the haka!!

The All Blacks + the Aussies, National Anthems + the Haka in front of 50,000 people = CHILLS, goosebumps, welling, emotion... amazing. New Zealand's national rugby team beat the Aussie squad in the last game of the three (or four?) game series to win the Bledisloe Cup, the biggest trophy in world rugby, and I got to see it! Eek. How? Why? There's an Australian guy playing rugby here that we ran into (he lives upstairs), and his parents (here visiting) had tickets and asked if I'd like to come along. Yes! Yes I would, yes I did. And it was a spectacle. From the loopy oohs and ahhs and aa-ooooohs of the audience to complete silence (and reverence) of 50,000 people in front of NZ's Haka ... these were the good things. That the stadium ran out of beer at half-time was a shocker - people weren't too impressed with the lack of grog (especially after waiting in line for 30 minutes... oops), and that the game wasn't played on the stadium's big screen was another sore spot. Instead of close-ups and game footage there was the score. Meh. Anyways, it was a good game and an awesome experience. Dinner after was good too (French), and then I finally came home, rang the doorbell and trick-or-treat brought Steve some beer and chocolate. Yum. That was the extent of our Halloween celebration - there were big events at the bars and clubs but I was zonked and Steve's foot has been bothering him so we stayed in, had a drink and crashed.

Heather, Heather and Lynn - the ladies at the game ")


the HAKA

Friday was also a long day; I volunteered at the very fancy schmancy Pink Ball, an event hosted by Japan's Run For the Cure Foundation. The event was held at the Westin Hotel in Ebisu in a very posh ballroom; there were bands (two), a silent auction, a live auction, door prizes, a magician, a four-course meal, dancing, drinks and more - it seemed like a really fun evening for guests. It wasn't bad for the volunteers either - there was food for us, we mingled, and I even snuck in to catch the magic show. FUN. And so I'm looking forward to a bit of a lazy day today. We might get out and check out Akihabara, but I'd be okay with cleaning up the apartment and settling in with my book and a cup of coffee. OOh, and it's November! EEK!

a great night out!

Our night out last night in Tokyo's Suginami neighborhood was one that I won't soon forget - the food and the company were top top notch. As far as sushi goes, well... it was the best. The food and the flavours, the presentation and timing, the variety - it was all just so exquisitely perfect; it was perfection. And so, anyways, you know that there had to have been something special about the people - the company - for me to save the best for last and put the sushi-talk first. I'm not sure if I'm able to do this experience any justice, but here goes - I try.

We were seated upstairs in a fairly small room, that had enough room for maybe 12 chairs around two sides of the sushi bar. The meal started with a kampai! and a teensy glass of beer, while the chef was busy busy in his sushi nook. There were no menus - just the following questions: Is the anything you don't eat? Anything you don't like? Will you try many things? I gave my no-shellfish-please request and left the rest up to him - give and I shall eat. Ooooh and was it ever good! I can't tell you all of the different kinds of fish we ate, but we started with a white fish (sashimi), and then there was tuna; there was fatty tuna and less fatty tuna, some cooked - served still warm in a bowl, perfectly arranged with toppings, garnish and sauce - and one piece of sushi. We ate slowly - new sashimi and rolls and sushi were placed on the rectangular plates or presented alone on small ceramic plates; it was beautiful to look at, the way the food was arranged just so, on beautiful, artistic trays - and then to eat... was pure delight. My favourite may have been the eel; there were two pieces, one with a slightly sweet sauce, the other with a tangy hint of lime; I ate a salmon roe role and octopus wrapped to a small tab of rice; there was miso soup and pickled not-sure-what - and all the while wine, white and then red, that complemented the meal perfectly. The chef loved presenting us with something new, something never-tried-before, and it was all totally successful; there were no safe-at-the-plate reactions, but with each bite, with each new thing, my smile grew bigger - and so did his. After the wine came the sake, and after the sake came dessert: pear sorbet followed by green tea. It was absolute perfection.

