I’m next to the submerged boiling pot for the tea and pretending to hold the tea bowl. I learned all about the ritual which involves a lot of bowing, honorifics, turning of the tea bowl ect…

MAMMA MIA HERE WE GO AGAIN MY MY HOW COULD I FORGET YOU!!! Amazingly well-choreographed!

The TJK high school festival was astounding. Much better than the TJK college festival… sadly. But in Japan they really take high school seriously more so than college, it seems.

After the festival I went with a bunch of the booth workers into Shibuya for crepes and Purikura:

Purikura 1

Purikura 2

Purikura 3

Purikura 4: I decorated this one. I like bows!!

Purikura 5!

Purikura 6

My 5 day weekends will be ending this Sunday. Dr. Nickum is returning from Spain and so his classes will commence again. I’m actually pretty relieved. I need structure for optimal performance and all these lazy days have made me a bit sedentary. I’m looking forward to working hard again.

This Sunday is 3-5-7 day where children (girls and boys aged 3 and 7 and boys aged 5) gather a their neighborhood Shinto temple to celebrate youth. I’m planning on going to visit Rebecca’s host family’s shrine to see all the little kids dressed in kimonos. It should be wonderful.

So I’ll have some interesting things to update with soon. I’m planning on posting more now that school will be kicking in a little bit. I seem to be more productive when I’m busier.

Also coming up: a trip to Kamakura, Chef’s Western dance party, Thanksgiving with my Parents in downtown Tokyo, Disney Sea, Mt. Fuji, and more!

Cute Purikura Online cute

Can you find Benno? Whoops! He turned into a cat woman.

Cute Purikura Online cute

Halloween 2009 was on a crackin’ this year in the Mission District. Thanks to some last minute makeup and wardrobe assists from Mariela and my Mom, I became Zombie Frida. Even for a flesh-rotten member of the undead community I was quite the hot mess.

Mariela on the other hand looked great as a vampire. We hooked up and haunted the streets of the Mission in search of blood, brains, and candy.

Zombie Frida herself was a character I created a couple of years back for a series of comic strips that I did about raising the undead.

Since I’ve been doing so much about Purikura these days I think I’ll leave you all with something from the motherland. Here is infamous multi-ethnic Japanese adult-film superstar Maria Ozawa taking part in some Halloween Purikura which she posted on her blog.

Peace,

Rio

Acciones Plásticas プリクラ

Acciones Plásticas プリクラ is a collaboration between artists Maya Escobar and Rio Yañez.

The Latina Hipster
a bad-ass Morrissey-lovin’, tuff-girl sexy chica

The Latina Role Model
a diploma totin’ intellectual, sexy, social media goddess

The Homegirl
a hybridized version of Escobar’s Midwestern Chach and Yañez’s West Coast Chola.

In Acciones Plásticas Escobar created a multi-faceted “doll” by assuming the role of designer and distributor, and even posing as the actual doll itself.  Each doll was a satirical characterization of some of the many roles that have been projected upon her, and into which she has, at points, inevitably fallen. In conjunction with these images, she developed a short series of low-definition youtube video blogs through which she inhabits the lives of “real women” who have each been visibly defined by societal constructs.

Recently, Yañez has been utilizing Japanese photobooths (known as Purikura or “print-club”) as an artist’s tool for creating portraits. These booths are much more common in Japan than their United States counterparts. As a catalyst for creative expression and social interaction they are used primarily by young urban Japanese girls. A standard feature in all Purikura booths allows the user to digitally decorate their portraits after they take them. The options are vast and include wild characters, excessive starbursts of light, pre-made phrases and the option to draw your own text directly on the image. Purikura gives the subjects near-divine powers of self-expression in crafting their own portraits.

The two artists who met over the web, decided to bring together Escobar’s highly charged and evocative Acciones Plásticas characters with Yanez’s notorious Chicano graphic-art style and new found obsession with Purikura images, as a way of addressing the construction of Latina identities.

Maya posed as The Latina Hipster: a bad-ass Morrissey-lovin’, tuff-girl sexy chica; The Latina Role Model: a diploma totin’ intellectual, sexy, social media goddess; and finally, The Homegirl: a hybridized version of Escobar’s Midwestern Chach (or Chachi Mama) and Yañez’s West Coast Chola.

Maya sent digital images to Rio, who in turn drew portraits of her as each of these constructed identities. He approached each portrait with a Purikura sensibility and decorated them each as the characters represented might accessorize themselves.

The final series of portraits is the result of negotiating multiple identities and influences. Guatemalan, Jewish, and Chicano sensibilities reflected back through a Japanese Purikura aesthetic. Acciones Plásticas プリクラ challenge and question the thin line between archetype and stereotype. The Purikura elements present the novel signifiers of each social construct represented in the series.

This collaboration is the first of many to come as Maya and Rio explore the commonalities and differences of their cultural identities.

For more information on Acciones Plásticas プリクラcheck out Rio’s blog and stay tuned for guest post by seeNoga aka Carianne Noga on meeting the Chach Homegirl in real life.

(video of the Chach featured below)

At long last my top-secret collaboration with artist Maya Escobar can be revealed. Our artist statement follows the images. Big ups to Carianne Noga for helping Maya and I get this project going.

Acciones Plásticas プリクラ is a collaboration between St. Louis based artist Maya Escobar and San Francisco based artist Rio Yañez.

Maya Escobar is a Guatemalan-Jewish digital media and performance artist, currently living in St. Louis.  Her work addresses issues of cultural hybridity, gender, placelessness, and the construction of identity. Rio Yañez is a Chicano curator, photographer, and graphic artist based out of San Francisco. His work utilizes and challenges Chicano mythology and visual iconography.

In Acciones Plásticas Escobar created a multi-faceted “doll” by assuming the role of designer and distributor, and even posing as the actual doll itself.  Each doll was a satirical characterization of some of the many roles that have been projected upon her, and into which she has, at points, inevitably fallen. In conjunction with these images, she developed a short series of low-definition youtube video blogs through which she inhabits the lives of “real women” who have each been visibly defined by societal constructs.

Recently, Yañez has been utilizing Japanese photobooths (known as Purikura or “print-club”) as an artist’s tool for creating portraits. These booths are much more common in Japan than their United States counterparts. As a catalyst for creative expression and social interaction they are used primarily by young urban Japanese girls. A standard feature in all Purikura booths allows the user to digitally decorate their portraits after they take them. The options are vast and include wild characters, excessive starbursts of light, pre-made phrases and the option to draw your own text directly on the image. Purikura gives the subjects near-divine powers of self-expression in crafting their own portraits.

