Tokyo Decadence

Ok, so I have been in Tokyo for just under two days now. WoW!


This city kicks butt! In comparrison to the other cities I have been to across Asia, this one feels the most similar to Canada. However there is still a dinstinct asian flavour unique to Japan here.

Tokyo has the cleanliness and order of Singapore, the crowding and energy of Hong Kong, and the pleasant weirdness of Shanghai.

So in the short time I have been here I have managed to experience a few interesting things and caught them on digital film to boot!



As mentioned in an earlier post, I had authnetic sushi in Tokyo the other night. WoW! It was so delicious! Here you won't find the flourescent green wasabi paste and soy sauce condiment. The deal is that you take the sushi in your chopsticks, flip it over so that you dip the fish in your shoyu, and then eat it in one bite. It was awesome. Just remember not to throw your hot towel at the sushi chef. We watched this one assh*le westerner do that and the restaurant hushed to siolence as the chef stood there, with knife in one hand and the offending towel in the other. He had this look like "What the HELL? Did you just throw your dirty towel at me in MY castle?" Needless to say that punk in his cheap-ass racing jacket got tossed. Even his friends pretended they didn't know him as he got ejected solo.


I LOVE JAPANESE TV! There was this show that actively searched out "maniacs". That means they were showcasing people who were fanatic about things. There was a guy who was a "Junction Maniac", meaning he loved cul-de-sacs and other road junctions. He thought about them, and photographed them. But here on the left is the "Extreme Ironing Maniac". This guy went to extreme lengths to push the physical and mental boundaries of ironing clothes. We saw photos of him ironing clothes on the top of mountains, and he even demonstrated extreme acrobatic ironing where he ran and jumped past a board while grabbing and iron and doing a streak across a dress shirt. The best though was his attempt seen here, at extreme surfing ironing.


Another thing here in Japan is the endless sightings of random cuteness. What I mean is that here, there, and everywhere you will spot these really cool drawings of silliness that kinda add to the surreal experience of being in Japan. In the same street of modern buildings and parking lots, you will run across old temples and such. So when I walk about Japan and see these random cute things, it is kinda like wandering about in a weird dream.

Can't explain it much better than that mate.


Check it out. We went to the Toyota Showroom yesterday and saw the magic of Toyota. Here was this awesome future concept vehicle. It is essentially a one seater pod with an expanding and retracting wheel base. What that means is that it has different modes where you can sit upright like in a regular chair and work at a desk, or it can recline and you can hit the road in what I call "Speed Mode".


This vehicle is so cool. It makes you think of the days when you were a kid and wanted own your very own Gundam. Well it looks like the way things are going at Toyota, you may eventually be able to purchase a Gundam in Fire engine red, with no money down on a three year monthly installment plan. CD Player standard.


Behold! The food of the Rising Sun! We have grilled Okonomiyaki from this terrific "do it your damn' self" restaurant I went to about eight years ago. Still delicious and the beer comes in iced frosty mugs!


When I spotted these "Chocolate Bandaids" I had to buy them. Come on! When I come across a crusty bandaid, the first thing I think about is the sweet melting taste of chocolate. Don't you?

How about these awesome fish pancakes. They are sure to become a rage across asia soon. They are essentially pancakes pored into a fish mold and filled with sweet bean paste, and mochi. Yum!


And finally we have the Sacrifice Shot for this blog. I ran across "Nato Sushi" in a convenience store in Nishi-Shinjuku. Nato is essentially soy beans that were rotted to the point that they are swimming in a sticky slime that produces unyielding stands of mucous like funk that only a runny nose can match. Well I ate the bugger and found myself liking it. Not bad. But the seaweed that you wrap around the rice roll is so dry that it has a way of sticky to your lips and tearing at them the same way a frigid flag pole does to little kids in winter. Ouch! My lips look like I caught the VD.


So, here it is morning in JP, and I got fresh batteries in my camera. I will have more to say later. Ja ne!