favorite beer poster ever.

One day I am going to ask this tiny noodle place on Meiji dori if I can have -- or buy! -- this poster that is taped up outside their front door. Trouble is, it's always closed when I walk by after morning drop off, on my way to Life Supermarket... If I ever remember to go by there in the evening, how much should I offer for it? Is 1,000 yen ($10) fair?

new hangout

Hiroshi, originally uploaded by STREAMER COFFEE.

Meet Hiroshi. He's friendlier than he looks in this photo. He's a barista at the new Streamer Coffee Company at 1-20-28 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku. The place, conveniently located near school, has a nice, spare, airy feel to it. It ain't cheap: a large double-shot latte (including "extreme latte art," according to the menu) is 520 yen. Still, it's way better than any Starbucks'.

Plus, the place has free Wi-Fi. And power outlets!

This is something the other two free-Internet-with-purchase cafes I know in the area -- Wired, in the Q Front/Tsutaya building at Shibuya crossing and sister joint Wired Cafe 360, in the KDDI building on Meiji dori in Harajuku -- don't have. Not that I usually carry my computer around with me, but it's nice to know there's the option.

'Sweden' is now 'Silkream'

That tired old ice cream parlor that the boys loved -- the one called Sweden that was a few doors down from TOA Textile World (great fabric place), west of the JR train tracks, across the street and up the road from Tower Record in the Udagawacho area of Shibuya ku -- has been replaced with something better: a pretty new "dolci cafe" with a takeout window! Now we're talking. And the prices are reasonable (given some of the astonishing gelateria prices around town). We paid 380 yen for this decent sized soft-serve-yet-premium-quality vanilla cone.

Big dog. Little dog.

As I said in my last post I don't often see big dogs here in Tokyo. This big fluffy standard poodle made me (almost) want one.

I still find it amusing that people here dress their dogs and bring them into coffee shops and restaurants and treat them like human beings. These two were so quiet I almost didn't see them standing there behind my chair at Segafredo's in Hiroo. Very well-behaved. I guess they'd have to be, in order to be allowed in. I don't think Japanese would tolerate ill-behaved dogs in public places. Come to think of it I don't think I've seen an ill-behaved dog in the more than two years that we've lived here. They must be kept behind closed doors, their owners too ashamed to take them out. The standard's owner said he was very quiet even at home, never yipping for attention like his little sidekick.

Golden Week Monday Pt. 2

After a fantastic lunch at Ukai Toriyama, Clare, Emma and I walked up Mt. Takao. Well, part of the way. We took the chair lift halfway up (there's also a cable car) and probably saved ourselves an hour.
As we approached the lift station we realized that most people were finishing up for the day, which worked out great for us, as we only had to queue for about 15 min.


Usually I'm afraid of heights but the wooden slats and chain link fence that ran between the treetops and my dangling feet made me feel safe. (That's Emma and Clare in the seat in front of me.)
From where we got off, it was less than an hour's walk up to the summit. Along the way we saw this big tree. Those are Shinto prayer ropes around the trunk (shimenawa, used to mark spots of spiritual significance, like the shrine up ahead).

We still had quite a bit of company on the trail

Rest stop sustenance (not for us though, we were still stuffed from lunch)


more snacks (one day I will try these skewered mochi balls)

Tengu statue outside the Yakuo-in temple, Mt. Takao's "spiritual home and prayer place" near the summit dedicated to the Buddha of Medicine, Yakushi Nyorai. A Tengu, this website explains, is a "long-nosed demon-like being known to dwell on sacred mountains." Apparently they serve as messengers for various deities and buddhas, chastise evildoers and protect the good. They are often depicted holding a Japanese fan, or uchiwa, which they use to "sweep away misfortune." I read somewhere else that Tengu are gods of mischief, and patrons of the martial arts. Hmm...

I'd like to return to Takao-san on a day where the Buddhist monks are fire-walking or sitting beneath waterfalls reciting mantras and sutras as part of their ascetic training.

Carving on outer temple wall

Resting at the top

As we made our way back down we passed this fine young couple and their dog. In a sling.
Well, hello!

You don't see a lot of big dogs in Japan, or at least I haven't, but those I do see are treated like, well, dogs (not babies to be coddled like that little Chihuahua in a sling!)

day trip!

For us, Golden Week 2010 was all about eating out. On the Monday, May 3, we went for lunch at the very famous Ukai Toriyama in Hachioji, west of Tokyo and next to Mt. Takao, because friends said it was one of those things we just had to do at least once before we left Japan. And they were right! What a beautiful place. We sat in a private tatami room inside a thatched roof hut overlooking a Japanese garden, complete with koi-filled pond, stone lanterns and red Japanese maples, and indulged in a very satisfying multi-course meal.

This lady showed us to our room

And what a room it was..

View from our room, of another room across the pond
View from our room looking the other way, shot from the little balcony we could access through the sliding doors

First course: a tangle of dried smoked fish bits (bonito, better than it sounds) over a pickled green vegetable that's kind of a cross between celery and asparagus

Second course: sesame tofu (very good, if you like that sorta thing, which I do)

Next: grilled eggplant with red miso (I think this was my favorite of all -- forgot to get a closeup)

This guy brought the hot coals for the robatayaki (grilling meat over an open hearth)

The sand is raked just so

Before the bbq got underway, we were served a light soup of chicken meatball, leeks and leafy greens

Then came the carp sashimi (not, as you might think, slices of the same fancy koi swimming in the pond outside). Tasted a bit like snapper I guess. Chewier than I would've liked, but fresh, and the sesame and ponzu dipping sauces helped.
David was not convinced.


