Happy birthday dear Daddy

I will eat thinking of you.

Rootops

I probably won't have time to get back to Shinjuku and see the Marui Honkan rooftop, so the Mitsukoshi 8th floor rooftop will do.
The inside is pretty much any department store, with all sorts of luxury goods. There is even a luxury hawaian goods section, smelling of pina colada sunscreen and monoi.
Up here in the not so blazing afternoon sun, it's tea time and bonsai garden viewing. Down there it's rushing salarymen and traffic, up here it's windy and buzzing with birds. I spent 10min watching a toddler walking up and down a ramp a countless times, under the amused eyes of her granparents. Eventually the got tired of watching out for her fall, so dragged her away to the garden shop (full of pet clothes).

Studio Ghibli

I could look for the other anime studio making dragonball for example, but studio Ghibli is a well known landmark in itself.
I had to come to the town of Mitaka 3 times to be able to visit the place. Once the museum was closed for renovation, the second time I had not bought the ticket from Lawsons.
It was really cute, with explanations on how an anime is made, from the storyboard, drawings, coloring, animating and sound. No photos allowed inside though but loads of materials to feast your eyes on.
Finally, the museum is in a superb park, next to a school so there are a lot of fresh feeling to it.

Kamakura

One hour from Shinjuku, and after missing the first train, I got to the hilly town of Kamakura, famous for its daibutsu, at lunchtime. So my first mission was to feed my stomach before searching for a great Buddha.
I found an off the shopping street small restaurant, witout any foreigner, and had my first meal on a tatami. I sat properly for 6min, waiting for the food, but could not feel my feet after that and sat crosslegged instead, the way men do.
I had a donbouri again, since i needed rice and was in a hurry, and that is the easiest to eat with chopsticks.
After lunch, and after recovering some feelings in my right leg, I found the great Buddha about 2km later. Thankfully, the town has lots of forests and hills and a nice breeze was cooling me off.
Each pitstop being used to rest and use the toilet, it was time to look for the sea nearby. I had a map, given by the tourist office at the station, but everytime I set out for a path, I ended up completely somewhere else. Fortunately, i followed the circling birds and the smell of seaqeeds, and ended up on the waterfront finally. Maybe I will go to Chiba for the beach on friday if the weather is nice because it is summer after all.
Again, on the way back through the small streets, i set out for Yuigahama station, but ended up at Hase station, on the other direction. Well, at least i got back to Tokyo for the sunset from the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building.

Miraikan, or a geek trip

This is not just a science museum. It is a museum of emerging science and innovation. And I was impressed by the approach taken to introduce visitors to printing technology or molecular medecine. It also invites to reflect on the impact on the general public as well as the ethics involved.
It has a section on iPS for example (induced pluripotent stem cells) next to a helthcare technology corner.
Or a space weather station next to a model of the international space station.
The kids play around with the different hands on display explaining the ideas, when adults can act like kids and read and imagine the impact or applications.

Tokyo midtown

The b Akasaka smack in Tokyo midtown is also a block away from the Tokyo branch I am supposed to visit in a few days. No wonder since the area seems full of banks and financial institutions. And once again I am near a tv station, TBS, which seems to have some live open public shows from time to time. It is also attached to the Akasaka blitz or theatre, which right now is playing Xanadu, a musical starring that woman from the movie Grease, Olivia Newton something.
Nothing else but expensive shopping centres and capsule hotels apart from offices.
Last night though I made my first midnight trip to the combini to get food, around midnight, enjoying the calm and quiet air after the rain. I also managed to chit chat to a delivery guy who was looking for an address.
Also, a block away is filled with restaurant, near the metro so ican enjoy some kaiten sushi.

Shibuya or shopping mecca

Well I needed a suitcase to fit my extra stuff accumulated in 2 weeks. Unfortunately the new suitcase turned into a shopping bag, so now I have new shoes for work and lots of funky socks.

Small shops in dead end streets

What made Kyoto very loveable was the small streets with unexpected treasures. For example, the shop in Arashiyama which was completely hidden between 2 restaurants. If you walk too fast, you will miss this tiny shop which has all sorts of little ornaments made of silk cocoon. Two obaachan and an ojiisan are tending the shop and kindly wrote kanji on the chimes I bought, with the kanji of my adoptive name (apricot and sun). We had a poetic conversation and he wrote some on the chimes...happiness on a paper.
The other example is the tama bells shop, once again displaying those sparrows on a keg on the main street and pointing to a dark dead end where pottery bells and a flock of cute sparrows wish you good luck.
Today it didn't rain in Kyoto and I walked from the main station along karasuma-dori, up to shijou-dori to end up in teramachi. And again walking to a seemly dead end street took me to a major shopping area.
This is a dangerous town indeed!

