My Blue Bicycle

Last night walking into Shinjuku I saw a cute little blue fold-up bicycle for 8,800 yen (about $90). I didn't buy it because well, there were penguins to see and the library to get to.

I was debating about it all night whether I should get it or not and today, this morning, I have decided to take another look.

Walking up to the store, I didn't see the bike in the same position near the front as it was last night. So, I thought sadly that it had been sold. Walking in I saw it and my spirits rose once more.

I wanted to make sure I REALLY wanted it, so I sat in the seat and rode it in the few metres I had in the hardware store. Other shoppers must have thought I was weird doing this. A few looked at the price tag and may have thought they would get it if I didn't. I'd lose sleep if I lost it to someone else.

I got the storeperson to show me how it folded up. It's not that hard, only a latch and a few screws to loosen. I think it could fit into a bag. It's light too. I reckon about 10kg or less.

We're going to go riding on Sunday. Put it through its paces.

Night Of The Christmas Suica Penguins

As usual I didn't feel like going out and surfed the net most of the day.

 Luckily gf had the day off, so later we went to eat quiche at Pauls, and then went to the Yotsuya Library. 

 I picked up John Mayer's "Continuum", an Eric Clapton and Billy Joel hits CDs, a Blue Note jazz compilation and er.. Black Eyed Peas "Monkey Business". I also got a Japanese Grammar book. I may even have a read of it sometime. 

 From there we walked into Shinjuku on the hunt for penguins, Suica Penguins that is. Gf wanted to show me a Penguin Christmas display outside the JR offices next to Krispy Kreme. Here they are..

  Here's a new Suica Penguin mobile billboard outside the South Entrance to Shinjuku Station.

  We proceeded from there to the yakiniku, korean BBQ for an "All You Can Eat". Normally it's listed as 2200 yen per person for 90 minutes but I had a 500 yen discount coupon that was due today. It was for the Yokohama one, but luckily they accepted it here in Shinjuku. 

 We ate SO much in that time and definitely got our money's worth. I was full, but not sick full like after eating at the pizza place. Not a wasted day after all.

I am Otaku

I didn't feel like going straight back home after work so first mission was the catchers. I was hoping to pick up some more chocolate. 

 All up I spent something like 2300 yen, but I THINK I at least covered my losses. 

  First I went for a BBQ twisties-like snack box called "スコーン". I think I spent a ridiculous amount for this, but I had to get that Goddamn box in the fricken chute. FARRRK!!!

  Anyway, after that I spied some Dead Or Alive Bikini girl mugs with um, breast "bumps". 

For anyone who doesn't know, the DOA characters are from a video game on Xbox featuring said bikini girls playing volleyball. 

 

Very juvenile, but I have no objections to playing this game. This is Jimmy who yes, once got Lara Croft, "Tomb Raider" on all fours in a suggestive pose. Maybe that is something I shouldn't write on a public post. Hmm. 

 Anywho.. it took about 600 yen to get that one. I cheated, and asked the arcade staff to make it a little easier though. 

 After that I saw some Rilakuma headphones with cute bear headpieces that I thought would be hilarious to wear on the train listening to my iPod. 

 Again, I spend too much on doing that so I quit, cut my losses, and got the hell outta there finally.

  I did a walk around Shibuya before heading home and eating some curry pasta. Yes, you heard that right. I don't think this has existed before this moment, so I have decided to call it "Jimko", named after us.

Kyoto II - The Sequel

Like most sequels, our second day in Kyoto was just not as good as the first. 

 We left a little earlier but we're still overwhelmed by the amount of places to see and the limited time that we had to see them. 

 Gf had a much better idea of where we should go. I did have a look at my Lonely Planet guide, but I wasn't sure which places were better than others. 

  SO.. First we went to Rokuon-ji Temple, otherwise known as Golden Pavilion for obvious reasons. 

 Today is the Labour Day holiday for the japanese, so it was incredibly crowded. 

 As you can see here, the maple leaves were as red as the ones in Higashiyama area. 

 Reaching this area is not very easy. It is really accessible only by bus. Being a busy day the buses were packed and moving so slowly that one could walk faster than this. 

 This made it worse, making us both feel lethargic and short-tempered.

  Next we went across to Ryoanji Temple to check out.. some rocks. Not wanting to take the unusual route, we took the usual one to the Rock Garden."The longer you gaze at it, the more varied your imagination becomes". At least that's what it says in the brochure. There are fifteen rocks in the garden. From every angle it's impossible to see all fifteen at once. Fascinating. 

 

To end off a hectic day we walked around Kyoto Station. 

 It's the 10th anniversary of it's existence. It's a very modern station, so it looks new to me. 

 After hours of getting all templed out, it's a nice break to see something different. 

  From the station we could see the Kyoto Tower, but we didn't go up there. From Kyoto Station's (free) Skywalk we had a great view of the large Kyoto area. 

What do you think this "ball" thing is? 

It's a Pachinko parlour! I just don't GET why japanese are so into this crap gambling habit.

Finally, we catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. 

 Shinkansen's are great. More space than I thought there'd be and super quick too. It's around about two hours to Tokyo. 

