Watch Back Remover

On Saturday night after coming back from drinking I had a eureka moment to use scissors to open the back of my Trapezoid watch to change a battery.

I saw a video that showed the same idea that I had, so I thought then and there to give it a try. I managed to cause a few tiny scratches on it so I gave it up feeling defeated (and drunk tired).

I went into Akihabara today to buy a tool specifically for this purpose. It's three points fit into the notches giving it enough traction to screw open the back.

I found one place on the Internet that was a little over a thousand yen. We looked around if I could find it cheaper, but of that type it was the cheapest.

Along the way I bought a pink multi-card reader, and batteries for the watch. I didn't bring my camera for maid photos although it was the perfect sunny day for it.

Arriving back I wasted no time putting it all together. The back was screwed in VERY tight. There's no way I could have done it with scissors (or say, needle nose pliers). If you do this, get this tool. It will save you a LOT of heartache, and scratches. Trust me.

I like the old proverb, "If you get given a fish you eat for a day. If you learn to catch fish, you eat for your whole life".

Yoyogi Park Hanami

With some good friends I was goin' to hanami like it's 1999!

The cherry blossoms were dropping their petals like snow.

There were quite a lot of people eating and drinking, and playing badminton!



The weather is finally warming up, so I'm looking forward to more park drinking. Let's drinking!

Chidorigafuchi Cherry Blossoms

We'd been coming here every year to see the cherry blossoms but this year it feels kind of sad that they decided not to set up the floodlights.

Another kick in the face was the remark from Tokyo's governor, Ishihara stating that we shouldn't celebrate cherry blossom parties in respect for the victims of the earthquake.

I think if anything the people here in Tokyo need this more than ever. The cherry blossoms give us a bit of solace, and being able to forget about the troubles (and aftershocks) is really necessary.

Cheers.

New York 2011 Day 4

Last day and the final time we'd get to eat this..

..and see this. *sniff*

My main regret is I didn't buy any to take back to Japan. Today was the last day in NYC, so we didn't have much left to do. I wanted to buy some guitar accesories that are cheaper than Japan and Australia from Guitar Center in Union Square. She bought some red shoes.

From there we made our way to the Central Park area. I wanted to go to the Apple Store, check out FAO Schwartz, and walk around Central Park.

The iPad 2 was out but I didn't feel compelled to have one. Biggest feature seems to be the camera that should have been on there from day one.

At FAO Schwartz they had the piano from the movie "Big" on display.

Being the final day, the weather was just about as perfect as it was going to get. The sun was out and the chill was almost gone. Just my luck. We walked around Central Park.

I was secretly hoping to see my squirrel friend and here he is to say goodbye!

New York 2011 Day 3

Even since the last Cheese Day, I've been on the lookout for the best cheese I tasted that day, Tete De Moine.

As just about any food imported into Japan costs a lot, this cheese will set you back about 7,000 yen! In Australia it's pretty expensive but here in America it's still expensive, but a more digestible US$40 for almost a kilogram.

Luckily the cheapest place I could find it was conveniently located only about two blocks from the hotel at Ideal Cheese. Sampleman was happy and there is a nice aroma of fresh cheese. The guys were kind enough to let me take some photos too.

It was fortunate that we bought it today. As a last minute check I found out they'd not be open on a Sunday. Taking cheese back into Japan seems like it's ok.

Before we got the cheese, I thought it'd be a good idea to stock up on things that I can't get so easily back in Japan. Namely good anti-perspirant deodorants! I had a wonderful, long time in Bed, Bath and Beyond merrily throwing things in my shopping basket. Colgate toothpaste, sunscreen, Mr Bubble bubble bath and two Arrid XX Cool Shower deodorants. I picked up a cheap Moka Pot and a stainless steel thermos as well for good measure. I didn't really account for the sales tax, but it was worth it.

After wasting too much time doing all this we walked into midtown Manhattan's Rockfeller Center area.

Moving right along we made our way towards SoHo and decided to have lunch at Katz Delicatessen, most famous for the classic Meg Ryan "orgasm" scene in "When Harry Met Sally".

We had to wait in a line outside and inside the place was totally packed as well. As you can see from the sign, we were sitting very close to where the scene was shot.

We had one of their famous pastrami sandwiches. I'm pretty sure it's what Meg had :) It was amazing.

Feeling well fed we walked nearby to the Bowery area. I wanted to see the legendary CBGB, or at least where it once was.

Now the place is John Varvatos, an expensive rock'n'roll boutique selling overpriced wares to wannabe rockstars. Sure, it's slightly better than being turned into a bank, but this place smells like Ed Hardy consumerism. The punks must not be too pleased.

It's nice that they left a lot of the graffiti memorabilia on the walls and vents.

For the money I shouldn't have, but I ended up buying a pair of limited edition green Connies from there. They cost a bit more than they'd cost in Japan, but here in America I could've bought something similar for a whole lot less. Still about the same as in Australia, so not all bad.

She bought an "All My Friends Are Dead" book at the New Museum on Bowery. Her birthday was the next day so I got her a Marimekko bag from Crate & Barrel in Soho.