Arashiyama, west Kyoto

After a morning stroll around the ryokan, I ended up walkin along shoji dori, crossing the city from east to west. At the intersection of omiya and shoji, I hopped on the 28 bus for Arashiyama.
As the name indicates, it is the area at the foot of a mountain chain, famous for the river walk and the bambou groves.
What was soothing was the sound of wooshing bambous in the wind, and if you look up at that time, a rain of golden bambou leaves lazily circle down to earth. no words can describe this small happiness.

Kinkakuji

The golden pavillion is splendidly shining even on a moody day like today. Instead of an omamoru, a charm, I got a votive charm, and I have no idea what is written on it apart from Kinkakuji.

Creme de la creme

I am talking chou a la creme, something that is quite popular around here, or I am just eager to sit down and rest from the drizzle of rain pouring in Kyoto, before I embark on a tour of the Imperial palace and the Golden pavillion

Kyoto imperial palace

I was hoping we could enter some buildings but the tour was only to see from the outside of the main buildings. Nevertheless it was a sight despite the rain. Also one only can tour after applying to the Imperial household agency, with a passport.

Futon

Here is the very comfortable futon I am crashing on for the next 3 nights. It's in a quiet street at the foot at Kyumizudera temple in Kyoto, a top 3 of the sights in town. So it is also walking distance to Gion, the entertainment or geisha district.

PASMO

This little card is the equivalent of the Oyster card in London, or Navigo in Paris. It is very practical in Tokyo, because there are at least 3 different companies operating the trains and chikatetsu (subway). So connecting from one to another is a headache if you have to get a ticket everytime.
With pasmo, you put any amount of money on it and you breeze through all gates while it deducts the exact fare upon your exit.
What is more convenient even is that you can pay with pasmo in cafes, combini or even shops on the shinkansen platform. It saves me from handling little change.

O-shaberi

Talkative in a bad way. Well, I blame it on the beer I had earlier. For I treated my host, S. poorly by barely letting him speak. Nevertheless he laughed a few times and I learned some interesting views on Tokyo and Japanese corporate workplace.
For example, office workers all wear black and white suit. Sometimes the suit vary colors but the shirt is 99.9% of the time, white. I have a green dress for next week and I hope they will forgive me.

Tips

Here are a few things I realized after almost 2 weeks or so in Japan:
-fruits here are expensive so bring your fiber or vitamin suplements. Apparently though they are discounted in the evening.
-everything and everyone seem specialized, or I am watching too much tv. Everything is perfected, but in the intimacy of people's home where things are more relaxed. Or am I just anxious to blend in?
-sometimes, the same people are on tv for 3 or 4 tv shows in a row. Same for dramas. I don't mind kimutaku though...hehe. Speaking of Kimutaku, he is back with a new drama: mr brain, starting saturday night.
-it is easy to navigate Tokyo, but not so mich outside Tokyo as signs are also in english. Although central Kyoto is ok since it is a grid.
-don't expect to bring posters home. So far apart from ikemen in magazine, I could not find any. Maybe in museums?
-expect to wake up early.
-pasmo is super convenient in Tokyo
-carry a sweater at all times are AC is everywhere:30C outside, but 20C in trains and buildings.
-don't rely on the pictures of food packages. Instead ask what is the flavour or what is inside if you can't read katakana or the kanji. hiragana will help a bit.

Imperial palace east gardens

With a blazing sun and the aozora (blue sky) waking me earlier than my alarm clock, it was a pity I forgot my parasol. But armed with a useful fan I could enjoy the quiet oasis in the middle of Tokyo. There was a lot of walking in the sun though, around the moat guarding the palace. The furiaken garden entrance iss closed to visitors as it is the garden surrounding the palace directly.
At lunchtime I dragged my hungry self to Nihonbashi area where hurried workers gobbled their soba or udon standing at the counter. I ended up eating at the basement of the famed Mitsukoshi department store: take unagi don and my first asahi beer. Surprisingly I enjoyed the beer. I had it because I did not have the courage and words to ask for non alxoholic drinks. It is a miracle I made it out of there after handling chopaticks almost inconsciously.

