errand day

day 12

stella was out on a walking tour with the camera. i particularly like these two shots. no info today.

i must buy a camera.

hard work day

day 11

i have a job. i do remember that.

i spent much of today on project work, now that we're online. everyday tasks here take about forever for me to accomplish. trying to turn on the washing machine, for example, could consume well over 1/2 an hour. flushing the toilet with the standard washlet controls can send you into analysis paralysis - but at least the heated seat is comfortable. internet setup was a 5 day epic, and we still don't have a phone. so putting in a few hours on a tech memo is pure joy. i analyse some data, produce graphs, write a few paragraphs, email it off, and give myself a pat on the back.

then back to local exploration.



this is the view off our balcony. after a night of carousing, this pair spends much of the day atop a service box about 8' high.






here's our local high street. it's gorgeous. with an amazing bakery and some fine restaurants. I'll take you on a tour one day.






ended the day in akihabara looking for a wireless router. in a 300 sq.ft apartment, the fewer wires the better. should only take me a couple of days to configure it.

local festival

day 10

we woke up to drumming. not the weak patter of a snare .. but the visceral chest shaking chase-the-spirits-out-of-your-house kind of drumming.



this was right outside our door.






and here's the reason we woke up.






the guy in the short skirt caught me a bit off guard. when an old fellow walked up and smiled at me and proudly announced 'taiko drums', all i could mutter was 'ii desu ne'. actually, that's about all the japanese i know. but i'm working on it.






when they were done (what... i'm not sure) they all packed up an walked home. it was hot, trust me.

asakusa

day 9

today's contrast: big and small.

asakusa is an older, artisanal area of tokyo - where we found 'kitchentown'. so of course, i started taking pictures of cars.



here's a small car. i have no idea what it is.






large spatulas. 5' tall actually.






small alley. again - there's no earth here - everything's in pots. i'm developing a theory on packaging. more on that later.






big temple. we didn't go inside, but we did climb the fence. on the other side, the space was filled with graves. you can see the headstones. that means the remains are above street level, right behind that wall.






a really big space. this is the international forum, which is stunning when you find it amidst the crush of downtown.

kawasaki - minkaen

day 8



minkaen is a collection of 23 traditional houses relocated to a mountainside in kawasaki.






the construction and spatial program of the houses made a fascinating study for the achitecture group, i'm sure. i just kept looking at the infrastucture. here, some plumbing - sink on the other side.











hvac.






it would be beautiful here in the rain.

as it was, we nearly melted.

OHAYO!

online at last.

i've already been here 12 days now, and i can tell the time will pass much too quickly. as a remedy, i intend to post at least one point of interest for each day. i'll be using photos as a cue, so forgive the rambling nature of the blog.



day 1
narita express



welcome to tokyo.

my face is as green as the field. airsick on landing - that's never happened before.

it's hot here. really hot. 35c in the rain makes for a sticky mess. consequently, this is the only picture i took on day 1.





day 2
walking in naka-meguro



infrastructure. as you may know, stella stands about 5 foot nothing.

the driver was sitting inside eating lunch. i could tell he was eager to build something. like, say, a doorstep.






a rare sight - open channel flow.






with energy dissipators. tokyo is heavily over-engineered. which makes me giddy. i'm 100% surrounded by the built environment. there is no exposed soil, no birds overhead, no mountains on the horizon.






here's a typical rail station (train at top). amidst this clamor of infrastructure is a fine aesthetic appreciation - in the details.











a restaurant






and another. i don't know why everyone is so thin here. stella and i will surely die an unpleasant death due to overindulgence. the food options make me delirious - we've been eating up to 5 meals a day. but more on that later.





day 3
jazz festival in ikebukuro



transportation mode of choice. i must get one. i particularly like the caterpillar handlebars.

none of them are locked to anything, though most have a simple wheel lock.






it is telling that this guy is polishing the garbage can with bare hands. you could eat off the top.

there is something of a mental problem with cleanliness here. and i like it.






for example, here is our garbage collection point on the street outside our building. today is paper recycling day. we had to buy 4 garbage containers: combustible, non-combustible, paper, and plastic. stella is still coming to terms with the string bundle concept.




day 4
mejiro - our neighborhood



our neighbor. i want a bike like this. they're $110.






we live close to downtown, so parking is tight.






another restaurant. in the barrel to the left, we found this curious celebration...











we ate at this hole in the wall noodle shop. 8 people at a time, in a space the size of our bathroom. average stay: 6 minutes. our stay: 24 minutes, and afterwards we had to be rolled out the door.






this is the reason. the best cold ramen noodles i've ever had.





day 5
nishi-ikebukuro



our street in the morning...






... evening ...






... and night.






we ate at home for the first time. it's all about the food here. i think we have that figured out.





day 6
odaiba excursion



despite what i'd been told, many things are cheaper in tokyo than vancouver. for $7, we ate grilled chicken on shredded cabbage with roasted eggplant, rice, miso soup and tea. a freshly ground and pressed espresso here was 50 cents. you can see stella's chopstick entering the picture even as i shoot. so good.






where are we?

odaiba is a business park that's a cross between disneyland and las vegas. reclaimed land in tokyo bay, it makes for a heady counterpoint to downtown.











strange area because of the juxtaposition of wide open spaces and immense buildings.

the museum of emerging science and innovation (miraikan) was our second stop (after lunch #2).
















fort venus. a bizarre shopping experience, to be sure.






also home of toyota meg@web - a showcase where you can test drive cars on the closed circuit indoor/outdoor course.






and an enormous ferris wheel. second largest in the world after the millennium wheel.





day 7
mejiro



streets are narrow, but i've never seen an accident. bicycles and cars are ultra-patient - the pedestrian always has the right of way, and horns are never used.

the national motto must be "be considerate". oh, and be clean too.






some fine stone work. embedded traffic signage.