Tokyo Fox (東京狐)

SE Asia 2013/14 Pt V: Bangkok (Thailand)

Posted on January 15, 2014 by tokyofox

After an absence of 5.5 years I was back in Thailand and it couldn’t have got off to a more un-cultured start! We met up with colleague and friend Mostyn mid-afternoon and after a spot of late-lunch the plan was for Mostyn and I (my girlfriend wanted to return to the hotel to relax for a bit longer) to go to Jim Thompson’s House (a famous attraction in Bangkok) but in the end we plumped for the Penis Shrine!!

This is a small garden full of carved stone and wooden cocks surrounding a shrine at the back of the Nai Lert Park Hotel which is a short walk from Phloen Chit BTS station. Its not exactly easy to find and, despite having been there twice now, I still can’t pinpoint its location exactly. Its basically next to the river!

We saw Mostyn again that evening (Boxing Day) along with friend and ex-colleague John (below), who has been living in Thailand for a few months now, for a night out on the lash (celebrating our big news as mentioned in Pt V) which started on Soi 4 and continued on to some other unknown places of ill repute in the Silom area. It was great to all be together again and good to catch up with John in such an exciting place and the fantastic mix of champagne, beer and yellow curry could certainly be felt the following morning!!

William was the next colleague to be met the morning after the night before. Both of our hotels were very close to each other in Silom and we briefly met for a catch-up. We’d only worked together six days earlier but it was good to share our experiences of Thailand and so on whilst sitting amid the relative calmness of Lumpini Park which is so close to the madness of Silom but felt so much further away!

After a quick lunch stop (above) at one of the city’s many cheap restaurants (approximately $1 for noodles!) we bid farewell to each other. He was returning to Japan later that night and my girlfriend and I were on our way to Wat Phra Kaew & Grand Palace, though more out of a felt obligation rather than a real desire to go there. I’d been there before but thought that she should see at least one or two of the famous temples in that same area as you surely can’t go to Bangkok and not view a few of its majestic temples can you?!!

This may have been my third time to visit this Thai mega-city but it was the first time that I really took responsibility for where we went. On my previous visits I mostly just followed Ethan (2008) and the group of people (2001) I was with on the programme stopping off en-route to Australia. Stop 9 on the Chao Phraya Express boat took us to Wat Phra Kaew (below) and the adjoining Grand Palace albeit in a rather long winded way! The boat was fine but after disembarking we must have missed the one entrance by a whisker meaning that we ended up circling the whole place before finally going in. I think the same happened in 2008 which resulted in Ethan and I inadvertently ending up in Wat Po next door which is a huge attraction in itself.

It cost 500THB ($15) to enter and to be honest I wasn’t really feeling it due to the alcohol intake the night before and having done a huge temple complex only two days before in Myanmar. Wat Phra Kaew is Thailand’s most famous temple and though its main attraction; the Emerald Buddha, was very impressive I wasn’t too bothered about the rest of the place. Of course I took a few pictures though to include in this piece!

Luckily our time in Bangkok coincided with the Chatuchak Weekend Market in the north of Bangkok which is a huge monstrous market selling just about everything under the sun. Ethan and I actually went here back in 2008 and we both enjoyed it despite not liking shopping! This time my girlfriend and I bought some stuff for our place and had a caricature done (below) which was exciting although I think the illustrator was maybe a bit too kind to us as our faces are not as thin as in the picture!

Kao San Road (below) is probably the most famous backpackers hideout in the world and where we stayed last time. I wasn’t really planning on going there this time but when it came up in conversation a few days before my girlfriend seemed interested in seeing what it was all about and I thought it might be nice to see another side of Bangkok! It was quite strange being on this road, which is not too far from all the political demonstrations, and seeing absolutely everything displayed in English for the hundreds and hundreds of travellers who congregate in this area.

