Kizzling around

NEW WEBSITE

2010-10-03T18:07:00.001+09:00

Hi All,

Thanks so much for reading my blog.
Unfortunately because I have so many pictures on this kid, I've run out of the space alloted to me by Blogger. Instead of purchasing more space, I've purchased a domain name. AKA I have a website now.

ericakjordan.com

I know it's a pain to update your web readers, but I'd appreciate the continued support!

I haven't figured out exactly what I want my website to look like so you'll have to bear with me while things change over and over, but I'm really hoping to end up with something that's easy to navigate, that I love, with lots and lots of pictures!

Cheers,
Erica

Hokkaido- Day 3- Otaru

2010-10-02T23:30:00.003+09:00

Our third day in Hokkaido took us to Otaru, a small coastal city.

They had a small German brewery with free tours so we went on the tour and then had their sausage plate afterward. We then followed the guide book to a street that was filled with stores for tourists.

tri-flavored soft serve and a really really cute cafe. unfortunately, we'd just had a snack and was on the way to lunch so we didn't actually spend very much time here.

Lunch! There were an abundance of sushi places here since Hokkaido is known for their sushi and Otaru is known within Hokkaido for having especially delicious sushi. It was very, very good, but I feel like there were many more, much shinier gems in the area.

There was a music box store. This guy is demonstrating one from... I don't remember the year, but from a long time ago. And look how big it is! Half the store was more of an exhibit than a store. It was very interesting for me, even though I'm not particularly into music boxes, but my travelling companion really likes them so this place was a little slice of heaven for her.

The picture on the left is of a tree that was in front of a glass store.

our delicious, our-feet-hurt-snack

Around dusk, the sky started turning these marvelous shades of blue. I wanted to put some more photos in this post, but I'm dangerously low on space on my Picasa album.

We went back to Sapporo, where we went to a restaurant since we were a little hungry.

And these, ladies and gentlemen, were the best raw scallops I've EVER consumed in my entire life.

They were life changing.

Apparently there are a bunch of these around Sapporo. Luckily, I was able to take a picture of this with no one around. All other times that I saw this, there were a ton of people walking or waiting around it.

Grass Stain

2010-10-02T15:29:00.003+09:00

My friend Conner recently started a sustainability blog called Grass Stain (en).

He recently asked me to answer some questions about sustainability in Japan for his "My Generation" series of posts. Here's the post on yours truly :)

Hokkaido- Day 2- Sapporo

2010-09-30T22:25:00.002+09:00

I'm going to start you off immediately with lunch today. Since we didn't get Genghis Khan (the dish, not the person) yesterday, we looked up another place in our guide book this morning. It seems that when it comes to Genghis Khan, which is a specialty of Sapporo, most places like to make sure that you have had more than your fill by having it be all you can eat. However, this time we found a place that had it as a lunch set.

This special hot plate shape is used so that you can cook the meat on top and the fat will drip down to the vegetable and cook/flavor them. It's delicious. We didn't know how we were supposed to eat it, though so we asked one of the guys working there and he pretty much did it for us. It was very nice of him. He also recommended a place with a bunch of ramen for us to try for dinner.

Ishiya Factory:

There's a cookie called Shiroikoibito in Japan that is a well known souvenir/gift from Hokkaido. The concept is simple: 2 cookies sandwiching white chocolate, but this cookie is definitely more than a sum of its parts. The company is called Ishiya and their factory is located in Sapporo. It was a must see. I mean, they have snacks there. How can you possibly go wrong? You can't.

Little did we know that there was a whole complex that included a museum filled with things that the owner had collected over the years. Apparently he is really into collecting things: from figurines to gramophones.

Part of the Star Wars collection and my snack: a piece of mango cake!

We then went to the sake museum next, where I had some sake ice cream. I found out after I had already started snacking on my ice cream that they also had soft serve. Darn! Next time.

It was a very small exhibit, but kind of cute. I wish there were more details about the exhibited items, though.

This is the water that they use to make their sake. It was the smoothest water I'd ever had in my life. It's naturally like this. I wish I'd taken my water bottle... I couldn't get enough from the little dixie cups they'd provided.

Sapporo Clock Tower (en):

It's one of the few surviving western buildings in the city. (click on the link above for more info)

We then went to the place that the guy from the restaurant we went to for lunch recommended to us. It was an entire floor of ramen restaurants! They even had their own shrine! woo!

We actually didn't go to the specific place that he had recommended (though it looked really good) Sapporo is known for their Soysauce ramen so we went to a place that looked to be known for that. Check out this beauty. They even had directions on how to eat it so you could appreciate it completely. I would go back to Sapporo JUST to try every restaurant on this floor.

And of course we stopped for dessert: mango soft serve on top of flan.

Transportation here has been nice because for 800yen, we could get an all you can ride on the metro system. It's 200 yen per ride so it's totally worth it if you're going to be riding around.

24

2010-09-30T08:39:00.000+09:00

When I woke up this morning, this is the first thing that I saw:

Which means nothing to most people, but to me, it means that I'm 24.

I'm usually the girl who usually dreads getting older for fear that gravity is one step closer to winning the battle. But I had a good year last year; learned lots of new things, got out of my comfort zone, etc. I think I deserve this one. And for some reason, turning 24 feels really good. Here's to hoping for another amazing year abroad and that I may figure out what the next step is going to be.

DIY: Coasters

2010-09-29T21:20:00.001+09:00

I've been in dire need of coasters. I brought one back from Seattle (yes, just one) but inspired by newdressaday as well as my friend and fellow blogger Tales from Washington DC's recent post and I decided to finally do something about it today. I went to a fabric store nearby and picked up a spool of thread and bought a small scrap of fabric. Here are the results:

Not too shabby, right? For the detailing, I used things that I had lying around my house.

Hokkaido- Day 1- Sapporo

2010-09-29T11:07:00.004+09:00

Sapporo, Hokkaido

After a very early morning due to an early flight, we found ourselves checked into our hotel and off to "Hill of the Sheep," which is supposed to be a famous place in Sapporo. I'm still unclear as to what it's supposed to be. Perhaps its more lively there when there are actually sheep present? We took the bus all the way there (the bus takes you into the park) only to find out that the sheep are sick and have been relocated for the time being. The only sheep we saw was this one:

They had some awesome benches there, though. I think that it was supposed to be like Austria? Not 100% sure, but one of the buildings had a sign that said "Austrian Bldg." Anyway, here are the benches:

Anyone who's read any other post on this blog knows that all entries MUST have something food related on it, so here's what I ate while on Sheep Hill: ハスカップSoftserve. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what this fruit is called in English and was unable to find the translation online. I did, however, succeed in finding the scientific name in case you're intersted: Lonicera caerulea var. emphyllocalyx. So there you go.

You can see a picture of the fruit in the background. It's so hard with new flavors to decide whether the flavor's going to be too strong. I went with the swirl just in case, but this one would be best non-swirled, I think. Also, Lonicera caerulea > egg soft serve (from the Hakone trip)

Some other random findings:

The statue is of one William Smith Clark, an American. Not sure what he did. The school that I work with has a school festival every fall and last year the theme was "girls be ambitious," undoubtedly taken from this guy. The melting snowman doll on the right was found in a small museum that looked like it used to be a church that was filled with small replicas of snow and ice sculptures that have been created for the Hokkaido snow festival. (FYI: Hokkaido is the most northern of Japan's 4 main islands. Its latitude is below that of Seattle's but because of other factors, it is known to be a very cold place with lots of snow, and therefore, lots of good seafood!! Also, for some reason, there are many large breweries here including Sapporo, Asahi, and Kirin.)

This was a really fun place to play around with my camera. The gardens were impeccable.

We went to the Asahi beer plant since the 3 big breweries in the area have all you can eat "Genghis Khan," which is a way to cook mutton. When we got there, we found out that they weren't doing that anymore at that restaurant. It looked like another restaurant on the grounds may have had it, but it'd started to rain so we just had the buffet there. There were cooked foods and then some that you could take back to grill yourself. It was very good. It also turned out that you have to make reservations to go on the Asahi tour, helpful information that was not written in our guide book.

We decided that we should do something cultural while we were there so we went to an Ainu cultural museum.

Canoe, bathrooms (with a sign that says "please don't use") and a replica of what a house looked like- with fake snow!

This jacket is made out of salmon and other fish skin!

Hakone- Day 2

2010-09-28T21:22:00.003+09:00

We started our day out with this deliciousness.

One of the things that they're famous for in this region is himono, which are dried fish that are usually broiled prior to being eaten. I really wanted some, but wasn't sure that I would get any since most of the activities that we'd planned were a bit far away from town. Fortunately, while doing some early morning gift shopping (the sweets we were out to buy are known to get sold out around noon) we stumbled across a place that had some out in front of their store as samples.

We then got on the train (only 2 or 3 cars long) that goes up to the top of a nearby mountain and hopped off just one stop later. I would later learn that this train is very unique because there are 3 points at which the conductor must walk to the other end of the train to drive it back a little and then go back to the front of the train to "switch back" to go further up the steep mountain. This train also goes painfully slow, but is the only mode of public transportation for many tourist spots on this mountain.

Right along the platform of this station is a small shrine. Most shrines have a little basin where you are supposed to wash your hands and mouth before entering shrine grounds. This one had a little sign just in case you were unsure.

This shrine has a little station where you can wash your coins- i presume it's for good luck. I threw in the 1cent euro that Helene had snuck into my coin purse in hopes that I would have luck with the Euro as well. Too bad I didn't have a penny. Perhaps that's why the dollar is so weak even now? Sorry guys. I should probably go back here with all the US coins I have.

We then changed trains and got onto the tram to go further up the mountain.

After the tram, we then got onto the ropeway to get to Owakudani, a place that is known for natural hot springs. They also boil eggs in this water and something about the minerals in the water turns the eggs black (hence the Hello Kitties with/in black eggs). In addition, you might remember Helene bringing me some back from this post.

Unfortunately, it was so foggy that day that it was really hard to differentiate between the fog and the steam coming off of the hot springs. Most of the water was a milky color from all of the bubbles in it, I assume. I also got an egg flavored soft serve. It sounds kind of gross at first, but if you consider that the egg tarts found at many dim sum places as well as Chinese bakeries are not only edible, but tasty, I decided to give this a shot. Turns out, it's not too bad! Not sure that I would get it given a list of choices, or if I was not somewhere that was famous for eggs, though.

This is how foggy it was on our way back down from the mountain. We then ventured around a small town to find a restaurant that we found in our guide book. When we got there, however, there was a very long wait so we decided to go look for another source of nourishment. We ended up at a bakery that is attached to a hotel that belongs to the same chain as the one that we were staying at.

