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Just a sample of billboard ads in town since I cannot buy any posters at all. I suppose posters are too simple when you can have origami or design robots and anime characters with paperpipes. In any case, I finally managed to watch a live tv show on a random TBS show yesterday, as the cast of upcoming movie 'Rookies' were doing ther promotion campaign. Among screaming fans including boys, I managed to catch a few words, here and there. The cast have been on every tbs show since last week, but I cannot remember their full name still (shirota, yutaro, ryusuke, etc...).
Tomorrow, I will try to catch sight of the Kimutaku drama.
Today, I am loosing money in Shibuya since the weather is crap. I raided ichimarukyu (109 shibuya) for a belt too small for me (it will fit in august), and arings that will shine so brightly it will eclipse my whole face...hmmm
Then in Harajuku I walked along Takeshita street, tossing and twirling among young fashionistas, boyz and girls, amazed at the variety of things to buy. Walking to Shibuya, I came across the Forever21 shop, outside of which a huge line of people were waiting to enter. Next dorr, H&M had barely a line. Walking further I ended up and Meiji- jingumae station, next to a stadium where Koda Kumi would perform later on. In all that I had no odea where I was going but just followed the hordes of shoppers and event goers.
Eventually, along the yamanote line, I passed by TowerRecords, and found myself at the hachico crossing...a very nice walk to digest the nabe eaten at M. House....yummy.

Suntory hall and the Japan Philharmonic orchestra

I was looking for Chiaki sempai :) But as I was seated in the choir, behind the cellos section, I could enjoy the view of the public and the orchestra.
I discovered instruments like timpan and how he plays, and things like the wind machine, which is fabric around a cylindre that the player turns fast to make high pitch wind, and as it slows down, it is sounding like a gust of wind. They also used cow bells in the strauss piece.
It was a piece with diverse sounds and atmosphere. The orchestra had some glitches though and sometimes not synchronized, but it seemed to be a difficult piece with various entrypoints.
Lastly, my neighbour was a man dressed in kimono and wearing geta, the wooden shoes. He was very elegant, and had many secret pockets in his sleeves. Shame I didnt take pictures.

Mamonaku, mamonaku,Akihabara desu

So says the announcemer inher sweet lady voice as the train pulls on Akihabara. the electric town is clearly indicated and despite the torrential rain making my white dress transparent, I braved the elements to experience the madness. All sorts of things in the area, anything remotely related to electric gadgets, and adult anime videos, toys, maid cafes.
I browsed the shops but had nothing in mind in particular, so the noise of anime music and ab48 voices became really annoying after 3hours...
I got back to the hotel to nap...will continue napping more as my holiday ends soon. Matter of fact, my railpass expires today so I will have to travel like locals from now on, paying for each trip on the train.

Ginza for window shopping only

Walking down from Chuo-dori from Kanda station, I passed by Mitsukoshi, then Nihombashi, then flashy Ginza. At one crossroad were flagship stores for Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Channel and Gucci, holding territory on each corner.
In the eveving, hordes of slightly drunk workers invaded the streets, bar-hopping or going home.
I had another monja dinner but shared among CSers. One like the one on monday (fish egg, cheese and mochi), then seafood and mushrooms, and finally pork and curry. It is something like okonomiyaki but with no egg.

Happy birthday dear Daddy

I will eat thinking of you.

Rootops

I probably won't have time to get back to Shinjuku and see the Marui Honkan rooftop, so the Mitsukoshi 8th floor rooftop will do.
The inside is pretty much any department store, with all sorts of luxury goods. There is even a luxury hawaian goods section, smelling of pina colada sunscreen and monoi.
Up here in the not so blazing afternoon sun, it's tea time and bonsai garden viewing. Down there it's rushing salarymen and traffic, up here it's windy and buzzing with birds. I spent 10min watching a toddler walking up and down a ramp a countless times, under the amused eyes of her granparents. Eventually the got tired of watching out for her fall, so dragged her away to the garden shop (full of pet clothes).

Studio Ghibli

I could look for the other anime studio making dragonball for example, but studio Ghibli is a well known landmark in itself.
I had to come to the town of Mitaka 3 times to be able to visit the place. Once the museum was closed for renovation, the second time I had not bought the ticket from Lawsons.
It was really cute, with explanations on how an anime is made, from the storyboard, drawings, coloring, animating and sound. No photos allowed inside though but loads of materials to feast your eyes on.
Finally, the museum is in a superb park, next to a school so there are a lot of fresh feeling to it.

Kamakura

One hour from Shinjuku, and after missing the first train, I got to the hilly town of Kamakura, famous for its daibutsu, at lunchtime. So my first mission was to feed my stomach before searching for a great Buddha.
I found an off the shopping street small restaurant, witout any foreigner, and had my first meal on a tatami. I sat properly for 6min, waiting for the food, but could not feel my feet after that and sat crosslegged instead, the way men do.
I had a donbouri again, since i needed rice and was in a hurry, and that is the easiest to eat with chopsticks.
After lunch, and after recovering some feelings in my right leg, I found the great Buddha about 2km later. Thankfully, the town has lots of forests and hills and a nice breeze was cooling me off.
Each pitstop being used to rest and use the toilet, it was time to look for the sea nearby. I had a map, given by the tourist office at the station, but everytime I set out for a path, I ended up completely somewhere else. Fortunately, i followed the circling birds and the smell of seaqeeds, and ended up on the waterfront finally. Maybe I will go to Chiba for the beach on friday if the weather is nice because it is summer after all.
Again, on the way back through the small streets, i set out for Yuigahama station, but ended up at Hase station, on the other direction. Well, at least i got back to Tokyo for the sunset from the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building.