The two artists who met over the web, decided to bring together Escobar’s highly charged and evocative Acciones Plásticas characters with Yanez’s notorious Chicano graphic-art style and new found obsession with Purikura images, as a way of addressing the construction of Latina identities.

Maya posed as The Latina Hipster: a bad-ass Morrissey-lovin’, tuff-girl sexy chica; The Latina Role Model: a diploma totin’ intellectual, sexy, social media goddess; and finally, The Homegirl: a hybridized version of Escobar’s Midwestern Chach (or Chachi Mama) and Yañez’s West Coast Chola, who sticks up her middle finger in what appears to be an act of defiance, but really is her protective shield.

Maya sent digital images to Rio, who in turn drew portraits of her as each of these constructed identities, approaching each portrait with a Purikura sensibility and decorating them each as the characters represented might accessorize themselves. The final series of portraits is the result of negotiating multiple identities and influences. Guatemalan, Jewish, and Chicano sensibilities reflected back through a Japanese Purikura aesthetic. Acciones Plásticas プリクラ challenge and question the thin line between archetype and stereotype. The Purikura elements present the novel signifiers of each social construct represented in the series.

This collaboration is the first of many to come as Maya and Rio explore the commonalities and differences of their cultural identities.

Ok, I have some big news(good, bad, I don’t know yet). The people that have my facebook may already know, but for those that don’t know, just wait till I’m done with writing about my week.

On sunday I went to karaoke and took purikura with my classmates, Haruna, Yuuki and Emiko. I sang soooo many songs, but I wasn’t that good > < It feels like all the japanese people are good at singing, that they are born with that great singing voice… butbut…
We were together for about 7 hours that day < and after school I met up with Yuki, she is from YESI (the company I'm with here in japan), she wanted to talk to me about the thing that you'll read about on the bottom of the page, before the pictures though.

Thursday was math, a bit boring, japanese for the exchange student, fun and boring, it depends on when I get it or not, and then english.. We had a test today, and Stephan, I got 24 out of 30 xD but honestly, for me, the best I can get is 25, because 5 of the questions are all japanese, so I can't understand it. So I almost got perfect the place I failed at was here: "I f_ _ _ sick last week." I can't read what the japanese sentence says right, so I thought it was "felt" but it was "fell"… but oh well… and after english it was japanese with a kanji test for my classmates. What did I do? that I can't remember. And after school I went right home because I was going to cook "risgroet" for my hostfamily. I made it, but my hostmom said it had no taste xD oh well, I'll eat it myself ;P

Ok almost ending ~ two more days.

Friday: math, home economics, world history and homeroom. it was a boring day and my back is hurting because of the chair. But in club we had fun ~ because of some misunderstandings, we didn't get to use the track and field because the soccer and baseball club were going to use it. So we had to go to the beach ~ haha ~ there we ran 20-30-40-50-60-70-80-70-60-50-40-30-20 meters. wuhu ~ running of the beach is nice^^ in december we're having a morning-beach-marathon, maybe I'll join.

Today I have to go shopping and buy somethings, because…. I'm changing hostfamily next week ! On saturday. and its not sure if I'll be able to write every week as I'm doing now, sorry guys. but we'll see. And because I'm changing hostfamily, and I don't know of I'll have time to write about the up coming week, I'll tell you guys what I'm planing on doing:

Tomorrow I'm going to a halloween party with my japanese friends ~ I'll take lots of pictures and we'll see when I get them up on this page. On monday I only have club in my planbook. On tuesday we don't have school, so I'm going to meet up with Ellinor(the girl that came with me to japan from norway) we're going to have so much to talk about because we haven't seen each other for 2 month ! And on wednesday its club and also we're going to have a ball competition between classes, and I'm on the volleyball team, I hope we'll do good and have fun =3 thursday is the ball competition too.
On friday I'm going to not go to club because my hostmom told me to get home early. Maybe shes holding a byebye party for me :O awwww. but I don't know, she just told me to get home as quickly as possible. and then on saturday I'm changing family. The new family is a father (61), mother (51) and a sister (21), but she doesn't live at home. I don't know that much about them, but you guys will get the info when I get it, and have time to write it.

thats all that has happened and is going to happen. now I have to go eat and get ready, because I'm going to buy the things I need. and for those who are wondering : I'm buying a USB, so that I can put the pictures over and be able to take more, because my camera is soon full, and I need to buy school socks and a school shirt. anything more? I don't think so. Well then, enjoy the pictures and take care ~!!~

The week leading up to SOMArt’s Day of the Dead exhibit is always the busiest, craziest week of the year for me. I’m trying to return my life to a normal schedule while taking care of a few loose ends. I have so much to write about but not much time in the next couple of days. In the meantime enjoy these Purikura photos that I took with my homegirl Ava Alamshah.

Peace & Purikura,

Rio

Things that make me happy—

Purikura photos

Smiles

New stationery

Buttons

Bento

Markets

Kitsch

Unexpected quirky stuff

Chocolate

Second-hand bookstores

Rainbows

Swishy skirts and corsets

Twinkle lights

Historical places

Old photos

Bubbles in the wind

Exploring shops down little alleyways

Travelling places

People who laugh wholeheartedly

Noticing the little things

Watching the rain from inside and nice and cosy

Steam trains and old ships

Tea parties and tea things

Pink

One of the biggest drawbacks of working at my company is that my life essentially belongs to them. What I mean is, there is a section of my policy manual that pretty much says, “You better watch what you put on the internet.” As this is a public blog, and as such can be accessed by anyone with a computer, the kinds of information that I post can potentially be a little too “sensitive” for the public eye. There are two reasons behind this.

One. As an employee for my company (and a very visible one at that, since I’m a foreign employee and easily capture the most attention) anything I do becomes representative of both my country—the US—and of my company. Public image is an important thing for any company, but it is even more important for a private English school, because what one foreign teacher is like at one school becomes what every foreign teacher is like at every school. A tough position, I’d say.

Two. As a publicly-traded company that has a bevy of clients (the students) that entrust their personal information to each school, there is the potential for that information to leak, cause damage to a client(in the form of embarrassment, harassment, etc), and cost the company lots of money to rectify damage to the client and/or to its public image. An equally tough or even tougher position, I’d say.

By no means is my company a bad company; I’m just explaining why it took me a bit to write my next blog entry. And it’s not that I’m going out and doing tons of bad gaijin things to create a bad image for my company, but more so along the lines of becoming good friends with students and wanting to write about my fun adventures with them. But that’s treading on thin ice.

There were many fun and interesting things that have happened over the past few weeks that are safe to write about, though. Or in today’s case, to post pictures of.