And so this brings me to the company. We were invited out to dinner, through Seiji (F.C. Tokyo's manager), by Canadian volleyball hall-of-famer Ken Maeda and his wife Mina. In the late 70s and early 80s Ken took the Canadian team to new heights: the team won its first ever medal at the Pan-Am Games in 1979 (Bronze) and made it to the bronze medal match of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, Canada’s highest-ever finish in an indoor Olympic event. He coached some big names in Canadian volleyball, and made a lasting impression on the sport in our country. So, it was an honour to meet him and talk to him and hear some of his thoughts on volleyball and Canada. And there was much more than volleyball talk - like the wine, conversation flowed easily from this to that, and by the time we wrapped things up, we'd enjoyed four hours of great food and great company. Ken and his wife were so friendly, welcoming and kind - we just had the best time chatting with them and enjoying their company. (And the sushi.)

They'd met us at the station at 5:45, and we noticed them before Steve recognized him; they both wore kimonos, and stood out with stature and elegance in their traditional robes. It got me thinking a bit, how people who have done great things - or people who do great things - can (and do) go completely unnoticed. Ken and Mina stood out in their kimonos, and we know who he is and what he's done for a sport that is shadowed - at least in our country - by big-league big-box sports (hockey, basketball, baseball). But if he had been wearing regular garb?

We often don't know about the special things the people around us do and have done - in contribution and scope, big or small - and sometimes I think it would be nice, if somehow people could wear their accomplishments on their sleeve. Then, some of these great things (big or small) could be acknowledged and appreciated, and in the bustle of everyday busy-ness, we could be inspired by the accomplishments of those around us.

Steve and Seiji

The chef - best sushi ever!

Chef, Ken, me, Steve, Mina and Seiji... great company!

facts, on a blustery day

It’s a blustery, rainy day here – very Vancouver-in-October-esque – and so, besides a trip to the store to get coffee, I’m staying home. I’ve been reading Dogs and Demons, a non-fictional account of the state of affairs in modern Japan, and this picture that author Alex Kerr paints of this nation does not match the peaceful, traditional, serene picture that one typically imagines.

Japan is slightly smaller than the state of California, but is home to more than three times Canada’s entire population. This number – 33.5 million – is still smaller than the number of people living in Metropolitan Tokyo, the most populous metropolitan economic area in the world. Japan is made up over over 3000 islands, but most of the population lives on one of the four main islands (from north to south): Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Mount Fuji is the highest mountain of a very mountainous country at 3,776m, and is, along with at least 107 other Japanese bruisers, an active volcano. Japan is the only country in the world with an Emporer; Akihito, “his imperial majesty”, is the 125th person to hold such a post. What does an emporer do, you might ask? (I ask!) Besides having a list (I’m sure) of constitutional duties, he receives awards, visits countries and monuments and expresses remorse for bad-deeds-once-done by Nippon, and researches and writes about marine biology and history. Last facts: the Prime Minister of Japan is the newly elected Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party of Japan, and Tokyo’s winters are much like Vancouver’s – though with less rain, and almost no snow.

Anyways! Facts schmacts. My initial impressions with Japan and Japanese culture are: the people are respectful, friendly and willing to help you (and will often go out of their way to do so); people work hard (too hard), and public transportation systems are incredible, busy and often packed to the gills; infrastructure is good, and the city, roads and sidewalks are clean and functional. I image the countryside to be idyllic and peaceful – an escape from the megalomania that is the living breathing heaving city of Tokyo. According to Alex Kerr, however, I am wrong – about a lot of things Japanese.

His POV provides a bit of a harsh look at life here, I have to say. Traditional culture is either treated with uncompromising respect, or is trashed and obliterated, and the emphasis on modernity, progress and structure seems to govern development and overrule reason. There are countless examples in the book of how small villages and historic buildings were razed so that roads and bridges could be built, or how traditional huts or inns were destroyed because they weren’t modern or new. Bureaucratic rules and regulations haven’t been changed in 50-plus years, including regulations on pollution, food safety, hazardous waste removal (and dumping), freedom of information, and much more.

Two of Kerr's main points are these:

Systems and government programs (and their rules) are archaic and mismanaged, and the policy of stating the tatemae (“official position”) instead of the honne (“real intent”) (to maintain a solid, confident front is vital to success) is misleading and damaging. (As is the policy of following something through, from beginning to end, even if destructive or unwanted, no matter what.)

