Next stop

Bus 52's destination is "Dreamland." Do you get to eat French macaroons, kyoho grapes, and play with Akita and Shiba puppies and roll around in cotton candy clouds all day there?

Gumi-Neko Returns

Jenni suggested I give this cat a name. The other day when I saw it again, I baptized it "Gumi-Neko." It's a cat (neko) from Gumisawa (its hood), so obviously, it's "Gumi-Neko."

On my way out to the internet cafe tonight, I walked downstairs and who do I see but Gumi-Neko lounging about. I think it stalked me to figure out where I'm staying. It probably sensed my sympathy for its scraggly ass. Who else takes pictures of the local dirty stray cat and posts them on her blog? Anyway, I went back inside and got it a tray and milk. Gumi-Neko slurped it up quickly, meowed at me very loudly, and I threw the tray away so that the neighbors don't bicker at me or my grandma for feeding a stray cat so close to the apartments.

Chanel Robertson Nail Collection

These nailpolishes were released in honor of the new Chanel boutique in L.A. I heard about this in May, and had been waiting to hear how I could purchase them. Back then if you didn't live in or near L.A., where you can get them directly at the store, you had to sign up on some useless email list and wait to see when they would be released online. But I inquired at the Chanel counter at Takashimaya here in Yokohama and the pretty Chanel lady told me that they were going to be one of ten locations in Japan to sell the line starting July 4th. After accompanying my grandma to her doctor's appointment that day, we stopped by Takashimaya and I picked up the pink and purple polishes.

"Melrose"

"Rodeo Drive"

I couldn't not get "Melrose" and "Rodeo Drive" is perfect for my quest to turn into a grape or Baikinman. I was tempted to get the orange "L.A. Sunset" since it matched my relatively dark skin, but common sense told me not to and for once we agreed on something. Here is the interactive site for the nailpolishes--you can purchase them and download a desktop image you "create"! Yay for materialistic art!

Consumer Lifestyle

I've been in Japan for a little over month now, and I think I'm getting used to things: internet-lessness, the limited surface area-per-person, all the walking, the people dressing differently-but-the-same, and feeling kind-of-foreign-but-not-really. But the one thing I cannot get used to is how my money just DISAPPEARS. I was prepared for the transportation fees, but I underestimated the power of sales/bargains/bazaars/whatever you want to call them, where things are no longer outrageously priced, only mildly expensive. No seriously though, there is SO MUCH TO BUY. I think there are two major reasons why my wallet and account suffer: one is that I'm here for longer than recent trips, and the other is that I am not here with Mordecai right now. Searching for and looking at weird, if not entirely dull buildings to the untrained eye is so much cheaper than going to CIAL, VIVRE, the Landmark Plaza\Queen's Towers\at! (triple threat!), World Porters, Takashimaya's makeup floor, or heaven forbid the ever-glitzy Motomachi numerous times a week.

But it has been revealed just now that he will be coming three days earlier than previously planned! Which is really just two days earlier, because the day you arrive is sort of timeless and nonpresent, when you're dazed from the long-ass plane ride, people feed you things and you fall asleep relatively early. I think if I complain any further about this his plane might drop, I'm even surprised there were seats open, so I'll stop now and figure out how to reserve bus tickets from Totsuka to Narita :D

Kyoho Grapes

I’m still obsessed with grapes. As far as I know, there are two kinds of grapes here: tiny little ones (I forget their name) and giant roly-poly ones (Kyoho, above). I stopped at a local, mediocre grocery on my way home the other day and saw that the little ones were on sale. But where there is a sale, there is a reason. In each package, there was at least one grape that was showing clear and distinct evidence of expiring. I just happened to notice out of the corner of my eye that there were Kyoho grapes not on sale, which appeared fine to the naked eye. I decided to give them a good home.

SO GOOD. American grapes are alright, and it’s nice that there are two color choices, but my goodness they are so bland compared to Kyoho grapes, which are so so so tart and juicy. You have to peel them, which is a real pain in the ass, but that’s when you realize how juicy they are and you know you’re going to have a good feast when you’re done. All the hard work makes them taste that much better. It used to be worse—when I was little, I had Kyoho grapes that had about four large seeds in each grape. Technology has advanced, my friends—forget the square watermelon (I think it is mostly forgotten anyway), on with the seedless Kyoho grapes! Make them teleport to Chicago!