Tokyo : overcast

I could not see the sun today. The sky was grey overall, visibility maybe 1km. Still today a trip to Odaiba was on my schedule. I lost at least a total of 900g and 20min aimlessly wandering between the closed Miraikan (museum of innovative science & technology) and the Tokyo big sight (an exhibition hall, where I could pay 3000yen to attend an exhibition of beauty products, no thank you, I am already subliminally beautiful, duh). I also waited for a waterbus ship in vain. But I was somewhat happy with my visit at Fuji TV. One day maybe I will pay the 1900YEN per year to be able to be in the audience. But I managed to find an ATM in english (not such a good thing) in the last Vegas style Venusfort mall where I saw this barbieshop. The mall has a theme of wedding...
After 4h of walking with an onigiri and a white bun in my stomach all day, I got back to Shinjuku to try the malls there, after a short stop at Shimbashi to check out the tv station there. OMG, this basement of Odakyu store is like the mecca of expensive food of all sorts:from 2100yen mango to confectionary. I got some bananas and pineaple for like 1000yen. Damn, no wonder there are tons of ads for veggie juice on tv.
Speaking of tv, my hotel is behind NTV offices and not far from NHK and AsahiTV. But I have had enough of crowds and will soak in a bath.
Tomorrow, probably shopping and sightseeing the nearby Imperial Palace or garden before meeting a local, provided I find out where we meet.
Tokyo is tiring...
I got back to the hotel

Fuji-san

After finding out that the Studio Ghibli museum is closed for maintenance till the 22nd and the weather is dry and sunny, it is clear that today is another train intensive day. First, mount Fuji up close. But it looks like the clouds were happy hiding the snowy cone. So a climb by ropeway to Oowakudani for my dose of greenery and adrenaline rush is 'de rigueur'. Away from the bustle of Tokyo, this feels nice. Also ingested loads of fresh when sailing in front of the boat.
Next? Either a monja dinner with local couchsurfers if I make it back on time, or a Shinjuku area exploration. Either way, my stomach will have to hold the Hakone cake eaten for lunch.

Travelling by shinkansen Series 700

This is really super convenient to city hop. It is quite comfortable, lots of leg room, clean, and the chairs can rotate to face forward or backward. Also ever staff bow on entry and exit of any carriage.

Fruits

This is my first intake of fruits since my arrival. It is expensive. 4 apples in a supermarket are sold for about 360yen.

Rainy day in Kyoto

Since today the K. Family is busy receiving payments at work, I've decided to do a scoutong trip in Kyoto:getting a feel of things. I will be staying in Kyoto next weekennd for 3 days.

Returning from miyajima island

Today's trip was a bit long; from Himeji to Hiroshima an Miyajima, then back to Osaka.

From the top tower of Himeji castle

Superview from Umeda skybuilding

Edit: not to be confused with Ueda, the silly professor whoearned martial arts by distance learning. Lol.

There are a few things of life I've learned so far, by being in Japan:
-presents are always wrapped. If you mention it to a shopkeeper, he'll do it. And better than my wraping and their normal wrap is beautiful
-you must change shoes when entering the toilet. There is a pair there just for that. It is a bit of an exercse to leave your shoes outside the toilet, then wear the ones inside the toilet.
-I can now eat fish on its bones with chopsticks. It may tage hours but the dish is the more delicious
-I learned to bow when exiting a shop. The trick is not to forget to urn around completely and face the shop.
-knowing the basics of the language is very useful as many original restaurant or shops out of the beaten path have loads to offer
-I can eat 3 times again, full set of homecooked meals.
Finally, the view is from a landmark in the north part of Osaka. At sunset, it must be beautiful, but I was not paired up so went back home...sniff. But the homecooked dinner with the whole K. Family was ready when I got home and we chatted till 11pm so all is good.

Dotonburi:shopping and eating in Osaka

Well, instead of getting to Namba station at noon, I got there arount 2pm. Met a lot of 'hosts' and weird guys picking me up while I waited for the lights to turn green at crossroads. Well, it's easy to single me out, everyone is kinda pale. Had so much fun window shopping.

Walking in den-den town, Osaka

Daibutsu in Todaiji temple of Nara

Vendor machine

Not just juice, but cigarettes, cold and hot coffee, tea, milk, flower, ice cream, cup noodle, hamburgers...

