Tag Archives: sushi/sashimi

13th August 2022: Smoothness in Chaos {England, August 2022}

Posted on by

As rail strikes rolled out both in London and the rest of England, I was thankful I had found out in advance. The hotel internet was patchy and I would have had trouble booking a coach ticket for the airport. I decided not to try and cram more than I had already on my plate for the day, and stick to my booked tickets and original timing.

I took an underground line to Victoria railway station, from which I went to find out where my airport coach would leave from. After that, I walked from Victoria coach station towards Westminster, stopping at Westminster Cathedral, a rather out-of-place Neo-Byzantine building, which serves as the Catholic cathedral. Designed by John Francis Bentley, it was completed in 1903. It was closed for service, unfortunately.

Westminster Cathedral, a Chrsistian neo-byzantine building: a view of the exterior, in white and red brick, and the open doors showing the inner altar from afar

Due to the strikes and potential issues, Westminster Abbey had rearranged its opening hours, and waived all the “entry times”. So basically it was a bit on the chaotic side, though I arrived for my own timeslot, as I had calculated that would be all right for the tour I had signed up for. The abbey is officially called Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster. It was a originally a Benedictine abbey, and William the Conqueror, in 1066 made it the “official coronation ceremony” place, and many Royal Weddings have occurred there. It is built in the Gothic style, with Neo-Gothic towers. Furthermore, most British monarchs were buried there, along with a number of personalities that were either earthed there, or had memorials erected – Darwin, Newton, Hawkins, Shakespeare… The Abbey features a 19th-century wooden choir in the middle, and an outer cloister in early Gothic style. It was bustling with people fighting the audio guide and extremely hot though. However, this completed my tour of the Unesco World Heritage Site of “The Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and St Margaret’s Church”

Westminster Abby, a Gothic Protestant Cathedral. Collage showing the towers and main entrance, the inner Norman altar in golden wood, the ceiling in the nave, and the cloister

Before the train strikes and the chaos in English airports, I had booked a 12:15 “Westminster Abbey hidden highlights” tour as my last activity in London before taking the Stansted Express to the airport. The change of plans meant I had to take the 14:00 h coach instead of the 15:00 h train to be at the airport by 16:00, to make sure that I would have plenty of time to go through security. That meant that I unfortunately had to cut the tour short. Event then, I got to see St Margaret’s Church, the old Medieval sacristy, the inner chambers of Samaria and Jerusalem, and got close to coronation chair. Not bad at all, even if I unfortunately had to miss the library to walk back to the station.

A collage showing an archaeological excavation (very professional holes on the ground, some showing a hint of brick foundations); the Coronation Chair and the hanging flag over it; ornate wooden ceilings; and a mythological-themed tapestry hanging from a wall

I have to say that the return was exhausting. Even with one hour difference, I got on the coach for the airport at 14:00 and did not land until 22:00. However, flying out of Stansted always has a good thing – goodbye sushi!

Tray of sushi and sashimi

All in all, this non-weekend weekend was an amazing mental break! Even if the last day did not work as originally organised, I had a heads up in order to prepare my contingency plans. I got to see something that I always wanted to see – and even if Stonehenge was smaller than I thought, it was not disappointing. Also, I checked that entering the UK after Brexit is pretty much the same as before, so I can organise more escapades in the future, because I still need to go to Jurassic Coast…

Walking distance: 11.27 km / 16672 km

11th & 12th December 2021: Final Fantasy Remake Orchestra World Tour, Barcelona (Spain)

Posted on by

11th December 2021: El Triángulo Friki

When the tickets for the FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Orchestra World Tour first came out, 2020 promised to be an amazing year. True, we all know how that turned out, but the point was that I did not have enough fun funds at that moment. So I just looked at the Barcelona dates, sighed, and never bought tickets because I decided that it was a low-priority event for me. Then, what happened happened and the tour was pushed forward to 2021. By chance, back in summer this year, I saw that it would take place on a Saturday, the 11th of December 2021. My sibling overheard me mulling whether I wanted to try to go or not this time over, since I had not done much on the nerdsphere for a while, and the low priotity was conflagrating with higher priortity and the still lacking fun budget. They didn’t know about this, though, and they proposed we went together. I thought it was a good opportunity for a weekend out, so I did some checking. We found some tickets that had been turned back, in an amazing place, actually – row #5 on the stalls. We booked a hotel and trains, and just went on with our lives.

The train left around 8:00 and arrived in Barcelona short from 11:00 – both of us had been in town before and were looking for an “alternative” plan. I had been checking out different options, and by pure chance, on Thursday, I found out that there is an area in Barcelona called Triángulo Friki, something akin to “the nerd triangle”. It is an area near Arc de Triomph that holds a bunch stores which specialise in comics, manga, figures, merchandising and so on. I thought it could be a fun thing to see, as Japanese stuff a hobby I share to some extent with my sibling.

We took the commuter train to the area (commuter train tickets are complementary with long-distance ones, which helps, as the Barcelona public transport is very expensive) and wandered around a bunch of shops, under the agreement not to spend too much money nor to buy anything that did not fit in our backpacks. We… failed the mission successfully. On the sixth or so shop I got myself a Christmas present that sure as hell did not fit in the backpack.

A collage showing the entrance to a bunch of comic and gaming stores. Most of them have a window showing Funko pops

One of the shops we visited was Tsume Store, in association with Global Freaks. Tsume is a business that 3D-prints statuettes from anime designs, and Global Freaks is a merchandise shop. They have a partnership and Tsume is selling some of its statuettes through Global Freaks – we saw one of them, priced at 1400€. Most of the figures were just for show. On the other hand, Global Freaks had several things we bought (remember the “mission failed successfully” comment? We spent way too much money on stuff that did not fit in the backpacks). Furthermore, they had a reproduction of a motorbike from Akira (アキラ), a famous manga / anime – a cyberpunk action story whose main character, Shōtarō Kaneda, rides it through Neo-Tokyo.

Tsume / Global freaks store in Barcelona. There are different pictures of resine statues of different sizes (and prices), and a reproduction of an anime motorbike.

We walked towards the area where the basilica designed by Gaudí, and consecrated to the Holy Family, Basílica de la Sagrada Família, which had been decorated with a new twelve-point 7.5-metre 5.5-tonne star. As there was a Christmas market around the basilica, I thought that the start was just for Christmas, but it turns out that it is there for good.