Street food (above) was a staple part of our daily food intake and we had some great stuff at ridiculously low prices but we decided to splash out a bit more one night at a very popular restaurant in Silom. Now, I’m more than happy to just eat hawker food most of the time but its got to be said that the restaurant food we tried was absolutely lovely. I just wish we had communicated a bit more beforehand as we both chose some very spicy red curry dishes (below) to share along with a couple of other dishes.

Next: Seeing in the New Year in Chiang Mai (Thailand)

Posted in Asia Travel | Tagged Chatuchak Weekend Market, grand palace, kao san road, red curry, silom, soi 4, wat arun, Wat Phra Kaew bangkok, where in Bangkok is the penis shrine? | 15 Comments

SE Asia 2013/14 Pt IV: A Pressing Engagement In Yangon (Myanmar)

Posted on January 13, 2014 by tokyofox

As promised at the tail end of the last entry here then is the #BigNews of what happened during our time in Myanmar (formerly Burma). After eight years of world travel, movie locations, English teaching ideas, restaurant reviews and so on, there is finally an announcement on Tokyo Fox which may, just may interest some of my actual friends.

I proposed to my girlfriend on Christmas Day and she said yes!

That line should be enough to satisfy many people but for those wanting to know the details and the backstory, please read on…

A couple of days before we began our trip I went to buy her the engagement ring in Shinjuku. Now, I thought you could only get breakfast at Tiffany’s but it seems this store also sells rings! I’d been carrying this diamond ring (wrapped in bubble wrap and in a plastic bag tied up) with me for a few days; firstly in my big backpack in Malaysia and then in my little rucksack. Needless to say that I was a little nervous every time my girlfriend went in the rucksack at Shwedagaon Paya where at one stage she even took out the bag it was in and put it on the floor whilst applying some sun cream! I was planning to pop the big question at this stunning golden pagoda but it was all a bit too public for my liking…..and the fact that we had an argument didn’t help either!!

Not wanting to get interrupted by a vendor at a critical moment or for a local scoundrel to see me presenting an expensive diamond ring in public I decided that a different place would be more suitable and safer option not that I ever felt that Yangon was in any way a dangerous place.

Back in our twin bed room (no bed sharing till after the wedding! haha!) at Agga Guest House a few hours later I was aware that we were soon going to be Skyping my folks and likewise for her parents so I thought it was best to hurry things along a bit so that we could announce the news then and there rather than having to try to get hold of them later on again in a country where wi-fi is not that common or reliable!

That Christmas morning I had woken and suddenly had the thought of whether to present her with the box (with the ring in it) or just the ring to which my googling of it didn’t help too much. Eventually I chose the former and so with not too much happening I told her to sit on the edge of the bed as I said I had something for her.

As soon as I took the package out of the bag she shrieked with delight as she could see the green colour of the Tiffany’s box through the carrier bag and knew what was about to happen. The next few moments passed by in an instant as she excitedly unwrapped the ribbon and opened the box. I took out the ring, went down on one knee and said “Kekkon shite kudasai which is the Japanese equivalent of “Will you marry me?’ although in reality its more like “Lets get married”.

To mark the occasion I cracked open a warm can of ‘Myanmar Beer’ and cheesily played the ‘Diamonds Are Forever‘ 007 theme by Shirley Bassey and moments later we were relaying the news on Skype to our parents one after the other.

To celebrate the good news we went out for dinner in style! First of all we took the cheapest, dirtiest local bus down to Sule Pagoda (it was the only place/landmark I could think of to say!) and the young bus conductor couldn’t have been more helpful in looking after us. Of course I already knew exactly where our destination was but as we were only communicating via body language I decided to just let it be.

Motorcycles are outlawed in Yangon so these packed local buses are often the way to travel around. After a walk around town we ended up back on 19th street where we had been the previous night. Time for another barbecue on the streets where you put your skewers of meat, fish and vegetables in a basket and they then cook them for you. All this was washed down with a few Myanmar Beer’s (coke for her!) and we briefly practiced the kind of kissing sound you have to make to attract the waiters attention each time. Don’t try that in the western world!!

