Results matching “Japan”

Well, I figure this would happen eventually. Parts of my life colliding in print. I luurve ramen, I have a Boblbee backpack (but not these fancy ones) and Star Wars. Behold!

Stormtrooper eating ramen

Cuz even Stormtroopers, the defenders of the Galactic Empire, need ramen! Of course, this has been done before by Tokyo's Stormtrooper in Residence. One megacity, one stormtrooper.

The ad is for a limited series of Star Wars 30th Anniversary commemorative Boblbee backpacks. Only available in Japan, natch! I picked this ad up when I was in Tokyo last November and stumbled upon Waseda University's 125th Anniversary party.

Part of the fun of going to a baseball game in Japan is appreciating the differences in how the game is enjoyed compared to back home.

For example, let's look at the consumption of beer or "ビール" as it is known over there. For example, at PacBellPark, where the SF Giants lose play, the beers are close to US$9.00 for a small cup, the kind of beer dependent on where in the park you buy it. Some of the kiosks sell PBR and Bud for that price and others sell Sierra and other microbrews. Best to hunt around because I'm not going to pay THAT price for PBR!!

An example of the lack of service culture that pervades the west is that you have to get up from your seat and actually hunt down a kiosk that sells your particular brand of tipple, thus missing the game from the comfort of your seat. Did I mention the 7th inning cutoff? No more beer after the 7th inning. BS!

"hey there, you KNOW you're thirsty! You want a Suntory MaltS!"

Compare this attitude with how beer is served at Tokyo Dome, home of the Yomuri Giants. Unlike in the US where you have to get up and miss the game, annoy other patrons and risk spillage to get a beer, in Tokyo, the beer comes to you. The Tokyo Dome beer girls, each one representing a different brand (Kirin, Asahi, Sapporo, Suntory, Yebisu plus Coca-Cola beverages and others) work the aisles, hawking beers, beverages and snacks that can be thrown. All the major brands are represented by these girls who use minikegs worn like backpacks to dispense beer. How refreshingly progressive!

Besides beer, the girls have snacks too.

Make it Suntory time! Try getting THAT at a MLB game in the US...

This was the first beer of the night for me...a Kirin!

...must concentrate...

There's other silliness that happened at the game that will be written about later!

Continuing my series on excellent advertising...here's a couple that were plastered all over JR Akibahara eki.

This one I took as I was going down an escalator

This was the other one. I couldn't get a picture of it (too many people to explain why I'm taking pictures of adverts) so I pinched it from here.

This ad is part of a spring campaign. It's sakura season in Japan, ya know! Deets on the ad campaign here. Minami Akina's (the model) website here.

You know you've left Japan when the showers and baths don't seem as hot, efficiency is a lost concept, the people aren't as nice (in all ways) and rudeness and stupidity rule the day.

On the plus side, my iPhone works, I can drive here and my broadband connection is stable.

(sigh) welcome home...

Well, sorta. I'm out here in Tokyo to watch the MLB opener against the Boston Red Sox. Natch, the A's blew the lead in the bottom half of the game.

Here's how the tickets looked like.

And here's a very confused clerk at the New Otani Hotel who I asked to hold the tickets.

They're not THAT precious...!

Here's the World Series trophy. It seems the the Red Sox take it everywhere they go. For many Japanese fans, this is the first time that they will see the actual trophy in person.

The point of coming out here was to experience the Japanese twist on baseball. This began the opening ceremony with Awaodori dancers. They danced to an beat that was piped throughout Tokyo Dome and I swear that there were members of Edokko-Ren present!

Down where our seats were, there were dancers in the aisles!

Both national anthems were sung, first the Star Spangled Banner by some jazz vocalists than 君が代 was sung by a Japanese opera singer. Since she was singing toward center field, all I could get was her back. But her voice gave me goose bumps!!

Speaking of seats, ahem, our seats were just to the right of home plate, 7 rows back from the dugout! Talk about the benefits of commitment!!

The view was sooo incredible here. In sooo many ways!

Despite this technically being a home game for the A's, the crowd was pro-Red Sox and the only people cheering for the A's seemed to be the 50 or so people in our section. Go figure. Of course, you can figure out why since Matsuzaka Daisuke (松坂 大輔) was the starting pitcher for the Red Sox.

An obviously pro Red Sox crowd

There's more to come, this entry may be updated later.

Bye!

Why is it at the END of my trip, THAT's when I find new cool Japanese places to hang out at? One of them, I nearly lost track of time and almost missed my train that went to my plane...

There's a new place called Soba Totto on E 43rd, near Grand Central Station. Their soba was OK but their yakitori kicked ass! Great stuff. Great decor and a young and hip 日本人 staff. They're open late too. I'll blog and report next visit.

On this trip, I stayed at the Pod Hotel again. It has a great Midtown location and is an "affordable" place to stay on the Island. Because US$89/night during off season is a good deal!

On my way to JFK on Monday via the 6 to the S to the 1-2-3 to Penn Station to the LIRR to Jamaica to the AirTrain (sounds harder than it is), I found myself pulled into a new tea shop called Tafu. And it was open!

