A Week in Tokyo 49
The final installment of the A Week in Tokyo series for this year. Its been a tough but fantastic year with loads of progress in life - but will cover that in the "dannychoo.com in 2009" article later.
Starting off today with a photo at Kawasaki station. There is being the Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall in the background which wifey and I will probably checkout soon. Not sure if I mentioned it before but do like classical music quite a bit. The recording taken at Muza a few weeks ago. Do any of you play in an orchestra?
This weeks office looking very different from this time last year.
Moved the Tamaki poster to this side of the office to give folks on the other end of Skype something nice to look at in the background.
Rearranged the desk. Feels more spacious on the right.
Shopping for groceries.
A new curry place opened nearby - Zousui Curry for lunch. 500 yen.
Thanks to Cospa SE Asia for sending over some gifts! Mmmmmm! Teh Tarik La. I need deliveries like this from Singapore more often ^^;
Heading to Ginza.
More photos in the Ginza photo article.
The trusty navi guiding us on our way. Will be relying on it to get us to Karuizawa tomorrow.
Traditional Japanese noodles come in the form of Udon and Soba. Which do you prefer?
Steamed rice with various toppings.
Forgot what this Seasame street guy is called. Small goodies like this can be found at the checkout counter of family restaurants. The idea is that while parents are paying, the kids go "Mum! Dad! I want one!"
Keeping up with your comments on the iPhone version of dannychoo.com.
Quite a few people complained that we called it an iPhone version because it also works fine on an Android.
We call it the iPhone version because we develop and QA it to work on the iPhone. Features that we add may not necessarily work on other platforms.
Festive dessert at Robinsons.
Festive cake with Reimu.
Nanoha nipped out to buy some Mr Donuts for the girls.
Gift from Kodomut - his lovely illustration of Mirai-chan.
Some curry for dindins at home.
Was broadcasting last Thursday evening form the iPhone again. For those who would like to see live broadcasts from Tokyo, check out the Tokyo Cam article.
Lazona is a shopping complex located in Kawasaki. Its filled with restaurants, retail outlets and is home to the 3D IMAX cinema.
You can get to it by getting off at Kawasaki station. If you are driving then you can park inside the complex. Dont forget to ask each restaurant or outlet that you buy stuff from to stamp your parking ticket for a discount on parking.
Top floor is where some of the more pricey restaurants are. If you prefer to save yer dosh for other stuff then checkout the food court located on one of the lower floors (I forgot which floor ^^;) where you can get decent meals from about 700 yen.
At this time of year, Lazona is illuminated with festive decorations.
Unlike many other parts of the world, most festive illuminations are taken down on the 26th or 27th. We'll probably take our decorations down on the 1st. How long are you leaving your festive decorations up for?
So hows the latest Final Fantasy? The graphics look pretty awesome. I'm not really an RPG person myself. Want to be able to shoot or hit something within minutes of turning on the PS3 ^^;
Not sure if the below sequence is a spoiler so skip it if you are in the middle of playing FF.
This 65 inch display looked gorgeous - has a gorgeous price too at over 1,000,000 yen.
Giving some viewers a live tour of Lazona. Remember that if you want to catch these broadcasts then keep an eye on my Twitter as the Ustream iPhone app tweets the broadcast URL automatically for me.
Some festive wear for you and your partner.
A new home center store at Lazona. Will check it out the next time we are over.
Pre-movie meal.
Kawasaki station.
If you are not up for a challenge to make your way around on foot once you get off at a station, you can usually pick up taxi's waiting outside. You need to pay about 650 yen for the first few kilometers as soon as you get on.
How much does beef cost in your neck of the woods? How about 21,000 yen for a few slices?
"For cute girls."
Which is the cutest. The one on the right is kinda sweet.
More development going on nearby. Hope that more yummy restaurants open instead of more pharmacies and hairdressers.
Many ramen places have manga on a shelf for customers to read. Was the first time I came across ero manga for customers ^^;
Been looking at a ton of bikes lately. Currently thinking of getting the Giant Escape R3 which goes for 52,500 yen.
Women's pro wrestling has a popular following over here. It cant all be rigged can it?!
Saw more retail staff dressed in festive gear this year.
Oseibo is a present given towards the end of the year. Here Nanoha-chan is about to open some from comrades at Hobby Stock.
More Godiva goodness.
For the first time since we bought our car, the engine took ages to start up - not sure why. Maybe because its getting really cold? Engine oil?
The previous office on the third floor. The cabinets are now used to store samples and the room is mainly used for guests. Love coming up here when the sun is about to set. The room is filled with golden brown light.
Was supposed to increase the amount of shelves in this corner but never got around to it.
Manufacturing figure shelves is something that I have in the back of my mind. They would be clear like these ones and come with some sort of option to illuminate them via USB/Electrical mains.
Was wondering what your walls are made of - concrete or wood?
Yattman gets the pachinko treatment. Macross still going strong. They recently released their extended TV commercials which are just awesome.
How about some fish liver for lunch?
Or some fish sperm?
Sushi for lunch.
Looking for some after-sushi cake.
Green tea cake or "Maccha" flavor. Was not a fan a while ago but now like the taste quite a bit.
Soon there will be a supermarket above this station.
Kagami n Gyoza.
Not sure if I would try it again - was live streaming from the iPhone attached to the front of the bicycle. Nearly had a few accidents ^^;
Lunch at Hatanodai. First time at this place. They have a hot plate where you cook your own meat n veggies. They give you an hourglass too so that you know when each side of the meat is done. This dish for 500 yen.
First time eating at this place in Gakugei Daigaku. Some sort of organic healthy living restaurant.
Mmmmm. Crispy fish Mmmmm!
Veggies, fish and tofu which are steamed in that round thingy on the left of the photo.
First time I tried this. Veggies with a fried onigiri rice ball. 1,300 yen for this dish.
Folks at a book store doing tachiyomi. Tachiyomi [立ち読み] means to read while standing. Some of the folks stand there forever.
Outside Gakugei Daigaku station. "Daigaku" is the word for "University." The station was named after the nearby Tokyo Gakugei University which relocated to another location 40 years ago. They wanted to change the name of the station but haven't come to a conclusion after much debate.
The station is surrounded by a bustling Shotengai shopping district filled with everyday amenities such as banks, pharmacies, pachinko parlors, restaurants and books stores.
Gakugei Daigaku station is located on the Toyoko line. As you can see from opening the map below in a different window - I'm creating a map of places which I've written about which should help you when you come to live in or visit Japan.
A kid watches in deeeeeep deeeeep interest at the new NDS Zelda game Daichi no Kiteki.
Its Christmas evening in Japan meaning that folks are lining up at Kentucky for their chicken.
As you get closer to a station, it usually becomes increasingly difficult to park a bicycle. What you can do is leave your two wheeler outside a pharmacy further away from the station. if you leave it at a pachinko parlor for example, there could be staff watching. Once they know that you are not a paying customer, they will have your bike removed.
Picking up some Korean dishes.
Small dishes of many varieties make for a lovely lunch.
When you start to live in Japan, you will start to eat more fish.
Doing more groceries.
This years tree went up a bit late - think we stuck it up on the 17th or so.
Will be doing a load of cleaning out over the holidays. Here I'm going through the game folder. Usually keep the cases in store elsewhere and the actual DVDs in this sleeve to save space.
DVD's are in the same case and came across a film which has had a big influence on my life - Trading places with Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy.
Great motivational feel good movie with a load of laughs.
And this is the desk right now as I write this.