That was it for our short time in Myanmar’s capital but it was most definitely a case of it being Yan-gone but not forgotten!!

Next: Moving on to Bangkok

Posted in Asia Travel | Tagged 19th street Yangon, Agga Guest house yangon, myanmar, popping the question, to propose with box or just ring, tokyofox in a relationship, who is tokyo fox? tokyofox girlfriend, yangon in 2 days | 7 Comments

SE Asia 2013/14 Pt III: Christmas Day In Yangon (Myanmar)

Posted on January 10, 2014 by tokyofox

It’s not every day that one visits Myanmar so I think it merits a further entry to accompany the previous one which you can read here. Christmas Day began for us in capital city Yangon with mohinga; a traditional Myanmar breakfast of thin rice noodles mixed with thick fish soup, roasted chilli powder, a squeezed lemon, fish sauce and coriander. All very different from what I’d normally have on Christmas morning which is often nothing due to the hangover from the previous nights shenanigans!!

The home of Aung San Suu Kyi (below) by Inya Lake on University Avenue Road was our first stop that morning for what should have been a straight forward taxi ride ($3) but trying to communicate that to the driver was another thing! Eventually after a few u-turns here and there it was located. Of course its just a gate and not too much more than that but a couple of years ago the only way you could photograph this place was from driving by. This place is one of such historical importance and I was very pleased to stand outside it. Suu Kyi spent about 15 years of her life under house arrest by the military before being released in 2010.

Despite the ineptness of the driver we decided to persevere with him as he couldn’t fail to get us to Shwedagon Paya (below) which is certainly the number one tourist attraction in Yangon. This huge 2500 year old buddhist pagoda is the spiritual home of Goldmember of Austin Powers movie fame!! The compound was a palace of glittering delights and an awesome sight albeit a slightly overwhelming one for me as I felt I could never truly appreciate all the buildings and the fine detail of each one.

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We continued on to find Happy World (below) nearby which is a place I knew about thanks to the excellent RocketNews24 website. I naturally assumed that it was a theme park with rides and so on but after paying the 20 cents entrance we found out that it was nothing more than a game centre! As it was the entrance fee was a waste of money but better to know than not know what was inside! The highlight for me was seeing the puny and wimpy looking Batman statue outside the place.

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We then tucked into the Christmas turkey for lunch and pulled a couple of crackers! Of course thats not true but we did have a meal outside Happy World before taking a taxi back to central Yangon and the port area (below) which was an area I was curious to see not that there actually was much action going on down there!

Next: A Pressing Engagement In Yangon (Myanmar)

Posted in Asia Travel | Tagged Aung San Suu Kyi, batman statue, happy world Yangon, myanmar theme park, rocketnews24, shwedagon pagoda, what is mohinga?, where is aung san suu kyi house?, Yangon port | 9 Comments

SE Asia 2013/14 Pt II: Two Nights In Yangon (Myanmar)

Posted on January 6, 2014 by tokyofox

The original idea was to fly from Kuala Lumpur into Yangon and then book the next flight up north but when it came to that next stage the availability of those flights was non-existent so I thought it better to fly from there to Bangkok and then come back to Myanmar a few days later. However, that possibility eventually eroded away as times didn’t match up and the schedule would be a bit too punishing….even by my standards. So with all that in mind it became clear that our time in Myanmar would unfortunately be very short and certainly not what I had in mind when first planning things.

In fact, the time spent going to the embassy in Tokyo took about as much time as we were there but that wasn’t gonna stop us from getting the most out of it. I’ve had my heart set on going there for quite a while now and really enjoyed watching all the various films ‘set’ in Myanmar beforehand for the On Screen series on this site not that that did too much too put one’s mind at ease before descending on the capital city in a country which has suffered so much in the past.

