Day Eighteen

So trying to keep this blog updated is a bit of a hassle, if you haven't already guessed by now. Which is why I don't write everyday. On the plus side, though, my weekdays/schooldays are usually pretty monotonous and uneventful, so that if I do find the time to write during the weekdays, I can just catch up on what went on earlier in the week/end, cuz I think that might be more interesting to hear about than my frustrating class experiences and severe lack of Japanese comprehension.

Last Sunday (the day after I posted my previously long ass post), I had what appeared to be a failure of a day. I headed to the Kanda district of Tokyo, the area which has all the used book stores. I located a copy of an out of print book called "Oni no Kenkyu" (lit. "Demon Research" or "Research on Demons") which I wanted to pick up. It's about an hour and three transfers to get there from Yokohama, so it's not the easiest of trips to get there. Something told me I should maybe abort the mission for the day cuz the weather forecast called for heavy rain, but I really wanted that book! (Not that I can read it or anything, but still...) I got lost trying to locate the bookstore, and I must have passed it about 5 times before I realized that you have to go into another store to get to the store I was looking for. Oh Japan and their address system. As luck would have (my luck at any rate), the store was closed for the day cuz it was raining pretty heavily. Stupid me, I should have called ahead before going all that way, cuz really, who goes bookshopping in the pouring rain??? Especially rare book shopping!! *sigh*

What's funny is that I owe an obnoxious European tourist for inadvertently helping me find the store. I was lucky to have an umbrella on hand to get some shielding from the rain. But a group of tourists (I am assuming they were tourists since they appeared to be white, didn't speak Japanese, and instead spoke what sounded like some type of Eastern European language) didn't have any umbrellas so they were getting drenched. But what really kinda irritated me was that one of them actually stole someone else's umbrella! In Japan, it's common practice to leave your umbrella in the umbrella stand outside the shop so that you don't get anything wet. (I know this is pretty common practice in the States too but Japanese people take politeness to a whole new level so that's there's never any suspicion that someone might actually steal your umbrella.) I just thought that was such a fucked up thing to do, to take someone's umbrella when it's pouring outside. I know that I probably commit a whole lot of faux pas here in Japan (like walking and eating, I'm definitely guilty there!) but I at least try not to do anything that will negatively effect someone else. Anyway, the store where he stole the umbrella was the store I was looking for! So at least the asshole helped out in that respect.

Anyway, after my failed attempt to get that book, I headed to Shimokitazawa to confirm the sublet I will be renting for when my brother gets to Japan. At least I was able to accomplish that much. Then I headed to Musashisakai for the Battle of Disarm show which I have been anxiously awaiting since arriving here....

So once I get to the club, they tell me that Battle of Disarm won't be playing because the bassist couldn't take time off of work!! Arrrrgh!! I was so disappointed. Another failure! But I came all that way, and I got a free ticket to the show, so I figured I would just make the most of it. There were five bands on the bill that night, and the first three were kinda just, eh. But the last two were great so I ended up having a good time. Here's some pics of one of the bands, Amour, which were celebrating their demo release:




The lead singer was awesome. She seemed like a pretty chill person when she was hanging out while the other bands were playing, but once she got on-stage, she was crazy, in a good way. Kinda made me think of all those assumptions and presuppositions that the guy I hung out with on Saturday was blurting out from his diarrhea mouth--if I cared enough (I don't), all I had to do was drag him to a show like this to prove to him that things, including people, are just not what they appear to be at times. Simple lesson, which I hope he learns with age. But I'm tired of wasting time and space on him, so moving on....

Here's pics of OldDickFoggy, who are one of my new favorite things to listen to. They were sooo fucking great. I picked up their 7 inch, and I guess they are in the process of getting their full-length cd ready. I really hope to see this band again soon...




So even though Battle of Disarm didn't happen, it was still a great show. And Battle play the last Sunday of every month, and I was assured by Ryuji that they will be playing at the end of July. I will keep you all posted about whether this will happen....