Miraikan, or a geek trip

This is not just a science museum. It is a museum of emerging science and innovation. And I was impressed by the approach taken to introduce visitors to printing technology or molecular medecine. It also invites to reflect on the impact on the general public as well as the ethics involved.
It has a section on iPS for example (induced pluripotent stem cells) next to a helthcare technology corner.
Or a space weather station next to a model of the international space station.
The kids play around with the different hands on display explaining the ideas, when adults can act like kids and read and imagine the impact or applications.

Tokyo midtown

The b Akasaka smack in Tokyo midtown is also a block away from the Tokyo branch I am supposed to visit in a few days. No wonder since the area seems full of banks and financial institutions. And once again I am near a tv station, TBS, which seems to have some live open public shows from time to time. It is also attached to the Akasaka blitz or theatre, which right now is playing Xanadu, a musical starring that woman from the movie Grease, Olivia Newton something.
Nothing else but expensive shopping centres and capsule hotels apart from offices.
Last night though I made my first midnight trip to the combini to get food, around midnight, enjoying the calm and quiet air after the rain. I also managed to chit chat to a delivery guy who was looking for an address.
Also, a block away is filled with restaurant, near the metro so ican enjoy some kaiten sushi.

Shibuya or shopping mecca

Well I needed a suitcase to fit my extra stuff accumulated in 2 weeks. Unfortunately the new suitcase turned into a shopping bag, so now I have new shoes for work and lots of funky socks.

Small shops in dead end streets

What made Kyoto very loveable was the small streets with unexpected treasures. For example, the shop in Arashiyama which was completely hidden between 2 restaurants. If you walk too fast, you will miss this tiny shop which has all sorts of little ornaments made of silk cocoon. Two obaachan and an ojiisan are tending the shop and kindly wrote kanji on the chimes I bought, with the kanji of my adoptive name (apricot and sun). We had a poetic conversation and he wrote some on the chimes...happiness on a paper.
The other example is the tama bells shop, once again displaying those sparrows on a keg on the main street and pointing to a dark dead end where pottery bells and a flock of cute sparrows wish you good luck.
Today it didn't rain in Kyoto and I walked from the main station along karasuma-dori, up to shijou-dori to end up in teramachi. And again walking to a seemly dead end street took me to a major shopping area.
This is a dangerous town indeed!

Arashiyama, west Kyoto

After a morning stroll around the ryokan, I ended up walkin along shoji dori, crossing the city from east to west. At the intersection of omiya and shoji, I hopped on the 28 bus for Arashiyama.
As the name indicates, it is the area at the foot of a mountain chain, famous for the river walk and the bambou groves.
What was soothing was the sound of wooshing bambous in the wind, and if you look up at that time, a rain of golden bambou leaves lazily circle down to earth. no words can describe this small happiness.

Kinkakuji

The golden pavillion is splendidly shining even on a moody day like today. Instead of an omamoru, a charm, I got a votive charm, and I have no idea what is written on it apart from Kinkakuji.

Kyoto imperial palace

I was hoping we could enter some buildings but the tour was only to see from the outside of the main buildings. Nevertheless it was a sight despite the rain. Also one only can tour after applying to the Imperial household agency, with a passport.

Creme de la creme

I am talking chou a la creme, something that is quite popular around here, or I am just eager to sit down and rest from the drizzle of rain pouring in Kyoto, before I embark on a tour of the Imperial palace and the Golden pavillion

Futon

Here is the very comfortable futon I am crashing on for the next 3 nights. It's in a quiet street at the foot at Kyumizudera temple in Kyoto, a top 3 of the sights in town. So it is also walking distance to Gion, the entertainment or geisha district.

PASMO

This little card is the equivalent of the Oyster card in London, or Navigo in Paris. It is very practical in Tokyo, because there are at least 3 different companies operating the trains and chikatetsu (subway). So connecting from one to another is a headache if you have to get a ticket everytime.
With pasmo, you put any amount of money on it and you breeze through all gates while it deducts the exact fare upon your exit.
What is more convenient even is that you can pay with pasmo in cafes, combini or even shops on the shinkansen platform. It saves me from handling little change.

Tips

Here are a few things I realized after almost 2 weeks or so in Japan:
-fruits here are expensive so bring your fiber or vitamin suplements. Apparently though they are discounted in the evening.
-everything and everyone seem specialized, or I am watching too much tv. Everything is perfected, but in the intimacy of people's home where things are more relaxed. Or am I just anxious to blend in?
-sometimes, the same people are on tv for 3 or 4 tv shows in a row. Same for dramas. I don't mind kimutaku though...hehe. Speaking of Kimutaku, he is back with a new drama: mr brain, starting saturday night.
-it is easy to navigate Tokyo, but not so mich outside Tokyo as signs are also in english. Although central Kyoto is ok since it is a grid.
-don't expect to bring posters home. So far apart from ikemen in magazine, I could not find any. Maybe in museums?
-expect to wake up early.
-pasmo is super convenient in Tokyo
-carry a sweater at all times are AC is everywhere:30C outside, but 20C in trains and buildings.
-don't rely on the pictures of food packages. Instead ask what is the flavour or what is inside if you can't read katakana or the kanji. hiragana will help a bit.

O-shaberi

Talkative in a bad way. Well, I blame it on the beer I had earlier. For I treated my host, S. poorly by barely letting him speak. Nevertheless he laughed a few times and I learned some interesting views on Tokyo and Japanese corporate workplace.
For example, office workers all wear black and white suit. Sometimes the suit vary colors but the shirt is 99.9% of the time, white. I have a green dress for next week and I hope they will forgive me.