Wednesday, September 20, 2017

A Walk around the Tokyo Sky Tree / 東京スカイツリーの散歩

With less than a month before our impending move to Aomori, we decided to wander around the Tokyo Sky Tree one last time. It was around this time that Piko Taro became popular worldwide, thanks no less to Justin Bieber as he said it was currently his favorite video to watch on YouTube. And if you're familiar with fads in Japan, then you can guarantee there would be a PPAP store or cafe or something related opened for a limited time. You guessed it, we decided to check out the PPAP Cafe that opened at the Tokyo Sky Tree!

あと一ヶ月以下で青森行きなので、東京スカイツリーに行ってきました。丁度このころピコ太郎が流行ってた。日本の流行りが良く分かれば、そのごは必ず期間限定でその流行りに関する店やカフェが開店する。それもあって、私たちが東京スカイツリーにオープンしたPPAPカフェに行くことに決定。

Tokyo Sky Tree / 東京スカイツリー


We love wandering around the the shopping area called Solamachi.

私たちはソロマチでウロチョロするも大好き。


Is it a library? Nope! It's a shelf full of instant curries. Damn, I want to try them all!

図書館か本屋の本棚?いいえ!これは店にあるレトルトのカレーコーナー。全部食べてみたい!


We happened to catch an acrobatic show on the day we went.

偶然でどこかのアクロバット集団が芸を披露してた。






And here we are at the PPAP Cafe. We should have known better. The lines were extremely long and the wait to get inside would be two or three hours. We decided we didn't need to eat at the cafe that badly. It would have made for an amusing blog post but everybody will just have to settle for this picture.

そしてPPAPカフェに到着。やっぱり流行りものは大変。凄い行列が出来て、店に入る待ち時間は2・3時間位。そこまで並びなくないですね。面白いネタが出来ると思ったが、その為に並ばないよ!この写真一枚で勘弁して下さい。


But hey, there was this Feudal Japan Festival going on and you could try on the Japanese samurai armor.

歩き回ったら、今日はなんかの戦場祭りも開催して、誰でも侍の鎧の試着体験が出来る。




Samurai Ern / 侍の俺






Since I had on most of the armor, why not go all out with the full outfit.

鎧のほとんどを着てるから、全身でやってみたら良いかなと思った。




Complete with sword.

日本刀も持って。




We had curry for lunch at the food court.

フードコートでカレーを食べました。


And ice cream at a shop called Campo Solare. I forgot what flavors we had. I'm pretty sure the green ice cream is pistachio.

デザートはカンポ・ソラーレというソフトの店。なに味を食べたか忘れましたが、たしかに、緑色のものはピスタチオ味だった。


As we were walking through a supermarket area, complete with a fish section, we caught the beginning of a tuna cutting show. I took a video clip but it was too large to upload onto this blog.

スーパーを通ったら、丁度マグロの解体ショーが始まった。動画も撮りましたが、このブログにサイズが大きすぎたので、アップが出来ませんでした。




Before heading back home, we had another snack. A taiyaki!

帰る前にもう一つのスナックを食べました。たい焼きです。


One last look at the Tokyo Sky Tree.

東京スカイツリーの最後の眺めだ。


Oh yeah, my good friend Ai told us her younger brother worked at a shoe shop in Solamachi. We decided we would pay him a visit even though we've never met him.

あっ、そうだ。僕の友達の愛ちゃんが自分の弟がソラマチの靴屋で働いてると教えてくれたので、私たちは彼に会いに行って来ました。


My wife and I at the Tokyo Sky Tree just before going back home. We may not have eaten at the PPAP Cafe but overall we had a fun day an heck, we got to meet Ai's brother.

