Omotesando Break-Feast

Every once in awhile you have to take a “break” from your usual yogurt, English muffins, or cereal, and you need to indulge in a true gastronomic morning feast. The other day James and I did just this – we went to my favorite breakfast stops in Omotesando (neighborhood where we work).

First we went to Anderson's Bakery, which is filled with so many perfect pastries that I can never pick one in under 5 minutes. I usually circle around multiple times, observing and smelling and guessing what the fillings are. James loves this. :0) Eventually I pick two pastries, which I do not feel guilty about because all of the Japanese women pick two or three and because they are all "petite" sized pastries. This last time I picked a cranberry streusel muffin and an orange tart.

I almost went for one of these adorable creme puff swans - next time!

Then we looped over to our favorite little coffee shop - the yellow van! Remember how I said that little vans are quite common here in Tokyo as food stands, like the curry van. They also serve coffee, and this espresso happens to be the best we've found in Tokyo for the best price. Can't argue with that!

And the van stand has a the cutest little punch-card - I will miss this coffee place.

2nd Anniversary

James and I celebrated our 2^nd anniversary yesterday. Hard to believe two years have flown by so quickly, and yet we have done so much together in these two short years. Most of our day yesterday was spent at church, with the morning being filled by the craziness of Vacation Bible School. But we did make a wonderful dinner last night: salmon, grilled asparagus, roasted potatoes, wine, and a delectable peach cobbler for dessert. This dinner was really a labor of love, as it took four different stores to gather all of these ingredients.

But as we sat over dinner chatting about the day, and about this and that, I realized something very wonderful about our marriage. We have spent most of our days together the last two years as fellow students, and now we’ve spent every single day together this summer for our internship. And we work really well together. We never get tired of being around one another, and even at the end of a long day at work or in classes together – we still have loads to talk about. I think that really is the definition of a soul-mate, and we continue to praise the Lord that “the boundary lines have fallen upon pleasant places.”

Tokyo Bay Fireworks

This last Saturday, James and I were invited to watch the Tokyo Bay Fireworks show from the apartment of a family here at TUC. Japan has a great love for summer fireworks shows, and they occur all throughout the summer in various neighborhoods of Tokyo. But this show is apparently the biggest show of the summer, and there were thousands of people that showed up to watch. Japanese people dress in traditional apparel, kimonos and wooden sandels, and it is a beautiful array of human origami that lines the streets. I must say, we were very glad to be watching from an apartment balcony and not down amongst the masses. The party we were at was full of food and festivities –over 50 people crowded into the apartment. Little children ran around in their own mini-kimonos, anxiously waiting for the big show to start.

And when the show finally did start, boy was it a show! I have never seen a fireworks display that came even close to this one – 80 full minutes of spectacular colors, shapes, and sparks filling the sky! Be sure to press play on the last photo - it's a little video clip of the show.

James and Isaku-san, the host of this grand party.

This little girl was adorable - spent the whole night running around and waving her fan, shouting out "butterfly fireworks" in Japanese.

The view from the apartment deck.

The sky turned a luscious shade of pink as the sun began to set.

And the fireworks were magnificent!

Here is a little video clip of the show - you can see the rainbow bridge in the background, which is the biggest bridge in Tokyo.

88 and One Classy Lassy

This is Sheila Scotter, one of the first editors of the Australian Vogue and quite obviously still making fashion waves at the age of 88. This pic was taken in Melbourne by the Sartorialist, who was doing a photo shoot with her for a Saba ad campaign. I absolutely love this pic - so regal, so charming, and such a vibrant smile on this Aussie lady. I think I also love this image because it reminds me of my Nana, who precipitated my love of design and fashion and who I consider to be the classist lady I've ever personally known.

This picture reminds me (and should remind you!) that no matter what age you are, or what phase in life, you can still be a classy lassy.

Japanese Curry

Like most Asian countries, Japan has its own special take on curry and it has been a very common meal for James and I during our stay here. It is really quite easy to make, is much more mild than curries from other Asian countries, and it tastes delicious.

Here is the recipe for the most common variety of Japanese curry:

Potatoes

Carrots

Onion

Chicken

Oil or butter

water

Curry mix or sauce

That’s it – that’s all you need. You can make the curry mix from scratch, but I’ve found that most people use one of the many curry mix brands that you can find in any grocery store. I was introduced to S & B, and this seems to be the most popular brand. Not sure if you can find it in the States, but I’m guessing that you can.