We arrived on Christmas eve and took a taxi from the airport to our guest house which was easy enough and was a pre-paid one done before exiting the terminal. Before that I had to exchange some yen to the local currency kwat which made me seem like a millionaire once the bundles of 1000 kwat ($1) notes (no coins in Myanmar) had been handed over which were so thick that I could only really keep them in my bag.

One of the reasons I wanted to travel to Myanmar is the unknown factor and I was quite surprised at what was to come. Sule Pagoda is the golden clump temple in the middle of a roundabout thats the brightest thing in a very, very dark city. This was our focal point for taking a walk down Maha Bandoola Road on what I thought would be a fairly straight-forward route. Although it was, there was far more to it as the pavements are packed full of vendors, stalls and shops extending out on to the street

Most people in Myanmar, especially women and young kids, wear thanaka which is the make-up you can see on some locals in my photos. Its one of the most noticeable things for any new arrivals and it comes from tree barl and eventually becomes a soothing, cooling cream that feels both refreshing and smells nice too. I believe its good for protecting the skin from the sun and is seen as fashionable too but please don’t quote me on that as I’m probably wrong!

Low plastic stools and tables provided most eating places. No picture menu’s here and rarely any English too as the signs were of course only in the local language. Back to basics and the good old fashioned way of body language and pointing in particular to get what you want!

One thing that did keep popping up were tables with the old-fashioned telephones on them which I can only assume is some kind of pay phone system which is a little strange given that most people seemed to have mobile phones anyway. We eventually stumbled upon 19th Street which I found out later is the hottest street for nightlife in Yangon and a thriving place full of restaurants and bars selling barbecued food and cold beer.

The following evening I took us on the Lonely Planet walking tour of Yangon having not really learned my lesson from doing their tour of Little India in Kuala Lumpur! Can’t say I’ve ever been to enthralled by such excursions but they give me something to focus on. This one was quite interesting for me though as it included the Strand Hotel, Customs House and a few other crumbling, fading British colonial Yangon buildings and places offering a slice of Asia that time has forgotten. I wanted to have a drink in the Strand Hotel (below), which opened in 1901, but with daylight running out I wanted to complete part of the tour before dark when the photos would not look so good due to the lack of street lighting which requires your eyes to adjust to the darkness as soon as possible.

My girlfriend and I both loved our time in a country that has been hidden away for far too long. Of course our trip was way too short but I felt privileged to catch a glimpse of how things work in this wonderful country and though communication with the locals wasn’t always easy, we found them to be so nice, helpful and honest in ways I could never have imagined. Long may that continue and we both hope to return to travel to other parts of Myanmar one day to see how the country has further developed.

Next: Aung San Suu Kyi house, Shwedagon Pagaoda and Happy World! Click here

Posted in Asia Travel | Tagged 19th street Yangon, Agga Guest house yangon, exchanging Myanmar currency, Maha Bandoola Road Yangon, myanmar embassy tokyo, Sule Pagoda, The Strand Hotel Yangon, why do myanmar people wear than thanaka?, yangon in 2 days | 7 Comments

Entrapment Filming Locations In Kuala Lumpur

Posted on January 3, 2014 by tokyofox

Perhaps the best and most famous movie to have been shot in Malaysia is ‘Entrapment‘ (1999) starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones as two international art thieves. It’s fair to say that this film, which cost just $66m to produce, doesn’t have too much competition although the likes of ‘The Sleeping Dictionary‘ (2003) and ‘Indochine‘ (1992) are worthwhile competitors. For the record, ‘Beyond Rangoon‘ (1995) and ‘Anna & The King‘ (1999) were also filmed in Malaysia but ‘set’ in Myanmar and Thailand respectively.

The Petronas Twin Towers in capital city Kuala Lumpur feature throughout but the most prominent scenes are on 64 minutes (see the screenshots below) with a brief cameo on 98 minutes. In the initial scenes movie magic makes it seem like the Melaka River, which is 144km away, is just a stones throw from one of the country’s most iconic sights. This blending of the scenery for the two places had some local people up in arms but this kind of thing happens all the time and is part and parcel of film-making.