A modernist cathedral. It looks a bit like it's melting. It has four towers, plus one with a star, and a triangular façade

We took an underground train to the area where the venue was, and we were there around half an hour before hotel was open to check ins so we decided to have lunch first in the adjoining shopping centre. We ended up at an Udon, a wannabe fancy noodle bar chain. This was our first time getting our Covid passport checked as it’s not necessary where we’re from. The whole process was fast – open the PDF, zoom in, get it read with a device, and a green light with our names on it lit up (eventually I just screenshot the zoomed-in QR). I still felt a little uncomfortable due to the amount of people in the restaurant, so we ate as quick as possible before heading off to the hotel.

A bowl of ramen and a peek of a tempura plate in the background

It was the worst check-in experience ever. First of all, I think it’s stupid to demand a payment deposit on an already-paid booking. Second, they tried to charge me for the room again, we were given one card key for two people which didn’t even work, and we were “upgraded” to a room with a city view (16 € more expensive than our booking), but that only had amenities for one guest. We needed to get off the lift to request another card in order to get to the 21st floor, and we finally got two working cards. Oh, and the hotel was hosting a bunch of teams for some kind of handball championship who thought masks were for lesser beings and got away with it, despite the super-strict Covid-policy the hotel claimed to have, and with the obvious blessings of the clerks, despite other guests’ complaints.

Two views of Barcelona from above, one with daylight, the other one at night. The buildings are apartment blocks, rather regular, and you can guess the long streets that separate the different areas

We stayed in the room, just chatting and taking in the astonishing views (nah, I’m not being sarcastic (≧▽≦).) The FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Orchestra World Tour concert was to start at 20:00, but doors were at 18:30. It took place in the convention centre CCIB – Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona, which… actually turned up to be the auditorium of the local Natural Science Museum. That was confusing for a minute.

We were quite literally across the square so we just had to go down. It took just a few minutes to enter, and then we went into the goods queue, because my sibling absolutely needed a chokobo plush. We were in line for about half an hour, as we debated how expensive everything was! They decided that I needed a chokobo too, so I’m the proud owner of a Chokobo Black Mage now.

An adorable chokobo plush with a mage cape sitting on the leaflets we got from the concert.

After we had all our goods, we headed off to our seats – which had been occupied by two different people who had bought row five on the dress floor – but had tried the main floor stands, never mind that a lady told you which door you had to use when you went in, in order to avoid these “mistakes” . I decided that I did not care about causing a scene, so I just grabbed an usher and had her clear our seats. The guy on mine took my flyer too, but I found some more when the concert was over. I’m amused though that someone would buy a ticket on the first floor and then happily stroll down to the fifth row on the stalls – more than double the price.

Let me start by saying that I’m not a video-game player, that’s why this event was originally a low-priority one. When my wrist problems started, I was recommended not to play them any more. But I love video-game graphs and Final Fantasy VII designs more than any. I mean, I own the Advent Children DVD just because it’s pretty. I have to admit though that the concert blew my mind. The stage was full with a complete orchestra indeed, and a choir – the Ensemble Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. At the back of stage there was a screen that projected scenes from the game, both animations and gameplay. In the little emcees by conductor – and producer – Arnie Roth we also got messages from composers and producers from Japan. Furthermore, the composer Hamauzu Masashi was in attendance. We did not get Yosh Morita, from The Prophets, as it was originally announced, but singer Ricardo Afonso did a very decent job out of the power ballad Hollow.

Empty stage with chairs for the orchestra. There is a screen in the background reading Final Fantasy VII Remake Orchestra World Tour in front of a futuristic cityscape

    Part 1

  1. Prelude – Reunion –
  2. Opening medley
  3. Mako Reactor 1
  4. Flowers Blooming in the Church
  5. The Turks’ Theme
  6. Tight rope
  7. Stand up
  8. Words left unheard
  9. Tifa’s Theme – Seventh Heaven –
  10. Those who fight – Battle Medley –

    Part 2

  11. Anxious Heart
  12. Hurry!
  13. Jessie’s Theme
  14. Shinra’s Theme
  15. The Arsenal
  16. Those chosen by the Planet – Fate’s Calling –
  17. Arbiters of Fate – Singularity –
  18. Hollow
  19. Final Fantasy VII Main Theme

    Encore

  20. Aerith’s Theme
  21. One Winged Angel

I loved the Those who fight – Battle Medley –, and I’d say that one of the highlights was the song Hurry Up. Apparently, during a specific part of the game you have to put the rather-uptight main character in a dress and teach him to dance in a night club. I also really liked the choir interventions. The concert ended on a hype – for a second I thought it would end in the slow song, but no, we got the fantastic theme for the bad guy Sephiroth, One-winged angel.

The stage again, this time it is full with the orchestra and the director. The screen shows the main character of the game, Cloud, with blond spiky hair and a ridiculously big sword, holding a bright ball in his hand.

The concert lasted for two hours and a half, including the intermission – in which I got to see (and hug!) friends. After the ending, we tried to go and grab some sushi at the shopping centre, but they were already closing down – so in the end we just got a salad and some chips at McDonald’s and took it to the hotel – then we showered, rearranged luggage and purchases, and went to bed.

12th December 2021: Walk by the ocean

Our original plan after breakfast was to take a walk by the beach, then check out and ride the underground, but we realised that we had a train station about 20 minutes away, and we could get a detour by the seaside and make it a bit longer – and if we took the train, we had a free ride.

When we checked out we got the same person who had checked us in. They still had to charge us for the tourist tax, and I had that ready in cash. They insisted that they had to deduct that from the deposit and give us the change, they could not give us a fifty-buck note. They had to give us the change. With lots of coins. They did not even check the room for damage, so what was even the point of the deposit?

We left the hotel, and walked towards the station. We spent a little time at the beach Platja del Fòrum and the mouth of the river Río Besòs before we reached the station – lots of people walking their dogs, and lots of happy dogs playing on the beach and with the waves. In the background, the former thermal station with three chimneys looming over the sand – Central Tèrmica de Sant Adrià de Besòs. Had we had more time, we would have taken the time to try and get to it, but due to external reasons we had tickets for the noon train and it was already 10:45 – and I am paranoid about schedules.

