Festive foliage

So I'm stuck in Japan for the festive season...

I really did think I was going to get home to Ireland, and it was looking all systems go there for quite a while, and then work intervened. But as it turns out, I'm probably getting a lot more soul-replenishing rest here than if I had been stuck on some airport floor for the holidays (which would have been a distinct possibility with the snow-tastic weather going down in Europe at the moment).

But as I was saying to my friend on the phone yesterday, I am trying to be all about the positives. One thing this forced stay in Japan has afforded me is freedom from jet lag. My recovery time from a trip back home is usually about two weeks!

And I'm saving a tonne of money because it's really expensive to travel during the holiday season. I'm hoping to make it home now at some off-peak time for a fraction of the price.

Moreover, being in Tokyo at this time of year has given me the chance to see the lovely Kadomatsu (門 松 - Japanese New Year decorations put up at the entrances to buildings to welcome ancestral spirits back to their homes) up and about around town.


On December 25, all the Christmassy stuff comes down, and these things get put up, and on balance, it's not a bad trade off.

While on a horticultural theme, I wanted to show you my poinsettia, Poncy.




This guy came to live with me over three weeks ago. I thought it was going to be another case of my infamous fingers of death, as he really struggled for the first few days. But now that I look at the time delay (a photo each weekend) apart from a loss of bulk, he really is not doing that badly.

Plants are so bloody expensive in Japan that I fully intended this poinsettia to see me through to Christmas 2011. Happily, that may no longer be such a far-fetched aspiration.

What did we ever do without the youtubes?

I have had a song stuck in my head for days. It's one of those songs that reminds me of those happy (and what I know now to be relatively carefree) college days when I was still barely 20. It was driving me mad because I could remember all the words (the song has one line repeated A LOT) and all about the video (people faffing around the desert in animal body paint) but I could not for the life of me remember the name of the song or who sang it.

So I just typed that one line into youtube and up popped the video. I cannot tell you the relief. So many memories came flooding back. I am putting it up here in case I get a fit of the seniles again a few days from now and can't remember it. Did anyone else bop around to Dario G, "Sunchyme" when they were in school?



My search around for random 90s dance hits did lead me to a bit of a dark place, though. So I came across another great song and what was the first comment? "Oh I love this song - I love listening to all my Mam's old clubbing music. I'm 18 now and rifle through her wardrobe for her old clubbing gear."

Old music? Mam? Eighteen? I mean how freaking old am I? It was harsh reality time and I sure wanted to punch that little youtube commenter in the face for forcing me to see it.

A spot of hot water (or two?)

I attended the Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner tonight. Avid readers will remember that I won a kettle at last year's event. And a very nice kettle it is, too!

Well, guess what I came home with this year... the exact same prize! Same colour and everything.

Now, while my new residence is palatial, I'm not sure I can justify having a separate water boiling device in both the north wing and the south wing. What to do? What to do?

Having my envelope pushed.

Three years ago, I spent most of my time shut away in a library or computer lab and I was happy. But I could feel myself slipping down the scale from loner to complete recluse. Then I got this job in HR and now everything I do these days is social. Most people that know me well couldn't believe that I'd be doing a job where all I do all day is deal with other people and their problems. To be honest, I couldn't really believe it myself.

Now two years later, the job continues to push me well outside my comfort zone. There have been many times over the last few weeks when I would gladly have locked myself away again in that library! But I guess it's good for me to force myself out of my shell and do things I normally wouldn't dream of doing. Let me give you a rundown of some of the envelope-pushing tasks that have been thrown at me over the last two weeks:

