Dining Out: Making The Toast Of Our Time!

Posted on March 19, 2006 by tokyofox

Met up in Shibuya today with a Japanese guy who I roomed with in Perth on my travels ‘down under’ many years ago. We went to a restaurant called “Who’s Foods” where we had something called ‘honey toast’ which is a big toasted loaf (cut up a bit and then put together again) with honey, ice cream and other toppings poured over it.

Only 720 yen (about £3.50) between us and too big and sickening for us to finish but very nice when we originally tucked into it. Its probably the first time ever that I haven’t been able to finish something here as the portions are usually too small where every other food item is concerned.

Posted in Food & Drink | Tagged , | 1 Comment

March 14th Is White Day In Japan

Posted on March 14, 2006 by tokyofox

Today in Japan is ‘White Day’ which is not a celebration of myself (my family name is White!) but is in fact a pure marketing day. Unlike Valentines Day in the west where both sexes give and receive, in Japan only the women give to the men but not because they fancy them or anything. Instead there is a something called ‘giri choco‘ meaning obligation chocolates which they give all the men in their office. No cards, flowers, underwear, romantic trips or gifts and not even the slightest whiff of any meaning!! Obviously there’s not too much meaning anywhere these days in terms of St Valentine and all that. It’s all a far cry from a few years ago when I couldn’t even open my door on Valentines Day…………………..because I’d forgot my key!!

Anyway, back to White Day. This day is for the men to return the favour and give chocolates to the ladies in their life including the obligation ones. An idea thought up by the chocolate manufacturers somewhere back in history!

I received five chocolate boxes last month on Valentines Day from students (mostly kids) and despite them being ‘giri‘ it made me happy but I wasn’t so happy recently when I remembered that it was appropriate to buy them something back. I didn’t think this would be too exciting but I was overjoyed to see how excited some of them got over such a meaningless and inexpensive gift purchased from the nearest convenience store only an hour or two earlier!!

Posted in Japan Life | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Another Day On The Piste!

Posted on March 14, 2006 by tokyofox

Got back late Sunday night from another 24 hour round trip to Hakuba in Nagano (more than a few hours north of Tokyo for those not in the know) where I went snowboarding. Leaving Shinjuku at 11pm on Saturday night our bus arrived in Hakuba at 5.30 am and once we had waited to get kitted up and got out on to the slopes it was 7:30 am and bloody raining too. Unlike previous times the snow wasn’t so powdery and pure on the main slope so it was lucky myself and Ai had greatly improved and didn’t take too many tumbles.

In fact it would have been impossible for Ai to fall over during the initial hour as she put her board down and then watched it slide down the slope in horror so I had to go and search for it and luckily found it straight away. The snow was far better on the more advanced slopes so we went there and enjoyed going a little off the beaten track which felt so much better than boarding over the well worn parts.

It was impossible to wear goggles as the vision just got impaired within seconds and by the end of the afternoon as the snow and wind increased I was practically snowboarding with my eyes closed at times and that is no lie.

After nearly 8 hours of boarding I then got naked with loads of Japanese blokes! No, this wasn’t the annual Nagano gaylord festival but an ‘onsen‘ which is the traditional Japanese custom of bathing in the nude with a load of strangers. Given the fact that a lot of Japanese people are very shy this may seem like an unprobable custom but far from it as I’ve never met a Japanese person who doesn’t like going to these hot springs. Many even go to such places with their family which I can’t ever imagine happening elsewhere in the world. The Japanese mainly take onset’s to sooth and relax their bodies and minds which is fair enough but I tend to get bored of ‘burning’ my body in such hot temperatures after a few minutes. Having said that it did feel good after a tiring day on the piste but unfortunately time was running out for me so I was in and out within about four minutes!

Posted in Action & Adventure | Tagged , | 1 Comment

No Longer The Pod One Out!

Posted on March 11, 2006 by tokyofox

They are only a few inches long yet give pleasure to so many. No I am not talking about the male anatomy!! In fact I am referring to iPods as I have finally jumped on this bandwagon by buying the iPod nano 1GB yesterday.

