Tokyo The Hood

Wow!! After spending so much time in rural Japan, I had forgotten how crowed the streets of Tokyo are!! But oh what a beautiful city! The green space, the lights, the architecture.  But lets go back a bit.

Yesterday, after going for lunch with Marie, I took the train for Tokyo. I got off at Ikebukuro and found myself knowing exactly where to go. Not much had change in a year and I had the feeling of getting back to exactly where I left it. I headed straight for Sunshine city and went to Tokyu Hand. I went a head and bought 9 pairs of glasses for a little under 600$. Yep do the math!!! I was so excited. The kids working at the store were really surprise so I explain to them that glasses are really expensive in Canada and not nearly as nice!! After my shopping bonanza, I walked around Ikebukuro a bit and took the Yamanote line for Shinjuku.

Shinjuku is one of the place in Tokyo I do not really care for. I mean it is nice but I much rather spend time in Roppongi, Harajuku or Shibuya. But since I am staying at Lindsay I spent my evening there waiting for her to be done work.

So I first went up the observatory up the government building and hoped to see Fuji San but once more this year: no chance!! Then I went to Kabuchiko and got harassed by Host!! Wow, I forgot how insistent they can be. Then I went to the ramen dark alley and ate Udon. Tourist always walk down that street, take picture and leave. They never end up eating there so I looked really out of place at the counter between 2 salary men.

It was finally time to meet Lindsay!!! Wow, I can not believe it had been a year!! We chatted for part of the night and then I had the j0y of sleeping on a very comfy couch!!! What a nice change from sleeping on the floor!!!

After my first day in Tokyo I am glad to say that I can still navigate without map!!! Yeah, me!

Sush-qui peut!!!

Well, my stay in Gunma is done... I now enter the second portion of my trip: hellweek. It won't be hell really, but my lazy days are over. Here is what I am looking forward to:

Tuesday to thursday: Tokyo

Friday: Yokoyama

Saturday: Kanazawa

Sunday: Kyoto

Monday: Hiroshima

Tuesday: Miyajima

Wednesday- Friday: Osaka

Saturday: Tokyo-Nagano-Matsumoto

Sunday: Mizunuma

Monday: Shop till I drop

Tuesday: Back to Barrie

That's roughly a total of 2822 KM (excluding my flight back to North America)

Gokusen the Movie

Some people go to teacher’s college, others like me watch Gokusen and learn. (I should also add My boss my hero and Rookies.) Anyway, I can’t believe it’s been 7 years since the first serie!!! I can’t believe I happen to be in Japan when the movie gets release!!! 7 years in the making. This is Epic. The expectation were high… and well the movie lived up to the drama. How to say… the movie was equally as bad as the drama!!! And off course I enjoyed it ;-) 

Now I have to say, I truly believe they had to completely changed the script when it was announced Matsumoto Jun would not take part. In some really sad ways, I think Matsumoto Jun ruined the movie!! So here is my review in point form:

• I think Kame’s part was suppose to be Jun’s part… which would have made so much more sense. They would also have been able to end the love story between Yankumi and Shin… but noooooo!! Matsumoto had to ruin it and decide to do the drama Smile instead!! Way to go Matsumoto… you ruined 7 years in the making!! As for Kame... he did a good job filling in for Shin...
• Kame finally looks like he’s eating!!!
• Gokusen is such a wealthy franchise… you would think they would hired someone to write an interesting plot!! I mean for god sake… they even built a Gokusen shrine outside of NTV!!! (Yeah, you can go and pray there!!)
• Miura Haruma is probably the best looking kid to come out of Japan since Kubozuka Yosuke. Unfortunatly, he seems to be stuck in horrible dramas. I really liked him in Koizora the movie. 
• Yankumi rocks!!!! 
• It was nice seing so many of the kids from the previous 3 seasons!! 
• I think it was a good thing Akanishi could not be in the drama.. afterall we had the Jin wanna be kid from the 3rd season to represent the both of them! 
• I was glad the plot centered arround Miura Haruma’s character!! I was afraid the Jin wanna be kid would be center stage. 
• Yeah Mitsubishi!!! (That one is for you Marie)

And for those who are interested here is a link to the movie trailer.

 

Mizunuma 5 étoiles *****

This morning, I got up a bit later than I wanted to. (8:30 am) yes, even on holiday, I like to get up early. Once more I put aside my plans to go to Nikko and started looking for an Onsen not to far from Ota. I couldn’t find anything interesting until I stumbled on some old American man’s blog. One word: Mizunuma. Less than 1 hour away from Oizumi… and even better, the Onsen is IN the train station… so no need to wonder around town trying to find it.