Directions: Cut ingredients to uniform pieces, put in large pot with the oil or butter and let sauté for 5-10 minutes (until the onions are cooked through). Then add water to pot so that top is just covered and bring to boil. Skim off the top layer of the water that rises to the surface, and then reduce heat and cook until meat and carrots are tender (about 20 minutes). Break the curry mix cubes into pieces and then stir until completely dissolved. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes, and then serve over rice and enjoy!

Hair Stylist (slash butcher)

What needs to happen in order for my husband to let me touch his hair? 1) We have to live in another country for nearly 3 months, a country that is obsessed with hairstyles for women and men thus thrusting the price of a haircut sky high. 2) This country must speak another language such that we have no way to communicate how a haircut should be executed. And lastly 3) James must become totally exasperated with his current length of hair.

Check, check, check.

Today James officially let me “style” his hair for the first time since our sophomore year of high school. As I recall, James let me dye his hair blonde which instead turned a marigold shade of orange and his scalp had slight burn marks. Oops – guess I can understand why he’s waited 10 years to let me touch his hair again.

There were a few tense moments throughout this experience. They were probably precipitated by the fact that I couldn’t stop laughing as I was cutting. (perhaps nervous laughter?) This led to the following conversation:

“Nicole, seriously, if you don’t stop laughing while you are cutting than I am going to chop your ponytail off tonight when we are sleeping. I’m not joking.” (And he wasn’t).

“James, calm down, I’m doing just fine. The back looks great.”

“No, don’t tell me to calm down. I’m your client, and you can’t laugh while working on your client’s hair. And let me see the back.”

“Chill out James. You can see the back when I’m done.” (There were some seriously uneven spots at this point and I was trying to figure out how to fix it)

“What’s wrong with the back?!? Stop cutting, right now. I’m going to look at it.” James leaps up and uses the 3-way mirror to check it out. “Nicole, what the heck are you doing back here? It looks like you just hacked at it with a chainsaw. I’m finishing this hair cut – you can leave.”

I start laughing again at this point, because James has grabbed the scissors and is now trying to use the 3-way mirror to even out the back of his head. It’s not going well. James finally invites me back as his stylist once he realizes there is no way he can even the back out on his own. On the condition that I don’t laugh the rest of the haircut.

I start cutting again, and believe it or not the back of his hair starts looking pretty normal. He then teaches how to cut around his ears, and 20 minutes later we have things even out pretty well. I would say it’s a mission accomplished.

Here we go - just starting out here.

Doing okay at the mid-way point.

Here's James near the end of the process, after the heat has settled.

And here's the near finished product. The bottom still has the patchy parts, but we realized that part needed to be shaved off. Which we did after this picture and it looks much better.

And of course, the bathroom mess that took me 3o minutes to clean up.

Tokyo Dream Vacay

The following blog post is written as a submission for one of my favorite blogs, Coco + Kelley. She has asked her readers to submit a post on their dream vacation and I decided to write one on my current dwelling place - Tokyo!

Tokyo is an energetic city with full-sized portions of history, culture, fashion, food, and color. Start your trip with a visit to the Imperial Palace and its surrounding gardens. These Edo-period dwellings are sure to conjure images in your mind of an older Japan. Then spend the evening in Shibuya crossing, which will feel like Times Square on steroids with its blazing neon lights.

One of the oldest buildings that remains from the original Palace.

Shibuya Crossing at night. Pic from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36015194@N00/309451832

You must spend a day shopping through the hundreds of local Japanese boutiques and storefronts- head to Daikanyama and Omotesando. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly through the charming and curvy streets, poking your head into the unique and trendy small shops of these beloved Tokyo neighborhoods.

A tantalizing display at Galerie Vie in Omotesando.

As a grand finale for your fabulous Japanese vacay, a little day trip to nearby Kamakura would be well worth the effort. Here you will find dozens of shrines and temples amidst the sharp green Japanese countryside. Be sure to visit Engakuji Temple, a Zen Buddhist complex that sits quietly upon a lush hillside. Now you can come home refreshed and inspired!

A cave nestled within the hillside of Engakuji Temple.

Tokyo Cheap Eats

As most people that have traveled to Tokyo know, this city is expensive. Including its food. Most things that you buy in the grocery stores here have to be imported, and that costs money. Which means that even things like eggs and bread are not cheap here.