A sandy beach with a factory building in the background, it has three chimneys made of brick. The waves are coming in gently.

We took the commuter train, then the long distance train. When we arrived, before going home, we made a short stop to have some make-up sushi for the one we could not get the previous night. And some side Chinese dumplings.

Sushi and bao plate

Walking distance Saturday: 9.05 km
Walking distance Sunday: 5.54 km

13th August 2019: Steamy steamy Tokyo {Japan, summer 2019}

Posted on by

Following recommendations from some Japanese acquaintances, I headed off to the Shinagawa [品川区] area to visit Hebikubo Jinja / Kamishinmeitenso Jinja [蛇窪神社 / 上神明天祖神社], a pretty shrine where I got a pretty shuuin (aaaand discovered another stamp rally).

Among rain, sun and drizzle it was exhaustingly hot. I continued on to find Kimyozan Yogyokuin Nyorai [帰命山養玉院如来寺], a temple with amazing guardians.

And then I found an obviously very dangerous and aggressive tiny pond, I mean, look at those meshes (yes, I know that it’s probably for children safety, but I shall still make jokes about it). It was the Hara no Suijin-ike [原の水神池].

Checking how to come back I came across Ōmori Shell Mound Ruins Garden, Ōmori Kaidzuka Iseki Teien [大森貝塚遺跡庭園] and the Statue of Ōmori Shell Mound, Ōmori Kaikyo no Ishibumi [大森貝墟の碑]. The Ōmori Shell Mound was apparently the first archaeological excavation in Japan. They dig out a seaside village from the Jomon period (14,000 to 300 BC).

Opposite I found Naritasan Ennoji [成田山圓能寺].

And before I left I noticed the ground decoration on the pavement – life evolution and… telephone greetings. Because Japan, I guess…

Then I looked at Tokyo Tower [東京タワー] from Roppongi [六本木], as I checked the Don Quijote for Tokyo Coke bottles, without success.

I also came across tiny Asahi Jinja [朝日神社].

Then dinner was supermarket sushi, which was very, very yummy.

Walked distance: 14009 steps / 10.0 km

6th August 2019: Tokyo & Yokohama Book Off Rally {Japan, summer 2019}

Posted on by

To be honest, this was a weird day because my mind was full with some personal stuff, so I just wanted to keep busy. I did a Book Off marathon and I found a lot of interesting things, both in Tokyo and Yokohama [横浜市]. I wanted to visit the Tower there, but it was closed for renovation!

At 6pm I met up with Sr-san for way beyond amazing sushi! Lots of new things to try too!

In the end what I was worried about was solved ε-(´・｀) ﾌ and I went back without any problems (on the way out the regular train line was down).

Walked distance: 17438 steps / 12.4 km.

18th & 19th May 2019: Madrid (Spain) for Jupiter (and fesFE[M]!)

Posted on by

Believe this or not, we this weekend started at super-early on Saturday, when I took literally the first bus out to Madrid, and I think I was there around 7:30 or something to meet my friend. She had been having a rough time and she had asked me to “keep her head off things”. Up until a couple of days before, we did not even know whether she’d been able to come to the concert, so I had a whole plan up my sleeve. Unfortunately, a couple of steps backfired (^◇^；)

First we had breakfast at the coach station where we met, to catch up and to give shops and so on the time to open up. When it was a decent hour we took the underground to drop our luggage at the hotel (the lovely EXE Moncloa, even if I’ll be forever traumatised that the terrace was not open ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡). Then we took the underground again towards the neighbourhood of Chueca, and I had looked up a bunch of Goth apparel shop that… did not open at 10:00 as expected, but at 12:00 (≧▽≦).

Fortunately, some make-up shops were already open and we were able to pass the time amicably before we ended up at the TeamLab exhibit – that I had already seen, yes, I know, but she had not ☆⌒(ゝ。∂)

Teamlab logo and digital art: Waves, butterflies in red and green, and a dripping circle as if it were painted with a brush. All of them are light or bright colours on black.

After playing out in the exhibit for a while, we moved onto the Callao Gourmet Experience for a snack. I wanted to introduce her to the Niji Mochi shop, and we also shared a chocolate ice-cream shake.

Mochi and coffee with whipped cream

Afterwards we were shopping for a little before we moved on to have lunch. I had a surprise for her. While I care little to nothing about Korean food, she is a fan of everything Korean, so we hit one of the best Korean restaurants in Madrid, called Seoul. I gave her free reign to order for both of us and we shared. In my not so humble opinion as blog owner, the best was the green tea at the end.

Lunch: fried dumplings, roasted meat, rice with vegetables, and green tea.

Once fed, we went on and found an underground station and we rode towards the Museo Arqueológico Nacional, National Archaeological Museum, although we had not realised that it was museum day so instead of a quiet exhibition we had to deal with a ton of families!

Exhibits at the archaeological museum: bones from a mastodon, boar statue, lady statue, Neanthertal skull, Roman mosaic of an octopus, Horus statue, Iberian stelae, primitive animal that looks like a boar or a bull carved out of stone, Grecian vase

After that, my friend was tired from spending all night in the bus, so we went to the hotel to finish our check in process. On the way we stopped and bought a few snacks for the following day because you always have to be ready for a post-concert low.

We found out that we had not one but three Japanese restaurants in the area where we were staying, and we happily went to have dinner in one of them, called Naniwa. We had some decent sushi and takoyaki, and ordered takoyaki seconds because we had a discount (≧▽≦).

Dinner: sushi, fried chicken, octopus balls, chicken skewers

The next morning we went to the venue door around 9:00 and upon seeing nobody queueing yet, we went to have breakfast, then walked around the Moncloa park area, mostly chatting, until we went back to the venue. And went back to the venue. And went back to the venue again, just to find there were still no people in the queue.

Coffee and bread breakfast

In the end we ran into the supporting bands went to have lunch in a second Japanese restaurant in the block, Morikaen. On our way there we walked past a family all clad in “Sunday clothes”, and their little girl wearing aaaall white who just stared at us – in rock-goth black – with pure envy in her eyes. Here’s to you, little one. You’ll get there too.