Osaka, more like discovering Sakai city

Meeting the K. Family was fun. I could understand them and we had fun doing groceries at the supermarket, with all the food I've never seen before. Later on we had temakizushi at home, literally hand sushi, where everyone just self served with stuff to put in they seaweeds and made their own roll or cones. Some had beer, I had plum wine. Yum!
Today, we went to see a famous burial mount of an emperor, the shape of a keyhole, surrounded by 2 water barrier: koofun. It's about 500m long and as wide. After that we went tempozan, the lowest mountain of Japan:4,53m. Lol. Pictures later. And finally after seeing many trucks on the road to minato, we went into Osaka fo the Osaka-jou, the old castle. The weather was still hot, maybe 25C at 4pm. Back at home I had a demo of calligraphy and my name written, and it was beautiful. In the evening we walked to a nearby yakitori restaurant, got drunk and ate loads of meat on sticks...I have no idea what tomorrow has for me, so I'll sleep tired, sweaty and happy I can be understood so far from my reality...

Asakusa in the morning, Roppongi to Shimbashi in the afternoon

A few words about today:
-An early morning due to jetlag. I have never been that awake at 4:00am
-McDonalds breakfast: imagine a sausage and egg sandwich with maple syrup stuffed pancackes as bread...YUM!
-A nice morning walk in Asakusa, viewing Sensou-ji temple and the backstreets around Kaminoarimon.
-A long walk to Tokyo station, and a very expensive umbrella to comfort and protect me from the...sun...yup　yup
。。。。

First landing

Last night arrival left an impression of a hot and humid weather on my skin. I was sweating profusely in the train but managed my 2 connections at Tokyo station and Ueno station without getting lost. It was around 8pm so plenty of suited salarymen around. It was easier to spot the casual dressed workers and tourists. Also met my first drunken salaryman at Asakusa station, but the stationmaster kindly helped him through the gates and toward his train. So far everyone i approached with my broken japanese was very kind. I still need to find a SIM card as I couldn't find one in Narita.

Craziness before takeoff

The day is finally here in 30min, the day I am going east, east east!!! It's still amazing me how about a year ago, in a mentoring and coaching class, I volunteered as a cobaye, to be coached. And this lady actually talked me through my vague plan of one day going to Japan. At that time I was just playing around, trying not to be too serious, just to play my role as a demonstrator...And here I am, after devouring Minna no Nihongo volume 1 and taking with me volume 2 just in case.

And in the last 2 days, it's stress after stress: decisions at work (not taken yet), laundry to do and dry, room to clean, maps and hotels information to print, passport to copy, suitcase to pack (only 20kg allowance!!!), weight to loose (ah well, had a burger and fries tonight before getting some healthy japanese food soon), phones to unlock, money to exchange, face to tidy up (yes, pimples that I havent' seen in months are appearing just to make me presentable to the beautiful new country that will host me), emails to send (planning to visit the Tokyo office)...

I am crazy. Or I just love the thrill ebfore a trip. At this time tomorrow, I'll hopefully be sleeping in the plane as my day at work will start at 7 (ok, 7:15 because the shuttle service starts at 7), and I will try to tame the beating of my hearts to slow down a bit, for fear of tearing down the office out of excitement.

Spring in music with LPO

That's the London Philharmonic Orchestra, resident of Royal Festival Hall on Southbank. I just happened to walk by on Saturday afternoon and found out they were playing. The program? You can here some sample on their website.

I was familiar with the hall, and I got to sit on the side, just behind the first violins. So I could see the orchestra and conductor from within 5-10 meters. I was very surprised when the conductor arrived on stage because I forgot I met him before: during my audition with the London Philharmonic Choir!!!!

From the first note uttered by the violins, I was pierced by the beautiful blending sounds. I don't know if it was because I was very close to the stage or because the pieces they were playing were very touching, but it made my heart slow down and my body hair rise. I was in tears and so happy.

I almost laughed when they played the nuptial march from the Mendelssohn suite. I will never be able to enjoy that piece of music during any wedding because I now have heard it with a full orchestra and its sound is so much more than a celebration of a wedding!!!

I have become a fan of that orchestra and will attend more of their performances as they ar enot too expensive compared to the Royal Symphonic Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

'I Cry' Anthony Hamilton

Anthony Hamilton - I Cry
Uploaded by 2fresh

3 days under the sun

I have packed away the wool coat, and taken out the tissues. Pollen and dust are seen reflecting the light from the sun that has blessed us for about 3-4 days now. The temperature is consistently reaching the double digits, from noon anyway. The mornings are comfortable even though the evenings are still chilly. Maybe we are having a pleasant spring.