Since Japan opened its doors to the world in 1868, it has been going full speed ahead with a policy of Wakon Yosai, “Japanese spirit, Western mentality”; this, according to Kerr, is the root of Japan’s problems. There are no brakes – there is no way of slowing the progress, the full-steam-ahead, no-looking-back drive for modernity, progress and the future.

The author is very thorough in his critique of Japan – he’s aggressive in his analysis of each and every aspect of life: education, medicine, government, industry, social norms and social life, the arts, the environment and sport and activity. His tone is so acerbic that I find it almost offensive, and it’s not even my country! I suppose that he’s just being blunt and to the point, but even so, I’d have enjoyed the book (and learning about these issues) a little more if he’d been more constructive and a less nitty-gritty and doomsday with his criticisms. Let’s just say that I’m glad to be done with the book, and am looking forward to visiting the library just down the street at the fabulous community centre. Nothing to complain about here!!

Saturday

This weekend has been amazing so far... and Sunday hasn't even happened yet! Yesterday I had a second interview for a part-time teaching job that went well (yay), and then I trekked-metroed right across this big big city to Odaiba in Tokyo Bay to check out Design Festa. Tokyo Bay is a newly developed artificial island, home to some mega-malls (Decks Tokyo Beach and Venus Fort, a "women-focused shopping experience"), entertainment centres and some impressive architecture. It's an area I'd definitely like to check out again - and noooo, not because of the malls; the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation is there (touted by Lonely Planet as Japan's best science museum - "terrific" for kids (=terrific for me)), as is the Museum of Maritime Science. And the Tokyo Big Sight was HUGE - Design Festa was HUGE. It was amazing: there were so many booths and so many mediums, styles, sizes and looks - paper crafts, pottery, painting, sketching, body art, musicians, toys, stuffed animals, humans-as-art (some walking around, some sitting frozen still), jewelry, leather crafts, furniture... there was a little bit of everything. I arrived hungry, ate quiche, walked around for three hours and then called it a day - home I went in the rain. I DID stop at the Food Shop in Shibuya and ate the best donut I've ever had in my entire life, an assertion that Steve claimed (with wide eyes) was "bold." Yes, bold. I may have to have another, just to verify this lofty claim... if I have to. It was incredible. Anyways, that was Saturday. I walked home in the rain and made a modified version of Curried Coconut Chicken on couscous for dinner - yum. That was that. We've been watching hockey all morning and soon I'm back on the train, headed for Shinjuku to meet Akiko, a friend from high school. Design Fest pics.......

pig boy: no eating!!


the number of people-as-art had me wondering if this was a person, lying down in a monster suit




sitting-still strawberry girl-as-art - this lassie didn't move a MUSCLE... creepy.

also creepy.

not so much creepy as gross? and funny. giant booger girl doll.


fun, oversized double-decker furniture - I like!

foodie-land!

This city is a foodie's PARADISE! I had the most amazing day yesterday exploring (and being overwhelmed by) two places: Tokyu Hands and Tokyu Food Show. Naturally, I'll start with the food. I'm not sure how much I've gone on (and on and on) about the food here - at least to you. Steve hears about it all the time, and hopefully soon he can see for himself. A few days ago I came home after having discovered what I thought was Tokyu Food Show but was only a small portion of it - the bakery section. Was I in baked-goodness heaven or what?! It was truly amazing. Rows and shops displaying most perfectly, most delectably, breads of every kind and shape (nut bread, raisin bread, raisin nut bread, cranberry-blueberry bread, pumpernickel, sourdough, whole grain, whole wheat, brioche, baguettes, olive bread, olive baguettes - mouthwatering, no?), pastries of every size with fillings galore (nuts, fruits, chocolate, custards), muffins, scones (green tea, avocado, raisin, cheese), cookies, donuts (cinnamon, frosted, sugared, dipped, iced) cakes, tortes, croissants, cheese buns, meat buns, sugar buns - need I say any more? It was like I'd died and gone to glutton-goodie heaven. Also in this section of foodie-land is prepared sushi and bento boxes, curries and rice bowls, salad stands and delicatessens, gyoza shops and tempura shops, there are gelato and smoothies and juice stands, a tea store, coffee shops and more. QUITE overwhelming. So anyways, yesterday I discovered that this is but a part of the land - there was much, much more. I went south through the vegetables, passing liquor and wine and beers of every kind on my left, and found myself in sushi-fish-seafood heaven. Imagine every kind of sushi or fish you'd ever want to eat (and some that you might pass up), in one place, but in many different forms. As far as sushi goes, you could buy it with rice, without rice, sashimi style (in small, medium or large packs), in huge long cut-up-yourself chunks or diced and sliced and ready to be rolled. The same options (more or less) applied to octopus and squid, though I wasn't too sure where the eat-it-raw section ended and the cook-it-up section began. It was all just so yummy looking. And then there were rows and rows of groceries - there was everything: three or four (at least) kinds of maple syrup, spices and baking ingredients galore, cookies and pastas and sauces and cheeses and meats from the world over - and this isn't even the city's biggest Food Show (I don't think). As a matter of fact, most (or all? I'm not sure) department stores have this kind of smorgasbord of ridiculously amazing foodstuffs - in their basements. I can tell you one thing - this is going to be a year of good eats!!!