Goodies

My best friend and other half, Derrick, was awesome enough to arrange a care package for me with a few of the best things America has that Japan doesn’t. Tapatío, Mac & Cheese, Rice-a-roni, taco shells (3 out of 12 made the trip unscathed) and masks to prevent me from catching H1N1. Thanks to Phil and Olivia for their contribution too. It seriously made my day to know that despite all of the fun I’m having here in Japan making new friends and such, that my friends back home still care!

My lost love

OK, a little bit gay, but I guess the care package that Derrick sent merits a picture like the one above (his last name is Lui).

Purikura 1

Purikura 2 - Zoolander

Purikura 3

Purikura 4 - Ramen

And because I’m what the Japanese call rabu-rabu, I’ll finish today’s entry with 4 completely unrelated pictures that me and my girlfriend took at a purikura (print club) booth.

Until next time!

I realized that I haven’t blogged for a while, sorry about that. The truth is that I haven’t really had much to tell. I go to class, eat lunch then hang out in the lounge, pretty much that. On the days off I try to go see something new, or meet up with friends. Last weekend we ended up going to a Japanese restaurant , or izakaya, as they’re called. We were about 30 people, mixed Japanese and gaijins (ok, you all should know by now what a gaijin is, so I’m not explaining it anymore), and the sole purpose for this was to get to know each other better, and, of course, the nomihoudai (all-you-can-drink). Obviously we also ended up going to karaoke afterwards. Of course. We’re in Japan after all.

Some of the 30 people.

Karaoke!

On Saturday I traveled in to Shibuya to meet up with Haruka, one of my friends back from Växjö Uni (she was an exchange-student there), and we took a stroll around the block. While figuring out what to do, we bumped in to H&M…and it was the biggest freckin’ H&M that I’ve ever seen! FOUR stories high! Apparently there’s one 7 stories high back in Harajuku…gotta see that one too…

H&M – the Japanese version.

Being very Swedish (sometimes), I had to go in and have a peek. And shop…

 My new H&M-shoes! <3

Going in to H&M showed itself to be a minor adventure, since it was packed with people, and awesome clothes…also, finding and getting to the escalator to go either up or down proved to be quite a test itself. But it was fun, I have to go back some day soon, when there’s hopefully less people there (yes, I know, as if that will ever happen…).

After this little adventure, we went to the top of some very luxurious mall (brands that basically charge you just for looking at their products!), to a restaurant/cafe, where I ate gold. Yes, gold. I’m not joking. It was the most expensive cake that I’ve ever eaten in my entire life (almost 1000 yen for a tiny piece of chocolate-cake with some gold on top of it and a drink!), but at least now I can say that I’ve eaten gold. And no, I had no idea it had gold on it when I ordered it.

My choco-gold-cake (sorry for the bad photo).

On Sunday I headed back out again, since it had been Alyssa’s birthday a few days earlier, so I met up with her, Sonia, Chris W, Kate, Alex (the girl – there’s three Alex’s in our class, two guys and a girl. Quite confusing sometimes), Nathan and Alyssa’s friend Vincent. Lunch in Crea Mall then off to – guess where? Oh yes! – karaoke! For four hours this time! Great fun, and quite interesting, not to mention cheap when you go karaoke:ing without taking the nomihoudai! To commemorate this event, we got in to a purikura-booth and took some photos, here’s one:

Purikura!

Purikura is yet another very Japanese phenomenon, that I’ll take the time to fully explain some other time. Remind me to do so, because I’ll definitely forget. It’s fun though!

To talk about my life here in more general terms, I can tell you that the weather has been really bad lately, due to yet another annoying typhoon that’s blowing around right outside Japan. Luckily we don’t live along the coast, so over here’s it’s just raining and cold, sometimes windy, but that’s annoying enough. Hopefully the wind will be so strong tomorrow that the trains will be cancelled, which means that the utterly boring literature-class will be cancelled! Please, please, please!!!

Talking about class, well the Japanese class is same old, same old. There are days when I can hear myself scream inside my head, wondering if I’ll ever learn this language as well as I speak English, but I’ve told myself that I will! That’s my resolution! Ganbarou! History and literature, on the other hand, are just plain boring! Why do we have to take these classes? I came here to study Japanese, not take classes in English! Gah! Luckily these classes give me time to catch up on my facebooking and general internetting… Oh right, I forgot that my coordinator in Sweden reads this too, so just forget what I just wrote, I’m a goooood student, as always! Promise! I actually do take notes, at least during the history-class when I copy the teachers power point presentation! (^_^)v  But seriously, do I really need those credits? Really? Yes, yes, I’ll do my best, but the classes are still boring as hell! At least the history-teacher is good… To my defense I can say that I’m definitely not the only one to feel this way for these classes – everyone (that I’ve spoken about it with) feels the same way!

By the way, we’ve got mid-term exams coming up next week and the week after…Wish me luck…

Morgens wurden wir alle davon  geweckt, dass Chie und Miu an der Tür klingelten…Beziehungsweise ich bin davon aufgewacht und An mussten wir wecken^^ Ich verstehe nicht, wie man so tief schlafen kann! Wir haben unsere Sachen gepackt und sind zur Izumitamagawa-Station gelaufen. Wir sind mit dem Zug nach Shinyuri gefahren, wo die Mädels gleich zielstrebig auf eine Einkaufspassage zuliefen, die direkt direkt am Bahnhof war. Im 5.Stock gab es einen großen Purikurabereich mit bestimmt 10 verschiedenen Automaten. Wir haben gleich angefangen und waren in 3 Automaten. Danach haben sich die Mädchen nochmal versucht, an einem Automaten Handyanhänger zu gewinnen, haben aber bis auf Miu nichts gewonnen. Ich habe mich dann doch überreden lassen, obwohl ich es eigentlich vermeiden wollte, weil es irgendwie süchtig macht^^ Ich habe dann aber immerhin für 100￥ zwei Radiergummis in Erdbeertortenform abgeräumt und hatte somit Grund genug gleich wieder aufzuhören^^

Wir haben dann noch ein paar Läden durchstöbert und mussten feststellen, dass East Boy-Cardigans [Für die Schuluniform!] um die 7000￥ kosten -_- Meine Schreibwarenartikelkaufsucht [Ich denke das Wort gibt es so nicht^^!?] wurde dann auch noch befriedigt, als wir eine Art Merchandiseshop fanden, der auch meine geliebten japantypischen Blöckchen hatte! Ich habe mir auch gleich einen Ichigoichie-Block gekauft

Weil wir mittlerweile alle ziemlichen Hunger hatten, sind wir dann zu Wendy’s Essen gegangen…Ich fand’s nicht soo überzeugend und teuer irgendwie auch…Wir haben dann noch die Purikura aufgeteilt. Gar nicht so einfach das fair hinzubekommen^^ Meistens endete es mit einer Runde Janken, die ich zum Glück erstaunlich oft gewonnen habe