Japanese McFlurry!

They have a new limited McFlurry here: milk tea + Oreo. The ice cream part tastes kind of like milky earl gray tea, and then you get little Oreo bits as a bonus. SO GOOD. My grandma says American McDonald’s tastes better than Japanese McDonald’s, but I wonder if she’s just biased against what she can always have. Likewise, I can’t really tell if I’m just excited about the novelty of eccentric flavors and products or if I really think these products are better than their American counterparts. I never think even once about getting a McFlurry in Chicago.

Baikin Clothes

I saw the movie “The Magic Hour” (pronounced "Za Majikku Awaa") today. I even bought caramel popcorn (pickled-plum-with-something-green flavor was sold out), which came in a little bucket in a plastic bag. I guess to make sure you don’t spill? And then when you leave the theater you put your garbage neatly on a tray, which all gets taken care of by a theater employee. The popcorn was lightly flavored, and might as well not be labeled “caramel” given Garrett’s signature flavor. Anyway my outfit colors were purple, black and gray, inspired by none other than Baikinman, who I posted earlier. It's funny how I hated purple until very recently.

Pedometer Purchase

Jenni introduced me to this random Japanese girl’s blog. She appears to be Japanese, but writes all her posts in near-impeccable English. My hypothesis is that she’s studying at maybe Aoyama Gakuin in Shibuya to translate in the future, so the blog is her personal language exercise. A while back she wrote about how she got a pedometer and how she walks a lot around in Tokyo. Inspired, I bought a pedometer at Yodobashi Camera the other day. It counts how many steps I take, and apparently it also tells me how many kilocalories I burn as a result of my walking. I wanted it to record and confirm that I walk a lot more in Japan than in Chicago, and by how much. Also, it’s to replace the Pikachu pedometer I once had my freshman year of high school, which ended up on the CTA train tracks. The blame went to Vinh, who was borrowing it for some reason, but it turned out the person who actually caused it to end up on the tracks was none other than Nik. If I complain, I’ll look like the asshole, so let me leave it at this: Pedometer Pikachu lived a fulfilling life and died a brave, noble death.

Anyway, I walk a lot—I usually exceed 10,000 steps, which may sound like nonsense to most people who never even think about how many steps they take in a day. But the other day, I surpassed 20,000 steps, and my feet died. But it turns out meandering doesn’t burn many calories, especially if you stop for a McFlurry and a dorayaki back to back and come home before dinner completely full :D

Caramel Corn Bath

You can enjoy Caramel Corn in bath form. They are adamant about not eating the bath salts or drinking the bath water mixed with the salts.

I'm glad I took this picture and not a picture of the salts mixed in. It looks like a pool of urine, basically, though it smells like milky caramel. Either you get used to the smell or it's not too overwhelming. I imagine the latter to be the case so as to reduce the temptation of consuming the bath water. Now I'm both afraid and curious about the chocolate bath salts I saw at the same store.

Jeromey-rome!

I wanted to take a picture of the famous crosswalk at Shibuya facing the Hachiko Statue. And then Jero had to get all up in my photo. Good timing!

Peter Rabbit in Japan

Generally speaking, Isezakicho is a kind of odd place. The first strange thing there that comes to mind is the Snake Store, where they sell strange medicines made from snakes. There's a sign on the door that says to only enter if you are making serious purchases; it's intimidating enough to make you reconsider entering to gawk and then pretending like you didn't find what you were looking for and leaving without saying anything. The other strange sighting I have yet to see but have heard about is our family priest roaming about, lonely and drunk. The other day, I saw this man with his rabbit on a leash. Naturally, people stare and comment on how "kawaii" it is, but it looked really anxious and displaced to me.

Fauchon in Japan

Apparently in the U.S. there are only four places where you can enjoy Fauchon delicacies. Three of them are not surprisngly in Manhattan, and the fourth one is surprisingly in Dallas, Texas. In Paris I was too intimidated and too poor to enjoy Fauchon products; plus I was incredibly satisfied with local bakeries' pastry choices anyway. But Fauchon in Japan? This is just plain destiny.

Internet and Hot Dogs

Marron & Sakura

I'm experiencing a sudden burst of internet availability FROM MY OWN LAPTOP at my uncle's. What a fine feeling, to return to my own bookmarks, to use Adium, to download profusely from Jpopsuki to save money so I don't waste lots of money on CDs at HMV, to randomly Google random things on Google.COM and not .co.jp. The list is both endless and frivolous.