These pics are from but one of the bakeries...


Cakes or tarts anyone?

Someone was giving away samples of this BLUEBERRY goop (sp?) from Oregon - the jars were going for 990 yen - almost $12! I may have to sneak-export some of this stuff from my parent's freezer and sell it... sooooo yummy!

sushi sushi and more sushi...

Sigh. Okay, next. Tokyu Hands ("your creative life store") was absolutely, unbelievably amazing. I googled craft and paper stores and came across a website that gave a general run-down of Tokyo shopping - a where-to-go-to-get-what kind of a thing - and decided to start with this branch of Tokyu department stores. I spent three hours in this seven-story mega-store, oggling at all of the amazing goods; some of the floors I may have spent more time on include Stationary Goods, Quality Stationary, Furniture and Lights, Beauty and Health Care, Games/Party and Variety Goods, Kitchen Supplies (all the gizmos and gadgets ever created live here), Art and Design and Crafts and Science. I know this is more than seven floors - each level is broken up into three parts... ooooh yes. Again, I had to exert self-control to walk away with just one bag of stuff (I bought a few things for crafts and cards and writing, a travel mug and a few gifts). And so, I made it to two of my four stops yesterday afternoon (I also wanted to check out Loft, another department store's version of Tokyu Hands, Seibu - a famous department store, and Tower Records) before heading to a volunteer meeting for next week's Run For the Cure Pink Ball. This city is truly never-ending and amazing, and I've only seen the tip of the iceberg...

Each floor in Tokyu Hands had a "Hint Pit" - not sure what hint you were supposed to take but I assume that this is where the tired male shoppers congregate until the female shoppers take the hint...

excited for art (and more...)

I know that I shouldn't be all that surprised that we can find everything and anything here - but I am! And I'm delighted. There are English books (and magazines!) at the library just down the block, and on inter-library loan items can be requested and delivered, just like at home! Other things I usually miss when we're far-across-the-big-water but have found (or are available or plentiful) here are non-crusty socks (we have a drying ROOM), sushi, and amazing food of every sort. Other goods such as salt and vinegar chips and barbeque sauce (Steve usually misses these things more than I do), are also here. AND, there was no need to bring over Canadian Club as gifts for F.C. Tokyo management; yesterday, we found Canadian Club for $10 less than what we pay for it at home - sheesh. So far this may be the only thing we've found that is cheaper - and by a good amount - than in the great white north.

Some of my plans for the week include (Steve's plan: keep training like a ninja): two job interviews, Run For the Cure meeting and subsequent volunteer duties, Design Festa, and meeting a friend from high school. Design Festa sounds like one of the coolest things ever - it's Asia's biggest art event and has almost everything under the sun that might fall in the art category: music, fashion shows, interactive booths and exhibits, workshops, food and more. With over 8,500 artists and who knows how many booths, it seems soooo super cool. Steve trains on Saturday, so I'm planning on making my way down to the Tokyo Big Sight to check it out myself - stay posted for pics and reactions from that. Ummm, next: a girl that I went to high school with - that I walked to Hillside and WVSS with - moved back to Japan with her family some time ago, and lives just outside the city and so... we are going to hook up on Sunday! We played volleyball together and I have lots of funny memories with her, so I'm really looking forward to seeing her - Akiko Nomizawa! So cool. Facebook is good for something. (Though it is also bad for something(s) - productivity, privacy... and probably lots more.) I leave you with some things that I like, found online.