I was set… At 10:30 I was all packed and ready to go to Mizunuma. Although I had really liked my trip to Oigami, the onsen over there was disappointing so I was a bit apprehensive about going to Mizunuma. Oigami was suppose to be one of the best in Japan. Mizunuma is not known at all. I couldn’t find any reviews nor pictures… So blindly, I jumped on the train and kept my fingers cross that the place still existed and was open on a week day!!

The train ride was easy and required no line change from Oizumi. I got off at Aioi station and jumped on the mountain street car. What an amazing ride through bamboo forest up the mountain along an impressive canyon!!! Just the trip was worth it. Waterfall, flowers, wild birds… such a pretty sight!! I got off at Mizunuma station and as expected, stepped right into the Onsen.

The staff was a bit surprise to see me and seemed really relieved that I spoke enough Japanese to get around. I had to remind them a couple  of time to speak slower. They nicely answered all my questions through out the day ;-) So back to my arrival. They first showed me arround the whole facility.  And explain to me the different bath. Once more, this Onsen does not compare to the ones in Saitama but I must say the overall atmosphere was unbeatable. The view from the baths was simply breathtaking. The place was calm and very clean. The best part was that it only cost 500 yen for the day. (about 6 dollars)

For lunch I bought a local produce bento box for 1000 yen. It was delicious. The eating room was a traditional tatamis room and the national sumo tournament was playing on TV.

At the end of the day, my skin was so soft!!! I just can’t wait to go back. I decided to go back for my last day in Japan!!

Since Harajuku is out of the question this year, I though the Onsen will be the best departure gift to myself.

Feel free to contact me if you need more info about this Onsen in Gunma prefecture. I truly recommend it!

Sunday

Well, Nikko went out of the window once more. It’s been 2 years I mean to go there. It’s not that far. It’s one of Japan’s must see shrine… Yet, I just can’t get myself to go there. Instead, I found myself going to Ota Aeon’s mall once more and Don Quihotte. I got some awesome deals on Russ-K t-shirts and some cool clothing.

At night, Marie and I bought bento boxes and sat down to watch Utaban!! I love Utaban. I love Nakai… except this weeks Utaban was a karaoke comedian special which sucks so we watched ItteQ instead. I don’t usually watch that show (except for some Tegoshi Yuya clips once in a while). Imooto rocks that show and after watching it yesterday I decided I should dress like her for Halloween. If you guys have no ideas what she looks like… just google Imooto from ItteQ. The pictures speak for themselves.

Later at night, there was a Gokusen special. I fell asleep half way through it. Not because it was not interesting but because it was already close to 2 am. I wanted to go to bed early so I could have an early start on Monday and make my way to Nikko.

Oigami in, Tatebayashi out! Nagano no show!!

Oigami IN

Yesterday Ani and I went to Oigami. Oigami is pretty much in the middle of no where after a 45 minutes bus ride from Numata. The landscape was amazing and the cool mountain air felt great. Our day started at 6:30 am. We arrived in Oigami (after taking the wrong bus) at around 11 am. As soon as we got there, we knew this would be a great day!!

We started off by going to the the Fukiware Falls. It was absolutly stunning. Not the biggest falls I’ve seen, but very unsual. It was a great walk in the mountain and definitively worth the trip! I recommand this place if you ever travel in Japan!! 

Along the way, there were a few local cuisine restaurant. We stopped for lunch and I had some white fish. Oishikatta desu!!!!

We then made our way to the onsen. Oigami is known for it’s onsen. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed by the one we went to. Nowhere near as good as the one I went to in Saitama. If I go back, I will check some of the other Ryokan. Gorokaku was not worth it. Anyhow, bathing in the outdoor was still very pleasant. We stayed a few hours and then had to catch back the bus to Numata. 

We got home and watched some funny videos. After going through my budget, I decided not to go to Nagano the fallowing day. I rather keep my money for my excursion to Kansai!

Yesterday was also the day, Marie’s Japanese failed us… Turns out, weeks ago we DID win tickets through the ballot process for Kanazawa. They are getting mailed out to us as we speak… So now we have two pairs of tickets for the same show. We will keep the best seats and we will try reselling them at the venue or exchanging them for one of the other 3 concerts that weekend.

Tatebayashi OUT!