Als wir alle aufgeteilt hatten, sind wir wieder in den 5. Stock und waren nochmal in zwei Purikuraautomaten. Insgesamt sind bestimmt um die 50 Purikuras herausgekommen! Es war mittlerweile schon 4 Uhr und wir haben uns auf den Heimweg gemacht. Zuhause angekommen, sind die anderen gleich wieder mit den Fahrrädern losgezogen und weil sonst auch niemand da war, bin ich an den Computer, habe meine Mails gecheckt und siehe da: Ich habe bei Mixi [Ich weiß nicht, ob ich's sch0nmal erzählt habe, aber Mixi ist das japanische Pendant zu SCV, facebook, WKW, StudiVZ, MeinVZ usw.] eine Freundschaftseinladung bekommen Ich habe natürlich gleich nachgeguckt. Sie war von Shiori und es war gleich noch eine nette Nachricht dabei. Ich habe natürlich angenommen und auch gleich geantwortet.Als ich ihre Freunde durchgeschaut habe, habe ich auch noch das ein oder andere bekannte Gesicht aus meiner Klasse entdeckt und hinzugefügt!  Langsam wird Mixi interessant^^

Nach dem Abendessen habe ich noch mit An zusammen die Purikura eingeklebt und mir ihre Sammlung angeguckt und dann waren wir noch im Bad. Es sind alle recht früh ins Bett gegangen, weil außer mir ja niemand am nächsten Tag frei hatte…

Hola! He estado muy ocupada! Les Regalo mis purikura ya que estoy muy contenta porque tengo más tiempo para estudiar para mis examenes.

Besos

The last post was dedicated to Japanese photo ops… and this is basically a continuation of that, except so much more!

After Satomi and I had finished with the Aquarium and Suntory museum, she took me to an arcade. She was looking for something but wouldn’t tell me what. When we arrived at our destination, it was a little city of photobooths. What looked like 20 of them just sitting in a corner of an arcade, surrounded by crane games, taiko drums, dancing games, and cars. We wandered around the little city until I saw one with a nautical theme (well, it was called “marine mint”).

The Marine Mint photo booth. The start of my adventure into the unknown world of PURIKURA.

There were various claims on each booth such as “booth will make skin creamy like never before, delicious!” or “open  eyes to unknown beauty. Make eyes gorgeous like model.” In the States, I have been in a photo booth before and I’ve even been in a photo sticker booth (I still have those stickers with my mother and me and with Bean and Joy from 6th grade or so). However, I was unprepared for this. Thank goodness Satomi was there to help me/ guide my hand. She said her friend were PURIKURA MASTERS. I was more than a little intimidate and I still thought it was just a photobooth.

So we go inside and deposit our luggage into the marked luggage space. This isn’t a big deal as I’ve been posing for photo ops all day long. Suddenly Satomi activates the thing and she asks me to choose from millions of photos which have two girls posing in different ways with various backgrounds. She instructs me to pick three and she’ll pick three. Already I was overwhelmed. I rely on my gut feeling and choose three out of the blue, keeping in mind I should be aiming for KAWAII (cuteness). Only after i’ve picked do I realize there were pages more to choose from. Oh well, next time. So then after a brief recovery period, Satomi tells me that I need to start posing. Each photo that we chose pops up

Camera in booth with cute girls we're supposed to emulate.

on a screen and then begins a countdown, I assume we’re suppose to pose just like the pictures so I try my best to contort myself into cute positions just like the tiny and gorgeous girls who are our models for the session. I look into the vacuous hole where the eye of the camera stares into our beings as it searches for flaws to enhance. We take what seems like to be a hundred photo squeezed into a 3 minute time span. And finally it tells Satomi that we’re done. I’m so relieve that I grab my bag and begin to return to non-posing mode (harder than you think… I’m quite the poser). Our day’s work appears on a screen and we are forced to choose 4 of the 6 photos. OK, I can do that. Well, this one’s cute and that one’s pretty neat… only 5 seconds left to choose? There was a ticking clock wherever we went in the booth, we could never escape the rushing of seconds past our ears.  We managed to narrow it down to 4 photos, although we were really just pressing random photos to beat the clock. FINALLY, this ordeal is over!!! We get stickers! YAY!

Not so fast, KT. Now comes the fun part! Satomi takes my hand and pulls me behind another curtain. Apparently, the city of photobooths only consists of 4 megaplexes of purikura fun. There are multiple stations for each booth. And this time, I was in the editing booth… so once more against the sound of a ticking clock, Satomi and I devided the four photos among ourselves. Picking up her stylus, she told me to decorate the photo with hearts and words.  With a wave of the stylus you could navigate pages of editing tools from wigs to sparkles, to text and borders, plus thousands of cute objects with which to pepper the photo.

Once I poked around a little bit, I started to get the hang of it. The trick of this trade is to make the picture as disgustingly cute as possible… I’m still new at this but given a few more 500 yen coins, some time with that styles, and a week’s worth of Bikram yoga, I too could be a PURIKURA MASTER!

Now the goods: These were the photos sent to Satomi’s phone which she forwarded to me. I also have all of these in sticker form which Satomi and I split with scissors, placed handily near the purikura area.

Satomi's Purikura... what talent! We look so kawaii!

Satomi's 2nd Purikura... I love the color coordinated bows and text!!

ARE YOU READY FOR MY PURIKURAS??? HECK YES!

MY FIRST EVER PURIKURA! I even discovered how to color our hair! Sugoi!

My 2nd ever PURIKURA! Kawaii! Please note that all poses were mere imitations of the model pictures.

OMG. SO MUCH FUN. I’m definitely going to do that again… and as often as possible hereafter. Why doesn’t the US have such a great creative outlet for young girls to express themselves?

The big question is which one of those will I make into my facebook profile picture? Any suggestions?

BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS

The Rubber Ducky Project of 2k9: some ingenious person decided that Osaka's river needed a rubber ducky! IT WAS HUGE and SO CUTE

I love Japan. <3 .

It seems like I have been hustling on graphic design work 24/7 so today I took a break in the morning for an outing to Japantown with my homegirl Maya Chinchilla. We had one goal in mind: hit up pikapika and take some crazy-ass pictures. This was my second trip to pikapika and Maya’s first. Once again the guy who works there was super-friendly and helpful in helping us navigate the menus of the machines we used.

We used the Minna booth (below) and once again I was drawn to the Love Joker booth (above). This time around we used Love Joker’s Shiny Madonna theme. Love Joker has 3 aesthetic themes that you choose from before taking your photos and each theme has a different assortment of backgrounds and suggested poses. The Minna booth had an amazing array of color foil backgrounds that my scanner does not do justice to. Seen in person, they jump off each print.

