Tokyo Daytripper: Kamakura (2006)

Posted on November 13, 2006 by tokyofox

Never did I really think that I would go back to Kamakura so soon after my first visit in the summer of 2004 with my sisters. It’s not because I thought it was bad but just because I didn’t think I would feel like returning. However, when a friend asked me if I wanted to go with her I thought why not. Arriving in Kita Kamakura on Sunday luchtime we started at Engakuji Temple.

We didn’t want to get templed out (there are about 70 in total!) and we certainly didn’t do that as we only went to the aforementioned place as well as Kotoku-in Temple which is famous for its 13.35 metres tall Great Buddha.

Instead we spent most of the afternoon taking one of the hiking trails for an hour or so amid the greenery which lies between the two. We did stop en-route though at a cafe set in the woods where I fell sucker for some rather expensive Kamakura brewed beer. The marketing mans dream I certainly am! If I am being cynical it was probably just a cheap dark beer with a fancy Kamakura label on it!

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It was nice to have the mid-afternoon sun shining on us as we followed a trail which was occasionally steep before we encountered the crowds at our destination. Having visited the Great Buddha before (as well as other notable ones in Nara and Hong Kong) there wasn’t too much excitement when we got there, and like many many others I spent more time looking away from the bronze statue in the name of getting my photos taken in its foreground.

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Perth Re-union 5 Years On

Posted on November 11, 2006 by tokyofox

In November 2001 I was sound asleep in my dormitory bunk bed in Perth when I was awoken by the arrival of three noisy Japanese people. One disappeared without trace but I got chatting to the other two (Shinji and Hikaru) and we exchanged the usual travel questions before moving on to the more serious matter of rude words!! This was very amusing to us and so my first words in Japanese were bad ones and cannot obviously be mentioned here as swearing unnecessarily is a f*cking cheap way of getting a laugh!

To their credit they did teach me some more useful stuff such as greetings, numbers and the days of the week but needless to say they didn’t have as much of impact on me. I’d like to think that some of the moments we shared were part of the reason for me getting interested in Japan which in turn lead to me coming here.

Although I have seen them both individually recently this was the first time the three of us had been together since late 2001. We met up in Shinjuku last Sunday and went to a cheap Japanese restaurant for something to eat followed by a visit to British pub ‘The Hub’ and caught up with each other and inevitably reminisced about our short time together in room B10 at ‘The Globe’ in Perth.

After that myself and Shinji went for more food; this time I tried yet another ramen type place in the form of ‘Bankara’ in Ikebukuro where I had a pork and noodles dish.

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Toilet Day In Japan??

Posted on November 10, 2006 by tokyofox

Today is November 10th and unofficial toilet day in Japan which I think is an excrement occasion! To get to the bottom of the matter it’s because the numbers 11/10 (for Japanese use the American way of writing the date with the month coming first followed by the day) can be read in Japanese as ii to ire (いいといれ) which means good toilet (toire). If you think I am joking then I can ass-ure you that I am not taking the piss!

However, if you think this is just a cheap excuse for me to deposit some toilet humour then fear not as I will be plumbing to such depths and bowel-ing you over with the lowest form of sh*t, I mean wit! People of a sensitive nature had better not dare show their feces around here!

I’m getting all flushed just thinking of these wee-k gags but I’m not gonna get bogged down by them. I just had to get them out of my cistern and now I can put the lid on the matter!

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Tokyo Daytripper: Tobu World Square In Tochigi Prefecture

Posted on November 4, 2006 by tokyofox

The Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, The Statue of Liberty, The Pyramids, Angkor Wat, Taj Mahal, Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China as well as dozens of other archetectural structues. 102 of them in total and I managed to see them all yesterday but how did this happen I hear you ask! Well, that’s because my mate Gideon I went to Tobu World Square in Tochigi-ken which is a few hours north of Tokyo. All of these world wonders have been scaled down to 1/25 of their original size.

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I was really impressed with the attention to detail though I’m not sure if the snap-happy Japanese noticed so much of this in pursuit of getting their photos taken in front of the world famous monuments. This is the type of place they just love and in some ways is similar to Madame Tussauds in London. All completely fake but its as close as many will get to the real thing. Sad to say, but in some ways the birds-eye or panoramic views of these architectural works and ancient monuments will be sufficient for some.

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The European and Asian zones were the best for snapshots but I liked the Japan zone for detail (but not for photos) as it was more ‘model-railway-like’ than the rest. These many Japanese historical building structures showed the traditions and cultures of the country and how life is lived compared to the tourist traps featured in the other zones.

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I didn’t click here too much as I have been to or can go fairly easily to them given my location. The masterpiece though had to be New York City as this showed so much attention to detail with the little people (that’s the plastic figures and not the actual Americans!) living their normal lives and just going about normal business.

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The Changing Of Seasons

Posted on November 2, 2006 by tokyofox

Into November now and the temperature has definitely changed here over the last month or so with the hot humid summer weather being replaced by a fair few showery spells, a lot more cloud and the occasional outbreak of sunshine and high temperatures.

However, I still think its just about warm enough to wear short sleeves but I can’t help feeling (even) more isolated when most other people are donned in jackets and scarfs. The Japanese tend to change their wardrobe based on the calendar rather than the actual temperature.

I have heard that its their custom to make such a change at the start of September or October and this may also be due to there being less space in their rabbit-hutch like homes so a decision has to be made when to make the switch and I can’t blame them for wanting to get the most wear out of their new seasonal clothes.

I also find that the heating inside places is far too hot and similarly the aircon is too cold in the Summer. For me theres not too much difference in what I wear from season to season with a jacket or jumper being the only addition as the temperature drops and that moment may not be too far away now.