Lunch. Tuna tataki, rice and cicken, breaded pork, octopus dumplings

After lunch, I decided that I was too tired to go up and down the streets and we stayed back to wait for the venue to open before we got into the chaos that was the concert. Honestly, I think this has been the worst-organised concert I’ve ever attended. My friend C***** and I had Premium tickets (there were five of them on sale), which included a handshake with the band, a picture with a member, autographs from all, the opportunity to purchase a Polaroid with the whole band (well… and either a backstage or soundcheck pass that never happened).

Jupiter is a Japanese heavy metal band with a very distinctive visual-kei style, and honestly we only decided to go because it was… easy and convenient, well-communicated and an opportunity to spend a weekend decompressing somewhere. As the time drew near and we could access more stuff, the excitement built up – I also managed to find the album they were promoting and it sounded really well, actually.

There were two support bands, a German one called VII ARC, and a Japanese one. As we went in, I sent C***** to the first row to save my spot and I tried to find out whatever was going to happen with the VIP extras because communication seems not to be the promoter’s first language. It turns out, the experience was throughout the supporting band’s act. Good thing I had asked, else we would have missed it (as someone did! One of the Premium tickets did not show up, and most VIPs never got their chance to even buy the Polaroid).

I got to talk to the support bassist as we waited for the picture, because the had been kicked out from backstage for the pictures – poor guy. Then I had my picture taken with Teru, my favourite member (I swear that if I ever get to do this again, I’m choosing Hizaki cause he’s just amazing). The problem with placing the experience there was that… well, we lost our spot and missed half of the Japanese support band’s acts – fesFe[M], who in the half concert I watched blew my mind. I mean, absolutely blew my mind. They are also a V-kei band, and they’re currently running with a “doll” theme and they were just fantastic.

The Jupiter concert was as expected, very energetic and fun. Even if we had lost our spot, the venue has some lateral raised spots, and I found a good place at a low staircase that allowed me to lean back and not be in too much pain – basically we watched the concert next to the fesFe[M] bass (≧▽≦). Kuze, Jupiter’s vocal, was really good live, more than expected.

After the concert, we bought fesFe[M]’s autographs and got our pictures with them, when we headed back to the hotel and had some dinner, and the following day we parted ways, a bit sad but happy that we had had the chance to meet up and have a fantastic weekend!

Schedule fo the tour

Fesfem playing. They are dressed up as dolls, and the main singer as a bride

Jupiter playing.

24th August 2018: Friends! {Japan, summer 2018}

Posted on by

In the morning, I went to the Shōbō hakubutsukan [消防博物館] or Fire Museum, in Yotsuya [四谷]. I blame my last binge on Chicago Fire for the curiosity bug to bite on that one. It was strangely interesting, but the helicopter was closed due to wind and rain – also the problem with kid friendly museums is… kids overrunning you and parents cheering for them…

Then I met B**** in Shibuya [渋谷] for sushi, and that was awesome, until we were done. Then we saw the shrimp and fish being beheaded alive in front of us. That was a shock (O_O)! After that we went for ice cream, window shopping, karaoke and dinner in Shinjuku [新宿], in MyLord building next to the station, which was really convenient and surprisingly good (and well-timed on our part). Okonomiyaki! This was my masterpiece!

(Added a lot of katsuomi to it afterwards (≧∇≦) )

28th July – 3rd ‎August ‎2018: The Spanish “Levante”

Posted on by

My parents sometimes vacation in this tourist-like complex in a little town called San Juan de Alicante in the east of Spain (the “Levante”). My father uses it as a base for diving trips, and sometimes I tag along to keep my mother company. When we arrived this year we found out that there was a new resident family in the garden – a family of squirrels that had apparently shown up travelling in trees that were going to be planted. The complex management decided to make squirrel-nurturing the local sport. Guests were encouraged to watch out for them, and leave them nuts. Also, there were educational signs about what was safe or unsafe to feed the little critters. I caught sight of them at some point or another.

One of the selling points of the complex – aside, of course, from the swimming pool and the great room service – are the big gardens, with lots of trees and plants, and the rescue bunnies. Now the squirrels came over to complete the scene.

Collage. A hotel room. Red flowers. A garden. A tiny rabbit. A tree and a close-up of that tree focusing on the squirrel on one of the branches.

31st July 2018: Chocolate & Lobster. Not together.

A meagre 20-minute-drive away from this little town stands the village of Villajoyosa, which translates into something akin to “The joyous village”. If you’ve never heard of it, I’ll just have you known that it has a chocolate factory, the Fábrica de Chocolates Valor, and the chocolate museum (and of course the shop). As it is a working factory, the visit is of course guided. We were told that there was usually a long queue, so we were there before 9:30 for the 10:00 visit, and we were quite literally the first to arrive. Once inside, you get to see what they call the museum, with a short video about how they used to and still make the chocolate, and you visit some of the old equipment. Then, there is a short trip around the factory using some hanging planks – when we were there, the production was halted due to pre-Christmas-campaign holidays. So FYI Christmas chocolate is made in August. The visit was done in one hour, and then we splurged in the shop.

Chocolate factory from outside

Inside the chocolate factory shop. A painting on the wall says we heart chocolate, another, in the backfround of several chocolate bars packaged as presents, it says All you need is chocolate, with the word love scratched out

After the visit we went back to the complex, where we had booked a made-to-order lobster “paella” (traditional rice dish) for lunch, and boy was it awesome. I totally sinned with the apple pie afterwards, too.

Collage. Rice pan with lobster pieces, and a piece of apple pie

1st August 2018: Alicante

The day started awesomely with coffee and pancakes, and that alone worked to make me happy.

Pancakes with chocolate syprup, a glass of milk, and a cup of coffee

Besides, twenty minutes in the opposite direction from Villajoyosa we had Alicante. And we could also be lazy and not take the car out, we could just take the bus. We wanted to see the archaeological museum, Museo Arqueológico Provincial MARQ de Alicante, and that was out first stop. However, for some reason a bunch of pictures got lost – and I can only show you this of the library, where pictures were not allowed anyway. It was a… photography accident.