I am more determined than ever to curate a Purikura exhibit. I can only imagine what kind of images artists and performers can create together with these magical photo booths. If anyone out there is interested in exhibiting or participating in such a show let me know.

Peace and プリクラ,

Rio

Like most South-east Asian countries, Japan is a photographic nation. I mean that two ways– of course, the landscape, people and architecture make for some great photographs but another amazing thing here are their staged photo shoots.  Every attraction Satomi and I would make an expedition to would include either before, after or during a place off to the side where after a short wait in line we could put our bags down, hand over our cameras, and climb on a dolphin or shout something loudly into a crowd.

This photoshoot is a short one; usually, two to three photos are taken by the photographer (he uses his camera for the first one and then your camera for a second one) with a smiling apprentice calling for you to do special poses that are attraction specific. After the shoot is over, you gather your bags and camera then head over to the photo booth where a copy of the professional’s is already printed out and tucked into a fashionable and appropriately themed sleeve. These are available for purchase usually around 1000yen ($10 us). Satomi and I always looked at the photo and smiled then said thank you very much but we won’t be buying it.

I wonder how much their actual profit is considering all those printed photos (not displayed on a screen as in America but printed out!!) and the fact that I never saw one being purchase. Why would you buy one if you just had a professional take your photo on your camera? It doesn’t make sense but I suppose the sleeve can help you reconstruct more memories. “Hey honey, remember when we bought this photo… even though the one on our camera is a better photo? Great times at Kaiyukan Aquarium!!”

Umeda Sky Building Lover's Photo. The floor lights up if you're a good couple... We had to convince them we were just friends.

Kaiyukan Aquarium's first photo op... and with a Whale Shark. When we were about to leave the aquarium like 4 hours later a woman had our photo in her hands and asked if we wanted to buy it... How did they know when to look for us?? Sugoi!

Kaiyukan's 2nd photo op...We're riding a dolphin. I have on a hat. Satomi is holding her signature symbol, a heart. We're happy!

While this isn't technically a photoshoot... It's a photo op and Satomi looks so darn cute!

We're lying on a TOTORO! And look at the little totoros in the upper left hand corner. Kawaii!

At this point, we were just doing any photo op that came across our that... I never figured out who this guy was. And we had to yell out something in Japanese... we were instructed to do the cheeks.

This was the photo op for the famous Glico advertisement. Nope, I had never heard of it until Naomi told me it was something I should see in Osaka.

The original Glico advertisement

A shopping district in Osaka at sunset.

BONUS BONUS BONUS:

BANANAMANIA!

I have a thing for bananas... just give me a banana and I can be occupied for hours... PLAYING BANANAPHONE!

Satomi looks like a model and I look like a conehead. >.< But she's very green to all this.

What's with this country and bananas? By the way, the only way I can successfully spell bannanas (that's how I would usually try to spell it) is because of Gwen Stefani... thanks LAMB.

I have more photo ops… but they are too epic to share with the others. Next post is my experience with PURIKURA.

and mei-by, lychee (LOL), and fob-ji.

and these nicknames come from the fob picture booth in downtown that most of us know as プリクラ (purikura aka print club).

the first one is mei’s hangout (her birthday was the 21st, but we hung out yesterday. and the first one is mine on my actual birthday (the 19th).

and last thursday, was this absolutely cute guy’s birthday, right? and so i gave him a tidge of cheesecake that i made originally for mei. and he works at this bubble tea place that the four of us (in the pictures) hang out. and the girl behind the counter with mr. irresistible half-whispers to him in chinese, “does that girl like you?” as i turn around to get back to our table. she probably thought that i didn’t understand chinese because i spoke to him in english. lol. i don’t know his response, but he probably said ,”no way!” or something along the lines of that.

also, our spoon penalties weren’t too bad because the guys we invited weren’t that cool or as fun as the one’s before, so the penalty was just to ask other people to play with us. but the first two guys we asked were these white dudes just visiting (one from ny and one from louisiana). it was one of guys’ birthday, so we sang to him. and then, he told us that nobody ever sang for his birthday so it was “the best birthday ever!!” i was really warm and fuzzy because we did such a silly little thing and he was so happy. :}

anyway, i’m SUPER procrastinating right now. i’ve got a giant LA homework assignment (mccormick, figures…) and since i didn’t get out of the class, i am holding myself responsible for this shiet. i will get this done because i went out all day saturday. my god!!

and mei got her license two days ago (friday) so she was super psyched about going places and doing shet and not taking public transportation. and she’s about to get her car in the next couple of weeks if her sister buys a lexus (LOL). which is weird, because i have a car but i’ve got no license. wtf…

since she got her license, mei wants to road trip and stuff and she wants to have a driving buddy… so i’m effing studying this damn hand book. i’m super determined!! i read it in bed and it’s actually kind of interesting. hahahahaha like the facts and stupid percentages and fine amounts and whatnot. lolol so after i get some facts concrete, my mother will test me or whatever and then, i will take this shiet! hopefully i can be like haoward and miss only one question. but then i can miss like 5 questions? or something to pass. hehe…

my cousin, marvin, wants to teach me driving too. lol he’s probably the best person to teach me cuz he’s a guy and he won’t nag me like my mom would. i’m sure my dad wouldn’t nag me, but he’d be too lazy to teach me… oh dang! it’d be like kevjumba and happyslip. hahaha

まぁ, i should get going on my homework. i shall kill stats first!! GRR!!

Saturday brought some new adventures, dear readers. Sarah, Trey, Shinoubu (one of Trey’s students), and I all piled in a car and went to Ikaho Onsen.

drunk as a skunk

Unlike the bulk of Japanese cities, which are built on plains, Ikaho is built on a mountain side, so it’s a very vertical town. There are something like 300 stone steps leading through the center of town, some of which are carved with a poem about the hotspring, written in the last century. By a female poet, no less! Sarah thought these were quite fetching.

At the base of these, there were some cool little cutout people we stuck our heads in. I think they were promotional items for some sort of tv show or movie or something.

I will kill you with my two chins!

Such a charmer!

Serendipitously, we managed to come to town at the time of a festival, and so got to see the hauling of a portable shrine down the many stone steps. No simple feat, I can tell you…

The opening music is called gagaku, and it’s essentially early court music that has now become synonymous with shinto ceremonies. Similarly, personifications of shinto dieties are dressed as court people of the same period. Kind of like how the catholic clergy look like a bunch of gothic period people. Sarah and I both took photos and shot video from the stairs, and as the parade surrounded us, we realized we had no where to go, and the huge shrine bore down. We ducked into a little alcove, and I nearly fell on a couple of priests. They were both kindly old men. Very cute in their little Heian period courtier outfits.