Oh, and by the way, I ended up just ordering the book online and had it mailed to be, which would have been cheaper and less hassle, had I done that originally. I actually received it today and it looks great. Not many pictures, but looks like it would have a lot of really good information. Now if only I could get my reading level up to par....

Day Fifteen

Oh, I hate politics. But I just can't seem to get away from it. The last two days I've encountered people who say some really strange, hypocritical, and obnoxious things. For instance, in class yesterday (Friday) one person gave a 3-minute speech about the current crisis over North Korea's threat to launch ballistic missiles, and a 15 minute discussion ensued afterwards regarding US and Japan policy about how to handle the situation (ok, too many scare quotes to be found in this sentence, so place them leisurely at your will...) Now, my Japanese isn't anywhere near good enough to sufficiently participate in such a debate (nor is my knowledge of East Asian politics) so for most of the time I was content to sit back and just listen. But I got really annoyed when one person in class just flippantly called Kim Jong Il "irrational" as if that explains EVERYTHING. Ummm, maybe it's just me, but I don't see how the pathologization of a single individual replaces a more sustained critical analysis of the complex histories regarding Japanese colonial ventures in and around Asia, U.S. foreign policy and its own imperialist interests in East Asia, whatever internal and external political divisions that are going on in the Korean peninsula, etc.etc.etc. that, y'know, may just happen to also inform the current state of affairs between North Korea, Japan, and the U.S. I mean, I'm not defending Kim Jong Il whatsover, but all I'm saying is that mmmmaybe it goes a little deeper than just the kind of sensationalistic fearmongering that passes as legitimate news that we see so much of in the mainstream media. My contribution to the discussion was a simple, "What do you mean that he is irrational?" One other student, who is Taiwanese, followed up by saying, "Well, isn't your (i.e., U.S.) former president Bush also irrational?" Everyone in the class kind of had to laugh in agreement to that one. Really, it was kind of a pointless conversation, but kudos to the student who gave the initial speech for making us learn how to say things like "Cabinet Legislation Bureau" and "defense policy division of the Liberal Democractic Party Policy Research Council" in Japanese. I will be generously peppering all my future Japanese conversations with these useful phrases. Also, I must say that I am grateful for having two Taiwanese students in my class, who are able to provide some much needed insight into our conversations that tend to get a bit too heavy into a U.S.-Japan dichotomy.

This incident wasn't really a big deal, but it just confirms my decision going into this program to keep all my conversations as light as possible. For instance, more examples of my practice sentence structures:
"After spending time with my friend the vampire, I too decided to sleep in a coffin every night."
"I thought to myself, wouldn't it be great if I could enjoy eating brains like a zombie."
"My friend was killed by a zomble, so I decided to avenge his death."
I have now successfully pigeonholed myself as the vampire/zombie/weirdo whose sentences are good for a cheap laugh. Yes.
And my three-minute speech is on Monday. I chose the oh-so-interesting topic of my vegan meal at Gaya (see previous post and pictures). And my friend Chen-san (one of the Tawainese students in the class) asked, "what no vampires??" To which I responded, "no, that will be my next speech." Now I just need to figure out exactly what about vampires I will be speaking about. U.S.-Japan vampire relations, perhaps??

Speaking of Chen-san, here's a pic of us in front of Soji-ji Temple, where we went on a fieldtrip yesterday. It was a bright sunny day out, and we, being vampires, could not successfully have the details of our faces taken by the camera.




Speaking of the fieldtrip to the temple, is it wrong that I find Buddhist monks really hot? Two years ago, the monk who gave us the tour of the temple was really hot. This year, we got yet another hot monk! What the heck??? Is being a hot young monk a prerequisite for conducting tours of the temple? At one point during the tour, he stopped and asked if anyone had any questions. Me, being so stealth and subtle, decided to try to take a quick snapshot of him to show you, the readers of my blog. Of course, no one had any questions, and the empty silence of his inquiry was broken by the loud *click* of my SLR camera. OOOOPS! The other students around me laughed at my indiscretion. I, of course, was really embarrassed. And for all the trouble, the picture came out all blurry!! Damn. But here it is. Use your imagination...