The 'comedy' presentation
Our company was asked to participate in a recruitment event at a very prestigious university here in Tokyo. The other presenters were the real big hitters - the international management consultants,the super banks, the big trading companies and the like. So, a relatively small company like ours had to do something a bit different to stand out from the twenty or so other quite stuffy presenters. To give you some background, the company I work for is originally from Osaka, Japan's second city; famed for its food, the business acumen of its people and its comedy duos! Another bit of info. - one of the well-known comedy duos over here is 'Pakkun and Makkun' made up of an American guy and a Japanese guy. Also, please bear in mind that I work for a medical company. So taking all this into account, my company's presentation became me and my boss (Pakkun and Akkun), acting out a doctor-patient skit in an effort to explain exactly what it is our company does. All this with my boss dressed up as a nutty-professor-style doctor - white coat, comedy wig, the lot - and me acting out the role of patient. Honestly, this type of thing is my idea of hell and, in normal circumstances, I would rather die than have to go through such public humiliation. But I was only told a couple of hours beforehand that I'd even be going to the event, never mind acting the mickey on stage, so I didn't really have time to get all that fussed about it. And in the end it was all worth it because we managed to snag a great MBA who I think we will hire this month, and we're now looking into the possibility of running a internship program, which wasn't even on the cards before that night.

The magazine interview
This was another task that came out of left field. So I get told one morning that a recruitment magazine used by students over here was coming to do a spread on our group - interviewer, professional photographer, the whole works. The interview was fine. It was one of those cases where I could mostly imagine beforehand what they were going to ask me, so I had some answers half ready in my head. But the worst part was by far the photos. They were never-ending. And it was all this supposedly 'natural' stuff - the group having a meeting, the group looking out a window, the group walking through the corridor. And all the time, the photographer kept saying, 'Just forget I'm here!' Yeah right, some chance! In the end, my boss and colleagues came out looking really well, and the ensemble photos weren't bad either. The natural shot of me on my own? Imagine Mister Bean doing an impression of a seal clapping and you get some idea of the horror. So...not...fair.

The press release
So this was the real biggie of the last few weeks. My company has just signed an agreement to acquire a company in the US. This is a substantial acquisition for us and will have a big impact on our company culture. I was asked to help out with the project (in a very small way) there a while back, and I couldn't say anything to anyone about it, not even to my colleagues. It was all very hush hush. I was responsible for the English-language press release and it was a very long and stressful day getting that thing ready to be sent out. I lost count of the times they changed what they wanted to say, and of course, they were telling me all the details in Japanese so I was terrified I would mistranslate some vital statistic. It all got done in the end though, even if I did look like I'd been dragged through a bush backwards by about 10pm. So much so that I had random colleagues coming up and asking me if I was okay. Looking back on it, it was pretty exciting, I have to say. But now the real work starts as we (again with just tiny involvement from me) basically have to set up a whole new company from scratch by December 31. I am shaving off all my hair today so that when the next big stress comes I will look less like I stuck my finger in a power outlet.

Anyway, the above are some of the reasons why posts have been thin on the ground of late. I'll try to do better.

I'm moving...but only one street over!

It's been a tough two weeks: I have a two-year contract on my current apartment which is due to expire on November 1. I had been told repeatedly for the last three months that, with a little administrative to-ing and fro-ing, I would be able to extend the contract. Then suddenly ten days ago I was told that this would not, in fact, be the case and that I had to find a new place to live, and fast.

Unfortunately, this news came at a time when I was already busy with some extremely time-consuming and stressful duties in my job. So I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed. Nonetheless, I've tried to keep positive and keep the rage strokes to a minimum.

And it's paid off...Long story short, I've found a new place. It's just one street over from where I live now. It's nicer than where I live now. It's amazingly even a little closer to my office, so I will still be walking to and from work. It seems quiet and safe and has a fine garage for Margaret ROTHARford. In fact, it ticked all the boxes except in terms of size. It's exactly the same as my current place at a tiny 23 meters squared. But at least I'm used to such a micro abode and the space seems better organized.

I learned a lot in this process. First and foremost I learned who in my company I can rely on to do their jobs and who in my company are less than useless. I discovered what hugely different places a certain budget can get you in Tokyo's central city. I saw eight places: five were dumps; one was okay; and only two were good. And in all this, price was no great indictor. Some of the crappiest places were also the most expensive. You just have to go see as many places as possible and try to remember what criteria you're willing to be flexible on and what criteria you won't budge on.