Today, we all got up at 6:30. The girls were going to Nagano and I was going to Tatebayashi. I recounted my money quickly just to see… no way I could afford going to Nagano. I went to Tatebayashi (the greenest city is Japan). Well, true it is green… and very unexciting. Tatebayashi must beautiful for the Hanami but in summer time, it just isn’t that impressive. I walk all the way to Tsutsugaokakoen to see the Lotus flowers. They were hard to find. Even thought the ones I saw were beautiful, there really wasn’t much of them. At this time of the year they should be in full bloom, but they weren’t. I took a few pictures and headed back home.

I stopped by a take out sashimi place and took a whole platter of Maguro sashimi. I took it home and had the pleasure of having lunch with Marie’s TV. Or I should say, me and VSArashi had lunch together.

It is now 2 pm. I just got a mailed from Marie. They finally got tickets from the scalper after 3 hours of hard bargaining and they are now enjoying the concert in Nagano. As for me, I will do my laundry and start planning my day tomorrow. I might go to Nikko tomorrow and Karuizawa on Monday. I am not sure. I will see depending on the weather. Then on Tuesday starts the Journey… to be followed.

Little up-date as I do my laundry...

Well, TV and I had a great afternoon... Now I am doing my laundry. I didn't bring much clothing since I had no place in my suitcase. I will hit Uniqlo when I get to Tokyo this week. I can't wait!

So while I do my laundry I got these pictures from my sister:

Ohhhh. Such great seats. She said she had to sell her soul to the scalper thought. lol. I can't wait for next weekend.

Lazy day!

All plans went out of the window. Spent the day chatting with Ani. Went to Daiso Mart. I love daiso!!!!!!!

After dinner, we watched Himitsu no Arashi. Ohhhh Aiba! What a dork! That TV show is priceless.

In other news, the musical Rent is playing in Japan right now and it features both Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal!!! I wish I could see it.

Kara- ok!!!

First off we finally received the tickets. Big disappointment. F block… But then again we are not sure what it means. There is no official seating map for that venue. So I looked around on the internet and I think they might use the seating chart from Kumamoto. If that is the case or ticket isn’t that bad after all. We would be between 10-13 row of the walkway, directly aligned with the middle stage. Although this ticket is very disappointing for this specific venue, I have to keep in mind how SMALL the venue is (7000 people).

Marie made breakfast Japanese style: Salmon, rice, nori, bonito flake.

So even though we have some of the worst tickets, it is still the closest I will ever see this band. Last year in Tokyo Dome (55 000 people) we were 22nd row on the far end stage side. So that’s a major improvement… not to mention I sat second last row at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka!!! Therefor it should still be a really good show ;-) Hey what the heck! It is Arena seats afterall!!!

In order to prepare for the concert, Marie and I bought super high platform shows. Yep Japanese girl do that so in order to be able to see something we decided to do the same.

Later that day, we went Karaoke with Ani and Marie’s Japanese friends. We pretty much sang and danced the whole K8 song book. The clue of the evening was without any doubts Ani singing Wonderboy and outdoing Yoko at it. (I never knew such a thing was possible.) Perhaps also, all 5 of us doing the Koi no ABO dance and forgetting to sing would rank high in the top five. Oh, and Marie and I sang both Chirarizumu and Murarisuto!!!!







We came back home at 2 in the morning. We had such a great time. Ohhhhh I love Karaoke so much. I really need to practice more of my K8 songs. Back home we always sing NewS since they only have 3 K8 song in the book!!!

I can’t wait to go back!

Ota Power Chuunyuu

The sun was finally out which meant sweating like a pig. That’s the Japan I know. That being said, I thought I would have to stay home all day waiting for the tickets to be delivered but we got a notice that they would not be delivered till the fallowing day. That meant I could go out and enjoy the nice weather, and I did. First off I went to visit Marie at her school. The kids were so cute but very hyper! Then I left by train for Ota. I love trains so much. I hate planes but trains are awesome! From Higashikoizumi to Ota it only takes a few minutes, I am looking forward to riding the shinkansen for the first time this Saturday!!

So I got to Ota and decided to walk to book off. I walked for 1 hour and never found the place. I could have asked for direction but along the way, my focus shifted and  I was no longer interested in going there. I found myself fallowing the road that leads to Royal Chester Ota. My sister had told me about that place a few months ago and I was looking forward to seeing it! What is Royal Chester Ota, you will ask?

The wedding reception hall from the J-dorama Yukan Club

 It’s a very American style banquet hall in Ota. Now the reason I point it out is that it was used as a filming location in the Drama Yukan Club. It is the building they go to for the wedding where Yokaoama and Junnosuke end up dressing up as brides. I tried going inside the building but they were having a reception so I might try another time.