Recycled toy sculpture - Robert Bradford, as found on one of my check-once-a-week websites, The Cool Hunter

A Saturday night feast!

We had our first eat-out Saturday night experience last night in Tsukishima, an area famed for its Monjayaki - our meal to be. The captain of Steve's team invited us out, and four of us made our way to the area after Saturday afternoon's three and a half hour practice, meeting another three or four teammates and their wives/girlfriends for a meal at one of the many Japanese-type-bar establishments that line the streets of this old part of the city. We didn't really know what we were in for - but huddled around a long-ish narrow-ish table, on small, not-so-long chairs, and waited. Or, well... drank beer. The language thing wasn't too much of an issue, as most of the guys speak a little bit of English, and a few of them travel with phrase books or small dictionaries; also, the captain's girlfriend grew up in Texas (of all places - !), so she was translating for us, answering our what's-that-what's-in-there questions. (The language leftovers of the high school Japanese I took in grades 9, 10 and 11 are slowly surfacing, in bits and pieces... but I'm strictly limited to the most basic of basic phrases.)

So, this is how it went down. Onto the two, inlaid-in-the-table grills went - for warm-up snacks - sweet corn and a few pork skewers. And then came the waiters, to arrange and mix and grill the monja for us. Basically, a big bowl of ingredients - cabbage, bean sprouts, squid, octopus, and who knows what else - is grilled, and then grilled in a sauce until it forms a sort of wet, pancake type thingy... and then scraped off with little, personal metal scrapers, and eaten! That is my best description. We also ate udon, okonomiyaki (more of a pancake or egg-cake, with sprouts and beans and ??, topped with bbq sauce and mayo - also yum) and cucumber rounds with miso paste blobs. Before we (Steve and I) ate any of these things, pairs and trios and quads of voices asked us if we'd tried this or tried that, and most of the time we had to say that no, we hadn't. The extent of my knowledge of Japanese food was, before we arrived, limited to sushi, edamame and udon - so there is much to learn, much to try, and much to eat! So anyways, people would order something and then look at us with expectant curiosity as we ate, awaiting our reaction - thumbs up thumbs down? And it was alllll thumbs up - all SAFE, as one guy, Abe kept saying, as he umpire-motioned safe-at-the-plate.

Beer, snacks and peace signs abound...

Cooking up squiddies and bean sprouts

Manja!

Manja - almost ready to be scraped and eaten, framed with a bowl of edamame

And then, after the food and beer and cherry-flavoured Japanese wine, there was dessert - YUM! And it was yummy: a bite-sized crepe with a sweet bean filling, dipped in a sort of honey-ish molasses sauce... it was gooooood! After eating our fill of new and delicious foods, with new, fabulous friends (yay), we finished the meal by saying "Gochisousamadeshta", which translates to "it was quite a feast" as a thank you for the meal. It was indeed quite a meal - a Saturday night feast - for which Steve and I (and our bellies) were very thankful!

Asakusa

Out in Tokyo! Steve has Thursdays off, so we set out for Asakusa on the metro this afternoon and cruised around. Asakusa is home to Tokyo's oldest temple, Senso-ji, and is a tourist and people watching hotspot. The entrance gate to both the temple and the long shopping street packed with tourist trinkets and treats, is named Kaminarimon or Thunder Gate, and has statues of the protector gods Fujin (wind) and Raijin (thunder) ominously flanking the gateway through. There was much to be seen on both the avenue in, and the temple grounds itself: there were shrines, statues and monuments, bridges and fish-filled ponds, a display of chrysanthemums, an incense-filled cauldron (whose smoke is said to bestow health - many were wafting it towards themselves and rubbing it in, on the heart, on the head...) and more. The weather was great, and we enjoyed walking around and in and out of temples for a good hour or so.

Just outside the main gate of the temple, Kaminarimon

A busy and full shopping street!