A former chapel, with gothic windows. A glass lamp hangs from the ceiling and there are dark shelves full of books in the foreground

After the museum, we walked around the base of Monte Benacantil, the mount in the middle of Alicante – again, literally – until we were exactly on the opposite side to find the entrance to the Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Santa Bárbara’s castle. The castle is of Arab origin, it may have been built the 8th century. However, there are archaeological remains in the mount dating from prehistoric times. The castle gave the city of Alicante a vantage point towards any kind of threat, whether it originated on land or the ocean. The castle was reconstructed in the 16th century, and later, in the 18th century, it played a part in the war against the French.

Castle ruins and views of the sea underneath. It looks hot.

After this we walked over to have lunch at a restaurant we had read over in the tourist complex magazine, a prime Japanese restaurant called Nigo, which has the best sushi I’ve ever tried outside Japan.

Lunch - Japanese salad, fried chicken, sushi and tuna tartar

After that we headed back to the complex and planned our next move.

2nd August 2018: Valencia Diversion

My father was unable to go on his two planned diving outings, so we decided to head home early. However, he was feeling a little disappointed over the cancellation, and I suggested that maybe we could take a detour somewhere else instead. In the end, we decided to book a hotel in Valencia and use the time to visit the Oceanogràfic over there. This is a large aquarium complex. We also reserved a table at the “Submarine Restaurant” and had lunch there.

The aquarium opened in 2003 as part of a big project called “the city of art and science” in Valencia. It has a double layout, over- and underground. The underground area is the big aquariums are built, while the upper enclosures hold most the mammals and the birds.

An empty restaurant surrounded by an aquarium where fish swim

Collage of different marine animals: octopus, sea urchin, anemone, clownfish, surgeon fish, rockfish, seal, jellyfish, seastar, sea dragon, turtle, reef shark

Collage of different animals, and general view of the park. Penguins, crocodiles, seal, pelicans, snipes, ibises, tortoises, carps, crane

Once we were done, we said goodbye to the sharks and hi to the nice sunset. Next morning we drove back home.

Sunset above an unremarkable city skyline

21st & 22nd July 2018: Swan Lake in Madrid (Spain)

Posted on by

21st July: The housefront

This Saturday/Sunday getaway was a birthday present, and I have to admit that I was super excited about it – the main part of the present was a hotel night in Madrid and tickets to watch the (British) Royal Ballet in the Spanish Royal theatre, the Teatro Real. And I mean stall tickets, I was over the moon.

The day started at the Museo de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, where there was an exhibition about yokai, the Yumoto Koichi Collection (Miyoshi, Hiroshima). It was called Yokai: Iconografía de lo Fantástico (Iconography of the fantastical), and it was rather interesting. It holds a collection of different items related to mythological creatures of Japan, yokai [妖怪] – there are scrolls, woodprints, games, pottery, even clothes and accessories. This was an interesting exhibition, and having seen it would later save me a trip to Miyoshi, allowing me to discover Takehara instead.

Rolls of paper, kimojo jacket and blookwood painting, showing different scenes and beings from Japanese mythology

After the exhibition, we went to the Green Tea Sushi Bar & Cocktail Room, which turned out to have the most overpriced mediocre sushi ever. The place was ridiculously expensive but fortunately we had booked with a special 50% discount, which made it bearable. However, fair is fair, and the tataki was delicious, and the chocolate coulant turned out to be amazing.

Lunch. Sushi boat, sald, tuna tataki, edamame, and an ice cream scoop

The hotel was in the right smack of Madrid, a short walk away from the Teatro Real and we had tickets for 17:00. Before sitting down we took a small exploration walk through the different rooms, including the ball room. I really loved the whole building and in particular the blue room and the ball room.

Royal theatre snippets - the main hall, the stage, the stands. Most curtains are a rich burgundy colour.

Swan Lake happens to be my favourite ballet – I love Tchaikovsky in general, though the stars have always aligned against me watching Sleeping Beauty. In Swan Lake, the evil sorcerer Rothbart turns maidens into a swan during the day, and they turn back to women at night as long as they are near the enchanted lake. The ballet officially opens with Prince Siegfried celebrating his birthday. He receives a crossbow as present, and he is later told by his mother that he needs to choose a bride the next night. As he becomes upset his friend suggest going hunting. In the forest, Siegfried becomes separated from the group and meets Odette, one of the swans. She explains of her predicament, and they eventually fall in love, and Siegfried invites her to the ball in which he needs to choose his bride. The next night, however, Rothbart sends Odette’s magical doppelgänger, to whom Siegfried swears love. Witnessing this in swan-form breaks Odette’s heart. As he realises his mistake, Siegfried makes it back to the lake.

The ending of the ballet changes. Sometimes it is a happy one when the spell is broken. The original ending has both Siegfried and Odette dying together to break the spell. Another alternative is that only Odette dies, but Siegfried manages to kill Rothbart and break the spell – this was the one that the Royal ballet played, and it managed to make me a puddle of happy goo. As Siegfried raises Odette’s inert body over his head, I shuddered all over. It was magnificent.

Snapshot of the credits, Showing Akane Takada as Odette and Odile, William Bracewell as Prince Siegfried, and Thomas Whitehead as Rothbart

The cast after the play taking their bows.

After the performance was over, we had dinner in the Plaza Mayor and then walked towards Puerta del Sol, then back went to the hotel to catch some sleep.

Square Plaza del Sol lit by night

22nd July: The backhouse

On Sunday we went back to the Teatro Real because we had booked one of the visits they offer, the technical one. During this visit you walk through the inner areas of the theatre, and even more interestingly, the upper area.

We saw the main hall, and afterwards we went first onto the backstage, then the backstage, and finally onto the stage where the Swan Lake props still stood, so that was really cool. The visit finished climbing up to the upper area of the theatre to see the views and the theatrical rigging system.

Empty royal theatre, showing the stalls from the stage, the backstage, and the view of the cathedral and the royal palace from the upper windows.

Finally, we had a bite to eat and we headed home for the weekend, and I have to say, I was happy as a skunk.

30th June 2018: Spanish breakfast, Japanese entertainment (Madrid, Spain)

Posted on by

30th June 2018: Spanish breakfast, Japanese entertainment (Madrid, Spain)

My friend C***** came over to Madrid for one of those crazy crazy things that we do – a crazy Saturday. She took a bus overnight and I went to meet her up for breakfast. The day started with a good omen, because I caught a rainbow around 7:30.