After a brief appearance on 75 minutes the film climaxes on 98 minutes at Pudu LRT station……or so it seems!! However, it is actually Bukit Jalil LRT station which is much further south along the same Sri Petaling Line. The signs were obviously just changed to its far more famous mass transit station and there’s also the rumour that it was changed as Pudu was the only station name that Connery was able to pronounce correctly.

I dragged my girlfriend here on our second day in KL to take the match-up shots I needed with the action first taking place on the platform heading back into the city centre as can be seen by the buildings in the distance of the screen-grabs below but naturally a lot of time has passed since filming took place at this station so the trees and bushes in the background of all shots has changed quite a bit and boy was I confused at times with which scene was done on what platform. I’m not even sure if each part was actually shot on the platform it supposedly takes place on!

Connery’s character Mac is a punctual man often saying “I’m never late!” and “If I’m late it’s because I’m dead!” but when he arranges to meet at Pudu station the following morning at 6.30am (as ‘Plan B’ is put into place) you just know its not gonna be that simple.

Sure enough, he shows up late for his meeting with Gin (Zeta-Jones) but with the FBI in tow too! He explains that he made a deal with them on his capture to help them arrest her. However, his plan is to help her escape which he does in a fashion that is a little bit ridiculous but nevertheless tense and exciting.

Once Gin has made her initial escape, Mac sits down on one of the benches but they are no longer in the station. Or they may have just been props added for the movie.

The advertising screens were bare in the 113 minute movie, which was directed by Jon Amiel, but in reality they are always advertising something or another.

The other filming locations for this movie, which takes place on Millennium Eve, were in England and Scotland with the likes of Blenheim Palace, The Savoy Hotel, Borough Market, Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull, Eilean Donan Castle and Pinewood Studios featuring amidst the Malaysian scenes.

If you haven’t already seen it (why would you be looking at this page if you haven’t?!!) then you can watch ‘Entrapment‘ here

Posted in Asia Travel, Movie Locations | Tagged best movies filmed in Malaysia, Bukit Jalil LRT station, catherine zeta-jones, Entrapment Malaysia, films made in Malaysia, petronas twin towers, Pudu station, Sean Connery | 8 Comments

SE Asia 2013/14 Pt I: Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Posted on January 1, 2014 by tokyofox

No sooner had I wrapped up my lessons for the year and I was off to the airport that same evening to take a night flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL) in Malaysia. As a young child collecting stamps (nerd alert!) I always considered Malaysia to be something of an exotic country due to its bright and colourful stamps. The ‘Malaysia truly Asia‘ advert campaign many, many years later did nothing to dispel that theory and I was suitably impressed on my previous two visits; Borneo in 2008 and Penang in 2010.

Having never done anything more than a transit in the country’s capital until this trip we decided to spend a couple of days in KL having arrived in the early hours. Unable to properly check in to our hotel on arrival we headed out straight away to Batu Caves; a cheap and easy 30 minute train ride from KL Sentral station.

Admittedly, the place is a bit of a tourist trap with all the usual things like restaurants, souvenir shops and food vendors. A huge golden statue stands in front of the 272 steps which lead up to the Temple Cave amid monkeys with some fine views of the city stretching out in the distance behind you.

Once at the top, the cave opens up into quite a vast space with various temples and shrines, some unusual rituals taking place and bats flying overhead in their droves or whatever word is used for a collection of bats! It was then that I (thought I) had a eureka moment and realised that Batu must mean bat. However, thats not actually the case as I later found out that batu means stone or rock.

Our accommodation was right in the heart of Chinatown and in the evening we strolled among the many, many stalls selling all sorts of things whilst stopping at various roadside places to sample as much hawker food as we could get through.