The Buddhist temple is devoted to the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Kannon



A chrysanthemum flower-tree - neat, no?



The Asahi Breweries comples - complete with golden drop of beer (or something - ?)

The view from the 45th floor of The Tokyo Metropolitan Goverment Offices - the city seems never ending...


hi!
Skyscrapers and more skyscrapers - plus the neat Cocoon building


Outside the station in Shinjuku

We crossed the Sumidagawa River to check out the Asahi Breweries complex, a building topped with what must be a golden drop of beer. It's an interesting addition to the skyline, that's for sure. Back on the metro we went - change here change there - and wound up in Shinjuku to elevator up to the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Goverment Offices and the free observation deck. The view is incredible.... I can only imagine what it would be like on a smog-free, crystal clear day (does such a thing exist here? not sure). There were heli-pads on most of the taller buildings, and the smaller ones (8-10 stories, minimum) just blanketed the landscape - completely. It's an amazing view up there, and there are some amazing buildings - the Cocoon Building and it's little bubble were my favourites.

And then, by the time we decided to head home, it was rush-hour. My first experience on the metro in Tokyo in rush-hour was... well, not soooo bad. We had to squish onto the train in Shibuya, but thankfully decamped before the cars got really jammed at our stop, Nakameguro. Eek. After a day of walking and metro-ing around, I can definitely see why there are no fat people here; McDonald's and KFC and fast food chains seem to be popular, but people just walk so much - to get to the subway to get to work, to get to the subway to get home from work, down stairs, up stairs, up more stairs... commuting is exercise. I suppose it helps that it's still 20 degrees out here... and I'm going to end with that.

rush hour!!!

Cramming in - people are squished against the doors and glass when the doors squeeze shut...

Sushi for dinner... YUM!

this and that (and food)

Where to begin? I've been spending way too much time on the computer lately, searching for jobs and searching for jobs, and applying for jobs jobs jobs. So far I've had a bit of success, with a few replies, two interviews lined up and, hmmm... that's about it. There's not too much more to say about the hunt, other than that I'm still looking, still exploring.

And so, since it was just Thanksgiving, and because one of the highlights of the weekend (other than being with family and giving thanks) is the FOOD, I'll start there. We have been having the YUMMIEST meals! The food here is great, as is the variety; you can find anything and everything in this city. I found a teensy, packed store near the station called Kaldi Coffee Farm that has it all: wine, Mexican tortillas and salsas, Belgian chocolates and cookies, Indian preserves and curry sauces, tortillas, coconut milk, baking supplies (galore), Brazilian soft drinks (Guarana - yum!), specialty cheeses, pastas, Italian sauces and coffee. The bonus is this: they roast and grind their coffee on the premises, and hand out free samples - SO... it is an aromatic delight to shop. I suppose that's the point, but anyways - the smells! The goodies! De-lish. And the normal stores have a great mix of Japanese and Western goods. In my last post I forgot to mention that our go-to grocer also has a bakery inside, with all sorts of tempting treats - from salty cheese and meat buns and garlic breads, to donuts and scones and icing sugar topped goodies... it's amazing! I love bakeries, and this one is close, but far enough away that it won't pose any serious threats to my potential blobbo-ness.

Our Thanksgiving meal worked out almost perfectly. We got the mini-oven going, and cooked us up a meal; the chicken was goood, the mashed potatoes were gooooood, and so were the steamed and seasoned carrots. The garlic buns that we got from the aforementioned bakery did not fare so well. Our stove (the actual stovetop) has a little toasting drawer, powered by gas flames - you may see where this is going. We popped those little suckers in there, and before we knew it there was a smell and maybe a little bit of smoke and when we yanked open the drawer, the buns were flaming - we had actual on-fire buns. So, there was no bread with our supper ... but there was wine, and lots of other food - so it was all good. Other super delicious meals that we've had include: hamburgers and salad (the produce here is great), home-made egg mcmuffins (sooooo good) and sushi... mmmmmm, yum.