So I move on the 3rd next month and will hopefully be back to a settled and comfortable existence shortly after. Until then I have water and gas and the like to cancel and restart, clothes to pack, and new furniture to buy. I'm going to be busy, but at least I will not be homeless.

iPhoneから送信

Eating seasonally

Apparently Autumn is here, but it sure doesn't feel like it: it's still hot enough to sleep at night without covers and I'm typing away here at 5pm with the windows flung open, glistening under my t-shirt. But one sign that Autumn has actually arrived is the food. There is a saying in Japanese 食読の秋. It means that Autumn is the time for eating delicious food and reading. I haven't gotten around to the latter much yet, but I have been enjoying a bit of the former.

The Japanese have been doing the "local and in-season" thing since long before it became a food-movement in the west. I had a great meal there last week (tofu with mushroom preserve and sauteed seasonal veggies with rice) where all the mushrooms used had been picked that day from the grassland and trees surrounding the restaurant. I mean I was seriously eating the fungi off the tree that I could see through the window. I guess you're putting a certain amount of faith in the chef's knowledge of what is safe to eat. But the food was so good that I didn't really think about that point until I had finished the whole meal.



And in any case, there's a whole bunch of folk wisdom in Japan concerning eating practices that is still seen as common knowledge, so I usually feel in safe hands when it comes to eating. There's a lot of wisdom, too (that has been scientifically backed up) about the benefits of eating the foods from the environment around you at the time of year when they are supposed to be harvested. I find it fascinating.

Of course, the knowledge I have gained is based very much on a Japanese seasonal calendar and growing tradition. Some of the foodstuffs may not readily be available in Europe and the ideas behind eating them probably don't apply too much to four-seasons-in-a-day Ireland. But sure for your enlightenment, here's some of the learnin' I've picked up...

Even though we can now get the same foods pretty much all year around, try to keep to these simple guidelines and you will be eating seasonally and healthfully:

Basic rule number 1 - in Spring and Summer, try to eat what grows above or near the ground.

Basic rule number 2 - in Autumn and Winter, try to eat what grows farther below the ground.

Some more detailed guidance...

In Spring, eat lots of bamboo shoots and ginseng. The element that makes these veggies taste a little bitter also helps to prevent blood rushing around the body (typical in spring when the weather changes from cold to hot in a flash).

In Summer, eat lots of cucumbers and tomatoes. Their high water content helps to keep you hydrated and bring down your body temperature.

In Autumn eat potatoes, yams, gourds, fruit, and the like. Their high nutritional value replenishes what you lost over the long hard summer.

In Winter, eat root vegetables, especially radish, carrot and lotus. They warm the body and stave off the effects of the cold weather.

I guess hipsters aren't completely useless after all.

This is a tight performance and shows me up something rotten - I can't even send a blinkin' text on my iPhone without accidentally calling two people and taking a photo of my own nostrils.

Art and the tower (sounds like the title of a book...)

So the hike never happened. The weather today was gorgeous as promised, but I woke feeling snuffley and bunged up and I was afraid I was coming down with a cold again. I have a lot to do in work over the next few weeks and cannot afford to get sick. So I played it safe, stayed in bed, and now I feel pretty good.

The exhibition yesterday was fantastic. The number of Henry Moores was pretty low, but they were beautiful. I especially liked the first two pieces in black marble, the slightly more abstract ones:





Regular readers will notice that I am fairly uniform in my tastes. The curved marble sculptures bear a striking resemblance to the Noguchis I've raved about here in the past. What can I say? When I like something in run with it: hence my ability to order the same Thai green curry every time I go to my favorite restaurant in Dublin and still be happy, even when others might bored to tears.

There was some other nice art in the gallery's permanent collection:


The above piece, The Kiss by Constantin Brancusi, was by far and away my favourite. How cute is it? There's something innocent and kind of brotherly or sisterly (in the non-incestuous way) to it. It seems like a much purer kiss than other more famous embraces, like the Klimt or that end-of-war Alfred Eisenstaedt photo.

I usually have a distinct aversion to Jackson Pollock.


And the above fairly reinforces my decision not to like his work. I'd much rather spend my days gazing at the piece that was hanging on the opposite side of the room (see below). It's by Zao Wou-Ki and is titled 07.06.85. It's a huge painting that you could get absolutely lost in, and I think it would be a great pleasure to have it hanging on my wall - not that I ever will. I'm no Thomas Crown (in case any previously mentioned Japanese thought police are reading this...)