That said, I should say that I do really enjoy the zen meditation exercise we did. It made me think that I should pursue more meditation and maybe look into the Buddhist temple near my apartment over in Hollywood. The lingering trauma of organized religion (i.e., Catholic school) is still a bit too strong for me to go through with it though. But we'll see....

When the tour was over, I wandering over to the gift shop and bought some of Soji-ji incense, which the salesperson proudly pointed out was the temple's own original scent. So now my closet/apartment in Yokohama smells like a Japanese Buddhist temple. Hey, it's no Nag Champa, but it'll do!

After the temple, I headed into Tokyo to do some punk rock record shopping. I mentioned in my last post that I'm really excited about seeing Japanese anarcho-vegan crust band Battle of Disarm. Turns out the lead singer also operates a punk record store in Daitabashi called DIY Records. I headed over there and after not too much trouble located the shop:


I chatted with Ryuji for a while, and got a bunch of recommendations for various Japanese punk bands to check out and ended up blowing around 100 bucks in music. A lot of it was on vinyl so, again, I'm gonna have to wait until I get back to the States to enjoy it. But I did get a couple cds so I'm set for a while. Hopefully. And he gave me a complimentary ticket to the show on Sunday so I'm pretty damn excited about going to see Battle of Disarm live. Whoohoo!


Here's some pics of the interior of the store.



There's something about being in such a small, somewhat cramped space chock full of records, tapes, posters, flyers, and anarcho-zines that just makes me feel so much more comfortable. I guess walking to school everyday and having to literally walk through two shopping malls to get there takes a toll on a person. (Maybe next time I'll take some pics of my daily walk thru the malls.) After five consecutive days of that back and forth, you begin to thirst for something, anything, that breaks up that routine. And so it was really nice being in an intimate space like the DIY record store, with someone who was quietly doing his own thing, staying true to his own politics, or at least trying to as best one can. I really appreciate that. So that's why I didn't feel at all guilty for spending so much money at this store cuz, unlike my trips to the grocery store or convenience store, I'm actually supporting a small independently owned operation.

So I started off this post with a rant about politics, so let me continue a bit further down that path, with whatever necessary digressions come along. So today (Saturday) I spent part of the day with my friend Ryan who also graduated from the UCLA Asian Am program and is in Tokyo right now conducting his dissertation research here in Japan on post-war Okinawan history. We had lunch at a restaurant in Ikebukuro and then did a bit of browsing in a large bookstore in the area. Afterwards, we chilled a bit in the public square, listening to some folkie singers who were giving a free performance there.


This part of the day was really fun and relaxing, and it was just nice to hang out with someone whose politics are pretty similar to my own. There's a certain comfort in being around someone who kinda just gets it. I mean, we hardly even talked about anything overtly political, a lot of our conversation was about Japanese TV (he told me there's a new TV drama right now called, "My mom is a new-half"--"new half" being the term used in Japan for someone transgendered) and we also reminisced about how great 80s post-punk is, how hot Siouxsie Sioux is, and how we grew up loving certain record labels (him 4AD and me Alternative Tentacles and Earache). And sitting on the next bench over, was this really awesome old guy who we both decided was pretty bad ass. He looked like some character straight out of a Japanese comic book. I again tried my hand at my stealth and subtle photographic techniques by pretending to take a pic of Ryan and instead focus on this dude. So click on the picture below to enlarge and see what I mean.


