cherry blossoms

Along the Meguro River a few days ago (above), and yesterday, somewhere near the Tokyo Tower (below)


The cherry blossoms are coming! I can't even wait. Trees around the city are at different bloomin' stages, and apparently in some places they are out full pop, while in others they are biding their time. One of the best places in the city to see sakura is right down the street from our house along the Meguro River; lined with papers lanterns and lights, it is going to be incredible - eeeeek! Can't wait. There is a big sakura festival this weekend somewhere along the meandering waterway, so that will be something to look into for sure.

I finished The Anthologist last week and liked it - loved some parts, but am not giving it a star in my book of books-read. And, thanks to a recommendation from Nao, I started reading Isabella Bird's Unbeaten Tracks in Japan which is going to be SUCH an interesting read - she came to Japan on her own in the late 1870s and explored city and country. She seems to be quite the seasoned traveler, and I will be sure to look into accounts of some of her other travels if I like this one. Observations from her (from me) to come.

AND! We are still having the most amazing time with our guests - schedules have been full. On Tuesday Steve, Dan and Milka visited some new-to-them parts of the city, and then the four of us wandered Roppongi and Roppongi Hills before heading home for a dinner spread of grocery store bentos and ready-to-eat food (yum). Yesterday (despite constant rain) Dan and Milka had a super full and super fun day at both Disneyland and DisneySea, arriving home after 10:00 wet and exhausted. Steve had a few days off - two in a row! - so that was a good little break for him, and I.... got myself a job! I've been volunteering at Run for the Cure (an independent breast cancer foundation here in Japan) since October, and because of a few recent changes/transitions in the office, they needed a little extra help. SO! I am now a worker bee. It's part-time, flexible and even though the learning curve might be a bit high at the beginning, I'm not starting from scratch; plus, it's a finite position, so I'll just do my best and go from there!

On our way to the station - the guys in Nakameguro

Yes, this is a doggy photo shoot; in Odaiba at one of the massive malls

One giant piece of cake outside Tokyo midtown (another mall) - I think this is to celebrate their anniversary?

Dan and the Tokyo Tower ;)

Pet store - these little guys are all so adorable!!

Hello Kitty tour bus and...

... Hello Kitty toilet paper.

Dinner on Sunday night at Gonpachi: Steve, me, Nao, Milka and Dan-O

In Odaiba

We went on the ferris wheel! It was reallllly neat... great night view of the city!

Getting ready to board the big wheel

too much to file

one corner of Shinjuku by day...

We've done so much in the last two days that, as Dan said, "It's impossible to file." We got home on Saturday afternoon after walking all over one tiny fraction of this city and it was too much to compute: the people, the people, the people, the lights, places, stores, ads, trains, cars, roads, development, buildings - there is always more, and the more is always a lot... a lot more. The weather has been great, and we are super excited for the cherry blossoms to pop out... hopefully it happens some time in the next week!

... and another corner of Shinjuku by night

in Shibuya...

... after we chowed down on some MOS Burger (a chain) - we opted to try the rice burger: pork patty between two grilled rice patties... it wasn't bad!

I love Nemo! Little clown fish in a little tank outside Don Quijote

And some more random goods in the Donki - elephant trunk boxers... ???

The Dan-o is ready: outside 7-11 with coffee in hand and bike-proof pants... bring it on Tokyo!

The blossoms are on their way: along the Meguro River close to our house. It is going to be AMAZING along there - lined with trees and lanterns, it will be beautiful by day and by night... can't wait!

Yoyogi Park: a troupe of dancing Elvises (sp?) that dance non-stop put on quite the show... a spectacle for sure!


Just outside Meiji-jingu - (we assumed that this is) a bride getting ready in her traditional dress - very beautiful

Dan fitting right in in Harajuku

We got our fortunes at Meiji-jingu, and this is was mine: Be gentle and honest above all, though you lack the genius to tower over others like the tallest bamboo in a grove. Thus your life will be truly happy and unclouded. I like - really like - the last part... but the first part? I AM the tallest bamboo in the grove over here... and the lacking the genius part? MEH!

We braved this...

... to get this. Harajuku on a Sunday is inSANE!

We've had enough of you paparazzi!

guests!!

Yay! We have guests! Dan and Milka arrived last night after a loooong and almost sleepless trip across the big blue. It's a bit surreal to have them here; we've been talking about it for so long, and counting down the sleeps for so long, and now that they're finally here we're having of one of those I can't believe it's now it's here moments. Ohhhh time..... where do you go? Here are some pics from our first day out and about. (Sadly, Steve is absent - he's in Kyushu for the last regular season game, back on Sunday night!)


No smoking in the streets, but it's okay in restaurants? Strange, and no good to non-smokers!

Grabbing some sushi for day one lunch

Dan-o sporting some Tokyu Hands party glasses

Plastic food - check.

This might be the best picture of the day: this guy is yelling, loudspeaking, selling his restaurant wares/good/eats on a box, and as we approach him Dan bleats at Milka "Give me the camera give it to me I need to take a picture of this guy we have to get a pic of this guy"... not knowing that Milka is in the process of / already has taken a picture of the guy on the box. Classic.

Shocking? Yes. Maxi pads and underwear for dogs? Yes.

Harajuku

A stolen pic inside the Nike store on Omotesando - very cool hanging shoes!

LV - as you can tell, it's where I shop.

Tokyu Food Show - yum.

On our way home after a lot of walking... armed with bags of food from the Food Show, ready to eat and put our feet up. Awesome day one!

earth shake!!