We both got the curry bread where there's curry inside fried bread. It was the best curry bread I've ever had in my life. It was amazing and I am sad that I can't find it in Tokyo.

Next Stop: The Little Prince Museum!

Anyone who knows me know that I love "The Little Prince" by Antoine Saint-Exupery. I saw that there was a Little Prince museum in Hakone months ago, but never thought that I would make it since it's 1) in Hakone and 2) quite a ways away from the main train station. I was ecstatic when I leaned that we would be making a stop here. First stop was the restaurant because I needed a nice spike in my blood sugar levels.

I had this parfait with a snake macaroon in it!

We then went back to our hotel where we took one last soak in the hot springs and then got on the train, named the Romance Car to head back to Tokyo.

Hakone- Day 1

2010-09-26T19:47:00.002+09:00

My friend Atsuko and I went to Hakone for a couple days. Thank goodness I stayed in Odawara the night before. There's no way I would have been able to meet her at 9am at Odawara station if I had to travel all the way from where I live. Correction. It's physically possible. Just not without my being extremely unpleasant. We hopped on a bus and went to the sekisho (en), which is a little fort that was built to check the "passports" of those traveling through. People had to travel through these when they went between Kyoto and Edo. 2 things were not allowed out: weapons and women. Those who were caught trying to flee were killed in a way to discourage others from attempting the same. I was hoping that some original parts of the buildings would be left, but it appears that those have been fully excavated and the replication was built right on top of the original site.

Our snacks after our self-guided mini tour:

Tokoroten- agar noodles

Mitarashi Dango- sticky rice balls with a light teriyaki sauce

We then walked along a road that lead us to the beginning of the Old Hakone Highway, which was used for a long time before stones were laid to create a road of sorts. There was even a sighting of Mt. Fuji!

Here's what the path looked like. There was wet moss covering many of the stones on the path and the stones were placed pretty far apart so it was surprisingly difficult to walk along this path. I wonder how the people way back when in their straw shoes walked this? The trees and other form of brush were really relaxing to walk through and cooled the temperature down for us so besides the lack of foothold, there was little to complain about. There were signs once in a while with tid bits of information about this path. It even talks about how it was created in a way that wouldn't obstruct or interfere with the watershed. I wish that more consideration would be taken concerning the integrity of natural ecosystems in modern day construction and urban planning.

We came along a torii (typically red gate in front of shrines) on the side of this path that led to a set of stairs. Curious, we went up the stairs, which led to another torii and set of stairs. We then hurried up those, a little impatient now to get on with our walk. At the top of the little hill, we were finally rewarded with the sight of the shrine (below).

Yes. We walked out of our way, with our backpacks, to see this. As we were walking around, trying to figure out what this shrine was for, we realized that it was cold just in this vicinity. Creepy. We promptly turned around and left.

We had talked about hiking all the way back to where we were staying, but since it was taking what seemed like forever to get to a tea house that was supposed to be about a third of the way, we changed our minds and went with the busing the rest of the way option. We finally came upon the tea house where we got some snacks and my friend tried the shiso juice. Shiso isn't something that you see people make juice with often so it was interesting to see it on the menu. It was much tastier than I thought it would be. Most of the hike after the tea house was downhill and along the road. A lot of stairs were involved. Right when I thought my weak, old knees were going to give, we found our bus stop. Yay!

We checked into our hotel and went straight for the hot springs.

Our room was HUGE and had floor to ceiling windows. (First picture is the view from our room). It was amazing. That yellow couch was also very, very comfortable. We spent the rest of the day laying around, going to the hot springs multiple times, and otherwise relaxing. Hot springs tend to be much hotter than public baths and are therefore way too hot for me, but I could tough out the roten-buros (outdoor hot springs).

Dinner was, of course, amazing. Drool alert!

Odawara

2010-09-23T12:54:00.000+09:00

I had planned this day trip with a couple students a while ago. When I mentioned it to my friend that I was going to Hakone with for the 2 days after that, she suggested that I just stay at a hotel in Odawara since it's right next to Hakone... I should probably look at a map once in a while.

We were hungry so we stopped by to get some soba (buckwheat noodles) on the way to the castle.

I got the eggplant, fried lotus root, and yuba one.

Stomachs full, we head across this bridge to the castle grounds.

View from the top floor of the castle. There was a sign pointing to Hakone, my next destination.

One of the gates

We then found a little children's theme park over to the side of the castle... tickets were 80yen each.

The teacups were awesome! It was just the three of us so we all got to sit in our own and the employee went over the whole spiel even though it was clearly intended for small children.

After 3 minutes of solid spinning in the teacups, we rode the train. It went around the whole park (this park is clearly not large).

Our conductor was adorable. Actually, all the staff here were. They were all clearly retired or homemakers who just want a job for fun. The conductor pointed out all of the wooden animals that they had all made together. We all agreed that this park was our favorite part of the day.

For some reason, whenever I go somewhere with these girls, we find horses of some kind. (right: picture from the time we went to Saitama to see Tumuli.)

We found a store called "Hana Ringo," meaning "flower apple" that looked really funky so we went in. I thought that the store would expand once you got beyond the entrance, but I was wrong. This place was tiny and crammed with stuff. My favorite was that they had eraser stamps. I don't know if this is just a Japanese thing, but I feel like every child in Japan has made a stamp out of either a potato or an eraser. These brought me back to my days of Japanese school so I bought some stickers that they had made using the stamps. Maybe some of you will be lucky to see one as the seal on your next letter :)

We saw an advertisement for this cafe out on the sidewalk and it was right next to flowerapple so we decided to give it a try. Too bad that the sign hanging town by the gate says "open" but as you can see, the shutter was definitely down. False Advertisement! I really liked the gourd and basket hanging in the tree, though.

We still wanted dessert so we went to mall attached to the train station and got waffles at some Hawaiin Waffle place. Waffles as a dessert, not IHOP style.

Hiroshima: Day3

2010-09-13T14:56:00.000+09:00

We ran out of the main tourist attractions so we decided to go look around at some that I'd never been to before.

This place was kind of confusing to get to, but we decided to go to this museum since the complex included the library of manga, and I wasn't about to pass that up. This museum was full of very interesting pieces. It was a weekday so there weren't many people there, which made it nice since most required a double take. at least. if not a triple. There was an artist who set up a "key" of sorts with people in various positions where each position represented one word and then incorporated them into his paintings/sketches. This was particularly interesting to me since we've talked about first language acquisition in some classes that I team-teach and many of the phrases that the artist used in his work were very similar to a certain stage of child learning their first language. Where all of the main building blocks of a sentence are there, but none of the fillers are. There was an interactive one with a bunch of books that were propped up and stacked on top of each other as well. I jumped in and participated, as did the slightly past middle aged women who were going through the exhibits slightly before us. There was one performance piece where a man had a block of wood that was attached to a mirror in his mouth so that he wasn't able to talk to you. I think the point was that he would communicate with you using his eyes through the reflection in the mirror, but I don't understand why sign language wouldn't have been sufficient. I later saw him upstairs when I was looking through the gift shop and was amazed at his ability to go up and down stairs in that state. Also that he wasn't slobbering all over it.

There was also a man who had children draw something and then recreate it using fabric from clothes that he got from thrift stores. This is one example of his work. It's a painting by Taro Okamoto, a replica of which can be found in Shibuya station in Tokyo. I was a little weary about it at first, but there was a sign that asked you to take your shoes off before getting on it so I went ahead and sat on it and looked under the carefully velcroed pillows. Very interesting. and comfortable.

Lunch: Bakudan Ramen

We went to this place that asks you how spicy you want your ramen on a scale from 1-100. I went with 5 since that was supposed to be a little spicier than "if you like a little spice." I was a little worried about it until I ended up putting even more spice into the broth.

After going back to get our luggage from the hotel, get snacks for the bus, etc. we went to a cafe near the bus stop (the cafe had the best vanilla bean cream puffs EVER), boarded the bus, and found ourselves on the way back to Tokyo. Until the bus got a flat.

Hiroshima: Day 2

2010-09-06T15:57:00.000+09:00

We spent the whole day at one of my favorite places ever: Miyajima.

I have been here multiple times, and love it a little more every time I come. Unfortunately, I seem to visit mostly in the summer, when oysters are out of season.

We walked through Itsukushima Shrine, where we did the luck drawings.

At high tide, this whole area is filled with seawater so that this shrine looks like it's floating on the water.

Daisho Shrine: There's so much to see and explore in this shrine complex.

I also finally caved and wrote on one of these wish board things on a Daruma-shaped one. First one ever!

And here, when they say they have stone statues...

they mean business. there are HUNDREDS here. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture the number of stone figures, concentrated in one garden very well.

We found a peaceful place in one of the little streams, where I dipped my feet into the cool water, splashed around a little, and then set up shop to write some postcards while my travelling companion took a nap.

We took the ropeway up to Mt. Misen, where we shared a cable car with a very lovely Israeli couple.

Walking up to the top from the cable car station (you take 2 cable cars and then walk for about 30 minutes). There were a bunch of statues at the top and along the way.

One of my friends had mentioned these to me. Momijimanju are manju that look like maples leaves. This place, fries them in batter and they are to die for. One is just enough that your sweet tooth is satiated, yet leaves you wanting a little more. I feel that 2 would be just too many, though. Just get one. Either custard or red bean. I got the custard and didn't regret my decision for a second.

There was a store nearby that had a really interesting selection of ramune. They have flavors that include: takoyaki, kimchi, and eggplant.

As usual, I was very sad to leave, but I feel that I will be here again some day. Hopefully with a little more time to explore the rest of this little island and during the winter so I can eat some oysters!!

Hiroshima: Day1

2010-08-23T19:31:00.001+09:00

First, a little side note: You may have noticed that I am severely slacking on the blog these days. My life has been so hectic since the 1st of August that I have barely been able to breathe. I'm not complaining, though, because every second of August has been amazing so far! I'm heading out of town to the EC until the end of Aug so you probably won't see any posts from me until September... I'll have a lot of catching up to do!!

A friend and I left for Hiroshima on the night of the 1st aboard an overnight bus and were there for 3 days.

First Stop: Hiroshima Castle

Next Stop: Okonomi-mura (village of okonomiyaki)

Okonomiyaki is a pancake with veggies like dish. I feel like the Osaka style seems to be the standard, but my heart (and stomach) truly lies with the Hiroshima style. The main difference is that the Hiroshima style has noodles in it. It's also made by layering the veggies and other ingredients on top of a layer of a flour-and-water mixture whereas the Osaka style mixes all of the ingredients together before cooking on a flat pan.

