I'm baaaack!

The thing with the blogoshpere and me is that it seems to fill a need. When my life is full of interesting things to do, exciting places to see and cool people to hang out with, then I just don't seem to be that interested in updating online.
So for the past two weeks while I've been having the time of my life showing my sister around Japan, my blog has been sadly neglected.
But now that my sis has safely returned home and I have gone back to my shallow, hollow, shell of an existence, you can bet I am going to be all about the internets once again.
Time of my life was not an exaggeration. We have had so much fun. It really has been like my own vacation too.
I don't want to guild the lily: my sister has done a bang-up job documenting our day-to-day adventures in her online travel journal. You can access it via her link on this blog. So rather than rehash what she has already said I’m just going to give you some of my top moments. In no particular order (as we had so many good times, they're impossible to rank):
1. Lunch at Arakawa Dam in Yamanashi. This is one of the most mountainous regions of Japan, home, famously, to Mount Fuji. The dam is this hidden away spot surrounded by lushly forested peaks. We reached there in perfect weather conditions - a dry, warm day with a blue sky and a light, refreshing breeze. There is nothing near the dam except this one small, eccentric restaurant. We sat there on their terrace, looking at the gourds and masks and wild flowers decorating the shop, listening to the gentle classical music playing in the background. Dragonflies buzzed about in their hundred's in the valley below. The staff could not have been friendlier and served us a lunch of houtou nabe, homemade pickles, almond tofu and traditional green tea. The houtou nabe is a local speciality consisting of fat, flat noodles - not unlike fettuccine - in a thick, creamy pumpkin soup, with other mixed veggies, served in a cast iron pot. Honestly, relaxing there with great food, great companions and a great atmosphere I just about blissed out and didn’t want it to end.
2. The state of the art coffee vending machines. At one rest stop on one of our road trips we came across this amazing coffee vending machine. The thing is unlike any other I've seen. It freshly grinds the beans in a mill inside the machine before preparing the coffee for you. And just to prove it, there's a little camera inside the machine which projects all the workings on an outer screen as you stand there waiting for your drink. Seriously you put your money in the machine, the little jingle starts and for about two minutes you follow your beverage's progress on camera from whole bean to steaming goodness. It was SO cool. I know it's totally awful for the environment and wasteful of precious energy, but I really saw it more like performance art. And on top of it all, the coffee was gooood.
3. Scoring 100% on a karaoke machine in downtown Tokyo. No trip to Japan would be complete without a karaoke party. On one of our last days I took my sister and a friend to a karaoke bar. My sis loved it and needed no arm-twisting to sing after a few minutes. Everyone is always shy and reluctant and first and in the end you have to wrestle the mic out of their hands. I have a longstanding love affair with the old karaoke box and have built up quite a little repertoire. To make things more interesting, the more modern facilities provide little extras to entertain you. Some karaoke machines show you how many calories you've burned as you sing. Others allow you to sing along with your chosen idol. Others still give a percentage rating periodically through your performance. This last one is the type of machine we had chosen - it's nice to know how you're doing. Anyway, for the first time ever I scored 100%. In my many brutal years of karaoke I have never known that joy. Cue creaming, shouting, stamping of feet and me fumbling with my camera as my hands shook with glee trying to capture a picture of the perfect score before it disappeared from the screen. I failed. Okay, full disclosure: The song I achieved the perfect score to is shameful. I would point out that my sister chose it for me. It was, ahem... that Celine Dion song from Titanic, ahem... I know, I totally wish I'd done so well with something cooler. But true to my experience, even my great successes are tinged with shame and mortification. I must have really belted it out though. Unfortunately, as I said, the score itself was not captured on film, but the memory, like my heart, will go on.
4. The times where we just stopped, sat back and let the city go on around us. A few cases in point. After a long walk in Shinjuku picking a little cafe with a nice view of the evening city and just drinking a few Corona. An Asian restaurant in Inokashira park which I'd discovered with a friend who'd visited last year where we could sit and watch the thick growth of trees being lashed by the heavy rain as we sipped mojitos in the balmy afternoon air and really felt like we were in Asia. Dog Garden Café in Yokohama where my sis got her puppy and chocolate fix while I readjusted my dangerously low alcohol levels. Sitting there outside the café, near the sea, laughing, joking, watching the lights come on around us in Yokohama Bay was simple satisfaction.
5. The phat dinner my sis treated me to in the heart of Tokyo at Marunouchi. It was a cool restaurant, all ethnic and minimal. Each dish was presented like a work of art. Each element - the fresh ingredients, the inspired presentation, the fusion of modern and traditional styles, the taste - was as important as the other. Thanks to Ro I now have a new fave place to bring people who visit.
6. Our first day of sunshine after being pounded by the rainy seasonal weather front for the first few days. Walking around Shinjuku Gyoen in the bright rays and just taking the mickey out of each other is something I don't get to do over here.
7. The two power naps we were able to grab. I'll admit it. I overstuffed the schedule. We were way too busy. But this made the two brief chances we had to grab a thirty-minute rest all the more wonderful.
8. The times when we avoided taking a crowded commuter train for a bit and Ro allowed me to walk her through the city at night. At this time of year, the days can be pretty unforgiving but the nights are lovely and balmy. Walking from downtown skyscrapers and wide boulevards to little traditional homes built on top of each other in the zigzag maze of the suburbs was a joy. It was also a real buzz for me to show my sis that I now know the city better than many Japanese. I can navigate my way with confidence, something I'm ashamed to say I still can't manage in Dublin, my home!
All in all, it was just too much fun. I'm sure there are a million things I'm leaving out that were just as great, but there were the moments that came to mind