I also promised in this post ages ago that I'd keep you updated on the construction of Tokyo's new tower, the Sky Tree. This is where construction was up to in January of this year:

And here we are as of today, October 11 - there's been quite a leap, as you can see:


I love how the statue appears to be watching over this new addition to the city's skyline.


Useless factoid of the day: the Sky Tree will finally reach a height of 634 meters. This figure was chosen because in the ridiculously difficult Japanese-character reading system the numbers can be read (in a non-conventional way) as 6-3-4 or mu-sa-shi. Musashi (武蔵) is an ancient name for the area now around mainly Tokyo and Saitama. And this is pretty much the land that you'll be able to see from the top of the tower when it's completed. Don't say I never teach you anything.

Soggy Saturday

It has been a very rainy start to our long weekend here in Japan. But I'm not complaining. Being trapped indoors has forced me to tackle some very put-offable chores - cleaning out presses and the like. And if the rain continues tomorrow as forecast, I'm not too worried: I'm supposed to be going to an exhibition of some of the sculptures of Henry Moore, and the gallery is indoors. I love his works in themselves but also, and in particular, for the happy memories they give me of living in Luxembourg all those years ago: the time I was there coincided with Henry Moore in Luxembourg, a large open-air exhibition of many of his most significant works in the parks and squares of the city. I used to pass at least four on my walk to work every day. I also remember a few less sober moments crawling in and around a few in the wee hours with my expat (not ex-Pat, we're still close!) friends. Then, Monday is due to be glorious in the greater Tokyo area so I plan to go hiking by a mountain lake. It should be fun and will be an appropriate way to spend the "Physical Education" public holiday. That's all I've got for now...

In which I prove that spying is still alive and well in Berlin.

One great way to explore the city of Berlin is on the water.


And there is lots of it with rivers and canals and locks all over the place. Here was the river at my hotel, just bringing you on to Museum Island. I loved the leafy, quiet, embassy-laden location and the fact that from here you could walk to the main sites of the city in minutes.


A highlight of my trip was a 2.5 hour river cruise.

Being served beer as you sit and enjoy the architectural splendor and rich history of the place was just so civilized. It is also worth mentioning that it is far easier and cheaper to buy beer than water in Berlin (well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.). In fact, I suspect the city has long been a bit of a drinker's paradise. Even the cherubim and seraphim are on the sauce.


The only downside to the boat tour was a harrowing sparrow attack (jk) while waiting at one of the locks. These were some cheeky little birdies, I'll tell you. The group of Russians on my tour got a tongue-lashing from the captain for feeding them and encouraging them to come scrounging for food. I'm no animal lover and consider these things in the flying rat category, but even I thought his reaction was a little OTT.



Berlin is the one of the most architecturally stimulating places I have ever been. Out on the River Spree you get to see a lot of the best buildings. They have sunk a tonne of money into developing the place and I think they're done a great job of respecting and conserving a lot of the older cityscape, while at the same time complementing this heritage with a daring modern vocabulary (as the poncy architecture types say). Mam, you can scroll down as the next bit is just pictures of buildings.













It was also while out on the cruise that I had a chance to see how the technology we possess nowadays can really strip people of their privacy. First, some background: my parents' idea of holiday heaven is to sit together drinking in the view of Clew Bay in Mayo in the West of Ireland while all the while spying on the neighbouring holiday homes with binoculars. I exaggerate of course, but only slightly. So there I was cruising along the Spree; on the one bank we had the Treptower Park (a fine green space to the south of the city) and on the other we had some new swanky riverside apartments overlooking the park. And what do I see on one of the balconies but a couple sitting there having a good old gawk through their binoculars at all the local goings on. I immediately took a snap to show my folks at home that they were not alone in their hobby.

It was only thanks to my sister's eagle eye that we realized that I managed to capture not just one guilty secret but two: in close up you can see that the woman is having a good old root around her nasal passages as well.


Today's technology has gotten to the point where a passing tourist on a boat catches a snap of you having a sneaky pick and then posts it on the web for literally fives of people to see.