Third Stop: Peace Park

As I'm sure all of you know, the atomic bomb was dropped on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII. Many people think that this building below is at the epicenter, but trust me. If a bomb exploded right above this, it wouldn't stand a chance. There's a little marker indicating the epicenter a little ways away, but I can't say that I've gone to see it. This is the only building to survive the bomb. Thus, it became known as the A-bomb dome.

It's a little hard to see in this picture, but I feel like most people have the same one of just the dome up close. These roses are from around the world, showing support to Hiroshima victims.

Some of the many paper cranes that are hung up in the area, folded with wishes of peace and goodwill.

Inside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, there are many exhibits, including a replica of the A-bomb dome, covered in letters from Hiroshima Governors to areas where nuclear testing is taking place, pleading them to stop.

And here's an example of what happened to... i think bricks (they are so distorted, i can't really tell), and glass bottles. The really scary thing is that I overheard a guide explaining that the nuclear weapons that are out there in the world today are estimated to be about 3,000 times stronger than that of the bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima.

On a lighter note, here's what I had for dinner- obviously ramen!

It was called "onomichi ramen." The ramen in Onomichi is supposed to be very good, but this one (found in hiroshima station) was disappointing. The gyoza were good, though!

TCL: Aveda Blue Oil

2010-07-31T23:57:00.000+09:00

As written in my profile, I started this blog to document the things that I, China (tʃiːnɑ) like. However, I just realized that I haven't actually written any entries on this subject. Problem solved once I post this entry!

First TCL: Aveda Blue Oil!
I used to work at Fran's Chocolates in University Village, which is right across from the Aveda store. One day during my break, I popped over because I heard that they were giving... I forgot what they were called!! but they were showing people their aromatherapy products via a 10 minute massage. I had the choice of a scent of my choice, or blue oil. The girls I was talking to sounded really excited about blue oil so I decided to give it a try. I went back with my shoulders feeling lighter. However, the real addiction started about 10 minutes into my shift. This is like a little bottle of icy-hot, but it smells better.
My shoulders cramp really easily so this has been a lifesaver!

The only problem is... as you can see, I'm almost out!! This picture was actually taken a while ago and I have even less left now.

Black Eggs

2010-07-31T21:04:00.001+09:00

Helene went to Hakone a while ago and brought me some presents back! She got me a pressure point massager and 2 black eggs. It's said that eating one of these eggs will prolong your life by 3 years.

Busy day full of good food

2010-07-30T18:37:00.001+09:00

My co-workers and I went to an Italian restaurant by school today for lunch. I got the cold scallop spaghetti and we shared a cheesecake framboise and tiramisu. Yum!!

After work, I met up with some of my 2nd year students to celebrate on of the girls' birthdays. More good food (and good cake!) there!! It's always fun to chat with the girls outside of the classroom. They're a lot less tense, a lot less sleepy.

Kareoke

2010-07-30T18:25:00.000+09:00

Went to kareoke with friends who are heading back to the states WAY too soon.

One of the girls there lived in Jersey for a while and still somehow managed to never hear "Baby Got Back" and looked a mixture of shocked and flat out scared when we started singing it. and by singing, I mean screaming.

Ueno Zoo

2010-07-26T01:09:00.002+09:00

I went to the Ueno Zoo for the first time today. I met up with my friend Chieko, and we strolled over to the zoo (mainly because it was too hot to walk) after some lunch.

So many adorable animals! The picture in the center is my friend trying to get a good view of the elephants. We went in their direction after stopping for some shaved ice because they were trumpeting and whining and making such a ruckus. After we got there, they were kind of poking each other with their trunks and chasing each other around the pen. Turns out there was a big group around this elephant couple because they were, um, getting friendly. It was kind of funny to see the zoo keepers in the background ready to record any possible data.

There's another zoo in the Tokyo area, which is actually more in the direction that we live, but we picked the Ueno zoo because they have a Capybara there. He is so cute!! The first time we passed by his pen, it was a little hard to see him since he was bathing, but he moved a little (and very slowly). If you look closely, the pictures with the signs have the animals that the signage is for behind them. (aka the llama and the capybara).

I was also obsessed with these little guys. They were just so cute!!

There was a big pond/small lake on one side of the zoo. It was kind of crazy to see such large, open space in Tokyo!!

Oh. I also discovered that bats are adorable. They can fly, but when they walk on the ground, they choose to creepily crawl around all spider-like. Silly little creatures.

I think that we sat down to rest and drink something or eat ice cream or shaved ice at least once an hour. We felt like old ladies, but it kept us both hydrated and from getting too warm. I remember that one announcement said that it was over 35 degrees Celcius, along with ways to beat the heat. Ack! I want my chilly Seattle back in my life right now! This picture is a little misleading because there aren't any pandas at this zoo right now. It was super cute, and not very expensive (600yen), but it was smaller than I thought it would be. We're going to go to the Tama Zoo next!! I also need to make it back to Ueno because they have a Chagall exhibit going on right now. and I heart Chagall.

Street Art: Yokohama Chinatown

2010-07-26T00:43:00.000+09:00

Yokohama with Ayumi

2010-07-26T00:25:00.002+09:00

One of my graduated students teaches in Yokohama now so I went to go spend the day with her there. We met in Chinatown. The original plan was to walk around the area and find things to munch on while we walk. On the way to Chinatown from the station (about 2 blocks away) we both realized that we would melt if we went with plan A, so plan B was quickly put into action. Plan B was to find the closest air conditioned restaurant that looked like it had edible food.

After that, we walked around and popped into stores whenever we started to overheat to bask in some air conditioning and look at all the kitch in the area. There's a lot of kitch here. I found a pile of cut-offs in case Tobias (Arrested Development) runs out.

We then strolled toward a park in the area and sat on a bench under a tree to cool off and enjoy the view for a little bit. I miss seeing water!

We continued down this path until we ended up at the "red brick buildings." When we got closer, we saw that there were a lot of tents set up. I'm still unsure why all those food stands were up, but a little bit away from that, NHK (japanese public tv station) was holding some event that included an appearance by characters from a cartoon that I used to watch as a child. It was really really hot in front of the stage so we grabbed seats at a veranda nearby. The A/C didn't reach our seats, but the shade from the awning and cold drinks were much appreciated. A pair of comedians, that aren't really on the radar anymore, came out and were recruiting people to watch their act. We waved so they commented on our choice of seats for a little bit. It was small, but it was nice to be noticed :)

These buildings are full of stores so we wandered through these as well. They have a lot of really cute stores, many of them selling houseware that I wish I could have gotten, but there's just no way I could bring it all back to the states. OH. We also chased down Domo-kun, an NHK character to get a picture with him.

We set off on foot again, toward Minato Mirai.

The park surrounding the red brick buildings. They had some really cute gazebos. There was also a random platform with tracks leading up to it, but they cut off with the sidewalk. Not really sure what they're for. (Right). We also saw a couple of groups of guys in all white uniforms. Not really sure what the uniforms were for.

We were walking toward Sakuragicho Station when we heard a jazz band playing. We joined the growing group of onlookers for a bit. When the band finished their set, we found a places to sit and rested for a little bit before getting on the train. We took the train to the station she lives near and had dinner at a Korean restaurant nearby.

They wallpapered some of the walls with wrappers from instant Korean ramen. Veggie Korean pancakes, bibimbap, toppogi with cheese. I know it's weird to eat hot and spicy food on a day that I could actually start to feel my hair melt, but it was all so good!!

I spent the night at her place, which is quite an adventure to get to. I think she puts it best "the path there is like Totoro." Too bad this isn't a joke. She reciting the directions flight attendant style. Most of them made sense and we went down a couple random paths, but the last one was the most shocking. We were at a deadend when she told me to turn left down a path. What I thought was the entrance to someone's backyard, half blocked with overgrown plants was actually the path to her apartment complex. No Totoro at the end of this path, though. Just girly laughter.

Ramen: Sakanaton

2010-07-25T22:08:00.000+09:00

I saw this place on a TV show and decided to give it a shot. The menu/vending machine for the food ticket is outside. I had a hard time deciding between the regular cold noodles in curry sauce or a plate with 2 kinds of noodles (a slightly thicker than average ramen noodle and one that looks like the egg-noodle version of the noddles you find in phud-kee-mow), rice, and some pork. I wasn't very hungry so I went for the regular cold noodles.

My ramen :)

The set that was featured on the tv show.

It was good as food, but it didn't seem like ramen. With the needles being as chewy as they were, they reminded me of curry udon. The curry was a little spicier than I would have expected, but there were bits of stewed pork in it and was very delicious. Just not meant for ramen noodles. In my opinion.

Peter Pan and Jail Restaurant

2010-07-23T19:58:00.001+09:00

One of my students who graduated last year invited me to go see Peter Pan, the musical with her. I got to Tokyo a little early so I went to Point et Lingne for some lunch, buying a book on the way. The book is called "Japanese that Japanese people don't know" and is about a Japanese-language teacher in Japan. I like this book because I totally understand where the teacher's coming from, but also how the students feel at the same time since I'm both teaching and learning a language here. Originally introduced to me by a student, I borrowed the 1st book, but went ahead and bought the second one. It's a drama on TV now, but I dont' think the drama is anything to write home about. The books are much better- and very informative!

Ayumi, my student, met me at this cafe, where we had tea for a little bit to catch up. We then found our way to the Tokyo International Forum using an underground path in the Marunouchi area. Thank goodness. I would have melted outside!!

Peter Pan was adorable. Wendy was played by Sayaka (Japanese), the daughter of Matsuda Seiko, a famous J-pop artist in the 80's. She and I are the same age. To the day.

I don't know why I assumed that it would be a musical version of the disney movie, and was a little disappointed when they didn't sing "you can fly" but got over it when Peter Pan started flying on stage, throwing glitter everywhere.

The little boy who played Michael was the cutest thing ever!! So cute, he looked like a little cartoon character bouncing around the stage in his PJs.

After the show we headed to Ikebukuro, where we both had (separate) plans. I met up with some of my exchange student friends at an arcade. From there, we went to a jail-themed restaurant called Lock Up.

When you arrive, there is a hallway that you walk through that leads you to the beginning of a maze which you must get through in order to get to the restaurant. Fun, but I screamed my head off a bulk of the time. They also had alarms that went off... and some of the resident prisoners come around to say "hello." I took some videos, but it was really dark so it's just some flashing lights with the buzzing siren and screaming as your background music.

Lock Up was quite pricey since we didn't call ahead to make a reservation for the party plan so we went to another place after enjoying the entertainment.

I just met these kids earlier this year, but I'm going to miss them so much next year!

Lunch: Kaldi, Cake: Patisserie Chaton

2010-07-23T01:35:00.001+09:00

Helene and I went to Kaldi, by the station, for lunch!
I got the BLT again, but it was different this time (last time here). It was actual bacon instead of canadian bacon and they used a ton of mixed greens. I miss my mixed leaves. I feel like Japanese salads are composed of just lettuce or cabbage. It's sad that I'm so excited about some romaine and butter lettuce... haha. The soup this time was corn pottage.

