Shinjuku Gyoen

Since I didn’t go with the international club to Mount Takao to see the changing leaves, my friend and I went to the nearby Shinjuku Gyoen to see them instead for 200yen. It was soooooooooooo pretty!

When we first got to the park, we decided to sit on the grass and eat lunch first. We splurged…by buying more than normal from Family Mart hahaha.

You know what I like about Tokyo? Having a huge and beautiful park in the middle of a skyscraper area.

We were planning on going to Tokyo Tower, but we didn’t want to go until it got dark, so we walked around Shinjuku a bit. We wanted to see what Kabukicho looked like during the day…before we venture there at night. So sketchy. We’ll definitely head back there at night…with a bigger group…preferably with a male present. We did come across a few host clubs though…with some hosts that I approved of. Maybe when/if I have some spare cash…

After we made our way out of Kabukicho, we stopped by a Hello Kitty store that I’ve been meaning to go to. I wish Hello Kitty stuff wasn’t so expensive and so…pink. Not a fan of pink.

Tokyo Tower
So after Shinjuku, we met up with a couple more friends and made our way to Tokyo Tower…finally. We’ve tried to go three times before, but it just never happened.

On the way there we came across the Zoujouji temple, so we stopped to have a look. Once again, I love being in Tokyo where you can see both old and traditional mixed in with the modern.

After that we finally walked towards Tokyo Tower!

After some yummy crepes, we bought our (expensive) tickets and went to the top. Sooooooooooo pretty at night! I could just sit there and stare out for a while if I wanted to.

And to top off my visit, I had to buy a Marimokkori riding Tokyo Tower. It was a must!

Afterwards, I separated from my friends and met up with another friend who I haven’t seen in a good year or so. She’s leaving Tokyo soon, so we got together for dinner & dessert in Shibuya (Negishi & Parco)…and free Arashi fan club pamphlets! Yum and yum. And now I’m exhausted, my feet/knees are killing me, but it was an awesome day.

Ichigaya, Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim with Centuria 200 film.

Asakusa & Ducky Duck

I don’t have class on Thursdays, and I promised myself that I would use Thursdays to explore around Tokyo. Sadly, I hadn’t actually done that…until yesterday! I’ve been wanting to check out Asakusa for a while, so I decided to finally get off my butt and go.

I started off with the typical tourist route and headed straight to Sensoji.

Nakamise shopping arcade

They sold a lot of random things here. There was a lot of “Japanese” stuff like cheap kimonos, yukatas, fans, swords, lanterns, chopsticks, etc. Plus keychains, bags, food, toys and JE stuff(!). I wanted to buy stuff for people back home, but I’ll hold out on that until next year.

I also made my way over to Kappabashi-dori, but I just walked by pretty quickly. It was really quiet, which was nice, but the fact that I was the only tourist on the street at the time seemed really intimidating with all the shop owners just staring at me. Yeah I’m weird like that. I want to go back and buy some plastic food though…it’s SO cool. Sadly, I also didn’t get to take photos because my camera decided to run out of battery.

After I made my way back to the Sensoji area, I wandered around the small streets surrounding Sensoji. So many cool shops and things like that. It was pretty fun just getting lost in the streets. My feet got tired after wandering for about 5 hours though, so I decided to head back home. I’ll definitely go back to check out what I missed another time.

Later that night my friend and I met up with a couple Japanese girls we met back at the Halloween party at the Canadian embassy. We met up at Shinjuku station and ate at a cute pasta & cake restaurant called Ducky Duck. It was really good because I got to speak a lot of Japanese. I also realized my speaking skills don’t suck as much as I thought they did. I’m pretty sure my Japanese was really broken, but it was still a nice confidence boost knowing I could communicate 80% of the time without much English. Maybe I just get nervous in class and around my cute study partner haha.

Here are my favourite flickr photos for November.