After hanging out with Ryan, I headed to Shibuya to meet up with some dude I had met earlier last week on the internet. This part of the day was not so much fun, and I'll explain why in a second. We decided to go for dinner at a vegan restaurant in the area. Our first attempt was not successful, since the restaurant he chose was no longer vegan. (I guess running a vegan restaurant just doesn't pay the bills sometimes...) So we headed to a different one around the corner called Vegan Healing Cafe. Enroute to the restaurant, he bombarded me with information about why he thought PETA was fucked up, and he cursed all the big SUVs that got in his pedestrian way, etc. Now, let me just say that in all likelihood this person's politics is probably very much in line with my own, but it's the way he expresses his politics that I find so fucking obnoxious. And a lot of our dinner conversation just annoyed the fuck out of me. So while we ate a relatively good vegan meal (with some great desserts at the end), he started complaining about how there's no radical queer activist groups in Japan. His background, by the way, is that he is from Ireland, moved to Portland with his folks, but has been living in Japan the last two years. So anyway, in response to his comment, I just offered that maybe there is some type of "radical" queer politics going on in Japan but that it is just something he hasn't been able to locate. He responded that he has actively sought it such groups and that none exists, and that the group that would be the closest thing to such "radicalism" wouldn't even let him join their group. Oh my god the nerve of them!! I politely suggested that perhaps they didn't feel comfortable with having someone who wasn't from Japan joining their group and that it was their right to decide who could join and who couldn't. He replied, "I can understand that to a certain extent....I guess," and then rolled his eyes as if to indicate his overt disgust and derision of a group that wouldn't want him as a member. Then he proceeded to tell me how behind Japan is in its queer theory and that queer theory is so much more "radical" and exciting in the U.S. academy. Me, being the kind of asshole that I am, allowed him to go on his long rant about how great queer theory is, without really mentioning that, um, yeah I kinda specialize in that field as well. And this guy is no fool, let me just say that. He is well-informed, intelligent, critical. He offered a really great class and race-based critique of the fallacies of gay marriage. But it's one of those situations where someone can say all these really insightful things but then turn around and be completely blind to his own imperialist imaginings about the "proper" way of being a "radical" (queer or otherwise). I mean, c'mon, do you really think that just because there's no overtly visible "queer radicalism" going on that it doesn't exist? For someone who does a lot of complaining about how Japan is stuck in the 90s assimilationist utopia of queer activism, he doesn't seem to get that maybe, just maybe, his own entrenchment in the politics of visibility (isn't that also an outdated paradigm??) doesn't allow him to "see" that there just might be more subversive ways of inhabiting your activism that just saying, 'yes, i'm here, i'm queer, get used to it?' That maybe the social/political conditions of Japan don't warrant the same form of "radical" "activism" around one's sexuality as that found in the States? For example, that maybe Japan isn't governed by the same conservative Christian stranglehold that would immediately censor an American equivalent to something like "My Mommy is a Tranny" to be aired on national TV? That maybe, his definition of "queer" "radical" "activism" (all scare quotes, mind you) isn't the universal norm and can't be so easily traced onto another culture/country of the world? Is that what your exciting, cutting-edge queer theory is teaching you? If so, well, maybe we've just read different theorists. Or maybe you're just an ass.

Anyway, I tried to be very diplomatic about this situation. And I spent most of the time just listening to him talk. It was one of those situations where I learned a lot about him, but I don't think he learned all that much about me. He wanted to hang out after dinner but I told him I was gonna head home cuz I'm not a night person (true) and that I had laundry to do (again, true). Of course, both those things could have been easily pushed aside if I was enjoying spending time with him. But either I'm a really good actor or he wasn't paying much attention, cuz he wanted to schedule another time to hang out again. I don't get it.

And by the way, that is pretty much how I decide whether or not I want to do something with someone: would I rather be sleeping? studying? doing laundry/cleaning the apt? If the answer is yes to any or all of the above, then I try to get out of the situation. And in this case, the answers were YES, YES, and YES!

So anyway, sorry to bore you with this long rant. But it just goes to show, you just can't win! You have fucked up people on one side of the political spectrum. You have fucked up people on the other. What can ya do really?

Oh, and another side note, for those who question why I refuse to go out with anyone in academia, there you have it, a prime example. I probably should have cut off communication with this guy once I learned he was in graduate school, but a certain someone (who shall remain nameless) encouraged me to pursue it. With no fault at all directed at that person, I decided I would try it out, but I should have known better. But whatever, it's done and I can chalk it up to experience. In case you are wondering, I did go home and do laundry, which is drying right now while I am writing this. I have also beeing listening to my new J-punk cds. So the night ended on a happy note.