After that I went back towards the station and headed for DON QUIOTTE!!!!! Ohhhhhhhh how much I love that store. Now Ota's store is really small but when I go to Tokyo, I will go to the one in Ikebukuro and the new one in Roppongi!!! But the main event will be when I go to the one in Osaka!!! Somehow everything is better and bigger in Osaka ;-) I love Don Quiotte. Some people a few years back had tried to visit all the Tim Horton in Canada, well one day I will come to Japan and I will visit all the Don Quiotte!!! Ok, enough rambling, all this to say that I spent 3 hours wandering the aisles and looking at all the weirdest stuff Japan has to offer. I bought 2 Japanese floorschairs, a takoyaki machine and a hand towel. As I am writing this I am getting really excited about going back, in 4 days they are opening an extra floor of merchandise!!!! I still have yet to hit the grocery part as well!

Back home, I kept on reading Ook Chung's second book I brought with me. If Contes Buto was a bit disappointing, I have to say L’Expérience interdite is absolutely amazing!! Maybe even better than Nouvelles orientales et désorientées!!! Marie and I finished the day eating dinner (grocery bento box) while watching all the best Japanese TV has to offer. (although last night there was nothing good on TV).

Rain rain go away, come again another day

Yesterday was one of those days where I come up with a wonderfully bad idea and put it to execution!!! I got up early and made breakfast (french toast) as the rain was pourring down outside. Rainning season is running late this year and it surely is putting a damper on my trip. But I will not let the rain stop me. So then we watched TV. Re-runs of Hideaki Takizawa’s old drama are on TV since he’s got a new one starting soon.

At arround 1pm, Marie left for work and I decided to bike all the way to Book Off (about 20 minutes away) Although the sky was very gray, it had stopped rainning so I made my way across Oizumi, got there, bought 2 older magasines with K8 on the cover and then decided to bike all the way to Isesaki (another 19 km).

 Half way there, the rain started pourring so I took out my umbrella and tried to balance on the bike like a good japanese person!! As I finally got home, I notice the sky was a lot clearer straight a head, and since I didn’t make it to Isesaki I decided to bike all the way to Tatebayashi (10 km). I made my way to Tatebayashi, I stopped at a Ministop corner store to buy an Onigiri. A light rain started falling. I ate my onigiri as the ligth rain turned into heavy downpour!!!

I took my umbrella out once again and balanced as well as I could but this time, because of the open air rice field, the wind was really strong and kept pushing me from side to side. I started to think my bike ride was not such a great idea afterall and that I should have learned the first time and stayed home!!

The rain was rushing down and even though I had an umbrella, I was completely soaked! All I could do, now was to protect the magasines I had bought earlier. I finally got home covered in mud.

 I watched re-runs of the second season of Gokusen ( the movie is coming out this week… oh so exciting!) and I finished Ook Chung second short stories book “Contes Buto”. Marie got back from work and we went for sushi. We got back home and watched Arashi on Music Champ. Then we watched Nakai summer drama special. The games were not as exciting as the previous years. The drama season also doesn’t look that great. I’ve decided now to watch Buzzer Beat, and Tacky’s new drama. I migth decided to watch a third one but I still have yet to watch Voice, Kiserazu Cat eyes, Attention Please, Mei-chan and Bloody Monday. I love Japanese TV so much. It is so wonderful being able to watch it in real time. I love the commercials too ;-) There were a few funny ones last night.

 Last nigth before going to bed, we got an e-mail saying out tickets for K8’s concert had been mailled. That means we will receive them either today or tomorrow. We are really anxious about finally finding out where we will be seating. Although it is a really small concert venue, we are hopping to get B2 or B3 blocks tickets. Unfortunatly with our bad luck this year, I am sure we will end up with E or F block tickets. I have to say the whole Japanese system for attending concert is nerve wracking. First you have to be part of the fan club, then you have to enter a lottery to win tickets to a concert then if you did win tickets, you have to wait 2 weeks before the date of your show. They get mailed out to you and surprised surprised you find out where you will be seating.

Last year, we balloted for Tokyo dome, got tickets and we were sitting 18^th row. That was unbeleivable. This year, no luck so far…. We balloted for 9 concerts… got nothing in the lottery. We had to pay double the price for resale lottery seats… and now we are waiting for the tickets from the seller. 

So all this to say that today I will stay home and wait for the mailman (here they don’t give you your mail if you are not home in person). I will probably run before lunch to go buy some magasines (Wink, Duet and Potato are coming out today)  and the rest of the time I will be doing some reading for me and university.