We chatted, read, and researched places to go in Tokyo a little bit here and then headed... to dessert!!

Helene hadn't been to Patisserie Chaton (last entry here) yet so we went there. I wish the cafe area was a little bigger. The trays that they bring out for you take up the whole table. She got the citron tart and I got one with figs on top!
The hourglass is for our tea. Isn't it cute?!

We ended up going back to campus to continue reading/ researching things to do in Tokyo.

Iwafune Beach

2010-07-20T00:38:00.003+09:00

One day last fall when I first arrived in Japan, I found these directions on a hiking in tokyo thread:

"Out in Chiba, between the stations of Ohara and Onjuku, there is a small station called Namihana.
Go from the station towards the ocean....it is perhaps about a three kilometer walk.
You will reach a small fishing village.
Turn right on the road and head up the hill. You will start to see a nice beach but continue up the hill along the road.
After you pass a decent sized pond on your left, you will reach a small driveway into a field on your left.
Walk down this " path" and you will come to a dilapidated fence. Not going through the gate but instead following the footpath beginning at the left of the gate, you will soon start to head through what can be best described as jungle.
You will soon come into a clearing, but continue along the path until you come to an entrance to a cave. It may look like there is a dead end, but it is a tunnel. As you enter, be prepared for a rather steep walk down and watch out for slippery rocks.
Just as it starts to get dark behind you, you will be able to see light at the end of the tunnel.
Do NOT attempt to run!! One meter beyond the exit will give you a 30 meter drop onto the rocks below. Instead, from the exit, you will find a goat path that will take you down the side of the mountain to the beach below.
Now, as Ohara and Onjuku produce some of the most crowded beaches in Japan during the summer, this particular beach is empty even during Obon. If there is anyone there, it is most likely a nude sunbather.
The place is Tokyo' s best secret beach if not Japan' s.
Be careful about the incoming tide as it tends to block the entrance to the tunnel once it has come in. Overnight camping is NOT a good idea and the water can be a bit rough for the best of swimmers. But if you are looking for a little adventure in navigation and would like a nice secluded place during the peak of the summer holiday season, this is as good a place as any."

These vague directions had me intrigued, and I finally tried it out. Camille and I woke up at 6am to start on the first leg of our journey: a 3 hour train ride from our station to the tiny station of Namihana in Chiba Prefecture.

I live near the circled city and we went to Namihana Station is labeled as "A." I didn't even know where it was on a map until just now.

So we get off at this station with directions in hand. I felt so good right as I stepped onto the platform of this tiny station. The air just felt so much better than in the city, even if they shared the inevitable heat and mugginess.

First step: walk toward the ocean. With no hint as to which way the ocean was, I asked a girl standing in front of the station. She seemed unsure, but we figure that she knew better than us so we headed down the street to the right.

Luckily, we stopped a little ways down the road to ask a man loading up a van with kid stuff if we were going the right way. He asked us which beach we were trying to reach. This is when I realized that I didn't even know which beach these directions were for. I went and asked for the closest one. He gave us impeccable directions and we were back on our way, back-tracking quite a bit.

There were some random tori-i standing about with the shrines tucked back within some trees. We decided to go check on of them out:

They were much newer than I thought they'd be. This one looked like it had been re-done recently.

Some pictures along the road.

We continued to walk straight on this shadeless road that had reassuring signs that we were going to right way to Iwafune Beach (I found out the name of the beach from the man loading the van. I wish the directions above included it) and passed through this tunnel. Jokingly, we sang a little kid's song as we were walking through it. The echoes ended up being kind of creepy because it sounded like the ghosts of children were singing along in the distance.

When we got to the other side, the scenery had totally changed. From rice patties and graveyards to this:

Once we turned the corner, there was the "fishing village" that the author of the directions was talking about:

We finally arrived there around 10/11ish so we all the fishing gear was already put away and the port was empty.

We turned right as directed and kept walking up the road. We weren't sure how far we were supposed to walk, since that wasn't indicated in the directions, but we just kept going. We finally came to a place where we found a cave-like opening. Unfortunately, it was gated off with warning signs around it:

Apparently this was sealed off because someone fell and died around it.

I couldn't help but feel disappointed that we came all the way here just to have the cave gated off. Camille, however suggested that we keep going for a little bit since we weren't sure if this was the opening that he was talking about. I don't know when he appeared, but there was a guy dressed in all white and in a straw hat walking behind us at quite a nice pace. I almost turned around and asked him for directions, but since we really had no idea what/where this place was, I decided against it. We came across something that looked like a small lake. The man overtook us here and turned down the driveway. We also oturned down the driveway right after the lake/pond right after him. The path was alright for a little bit. Until it got muddy and juglesque. I don't know how that guy walked this path so fast. We then reached the beginning of the tunnel. I got my petzel out and we navigated down the slippery path.

The beach was in full view on the other side of the tunnel, but it wasn't time to party quite yet. The path became significantly steeper. Someone was kind enough to secure some ropes to make the descent easier, though!

I really should have brought a larger towel but not wanting to carry my backpack in this heat, I opted for one that was just big enough for me to sit on. It was a nice beach to chill on. There were very few people there. Mostly men. Mostly in speedos. That was not appreciated. The waves were too rough to allow for swimming, but you could splash around a little, which was much appreciated after that long walk in the sun.

Some pictures of the ocean a little near the small port. The photo on the right is of a board warning of the rough waves in this area. Watch out. They will eat you.

A picture to show you how tiny this station was. It didn't even have a ticket machine! It had 2 touch pads if you were using an IC card, but if you needed a paper ticket, it had a little machine that you push and a ticket comes out. Not entirely sure how that worked.

This beach was really fun and relaxing because there were so few people there and the sound of the waves crashing provided perfect background music. In the end, though, it was definitely the journey that made this beach so memorable.

Vietnamese Food

2010-07-19T22:07:00.001+09:00

My friend Natsuki and I finished our big tests so we went out to Vietnamese food to celebrate. I haven't had vietnamese food in 9 months! She found a place in the trendy town of Shimokitazawa.

The menu was limited and consisted mostly of curry, so I was a little skeptical at first. I decided to go for the shrimp egg roll cold noodles. It was delicious. Just like something you'd find in little saigon in Seattle's International District. The portion size was also misleading. It looked really small, but was just enough. Good thing I have a separate stomach for desserts! We wandered into a shoe store, where we made some impulse shopping (of course. who walks into a store full of shoes during summer sale season and comes out empty handed?). Right after we walked out of the store, we found a store with bubble (boba) tea. They had an entire wall that was shelved with the displays of the food that they had, including, but not limited to: bubble tea, shaved ice with tapioca on it, spaghetti in a cup, and crepes. Like the electronic stores here, there were little slips of laminated paper next to each one. You take one for the product that you want and take it up to the counter to order.

Anyway, that was the long way of saying that we got shaved ice with tapioca on them.

Mitama Matsuri

2010-07-16T00:17:00.006+09:00

I went to Mitama Festival with a teacher and some students. We all got ready together and put yukata on. Thank goodness, since I'm a little rusty on putting a yukata on by myself. There was bon-odori here as well as many typical festival activities. I actually also ran into some friends who happened to be here on the same day.

So, what's there to do at a festival?

Look at all of those booths (and people)!!

There are things to eat: Monja on a stick, Shaved ice, Skewers, Corndogs without the corn

Things to do: like fishing the goldfish using flat scooper things made out of paper, and bon-odori (dancing)!

I had my grandma ship my mom's yukata to me since mine are in Seattle.

Kasumi and I have been friends since before I can remember! I'm so lucky that she lives in the Tokyo area too, now!

Festivals are always an interesting mixture of traditional wear and current trends. Even in yukata, there are many different patterns. Luckily mine is more basic and traditional VS all the hot pink butterfly ones that I saw. There was also one girl in particular with fake lashes that could swallow you whole. They were frighteningly large while the rest of her outfit was frighteningly small. Festivals are so awesome for people watching!!

Happy Birthday: Atsuko!

2010-07-15T23:42:00.001+09:00

It was my friend Atsuko's birthday so I braved the rainy season rain to pick up this cake. A couple days before, I went to all the bakeries in the area to pick out the perfect cake. Anything for a birthday...cake ;)

Happy Birthday, あっちゃん!

Disney Sea

2010-07-15T23:36:00.002+09:00

I went to Disney Sea (English) with one of my students. Yes. Wearing matching bows.

Ready for all the food you can eat at Disney Sea???

Spicy chicken leg. Frozen mango popsicle.

Shrimp Humbow in the shape of an inflatable tube. And the packaging makes it look like Donald is wearing one! The packaging is even adorable once you finish the steamed bun! Oh and to the right you can see real Donald. We didn't have the patience to wait in the 30 minute line to meet him.

Gyoza-dog. It's like a long gyoza-shaped steamed bun with gyoza stuffing and a black sesame churro!

The pictures that I'm missing are of my chili shrimp dinner and curry popcorn. The curry popcorn was SO GOOD! and of course available in the "Arabian Nights" part of Disney Sea.

They have a really cute indoor area, meant for kids called Mermaid Lagoon. They had a pufferfish ride that I had to ride... it made me a little dizzy.

Duffy is a stuffed bear that Minnie supposedly made Mickey before he went out to sea. If you look carefully, the light part of his face is in the shape of Mickey Mouse, as well as on his hind paws. I'm going home right around Ella's birthday so I got her a bilingual book and this little bear. :)The port is SO PRETTY!! but of course it doesn't come out the same in photos. I need my big girl camera... with a special lens. sigh.

Delicious Dinner

2010-07-15T23:15:00.000+09:00

I am incredibly spoiled and one of my friends took me out to Girandole, on the top of the Park Hyatt Tokyo Hotel. I actually read about this place a while ago, when I was looking for a nice look-out of Tokyo that wasn't the Tokyo tower. We were seated by the window, so I was able to see the view of Tokyo... and the even more incredible view of my meal.

Crab, avocado, and mango salad and escargot-esque shell fish.

My main course of grilled seasonal fish, finished off with a fruit tart.

It was all amazing, but I'd been searching high and low for a certain flavor of tart. And I finally found it! On the top of a hotel. Of course.

Mexican Food Party

2010-07-15T22:58:00.002+09:00

The only time I have more than 2 people over at my apartment of course, is for FOOD! We decided that it was time for salsa, tacos, fajitas, and some taco rice to re-enter our diets. Yay Tex-Mex.

It was delicious, though they ate most of the salsa when I wan't looking.

I also got to meet my friend's girlfriend for the first time, which was a lot of fun.