My Thursdays are an open void ’till half six – my late night art workshop – and it is my favourite day of the working week. There’s something nice about not having too much idle time, but also having a class to look fowardto. Right now my brain is grating against the stereotypical rote way of learning – and teaching in Japan. The rooms feel sterile, even when half filled with people; certain classes consist entirely of being talked at directly from a textbook. This is every other weekday, but not Thursday.

So yesterday I decided to try going places I hadn’t been to yet: there’s a whole half of the Yamanote line unventured!

I started my adventure at Takadanobaba, where Keio’s rival university – Waseda – is located. From what I gather, future buisnessmen and Japanese wanting to be employed within the financial sphere go to Keio;  and future creative industry workers head off to Waseda.

Takadanobaba is part of 西新宿 (West Shinjuku).

I was too chicken to actually peruse the campus, though the area around Waseda was scattered with small, yummy eateries.

Not much in the mood for food (especially feeling slightly truant; crossing enemy lines) I was starting to head off back to the station when I managed to catch a bus to Ueno Park!

The journey was nigh on an hour, but there was something blissful about just sitting, watching as the sun sank, the world rolling by. I looked out of the windows the whole time – passing more places that were totally unfamiliar to me. There was Hongo San-Chome, and Chuo Dori (street names) that I remember paticularly for being vibrant, fun, new.

Only a quick jaunt through the park: it isn’t like back home where there’s greenery to sit on, just benches on concrete (mostly occupied by severely scruffy hobos or slightly less scruffy suits). This was the view looking back, as I made my way to Ueno Station, where I planned to make my way to Roppongi for our art class’ trip to 2121 Design Sight near Roppongi Midtown.

At Ueno Station I bought a small mameshiba cuddly toy (Oops! More on that later..) and hopped on the Hibiya subway line straight to Roppongi. With time to spare – arriving early is not my forte – I had another wee wander…

Música: Bebo & Cigala – Inolvidable (1,9MB – mp3)  -  play  |  download

berikut ini tempat-tempat yang sangat terkenal dan ramai dikunjungi oleh orang-orang Jepang bahkan orang asing

1. Akihabara
Akihabara merupakan salah satu kota di jepang yang memiliki toko-toko elektronik terbanyak dan terbesar. Akihabara pun sangat terkenal di Jepang bahkan seluruh dunia telah mengenal Akihabara sebagai kota elektronik terbesar dan terlengkap….(! ,^so tau gw y…)

Akihabara sebenarnya terletak di tengah metropolitan Tokyo, tepatnya di Distrik Chiyoda (bagi yang pengen kesana bilang aja ke alamat situ). Orang Jepang biasa menyebut kota tersebut dengan singkatan “Akiba”. Kalau pengen nyari barang-barang elektronik terbaru dan terbesar bisa nyari aja di Yodobashi-Akiba, Laox dan Softmap. Di sana juga terdapat banyak penggemar anime yang berseliweran di jalan ( mereka sering disebut otaku ) yang memakai dandanan persis seperti idolanya dalam anime. Di sana banyak aksesoris dan kostum anime maka tak salah kota tersebut juga sering disebut kotanya anime.

2. Ikebukuro
Lha ini dia kota yang sama seperti Akihibara, kota surganya para penggemar anime dan manga. Banyak sekali toko-toko di sana menjual banyak pernak-pernik yang berbau anime dan manga (kartun-kartun jepang gitu…). Di Ikebukuro ini terdapat toko anime terbesar mungkin di seluruh Jepang yakni Animate. Walaupun Animate memiliki banyak cabang di Jepang tapi Animate di Ikebukuro inilah pusatnya dan yang paling besar. Di Animate dijual mulai dari komik, artbook, DVD, VCD, CD, figurine sampai merchandise unik dapat kalian temukan disini.