I was going to buy the big 60GB iPod a couple of months ago but instead bought a laptop as I found out that you have to use the same computer for all iPod updates. There was me thinking I could just go round peoples houses storing their best tunes on to my iPod!

However, once I got the computer and set up iTunes I discovered that I didn’t have time to listen to everything including all the new tracks and podcasts that I downloaded. The inevitable outcome was to join the Tokyo masses and get an iPod.

I don’t usually listen to anything while commuting to work but on the longer day trips I get a little embarrassed to be seen using a walkman or discman which are so last century!!

The downside of these things is the anti-socialness of them and switching off a very important sense. At times it does seem to me like some people, and not just the Japanese, wake up and put in their earphones and don’t take them out till bedtime thereby going the whole day without any social interaction which I find a little sad. Will have to see if I become one of them over the coming weeks!

I think its nice for people to escape from life for a bit, particularly in such an overcrowded city like Tokyo, but there is a time and a place for this surely. I saw a foreigner walking around the Tokyo National Musem recently with his music on which was a first for me! It did seem strange to me but given that you don’t converse in museums and that they are usually quiet then maybe its not such a bad idea after all! Overall, it seems very rude though and I hope I don’t become one of those who keeps their earplugs in when they are buying something from a convenience store for example.

Another less serious problem could be listening to some of these podcasts in public and trying to control my laughter so as to not draw more attention. I think us foreigners get enough of that without making it any worse!

Posted in Action & Adventure | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Big Brother Is Watching You!

Posted on March 9, 2006 by tokyofox

I had my contract observation this afternoon which on the whole went quite well and was a fun lesson. I was a little apprehensive beforehand but, to use a cliche, all nerves went out the window once i started. Maybe I had reason to be nervous as my observer was in a mood of disappointment following his teams Champions League exit in the morning.

This was my first adult observation since the start of May. In my last job we used to get observed more frequently and could also be seen and heard in all lessons by other teachers and the trainers. This could make you feel slightly uncomfortable at times but provided great amusement at others in terms of banter with the other teachers.

These days I teach in more usual classroom surroundings which makes for a relaxed environment for both teacher and student. However, when you have your boss in the room with you making notes on your performance its hard to do what you normally do without trying to think of what you’re supposed to do as laid out in the teaching manual or in initial training etc

My company basically only employs people with some kind of teaching qualification and we are very much left to our own devices. Working in a mostly enjoyable and relaxed environment and living comfortably in Tokyo has made up my mind to extend my contract beyond the end of April unless my boss thought different to me earlier today and decides I have no future here!!

Posted in English Teaching | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Sad Sayonara

Posted on March 7, 2006 by tokyofox

In my last job who-taught-who was just sorted in a random way but in my present job I teach the same students at the same time each week. This can lead to good relationships being built up. It was therefore a sad occasion yesterday for me as one of my kids had her last lesson. Despite the communication problem you would expect between a 12 year old and myself we managed to strike up a good rapport. When she gave me a farewell card I wasn’t expecting it to say too much as kids tend to mostly just learn ‘parrot fashion’ without knowing what they’re always saying.

However, on reading it I was overcome with emotion and came close to shedding a tear but thankfully I regained my composure. Of course I have seen hundreds of students come in and out of my life while I have been in Japan but most of them happen without realisation but this girls words (though in broken English) affected me more than any other students words ever have.

untitled  untitled
Posted in English Teaching | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Tokyo Daytripper: Plum Blossom Viewing In Kairakuen

Posted on March 6, 2006 by tokyofox

Of Japan’s three most celebrated landscape gardens, Kairakuen in Mito are the closest ones and they are located about two hours north of Tokyo. The other two are Kenroku-en in Kanazawa prefecture and Korakuen in Okayama prefecture. These ones in Ibaraki are famed for their ume (plum blossom) and yesterday I went there with a mate to see something which is a part of Japanese culture.

untitled  untitled  Mito Kairakuen Park 2006 - 0096  Mito Kairakuen Park 2006 - 0118

Overall, it was a beautiful day but the gardens weren’t fully in bloom and we only saw a few plum blossom trees. Anyway, this very un-rock & roll story pales into insignificance as the highlight was seeing lots of cute Japanese girlies clad in more traditional dress.