Here's a close up of the food.

ipad infiltration

2010-07-15T22:43:00.000+09:00

I'm not a huge fan of apple, but I have to say that the oversized itouch. oh. sorry. the ipad has been quite entertaining. One of my students got one and used it for a presentation for this little class.

Cake: Patisserie Chaton

2010-07-12T19:55:00.004+09:00

(Title link in Japanese. As is this link for the official store website.)
Last winter, I tried to come to this bakery, but they were closed due to all the Christmas cake orders they had. I finally made it back and was able to try it out. I got the seasonal cake called "Misa," which had a mango mousse on top of a vanilla bean mousse, wrapped in a thin layer of sponge cake. Of course I ate this while sipping Darjeeling tea. I don't know how else to eat cake anymore. I have to have my Darjeeling. Anyway, this cake was absolutely amazing. The mousses went so well together, though I think that I preferred enjoying them separately. The whole bakery is small and the cafe area in tiny. There are 4 tables in total and 2 tables have to be right next to each other or there's no way anyone can pass through. However, instead of feeling cramped, it feels very cozy and I hope to snack on cake, sip tea, and read a book one of these rainy days.

Bottom line: Got the stamp card. Definitely coming back.

Sad Reality

2010-07-12T19:49:00.000+09:00

There was a little function held in honor of my French friends to have kind of an open conversation/forum. Last time, I had to be up there with them. This time I got to sit in the audience and play paparazzi. However, these events remind me that I won't have these girls with me next year. And I don't like it. Who's going to nurse me back to health after my expeditions?

Ramen: Ippudo

2010-07-11T00:36:00.002+09:00

A food blog that I follow had an entry about going to an Ippudo in NY and raved about it so I decided to give it a try.

Japanese: http://www.ippudo.com/index.html

English: http://www.ippudo.com/ny/

I got the akamaru (left) and the girls I went with got the shiromaru (right). I think that I like the shiromaru better and while it was good ramen, it wasn't on par with the other places that I've been to. It is a chain, afterall. However you can get seconds on noodles for 25yen. They also have cute little bite sized gyoza!

One of the girls had a voucher for each plate to be 100 yen. What a steal! These were very juicy and had very thin skin. I wish that they have chili sauce to eat them with. There are 10 per plate so we split 2 plates of them between 3 of us.

After this HUGE meal, 2 of us were full, but the third still had a little room in her stomach so we went to Baskin and Robbins where they have a buy a double scoop, get a third for free deal. AND SHE FINISHED IT. no problem. Japan really is the country of bottomless stomachs!

Hair cut!

2010-07-11T00:17:00.001+09:00

I broke the chain on one of my necklaces when I was still in Seattle and FINALLY made it to the department store that it was purchased at today. They were, in true Japanese customer service fashion, absolutely wonderful at Daimaru (dept store) and fixed it for me on the spot! and didn't charge me for it.

I had some time until my hair appointment so I went to the Shin-maru bldg close by for some lunch at my favorite bakery, point et ligne.

Special Lunch Set 1500yen

bread basket (bottomless)
6 kinds of dips (egg tartar, olives and anchovies, chicken liver pate, tobiko, cream cheese and herbs, and a seasonal fruit one)
salad
pork with grilled vegetables
smoked salmon (this salmon was delicious. and I'm a true Seattleite when it comes to salmon)
variety meat patty.
iced tea.

I actually got to witness baking of some bread this time!!! I feel like they also have different breads in the bread basket every time I go. There's a walnut one that's in there- presumably to go with the sweet dip, but I haven't seen another one in there consistently.

This was my first time having lunch here. There were many women here alone, though most were in suits since Marunouchi is a neighborhood of office buildings. There were enough people in groups, however, to keep the place sounding lively and welcoming.

I then wandered around the building, going through each shop and taking my time. I haven't really had a lot of time to relax in the last little bit so it was really nice to be able to take my time and to not feel rushed. I eventually made it through the entire retail portion of the building and headed over to Mejiro, where I was going to get my hair cut. I was early, but found a cafe right next to the station called... Zoka! Kind of like the one in Seattle.

The coffee here was good and the baristas even knew how to make the rosetta out of the foam. There was a cozy feel to this place and I had a really good time sitting around and reading my book while it rained outside. They even have rosetta classes! The class is 1000 yen and includes one latte and a piece of cake. I really want to try it some time. Maybe when I come back to Japan in the fall.

I got my hair done at ARMO (japanese), an organic salon. They were amazing and very hospitable here. I got about 10cm cut off my hair, my bangs back to a length that bangs should be, and my hair colored back to black. 2 people have noticed, though. Since I got it cut... apparently this cut matches how people imagine me to be? who knows.

After this, I headed over to Ikebukuro (also on the yamanote line) and did a little summer sale shopping before meeting some students for ramen!! We went to a chain place called ippudo (blog entry here), that's even in NY.

Yakitori

2010-07-08T22:26:00.000+09:00

A couple days ago, I finally picked up the last 3 sticks of meatballs on a stick and they were really really good so my neighbors and I went back for more. It a open store where you can buy a variety of cooked and raw foods so you can't eat there, but it's totally worth the wait for these guys! It's too bad they only have the sauce yakitori (chicken on a stick), no salt.

SITAARA

2010-07-06T00:35:00.000+09:00

I met up with a friend after my 5 hour test on the 4th of July and we went to an Indian restaurant called Sitaara on one of the top floors of Takashimaya, a Japanese department store in Shinjuku.

It was really good, a little on the sweet side, not very spicy. The above set was 1,550yen.

My Recent Loot

2010-07-06T00:08:00.000+09:00

In case you were wondering where I went, as I am on the other side of the globe, I stepped in the wrong direction a little and actually DID fall off the face of the earth. AKA I was stressed out, probably more than I've ever been. EVER. Stressasaurus style. Anyway, I thought that I'd share with you the result of my recent (aka mostly today) retail therapy session.

As you can see, I've also taken the entirety of today to catch up on my blogging. In case you're in between novels, I've got one for you here.

Croutons

2010-07-05T23:58:00.000+09:00

I had some stale bread so I made some croutons... only I don't have an oven so I pan-fried them. Turned out pretty well. Part of my "waste not" campaign. I may have just eaten them like chips instead of waiting until I had a salad in need of croutons. oops.

Ramen: Menyuuissei

2010-07-05T23:54:00.000+09:00

Another place in Takadanobaba. If you haven't gotten the hint quite yet, there are a TON of ramen places in this area. I've actually gone back to this one. I really like their broth. Their noodles and standard size and I always order the "kawa tsuki." The meat is really thick and they grill it right before it's added to the bowl. It melts in your mouth and is just all sorts of amazing.

Street Art: Harajuku

2010-07-05T22:31:00.000+09:00

Donut Towel!

2010-07-05T22:23:00.000+09:00

There's a donut store called Mr. Donut that I may or may not frequent. (As you can see below, it's partly to study.) Anyway, I have their point card and as a sign that I have consumed WAY too many donuts, I finally traded in some points for this super cute lion donut towel!

Bulter Cafe in Ikebukuro

2010-07-05T22:04:00.000+09:00

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Japan, go to a butler cafe? haha. Why not?

One of my students, Camille, and I went to Swallotail, a butler cafe in Ikebukuro. It's like a maid cafe, but with butlers. It's supposed to be as if you were a heiress and you were returning home for tea. When you get there, a man in a tux greets you and you are asked to keep switching seats. It was kind of odd. First it's please take a seat and wait here. Now wait on this couch... Anyway, when you are finally allowed into the entry hall, a footman or butler, depending on their seniority at the place, greets you and takes your jackets and whatever for you. I thought they were going to put them into a closet.. no. they just take them to your seat for you because my tiny clutch "must be so heavy." *I cannot laugh, I cannot laugh* So we get taken into this room that has a fake fireplace and 2 ginormo chandeliers. So our footman then places our napkins for us on our laps (the wrong way, with the fold facing you) and is a highly attentive waiter. He also has anime hair and is wearing an anime tux, which was completely fabulous, but (sadly) I was not allowed to take any pictures.

Each teacup has a name so when your tea comes, you are introduced to your teacup. Oh, they also call you "ojyousama," which is kind of like "my lady" the whole time.

THEY EVEN ESCORT YOU TO THE RESTROOM. Which I was really creeped out about. Luckily our seats were right next to the door to lead you down a hallway to the bathroom, and I snuck out and back to the table without being forced to have accompaniment and someone hold my clutch for me. Other customers, however, did not seem to mind and more than one time, we saw a lady, or a group of them, waiting to be escorted back to their seats. One word about the customers. They really range in at least their fashion sense. Two of the especially caught my eye as they were in french lolita outfits. They were all dolled up, as in, looked like dolls. It was ADORABLE. Again, the no pictures thing was a huge disappointment.

I had a scone and a brie and spinach quiche, which was quite good and surprisingly filling for its size followed by, um, the cutest dessert EVER.

It's called "Sanpomichi" (Path to stroll along)

So we've got a key lime mouse cake with a chocolate crust in the back left, with 2 escargot made out of cookies, berry sorbet and some jello that looks like a pond with fruit. It was really good and everything on it was edible!

This is the one that the Yuzu and Camille got. It's called "Virgin Road."

I decided against it, A) because of the name and B) because they somehow put marshmallows through a pastry bag for it.

They are very timely about getting you out of there in exactly 80 minutes (you make reservations for an 80 minute time slot) and they carry your bag back to the entryway and everything. HA. Anyway, since the setting for this little role play is that you are the heiress of this grand household, they tell you to have a nice walk outside and to hurry home lest something happen to you at night.

Obviously we stopped by a game center for purikura!

*photos of the butler cafe courtesy of http://butlers-cafe.jp/

Madame Cirque

2010-07-05T15:06:00.001+09:00

Emi and I found this place a while back and I've been back a couple times since. It's a circus theme restaurant with really good food and more importantly, dessert. I like going when I'm not really suer where to go in Shinjuku.

Shrimp and avocado tartar and gateau chocolat. There were only counter seats left and apparently they have a table charge (300 yen/person) here sometimes. Maybe because we were sitting at the counter? Not really sure.

Afternoon Tea

2010-07-05T14:50:00.000+09:00

Bummer my pictures turned out so grainy. In other news, Liza and I were pleasantly surprised by our dinner tea sets at Afternoon Tea in Lumine 1 in Shinjuku. It's really hard to find an entree salad in these parts, but we both got one and they were delicious. Mine was more of a grilled vegetable and chicken platter, but I think that counts. My mouth is watering thinking about it.