To celebrate that we had met up for the first time in a long while, we went to the most famous chocolaterie in Madrid, Chocolatería San Ginés for chocolate and churros. As her bus arrived in the early morning, I think we were there around 8:30 as I took the first train available.

After breakfast, we head over to the area of the theatre, Teatros del Canal, for the main event at noon – a piece of Kabuki [歌舞伎], a piece of classical Japanese dance. In this case we were going to see an adaptation of Fuji Musume and Renjishi. First, we checked out the little market of Japanese craftsmanship and decided that we wanted everything, because of course we did.

Then we walked into the theatre. The company Heisei Nakamuraza was bringing two key pieces in the history of kabuki. The first was Fuji Musume [藤娘] “The Wisteria Lady”. It is a representation of unrequited love, dancing under the wisteria tree that represents femininity, and the pine that represents masculinity. During the dance there are several kimono dances and it is visually stunning. The second piece, Renjishi [検索結果], “The Two Lions”, is a very spectacular dance, in many ways mirrored between two dancers. The first part represents a parent lion-dog and its cub, then there is a small comical interlude and finally the lion dogs come out again in celebration. No pictures allowed of the performance, but have some of the theatre:

The show was over much too quickly, sadly. We went out of the theatre and raided the matsuri / market.

Then we walked a few minutes to the Japanese restaurant Hayama, where we had some sushi, gyoza, takoyaki, curry and ramen to share.

As C***** had an early-evening train to get back (I did mention that this was a crazy escapade specially for her), I tagged along to the station and I saw her off. Awesome way to spend a Saturday, though I wish we could have hung out for longer!

21st & 22nd April 2018: MIYAVI & London (England, Great Britain)

Posted on by

On Saturday the 21st I caught a red-eye flight and I landed in London Stansted around 7:00. After clearing security (aka a security guard very interested on WHY I was there and WHOSE was the concert again?) I got myself on the train and headed off directly towards ULU London to attend MIYAVI’s “DAY 2” World Tour in Europe 2018. I spent the whole day at the queue / venue, so I tell you much of what I did, except that I was an idiot and did not really eat much solid food, if at all. A cookie, I seem to remember, and a cereal bar, which in the end caused a bad stomachache. Lesson learnt. Also! Heatwave in London. How do I manage to always catch the heatwaves in London?

MIYAVI is a Japanese guitarists I’ve listened on and off for a while. I lost a bit of track of him when he got married and had a baby, but every excuse is good for a little getaway. And I have to say that he blew my mind.

I set off at around 4am on Saturday and arrived in the queue around 10 am. The line was incredibly well organised, and the venue staff was super-friendly and efficient (which is a welcome change from most). Often, when an artist comes in, you can hope for a wave, maybe an autograph or sneak up a picture – not with this man, who goes out of the way to shake your hand and thank you for coming.

Well, I did have a VIP ticket that included a handshake and a picture, so I got two handshakes out of him! The concert itself was fantastic, fast-paced and MIYAVI is a guitar master. He was supported by a number of musicians and singers and they all were bustling with energy.

MIYAVI's instagram story reading well done London you guys were hot tonight

Before heading to the airport, the following morning I headed off to the British Museum, which was halfway between the venue and the hotel. I spent a couple of hours there, mostly in the Korea and China areas. There I fell in love with the Bodhisattva Guanyin.

Collage. British museum façcade and some exhibit from the Asia ward - Shiva, Buddha, a green-faced priest, dragon, a Korean dress... The main piece is Guanyin, sitting with a knee up, their hand resting on the knee, the other leg hanging down

From the British Museum I directly went to the airport, and I grabbed some food at Itsu, which is not my favourite Japanese brand due to the price, but my stomach was acting up (my own fault though (≧▽≦)) and I needed something to appease it. So sushi, miso soup and Coke it was.

Sushi and miso soup

31st July 2017: Little Korea and Tsukishima {Japan, summer 2017}

Posted on by

I met up with B**** in Shin Okubo [新大久保] to walk around Korean Town make-up shops. Afterwards we headed off to Iidabashi [飯田橋] because I needed to drop by the school I had been at the previous year and B**** was nice enough to come with me. we took the chance to have a great sushi lunch at a bit of a more refined sushi place than our usual sushi lines. It was so very amazing!

Then I wanted to go to Ikebukuro [池袋] again because I had not found something I wanted in the Shibuya [渋谷] Tokyu Hands on Saturday, and we found ourselves a nice place to sit down and have something to drink (aka, Starbucks) because it was our chance to try whatever lemon beverage they were selling at the moment.

Then I headed off to Tsukishima [月島] to have okonomiyaki and monja with Ms-san and D****e. And then there was a parfait / icecream / whatever.

13th July 2017: Shinkai (Deep Ocean) {Japan, summer 2017}

Posted on by

I headed off to Ueno Kōen [野公園]. The first thing I did was exchanging my JR Pass. Then I hit the Natural History Museum Kokuritsu Kagaku Hakubutsukan [国立科学博物館] because I had seen on Tuesday that they were running a temporary exhibition on Deep Ocean. Since last year’s Hunters of the Sea was good, I had decided to check it out.

The exhibition, called Shinkai [深海] ran several parts. The first of them (bioluminescence and Hadal zone) had a bunch of interesting specimens both kept in formol, along with there being big screen showing the creatures in their natural habitat. Of course, Japan, being Japan, was much more fascinated by the screens rather than the actual fish. Some of the most interesting things that they had exhibited included: a giant Antarctic octopus ( Megaleledone setebos), a Pacific footballfish (Himantolophus sagamius, those that have a little light on an antenna on their head), a huge chimera and a lepidion (Lepidion schmidti). However the central pieces of the exhibition were the Pacific sleeper shark (Somniosus pacificus) and the Atlantic giant squid (Architeuthis dux).

Another part focused on geology and ocean floor exploiting, alongside some earthquake research, especially on the Great Tohoku Earthquake. The most interesting part here were the chimneys and the Manganese nodules.

There was a bit on augmented microbiology but that is not that key XD

After I left the exhibition I headed off to Yushima Tenmangu [湯島天満宮], which is associated with plum trees, but none of them were blooming at the time. It also enshrines the Kami of Learning, so I hope it helps with my Japanese.