3. Shibuya
Shibuya merupakan salah satu kawasan yang terletak di kota Tokyo yang banyak didatangi dan dikunjungi masyarakat Jepang bahkan kota ini juga banyak dikunjungi oleh warga asing yang sedang pergi ke Jepang. Shibuya dikenal sebagai kotanya anak muda, karena kota ini sangat digemari dan digandrungi oleh anak-anak muda, karena kota ini dipenuhi dengan bermacam-macam departemen store dan pertokoan, berbagai macam hiburan ada di kota ini, banyak tempat makan yang serba ada dari yang murah sampai yang mahal. Kota Shibuya pun menjadi pusat keluarnya model-model busana dan keluarnya trend-trend baru, maka tidak salah anak-anak muda suka jalan-jalan di kota ini. Dan jika kalian kesana jangan heran saat melihat banyaknya orang-orang yang menunggu dan menyebrang di lampu merah ( banyaknya minta ampun sampai terheran-heran saya lho(belum pernah kesana sih….^, ^!).

Kota tersebut siaga 24 jam karna tak perah sepi.

3. Shinjuku
Shinjuku merupakan salah satu nama kota yang sangat terkenal di Tokyo. Shinjuku merupakan simbol kota metropolitan di Jepang yang sangat ramai di datangi oleh masyarakat Jepang dari berbagai golongan, baik tua muda ataupun kalangan orang kaya sampai gembel ada di sini. Shinjuku sama dengan Shibuya yaitu kota yang selama 24 jam selalu siaga 1 tidak pernah sepi dan mati aktivitasnya. Di waktu pagi hari kota shinjuku ini terkenal dengan dunia shopingnya, karena semua barang yang di inginkan tersedia di sini, dan toko yang ada di Shinjuku ini sangat banyak, jadi kita bisa jalan keluar masuk toko sampe kaki kalian kejang kejang atau bengkek… ledes (wkwkwkwk)….Dan yang seru juga dunia malamnya dengan lampu kota metropolitan yang cantik, dan dunia hiburan yang menarik untuk party time setiap waktu. Shinjuku ini tidak bedanya dengan kota Shibuya, yang membedakaan adalah Shibuya kotanya anak muda sedangkan Shinjuku kota semua golongan dari anak anak sampai kakek-kakek dan nenek-nenek pun mejeng di sana. Shinjuku pusat kota terpadat di Tokyo bahkan kota teramai di Jepang.

4. Nakano Broadway
Nakano Broadway berada tepatnya di pusat kota Nakano. Nakano Broadway merupakan gedung besar yang terdiri dari beberapa lantai. Di dalamnya terdapat toko-toko yang menjual berbagai barang hobi, mulai dari manga, anime, figurine, idol merchandise, military, hingga maid cafe. Nakano Broadway sendiri sering dikenal sebagai ‘gedung otaku’ karena merupakan pusat toko Mandarake di wilayah Tokyo. Mandarake adalah toko yang menjual berbagai macam barang otaku, dari mulai doujinshi, baju cosplay, manga bekas, balljointed doll, hingga mainan yang langka. Selain Mandarake, ada pula toko-toko kecil yang menjual game, figurine, dll. Walaupun disebut gedung otaku, tidak seluruh toko yang ada di sini berhubungan dengan otaku. Di sini kamu juga bisa mencari baju, perhiasan, sepatu, hingga ke tempat kursus nail art! Bahkan kalau kamu merasa lapar setelah seharian ngider, silakan singgah di lantai BF dari Nakano Broadway. Di sini terdapat supermarket yang menjual barang dengan harga lebih murah ketimbang toko 24 jam atau convinience store (orang Jepang menyebutnya ‘konbini’). Juga ada toko cemilan dan es krim yang sangat memikat hati. Nah, silakan mampir!

Udah dulu ya lain kali gw sambung …

The fall 09 collection from Bleu de Paname  is now available at

COMME DES GARÇONS , Shinjuku - Tokyo.

訪問は行く!

Í gær fórum við Björk ásamt Joani, vinkonu minni úr skólanum, að þvælast um borgina. Eftir að við Joani sóttum einkunnirnar okkar (mér gekk ágætlega) byrjuðum við á að fá okkur svakalega borgara á Village Vanguard Diner hérna í Asagaya og ákváðum svo að fara til Shinjuku í ævintýraleit. Við vorum reyndar soldið á báðum áttum hvort við ættum að fara enn einu sinni til Shinjuku, endum eiginlega alltaf þar.

