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.

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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.