Due to the dates we were in town we were unable to ascend the 451.9m Petronas Towers (its closed on Mondays!) which didn’t bother us too much as I’m not such a sucker for the views offered by these massive constructions anymore. The shopping centre within the towers was very impressive not that I wanted to stay there too long!

What I love about KL is the multicultural mix that it possesses including the aforementioned Chinese aspect as well as Indian stuff too. We explored the Little India area on our second day following the Lonely Planet walking tour to an extent which included mosques, street stalls and Colonial buildings.

My girlfriend had never tried a fish spa (below) so we did that in the evening which was great fun and the instant tickling sensation felt on dipping your feet in was far greater than what I remember from my first experience of it in Penang in 2010. It left us at times like a pair of giggling schoolgirls as the hundreds of fish nibbled away at our feet in what is supposed to provide some kind of positive health benefits!

Posted in Asia Travel | Tagged batu caves, chinatown, how to get to batu caves, kuala lumpur, little india walking tour, lonely planet walking tour, malaysia, Malaysia truly Asia, petronas twin towers | 8 Comments

TF Top 10……Filming Location Trips For 2013

Posted on December 30, 2013 by tokyofox

Having already covered most of the filming locations I ever wanted to do, its getting harder and harder to add to the pile, so this list is not ’13 Filming Location Trips For 2013′ but instead will be known as a TF Top…… list instead.

Thank god these end-of-year entries is titled ‘Filming Location Trips’ as that means I can include music video locations as well as film ones to bulk out the list a bit!! What chance it being just a TF Top……5 list next year!!

This years list may lack the oomph of past years but there were still a few notable nuggets covered in the last 12 months. Click on the links below to see more.

1. Skyfall (Click here)

2. Mission: Impossible III (Click here)

3. Empire Of The Sun (Click here)

4. The Toxic Avenger Part II (Click here)

5. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Click here)

6. Quantum Of Solace (Click here)

7. The Wolverine (Click here)

8. Lost In Translation (Click here)

9. Manic Street Preachers – Motorcycle Emptiness (Click here)

10. Muse – Panic Station (Click here)

Other 2013 locations for the films listed below can be found here

Moonraker; The Green Zone; Love Actually; Basic Instinct 2; The Bourne Ultimatum; The Tailor of Panama and Kaiser Chiefs ‘Man On Mars’.

Posted in Movie Locations | Tagged empire of the sun filming locations, Lost in translation filming locations, manic street preachers filming locations, quantum of solace filming locations, skyfall filming locations, Star Wars A New Hope filming locations, the wolverine filming locations, where was mission impossible 3 filmed?, where was panic station filmed? muse video locations tokyo, where was the toxic avenger filmed? | 4 Comments

TF Top 5……Mission: Impossible Filming Locations

Posted on December 26, 2013 by tokyofox

Fuelled by a memorable and ever-lasting theme tune the ‘Mission: Impossible‘ film series currently stands at four films starring Tom Cruise as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt. There is talk of a fifth movie scheduled for late 2015 but for now we will have to settle for what we’ve got from a series which is the 15th highest grossing film series of all time with over $2 billion worth of worldwide gross. The series has taken place around the globe in the likes of the USA, Australia, England, Czech Republic, UAE, Russia, Scotland, India, Hungary, Canada, China and Italy so here are the TF Top 5…… Mission Impossible locations. Warning! This piece may contain plot spoilers!