Next, it was on to the shooting galleries (cork guns – I won a pink pen!) and an archery range. I got all duded out in kyuodo gear and managed to hit the target once. I won a washcloth! Awesome.

Reasons why I kick ass

We ended the day with a foray into a lovely, horrid arcade, on a quest for the infamous PURIKURA!!!! Ah, the exclamation points can do this great gift to humanity no justice. At any rate, both Sarah and I were pleased as punch to undertake this delightful photo booth (most likely frightening or at least annoying the cooler, cuter high-school girls and their unfortunate boyfriends they may have drug along with them), Shinoubu was surprised (it was her first time), and Trey was trepidatious and less than impressed with the sparkly outcome. The machine allowed us to pick different backgrounds (natch), the size of our eyes (did we want them their normal size, or larger? Yes, Japanese technology has solved this great conundrum!), and what color we wanted our skin to be. I must add, dear readers, that some hyper-happy-cute techno music erupted from the side of the machine. I believe there were other lyrics, possible Japanese ones, but all I could understand was “jellybeans.”

Trey, Shinoubu, Sarah, and my big, fat head.	King me and Sarah of the sparkles

I was interviewed this weekend by Alejandro Paz for Anygüey and it was just posted today. I do intend to keep my word and design a tattoo for Alejandro. More on that story as it develops.

Yesterday Mariela and I ventured to Japantown, our first trip there in years. Rene and I go to the Kabuki theater all the time but we rarely go into any of the shops these days. I had been dying to check out New People, a brand new shopping center that recently opened. New People was launched by Viz Media; for those of you that don’t know, I actually used to work for Viz and their publication Animerica way back when. It’s crazy to think that the small company of about 20 that I started working with is now an expanding media empire.

The most fascinating shop at New People was BABY, the Stars Shine Bright the first flagship store of the Japanese Lolita Fashion brand. I had only seen Lolita fashion through magazines & computer screens and seeing a store full of these clothes was like being in a surreal movie set. What really caught my eye was a $38.00 tote bag from the store’s Alice and the Pirates line that featured the image below.

An image of the Virgin surrounded by a bleeding heart, roses, and a skull. This was very clearly not a Catholic motif but a reference to Chicano pop sensibilities. Is this a sign of things to come in Lolita fashion?

Mariela and I then walked over to the Kinokuniya building and quickly discovered pikapika. pikapika is a store with nothing but Japanese Purikura photobooths (about 10 in total I think). The place was closing soon and Mariela and I had just enough time to hop into a Love Joker booth and take a set of photos. I used to love Purikura booths as a teenager but DAMN, the technology has improved since then. The ring of diffused strobes that surround the touchscreen menu of the booth were impressive. After our shoot we were led to another section of the booth where we could decorate and draw on our photos using wacom-like pens. All the text of the machine was in Japanese but pikapika has helpful translation charts posted on the machine. The end result of our picture taking and decorating was printed out on a 4×6 sheet of sticker paper.

Making the photos was a fun experience and at $10.00 a pop, it wasn’t cheap but it was well worth it. My mind is now spinning with thoughts of curating an art exhibit of artists who create portraits of themselves with purikura booths. With all the machines at pikapika, there are endless possibilities for artists to create amazing images using them. If anyone is interested in participating in or hosting such an exhibit please let me know.

Peace,

Rio

I’ve been working this for the better part of the weekend, ready to reveal a cute little idea I had.  Now on my Facebook page you can visit a new section of photos collected in スタィル CHECK! – focused on where my fashion inspiration comes from. There will be more fashion to show off in this album, but it’s off to a good start!! Check it out.

Writers and Cats. You can’t have on without the other, for they are the Editorial Duo like mad.  Check out Aberdeen’s gallery on my Facebook Page.

Another little insight to the life of the Writer.  On Wednesday, I will be in another photoshoot! This one is going to be good – yoga in a graveyard like you’ve never seen before.

I was in Nagoya for a couple of days, and it was so refreshing after having been in Tokyo for so long.  Tokyo I think is a very interesting place, jam packed with people and  tourist attractions.  I’m sure those who live in the city find a lot of charm in their neighborhood, and many good places to spend their time.  But for me, Tokyo is not terribly exciting.  I think my favorite thing about Tokyo is simply people watching (I recommend the bird’s eye view from Starbucks of the famous Shibuya crosswalk).  I enjoy the novelty of it when I visit, but of all of the towns and cities in Japan that I have visited, Tokyo is probably where I would least want to live.  Compared to Tokyo, Nagoya is very relaxed, and people seem to mosey rather than the eternal rush Tokyo people seem to be in.

In Nagoya, most people stand on escalators, and there are even signs specifically telling you not to run on the escalators.  That wouldn’t fly in Osaka, let alone Tokyo.  Also, Nagoya has an interesting coffee breakfast culture.  In Nagoya coffee shops, you go to purchase a drink like coffee, tea, or café au lait and it will be accompanied by toast at the least or a breakfast set at the most.  Oh, and did I mention that Nagoya is much less expensive than Tokyo? Yeah, that was a relief.

So I’ve been catching up with my good friend Risa who lives in Nagoya, and she has been nice enough to let me stay are her place.  We did so many nostalgic things together, such as went to Izakaya, went to Oasis 21, shopped at Rote Rosa & El Rodeo, ate at Kushiya, went to Karaoke (they even now have a Maneki Neko in Nagoya, newly opened! Bara, I used your card & signed as you! Thanks!) and took purikura.

We went shopping in a few used clothing stores (古着屋) , which was great.  I bought a cute striped long sleeve shirt in of them, a store called さぼてん (Saboten).  This store was great, and the selection was discriminating and well organized.  I was also impressed with this store  because they reuse all their tags rather than wasting any square of paper. When I made my purchase they popped the tag off and neatly added it to a rubber-banded stack of tags for the same amount.  I could probably write an entire post just about the recycling here.

As I sit here anxiously waiting for the season premiere of Glee (and dreading, thus avoiding the premiere of SYTYCD), it looks like ballet companies are continuing with Asian fever, as NYCB will be heading to Tokyo in October to present a bunch of stuff.  I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing NYCB live, and although this needs to change someday it’s fair enough to say that a plane ticket to Tokyo is a LOT more than a ticket to New York.  Anyway, they’re presenting three different programs:

Program A:

• Serenade – haven’t seen it, bitter about that
• Agon – seen it on video
• Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux – saw like a minute of it in The Turning Point
• West Side Story Suite – seen the movie dance, but not this version

Program B:

• Concerto DSCH – never seen it
• Barber Violin Concerto – never seen it
• Tarantella – saw it on YouTube before the Balanchine Trust got to it
• Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no.2 – never seen it

Program C:

• Walpurgisnacht Ballet – never seen it (apparently, this one is replacing Grazioso)
• After the Rain – never seen it
• Dances at a Gathering – never seen it
• Symphony in Three Movements – never seen it

So if I were me (and I am) and had to choose one night to go, it would probably be Program B.  I don’t really know why, since Program C contains all works I’ve never seen, but the music for Program B seems to be the best suited for my tastes (Barber, Tchaikovsky, Gottschalk and Shostakovich makes for a good night!).  Not that any of this matters since I won’t be going anyway…so on to something more useful.

