Tag Archives: Chinese food

9th & 10th June 2018: Wicked London (England, Great Britain)

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This will be the last work-trip, at least for a while. I might change my mind later, but for now I’m done with them (although there’s an upcoming family trip rather soon…). Again, we flew in early Saturday morning, and we went to walk around the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.

Then we went to the British Museum. I left them for a couple of hours there and I went to visit some of the lesser-seen galleries.

We had booked tickets for the musical “Wicked” in the Apollo Victoria Theatre at 14:30, so we headed over there. Wicked is a parallel story to “The Wizard of Oz”, focusing on the story of the Wicked Witch of the West, who becomes a social outcast due to her tendency to speak her mind and the strength of her magic. I had really wanted to watch this for a long time, so I used this chance and convinced the group to get there. I absolutely loved it ♥.

After the show, we dropped our things at the hotel. The group wanted to get some rest, so we stayed there for a while, then got out again. We took the underground towards London central and we were in Trafalgar Square for a while.

Then, we went to Chinatown for dinner.

Later, we walked around Piccadilly Circus, checking out some shops and so. We even stopped for cake.

On Sunday morning we went to Saint James’s Park, where we got to meet the local fauna, especially a very adventurous squirrel.

Then we dropped by Buckingham Palace. Although we did not watch the Guard Change, we did see one of the relief marches.

We walked from there to Westminster, saw the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben, along the outside of Westminster Abby.

We visited the Monument to Emmeline Pankhurst and stayed for a while in the Victoria Tower Gardens.

As a final visit, we went to the Natural History Museum.

Finally, we headed off to the airport, and the icing of the cake was that we got caught in a controllers’ strike, so we had like a three-hour delay on our flight and it took forever to get home (;¬_¬). All in all, this was a very… strange trip, and without a doubt the highlight was going to see Wicked, which is something I had wanted to do for a long time, and gave me a couple of hours of enjoyment to myself.

30th July 2017: Tokyo → Yokosuka → Sarushima → Yokosuka → Yokohama → Tokyo {Japan, summer 2017}

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We ended up in Yokosuka [横須賀] because D****e wanted to go to a music and book shop called Yajima Record Honten [ヤジマレコード本店], which was sadly closing the following day. The first thing that we did when we arrived, however, was lunch (because we had not gotten up early and we had spent a couple of hours on trains). Yokosuka is known for being an American army base, so it prides itself on being “Americanised”, and the typical dish seems to be hamburgers. This is the avocado burger I ordered.

After this we walked a block north and found Yajima. The key aspect of this shop was that it had a bunch of posters and signatures from old promos from a bunch of J-rockers. It was a bit of a magical place and it is very sad that it is closed now. I took the chance to buy an unopened, brand new copy of Hyde’s Shallow Sleep single, and we took pictures of a bunch of the promos that were still up, some of them twenty or thirty years old.

Afterwards we walked to the pier to catch a ferry to see Sarushima [猿島], which hosts a few old timer army bases and wartime ruins, aside from some very nice ocean views. It would have been nice if we had managed fewer people around, but alas, we all came by ferry so we all arrived at the same time. Sarushima is the only natural island in Tokyo Bay, and geologically it seems to be a continuation of Futtsu cape on the opposite side of the Bay. Although the name means “Monkey Island” there is no monkey there except in a legend that says that a white monkey guided Saint Nichiren through the fog in Tokyo Bay to the safety of the Island. Sarushima is a World Heritage National Historic Site.

Afterwards we went back to Yokosuka Pier and boarded the Mikasa [三笠] warship which was used as flagship in the Russo-Japanese war (and sank after the war because she blew up. Figures). It is now a naval museum where you can VR the battle. I got VR-obliterated. There is a reason why I did not pursue a military career.

Afterwards we diverted our way to go to Yokohama [横浜] and get nikuman for dinner in Chinatown. We sat on a park bench and ate nikuman and drank bubble tea. Afterwards we walked down by the harbour and through Yamashita Koen [山下公園] and looked at the sunset/night skyline. Finally we caught a train back home.

29th July 2017: Shinjuku, Shibuya & Blended Fam {Japan, summer 2017}

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D****e and I were going to have a relaxing weekend, not leaving Tokyo [東京] and stuff, but she wanted to do some shopping. We started off in Shinjuku [新宿], at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁], which was as always great and on her subway line anyway.

Collage showing Tokyo from above - thousands of buildings that disappear in the background, and some forlone green parks

Afterwards, I wanted to check something in one of the Shinjuku fandom shops (it said to ask the shop assistant, and I can ask, but I was not sure I would have understood the answer, thus she offered to tag along with me). Unfortunately the item I wanted was already gone, life is tough.

