Darts

As a dart player in the past- with as you can imagine a record of skill and accuracy and winner of the Wangaratta High School staff association prestigious Dartlow Medal ( my only sporting trophy), I naturally take an interest in darts. These players in a gaming venue caught my attention as did the neon lights and interactive nature of the dart board. The game had moved on since my day!

Tempura Artisan

My best meal so far was prepared by this tempura chef in a very tiny cupboard like restaurant  in Otaru a coastal town on the island of Hokkaido. It was wonderful to watch him work with care and precision and creativity to prepare the bowls of tempura which each item placed with purpose.

Tokyo Trains 1

Tokyo Trains continue to amaze me. Passengers line up orderly to wait and only enter once those on the train have exited.

Special Peaches

As it is summer I was looking forward to summer fruit: apricots, peaches, cherries etc, but the variety is limited and expensive.  These individually cocooned white peaches were 1296 yen (approx $16 AUD) for two and the pink peaches were 1080 yen (approx $13 AUD for either 2 or 3).  This was in a rather upmarket mini mart and I finally bought 4 for about $7 AUD in a larger Costco type supermarket.  They were unbruised, juicy, sweet and  yummmo, but an indulgence.

Product Testing

As well as the Pharmacy, I have spent some time trying to navigate Japanese electronics, furniture, and homewares shops- with limited success!

At first, I thought they were models/shop dummies, but no these fellows were asleep in the lounge chairs in the electronics shop.  As in the Chemist and the Supermarket it is a very noisy environment with mini screens blasting noise and images- not sure how they could sleep - but they were not to be disturbed.

Noisy Supermarkets Too

The mini advertising screens blast out their sound and advertising in the aisle of the supermarket too.  Ideas for how to use your olive oil - stay and watch!

This post really needs to be a video with sound.  As I have had a shocking chest infection for the past two weeks, I have become friends with the staff at the Chemist's.  At first, I couldn't understand what the noise was or where it was coming from.  However looking closer there is a small screen in the middle of most shelves promoting the product and its advantages.  It is an incredibly noisy, high pitched racket and bizarre, all going at once - no serenity!

The staff are lovely and when I presented a script from the Doctor they shook their head and a young staff member walked me out on the street, around the corner and pointed me to the Pharmacist - not the Chemist.  Not sure that would happen at home and sadly not sure that level of help would be offered to a foreigner.

A restaurant I WON'T be eating at.

I was surprised to walk past this pavement sign -in English- for a restaurant serving whale meat.  An even larger sign, with a bigger whale image was on the wall.  Obviously there is no stigma to eating whale in Tokyo and it is seen as something tourists would be attracted to.

Yoga

Yoga is the neighborhood I have been based in for the past weeks and the location for Seisen. As you can see it is much calmer than Shibuya.  I like the crepe myrtles in bloom along the main street.  The streets are narrow and fairly quiet, with the major road passing around or overhead.

TOKYO

An inundation of advertising, neon, vehicles, and crowds on Scramble Crossing at Shibuya, a major commercial centre in Tokyo. Pedestrians can cross in any direction (a scramble -just like in Dean Street Albury - only busier). Shibuya is said to be one of the busiest crossings in the world and was noisy, alive, teeming with people and fascinating.  A good introduction to this amazing city.