Við sáum þó alls ekki eftir því, það reyndist vera svaka hátíð í einu hofinu þar (og reyndar líklega í flestum hofum landsins) sem er kölluð shichi-go-san. Það myndi þýðast sem sjö-fimm-þrír hátíðin en hún er haldin til heiðurs börnum í þeim aldursflokkum. Við sáum reyndar ekki mikið af börnum á þeim aldri en það var aftur á móti aragrúi af fólki og endalaust af matarbásum.

Básarnir seldu allskonar hefðbundinn japanskan götumat, aðalega ýmsa hluti grillaða eða djúpsteikta á priki, og bjór. Joani fann sér hinsvegar bás sem seldi kóreskar pönnusteiktar núðlur, ég er ekki alveg viss en mig minnir að það hafi heitið Sjabutsja eða eitthvað svoleiðis, þær voru víst ansi góðar.

Við Björk ákváðum hinsvegar að fá okkur okonomiyaki, pönnusteikt japanskt millistig milli pizzu og omelettu fyrir þá sem ekki þekkja til, sem okkur fannst svaka girnilegt. Stráknum sem var að elda það fannst rosa gaman að hafa útlendinga í röðinni og spjallaði soldið við okkur meðan við tókum myndir. Hún var svakalega góð og mjög matarmikil.

Góður dagur að öllu leiti.

In Shinjuku Book 1st.

I haven’t been reading much in English lately, apart from the internet. I have The Naked And The Dead on the go at the minute but it must have been about five days ago since I last picked it up. I’ve mostly been reading photography books in Japanese because I can equate it with studying.

It was not part of the plan…we did not follow the script in fact we had to improvise but in the end I think we came up with some pretty impressive scenes all things considered.

After a fairly tolerable Italian dinner at a place neither of us had ever been too my friend and I headed out of Isetan Kaikan in Shinjuku and by chance I caught a glimpse of row after row of street vendor tents lining the side-walk just outside Kabukichou.

Intrigued, off we went.

The line of vendors for food, beer and all sorts of “lucky” talismans led us down a crowded path into a park next door to Kabukichou and then into a Shrine type area.  Many people were lined up to go into the shrine and get their worship on and generally there were bodies everywhere. It was totally packed.

We passed on the Shrine and moved into the maze of tents and people.

The charms and baskets of leaves with little plastic golden owls peering out at you surrounded by husks of wheat and fat little smiling geisha looking dolls all of them further surrounded by green leaves and glitter and cards with Japanese writing were visually very intriguing.  I had to ask one of the older vendors what all this was about and simply put he replied beaming, 2 front teeth missing, his face a red glow from the sake he and his co-workers were happily consuming in copious amounts, “LUCKY!” he says, “BIG LUCKY!”

Ahhh…lucky…well thats pretty simple.  I paid 3,000 yen and purchased myself a lucky talisman.  A free service they preformed was to put a 5 yen coin inside a small envelope and add some additional Kanji seals  to the handle of the voodoo stick that is the same size as a ping-pong racket but with a whole collection of charms and gear on the flat face.  The additional seal apparently as much as ENSURES my financial success this season.  I hope so, it cost 30 bucks.

As we continued on through the huge maze of bodies and beer and steaming grilled fish and meat and soups and more beer and more lucky talisman vendors it became clear that some people were really getting into the spirit and taking things to the next level.

Mine cost 3000 and is the size of a ping-pong paddle, this fellas is the size of a battle-axe and god only knows how much he dropped on it. Have fun on the train with that guy.

It’s clear though that this was a really happening event. Lots of smiles and people talking to people they didnt even know.  It was something I dont often get to see in Tokyo, a city well known for cold shoulders and stoic masks accompanied by stone silence.