Then we went to Shibuya [渋谷] for lunch, Tokyu Hands and Mandarake. Afterwards we walked in the rain towards Royal Flash to check Arly’s Jewellery Line – Blended Fam. Arimatsu, or Arly, is the drummer for Oblivion Dust, and used to play for VAMPS too. He also designs jewellery, and he makes very pretty stuff – unfortunately quite expensive. We chose to drop by this day because he was going to be in the shop greeting fans, and engraving his most affordable piece of jewellery, a pendant made from his used cymbals. Furthermore, if you got one while he was there, he would engrave your initials on it! Fun. I decided to get one, and he was mortified when “SD” was engraved upside-down, yielding to “DS”. He was mortified. Then I joked about it and I gave it a naughty meaning… making him choke with laughter. So… it was a win, I guess?

The artist engraving the pendant, and the material - old cymbals cut out in a heart-shape.

After the event, we headed off to the Tokyo SkyTree [東京スカイツリー]. We were going to see the nearby fireworks with a friend from there, and have dinner later, or have dinner with her if the rain did not stop. In the end only we had dinner – as it was raining very hard and we thought the fireworks would be cancelled, so we headed off to a nice Chinese restaurant at the SkyTree which had extra long gyoza.

Chinese food - dumplings, rice, sweet and sour pork, soup

When we were coming out we saw one last firework, as the show was not cancelled in the end. Live and learn.

Firework sparks behind the structure of the Tokyo Skytree

11th & 12th June 2017: Highlights of London (England, Great Britain)

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As part of my day job, I took a group of customers on a trip to London. Not the best decision in my life, but one that I would repeat a couple of times before I had enough. This was a short getaway – we took off on a red-eye flight on Saturday and we came back on Sunday evening.

Our first stop was The Tower of London, officially called “Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London”. The main Tower, “White Tower”, was built in the 11th century, and additions to it were made up to the 1400s. It was designated Unesco World Heritage Site in 1998. The Tower holds an armoury, some treasure, documentation offices, a few shops and the Crown Jewels of England. And, according to the legend, quite a few ghosts.

After the Tower, we took a moment to see the Tower Bridge.

We had a hotel basically at the end of the world, and we decided to go to drop our things off before we continued on the visit. We saw the Wellington Arc in Hyde Park on the way to the royal palace.

Then we fooled around Buckingham Palace.

Finally we went to Chinatown to have dinner…

… and rounded up the day at Piccadilly Circus.

The next morning we headed off to the British Museum. We had breakfast outside because of course it was one of those times when it’s all warm in London. Waffles = ♥

The British Museum was established in 1753, and opened to the public, in its current location, in 1759. It focuses on human history and art, having branched the natural history items to the Museum of Natural History and all the documentation to the British Library. The museum holds the awe-inducing number of 150 million of artefacts from dozens of cultures of the world, both ancient and modern, with amazing Grecian and Egyptian collections (albeit having disputed ownership…)

Inside the British Museum we separated. I left them to have a walk around the most important areas and I walked into my favourite spots (although the Japanese galleries were still closed. I also got a ticket to see the Hokusai – beyond the Great Wave exhibition, which presents a number of Hokusai’s works organised in series or topics. One is waves, and it shows how Hokusai experimented with textures, shapes, swirls and foam until he found the “perfect” wave – his most famous work, the Great Wave. There is a series on people, another one on mythology, and another one on himself and his family.

After I was done and we had met up again, I helped them found some stuff that they had not seen but still wanted to. Then, we headed off to the Westminster area to see the Big Ben, and although there was some scaffolding already visible, we managed to see the whole thing.

Finally, we headed off to the airport to get back home.

8th (and 9th) January 2017: The jump back to Tokyo… and then completely back… {Japan, winter 16/17}

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At an insane hour in the morning, umbrella-less and in the middle of the rain, I got myself back to the point where buses were finally running to the airport. I dozed away the trip, because else I would have kept tying to read quizzes in Hiroshima-ben, the local dialect, that they were displaying on the bus screen.

I made it to Hiroshima airport and pulled a bunch of things off my backpack to conceal them before I got my boarding pass in case my carry on got checked, but once again the ‘I am a scary gaijin’ thing worked and I was free to go.

I was allowed to get my water bottle in, even with it being half-full, and I had a Calbee crisps breakfast because I could not find a sandwich inside, although in retrospective, maybe I should have gone out and back again as I had time. Then again, I would have had to explain that to security… never mind. So I had coffee and crisps. Not the best option, but what I had available.

