tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com
Tōkyō Story: Visitors
http://tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/visitors.html
Monday, April 20, 2009. If you haven’t noticed, the blog is badly in need of updating. The last 6 weeks have been a bit crazy—but mostly in a good way. I’m going to try to make a good-faith effort to start updating the blog again. Major events of the last 6 weeks include:. 8226; Sam’s visit, which included my first major visit to a museum in Tokyo, the Yebisu Beer Museum. Meets The Big Lebowski. This is one weird country. 8226; Some personal traveling, which was a much-needed break from temple life.
tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com
Tōkyō Story: January 2009
http://tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html
Thursday, January 29, 2009. Chilling with the Yokazuna… You Could Say He’s Kinda a Big Deal. I attended the sumo tournament once again this last week. I’m a bit amazed by how much I’ve learned about sumo over the last six months, but I suppose that’s what happens when you count sumo wrestlers as your neighbors. For two and a half weeks this month, my little neighborhood felt pretty trendy, with huge crowds around the sumo stadium everyday. Now, though, the January basho. 8221; In this respect, the practi...
tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com
Tōkyō Story: The X-Factor
http://tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/x-factor.html
Tuesday, February 24, 2009. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve had an exasperating get-me-out-of-here-now experience in Japan, so I suppose I was overdue. 8221; she asked, before I could say anything. Apparently the woman from last week had left a note explaining what I was trying to do. This would be painless, I thought! 8221; she asked. “You mean, the one you’re holding right in front of me? Name and get out of there. Then, the interrogation began. “What is your purpose? 8221; “No.” &#...8221; “...
tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com
Tōkyō Story: May 2009
http://tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html
Sunday, May 10, 2009. No, I don't have swine flu! As far as I know, there has been not a single confirmed case of swine flu in Japan, and yet if you've been following this blog, it should probably come as no surprise to you that the country is flipping out. I'm sick of every Japanese person asking me if I have swine flu, and I'm sick of them asking if my family and friends have it. Are you a foreigner? Ummmmmm, yes.". Where are you from? I'm so sick of hearing this anytime I'm anywhere in public.]. Subsc...
tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com
Tōkyō Story: Music
http://tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/music.html
Tuesday, March 3, 2009. To witnessing my first attempts at skiing, this last month has also been an interesting one musically. Jessica and I saw Coldplay in concert a few weeks ago at this massive arena in Saitama, the prefecture north of Tokyo, and last week I saw Jason Mraz perform in Shibuya. I had a great time at both shows, even if neither got really rowdy. Chris Martin is great, but he’s just not good for rocking out to. (The great Coldplay pics are courtesy of Jessica). I'm not sure if I was the o...
tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com
Tōkyō Story: 大盛: Super Size that Rice Bowl!
http://tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/super-size-that-rice-bowl.html
Friday, September 19, 2008. 大盛: Super Size that Rice Bowl! After continued griping about the food here, someone asked me this week if food is my biggest frustration about being here. I think it probably is. Sea urchin) and anago. Sea eel) (not to be confused with unagi. Freshwater eel), though my favorite kind of sushi at the moment is toro. Fatty bluefin tuna belly). Someone at work casually asked me the other day what my favorite Japanese foods are, so I mentioned uni. I would need to eat to get fat.
tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com
Tōkyō Story: Chilling with the Yokazuna… You Could Say He’s Kinda a Big Deal
http://tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/chilling-with-yokazuna-you-could-say.html
Thursday, January 29, 2009. Chilling with the Yokazuna… You Could Say He’s Kinda a Big Deal. I attended the sumo tournament once again this last week. I’m a bit amazed by how much I’ve learned about sumo over the last six months, but I suppose that’s what happens when you count sumo wrestlers as your neighbors. For two and a half weeks this month, my little neighborhood felt pretty trendy, with huge crowds around the sumo stadium everyday. Now, though, the January basho. 8221; In this respect, the practi...
tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com
Tōkyō Story: October 2008
http://tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html
Friday, October 31, 2008. Party at the Izakaya: 飲み放題 All the Way! Last week, I learned how to say "all you can drink" in Japanese. Nomihoudai. In kanji, it looks like this: 飲み放題. My thoughtful friend Jim in Tucson had put me in touch with his friend Dan who's a student at the UofA studying abroad this semester in Tokyo. Dan was kind enough to call me last week to invite me out for a night of nomihoudai. With his friends from school at an izakaya. Here's Lonely Planet once more:. The Giants were playing t...
tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com
Tōkyō Story: April 2009
http://tokyostoryblog.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html
Wednesday, April 22, 2009. I wrote last time about recent visitors I’ve had here. Aside from being thrilled to have visitors for the obvious reasons, I enjoy my friends’ visits because they are able to see all the thousands of eccentricities about Japan that my eyes have long since adjusted to. Generally, the bigger and redder a piece of fruit appears, the more expensive it is. I noticed a while ago that there are specialty fruit stores. In Shinjuku that has nothing on its menu but dishes made from fruit...