We were just kind of hanging around a corner of the festival near a Yakitori tent and I was having a beer and we were commenting on how cool and fresh all this was when apparently, the girl working seating who had thought we were in line for a spot tapped me on the shoulder and motioned for us to pop a squat at the grill counter.  Fumi (my friend) and I exchanged looks and then sat down.  grilled fish, veggies and some other goodies I honestly could not identify were ordered and we found out that all the staff including our grill master “Hiro” were all college kids working this part time gig.  All of them slamming beers and clearly having a good time.

The atmosphere at this sort of event is really enjoyable.

Hmmm….Beer was consumed.

Hey! These arent all mine….ok…they are.  But EVERYONE was drinking like their livers would grow back and everyone was fairly well lit.

Beer….ummmmmm

At one point, for some reason or another Fumi struck up a conversation with the couple sitting next to us.

They had met 2 years ago, at the very same festival and had since married.

The man was 53 and the woman 31…I can say only two words: well done.

He was so insanely drunk that he was trying to convince me to trade Fumi for his wife but “only for tonigt so its ok!” and it took me about 10 minutes to realize that he was, in fact, serious.  How little does he know about Fumi, she could likely kill him with her bare hands.

But they were very fun to talk to. His wife was very vocal and enjoyed slapping him directly in his nose repeatedly which I found amusing and finally they were just buying us drinks (that I really didnt need) and it was a good time.

I was then subsequently befriended by these Yakuza guys that were both dining, drinking and harassing young women right behind us.  If you dont believe me contact DEAN, he can attest to it: Yakuza guys like me.  I dont know why and whats more I have yet to meet a Yazzie I didnt like.  Anyway it took some doing but I convinced this guy to put his shades on.  Then his ex-girlfriend or one of his hookers or his wife, who knows, came stumbling up to us wearing skin tight stone washed jeans with a tear in the knee and another right below the left butt cheek, a pink halter top and a black leather jacket, her hair a style so complex I almost got a headache, with half of it up in the air the other half in corn rows on the side of her head and finally she was holding a bottle of Gilbys vodka in one hand and red bull in the other, both open. Both half empty.

She then proceeded to hand me the vodka and the red bull and ridiculously attack this guy.  It was comical.  He simply moved around the stool he and his buddy had been using as a table and she did not have the sober coordination left to catch him.  Then he looks at me and smiles and says in English “Drunk Japanese Bitch!” Then in Japanese “Too much trouble.”  and this, he and his friend and the drunk old man with the wife and the drunk girl all thought was hilarious and began howling with laughter.  Then I was forced by said drunk girl to help her pour the remainder of the vodka, like quarter of a bottle into the red bull that was 75% gone and we slammed that in turn.  Horrid.

All in all a very interesting evening.

Read more about Japanese Fall Harvest Festivals here

Pretty sure the old timer that sold me this thing did not expect it to be so employed. Damn that girl with her vodka!

Música: Bunbury – Lady blue (5,0MB – mp3)  -  play  |  download

In front of Shinjuku’s Opera City, a high rise office tower with cultural facilities including theaters and a museum, four levels of stacked freeways cast shadows, pollute the air, and block pedestrian space with giant concrete support columns. The presence of even one elevated freeway undermines pedestrian life and divides neighborhoods. Are all the elevated freeways necessary for Tokyo?

Title: Miracle Train: Welcome to the Oedo-line

Date aired: 05.10.2009 till ? (ongoing)

TV network: AT-X

No. of episodes:

Genre: Harem, Fantasy, Comedy, Slice of Life

Synopsis:

It’s a common urban legend. In Tokyo subways, there runs a legendary train that appears only to lost ladies. It is known as the Miracle Train. Will you fall in love with a train station?