As I did when I heard ABT and SFBallet were going to China (read that entry here), I shall now write some slightly more useful than useless travel tips for going to Tokyo.  I actually spent a year living in Tokyo and I ADORE the city.  Whereas China is a country of fast paced hustle and bustle, Tokyo is laid back.  My kind of place…most of the time.  There are of course things that drive me crazy, in particular many may notice the snail pace at which Japanese people walk.  They take these itty-bitty steps and kind of mosey along, never in a hurry to get anywhere.  Which is fine and dandy since I consider myself to be on the slow side, but people in Tokyo are fifty times even slower than I am.  You see, the people of Japan love all things cute and for some bizarre reason, walking pigeon-toed is part of that aesthetic (why Fosse isn’t more popular over there, I’ll never understand), hooking an umbrella on one elbow and a huge unwieldy purse on the other.  As we all know, walking pigeon-toed is highly impractical and will drag a gait down to a laborious shuffle.  And when you have legions of these pigeon-toed walkers, a five minute walk to the closest train station becomes a trek where you are forced to hobble with the herd.

However, on the topic of public transportation, the trains are A+ in Tokyo.  It does take some time to get used to though, because the train map is considerably complex, and one must also take into consideration that the train lines lay on top of the subway lines, which have their own separate map.  Navigating the maps can prove to be difficult, although in my opinion navigating the stations themselves is worse.  Tokyo station is this massive who-knows-how-many-floors subterranean fortress, but luckily you probably won’t go there.  Now Shinjuku on the other hand, is a nightmare.  When I first arrived in Japan I had to go to Shinjuku many times for foreigner registration and stuff, or even just hanging out because there’s a lot to do there, and I would get lost every single time and sob hysterically to confused policemen as I tried to ask for directions.  Shinjuku and I have a better relationship now, but it is one that has had its fair share of trials and tribulations.  Needless to say, when you become comfortable with the trains in Tokyo, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something in life. 

Night view of Tokyo from Sunshine City Observation Deck. I'm really proud of this picture, so mock it and I'll pull your hair.

 (P.S. All pictures in this entry were taken by yours truly!)

As for some of the major tourist attractions in Tokyo, don’t bother with Tokyo Disney.  If you’ve ever been to a Disney theme park before, they’re all practically the same.  The only differences are that Tokyo Disney has a different arrangement of rides compared to the other parks.  There is a park exclusive to Tokyo, which is Disney Sea, and at first I thought people were saying Disney C, which made no sense, but eventually I figured out the land and sea connection.  My stupidity aside, Disney Sea has some unique features but nothing to write home about.  The nice thing about the Tokyo Disney parks is that they’re VERY clean and well maintained, as is all of Japan.  In fact, walking around in public, it is extremely rare to see a trash can (there are recycling bins for plastic bottles though).  Any trash you create, you must carry with you until the opportunity to dispose of it presents itself, so keep this in mind as traverse the streets of Japan.  My last thought on the Tokyo Disney parks however, is to let it be known that if you go as a couple, even if you’re just platonic friends, Japanese people will assume you’re on a date, because Disney is apparently a place to date.  Me and my quasi-wife Erina had no idea, and after our excursion all of our friends kept telling us they didn’t know we were dating.  Neither did we.

Welcome to Aggrabah...city of mystery...

Anyway, there’s also Tokyo Tower, which has some great views, but there’s really nothing else to do in the area.  Despite the fact that it is indeed taller than the Eiffel Tower, it doesn’t stand out amongst the skyscrapers.  The Imperial Palace is somewhat close, but that’s off limits to the public, so you can only admire it from afar (And should you choose that adventure there is nothing else to do in that parking lot).  So neither are really on top of the list of my recommendations, but if you want a “traditional Japan” fix and don’t have the funds to take a bullet train to Kyoto, Asakusa right in Tokyo is the place to go.  ‘Tis a temple with a lot of traditional shops, snacks, and things to see and do.  Blow smoke in your face, tie a prayer thingie to a tree, that kind of stuff.

Asakusa...this is the postcard shot EVERYONE takes. The lone white person is my friend.

This is all you can see of the palace. Now you don't have to bother with going.

FOOD.  Food is the best thing about Tokyo, and there are many goods to be had.  Here are some of my favorites:

Okonomiyaki – a pancake-ish thing that has cabbage, meat, and all kinds of different things in it. The rough translation of okonomiyaki means “cooked to your liking” so whatever toppings you want in it you get. Then you shmear it with the tastiest Japanese-ified Worcester sauce and Japanese mayonnaise, sprinkle it with dried bonito flakes and dust it with seaweed (nori). Sounds crazy, but we LOVE it, and most of the time you’ll cook it at the table with friends. It’s a good “gab over dinner” type of food, and my favorite restaurant for this in Tokyo is called Sakuratei, hidden in the heart of the fashionable Harajuku district.

Sushi, although more specifically kaitenzushi. “Kaiten” means rotating, and “sushi” changes to “zushi” when in a compound word. Don’t bother with fancy shmancy sushi places, because kaiten is the way to go. It’s cheap, it’s fresh, and it’s absolutely more fun to do. You get charged by the plate, and the color of the plate will indicate the price. You can also order more of something you liked, although a word of caution…you see, my voice is kind of weak and doesn’t carry well so I’m used to people not being able to hear me, and so one time I kept ordering hamachi (yellowtail) thinking the chefs couldn’t hear me, but the next thing I know and twenty plates of hamachi are coming down the belt. Oops.

Yakitori, which means “cooked bird” and it’s mostly chicken, but not always. There’s asparagus, meatballs, even cheese wrapped in bacon, and it is UTTERLY delicious and probably my favorite thing to eat in Japan. Observe friend Nanna here, enjoying a yakitori of some kind…in response to this picture she said “You know I’m a lady, I like my meat.”

Shabu-shabu! Fun to say and delicious to eat. The Japanese equivalent of Chinese hotpot, except I never got sick eating shabu-shabu. The broth is different, and you get all kinds of different vegetables like daikon radish and enoki mushrooms, and thinly sliced beef. You also get an assortment of tasty dipping sauces to enhance your dining experience.