When I landed and got back to downtown Tokyo [東京], I met B**** at Shibuya [渋谷] for gyoza, and boy did we eat gyoza. And afterwards she walked me to Shinjuku [新宿]to buy some stuff, and then we went to a cafeteria for cake… well, she had cake, I had a coffee jelly with vanilla which was my new favourite thing in the world. I seriously need to learn to make that.

After that there was a visit to Swallowtail in Ikebukuro [池袋], the butler café, which is as always very fun. We had a bit of a lost butler – he felt kind of new – and not the prettiest one. I noticed that they have uniformed the butlers, too, so now they are all wearing the same thing. After that we dropped by the shop and I got myself a bracelet I can’t wear because my wrist is too thin… and here I thought that I would get away with stuff prepared for Japanese girls… nope.

After that there were goodbyes and thank yous and tears because the only thing that I did the next day was going to the airport, more goodbyes, more tears. Very sad. As always.

Until next time, I guess.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

1st January 2017: Hatsumode {Japan, winter 16/17}

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Hatsumode [初詣] is the Japanese custom of visiting a shrine or temple within the first three days of the year. Some people – like we did – actually wait the New Year to roll in the temple grounds. After the 108 (fast!) gongs that signal the entrance of the New Year, you are allowed into the shrine grounds to say the first prayer of the year in Hie Jinja [日枝神社].

After the prayer you can buy good luck charms, arrows which are ammunition for the kami to protect you (or something alike), enjoy some sacred sake, get your shuin, and once you’re outside, buy food and drinks. In my case I got some fresh takoyaki and ate them alone because apparently they’re stinky ｡ﾟ( ﾟ^∀^ﾟ)ﾟ｡

Then we headed off home, and I got up at 8 am to have 12 grapes with Spanish TV as it has been my custom all my life. Then I went back to bed.

In the evening I headed off to Minato [港] to see Tokyo Tower [東京タワー]. Zojo-ji [増上寺] and Shiba Kōen [芝公園] were packed with Hatsumode parishioners and I had never seen such a line to go up Tokyo Tower. Thus I did not climb up, but I did take pictures of all the illumination around.

Afterwards I met with D****e and K***n. to go to Yokohama [横浜], to have dinner in Yokohama Chinatown, as Chinese people have their own New Year, they would be open to business as usual. It was my first time in Chinatown at night, too, so it was interesting seeing places like Kanteibyō / Kuan Ti Miao Temple [関帝廟 / 中華会館] in a new light.

On our way back we tried to see Shiodome [汐留]’s Winter Illuminations but they were off. We’re not completely sure of why…

19th July 2016: Oopsies {Japan, summer 2016}

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After doing some studying in the morning, I was to meet B**** for dinner. I went to Iidabahi [飯田橋] early and bought some meat buns (nikuman) for lunch – the most delicious nikkuman I’ve ever eaten are sold in a small Chinese shop there.

Unfortunately B**** and my carefully-laid out plans were forced to change because she had a gas inspection in her new apartment also known as the apatosaurus. However, we were able to go for some okonomiyaki and monjayaki .

After lunch, we headed off to karaoke. All in all it was fun and plans were remade.

14th July 2016: Liar, liar, pants on fire (and Komagome II) {Japan, summer 2016}

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The weather report had been announcing clouds all day. It lied. A lot. Seriously, both the JMA and whatever data an iPhone uses, they were way out of the way. See, I used these reports to plan an outdoors day visiting some parks, temples and shrines close to my area. This meant walking for a couple of hours, but there I went.

The first problem was that the weather decided that clouds were overrated. I did not think much of it at first, but it would be relevant later. The second was that GoogleMaps decided to join forces with the weather report and troll me.

But let’s start form the beginning, and the beginning was the Kyu Furukawa Teien [旧古河庭園], a garden apparently famous for their rose festivals. No roses in July, but a very neat Japanese garden. I’ve never been much of an English Garden fan unless there are flowers, so I did not pay much attention to that part.

After the gardens I headed off towards the Oji [王子] area, checking out Hiratsuka Jinja, Takinogawa Park and Nanasha Shrine until I made it to the park called Asukayama Koen [飛鳥山公園], where for the first time this year I heard the cicadas singing like crazy. It’s officially summer in Japan, bugs dixit! It’s not a matter of the heat, the rain, or anything like that. In the end, the cicadas mark the time.

The park holds a few museums and In one of the corners Oji Jinja [王子神社] can be found. If Google agrees that it even exists. But alas, success in the end.