Afterwards, I took the Ginza line to Shibuya [渋谷] to meet up with B**** for some Starbucks and sushi. Sushi is always good!

4th January 2017: Takao-san, the tengu mountain {Japan, winter 16/17}

Posted on by

For some strange reason I got into my head that I wanted to go to Takao-san [高尾山], a mount not too far away from Tokyo, in the city of Hachiōji [八王子]. From the summit of this 599-metre mount you get pretty sights… if the weather is clear. Which of course, was a no-go. D****e decided to tag along, so off we headed to “climb” a mountain – more like hike it up and then down.

There are different routes or trails to go up and down Takao-san. The “easy” route (trail 1) is paved and is the most walked. You may either hike it up completely or take the ropeway halfway. D****e hiked while I struggled my way up.

Mount Takao is said to be the dwelling place of Tengu and Daitengu, and about three-quarters up there is a Buddhist Temple, Takaosan Yakuōin Yūkiji [高尾山薬王院].

From the top of the mountain we got to guess Mount Fuji Fuji-san [富士山]. But it was there, and I have proof, albeit it has been a bit ‘enhanced’… Sorry that it does not look any natural, but here you have the original and the manipulated image:

Coming down Takao-san, we took trails 6 and 4, because D****e wanted to do the suspension bridge, because… reasons that I shall never understand. (Un)fortunately, we did not run into any tengu or related yōkai. On the bright side I did not break my neck ＼(≧▽≦)／. That is always a plus. Oh and we ate warm dango.

After that we met up with B**** for some karaoke and later on D****e left while I went off with B**** to have some quite amazing sushi down in Shinjuku [新宿].

26th December 2016: Japan can be cold! {Japan, winter 16/17}

Posted on by

This was a discovery. Yes, I knew for a fact that Japan could be a cold country. I’ve seen he pictures and the snow, but it was the first time ever I was in winter Japan.

First of all, regarding the flight, Iberia is now flying Madrid Tokyo in a direct route, which is amazing. However, they charge you about 30 bucks for choosing a seat and the personnel is not the most helpful ever (^_^)”

After arriving in Narita, the first goal was setting the Internet on the phone. I was using Free Wifi at Narita and several stations among my route to meet D. for lunch and to get the keys to her apartment, because I keep forgetting that you have to go onto your browser and “register”.

Anyway, I met with D****e first for yakiniku in Roppongi [六本木], and I got the keys to her apartment as I was crashing with her. I was hungry and forgot to take pictures, so have a look at the ベリベリ (“very berry”) smoothy I got in Harajuku [原宿] with B****. later on (*^◇^)_旦. And after that we went to a place called “Cookie Time” which was amazing.

We also got to look at the winter illuminations between Harajuku and Shibuya [渋谷].

Finally, we went to eat sushi (*･∀･)_Ω. It is a common misconception that there can not be too much sushi, but it is actually a mistake. There is such a thing as too much sushi, but you won’t realise that until it is too late (*ﾟｰﾟ)ゞ.

7th July 2016: Not fishy smelling at all {Japan, summer 2016}

Posted on by

Well this was a new experience, but it made a lot of things gain sense. The famous Tsukiji Market, Tsukiji Shijō [築地市場] is closing down this Autumn and relocating. One of the reasons cited is health issues, cut I can understand why they think that tourists are an extra issue. Even when trying to stay out of the way you are in someone’s way.

Something that keeps fascinating me about Japan is the amount of people working on tourist services that have problems with foreigners and wrinkle their noses when they see you approach. This does not go of course to the fishmongers who were doing their jobs but the lady in the info service when we asked for a map in English. After a while we found s coin locker for T**y’s backpack and I shamelessly threw my books in （≧∇≦）

The Tsukiji Outer Market, Tsukiji Jōgai Shijō [築地場外市場] is packed with little shops mostly oriented to people getting their daily fish, and a lot of kitchen appliances, especially knives. It was bustling with tourists in the way of everybody, and little Japanese ladies examining every post for what they wanted to cook that day. After a while we found our way to the wholesale market.

There was a shrine in the way. Of course it required a visit. The Namiyoke Inari Jinja [波除稲荷神社] is located in the corner between the two markets.

The Tsukiji Wholesale Market, Tsukiji Oroshiuri Shijō [築地卸売市場], was full of… everything ≧(ﾟ ﾟ)≦. Fishmongers seemed to have learnt to work their ways around the tourists because they did not even lose their half smirk when they avoided running you to your death with their lil machines. I guess that getting someone killed would screw the day’s sales, as it would be unsanitary. The most impressive thing were the tuna <・ )))><< cutting dealers, with their long knives. Tuna has to be cut in one go, else it ruins the piece. And in case you haven’t seen an actual tuna, we’re easily talking about a two-metre long fish, and fishmongers dealing with one-metre long loin piece. Very cool.

After snooping around for a while we headed off for kaizen sushi with super fresh fish. I felt a little guilty about drinking cola with it, but damn it was hot. Very hot.

From Tsukiji we dropped by Akihabara [秋葉原] and well, there is a Book Off there… Finally we headed off to Iidabashi [飯田橋], where aside from my school, stands Yasukuni Jinja [靖國神社], quite a controversial shrine which enshrines the souls of the fallen in the WWII, which unfortunately involves some of the people considered war criminals.

But as it was Tanabata, they were preparing for a matsuri, and I incorporated that into my plans. I got the shrine seal and a sunburn for my troubles, then I headed towards the school for air-con, I mean some hard work （≧∇≦） there was a test the next day after all and I needed to prepare for that.

One of the good things about my area was that I was on the Yamanote line on one hand, and I had a direct line to my school, so commute was good. After school I went back to the apartment to study because I had a test the next day – don’t ask how it went （≧∇≦;).

20th August 2015: Still life, moving life {Japan, summer 2015}

Posted on by

As predicted, the 20th dawned rainy and not too inviting, so I headed off to Ueno Park to visit one of the many museums there. I heard that the collection of the Kokuritsu Kagaku Hakubutsukan [国立科学博物館], Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science had been renewed and I wanted to have a look. In the end, not much had changed, but I still had a fairly good time, because I am a geek like that. There were about three million primary school classes there, though, and a few high school ones, which was a bit annoying – and loud – but nothing too bad.

