More invites

Talk about either feast or famime: after languishing in the social doldrums for years, I go and get asked to TWO 'High Society' engagements in one week.
Today, I was invited to dinner by one of our outsourcers to the Foreign Correrpondents Club of Japan - a very swanky private members club where all sorts of movers and shakers go to do business. If my brow gets any higher, it'll disappear into my hairline.
George Soros, the Dalai Lama, Digital Socks... Yes, I think that rolls off the tongue quite nicely. Top of the world, Ma!

A belated invitation to the top table...

I will soon have lived in Japan for six years: in that time, it's fair to say that I have not been invited to join the upper echelons of society.

Two months in my present company, and look what arrives in the post! My grandfather would be so proud.

Of course, with the sorry state of the world economy (and Ireland's) at the moment, the reception will likely consist of a bag of Tayto and a cup of Lyons Gold Blend.

Not to worry - I'm from good working class stock and give the proper value to a nice bag of crisps and a grand cup of tea.

Tokyo Tower Version 2.009

Here is a snap I took of Tokyo Tower today. Loving the addition of a festive 2009. I'm also loving the reflection of the Tower that I captured in the nearby Atago Green Hills skyscraper. It's all very 'Bright Lights, Big City', which I missed while living back in Dublin.
Tokyo Tower is the new Mount Fuji for me. By this I mean that it's the thing that makes me remember I'm living in Japan. When I lived in Kanagawa Prefecture, I would be walking along, going through the daily grind, when all of a sudden beautiful Mount Fuji would pop up out of nowhere. Seeing this sight, I'd stop what I was doing and take a moment to change my way of thinking: I'd make myself realise that I'm not just going about my daily chores, I'm living in an amazing place that I had long dreamed of coming to. Now that I'm a resident of downtown Tokyo, my chances to see Mount Fuji are few and far between. But, as I said, the gorgeous tower above does just nicely.
By the way, a lot of people ask me why I came to Japan in the first place. I often spout off something about the unique culture, the mixture of old and new, the welcoming people. But the truth is, my interest in Japan can all pretty much be attributed to this 1994 TV ad. Click on the video below.

My Assassins are not so okeley dokeley...

I wasn't going to put this picture up here for fear of turning this blog into a foot fetishist's dream, but my big sis said I had to. These are the new runners that I just bought - yet again, at a whopping discount - and I love them.
I think they are tastefully gaudy. My sister is not so sure. I said, "Well, at least I won't get run over (alluding to their fluorescence)..." And she said, "Unless it's by some driver who just can't stand to look at them any more." The cheek!
You can see that I have put the picture under a screenshot from an episode of the Simpsons. For the nerdilingers in the audience - *ahem* little bro *ahem* - it's from epsiode 216 'Bart's Dog Gets a F'.
When I was a child slash teenager, there was such a thing as the overpriced, aspirational super sneaker... Nike Air Jordans, and the like. I never had a pair. In my pubescent, square-eyed mind, the 'Assassins' worn by Ned Flanders represented the epitome of the flashiness that such shoes were all about. I long dreamed of owning a pair.
Turns out that you can't really trust childhood memories or dreams: thanks to the wonders of the Interwebs, the picture above shows that said 'Assassins' are a lot more subdued than the runners I ended up buying. I guess the gaudy grew in my mind with age.

Bought me some Lebanese shoes

I went out today and got me some Lebanese shoes: as you can see from the picture, they definitely have a touch of the ‘Indigo Girls’ about them. I think I am entitled to be an honorary Lebanese seeing as how 'Despite our Differences' and '1200 Curfews' are regularly top 10 in my MP3 rotation. . Anyways, I’m well happy with my purchase - they are so comfortable.
I originally intended to replace my well-worn Campers - they haven't been the same since I had to walk through floods TWICE back home in Ireland. However, new Campers cost about 250 euro over here. Can you believe it? I would no more spend that on a pair of shoes, even if we weren't on the eve of the next Great Depression.
As it is, I got these Docs 70% off in the pre-sale for about 45 euro - you can't go wrong. I'm fairly confident that they're flood proof (just in case I lose my job and have to survive another *cough* summer in Ireland). And they're definitely sturdy: a necessity when you walk as much as I do... 10,000 steps a day, remember?
The fashion over here at the moment is either: for big, hob-nail boots with the trousers tucked into them; or for shiny, black patent leather sneakers, so I'm definitely bucking the trend (hence the big discount, I imagine). Sure not to worry, I've always been happy to dance to the beat of my own drum, sartorially speaking. I could, at this point, remind you all of my forays into red tartan slacks and stripy orange denims, but I think some things are best left in the past.

Premature de-wick-ulation

Here is a photo of this year's Christmas tree - thanks H.
It gave my little apartment so great holiday atmosphere.
As you can see above, unlike the other tantric candles, one little guy just couldn't hold himself in. I felt for him - he just couldn't handle the pressure to perform.

On Being a Tokyo Foodie...

I'm getting a kick-start on the New Year's resolutions: one of which is to get back into the blogging thing. Not having an Internet connection cramped my style there for a while, but I probably would have been just as lazy if my new Tokyo apartment had been access-ready when I arrived.
Work has been hectic: I cannot believe I've been in the new job two months already. With all the travelling and adjusting to lots of new tasks, the time has just slipped by. I'm on my end-of-year holidays now. It's going to be a lovely week-long chance to find my feet and consider what I've done.
I settled back into being a Tokyoite pretty quickly. Buying my beloved granny bike, Margaret ROTHARford, helped the process along no end. My free time is spent zipping around downtown Tokyo and hitting the cool cafes, restaurants and galleries.
The best thing about being back? Without question, the food! I just love it. I'm so assimilated that I even plan my meals like the Japanese now. One Friday night I was watching old Onion head, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi - this honey-lensed Japanese TV celeb who's about 250 years old, deliciously pre-senile, with amazing taste in wacky outfits and a massive black wig piled on top of her head like a big onion. On her program, she recommended this tofu restaurant in Tokyo's swanky 'Midtown' development. So there I was, the very next day, queuing up with the rest of the housewives to get my tofu 'teriyaki eel' and dry curry rice-bowls. I am one with the borg.
I love in such a big city, too, that you can be wandering through an area you think you know well and suddenly discover a completely new place to enjoy. This is what happened yesterday when I found a great Muji cafe just beside the Imperial Hotel. All that you can see in the picture above just cost 980 yen (8 euro). Pretty amazing... And the pink turnip Oden (veggies slow simmered in stock) was the surprise of the day: I never thought I would be writing a blog in praise of the devil's vegetable!