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Dining Out: Umemoto In Zoshigaya

Posted on October 31, 2006 by tokyofox

Yet another food story I’m afraid. Since I started jogging (over 3 months now and counting!) I have seen a lot more of my local area and on the days when I have ran in daylight I have often been past a tiny little ramen restaurant called ‘Umemoto’ which typically for Japan has a long line of waiting customers outside the entrance by the side of the road. Luckily when I went to this place last Sunday lunchtime there was hardly anyone there which was surprising given the time of day and the fact that it only holds about 15 people at one time.

Like a couple of days before the dish was ordered by machine (this kind of thing is one reason why very little communication is done at times in this country) and I then went in and sat down at a low table in a small room decorated with hundreds of customer photos and messages from Japanese celebrities who have eaten at this famous restaurant.

‘Umemoto’ is a place of character and I really liked the feel of it compared to the soulless chain restaurants and my negibuta (literally translates as long onions & pork) ramen dish was very tasty. I have been living in my current place for 18 months and this restaurant is only a two minute walk away so its a little sad that I had never been there (excuse: its on the side going away from the station so I rarely have reason to be walking that way) but I will make more of an effort to return there soon.

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Dining Out: A Sparrow In The Works!

Posted on October 29, 2006 by tokyofox

On Saturday night I went to an early 20th century Japanese themed izakaya here in Ikebukuro which was full of many cheap dishes including some more unusual ones such as frog which I sampled. No problem eating this and it just tasted like chicken but much more bland.

However before that we were a little surprised to see sparrow on the menu as we had no idea that they were even edible. In fact having seen the horrible looking thing on a plate I still think its not edible! If something is prepared so that I can eat it without any picking then I am happy but this looked impossible to eat as so much of it seemed hard and there were lots of thin bones in it too. In the end I just couldn’t bring myself to eat it.

This may be for one of two reasons. Firstly, maybe it’s to do with liking sparrows too much when I was younger.  It may take me a while to get to the point but bare with me for a moment. As bored children my friend Jamie and I started up a decathlon in my back garden which involved the first nine events including throwing a cricket wicket as javelin, using a broom handle to pole vault over an obstacle that was the same as the high jump and the hurdles.

However, we considered the final 1500 metres event to be too taxing so we changed that to sparrow shooting which for eight or nine year olds involved pointing a golf putter up into the skies at the sparrows and then providing our own gunfire noise. We sure knew how to have a good time didn’t we?!!

So surely this juvenile fun(?) with sparrows can be the only reason why I didn’t even dare to take a bite of the poor bird! Either that or I was just a big yellow belly!

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Beating The Queues

Posted on October 29, 2006 by tokyofox

I have talked before about how Japanese people are prepared to queue up outside restaurants for long times if it means getting good quality food. As one who has not much sense of taste when it comes to food I have always found this way of thinking as a little crazy, particularly in Tokyo where there is always gonna be another restaurant around the corner.

When I met up with my mate Shinji on Friday I felt like a change from the usual cheap and cr*ppy tabe-hodai (all-you-can-eat) places we go to. So instead we decided to go to ‘Tonchin‘ which is a ramen restaurant on one of the backstreets in Ikebukuro which always seems to have long queues of people waiting outside it. Luckily we went late afternoon so we were straight in and once we had worked out the ticket machine we were ready.

For me, ramen is still basically just a load of noodles in some soup with some other stuff dumped in there for good measure. I usually prefer my food to be a bit more solid looking rather than of the liquid variety. To be honest though it was nice and I am glad that I have now been to ‘Tonchin’ but I still don’t think its something I would wait in line for.

Also, these places can be a little intimidating as they’re not so foreigner-friendly in terms of English or pictures and one can feel under pressure when facing the ticket machine with a load of people waiting behind you while you try and work out the Japanese so I was thankful that I had a Japanese friend with me although it wasn’t straightforward for him either.

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Welcome To The (Concrete) Jungle!

Posted on October 22, 2006 by tokyofox

My Canadian friend Christine (who I have been mates with since our time working together at N*va a couple of years back) came back to Tokyo recently as she missed her Japanese boyfriend. Proof that it’s not just the guys who are fixated on the Japanese. I met up with her in Shinjuku yesterday for the first time in a few months and with nothing much to do we went to the Metropolitan Government offices which are two towering blocks on the west side in the skyscraper district.

For the very reasonable price of b*gger all, we went up to the 45th floors of each tower to see a view which is not beautiful but nonethesless makes interesting viewing as the concrete jungle stretches as far into the distance as the eye can see with very little in the way of greenery. A true urban city!

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O-eshiki Festival At Kishibijojin Temple

Posted on October 22, 2006 by tokyofox

Not really being doing much lately as been so busy with work and the cover shifts that have come my way. Thats why I have been resorting to writing about general observations rather than doings. Maybe also a sign that after two and a half years here that I have done all I can think to do and am now living life here as something other than just a tourist.

Running for three nights from Monday last week was the O-eshiki Festival in the Kishibojin Temple grounds located quite literally within spitting distance of my house so I thought I would put my head in to see what was happening. To the ignorant ‘gaijin‘ eye of myself this seemed just like any other festival celebration in terms of the food and game stalls and the precession of musical playing performers dressed in traditional festival wear whatever that may be. No doubt anyone who knows better than me would say different!

This has also been a very noisy time with the constant banging of drums (a drum which resembles a stick being belted as hard as possible against a one handed table tennis bat-type drum) and blowing of whistles and chanting during the evening as about 50 lit lanterns were paraded around the area.

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