I am now gonna fold said laundry and head to bed.
Remember to write me and keep in touch!

Day Eleven

I know, I know, I've neglected this blog for the past week. My apologies. Ever since school started, I've been busy trying to catch up on homework, cursing my language abilities, and/or feeling dejected about why I'm even here. Usually a combination of all three. That's one of the difficult things about learning a language. You feel so incompetent and frustrated that you cannot express yourself in a way that you are used to. In some ways its a really great challenge since it forces you to really clarify what exactly you want to say, and you realize just how much you take for granted the kind of shortcuts and imprecisions that you can usually get away with when speaking in your native tongue. I appreciate all that, but it's still damn frustrating and anxiety-inducing, and can make a person go mad. I got three hours of sleep trying to catch up on school work last night, and I still didn't manage to finish all that I had to!

So far the classmates are ok. It's only the first week so it's hard to say for certain, but everyone seems pretty chill, though I STILL don't understand why everyone likes Haruki Murakami. Seriously, Japan has a long and varied literary history, and to have it reduced to him seems kinda ridiculous. Anyway, his new book 1Q84 is evidently a literary sensation over here, selling out in all the bookstores and such. It's supposed to be some spin off of Orwell's 1984. (Q, or "kyuu", in Japanese means 9.) This does nothing to make me think any higher of him. We're currently reading an article about literary translation in class, and the author uses the work Murakami as an example. I guess Murakami translates American literature on the side, such as "Catcher in the Rye", and the works of Raymond Carver, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc. The white American canon, wow how impressive. *snore*

Anyway, speaking of translation, I have yet to embark on the translation project, but I did take steps today to start. I actually printed out a couple pages that I want to work on this week. Ok, so I still need to find the discipline to actually sit down and work on it, but I figure that will come. All in good time.

Oh here's funny anecdote, sorta. So whenever we learn new grammar patterns, we have homework in which we have to write sample sentences to show we understand the usages. Now, I usually take these sentence-writing exercises as an opportunity to amuse myself by writing something silly or morbid or whatever. Well, today we actually went around the room and read our sentences aloud to everyone in class! Everyone was reading sentences about the weather or studying Japanese or going to see a movie, etc. And there I was saying things like, "Because capitalism enslaves everybody, I couldn't help but cry" and "Since humans really aren't very interesting, it's best to die and come back in another form." Fortunately, I think everyone was just tuning each other out, since we all share a collective anxiety about reading/speaking in class.

Anyhow, enough talk of school!!! If you couldn't tell by the tone of this post, I'm feeling a bit better about my time here. Still a bit homesick and still missing easy access to vegan food, but I remember now why I love being in Japan. Music shopping here is fantastic!! I have a hard time controlling myself, as I mentioned in my last blog post.

Some of the goodies that I got recently:
The Cure's "Faith" (possibly my favorite Cure album) Japanese vinyl edition for 6 bucks!
Amebix "The Power Remains" on vinyl with gatefold sleeve (8 bucks!)
For a little taste of home, check out these 7 inches that I found, both under 10 bucks:



Also finding some great Japanese stuff. These two records are long out of print:
Zeni Geva "Maximum Love & Fuck"
Envy "Angels Curse Whispered in the Edge of Despair"


Of course I can't wait to get home and listen to these "treasures" (as Go calls them). Speaking of my crazy roommate, he told me he couldn't make it to Japan this summer cuz he is having too much fun record shopping in LA and has spent so much of his money on vinyl that he realistically cannot afford to come to Japan right now. Haha. I'm sure he's enjoying my absence and has set up permanent camp in the living room in front of the turntable.

I also saw a poster for this upcoming show in Tokyo:


Fuck yeah, a doom metal fest!!

Also, vegan anarcho-crust band Battle of Disarm have been playing a series of shows this year, with one scheduled this coming weekend. I'm not exactly sure where it's gonna take place. I guess I have to email them for info...in my horrible Japanese. *sigh* (Brock, if you're reading this, hopefully they'll play a show while you're here in Japan!)