1. Xitang, Jiashan County, Zhejiang Province (China): ‘Mission: Impossible III‘ (2006) – Hunt and his team track down the mysterious rabbits foot to Shanghai and, though its not named, the place Hunt ends up in is Xitang. He finds villain Owen Davian here and basically accomplishes his mission. More details here

2. Bare Island, La Peruse, Bottany Bay, New South Wales (Austrlia): ‘Mission: Impossible II‘ (2000) – This island, south of Sydney, is villain Sean Ambrose’s hideout and one that provides one of the movies most iconic images as Hunt rides his motorcycle through balls of fire as he escapes from the fort. More details here

3. Charles Bridge, Prague (Czech Repblic): ‘Mission: Impossible‘ (1996) – The world heritage bridge, which connects the Old Town with Prague Castle, is where things really go wrong with controller Jim Phelps plunging into the Vltava having seemingly taken a bullet on the bridge. This famous bridge was also used in music video’s by Linkin Park (‘Numb‘) and Kanye West (‘Diamonds From Sierra Leone‘) as well as 2002 ‘XxX‘ where Vin Diesel comes up with an out-of-this-world stunt to save the bridge and the city of Prague from a deadly bomb. More details here

4. Anchor Tavern Pub, Southwark, London (UK): ‘Mission: Impossible‘ (1996) – This is the terrace pub on London’s South Bank where Hunt finally gets to take it easy for a few moments as the film comes to a conclusion. More details here

5. Caserta Palace, Caserta (Italy): ‘Mission: Impossible III‘ (2006) – This palace has featured prominently in movie history and in this film it doubles up as Vatican City which Ethan and the team infiltrate to capture antagonist Davian who is there to obtain the mysterious ‘Rabbit’s Foot’. More details here

Posted in Movie Locations | Tagged Bare Island, caserta palace, charles bridge mission impossible, how to get to xitang, Mission Impossible Filming Locations | 1 Comment

Turkish Delights In Tokyo

Posted on December 20, 2013 by tokyofox

At this time of year many people’s thoughts are on turkey but, ever wanting to be different, we here at the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre have turned our attention to the country of Turkey.

When I went to Istanbul in 2011 it was more of a layover for a few nights and kind of got forgotten as what preceded it in Jordan was so wonderful for me. However, Turkey was also amazing and it played host to a number of films last year too as was explored back in September when I wrote about how Istanbul has been portrayed On Screen.

There is a Turkish restaurant quite near to where I live (and just a stone’s throw fromTunisian restaurant L’Azure which was one of the first international restaurants I blogged about last year) called ‘Hisar’ which I went to with my friend Mostyn. The set we had is only available on holidays but thankfully thats the Japanese meaning of the word holiday so you can get it every weekend as well as the actual holidays. We shared the chicken shish kebab and doner kebab sets which also include salad, soup, rice/bread and Turkish chai tea at around 1000 yen a set.

Anyhow, this entry is not just about Turkish restaurants in Tokyo for there is also, and perhaps surprisingly, a Turkish mosque in the city. It’s called Tokyo Camii and is located close to Yoyogi Uehara station in Shibuya-ku. After lunch at Hisar one day I cycled on to find this mosque and was pleasantly surprised to see such architecture in this city. When I was in Istanbul I never actually went inside the Aya Sofya due to money problems (ultimately I chose to spend my money on entering the Topkapi museum) but Tokyo Camii is free and most welcoming

I started off upstairs in the Prayer Hall as accessed by steps from the street. It’s sad to say really but I think I’ve actually learned more about the Islam religion just from watching a couple of seasons of ‘Homeland‘ and it was interesting to see the kind of praying ritual, that I’d seen on screen, in reality during my visit to this mosque.

Upstairs was out of bounds for me as its the women’s gallery! A shame as I would’ve liked to have seen the view from up there. Instead I moved on downstairs to the first floor which has some exhibits, souvenirs, information books and an area where you can sit and enjoy some free Turkish tea. Usually I wouldn’t pass up on such an offer but as I’d had some with my pre-mosque meal I didn’t feel the need for more!

There was a Charity Bazaar event at this place last month on the 17th which I couldn’t attend as my services were being employed elsewhere. A shame as there was a wide and varied mix of international foods available (Malaysian, Indonesian, Pakistani, Chinese, Egyptian, Arabian and of course Turkish) as well as handicrafts, books, fashion, henna, calligraphy, Islam lectures and tours of the place. I told one of my Middle-East loving students about the event and he went in the morning and was most impressed by the event. I hope to attend next year.