But I am faced with brain tiring decision to make. On one hand, a tiresome but secure job to do, in a different country where opportunities for entertainment or access to evening courses are limited. On the other hand, the risk of unemployment but maybe also the chance to change job.

I have 2 weeks to make a choice, before flying off to the other face of the earth and forget myself in unknown land. So for now, in between looking for hotels, I am looking for jobs. It should be the other way around, but I am too stressed to be doing it full time, and I am more interested in enjoying my holidays. I haven't open a textbook in weeks, and I know I am loosing some vocabulary already, but I will cram before the departure..

For now, I am trying my best to tamper my guts feeling and wait for the deal breaker to show up, one way or another so that I can make a decision whether to sign the damn contract or not...

Without Easter eggs

But in much desired company.

Yes No Maybe

Sometimes I just can't write anything, like today...
Maybe because there is so much I want to put in words but they are not addressed to anyone in particular. Or even worse, I just cannot share them with anyone else but myself, and that usually wlows down the process of forming words.

So instead I started reading again. Books with stories, words that bring up vivid images and atmospheres. Many people, my colleagues included, call that wasting time and argue that as opposed to watching a movie, it is a waste of energy to concentrate and read stories...I suppose that is the only reading I do since I tragically fail to read any newspapers.

<> <-----unshared thought
For now I am working on defining my new quest.

電話 by レミオロメン

'Denwa' by Remioromen

These hot days just keep continuing. Are you doing o.k.? I'm worried. You know that I'll be steady. I feel awkward just talking to you over the receiver, but we both feel the same way. It's natural. It didn't go as well as I thought. So far, so far, we're separated from eachother. There are even times we spend all night talking over the phone. Even though my heart is frail, out of the deep darkness, some light manages to shine. You and I laugh and cry together. With you living in some other city, I can't bring us together. But I'm here. The sky is dank, with a hurricane ripping through in the distance. Both at once? What horrendous weather. I feel even lonelier. The night makes the floors, doors, and walls seem impossibly vast. The window rattles from the harsh wind. Let's stay connected by the receiver and keep talking until we're too tired to go on. With you living in some other city, I want you to understand. We're not alone. Even the weather report can't capture it, how we've been separated. Still it looks like these hot days are going to continue. The clouds begin to part the rain is letting up, but you and I are still wet from the laughter and tears we share. With you living in some other city, I can't bring us together. But I'm here.

3月9日 by レミオロメン

In the middle of this drifting season
I suddenly feel the length of the days
In the midst of these quickly-passing days
You and I dream away

With my feelings on the March wind
The cherry blossom buds continue on into spring

The overflowing drops of light
One by one warm the morning
Beside you, I’m a little embarrassed
After a huge yawn

I’m standing at the door to a new world
What I’ve realized is that I’m not alone

If I close my eyes
You’re behind my eyelids
How strong has that made me?
I hope I’m the same for you

The dusty whirlwind
Tangled up the laundry, but
The white moon in the morning sky
Was so beautiful, I couldn’t look away

There are things that don’t go the way I planned
But if I look up to the sky, even they seem small

The blue sky is cold and clear
The fluffy clouds float by quietly
If I can share with you the joy
Of waiting for the flowers to bloom, I’ll be happy

From now on, I want you to be quietly smiling beside me

Spring at the window

With 2 duvet, a warm bottle, socks, sweatshirt over my pyjamas, spring hasn't really made an effect on my freezing body yet, even if it is showing it's frail figure among the howling northern winds and budding clouds. The window is not windproof, nor soundproof! Across the street, luxurious one bedroom apartments with all glass walls shine their warmth and comfort through teasing blinds...

Really, I can't wait for the summer to warm and appease my frustration.

Stretching my mind

From last saturday my mind has tried to outreach to all potential contacts that could get me those bloody concert tickets. As a results, this week's work has been bothersome, tedious and plain annoying. The fact that the boiler is down and showering with 3 pots of hot water every morning is not helping the bleak mood. All is not lost though as I still manage to get to work for the sake of my colleagues (thinking I am indispensable) and not so much about my clients. but 70% of the time my mind is turned east, to this trip in japan. So this is what it feels like to have a dream and reach out to it? Strange

How to fit my stuff in 25m2

When I wake up this is what I am seeing:

And this is where I spend most of my time:


The drawer and wardrobe is still messed up so it won't be worth showing. It's so cozy the only available empty space I have is that runner on the floor where I sprawl around when making a mess and avoiding the bed.