Moving on. Yesterday I ventured out on my own on the subway for the first time, and managed to not get lost. I decided to check out the National Diet Library, Japan's only National Library. Originally established for government purposes (the National Diet is Japan's legislative body), it now holds over 1 million books in Western languages - so, as a lover of libraries and books, I decided to check it out. The building is large and impressive, but I couldn't really navigate the search engine, as (understandably) it's all in Japanese. Also, there's no browsing - the books are all behind closed doors and walled walls; the only way to find a book is on the computer. After you find your book, you make a request, sit in a waiting area and wait until your number is called. Because I like browsing, and because I couldn't understand anything on the search engine screen, I didn't stay long. From there I made for Roppongi-dori and the Japan Foundation Library, which, after a 25 minute walk-and-search, I found out had moved. I examined my subway map and figured out how to get to the new location, and on I went.

The Japan Foundation is an international institution, set up by the National Diet, to promote Japanese culture and arts, and has offices and libraries around the world. Their location here in Tokyo has a small but fabulous library - I browsed for a solid 45 minutes, saw lots of books that I will definitely come back for... and then it was time to go. Back on the subway, I made for Shinagawa where I met up with a small group of volunteers working on two different Run for The Cure events here in Tokyo. I'm hoping to help out with the run this weekend, and a charity event at the end of the month. It was nice to meet some people and get involved; at least I can be volunteering while I'm looking for work.

And that's about it! Time for a run!

happy thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Unlike many of you back at home, we spent the day walking around in shorts and t-shirts and flip flops. The weather here has been great, aside from that whole typhoon thing that ran through here the other day - and that was just wind wind and more wind (no snow, hail etc), and a bit of rain. It does cool off at night, and I'm sure that this summer-wear won't last much longer - soon I may have to wear a sweatshirt (or sweater?) out of the house, during the day.

at the bagging station at a newfound grocery store

Anyways - so, Thanksgiving weekend it is, and we are going to try our best to make some sort of festive meal for dinner. We found a new (to us) grocery store by the station, with better prices and a great selection of nearly everything but bread and cereal; I'm pretty sure this will be my go-to grocer. Bread usually comes in loaves of three to six slices, and is as white as a ghost (and probably as nutritious as a marshmallow), and as for cereal - it's either corn flakes, sugar flakes or frosted flakes, that is, unless you want to pay close to $10 for granola or oatmeal or Special K. I'm wondering if I can buy oats - haven't seen anything other than the instant Quaker stuff, which runs for around $6 a box, eep. I'm excited about doing some grocery store exploring in this city, and find some brown bread and healthy breakfast foods.

We did do a little bit of Tokyo exploring today - we metro-ed to Shibuya and walked around the crazy crazy so-much-going-on area. From the famous crossing to the exclusive ladies-stores mall to Starbucks and beyond we went. We had a hard time finding our way around in the Tokyu mall, which seems puzzle-pieced together with the many lines and stations coming in and going out of Shibuya's station. Finally, after going from the east wing to the west wing to the south wing, we found the teensy toys section on floor seven where we bought a deck of cards. After a couple hours of walking around, we made our way back to Nakameguro station and the grocery store where we got foodstuffs for dinner. On the menu - stuffed chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad and ... jackpot! wine. We found affordable wine - yum. We do have to figure out how to work our small oven - about a third of the manual was computer-translated by the coach's wife, but it might be a bit of a crapshoot, with all of the flashing icons and strange translations (eg: "by power of the steam I am delicious"). We'll see...

ShiBUya!
sticking out, in a big crowd of people...

And some big news for us - we have Canadian TV! Eeeeek! At first I wasn't so psyched about it, thinking I'd just turn into some TV couch-blob, but so far it's great! Steve (and his parents) hooked up a Slingbox before we left, and on Friday got everything going. We were watching HGTV this morning, and hockey, and Jeapordy was on last night - it's crazy! The picture is pretty clear, and it's good to feel a little more connected with home. We can watch the news too, and get radio stations... I just hope I don't become a couch-blobbo. Okay, dinner - I hope everyone has/had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

on our way to Ikea the other day - a fish pond! with big white and orange and black fish...

Japanese beer and Japanese cell - I'm set...

en route to the station from our place - the streets are super narrow, with front doors opening right onto the street

I went with Steve to practice yesterday, and walked around a beautiful big park... and got some blisters, thanks to my new (but very cute) boots ")