orange you happy to see me!

Its the end of the semester so trying to juggle final presentations, assignments etc.
Here's some birthday flowers. Orange must be in season, got them separately.

Will post rest of overdue pics when I am done being studious.

Happy (belated) birthday to me

Yes, 27 and none the wiser...

and if anyone is actually ardently following my 'pic-a-day' update that is to happen every few days...
the reason it hasn't happened in the last few days is because... as small as my apartment is..
i cannot find the cable that will allow me to download the pics from my camera to my laptop.

there.

I'm not lazy, only messy.

But I do have nice snaps to share and talk about.  really, I do.

until then, then.

Fiji sighting!

This whole 'pic-a-day' thing is turning out to be brilliant idea.

I was early for my part-time teaching job today (Business English conversation to a bunch of people at a toilet manufacturing company).

To kill time/feed appetite and escape the cold I stopped by Starbucks for a drink. Usually I would not admit to using Starbucks, and probably only ever do once in 3 months or so. And in very desperate situations. This was one of them. It was very cold outside and I had a craving for a Matcha latte (green tea latte) which I love so much that it deserves its own post. So yeah, don't judge me.

Sitting upstairs, overlooking the street and sipping on the warm goodness, being thankful to be out of the cold for another 30 minutes or so... blankly staring out the window...and screeeeeech. *slams breaks on vision*
blinkblinkblink....try to try to focus on the familiar blue with an even more familiar four letter word...FIJI!!!!

Quickly reach into bag and jerk out camera and start snapping like a crazy person.

Tada!

OMFG....my first FIJI Water van sighting overseas!!! (its like being at the movies back home when you see the Fiji Water logo/bottle/van, but being IN the movie)

This one is slightly blurry but the slogan on the back was interesting:

Yes it really is from (either they ran out of paint, or we are supposed to read the FIJI on the side of the van, or its a new trend in advertising that I am too thick to get.)

either way, FIJI Water sighting woohoo!!

(also, I always wondered why despite being so famous they never have FIJI Water in vending machines here. I even emailed the company information section after my first year here inquiring as to why that was. They sent a lackluster reply with no additional information saying: We do supply FIJI Water to Japan. endofstory.)

Fight the fondling

I've seen this sign around town a few times, no not the 'ladies toilet' one... the little warning next to it which basically reads: 'beware of gropers'. Yes, gropers (or chikan as they are known here).

As safe as Japan is, this is one of those disturbing stories you hear of.
Its especially common in packed trains during the morning commute when some men try to cop a feel. I've heard stories from friends of friends, mainly Japanese women who have fallen victim to these a-holes on the train.

The worst part is that most Japanese women silently suffer through it, I assume thats why you don't usually hear of foreign women being groped, we'd turn around and kick balls while screaming commuters ears off. Although, because the train is packed in so tight, its usually hard to identify who the groper was, and that's how they get away with it.
A friend of mine, naturally disgusted by the story mentioned how perverted and sick one would have to be to consider sexually harassing people at 7 in the morning on the bleary-eyed, sleep deprived commute to work. Seriously. The only thing I can think of in the morning is either how I should be asleep or on a coffee drip (not to be confused with drip coffee).
So there you go, that's the 'beware of gropers' pic of the (yester)day.

And while on that issue, I have realised that although I am able to take a pic daily, it was a tad ambitious of me to think that I could upload/blog about it on a daily basis too.

So here's the new plan, I take a pic daily, but put it up when I can.

kthanksbye.

Sweeeeeeeing!

I love swings. (and you can keep the swinging jokes to yourself. thanks.)

I think it stems from reading 'The Swing in the Summerhouse' by Jane Langton as a child.
It tells the story of a gazebo-like summerhouse with a swing that allows you to transport into alternate worlds as you jump off of the swing mid-flight.
Each archway gives you a different adventure, and one is forbidden because of a risk of no return.

Luckily I never tried jumping off any swings that did more damage than a scraped knee. What can I say, I was a gullible child with a vivid imagination.

So yeah, still love swings, and I love Tokyo for allowing me to indulge in them.
Smack-bang in the middle of a concrete jungle and yet there's a park every few blocks with a few monkey-bars, a slide and swing set thrown in.