Cast:

Kenn as Fumi Roppongi

Ryotaro Okiayu as Shintarō Shinjuku

Akira Ishida as Tokugawa

Daisuke Ono as Izayoi Tsukishima

Kanako Sakai as Akari

Keiji Fujiwara as Shashō

Masakazu Morita as Itsumi Ryōgoku

Ryotaro Okiayu as Rintarō Shinjuku

Tomokazu Sugita as Saki Tochō

Yuuki Kaji as Iku Shiodome

Sources:
Official Site
ANN
Anidb (Image Source)

It took me a while to pick this up since there were lots of episodes from different anime that piled up. Some of my friends also mentioned that it may not be a good one even if it is full of bishies. The first time I read the summary of this, I was not able to understand the connection of Oedo Line stations and those bishies.

The story started in a straight-forward way. Every episode explains the main plot at the beginning and have featured bishie/station. The problems of each ladies who became the chosen passengers are closely related to the featured station. Viewers can also learn something about the train stations in Oedo line as there are tivireas about them mentioned on the series. The plot is simple since the theme is slice of life, the audience can also relate to the characters.

The characters design are your usual bishounen.

Tocho Saki, the serious- type and the leader of the group.

Fumi Roppongi- the romantic type.

Izayoi Tsukishima – the literature lover. <3

Shinjuku Rintaro – the care-free type.

Ryogoku Itsumi – the history freak.

Shiodome Iku – the youngest and the timid one.

There are also other characters like

Shaisho – the train conductor and the one who always wears a mask, and Akari (I don’t have a picture of her, sorry) the passenger’s guide and Tokugawa, the train dog (don’t have a picture of him either).

These are the other pictures.

So, will you fall in love with a train station?

Via Danny Choo.

I am getting frustrated that a lot of what I shoot is grey. I’m going to try to change this. I know this is out of focus but pink is a bit unusual for this blog.

Shinjuku Station

The Japanese are well racist – everyone knows that. Or the internet does anyway; log on to any expat forum and you’ll find it’s full of complaints and complainers. They call foreigners ‘gaijin’, which is bad, apparently. They don’t allow foreigners to rent houses, apparently. They won’t let you in to bars, or baths, and woe betide you if you’ve got a tattoo. All of these things are true, of course, but they’re equally true of pretty much any part of the world. My Japanese wife once went into a pub in proudly multicultural London only for the landlady to shout, “NO DVDs” at her. Presumably she assumed that my wife was a DVD or something, but she was actually just a Japanese woman, who wanted a piss. A year or two later, when we were trying to move to Hereford, several of the letting agencies had signs up on their doors saying that Polish people weren’t welcome. (About a year after that a schoolboy was stabbed to death about a hundred yards from our new house after a racially motivated altercation.)

I offer these anecdotes not to justify the racist behaviour that very clearly does exist in Japan; just to demonstrate that it is wrong to characterise Japan and the Japanese as any more racist than any other place or people. But, having hitherto had no firsthand experience of any sort of racism in Japan , I encountered my first bit over the weekend. I was visiting Shinjuku, in Tokyo, and I was in a rush so I asked a policeman for directions. In return, he asked me for my Gaikokujin Tourokushou (or 外国人登録証 for anyone with Japanese fonts installed). It’s a card that foreigners are, by law, required to carry (which, in itself, is a little bit racist, but not really, because while they don’t have to carry ID, Japanese nationals are expected to register themselves on various local registers).  

Anyway, by coincidence I had recently chanced upon firebrand foreigner Debitu Aruido’s advice for anyone who might find themselves asked to display their gaijin card. So I followed it and asked the policeman (who, actually, was probably some sort of community variant thereof) why he wanted to see my ID. He very politely told me that there were foreign criminals in the area, so it was just a spot check. And then he copied down all of my details, while chatting to me about Yamanashi, where I live, and how I met my wife etc. Once he’d done that, he very politely escorted me to where I needed to go.

As indignities go, it was a pretty dignified one. It was certainly less annoying than the two occasions that London’s police stopped me to see if getting blown up by terrorists had inspired me to carry a bomb in my bag (just as an FYI for the police: if I ever do decide to carry a bomb in my bag, I’m going to wait until the precise moment you accost me to search my bag, and then I’m going to blow it up). But I guess it was still an indignity. So I decided to seek my revenge by wreaking drunken havoc on my way home later that night.