アパートに帰る前の僕と僕の妻。これは東京スカイツリーの最後と思うとちょっと悲しいな。そして残念ながら目的のPPAPカフェでランチは出来なかったが、愛ちゃんの弟と会えて良かった。結構面白い一日でした。

Monday, September 18, 2017

A Walk around Nishi Shinjuku / 西新宿の散歩

Before our impending move to Aomori, we had to do a lot of  things like going to the ward office and writing a change of address of forms. We also had to go to an office in Nishi Shinjuku to take care of some tax business. As most of the kanji was far beyond my capacity, I left most of the paperwork to my wife. I just signed wherever when it was necessary. We had to go to the Tokyo Jitsugyo Hoken Kumiai. But I did want to find the "Love" art piece that was made by Robert Indiana.

青森に引っ越す前にいろんな準備が必要。区役所に行って住所変更の手続きとか。西新宿に行くのもそういう手続きが必要だった。行ったのは東京実業保険組合。漢字が難しすぎてほとんど妻任せになった。僕はただ署名が必要のところをサインするたけ。せっかく西新宿にいるからロバート・インディアナの「LOVE」の彫刻を見ようとした。


Robert Indiana [LOVE] / ロバート・インディアナ「LOVE」


High rise buildings in Nishi Shinjuku.

西新宿の高層ビル。


I think this is the Keio Plaza Hotel.

この建物は多分京王プラザホテル。






The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.

東京都庁。


Shinjuku Eye / 新宿の目


I can't remember where we went to have lunch afterwards but it was somewhere in Shinjuku at an all you can eat place.

東京実業保険組合のあと新宿のどこかでランチを食べた。店の名前忘れましたが、確かに食べ放題のところに行った。












Did someone say dessert?

誰かデザートを言ってましたか?






Chocolate waterfall! / チョコの滝!











Only a few more Tokyo adventures left before I have to dig through my photo history to write about things I missed.

東京冒険のネタがあとわずか。そのあとはまだ話してないネタを探す必要になる。

Monday, September 11, 2017

A Walk around Tamagawa Daishi, Sougen-ji Temple and Yanaka Ginza (Part 3) / 玉川大師、曹源寺と谷中銀座の散歩 (パート3)

Our last main destination today was Yanaka Ginza. We hopped on the local bus to take us there.

今日最後の目的地に向かってます。かっぱ寺から谷中銀座へ。






That cat on the roof is not a real cat. This area is known for all the cats and cat products you can buy so we tried to find as many of them as we could.

屋根にいる猫は本物じゃないよ。谷中ぎんざは猫で有名なので、私たちが何匹も探してみた。




We spotted another one.

猫また発見。


Beckoning cats?

招き猫?


A small pagoda in a little park in the neighborhood.

小さな公園にこういう建物が。


Who can this be?

これは誰だ?


Apparently the small shrine houses Okakura Tenshin, a thinker of art and a philospher of the Meiji Period.

岡倉天心の家の跡みたいですね。




More cats / また猫が

Entrance to Kyooji Temple / 経王寺の山門




I couldn't resist. An assortment of meat at a cheap price!!

肉好きの俺にたまならいものを発見。精肉店がそとで売てった肉の盛り合わせ!


We decided to have a snack at this taiyaki shop before heading our separate ways.

妻の友達が帰る前に私たちはこのたい焼きの店「たいち」に来ました。


Taiyaki / たい焼き


We also had some azuki ice cream.

あずきアイスも食べた。


A collage of our adventures today.

今日の冒険のコラージュ。


As it was getting late, my wife didn't want to bother cooking dinner so we went to the Ekiben shop at Tokyo station and bought our dinner there. I bought a pork bowl with miso while my wife bought Hello Kitty dinner.

この後、妻の友達と離れて私たちは東京駅に行きました。段々遅くなって妻が今夜の夕飯は東京駅の駅弁を買おうと提案。もちろん僕は賛成しました。自分が選んだのはみそ粕豚丼。妻が可愛い弁当を買った。ハロ・キティ。


Pork Bowl with Miso / みそ粕豚丼




The Hello Kitty bento / ハロ・キティの弁当



And so ended our adventure before heading home to eat dinner.

そして今日の冒険の幕が閉じた。