Indian food. One of my favorite things about Tokyo is the abundance of Indian restaurants. This is where Indian Friday began its glorious tradition. I recommend going for lunch because that’s when they usually offer all you can eat naan.

 Not pictured is yakiniku, or “grilled meat” which is actually Korean if I do say so myself.  It’s mostly beef, marinated in a SEKRET sauce, and you grill it yourself at your table.  Shin-okubo is the Koreatown of Tokyo, and although you may get approached by missionaries, it is the place to go for good old fashioned yakiniku.  Oftentimes lunch specials will be all you can eat as well!

To go with food, you must also drink.  Vending machines are everywhere, and as I said before recycling bins for plastic bottles are the only form of waste receptacle you will find in public.  Japan is not really a place for 100% juice, and what you’ll often find are 2% juice + flavored sugar water drinks, so I would stick with tea if you’re looking for refreshment.  As for nighttime activities there are many izakayas (kind of like a sit-down bar…literally, you sit on the floor) which is great for a group of friends looking for drinks and eats.  Also plenty of bars everywhere, as the Japanese do like their alcohol, as evidenced by the abundance of alcohol in every convenience store.  If you’re looking to extend your nighttime activities into the wee hours and do some dancing, Shibuya station will be the starting point of your journey, as all the good clubs and bars are around there (don’t bother with Roppongi…it’s snobby and expensive).  No need to worry about the walk of shame either…Japan is an INCREDIBLY safe country (no guns) and even women can walk around by themselves at night and not have to worry.  In fact, many intoxicateers will simply sleep outside of train stations to wait for the first morning train, and are never bothered (My friends and I would actually find a 24 hour McDonalds and get a cheeseburger or five).

Friends at an izakaya.

A night under the stars in Tokyo. Don't worry, they were there before our dinner and after. I told you Tokyo is perfectly safe!

As for shopping…lots to buy!  Harajuku is the fashion district, a labyrinth of clothing shops and crepe stands.  Crepes are actually the only food you will ever see Japanese people eat in public, while walking.  In Japanese culture, eating while walking in public is simply not done…you should always sit down.  But with crepes, it’s perfectly acceptable and you can choose a more savory crepe with a hot dog or tuna salad inside of it, or a sweet one with ice cream or custard topped with syrup, fruit, or nuts (mine was always strawberries with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.  I know…boring.).  I always enjoy a good trip to Harajuku and you’ll see some “interesting” characters dressed in strange garb…I don’t even know how to describe them, and unfortunately I have no pictures, but people watching is a cherished pastime while travelling these streets.

If you’re looking for more high end shopping, try Ginza.  Japan is known for its pearl industry, more specifically the Mikimoto brand.  Lucky for you, I once watched an entire 20/20 special (or something like that) on Mikimoto pearls and their grading system.   Their finest pearls are graded as a triple “AAA,” and are white with a slight rose finish to the iridescent luster.  Pearls of course come in various colors, and Mikimoto has a fine selection of white, champagne, pink and probably black as well, but if you’re in the market for black pearls the best hail from Tahiti (don’t ask me why I know that).  Fascinated by the Mikimoto brand, my friend Liz and I would peruse the display cases and of course I took a few photos (with their permission of course!  Although the store clerks happily obliged, I could sense the confusion in their replies).  We even asked if Liz could try on one of the necklaces and I snapped a photo of that too.  But check these puppies out:

Over $10,000 on the left and a cold 5 on the right

And of course there are all the “cute” things in Japanland, home of Hello Kitty.  My friend Liz here stands in a little shop, next to a display of hand towels, each from a different city in Japan.  Japan is very into things that are exclusive to various regions, like certain fruits or cuisine.  The best part about going to Tokyo is that you don’t have to go to all of the other cities to try “Hokkaido special melons,” “Nagoya special misokatsu,” “Nakatsugawa sweet marron,” “Okinawa pineapple,” etc. because pretty much all of it is available in Tokyo.  So try some green tea chocolate from Kyoto or an Osaka style okonomiyaki and buy yourself some souvenirs that are supposedly exclusive to these regions.  Who’s to be the wiser?  (Besides me)

Hellooooooooooo kitty! (and beware of stray cats in Japan...they yowl and have gang wars and fight crows. I wish I were kidding)

Unfortunately, NYCB will be in Tokyo in October, and Japan’s iconic cherry blossom festival is in early spring.  But October is a great time to see the leaves changing colors, which you can see at Japanese gardens or take a train ride an hour or two out into the mountains for actual wilderness.  In my first Japanese culture class, my professor told me that in Japanese gardens the keepers will often rake up the leaves, select a few choice ones and “scatter them with intent” so that the garden still maintains some sense of naturalness.  Although judging by the effort, it just seems tedious to me.  Anyway, because chances are you won’t be in Japan this coming spring, I don’t mind sharing a couple of my cherry blossom (sakura) photos with you.

Shinjuku Park, Tokyo

Ueno Park, Tokyo

And last but not least, I shall tell you about my FAVORITE thing to do in Japan, which is purikura (short for “print club,” with a Japanese accent).  They’re like photo booths and you can find them at arcades and “UFO Catcher” places (the Japanese equivalent of claw machines where you can catch stuffed animals and plush toys), but are infinitely superior in every single way.  It’s an actual experience…there’s better lighting, different backgrounds, sometimes a “blue screen” like a movie, and other camera effects.  After the pictures are taken, you go around to the side of the machine where your pictures will pop up on a screen and you can use a touch screen to select the pictures you want, write things in, add borders and various stamps, make them glittery etc.  Then the machine prints out a sheet of your artwork with an adhesive backing for you, and the Japanese are always sure to have a table nearby with a pair of scissors so you can cut the pictures apart and share your sticker pictures with friends.  I was (still am) OBSESSED with doing this.  It’s super fun and cheap entertainment (400 yen per shoot).  Although, guys should be aware that groups of men are not allowed in the photo booths by themselves.  Apparently Japan was having problems with perverts taking pictures from underneath girls’ skirts while they were in photo booths, and you know how it goes when it takes only one person to ruin it for everyone else.  So now, men can only enter photo booths if they are with a girl (girls can of course enter by themselves).  Sexist and unfair, but it is what it is.  Besides, if you look like a foreigner, you can pretend that you can’t read, go in and get away with it anyway.  Regardless, we’re talking some high tech stuff here…you can even have the machine e-mail the pictures to a Japanese mobile phone, which I did and now share with you:

In short (or not), I love Tokyo, miss it very much and could go on and on but won’t (I didn’t even begin to talk about the bakeries!).  Instead, I shall leave you with a picture that I took at the Nagoya Aquarium for your amusement.  Plus Glee is starting and I need to wrap this up!

I want one.