It's probably as well the DDR never had such advanced digital technology to spy on its people or the wall might never have come down. In the time of the wall, spying on your neighbours was a lot more old school, as you can see.

Chilling in the city

One of the main goals for my trip was to completely relax. I live for the European idea of sitting at a terrace on some street corner and just watching the world go by. In my opinion, the best place for this in Berlin is the Gendarmenmarkt quarter of the city. It is just beautiful, with a large square containing a theatre that's bookended by two identical churches and surrounded by wonderful restaurants and cafes. This was the view from the terrace I chose.




While in full people-watching mode, I even saw Joschka Fischer (an infamous German politician) pass by. And this place served the best mojitos I have ever tasted - it looks like a whole mint plant is growing out of that puppy.


The service, however, is definitely not fast in Berlin (I had been warned to expect this). It was much more Mediterranean a city in that respect. Berliners seem to have a pretty good work-life balance, and I was certainly not alone to be taking a time-out to drink on a sunny midweek afternoon. I have to say, sitting in the sun sipping my cocktail while knowing everyone else back in Japan was heading to work was one of the best feelings I've enjoyed in a long while. Of course, Gendarmenmarkt is pretentious as hell; the guy at the table beside me could not have been a day over 30 and was sitting there smoking a pipe!



Full disclosure; if I smoked, I would probably choose a pipe too for the eccentricity value. So this is definitely the pot calling the kettle black here.

Speaking of eccentric, here is Ampelmann - the much-loved, jaunty-hat-wearing crossing signal used in Berlin since the sixties.


This little character is big business these days with shops exclusively selling Ampelmann merchandise dotted around the city.



Like any good little consumer, I totally bought into the kitsch and came home laden with t-shirts and key rings and the like. One thing I will say, though, is God help the old and infirm of Berlin. Little old Ampelmann gives you no time at all to cross. I'm a pretty fast walker but I was constantly getting caught half way across the street by this unequivocal stop sign.

It kind of got up my goat.

Another motif running through the Berlin cityscape is that of bears, both old and new. I'm sure there's nothing more touristy than coming home with a bunch of photos of these guys, but once again I do not care. They made me happy.

Berlin and Politics

The Berliner Fernsehturm (Berlin TV Tower) fairly dominates the city's skyline.

I love it and found it made such a huge city feel relatively small and manageable as it would pop in the background of so many of the photos that I took throughout the city.


As with any building in a city with such a complex history as Berlin, it is a political structure. I had a theory that the DDR modeled the form of the tower on the spires of the other principal structure of Berlin, the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral)... showing the world that socialism was the new god now and all that...



I asked my brother who is writing his doctorate in the philosophy of art about it and he said I was probably wrong and that construction then was all about function over form. But I choose to ignore his expert opinion. I mean, come on! How can this be a coincidence?


As I said, in Berlin it feels like everything is political and history is never very far away. I spent some time at the Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe). It is a disconcerting space designed to make you think and feel. When you enter the space, it seems to be a nonthreatening collection of stones, kind of just a garden.


But as you move through the structure, the ground undulates...




and you quickly find yourself overwhelmed by these massive slabs of cold hard concrete, lost and dominated and unclear of how it all happened so suddenly.


I cannot say I enjoyed my time there or in the centre below where all the names of known Jewish Holocaust victims are stored, but I will not easily forget it and I guess that's the point. A must-see if you visit the city.

Another surprisingly moving memorial is the Neue Wache (New Guardhouse).



This is a central monument to commemorate all those who have been victims of war and tyranny. I thought I would be quite blase about going there, just ticking another item off the sightseeing checklist, but I ended up getting quite upset there. I suppose it was just thinking all at once about how many different people have suffered in many and different ways for many and different reasons; race, ability, sexual identity, political affiliation, military allegiance. It was a bit harrowing.

Not all the political stuff in the city is moving or thought provoking, though. Checkpoint Charlie was the biggest let-down of the trip. Imagine the worst tacky tourist trap you've ever been to and multiply by ten. It even gave the rosary-bead hawking teashops of Knock a run for their money in tackiness.