Time to grill! Our server brings baskets of small green peppers, leeks and chicken on sticks

The grill tops had gutters to catch the drippings. Brilliant!

Best condiment: chili-yuzu sauce, gently spicy and citrusy-sweet


But wait, there's more: grilled whole fish

The final course was also the least popular (I think I was the only one who had a few bites): a cold porridge of grated nagaimo, or mountain yam, over rice

Two gelatinous azuki (red bean) sweets arrived (part of the larger carp set menu, which we had ordered for the guys) but there were no takers. (Except for me.) It had been rolled in some powdery green stuff that I assumed was matcha, but the waitress shook her head no, though had difficulty explaining what it actually was. (Anybody?)

Terry with Clare
Emma, Clare's friend visiting from England, standing on the balcony outside our room

Our room from the other side of the pond (we went for a little stroll around the grounds after lunch)

So gorgeous we didn't want to leave...

Ukai Toriyama runs a free shuttle bus from Takaosanguchi station, the last stop on the Keio line (less than an hour from Shinjuku) and next door to where the Mt. Takao hiking trails begin and the cable car and chair lift launch. My advice: Take the train! Our friends decided to drive all of us, and what should've been a 30-40 min. drive turned into 3 hours (the risk of bank holiday traffic: one minor accident on the expressway and you're screwed) -- though remarkably, we made it to the restaurant on time for our midday reservation, and the delay meant that by the time we made it to the mountain it was no longer quite so mobbed. I'll post about our trail walk next...

I dunno...Palpatine?

Shibuya station platform, JR Yamanote line
Shibuya Crossing, May 5, 2010

So why is Darth Vader suddenly leering from the side of every building in town? As nuze.me explains, Docomo has launched an interactive web campaign to promote some new product or service featuring the Dark Lord of the Sith:

"Go to a special website, enter your name into a text box (in hiragana, or katakana in the case of non-Japanese users) after which you'll see a video of Darth Vader stalking the streets of Tokyo, only to stop in the middle of Shibuya crossing and dramatically look at your name displayed on the area's iconic giant video screen. Wait a few moments more and you'll be presented with a surprisingly effective, scary close-up of Vader, who then says (in Japanese), "[Insert your name here], you are not my boss!" Although it's not clear whether Vader's "boss" will be a new mobile phone or data service, we'll all find out in just two weeks (May 10?) who Vader's real boss is supposed to be. If you ever wanted Vader to say your name (albeit in Japanese) you can give it a try here."

More of the Dark Lord outside Shibuya station, Meiji dori side, on a rainy Tuesday, May 11
I love that clear umbrellas are so prevalent here

dolls in the house

Yesterday I went with a bunch of other BST moms (mums) to the Heiwajima Antique Fair in Ota-ku and brought home these Kokeshi, traditional Japanese wooden dolls from northern Honshu. The craft dates back to the late Edo period (1800-1830); no idea how old these ones are... The lady who sold them to me (she had several big buckets full and I prolly spent 15 minutes rummaging) kept saying they were 200 years old, but I'm pretty sure she meant that's when the craft began.
Here's my little group of 7, standing around in our living room, between a window and the TV. Not sure where they will land. For now they will stare at Terry while he plays Xbox games. The smallest one is 16 cm high, the tallest, 25 cm. (Sorry, the only ruler I have handy doesn't mark inches. We're all metric system now!)

Fwiw, the fair -- official Japanese name: Heiwajima Zenkoku Komingu Kotto Matsuri -- happens over a few days, four times a year; there was one back in March, and there will be another one in June and again in December. Some 200 dealers participate, and they have prints, pottery, kimono and yukata robes, laquerware, jewelry, knickknacks, small furniture and other collectibles. I also bought a series of matchbox covers from the 1930s, two fans and two tiny plates cheap enough to actually use. There were loads of pretty teacups and things with pricetags in the tens of thousands of yen range (hundreds of U.S. dollars! apiece!) obviously intended to be kept on a shelf, or locked in a china cabinet. Very old, I'm sure, hand-painted, etc. etc., just not my thing...Anyway for those who might want to check out the next one, it took less than half an hour for my friend Karen to drive us there from the Shibuya area; it's not far from the Shinagawa aquarium and it's right by Heiwa no Mori Koen, a big park with a cool obstacle course that I really need to take my boys to sometime...

Fine Ahht

There's a great exhibit going on right now (through July 25) at the brand new Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum in the Marunouchi area. (Above: "Berthe Morisot," 1872.)

We managed to go see it this morning, and the halls were crowded but not too bad. It is Golden Week, after all. Terry's been off work but it's too expensive to travel anywhere (and the British School is in session anyway) so we've stayed local, enjoying our childless days (no offense, boys).

The Manet exhibit is presented in Japanese and French. Luckily I seem to remember enough from my 3 years of high school French to muddle through the titles, and thanks to some organizational clues we caught the gist of some of the larger themes. In any case it's definitely worth a visit. And the area just outside the entrance to the building is lovely, a landscaped pedestrian plaza surrounded by open air cafes and a few benches and well placed sculptures on loan, I suspect, from the Open Air Museum in Hakone.
Like this one by Henry Moore

Here's a shot of the Queen Anne style museum building from -- what's the name of this street? Let me check the atlas. Hmmm, apparently it doesn't have a name, but it's two blocks over from Imperial Palace Plaza, and features many gleaming Marunouchi skyscrapers. It's part of "Itcho London" (one-mile London). I took this picture as we were walking up to the Otemachi metro station, where we jumped on the Hanzomon line bound for Shibuya. Very easy. Basically you can take any train that stops at Tokyo station to get here. See the map at the bottom of this webpage.

Now, go get yourself some culchah!