Actually, I first noticed this place on Sunday, as you have to walk by it going to or from the 51st Street station. They're closed on Sundays so I had to wait until today to get my fill of sencha before embarking on my long journey across three time zones and the continent back to SFO. Pix next visit since it was kind of busy during the lunchtime rush to take pix..

Soba Totto
211 East 43rd Street (between 2nd Ave & 3rd Ave)
New York NY 10017
(212) 557-8200

Tafu
Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel (on 51st between Lex & 3rd)
New York NY 10022
http://www.tafuny.com

Has anyone noticed how yupped out the Lower East Side has become? Between Katz's Deli and that monster Whole Foods, there's a lot of juice-box yuppie places now with a lot of juice box yuppies patronizing these places who I'm sure, wouldn't venture into the Lower East Side a year ago without a posse and a police escort. Now they are all over the place now. Even in Katz's!

May I present, a pastrami reuben. Before it was devoured!

Inside Katz's, there are tables along the wall with big signs (written in English) that say "Waiter Service Only". During my 30 minute "scarf the big sandwich down" session, I saw three different parties who walked over to the empty table, made a point of reading the sign, decided that "they don't me ME" and sat down with their friends. Only to have the waitress order them out in the most quaint New York way (loud volume with threat of violence. OK, I made up that last part but they moved!). Sigh.
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A few months ago, I blogged about the news that MUJI has opened a store in SoHo. I made a visit there and was a bit disappointed.

Well, it looks like a MUJI

According to the staff I spoke to, many of the things that the store carries are things that don't require regulation. To make this easier to understand, here's some of the things that MUJI sells that can't be brought to the US because of the need of these things to be regulated.

There's no MUJI food, appliances, CD player, bicycle, stereo, house and many of the home furnishings that they're known for.

But there is a good selection of the stationary products, dishes, some clothes and linens that make up the core of MUJI's product line. It's a nice sampler into the world of MUJI, but for those of us that have seen the Yurakcho store in Tokyo, it's a bit of a letdown.
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According to a local Japanese newspaper, Sapporo USA will be re-importing my favorite favorite beer, Yebisu! At least to New York City. Let's hope that a nationwide re-launch is in the works! Hit the link and check them out. I've had all of them!

Burp.

Have I mentioned how much I luurve Japanese advertising? This was on the walls of the major train/subway stations during my last Japan visit in November. So loooong ago!!

It's an advert for the Japan Economic Times (日本経済新聞), a publishing group that seems to be the Japanese counterpart to Dow Jones.

But the WSJ dun have advertising like this!!

Note: Yeah, this happened when I was in Kyoto last November. It's been a busy month!

After my long hike up and down 伏見稲荷大社 (Fushimi Inari Taisha), I stopped off at Kyoto Station (eki) to confirm my ticket to Tokyo the next day. On my way out, I wound up doing a double take when this girl who was having a smoke recognised me. Me? Who do I know in Kyoto?

Then it hit me. Moonwalker Bar! Last night! Red cardigan sweater! Why do I remember this trivial detail instead of "wow, whatta babe" or her name? Then it hit me again. I think I got into a slightly drunken debate with Yuki-chan about types of sweaters and she was wearing a red cardigan. Yuki-chan was wearing a black pullover. Yeah, that's it. And that's how she remembered me!

We wound up borrowing each other for a couple of hours, getting to know the other (and for me to practice non-existent language skills).

I told her she was beautiful (anata wa bijin desu)...

and then she promptly started to giggle! (universal language) A lot!

And that was pretty much how our conversation went (in broken Japanese & English and a lot of laughing), until her long distance bus arrived to take her back to her college. And the reason why we guys don't shoot from the hip when it comes to the opposite sex.

Now what was this (besides two months late)? Was it fate, coinkidink or weirdness that makes a good travel story? Who knows. I know that she's studying painting and wants to one day open up an art gallery/cafe somewhere in Tokyo. Somehow I can imagine being in Daikanyama and talking about sweaters while having a doppio expresso crema when I see her again (purely by chance). Think I'll get comped? (hahahaha)

Remember this scene from Memoirs of a Geisha (AKA Sayuri in Japan)?

It looks dramatic because it is! Thanks Roy!

In this picture, it looks very dramatic. And in real life, it's dramatic as well. Fushimi Inari-taisha is the name of the temple in Kyoto that's really a MOUNTAIN with paths covered in torii.

This is the beginning. It's all UPHILL from here...

If you can get over the fact that you're climbing a MOUNTAIN, it's really beautiful and it's more torii gates then you'll ever need to see for your entire life.

This was pretty much the view for 2+ hours. There were lots of rest stops though.

Then when you get to the top, do you get a view or some kind of "you're done, yay" sign? NO. You do get a shrine and a rest stop where the lady, who doesn't speak much english but must get this question a lot, said "is top" as I asked her if she spoke english.

I understand that this is a shrine and all, but is this IT? Yup...

I took a lot of artsy fartsy pix on the trudge up the mountain. Eventually they'll show up here...