For those of you in the States, specifically in California, the amazing tattoo artist Shige, who is also based out of Yokohama, just released a new book on through San Jose's State of Grace/Horitaka's publishing company. Shige is on a book tour and will be at Canvas LA on June 27. You folks in LA should go and check it out! Shige's work is incredible and I'm sure it will be an amazing event. I wish I was gonna be there!! I'm very tempted to pay the $250 for the new book!! (It's "research" right??!) I've been trying to get on Shige's waiting list but it's 3 years long, and he only comes to the US like once a year. I was planning on visiting his shop while I was here in Yokohama, but he's over in California right now. Oh the irony.

Finally, in case you were wondering, I'm still cooking a lot at home since the idea of going to a Japanese restaurant and trying to explain being vegan is still too daunting a task to overcome. But I found out that there's a vegan restaurant over by Yokohama station which I might try this weekend.



Next time I'll try to post more pics from Yokohama. I haven't been carrying my camera around lately cuz we're in the midst of rainy season and it's been pouring everyday. (Hot, humid and wet, yuck!) Today's the first day in the past week that's it's been sunny.

Ok, time to hit the books....

Day Five

Japan brings out some of the worst in me: an exponential materialism, especially for music; the tendency--if not actual desire--towards depression and isolation; distrust and disgust towards white people, which oftentimes extends to all people in general. Of course these are things that I carry with me in the states. But it is so much more amplified here. Or at least it feels that way.

I'm tired and need to sleep off these feelings. So while I was planning on a much longer post, recapping the last two days' adventures in various used record shops around Tokyo and Yokohama, I think it best to just get some rest and call it a night.

It's funny though. After spending over a 100 bucks on music this past two days (see above re: materialism, told ya so!) the only thing I really needed was the one cd that was the cheapest in the bunch. The 5 dollar scratched-up bargain bin copy of Rancid's "Life Won't Wait" cuz it reminds me of home.

"Easy, you know it ain't easy
Got to make a decision
Got to learn to say no, no no..."

Day Three

I got a new Japanese cell phone. Too lazy to take a pic at the moment so I'll just do that later.

(Ha, it's only day three and I'm already tired of this blog!)

I also signed up for a one-and-a-half month gym membership at the local Gold's, upon advice of Sharon, who wisely said that "imagining you doing yoga in a tiny little room with your foot constantly kicking the crockpot does not make me feel happy for you." It's true, my room is too tiny to do yoga--let alone any kind of movement faster than a slow crawl--unless it's the type that doesn't require any type of lateral extension. What's funny is that the employee who signed me up remembered me from two years ago! I was like, really?? She said she remembers my big piercings. Large gauged plugs is still a rarity in Japan, evidently. (Last time I was here even my teachers asked that I remove my plugs so they could take pictures of the big holes in my ears...) Luckily, when signing up for the gym this time around, I didn't have to go through the full body inspection to evaluate my tattoos like last time. I would think if the employee remembered my piercings she would also remember my ink. But maybe she thought it would just be easier to strategically avoid mentioning it. After all, on the questionnaire form I had to fill out for new members, she told me how to answer the yes/no questions, even though the form they gave me was in English! For example, one of the questions is "Do you have any health problems in the past or at present?" She said, answer NO. But who hasn't had any health problems???! Anyway, whatever, at least she made the process painless and non-humiliating, so I thank her for that!

One of the things that I was thinking about as I was walking to and from the gym was how living in a different country really messes up the daily lifestyle choices that you make at home. Especially the small, yet not insignificant, ways we try to maneuver through the politics of everyday life. For example, back in the States, I try to support small independently-owned businesses when I can. But here in Japan, I buy a lot of things in the big corporate retail establishments. Lame, I know. But it is most convenient. (That's how they getcha, huh?!) I thought about this as I passed through Noge-cho and saw this small veggie grocery store run by an elderly couple. I remember this store the last time I was here, cuz it is located right next to Horiyoshi's studio, and I was happy to see that they were still in business despite all the economic issues in this country. So I thought to myself, I should get produce here instead of the big grocery store by my apartment. I decided to pick up some of their lotus root on my way home. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked by used CD shopping and by the time I got back to the store they were closed. Argh! Next time...