Street Art: Harajuku and Shibuya

2010-07-05T14:27:00.000+09:00

Takeshita-dori

Right: Shibuya

Kareoke

2010-07-05T14:15:00.001+09:00

Liza hadn't been to kareoke yet so we met up with some of mes amis in Takadanobaba. I believe we rocked out to the musical talents of Papa Roach and Aqua. How can that NOT be a good time? I mean, EVERYONE joined in for a little bit of the "'cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind, wish somebody would tell me I'm fine" Unfortunately, I was not able to capture of amazingness of that on my camera.

Ramen: Ore no Sora in Takadanobaba

2010-07-05T14:09:00.000+09:00

Ore no Sora (My Sky, link in Japanese) in Takadanobaba. About 100 meters from 戸山口 (Toyama-guchi).

Pork ramen. The meat was really tender and the broth was on the thicker side so every chopstick-ful of ramen that you got was nicely coated with the broth/meat mixture. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. The 冷麺(reimen, cold version) is not as recommended.

However, this place got mediocre reviews on some ramen blogs. I'm really surprised because this was pretty life-changing for me. I'm excited to try some that got higher scores!!

Street Art: Takadanobaba

2010-07-05T14:00:00.000+09:00

Mt. Takao take 7

2010-07-05T13:56:00.000+09:00

On the top of Mt. Takao time #7, this time with Liza. It was a rough climb, since it was the night after Peter and Colin's birthday.

I took my big girl camera this time. The weather/lighting wasn't that great today, but let's not let that slide as my excuse as to my lack of photography skills.

Street Art: Roppongi

2010-07-05T13:43:00.002+09:00

Street Art: Takadanobaba

2010-07-05T13:41:00.000+09:00

Happy Birthday: Peter and Colin!

2010-07-05T13:37:00.002+09:00

Happy Birthday Colin (Left) and Peter (Right)!!!

We went to a place called "Himoya" (Japanese) in Takadanobaba. (It's a chain)

Shuta and Kevin: Kevin always takes the best pictures.

One of the tables. We had 2 tables crammed with food. I think the total count was edamame, dashimakitamago (rolled egg), 1 hot pot, 5 kinds of fish, half a chicken, sashimi, and salad per 4 people... or something ridiculous like that. Needless to say, we ate A LOT. and I wish that I had my larger camera with me to take better pics of the food.

Before we ran out of space on the table for all of the food. Seriously. I was sitting on an end so I got to sit next to a couple of the dishes while we finished their predecessors. and CAKE!

Dinner for 3

2010-07-05T13:29:00.000+09:00

The English department holds a speech contest every fall. One of the girls has started drafting her speech about waste. I think that one of the hardest things about living alone are the meals. It's cheaper to buy and make things in bulk, but then you eat the same thing for 2-3 meals a day for a week and inevitably, some of it gets thrown away either because you are tired of it, or because not everything lasts for a week, even in the fridge.

My solution to this has always been to knock on the door of an unsuspecting neighbor and shove food into their hands (poor helene), but now we just dine together. More variety for less work!

Dinner 1:

Spinach cream and Kimchee fried rice courtesy of Helene

Dinner 2:

Me: Garlic Bread

(I totally cheated and pan fried chopped garlic and butter and then put that on top of toasted bread instead of toasting it all together. I was really short on butter and the store by us only had margarine. Luckily, this allowed me to fib through the lack of real butter.)

Helene: Teriyaki Salmon

Camille: Salmon Cream Pasta

Dinner 3:

ack. need to upload photos.

Paper vs Electronic

2010-06-27T12:53:00.000+09:00

I found this little button (created to be added to personal webpages) and it brought up a juxtaposition that I've been struggling with for some time. I love reading books, magazines, newspapers, etc on paper, but it seems like such a waste of paper. I guess if you think about it, both options use resources of some kind- be it tangible or electric. SO, I think I've finally decided that it's not a waste to read on paper- plus it's more fun and satisfying- if you pass the publication along when you're done with it. OR utilize your local library. My 2 cents.

The buttons can be found at http://readtheprintedword.org/ if you want one for your webpage.

Cooking Steak Frites

2010-06-25T01:43:00.002+09:00

SO MANY POTATOES!

But we had no problem polishing the garlic fries off. They were SO GOOD. Compliments to chefs Helene and Camille, who did most of the frying.

Our attempt at having a semi-balanced meal and Liza's first steak in about 7 months!

Dig in!

Since I don't have enough plates, we did a bring your own plate and utensils thing so that we didn't have to use disposable flatware and silverware. It's my attempt at being more eco-friendly and encouraging others to do the same.

the 36 hour day

2010-06-25T01:20:00.002+09:00

After lunch (previous post), we continued to wander around and found our way to the big LOVE statue.

And then wandered around the Toyko Metropolitan Building- there are a lot of statues around there.

We eventually found our way to Takadanobaba, where we met Micheal for some ramen.

This ramen was absolutely delicious. The noodles were the standard kind, the broth was perfect and the meat completely melt in your mouth. I believe that the quote from this place was by Micheal: It's not fat, it's collagen, and it's really freaking good for your skin. (or something like that)

He was DJing later that night so we went to go support him, of course pulling an all-nighter since the trains stop running around midnight.

You know what's a really healthy breakfast? Chips. Oh wait. these were just the appetizer...

... and that's how we found ourselves at Tsukiji. Unfortunately the fish market is closed on Sundays (and Wednesdays).

Look how empty it is!! We found this large circle that you are supposed to walk through in a figure 8 or something to that affect.

We went to 2 different restaurants in the area. This is the chef from Tsukiji Sushi Ichiban, the one that we liked better. He was adorable. He was kind of nervous about getting photographed and totally dropped something.

*want to clarify, NOT a sign at either of the restaurants we went to

Mokuola in Lumine Est, Shinjuku

2010-06-24T02:09:00.000+09:00

My friend and I were in the Shinjuku area wandering in and out of shops in the station and came across this restaurant. I got a salmon and salmon roe donburi- stuff over a bowl of rice.

If I remember correctly, the lunch set with dessert was about 1,500yen. What a steal! There was a bit of a line, but totally worth the 10 minute wait. I got the special parfait, which had aloe in it! Yum!

RIP Archibald

2010-06-24T00:50:00.000+09:00

Yes, I did it already... actually, this post is a bit overdue so he's been gone for a little bit now. Dear little Archibald is dead. I should really stop trying to grow anything that's not algae.

Odaiba and Marunouchi

2010-06-16T19:58:00.001+09:00

Odaiba is an interesting place. It's built on entirely man-made land and I think that every architect commissioned to design a building here must have to sign a contract saying that they will build something that looks like it might come out in a sci-fi film.

We went to the Maritime Museum, which of course I have been wanting to go to. Since we were there on a Wednesday, we had the place almost entirely to ourselves. The basement floor had an exhibit on deep ocean exploration, which is quite freaky if you are the only ones in the museum. Yes, yes, I'll fess up. I screamed. In more exciting news, on the roof, they had a pool with boats floating in it that you could play around with. A business-suit clad man and I played with the remote controlled boats while Liza had a good laugh.

No, you aren't seeing things. They have a mini Statue of Liberty here.

Another reason to love Odaiba, besides the fun glass and metal buildings from the future, are these hallways that they've made to replicate Japan in the Showa-era and ... Chinatown.

All the stores in this hall are kitchy and have nostalgic candy from that era (I was born in the tail end of this era, but for some reason, the candy reminds me of my childhood). There's even a haunted house there! (of course I did not go in) The picture above is supposed to be a replica of a classroom during that era. There are 4 restaurants in this so you can sit at the school tables and chairs while enjoying your meal.

You know you've found Chinatown when you see cardboard cut-outs of Jackie Chan! I'd never been here before and it was a lot of fun to just wander around. This section (2 stories) is filled with Chinese restaurants, including one that has conveyor belt dim sum! Too bad we ate in the classroom.

Under the staircase, there was a wall of falling water with a ball made out of rose quartz on the other side. When you stepped up to it, the water stopped, allowing you go get to the rose quartz magic ball relatively dry. Being the curious, but lazy creature that I am, I didn't read the directions next to the ball, and put both hands on it, when random sparkly sounds came out of no where. For the second time today, I screamed and jumped back. At least this place keeps you on your toes!

Our next destination was one of my favorite places in Tokyo: The Marunouchi District

I barely got this shot as we were going up the escalators in the Shin-Maru Bldg. I just love how funky chic everything is here.

The 7th floor is called Marunouchi House and is especially fun. There's a DJ on the weekends and though there are many restaurants up there, some of the seating for these places are in the hallway, so it feels as though it's one big restaurant- did I mention that they have a disco ball there? We went to a restaurant that I'd been to with my mom for some happy hour. As if to increase my love for this place, the coasters here revealed that they are doing an ocean-awareness (japanese) event right now!

Fried-skewers. Yum!!

We then went downstairs to Point et Ligne (japanese), a bakery on B1 of the same building. My mom and I also found this place when she was in town last year. I should really try new places, but the places we found were so good!!

Bread basket with various dips from jam and tartar, to liver pate followed by a cassis parfait with chocolate bread. This was one of the best parfaits I've ever had. Every ingredient was just so fresh and none of it too sweet so I felt like I could go on eating this forever. I can't do it justice with words. As much as I'm not a fan of poetry, it's times like these that I wish I was a poet- when I find really really good food.

Purikura in Akihabara

2010-06-16T19:01:00.000+09:00

I took Liza to Akihabara, which of course meant that we had to do the dress-up purikura. Enjoy! But really. Feel free to laugh at our expense.

Ramen: Fat Noodles

2010-06-11T22:35:00.002+09:00

For real. These noddles were fatty!! At least the width of 3-4 avg sized ramen noodles. This store also gives you extra noodles for no extra charge- dangerous for anyone attempting to resurrect the Atkins diet.

Though it was delicious, it's on the salty side and I have to say that I've had better. Possibly simply because I prefer my noodles like my jeans- skinny.

This place is in Shinjuku, but Takadanobaba. If you exit the station and go right, and keep walking, you will run into this in about a 1/2-3/4 mile. And on the way, you will see this adorable building:

Troll under the bridge

2010-06-11T22:15:00.002+09:00

Takadanobaba, Tokyo

Train Bar

2010-06-11T21:43:00.003+09:00

Art Exhibits in Roppongi

2010-06-09T03:58:00.001+09:00

My friend Micheal found a couple art exhibits that sounded cool in Roppongi so to Roppongi we went!

They were near Tokyo Midtown so we headed that way... when we saw a Colombia tent! I get especially excited about Colombia tents, not because I'm outdoorsy, or a wanna-be outdoorsy person, but because a few of my friends work at the one in downtown Seattle. Needless to say, I took this picture for them:

She was really ecstatic about this booth.

Random sculpture and me climbing out of a MHW tent

The best part was that this random outdoor event, with many families in attendance, was at a park right by the ritz-carlton...