 I finally managed to take a pic as it was arriving into Kyoto Station. 

 As a final note, I just want to say a "Happy Birthday". 

 I don't want to make a big deal about it, but I just want to thank everyone for all the "Happy Birthdays" I got. 

 Just hearing it made me feel special for at least one day, even though I don't like the thought of getting older and feeling like I haven't accomplished anymore than the year before. That clock just keeps on ticking. 

 I am a little disappointed by some things that happened today. No matter what happened it was MY day, and I don't need anyone or anything to bring me down. OK?

Kyoto

I know I didn`t mention it before, but we are staying at the Luna Studio Hotel near Sanjo-Keihan Station in Kyoto.

I don't know what it is, but like in Hiroshima, there was a girl obviously enjoying a tryst in the neighbouring room.

We were supposed to get up to have breakfast at 730am, but I think it was closer to 8am before we were down in the lobby to have our free feed. We put a few extra rolls in our bag to eat during the day.

Luckily, I thought to bring an umbrella here as it was raining a little today.

First we went to Tofukuji Temple, in the east side of Kyoto, and checked out some amazingly beautiful autumn maple leaves. Pictures don`t do the colours justice. The leaves distracts you from bothering to look at the temples themselves.


DJ "Scratching" on the spinning thingies at Tofuku-ji. Hit my head on the corner there. Oops.


It was probably about a 20 minutes walk from Tofuku-ji to Fushimi Inari. Along the way I heard a small truck playing some music. You can see me here bopping my head to the music while eating.





The main attraction here at Fushimi Inari are endless lines of orange torii going around the mountain. We didn`t do the full circuit as this would have taken more time than it is worth. Is there such a thing as too MANY torii? Yes, I think there is.


This is my "running through the Torii" video moment. Note the touches on the last few ones, and a final Rocky victory pose. HAHA.

We also went through Gion, an entertainment area where it`s possible to spot geisha.

Apart from a single geisha, the only ones I think we saw were girls who got made up in costume, as they didn`t quite fit the image of japanese beauty, unless of course "sumo geisha are the "in" thing these days.

It's quite disappointing that they allow this. The last thing I want to do is take a picture of a "tourist" in make-up.

Our final stop for the day was Kiyomizu-dera Temple. This is a very picturesque elevated area. Here, we waited until dark to see the area lit up for a different perspective.

Losing My Shinkansen Virginity

Tonight we left on the Shinkansen, the bullet train to Kyoto. 

 I didn`t get a chance to take a picture of the front so this is just a poster of what it looks like. Sorry. 

  We didn't get a chance to have dinner before leaving home, so she bought a bento, and I got pork sandwiches (550 yen) to eat on the train. 

 A little bit expensive for one sandwich cut into three pieces but it was pretty tasty.

The train was super quick. 

 From Toyko to Kyoto only took about two hours to get there. This is us waiting to board the train at Tokyo Station. See how excited I am? This is my first Shinkansen trip, and the second trip outside of the Kanagawa and Tokyo areas. Kyoto should be really something!

This Is Nuts

Ok, hard to believe, but we passed the five month mark of this relationship. While I can't say it's always been roses, it's been as good as I could hope for. 

 After work I did the usual walk around Yokohama station. To me, Yokohama is a more attractive city than Tokyo. 

It has it's charm. I can't work out why Tokyo appeals. Aesthetically it ain't pretty, but it has.. something. Maybe because it just IS Tokyo. I went to the catchers again near Tokyu Hands department store. No matter how much I try, I just can't ween myself off these things. 

 I saw the Ghana/Crunky combo sitting tantalisingly over the edge that I HAD to have a go. Ok, I really went there to get that damn chocolate. I bought a small Crunky slab the other day for 98 yen at the supermarket and it feels too small now that I had been spoilt by an almost endless supply of chocolate. 

So in two goes, that's 200 yen folks, I made that bitch mine. 

 After that I went to the Vivre store. First I went to the Sofmap store to play with the micro PCs I have had my eye on. I managed to get one of them connected to the Apple Section wi-fi. Apart from the text being super tiny, it works great. Everything including Youtube worked like a charm. I can see myself getting one of these babies real soon. 

 Next, it was on to the musical instrument store. I had a play with the Roland electric kits. I am a pretty ordinary drummer but I had a bit of fun rockin' out while the staff were looking on a short distance away. That secondhand kit is still tempting me too. 

  I saw this poster on the wall at Yokohama Station. I think it's pretty funny. It says "Which is more impolite?" in Japanese. I see myself as the monkey with the headphones. You HAVE to be wired for sound to avoid going insane on these long monotonous train trips.

  

  Finally, I made my way back to the station to get back home to Tokyo. Passing through Shibuya I couldn't help but notice this advertising. Apparently this is some teenage girl's magazine called "Nuts". Too true.

The Scritti Politti and Robert Plant CDs are pretty good. Wham! is well Wham!, so there really isn't any more to say about that band.

At home I had a very nice dinner and a yummy chocolate dedicated to the five monthivesary relationship. On the cake here are five candles. Tricky camera angle.