So that's my life in Japan. Carrying around a new corporate mobile phone. A new corporate gym membership. Some food from a corporate grocery store. Man, this is depressing me. Even the damn CD I bought today is on Sony. *sigh*

Day Two

Spent today hanging out in Tokyo. First stop, visited a buddy of mine who works at this clothing shop in Shibuya called Peace Maker. High end t-shirts with tattoo-inspired designs. Really cool stuff but on the pricey side. They collaborate with a lot of Japanese artists and musicians, and the guys who work there are all big tattoo enthusiasts. They flipped out when I told them I got some ink from Grime. We showed off our new ink and took snapshots of each other's tattoos. He has a sleeve-in-progress being done by Genko in Nagoya.



One of the other guys who works there has sleeves-in-progress by Shige, another artist who I really want some work from. (But who also has a 2-3 year waitlist!) I didn't get a chance to snap any pics of his sleeves but next time I will. He has a cool Tibetan theme going on with his tats, including an image of the Dalai Lama!

Afterwards headed to Shinjuku to meet Akkin, who I've known now for over 13 years (damn!) We met while I was studying in Fukuoka back in '95-96.

While I was waiting I bought some snacks at Muji. Bittermelon chips and apple chips:


and washed them down with some plum-apple juice:


complete with a little pickled plum at the bottom:


Then Akkin treated me out to a really great vegan-friendly organic macrobiotic restaurant in Yoyogi-Uehara called Gaya. The meal was prepared beautifully and tasted amazing.

The tofu karaage tasted so much like the real thing (fried chicken) that it kinda freaked me out!


Renkon (lotus-root) steak was delicious:


Tofu skewers was also really yummy:


Finally, assorted desserts, since Akkin shares a love for sweets as well.
Strawberry parfait, chocolate cake, sesame soy ice cream and blueberry cheesecake, all vegan!


If only I could eat like this everyday!!!

Day One

First full day in japan. Funny how it's not as miserable as i thought it would be. But then again, it is only day one. and I haven't started school yet. and the bad things tend to stick in your memory a bit longer than you'd like anyway. Give me another week then I'll start the bitching. cuz by then I would have probably exhausted all my food options and I'll be craving a vegan cobb salad or soyrizo burrito. But I'm gonna try not to think about that at the moment.

Spent most of the day running errands and trying to get the closet that is called my apartment in order. I think pics are more fun than reading text. So here ya go.


That's 6,086 yen (about 60 bucks) worth of groceries right there. All (hopefully) vegan, except for the green tea flavored soymilk which I think has shellfish-derived calcium (why?!?!) and the mini choco-croissants (y'know I cheat on desserts!) We'll see how long I can avoid the dreaded dashi (fish powder). And here's the meal I made for dinner:


Tofu and orange bell peppers sauteed in a garlic miso sauce, with brown rice.
How did I manage to find the space to cook a meal in my closet? Well, I spent the day trying to disassemble the bed that was taking up 75% of the room. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, especially when it comes to building/unbuilding stuff, so it took me a while to figure it out. But I was determined! And finally I got it done. Don't have a before pic, but here's the after....


And not surprisingly I injured myself in the process. The pliers slipped while trying to twist off a nut and twisted my right thumb instead. Yay internal bleeding!



I also renewed my membership at the video/cd rental store and borrowed a really bad single just because I think the actor on the cover is yummy. It's some theme song for a TV drama, a mediocre track not worth talking about. So let's just stare at MatsuKen's picture instead. See the huge scar that runs down one side of his face??? HOT!!!!!

Tomorrow I head into Tokyo to see a buddy of mine and show each other our new ink. Then gonna hang out with an old friend to catch up (i.e., talk about boys, or the lack thereof....)

Ok, off to bed.