But there are some little gastronomic bargains in this city, as we are finding one by one. For example, most major department stores in Tokyo have a basement floor filled with various food vendors. These food stands are filled with all sorts of delectable fare, ranging from Salmon to Sake to Suchi to Mochi Cream (a personal favorite) to calzones. And if you hit them at the right time of the day, it’s a sampling haven. James and I wandered into the foodshow in the basement of the department stores at Shibuya station two days ago, and the sample fairies did not let us down. We were starving and trying to figure out what to pick amongst this crowded metropolis of hungary Japanese, and rather than buy anything we just sampled our way through the floor. We tried a tasty sesame chicken wing, a bit of salmon, 2 bites of Calzone each (oops), some cucumber salad, a sip of Sake, one gyoza, and a mini chocolate truffle. All for the great price of zero yen. Hmmm….yes, I suppose we are still in the mooching phase of our life. We were honestly planning on buying something there, but there is absolutely nowhere to sit down to eat. Where do these people eat there food-you don’t see many people eating as they walk, I guess they just wait til’ they get home and then it’s cold. No thanks.

So after our sample rendevous we had enough stamina to make it back to Daikanyama, where we finally broke down and ate at the adorable little Italian restaurant on the main Dainkanyama plaza- called “Eately.” That was not super cheap, but very good bread, wine, and pizza.

Today we found a real-steal-of-a-deal for lunch. Surprisingly, Tokyo has quite a number of little “van-stands” that sell a variety of things – coffee, food, noodles, etc. I say surprisingly because they are the kinds of things you would expect to see in Mexico City, not one of the most advanced nations in the world. Nonetheless, they are very clean and cute and usually have quality offerings. We’ve been going to this nearby coffee stand that is served out of a cute little van alongside one of these quaint side-streets here in Omotesando (where we work). It has excellent coffee for the best prices around. Just FYI – drip coffee in Tokyo commonly costs between Y500-600, which is $5.00-6.00 US dollars – totally ridiculous! Today we took the advice of the associate pastor and tried out a nearby curry stand (once again out of a little van), and the food was excellent! If you go after 1:00pm you can get the main offering for Y550, which includes a bed of rice and your choice of 3 curry dishes to go on top. If you can stave off your hunger until 1:00pm, this is the way to go for cheap eats. We could tell other people had the same idea, as the line was quite long the whole time we were there.

Lois, maybe you could open a little van food shop somewhere on Front Street!

Diagon’s Alley (or at least it felt like it)

This last Saturday James and I visited Jimbocho, which is the bookstore district in Tokyo. There are dozens of used bookstores and several publishing houses crammed into a few city blocks. After working on some church prep Saturday morning, James was about to crack open the ol’ LSAT book and hunker down for an afternoon of studying. This did not sound fun to me—I wanted to use our day off to go explore more of the unchartered Tokyo territory. Now, to my credit I have been quite supportive of James studying this summer. He is working very hard to prepare for applications this fall, and I am proud of him. But I, on the other hand, do not need to study (PTL!) and love spending time in this crazy and energetic city. And this Saturday I wanted my husband to come with me. So what’s an easy way to lure him away from studying for an afternoon of exploring with me – the used bookstore district! Brilliant, right!?! I casually mentioned how much I’d been wanting to go find some used bookstores, and he immediately pounced. He knew exactly where the used bookstore district was – we didn’t even need to consult a subway map. So that settled it – an afternoon outing we could both enjoy. James found unique books and old editions, and I went on a focused search to find some cool Japanese art books. Mission accomplished.

I have never been to such a centrally focused bookstore district. Shop after shop....

Bookshleves inside, bookshelves outside...

(I wouldn't be surprised it this is what we have to do someday - put our overflow books into shelving outside)

I love the aesthetic of row upon row of old and beloved books.

This particular store had an incredible selection of English literature and history. It warmed my little Anglophile heart. Check out these books here: "Gentleman Charles: A History of Foxhunting" and "Royal Heritage: The Story of Britain's Royal Builders and Collectors." What a stately set of books to add to our shelves at home - too bad they were Y5000.00 each.

Here's James, scoping out some dead Greek guys.

Center of the Universe

Okay, take a look at this picture. This is one of the 4 or 5 escalator we take to get down to the Oedo Line subway on our route from Roppongi to Omote-sando. Our last commute from Shibuya to Omote-sando did not require us to go down very far at all. But this commute is way down under. How far towards the center of the universe do you think we travel?