Childhood Friend

I grew up with Anpanman (Sweet Bean Bread Man?) and his archnemesis, Baikinman (Germ/Mold Man?; above). Ironically, he appears to be advertising for vacuum cleaners at Yodobashi Camera.

Macaroon Dialogue

Man in Blue: What are these giant things blooming on this tree? I thought this was a blue flower tree.
Man in Green: These are the tastiest macaroons Kei has had so far in Japan, from Yoku Moku. Apparently, the size and textures are perfect and they all taste magnificent.
Man in Blue: They will crush us if they fall.
Man in Green: We will die a sweet death.
Man in Blue: Why are we floating?
Man in Green: Perhaps we are already dead and are in Macaroon Heaven.

---

It is obnoxiously smokey in this internet cafe, the employees are awkward, and I overpaid 100 yen for the time I will end up spending here. Grumblegrumblegrumble.

Chanel Mobile Art

Another day in Tokyo, another day of waiting in line. It's like I'm in Disneyland. Naomi accompanied me to see the Chanel Mobile Art exhibition at the Yoyogi park in Harajuku. Entry is free, but you have to reserve tickets for an exact date and time. They were sold out for the entire time the exhibit is here at Family Mart (convenience store), and apparently the line for this weekend's tickets at the box office started forming at 8AM so it was totally impossible to get any when we arrived at 11AM. We ended up waiting in line to enter the exhibit that day, which we were told was possible because there are often no-shows. But it was well well well worth the one and a half hour wait!

You enter through the cave-like part, and exit where the woman is standing by the slick glass doors. Designed by Zaha Hadid, the structure is basically a mobile art museum with Chanel-bag-related contributions from various artists. It moves from city to city—it started in Hong Kong, came here in May, will move on to New York in September, and then I think it goes to Paris. When you enter, you get an audio guide that helps you navigate the building and the works of art. The woman’s voice who guides you sounds like the old lady at Margie’s—for those of you who don’t know her, she’s a crabby old lady who takes ice cream orders inefficiently and sounds like she’s been smoking since birth. Anyway, it was a cool interactive guide with nice music and direction. Before you leave, you get a gigantic, unstapled (wtf?) magazine that includes artist information, interviews with Karl Lagerfeld and Zaha Hadid, and other random cool stuff.

I should've checked to see if my camera has a panoramic option. I highly recommend seeing this exhibit if possible. Long live Uncle Karl!

Speaking of waiting in line for donuts...

On Wednesday I went to Shinjuku on a whim, and decided to pick up a box of donuts for Naomi et al on a whim. The wait totaled to about 30-40 minutes. My favorite part was that there was a donut guard (top right), who administered the line. I wonder how much he gets paid and if he gets stressed out. Like back at home, they give you a free donut while you wait in line (bottom left); it tasted the same. You can see them making the donuts, just like at the Krispy Kreme out in Rosemont (does it still exist?). I'm not sure if they discard the disfigured and failed ones that flip over and get sugar coating on the wrong side in Tokyo too.

Pon de Awesome

Mister Donuts is so awesome. Their “Pon de Ring” donuts are soft and chewy, like donuts + mochi = Pon de Ring. It seems they’ve expanded their lineup to include green tea flavored Pon de Ring. To some extent, as gross as it is, I’m reminded of Nik’s cell phone picture he sent me of the results of his St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Sorry—I’m just telling it like it is. People here apparently line up for two hours for Krispy Kreme in Shinjuku; I hope Pon de Ring is as appreciated, even if there are no lines or morning specials on TV for them.

My Neighbor at Totsuka

I first saw this guy the day arrived in Japan, when I was walking from the Totsuka Bus Terminal to a different bus stop. But as of late, around 6PM or 7PM, I’ve been seeing him on my way home from the Totsuka train station. He always has that backpack with a keychain of Canada’s flag, and carries what looks like his dinner for that night. The last time I saw him he was walking along the exact same path I take, and he kept looking back, noticing that I was taking the same route too. To dodge suspicion, I took a less trodden route. Maybe he saw me taking photos so it was too late anyway?!

French Macaroons in Japan

I am in macaroon heaven. They are everywhere--on accessories, in bakeries left and right. So far, Fauchon and Starbucks (above) have the best ones.