Once upon a time, two or three years ago, I was on a train home from celebrating New Year’s Eve in Kamakura. It was about 3 or 4 am and the train was silent, because everybody was tired and cold. I was, like several other passengers, napping. Then, all of a sudden, it wasn’t silent. It was loud and American. A bunch of drunken foreigners got on the train. One of them was a short, fat, ponytailed guy with bad skin and a purple velvet suit. He proceeded to accost all of the passengers on the train, loudly, in English, to ask them if they’d had a nice night, or to ask them if they thought he was drunk, or whatever drunken idiocy had just occurred to him. I mean, he actually woke people. He woke me up! Sure, by that point, after enduring about ten minutes of this inebriated cabaret, I was only pretending to sleep. But still, he woke me up. I didn’t reply. I just glared. Apparently I glared pretty badly, because at that point his friends shushed him and he sat down with a drunkenly exaggerated apology.

On Saturday night, in return for being asked for my gaijin card, I became that foreigner. Having consumed lots of sake, plum wine, and lager with a friend from university, I proceeded to disturb the last train silence by using LOUD PIDGIN JAPANESE to ask if I was on the right train, or which station to change from the express to the local train, or if this was the right stop etc. And then I met my wife in a local family restaurant where I messed up everyone’s wa by explaining that MY WIFE IS ALREADY HERE and taking up too much room at the table etc.

In retrospect it’s a bit embarrassing. But it’s only what racist Japan had coming to it.

now i am on the research stage of my project.

I have to make 2 types of surveys, one in english for school (g 10 - 12)

and one to hand out at shinjuku in japanese.

i have to go to shinjuku this sunday.

I have to contact mr hoare and ms collier and ask for opinions and comments that could help me.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I’m just too tired to blog after work nowadays …*lame excuse

oh. I had some friends visiting me last weekend so I brought them around Tokyo a little bit. Wanna know where we went?

1st day

Well. I meet up with them on Saturday and we started our day at Tsukiji fish market.

Tsukiji fish market

++++        Had sushi for breakfast.       +++

Sushi at Tsukiji fish market

Then we walked to the Kabuki theatre at Ginza and watched a Kabuki play.

168 days, counting down to the last performance at Kabukiza. They are going to demolish & rebuild it.

After that we walked around Ginza.

It's quite unsual to see those Japan flags hanging around the streets of Ginza.

After Ginza, we walked to Yurakucho station （有楽町）and took the train to Tamachi　（田町）. Had tempura don for lunch and took a walk at Keio University （慶応大学）.

The old library building of Keio University, designated as an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese Government.

Then from there, we took the 100 yen community bus to Roppongi （六本木）. My friend is a big fan of “Doraemon”, so I brought him to see the big Doraemon statue in “TV Asahi“　（テレビ朝日）building in Roppongi.

Doraemon at TV Asahi, Roppongi

After Roppongi, we headed to Tokyo Midtown（東京ミッドタウン） to see the Xmas Lights.

Xmas Lights at Tokyo Midtown, Roppongi

After enjoying the beautiful Xmas decorations and lights in Tokyo Midtown（東京ミッドタウン）, we decided to go to Shinjuku（新宿） as it was still early.

After arriving at Shinjuku station, we walked to Shinjuku Metropolitan building （新宿都庁） where you get to see Tokyo’s night view for free. Sorry, my photography skills sucks…The view from there is much nicer than this photo.

Night view from the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (都庁)

After that, I was planning to bring them to Kabuki cho （歌舞伎町）but we accidentally wandered into this small alley called “Omoide Yokocho” （思い出横町） crammed with lots of yakitori stalls.

Yakitori at Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho （新宿思い出横町）

Amazing place yah!? We end up eating here and I enjoyed it so much. A highly recommended place where you can eat and chat with the locals. definitely want to go back there again.