Tokyo Midtown Tower- 5F Design HUB

A reusable, sturdy plastic jug you can roll instead of porting around all these plastic bottles!! And this wall is a visual representation of a variety of resources that are available (or not) in different countries and the number of people affected.

Next venue: Axis, about 3 blocks away.

I don't know if you can see the pile of cans in the picture on the right. This was a continuation of the exhibit at Design HUB about effective products that can help the third world.

Tokyo City view (much better than going up the tokyo tower)

We found this random guy. He seemed lost.

Mori Art Museum- one of my favorite in Tokyo!

Exhibit: Can it be Art

Dinner in Shinjuku- DELICIOUS

Asakusa and Kappabashi

2010-06-08T02:58:00.002+09:00

I have a friend in town and thus found myself back in Asakusa to look at this gigantic lantern. The thunder and lightning gods are on either side of this gate. However, as I look back on this photo that I took of the lantern, I am more intrigued by the fashion of the couple right in the middle of the photo.

Need a double-take? So did I...

After going through this gate, there is a long lane lined with shops full of kitch and snacks leading up to Sensoji.

Iced Green Tea and age-mochi (fried mochi)

Small cakes filled with red bean paste. We got one in the shape of a lantern and one in the shape of a dove.

Chopstick store where I finally purchase a pair of chopsticks that come with a case so you can carry them around and use them at restaurants that give you disposable chopsticks. There's a screw in the middle of them so they become really compact. I'm so excited to put them to good use!

At the smaller gate on the other side of the line of shops.

One of the little dragons on the fountain where you wash/cleanse before entering the temple.

We found a little shop to sit in and enjoy some desserts. We shared both the green tea ice cream and green tea and condensed milk shaved ice. It just started heating up in Tokyo so they were perfect!

Since we were close, we walked over to kappabashi where they have all of the stores geared toward restaurant owners, including fake food. That ebi nigiri was definitely edible. trust me.

I scored some silicone cupcake cups (read: reusable) here as well as a ladle with a smiley face on it.

Back in Sengawa, I met a student for cake. I know I already posted a picture of this one, but it's just so cute with its puzzle piece chocolates!!

Black tea chiffon cake.

Cooking Thai Food

2010-06-08T02:02:00.001+09:00

Some of my friends came over to my apt to make thai food.

We ended up using 2 kitchens. Helene graciously opened her kitchen (and apt) up to us.

The menu:

2 pots of Green Curry, 30 Fresh Spring Rolls

you have seen my silly neighbors power through those fresh spring rolls. hilarious.

Camille's not a huge fan of thai food but liked the spring rolls, which leads me to continue my belief that fresh spring rolls are one of those magically delicious foods that is pleasing to just about any palate that just so happens to be healthy.

Tom Yum Soup

Coconut Crusted Fried Bananas

One of the guys had come across this recipe and perfected it... these were the reason that this whole thai party happened. They were crazy delicious (like the cupcakes in 'Lazy Sunday')

Chai!

(I don't have a whole lot of dishes so we had to get creative due to the lack of ladles) We are obviously the chai experts, having stepped foot in (or lived) in India recently. We used tea and massala from India. I feel so legit!

The crew minus fro man. I was surprised how many people fit into my little apt. Granted, food parties will have to be bring your own plate (and silverware and cups) from now on... haha.

I ran next door to do dishes and to sort them out since we'd just been grabbing whatever we needed from the 3 rooms and I came back to this...

They were chilling in the smallest part of my apt...

I had a lot of fun and the food was quite excellent, even if I did have a hand in it. We're hoping to do steak next... mainly because my friend Aaron and I just really want some steak. Too bad I don't have a BBQ.

Kaldi Cafe

2010-06-08T01:31:00.000+09:00

I finally tried a cafe near my house that I've been meaning to try and just hadn't for one reason or another. They have lunch (880yen) that includes soup, salad, sandwich and drink. I got iced tea with a BLT and cold squash soup. It was amazing and tasted very fresh. I definitely need to go back here. It's attached to a cute little boutique grocery store near my house. It was a bummer that I was too full- I must try the sweets here sometime.

Pâté

2010-06-08T01:25:00.000+09:00

Helene invited me over today for some pâté and... one of them is going to have to remind me what the variety meat (i guess they're both variety meats) is called.

It took the effort of all 3 of us to get the outer layer off the delicious, delicious cured meat. On the right is pork pâté. yum!!

Emi's Concert at Soramame

2010-06-08T01:14:00.000+09:00

I went to my friend Emi's concert at Sora-mame in Daikanyama. This time, with a friend who plays music himself. When we walked in, I was surprised to see Emi's parents! I hadn't seen them in years!!

I'm not one for live pop or rock music. I enjoy Emi's concerts because her music isn't eardrum crunching loud or in your face, even live. Especially at this venue, it sounded as if the music was wrapped around you- enough where you could hear each element/instrument but not so much that I felt suffocated. One thing I also enjoy about her concerts are her silly anecdotes in between the songs. Sometimes she tells you where the inspiration came from and I love that most of the time they are simple things like a sea shell or waiting in traffic.

最近心がごちゃごちゃしてて、このコンサートに行ってとても癒されました。
I have her second album and have heard songs from her first many times, but it was something about hearing the music and lyrics live while watching her fingers playfully jump around on the piano tonight that left me unable to not feel a positive energy coming from her music. Each song left me wanting more. And though I feel like I've listened to her songs many times, I found new favorites.

This is her new song, a collaboration with Shanghai Music Project. (English vers)

Yakitori: Neguro

2010-06-08T00:57:00.002+09:00

There's a yakitori place in Sengawa called Neguro. It's a very cute and cozy place a little bit of a walk away from Sengawa station. I took a friend there a week ago to make up for missing her birthday. We started with chicken and fish carpaccio and then went on and enjoyed some delicious skewers.

Todai School Festival

2010-06-08T00:49:00.002+09:00

Some friends and I went to the Todai (Japanese University) school festival. The school festival here at Shirayuri was fun, but let me just say- school festivals are so much more fun at huge, coed schools! Check out these awesome characters we saw while here:

As you can see, i found waldo... as well as a man in a leopard print outfit and a rainbow fro

Now for some maids.... most of the people in maid outfits on campus were male.

So we asked one of the pandas if we could get a pic with them. She agreed and then yelled "Pandaaaaaaas, Unite!" How is that not totally excellent?!

So what exactly do you do at a school festival? (esp one that isn't your own?) Well, you go around and they have endless strips of food booths where people are trying to raise money for their clubs:

Kimchee pork rice bowl and a board advertising bubble tea.

The signage here was a amazing in general

Some departments and clubs also hold performances or lectures or exhibits to show you what they are all about:

European Dance Club. AWESOME

After the taiko performance

The medical school here was so adorable.. but also kind of creepy. It looked like something out of a very dark movie. The kanji were in a creepy font and were spelled "dissection room" from right to left- the very old-school way. They had a couple lectures that I wanted to sit in on, but we didn't really have time. Bummer.

I had a very good time glimpsing into the student life of a school other than the 2,000 student all girl's college that I work at.

What are you?

2010-06-04T00:08:00.003+09:00

I understand that I may be preaching to the choir, but this has been on my mind for quite a while.

I feel like I am constantly explaining my ethnic background to people. I just want to take a quick moment to answer the inevitable question of "WHAT ARE YOU."

I am a female homo sapiens born approximately 23 years ago and at that time, was named Erica. I'm a nerd when it comes to marine biology. I don't eat maguro (bluefin tuna) and eel because they are not sustainable and I buy locally when possible. I'm doing my best to lead by example when it comes to being eco-friendly; I recycle, use a tumbler or a mug at work, and carry a reusable shopping bag. (These may seem obvious, but it doesn't happen all the time here. yet.) I like to be around nature and love my hometown, Seattle. My friends are very dear to me and I think that my parents are a riot. I enjoy writing postcards, learning new things and trying out new restaurants. I ate cake twice today and take more pictures of food than of anything else.

Now, here is my plea: Please stop trying to put me into a box based on my ethnic background. Sometimes I get asked if I feel caught between the 2 cultures, but I came to realize that I only felt that way when I tried to put myself in a box. Both cultures have helped shape who I am now, and continue to do so, but they do not define me. What I am, is crazy. And that's why my friends keep me around.

Person who originally asked the question: So, you're Japanese, right?

The Cake: A strawberry and vanilla mousse cake with a tiny layer of sponge at the bottom from C'etait Bon in Sengawa. The cake was in the glass case with the strawberries and chocolate puzzle pieces. I was really confused as to why it took them so long to bring it out. When it came out, I realized that they'd not only put it on a plate, but also that they'd decorated it with sauce and a couple pieces of fruit. I don't know if I can ever take out cake here anymore (we do it on occasion for departmental stuff).

People sleeping on trains

2010-05-30T18:52:00.004+09:00

It is a well known fact that a Japanese person, on any form of public transportation, will fall asleep.

Today's finds.

More on people sleeping on trains:
http://www.kirainet.com/english/japanese-sleeping/
http://sleepyurbanite.com/
Apparently it's a trend. http://www.urlesque.com/2009/09/24/pictures-of-people-sleeping-are-hot-on-the-web/
There's even a facebook group! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6942786465

Unwinding at a cafe

2010-05-28T00:07:00.001+09:00

Mokichi Cafe, on the way to the train station.

On my day off yesterday, it was raining so I went to Mokichi Cafe, a cozy little cafe that I'd been meaning to try out for a while. I was enjoying being the only customer with a cappuccino and reading "This is your Brain on Music" to random background music that included "With You" by Jessica Simpson as well as the Eagles. Suddenly, "All by Myself" (below) started playing.

Thanks, universe, for the friendly reminder.

Why I love Japan: Consumer Goods

2010-05-27T23:58:00.000+09:00

a vending machine at school that serves coffee and slurpees... WITH A TV on it!!

I believe this "MoPet" squirrel is supposed to dust off your computer screen for you.

Thai food in Sengawa

2010-05-27T23:29:00.002+09:00

There's a Thai restaurant called "Chiang Mai" in Sengawa, where I live, so one of my friends and I decided to try it out. She's actually one of my Japanese teachers!

We got som-tum (green papaya salad), Phad See-Yew, and Thai noodles.

... and tapioca and taro pudding for dessert.

The tea that they served us was thai iced tea (without the cream) in little metal cups.

The Thai ladies working there were super adorable. Though not the best thai food I've had, since I'm not likely to be taking any day trips to Thailand in the near future, I plan to go there again. There was a very home cooked feel to it that I really enjoyed.

and of course there was a picture of the King!! (which just goes to show how legit this place is ;) )

Hotcakes

2010-05-26T14:58:00.000+09:00

Hotcakes are a little different than pancakes in that they are fluffier, sweeter, and are meant to be eaten as dessert. I bought some hotcake mix a little while ago so I decided to make them for dinner- I'm all grown up and living on my own now so I can have dessert for dinner if I want to! :)

NO that's not a chunk of butter on top- it's vanilla ice cream. And they were delicious, thank you!