Earthquakes make me think ever so slightly of The Land Before Time - earthquake is earthshake, and I sure did feel the one here the other day. I was sitting here at our one and only table when there was a rumble and then things began to shake and then the building began to sway... eeeeee. I waited, sitting still (but swaying?)... to see if the earthshake was going to get any bigger, and it did, and then didn't. The elastic therabands that are hanging from the back of the door (that we've never used) were swinging and smacking things and after the 20-second (or so) tremor was over, they kept swinging and smacking. I did have a bit of a warning that something was coming, as apparently there had been a smaller earthquake the night before that I didn't feel, but that prompted Nao to send me this message: Whenever there's an earthquake don't panic. just turn the gas off and stay inside. avoid being close to the window unlock and open the door if you can. don't panic! I wrote her back immediately thinking that the big one was coming: What!? Is there supposed to be an earthquake tonight? A big one? EEEk! Steve was on a bus between Beppu and Fukuoka way down in Kyushu, and didn't feel a thing.

With a library stocked with (some) English books, a Kindle, borrowed books and brought-books, I have much, much reading to do! And time - and I can't believe I'm saying this already - is starting to run out. Our time in Japan that is. I don't want to get too ahead of myself; we still have two and a half months here... but time has been go-going and will continue to fly. We have our first set of guests coming this week! Wait, okay our second set, but our first set of Spring guests. Dan and Milka arrive on Thursday night, and then on the horizon are Erin and Fred, my Mom and Dad and then a good friend from high school, Anna. It will be busy, but fabulous! And I'm sure these books (or most of them) will be sulking on my shelves of neglect. I started The Anthologist the other day and there was just this part that I really liked in chapter 4 or 5 where he talks about how he goes to bed with his books because his girlfriend has just dumped him and left, and he sleeps alone. Or, rather, he sleeps with his books. And he never makes the bed and the books pile up and get mixed in with the sheets and covers and it becomes something like book soup: "it's like a stew of books." I make the bed, and books only stay overnight if Steve is away; otherwise they are on the floor and piled on the bottom rung of my Ikea bedside shelf. (At the moment Witness is on the floor and Wuthering Heights is on the shelf.) Enough book talk - I need to finish my coffee, get out of my pjs and get going - Costco is on the agenda today and we gots to go!

this and that

It's 18 degrees here today! And windy as the dickens... but 18!!! It feels warm and lovely out and I love it. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) our deck is shaded AND there is still scaffolding on the one side of the building... so no sitting in the sun at home for me. That doesn't mean I can't go to a park or something, but I'm a little busy today anyways. This is going to be an all over the place blog, with lots of pictures - who doesn't like pictures?

After three months of scaffolding, it's going going gone! It is so much brighter... the hall leading to our apartment on floor 3 of Big Apartment Building in Tokyo

the Big Apartment Building

So there's a chain of stores here that is sort of like a mini has-everything store; its stocks food, drink, beer, booze, hair products, paper products, underwear, socks, Louis Vuitton bags, Coach bags, watches, jewelry, toilet seats, pillows, clothing, dog food - you get the picture. I may have blogged about it before - Don Quijote. The first time we heard about this tienda was from a Japanese person, who, when I asked how you spell this store they nodded yes to D-o-n-k-e-y H-o-t-a-y. So we had a good laugh (not at anyone's expense) over this misunderstanding. And so here are a few pics from this store that is seriously packed with goods:

$500 toilet seat anyone?

Various beauty sundries - not knowing, not understanding what the point is. Refresh your head?


More beauty and face thingies...

This was in the products-that-will-burn-calories-for-you section: hot leggings, body suits (to be worn under your clothes) and this burning-calories respirator (on the right) - ???

On Tuesday, after lunch at our favourite pizza place, we made for the closest aquarium, as we've heard that the aquariums here are top notch. From Nakameguro to Shinagawa to not-sure-where we went - on this crazy line - busy and busy. I'm sure it's not too difficult to figure out, but my first impression was this: ???!?!. And my first question to Steve: "Should we ask someone?"




And finally. Nao and I went out to dinner last night at a well-known tonkatsu place in Meguro - Tonki Tonkatsu. Though deep-fried pork doesn't sound like the most amazing thing (or maybe it does), it is delicious. So so so so good... And this place obviously has a reputation, people know about it; there was a full line of hungry folk sitting on benches that lined the walls. However, as soon as we stepped inside, one of the many men that were working food-prep asked us what we wanted to eat and took our order. (There are only three things you can ask for: pork with the fat, pork without the fat and pork-something on a stick - that we weren't sure of.) So, as soon as we sat down at the counter, our food was ready and we were eating - perfection. This is why there is no picture of the food - I ate it before my brain told me to take a picture of the meal (tonkatsu, rice, shredded cabbage, miso soup and a few pickles. And tea). We left full and happy. YUM!!


Wait, two more thoughts. First: what's the deal with the expression like the dickens? Here's the scoop. Dickens was probably derived from another surname - Dickins, Dickons, or just the first name Dick. It was - and still is - a euphemism for the devil.

And here is the rest of the explanation, from World Wide Words:

The first person known to use it was that great recorder of Elizabethan expressions, William Shakespeare, in The Merry Wives of Windsor: “FORD: Where had you this pretty weathercock? MRS PAGE: I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of”. That pun relied on the audience knowing that Dickens was a personal name and that what the dickens was a mild oath which called on the Devil.

Secondly, what isn't good in the deep-fryer?