Tokyo Camii is located at 1-19 Oyama-cho, Shibuya-ku and the nearest station is Yoyogi-Uehara on the Chiyoda and Odakyu lines. It is a five minute walk from there.

Posted in Food & Drink, Japan Life, Japan Travel | Tagged Hisar Turkish restaurant, tokyo camii, turkish culture tokyo, turkish mosque Tokyo, turkish restaurants tokyo, where is the mosque in tokyo? | 5 Comments

TF Top 5……Lame Christmas Activities For Kids

Posted on December 17, 2013 by tokyofox

It’s been a while since we wrote any English teaching ideas on here and with Christmas Day drawing ever closer the teachers among us are probably trying to think of a few festive games and activities to jazz up our lessons. If you’re in the mood for it all and have that Christmas feeling then these can be fun times but if you’re not into the spirit then it can all be a bit of a drag. Thankfully, help is at hand and here, in no particular order, is the Tokyo Fox Top 5……Lame Christmas Activities For Kids!

Disclaimer: This is just for fun and should not to be taken too seriously!

1. Christmas Words Pelmanism – This card game was made pretty much as a joke last year. The lameness of this activity was rammed up to the max and it went down a storm with the students, I sh*t you not! Basically, write some festive two-syllable words or two-word phrases on two bits of paper (i.e. Snow-Man, December-25th, Christmas-Tree, Santa-Claus, Rein-Deer etc etc). It might be a good idea to get the students to just match up the two sets first to get them accustomed to the words. Once that’s done and dusted you can play a game of pelmanism with each student continuing to turn over another set of cards when they have got a correct pair. I used green and red cards to get even more into the Christmas spirit.

2. Four-Letter Conundrum – Take the flashcard letters A, M, S, X and get the students to re-arrange them to make the festive word! This activity practices (or reinforces) phonics and you could even pad out the activity beforehand by firstly eliciting each letter and any words (festive or otherwise!) beginning with that letter. Of course, more letters could be jumbled up and rearranged to form longer Christmas-related words. Alphamats or magnetic letters can of course be used instead of flashcards.

3. Christmas Naughts & Crosses – Use the whiteboard and divide it into 9 squares with one lexical item (i.e. Angel, Star….) either written or drawn in each square. The students then throw a sticky ball at each square with the winner being the one who manages to get three-in-a-row.

4. Preposition Drawing – This can be done on the whiteboard or in the students’ notebooks (if you want the evidence to remain!) and first you get them to draw a Christmas tree. Then you shout out instructions like ‘the snowman is by/next to the tree’ or the ‘present is under the tree’ and let the students conjure up their own Christmas creations. Be aware that the likelihood of the kids drawing the present under the trunk of the tree is very high!

5. Stick The Eyes & Nose On The Snowman – A lame variation on the classic ‘pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey’ party game with the students being blindfolded (or just closing their eyes) and then having to place a couple of black circles (the eyes) and an orange carrot shaped nose in the correct place on the drawing of a snowman which can either be on the whiteboard or a self-created poster on the wall. Affix either magnets or sticky tape to the back and have fun! Be aware of short kids and the possibility of a ‘Dumb & Dumber‘ type moment where the attachments are fixed to resemble a part of the man’s anatomy!!

So there you have it! Just about any usual activity can be slightly adjusted to make it seem Christmas-y! I seem to recall doing the likes of ‘What time is it Santa?’ and ‘Is there a/an (object) in the stocking?’ years ago. If you’ve got a selection of Christmas flashcards, like below, then there’s a whole host of games available to you!

Posted in English Teaching | Tagged activities for christmas lessons, additional resources for english lessons, christmas lesson ideas, christmas lexical items, fun festive games, pelmanism, preposition drawing, variations on pin the tail on the donkey | 1 Comment

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