I found this silly ad in my mailbox yesterday. Please tell me that pizza hut in the states doesn't have a pizza with mini-wieners on the crust. I'm feeling a bit ill just thinking about this pie.

Pampering myself: Akasuri

2010-05-26T14:52:00.001+09:00

I went to a public bath house this last weekend to go do akasuri at a place called 湯けむりの里 (yumkemuri no sato) near my apt. Basically what akasuri is, is a massage... with sandpaper. Ok, ok, it's not really sandpaper, but that's kind of what it feels like. The goal is to get rid of all of your dead skin cells.

When I went in Korea, the women working there were all older women who have let go a little in matching lingerie (adorable), but this place was much less comical with a uniform of shorts and a t-shirt.

First, I soaked for 15-20 minutes in different baths that they have there: a couple with jets, a couple outside, one was bright red, etc. Some of the baths have stuff mixed in with that water that's supposed to be good for your skin. 15-20 is about all I can handle in 40°C tub of water.
I then went into a separate room and hopped on a bed that kind of looks like the ones that they use when you donate blood, only with cushions.
After getting sanded down, I got a short but amazing full body massage and was sent on my way.
It was so relaxing and my skin feels amazing now. Can't turn this into a habit, though.

It was a bit further than I'd imagined but I found a whole new part of town as I was walking there! There are even a couple small art galleries and museums in the area. I'll have to go check them out soon.

On the way home, I stopped by Le Blancheur for a piece of cake and some tea to accompany some work that I wanted to complete.

To make things even better, there was an adorable little baby sitting at the table next to me who kept laughing and smiling at me. For some reason she thought it was completely hilarious every time I took a bite of cake... I'm afraid to ask...

Today was a good day. :)

Amazing Commercials

2010-05-23T20:54:00.003+09:00

One thing that I absolutely love about living in Japan are the TV shows and sometimes even more brilliant- the commercials.

Anti-oxidant pills (I think)

This is my ultimate favorite one; I think I've shared it before, but here's the website for the adorable blueberry.
http://www.buru2.jp/index.html
Here are 2 commercials (Quicktime):
http://www.e-wakasa.jp/movie/30sec_m.mov
http://www.e-wakasa.jp/movie/30A.MOV
... I may have downloaded the ringtone of this commercial for my phone.

Another one that I have recently discovered a love for, is for "Fit's chewing gum."

Embedding is disabled for my favorite one so here's the link to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOjM90Y_3P4

If you go on their website, you can find cheat sheets to help you memorize this dance (Japanese)
http://lotte-fits.jp/cm_dance.html

And who can live without the glory of this coffee commercial:
I promise that this one will change your life.

In The News: Feeling Thankful

2010-05-23T14:34:00.000+09:00

The recent headlines have made me especially thankful that I am safe in Japan, even if it is raining and I am still a little ill.

I realize that it's a risk every time that you fly. Perhaps it's because I've been flying since before I can remember that I have an odd sense of security on airplanes. I have a deathly fear of falling off the back of a horse, but fall asleep immediately upon boarding an aircraft.

There's no way that I would have been on this aircraft, but I think that it helps bring a story closer to home when something like this happens in a country you just visited.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/world/asia/23india.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10143232.stm

This next one was much more alarming. My friend recently brought up on my facebook page that one of the building that we'd hung out in Thailand doesn't exist anymore. It was burnt to the ground by the red shirts. We were very lucky that our March dates just happened to work because we'd been looking at July as an alternative.

After hearing from my friend, I decided to look it up online and found this article in pictures.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10130473.stm

I also had a friend who recently cancelled a trip to Nepal due to the Maoist threats there. It's a good thing that she heard about the possible threat (at the time) because scores of tourists ended up stranded in their hostels/hotels.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8665453.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8663390.stm

I think that sometimes I am so consume in my own little world of peace and plenty that I forget that many others don't have what I do- a sense of security. Sure I have to be alert when I walk home alone at night, but that sure beats knowing what a famine's like, not having access to clean water, knowing that your plane is not going to land safely or even being a tourist stranded in a hotel.

On a search for Graffiti in Tokyo

2010-05-22T23:28:00.003+09:00

I met up with a friend from UW today and we set off on a search for graffiti in Tokyo.

First sighting: The was one empty lot amongst a bunch of tall (at least 5F) buildings.

We walked by some gymnasium, where people were playing sports.

Below: Mini-soccer and someone running on a leash.

A spoof of le Louvre and the Empire State Building?

We kept walking around and came across a bridge with some under it.

Most of the graffiti we found were just tags, not street art.

Random park tucked away in a corner... with safari animals.

And now graffiti and construction workers!

I like their poofy pants.

It looked like a moat of herbs

There were some wells built into the sidewalk (or perhaps the sidewalk was built around them)

"Security camera on premises"

We were going to walk more or less toward Yoyogi park, but kept wandering around so we ended up back in Shinjuku. After over an hour of walking and snapping photos, we decided to duck into a cozy little cafe called Armwood Cottage.

The OPEN sign looked as if someone had shot some darts at it.

There was a bookcase in the middle of the cafe.

Darjeeling tea- I liked how the ice wasn't a normal ice cube. It was legit ice; as in chunks of ice instead of a machine generated block of frozen water. (yes, i know i'm a nerd)

Gateau Chocolat

With his raspberry cheesecake.

(note: expression on face and plate)

Many of the shelves were covered in miniature water buffalo.

After our snack and me asking him a bunch of questions about my camera, we set back out to see if there was anything else to take pictures of...

Random building covered in greenery (none of the buildings around it were)

17, my lucky number.

Since we were in Shinjuku, we did a little shopping and then went our separate ways.

I found this on campus today. It says "Detective Agency"... ON CAMPUS. I am so confused.

(I have a picture of it on my way out, but this one, taken at night, looks more mysterious)

This is how creepy Paul looks after sunset.

And of course pictures of food that I made/ate:

Fresh mozzarella and cherry tomatoes with a basil-olive oil drizzled on top.

Popsicles in the shape of honeydew and watermelons!

I'm continuing to keep my eyes peeled for some nice street art in Tokyo- please let me know if you know of any!!

My Love for Sake

2010-05-22T21:12:00.002+09:00

Hi All,

For those of you thinking that I'm going to tell you about how I was absolutely trashed/plastered/wasted/etc off sake last night... wrong! This is a story about a steak. Yum!!

As usual, an abnormal food craving hit, leading me to purchase a raw steak on the way home today. Unfortunately, I don't have a BBQ (or even an oven) here so I rubbed some salt, pepper, and basil on this puppy before I put it in the frying pan. This was my first time making a steak so I got a bit worried when it started to look a little dry- I wasn't quite sure how hot the pan should be before I added the meat. For some reason, cooking sake came to mind and I decided to put a splash in- and voila! Problem solved. My steak came out nice and tender and even looked like there was a little glaze on it. What can I say? I'm a pro. NOT.

I'm the type of person to appreciate some fat on my meat, but the hunk that you can see in this picture was of course, too much. I cut it off and put it back in the pan and used that to make my next dish. Now this is going to sound disgusting, but I'm going to lay it out straight. I added: the fat I cut off my steak, a couple bites worth of rice, left-over niratama (nira and egg), left-over stir-fried bean sprouts and bok-choy, left-over caramelized green beans with walnuts, and of course a splash of cooking sake. It looked as gross as it sounds so I'm not including a picture here, but it was so good!!

Especially after watching this

Japan - The Strange Country (Japanese ver.) from Kenichi on Vimeo,
(Sorry! this video is only available in Japanese, but a part of it talks about how about 23,200,000tons of food is wasted in Japan each year, which is about 4 times the amount of food donated as relief to 3rd world countries every year. Moreover, about 1/7 of the world's population is malnourished.)
I've started really doing my best to not waste any food. This includes both only buying what I think I will use and saving and eating left-overs. Trust me, there are a lot of left-overs when you're on your own. Thus, my new mission is to find new ways to alter left-overs so I don't feel like I'm eating the same thing all day, every day for a week.

Last bit about using sake to cook: Add equal parts of soysauce, rice wine vinegar, and cooking sake to taste to any dish (ex: stir-fry) and it will taste asian. (If you're going to use it as marinade, add some ginger and garlic) It tastes more or less like teriyaki. You can even use this little trio to add flavor to soups.

Basil and Food.

2010-05-21T23:10:00.000+09:00

Basil update.

I can't wait until I can start harvesting.

My body has started to accept food again! woo!

I attempted to make caramelized green beans with walnuts... I overcooked the green beans. Sigh.

There's a bakery across the street from my apt run by a cute little lady. It's really small so you never really know what's going to be there when you go in- which is nice because it allows you to try lots of new things, but that also means that a favorite might not be there!

I like this pastry that she's been making quite a bit recently. It's kind of like a small pizza without tomato sauce. There are so many vegetables on it and it's absolutely delicious! You can't see all of them, but there are some green onions, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, etc. I love it when you can taste how fresh each of the ingredients are.

I was craving pasta so I made some shells with onions, tomatoes, olives, basil, and of course, olive oil.

And yes, I did get some new plates. Since I'm staying for another year, it's been easier for me to justify spending some money on dishes so I have more than 1 plate and 2 bowls.

Meet Archibald, my Basil plant

2010-05-19T02:36:00.000+09:00

I wasn't going to write another post about my plant for a couple days, but today was just so exciting in the life of my new roommate, that I felt compelled to share it with the world.

First, look how much it's grown! The directions said to keep it covered for the first bit until it started sprouting- 4 days and it's already actively photosynthesizing!

Second, my plant has a name! (and thus an associated gender)

I would like to present little Archibald, officially, with name, to the readers of my blog:

Archibald is a special name for a number of reasons:

My best friend and I drew a little character we named Archibald in high school in an attempt to stay awake in Biology class
Archibald is the name of a fisheries biologist, who specialized in salmon and anyone who knows me know that I am especially nerdy when it comes to fish
According to this British baby-naming website, Archibald means "bold", which is what my name means!
It's old school and pretty sweet, if you ask me.

My new roommate

2010-05-17T22:37:00.000+09:00

I'm officially sharing living space with another living thing!

This weekend, I purchased basil seeds and planted them.

Here they are!

Day 1- Plant seeds and cover.

Day 2- the seeds, which were black, had a cloudy white layer over them

Day 3- first signs of a couple seeds sprouting! This one is the most obvious.

One problem: My plant doesn't have a name yet!!