New York 2011 Day 2

We packed so much into our first day the remaining days were quite lax in comparison.

The weather was much colder than last time, and definitely colder than Tokyo, constantly around the zero mark and even dropping below that. It didn't really make us want to do a whole lot.

After scoffing our morning Ess-A-Bagel, we decided to go downtown to the Ground Zero again. There's been a lot of progress and the site seems to really be taking shape. The towers are quite recognisable, as are the footprints of the former twin towers.
Inspired by the movie, "Working Girl", and the tightness of my wallet we caught the free Staten Island ferry to take a few photo ops of the Statue Of Liberty. I REALLY wanted to go up to the crown of Ms Liberty, but tickets to climb weren't available until May so the cheapest way to get a close enough view was to catch this ferry.
It was much better than I expected for the (zero) price. You don't have a lengthy security line, and the queue itself passed through very quick. It was going to just be an up and back trip. There doesn't seem to be too many people hanging around to look around Staten Island.
While waiting to catch the ferry back we heard the cool sounds of Heth and Jed. I liked how they fed their sound in a looper to provide a bit of a beat, and echoed sounds. Quite trippy.

Around Wall St I noticed a lot of fire escapes. I took a few pictures of them. Why? I don't know. It kind of reminded me of West Side Story.

Next stop was Little Italy. It's our first time here. It felt pretty much like a tourist trap, but we couldn't leave without having the delectable cannoli, and by night we had a pizza at Da Nico. Even with tax and service, it was much cheaper than pizza in Tokyo, and definitely closer to the real thing from Italy than Japan's version of what it should be.

New York 2011 Day 1

Before the earthquake happened I had planned to go overseas using my "use or lose" leave days.

Out of all the places I'd thought of, America seemed to have the best fares. It was between San Francisco or New York. We probably SHOULD have went to San Francisco, but there were places, and things to do that we missed last time that it was a good enough excuse to go again.

I was in New York between the 24th and 27th of March. I intended to go the week earlier and changed because of what was supposed to be the last week of the kid's classes, but now in hindsight of all the disruptions caused by "311", I'm really glad we went when we did.

Our flight was to leave Haneda airport at 6:40 am, so we decided to get there the night before and "sleep" at the airport. There were less train services going towards the airport. The Chuo line even completely lost power for the longest few minutes. We were extremely lucky to make the last service going to the airport for the night.

It's fantastic that they are doing international flights to and from Haneda now. It's far preferable than taking the long trip out to Narita. The airport is nice. While we didn't get much sleep, there are plenty of places to crash for a snooze. There is also free wifi internet available.

Leaving when we did allowed us a full day arriving in NYC at 6:15 am.

We booked into the Pod Hotel in Manhattan again. For a nice clean place with the privacy of your own room, the price is great. I thought all the rooms were the same tiny size, but this one actually had a bit more walking space around the beds. Nice.

I'm almost embarrassed to say this, but one big reason of coming back to New York was the chance to get some more Ess-A-Bagel goodness. As soon as we offloaded our baggage, we made a bee-line to get some. I once said that there was a bagel shop in Tokyo that was close to these ones, but having these again, I have to say these can't be beat.

Suffice to say, every morning we'd be having bagels for breakfast. If I stayed in America too long, I'd be filling out my bones in no time.

Although we could see the Chrysler Building from a distance near our hotel, last time we didn't go up and take a closer look. Strangely we totally forgot to check out Grand Central Station too.
I'm a fan of the original Ghostbusters movie so the New York Public Library was on my "to see" list. None of the rooms looked like the haunted rooms of the opening scene (believe me I searched), but it was a bit of deja vu to see an exhibition called, "Radioactive". That hit a little close to home.

From here we made our way to Times Square. Nearby there were fliers informing of closed streets for a film shoot. Interesting!

An unusual building not too far away from here is the Flatiron Building. From seeing it in pictures I imagined it to be a longer building. Across the road we had some cannoli from Eataly. Mmm.

A cat was behind a restaurant window that although looking nothing like Nikon (the cat, not the camera), reminded us of our little camera-shy buddy in Tokyo. At first I thought this one wasn't real. She didn't move all that much. This one didn't care much for the camera either. Bah, cats pfft!

One very interesting urban renewal project in the meatpacking district around Chelsea is the High Line, an above ground disused railway track turned into a kind of park walkway. It's not totally finished yet, but it gives an unusual perspective of NYC elevated from street level.

Nearby there are quite a few boutiques taking advantage of this location. Another surprise here was Chelsea Market, a former biscuit factory turned into food shops and restaurants. Looks great.

We were both disappointed that last time we missed out to see the broadway musical "Wicked". So to end our first day we decided to try our luck hopefully scoring a set of tickets.

Being a weekday we thought we might have a chance. Close to showtime hordes of people poured into the foyer in large groups. I thought we'd have no chance at all BUT.. we got in!

Our seats were fairly close to the stage.

What did I think of the show? The story, acting and sets were great. I was a little disappointed with the songs. There was nothing particularly memorable. These weren't songs you'd be whistling on the way home.

Still, I was totally wrapped that we got to see it and it was a great way to end our first day back in NYC!