Plum blossom is basically a different shade of pink to the more famous cherry blossoms which are on another level altogether due to the many parties that go with them. Every year in early to mid-April thousands and thousands of people eat and get merry under the cherry blossom trees.

Posted in Japan Travel, Tokyo Daytripper: | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

No Distance To Far!

Posted on February 28, 2006 by tokyofox

Throughout my life I’ve never had to regularly travel to school or work for more than about 30 minutes from A to B. I felt that that used to be a lot at times and I still do but thats nothing compared to the Japanese. Commuting to work for over an hour is fairly standard here it seems. They tend to use each journey as personal time for reading, studying or more commonly just sleeping. One of my Japanese friends travels two hours to work everyday so that takes up four hours in a day on top of the average 10-12 hour working day so very little time for anything else from his day.

However, that pales into insignificance compared to what I read a few months ago about one man who travels for three hours one-way everyday. Why anyone would want to do this, I don’t know but given the cost of rail travel in Japan it is more practical than the more expensive British Rail prices.

Posted in Japan Life | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Ready, Steady, Cook!

Posted on February 27, 2006 by tokyofox

Since the launch of this site I have had tonnes of feedback (well, about 5 half-arsed comments!) and it seems opinion is divided. On the one hand there are those who think my site is a little dull and on the other are those who think it’s very boring!!

Some Dick (Richard Thompson to be precise) even dared to suggest that I would get bored of this blogging lark and that I would be writing stuff like “……….bought an egg sandwich today, it was nice!!”  Wrong on two accounts mate. Firstly, I would never buy an egg sandwich! Secondly, Tokyo is a city that is so so different to any place I have ever been and there is so much stuff to reveal. I have been here for nearly two years now so I just need to think back to what was different back then but I now have got (more-or-less) accustomed to. The only problem of course may be whether I can be bothered to log my thoughts here.

Anyway, yesterday I had a unique experience. When most Westerner people think of Japan they think of samarai, sumo, sake and of course sushi which is what I made yesterday. Other than scrambled egg on toast and a pot noodle (called cup noodle here) I have never used a kitchen in such a way. During my first year in Japan I didn’t even go to a sushi restaurant but this time I got hooked and I now really like ‘kaiten-zushi’ (conveyor-belt sushi bars). Basically all I had to do was take a thin sheet of dried ‘nori’ (a type of seaweed) and spread some vinegared rice over it before putting some raw seafood in the middle and then roll it using a special rolling utensil as shown in the pictures.

Posted in Food & Drink | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

May The Forks Be With You!

Posted on February 26, 2006 by tokyofox

Overall I have been living in Japan for nearly 2 years now. Before I came out to Japan I had only ever used chopsticks once and that was at my job interview where I was given a free bento box (Japanese style lunchbox usually containing rice, fish, vegetables and meat). I was fairly hopeless at using them at first but within a short amount of time I mastered it and by the time I had to use them for the first time here it wasn’t really a problem.

It is therefore still a little incredible to be constantly asked by Japanese people (when we go out for food and drinks) whether I can use chopsticks. It seems that many Japanese (and in particular those who have never been abroad) assume that us ‘gaijin‘ (foreigners) stick exclusively to western food and eat it with a knife and fork.

Given the number of Japanese people to be found in Italian, Korean, Chinese, Indian, French and Spanish restaurants in Tokyo I really don’t understand they’re coming from in terms of why they think we would eat only traditional western food rather than food which is popular the world over. Anyway, thats enough of this rant as I’m off to get some fish and chips at the local British bar!!!

Posted in Food & Drink | Tagged , , | 1 Comment