And I love how safe and quiet this city is, which allows me to go sit out in the park, on a swing, at odd hours of the night when I cant sleep.

This is not the closest swing to my house, its about 10minutes away on the bike.
The one closer to my place is nicer in the warm weather, and located on a hill so I can see over a bit of the city when I am in mid-air.

And yes, I'm a little less gullible now. Only a little.

bane of my existence

Why the photo of a remote control you ask?

Well, so that I don't forget this piece of gadgetry from my current flat.

So Japanese flats are small.
Small would be an understatement, Japanese flats are tiny. But I have grown to love mine.
I mean yeah, ok...I do bump my head on the tube-light in my loft now and then, and I have gotten used to showering standing sideways so I don't hit the wall and shower curtain with my elbows... but I try to laugh it all off and take these in as part of the overall 'cultural' experience.

This darling remote control of mine though, has...passed my threshold.
I live in the land of amazing, innovative, super duper new technology.
Where toilets clean, wash and air your nether regions, vending machines speak to you and robots serve you sushi.

And in the land of all this amazing gadgetry exists this remote control that operates the heater/air conditioner ...and its not even remote!

That wire you see protruding out the top, that attaches it to the main unit. Which means that I can't carry it off the wall. I repeat, the remote control isn't even remote!

Given that my apartment is small and walking two steps to turn on/off the heater shouldn't be something to bitch about. But its also a loft, and climbing down the ladder when its close to 2 degrees in the morning right now (or 40 in the summer) is a downright pain in the arse.

So yeah, thats my rant about my love/hate relationship with this piece of gadget. I am very grateful for the warmth/cool air that the device it is attached to provides me. But I do not appreciate having a not-so-remote remote control. sigh.

rant over.

Worlds apart across the street.

Ventured out today for a walk in the (cold) sunshine and to take in the quiet hustle of shrine-goers.
There was still a line outside the neighbourhood shrine, this time I climbed the steps and browsed the colourful stalls and even rubbed Buddha's belly (and feet and forehead because we weren't quite sure which was for what kind of luck)

And then braved the crowds back out.

Decided to drop in on the gods at the temple across the road. They're not as popular right now, the grounds were deserted.

Saw a lady walking past in a kimono with a few bunches of lit incense in her hand and followed her into...the cemetery.

Most cemeteries in Japan are located at Buddhist temples (as opposed to the Shinto Shrine across the road).

The cemetery somehow didn't feel eerie, perhaps because it looked different and I didn't grow up here. The pics aren't the best, but instead of my camera and shoddy photography skills, I'll blame the cold.

One tombstone even had an ashtray with a ciggy offering, instead of the usual incense. hehe. In retrospect I should have probably taken a pic of that too! (hey, its only my second day... i'm learning alright)

あけおめ!!1.1.11

Yay! here we go... another year to love, laugh and live...to make and break resolutions, and have a kick-arse time!

Speaking of resolutions, I have somewhat of a project planned that I will try to follow through...and that too on a daily basis. (no promises!)

Having acquired more of a resident status after living here for more than 2 years, I have become less of a tourist. Which is both good and bad, well more good than bad.
But the bad means that I have stopped taking photos. I still carry my camera along when there's a super special event, but i've stopped capturing everyday stuff, things around my neighbourhood, stuff I marvel at randomly around Tokyo.

Its been good in a way because I can admire things without looking at them through lenses, but now that I have all of 9 months left in this country, I've decided to start snapping again. It'll be nice to have some pics to browse through years down the line when the memories begin to fade.

So here I go... a photo-a-day.

Today's was a slightly lazy attempt, I was biking home after a NY's eve party, quite hungover.
Crossing the street would have taken too much effort.

This one is of the Torii (entrance gate) of a Shinto shrine called Anahachiman Jingu (Shrine) which is located right next to my university and 5 minutes from my flat.

akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! 

I pass it on a daily basis and drop by randomly. Once I followed music that was floating out from the temple grounds, and ended up witnessing my first Japanese Summer festival, with singing, dancing, food and stalls. It was quite a treat.

Today the crowds were going in for the traditional 'first visit to the shrine in the New Year' called Hatsumode.

Love, peace and happiness

Happy 2011!