Some of the wards mix science with mythology and culture, for example the earthquake science area has an ukiyo-e of the god Suzano keeping Namazu, the giant catfish which causes earthquakes, still. As much as the bio area is cool, I think my favourite part of this museum is the fossils collection – which is scattered in different wards in what I assume has some logic but I am yet to find it. I am particularly taken by the Dunkleosteous glass panel, and of course (insert everyone who knows me going ‘duh’ here) the Megalodon teeth.

But kinda a lot of things are cool. Like dinosaur fossils. Which make you giggle when you’ve recently watched Jurassic World. There is a plesiosaur (which, by the way, is not a dinosaur). What is a dinosaur is, of course, the T-rex (#TeamTRex) – completely irrelevant information: it is a cast of Scotty, the largest T-Rex ever found.

After finishing in Ueno and getting into the wrong station – of course, that must happen at least once when I am in Japan, I headed off to Tokyo Skytree [東京スカイツリー] in Sumida [墨田] just because I could.

I did not want to climb it up, but there was something there that had been on my to-see list, Sumida Suizokukan [すみだ水族館], Sumida Aquarium. Apparently there is a tacit agreement among Japanese aquariums so each one has a super cool thing that only they’ve got. So they are like pokemon, you gotta see them all if you wanna catch all the cool things. In this case I was aiming for the giant isopods. But of course, I never say no to sharks, even with annoying kids screwing up the pictures.

And then there was sushi, and that was goooood.

… Maybe I should have titled this post “fish in every form”?

23rd August 2014: Tea Ceremony, Imperial Gardens and Sushi! {Japan, summer 2014}

Posted on by

For my last day I had thought about trying to go to see Gackt as Uesugi Kenshin in Joetsu, but (un)fortunately I realised late Friday evening that he would not be there. Good that at least I noticed before I was there and had spent four hours on the train XD

Thus I talked my friend into coming to a tea ceremony with me near Tokyo Station in Chiyoda [千代田]. This was very fun because the tea-lady (Tea master? Tea mistress??) allowed us to participate and actually bat the matcha to make it bubble up. There are no photographs of that, but I have one of the delicious takoyaki we snacked on as we were waiting for our timeslot, along the guy making them.

Then we headed off for the Imperial Palace East Gardens, Kōkyo Higashi Gyoen [皇居東御苑], which I had not been able to visit last year. The gardens run alongisde the Imperial Palace and hold the ruins of what used to be the Edo Castle, Edo-jo [江戸城].

Then she indulged me in a very stupid desire I had, and that was having something sitting down in the Shibuya Starbucks, and taking a few pics from there. It was silly but it made me intensely happy.

As we headed back we rode by surprise fireworks.

The day ended with sushi, and the trip too. It was over for this year, and I don’t know when I’ll come back, but I know I will. Somehow.

It has to happen.

8th & 9th August 2014: Never trust the French {Japan, summer 2014}

Posted on by

I have discovered that it is easier to get up before 4 in the morning rather than between 5 and 8, don’t ask me why, but I suspect vampire genes. Boarding the connecting flight to Paris was a bit of a hassle as baggage drop took forever I (on the fast, already checked in queue, sheesh.) but the flight itself was good.

Transfer in Charles de Gaulle was however a true nightmare, which involved elevators, buses, mobs of people and staff calling out who could go on each bus according to the gate. Still made it to the gate with 10 minutes to spare… until they delayed the flight. The first notice talked about 3 hours, in the end we left with barely over an hour. Apparently there was something wrong with the entertainment system that could only be partially fixed, so we ended up with 15 films streamed over and over again.

I managed to doze through most of the trip, might have even slept some, because I had to watch Captain America II twice for it to make sense. Same with The Hobbit 2.

There were three or four turbulence alerts but it was not terribly bad, and we made up for the delay and arrived almost on time. It was Saturday, 6 am, which made it about 11 pm my regular timezone. I thought it would be dead, but surprisingly I was not, and after retrieving my luggage and making it thorough customs, I plunged into the maze that is the Tokyo chikatetsu service after being greeted by Tokyo Banana. The first thing that I heard when arriving in the platform was the music box version of SMAP’s “Sekai no hitotsu dake no hana“.

I’d be staying with a friend in Satte (Saitama), so that meant two hours and a few train changes along the way but it turned out fine. Now, getting the suitcase down from her third floor would be fun.

We decided to heard off for sushi and first Jmusic mission of the trip – which turned out to be Nakano Broadway and Shinjuku Book Offs. Sushi was, as always, delightful and I was quite oh-shinied by a few things in Nakano, also as always. Then there was a little DVD watching. That was an early night as jet lag and exhaustion eventually caught up.

15th July 2012: A very Japanese Sunday {Japan, summer 2012}

Posted on by

The 15th started with a visit to Inokashira Kōen [井の頭恩賜公園] and the temple in it, Inokashira Benzaiten [井の頭弁財天] overlooking Inokashira Ike [井の頭池]. I still find it amazing how the parks in Tokyo can completely drown everything that is going on around them, especially train and car noises. It’s like going to the country or something, within a few minutes of a train station. Inokashira Park was full of people walking, a drawing class and a small flea market.

A bright red shrine at the end of an equally bright bridge

However, the respite did not take long and we threw ourselves back into the busy streets of Tokyo, heading out to Shibuya for all you can eat shabu-shabu. No words, really. Just on nom nom nom nom.

Shabu-shabu restaurant. A broth pot stands in the middle of a table with two services, and two trays of meat are on the side

After lunch and a not-so-quick trip to Mandarake, we headed off for Nakano Broadway to burn the credit card, snoop around idol shops, and buy a lot of stuff.

A shopping gallery

We had a a sushi dinner a sushi dinner (here, fyi, sushi is fish with rice, not rice with fish on top), at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, where you could also order. And when you did, your sushi came in a mini-Shinkansen (Sushinkansen!)

Sushi moving in a conveyor belt-like structure

sushi being delivered in a small train-like structure that moves on the conveyor belt

Close up of prawn sushi and green tea

Finally, the day ended in a karaoke place.

A karaoke screen reading Passing by like Lady Godiva. On the bottom-right corner, there's someone's hand holding a microphone