Places covered on the first day :

Tsukiji fish market – sushi – kabuki theater – Ginza - Keio University – Roppongi - Tokyo Midtown – Shinjuku metropolitan buiding - yakitori

2nd day

On Sunday, after meeting at Tokyo station, we started our day at  the Imperial Palace. There was an exhibition going on commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Enthronement of His Majesty the Emperor.

Rolls Royce on the left were used on the occasion of the Ceremonial Procession of Celebration.

After having a brisk walk around the palace, we headed to Yasukuni Shrine （靖国神社） and saw a lot of cute Japanese kids dressed in their traditional clothing celebrating  ”Shichi-Go-San” （七五三）. Sichi-Go-San is a Japanese traditional festival held annually on November 15, celebrated by three and seven year-old girls and three and five year-old boys.

Three generations, grandmother, mother & daughter

After Yasukuni Shrine we took the subway to Omotesando （表参道） and explored Ura Harajuku（裏原宿） and Harajuku（原宿）. Harajuku was crowded as usual.

Look at the amount of people pouring out from the station.

We walked to Shibuya after Harajuku coz’ I insisted in showing them the scramble crossing in Shibuya *silly me*

An accidental out of focus photo of Shibuya

After Shibuya, we took the train to Tokyo station and I send them off to take the Shinkansen to Kyoto.

Places covered on second day :

The Imperial Palace – Budokan Stadium – Yasukuni Shrine – Omote Sando - Ura Harajuku - Harajuku - Shibuya

Well, this is a summary of what I did last weekend. I’ll blog about it in more detail later.

oops.. it’s pass 1am already, way passed my bedtime. I need to get my beauty sleep. That’s all for today. Good nite everyone.

Flashback rapide sur une scène sympathique vécue lors de notre séjour tokyoïte. Parvis d’une des nombreuses entrées de la gare de Shinjuku, 18 heures et des poussières. Partis pour assister à un des nombreux matsuri (festivals) du mois d’août, nous sommes décidément trop en retard et préférons nous arrêter pour assister au ballet des passagers qui se hâtent vers les métros et trains de banlieue. Comme ils sont extrêmement nombreux (plus de 3 millions par jour, ce qui en fait la gare la plus fréquentée du monde) et particulièrement stressés, le spectacle est saisissant. Mélange étonnant de salarymen (employés de bureau) en costume cravate, d’ouvriers de la construction et de fashionistas en provenance des grandes magasins proches, que réunit leur hâte de gagner qui son domicile, qui le fast food ou l’izakaya (pub) le plus proche pour un repas rapide ou un verre avec des collègues.

Pris entre deux flots de passants pressés, nous nous demandons ce qui pourrait perturber ce mouvement lorsqu’un petit groupe de musiciens s’installe sans hâte dans un coin du parvis et commence à jouer doucement. Saxo, basse et batterie. Un jazz tout d’abord doux, puis de plus en plus vibrant et rythmé. Le rythme se confond avec celui de la rue, des taxis aux couleurs vives et de la foule si trendy et pressée. Et celle-ci semble le ressentir, puisqu’un nombre croissant d’amateurs se pressent devant les jazzmen. A la japonaise bien sûr, aucune manifestation bruyante ou appuyée d’approbation, mais l’incroyable s’est produit : en un moment magique, l’espace de quelques morceaux, ce petit concert improvisé a réussi à détourner le flot en apparence inarrêtable des passants et ancrer un peu de vie et de sérénité dans cette ambiance frénétique. Assez digressé, un peu de musique et d’images :

Links:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjuku-sanch%C5%8Dme_Station
• Shinjuku Sanchome i Golden Gai
• L’Isetan i el Nadal
• L’Isetan en un post anterior

Música: Ella & Louis – He loves and she loves (2,6MB – mp3)  -  play  |  download

Taken with my new old Smena 8M. The inaugaral film post on this blog. I hope there will be more. Shot on Sunday 15 November 2009.