After an odyssey to find the Shrine and once again fight Google regarding yes, the Oji Inari Jinja [王子稲荷神社] exists, I managed to find the latter. Close to one of the crossroads I had been to before. Twice. Thanks, Google （－＿－；）

Then I decided to head off to where my academy is, Iidabashi [飯田橋]. My destination there was Zenkoku-ji [善國寺], which was surrounded for some reason by no less than four Spanish restaurants. I am not brave enough to try those but there was a nikuman shop that did catch my attention. I also made a short stop at the local Book Off in order to check it out and get OFF THE SUN for a few minutes. At this point I had just realise that I had been indeed walking around in the sun for three and a half hours and I was… Burnt. Quite so. Damn it.

But it did not end there. Nooo, why would it end there? Then it RAINED 雨雨雨. When I had to do my laundry and get it dry, of course, because the next day I was over to Nagoya and wanted to make sure I had clothes to wear. And I studied because I had an exam the next day, and the previous one had been disastrous.

16th July 2012: Umi no Hi! {Japan, summer 2012}

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Monday 16th was the third Monday of June, and thus Umi no Hi [海の日], The Day of the Ocean, and it started great – the sky was super clear. That means we were able to see Mount Fuji, Fuji-san [富士山]! I had not seen him since I was here, not even on my way to Osaka because it was cloudy. It is difficult to see Fuji in Summer, so I was really happy to catch him.

The summit of Mount Fuji peering up through the clouds at the end of a downhill street under construction

The morning, however, was to be spent in Yokohama [横浜]. The first stop was Chinatown, where I got to meet an old ‘friend’ of mine, whom I had been craving to see for a long time, in one of the temples. But that is its own story. (Basically: I got to see a dragon sculpture I loved).

The entrance to Chinatown - an ellaborate gate with Chinese characters, decorated in bright colours - red, blue, gold, green...

In Chinatown we visited Kwan Tai Temple [関帝廟]

An ellaborate temple with guarding dragons on top, over a flight of stairs. The colours are very bright, but the stairs are white.

And Kanteibyō / Kuan Ti Miao Temple [関帝廟 / 中華会館].

An ellaborate temple entrance, with lots of peaks and lanterns behind it

We had lunch in one of the many Chinese restaurants in the area.

Chinese food - rice, dumplings, soup, pickles

Afterwards we moved to the Port of Yokohama to see waves!! the famous skyline and the Yokohama Bay Bridge, along with lots of pretty ships which were open to visit in celebration of Umi no Hi.

Stairs that disappear into the ocean

Yokohama skyline

By 5pm, however, we were back in Tokyo because we had tickets to the theatre, more particularly GACKT’s Butai “MOON SAGA ~Yoshitsune Hiden~” at the Akasaka ACT Theater.

Being guionised by CLAMP, I expected a high body count [Spoilers from here] but I was surprised. The play is prepared as part of the whole Moon Saga project, so it does not focus in GACKT, who has surprisingly little stage time playing Yoshitsune. The play has all the elements of a CLAMP story – tragic love, honour debt, child with preternatural power, a few deaths, a character who randomly changes sides but in his heart he still belongs to the original side, main character forced to kill a friend, lots of angst… The butai tells the story of a group of fighters as they embark themselves in a war against the evil mononoke who are destroying Japan. Yoshitsune’s character himself is a half-oni or has an oni inside him, something along.

As I said, GACKT did not have much screen time, and to be completely honest, his spotlight was completely stolen by Saotome Taichi, a barely legal actor who plays Kage (Shadow), one of the good mononoke and who has a beautiful CLAMPian on-stage death.

Yoshinaga, one of the original companions, loses the love of his life, changes sides and tries to kill Yoshitsune, awakening the demon in him. GACKT flies through the stage during the fight and in the end Demon-Yoshitsune kills his old friend. The curtains fall soon after GACKT desperately cries over Yoshinaga’s body. Very sad. Very CLAMP.

The actors come back onstage, they are ovationed. The curtains fall again, the lights remain off. The curtains are drawn, and we are back to the beginning, the companions are alive and well, has it all been a dream? A foreshadow? Is this the companions’ destiny? But no, they are not companions… they are family…

Moon Saga board, showing singer and actor Gackt staring upwards, his eyes are red

[End Spoilers] It seems that when GACKT talks of the Moon Saga project, it means that you need to know all the pieces of the puzzle to understand the story. Each of the pieces seems to be part of a great jigsaw that will come together to form something absolutely amazing.

Well played, GACKT, well played. Now shut up and take my money, because this is going to be EPIC.

After the play, we had some curry at CocoCurry House.

A pork cutlet, breaded, with curry sauce and rice around it