Party Time

On Friday we had our little IT party at work. It was at a nice Thai Restaurant in Marunouchi. The place had a beautiful view as it was located on the 35th floor of a new building called the Maru Building. If you get the chance to have dinner up there the veiw was pretty fantastic. The food was good, but not the best Thai food I had hear in Tokyo (although the best Thai food I had was of course in... Thailand!).

Thanks to the folks who organized it and thanks to the folks who came along!

Mac And Cheese

Mac And cheese... what a BARGAIN! Only three dollars fifty. That would put a tweleve pack at about Fourty dollars. Not really student food over here. I personally prefer "Presidents Choice White Cheese and Maccaroni" that is available in Loblaws in Canada. Mix it with a little Hickory BBQ sauce and it is really a big improvment over the regular Mac and Cheese with Ketchup.

Christmas Preparations in Tokyo

Christmas is a big season in Tokyo. With like only 1% of Japanese being Christian you may find that surprising... but it its. Very different to the west... if you think that things have gotten very commercial in the west with Christmas... it is ONLY commercial here. Lots of shopping, lots of gifts, expensive dinners, parties... and of course LIGHTS. One quick trip to Japan and you will realize that folks here LOVE their lights and will keep Ginza and Shinjuku some of the brightest areas that I have ever been.

Here are some of the lights that have gone up in Shinjuku for the season.

Aloha! From Tokyo

On Friday night went out with my friends Kayo and Stephen for a "quick drink" in Shinjuku. Stephen chose the place and really found a place with great atmosphere. The place is called the Tiki Tiki bar and is not far away from OIOI city (Marui City... or I as I like toi call it "oi oi"). As soon as you stop off the elevator you are greated by ladies in grass skirts and men in hawaian shirts. Really was quite a relaxed kind of place. The best thing though was the dancers that they had at the Tiki Tiki bar. The place wasn't expensive and was easy to chat to your friends while the dancers weren't out as there wasn't any blaring music and we had seats (hey we are all over thirty folks...).

Big thanks for Stephen for picking the place, and Kayo for helping provide the laughs... otherwise we would have been two scary dudes checking out the ladies!

Here are a couple of quick snaps from the place:

Tasty Dinner

This was an interesting little creation from one of the local restaurants here in Musashikoyama...

Not bad... but a little too much butter for my liking. That stuff on the top is all whipped garilc butter! It was Kiyomi's dinner and not mine.

Well look at these nice little pens right here...

they look quite nice... wonder how much they cost... HOLY SH$T!!! They are 5,250,000JPY!!! I think that is each! Yup one of these pens is worth about 50,000USD. That must explain the nervous looking security guard next that was standing next to them.

Can you believe it???

Can you beleive that Kiyomi and I have hit our Third aniversary??? Unbelievable that all of you were with us over in Hawaii for the fun! I still remember it so vividly, and cannot believe that it was that long ago! (Still a special thanks to all those who made it out to Hawaii, and another thanks to those that were there in spirit!).

Anyhow for the third year aniversary, you are suppposed to give something with "leather". Well... S&M toys really aren't our scene so I got Kiyomi this leather banded watch. It is in her favorite colour (black... er the abscence of colour). So I thought it would suit her, and be a nice little evening watch or something!

Flowers!

These are the seeds that my folks brought over to Japan a little while ago. They seem to have grown really well over here and the Yabes really liked them! Thanks!

Bicycle Show!

Yesterday was a fun day. After finishing my Japanese class with Mr. Foley (not the guy making the headlines in the US right now) we met our friend Arch and headed up to a bicycle show in Makuhari. It was really impressive, all the big maufacturers were there, and the bikes were great! Below are a few shots, it is still on today (Sunday) but that is it. If you get the chance I do recommend to pop by. The above photo is when you walk in... was really impressive. Here is the link about the show:

http://www.cyclemode.net/

Here are some additional photos of some of the bikes that were there... The Italian bikes were looking great! And there prices were really resonable for what you were getting. Of course that is if you don't mind spending a couple of thousand dollars on a bicycle! I know it sounds crazy... but remember I don't have a car!!! So if it is your primary mode of tansportation I think it isn't so bad. No gas, no insurance, and way way cheaper!

Akihabara Photos!

Recently in Tokyo's Akihabara district there has been a rise in the popularity of young girls dressing up in "Maid" costumes... kind of strange. Not really a fetish of mine, but the Japanese boys seem to be going all out for this kind of thing. In this photo there is a girl who has dressed up and the guys around her are taking her photo. I think the interesting thing here is not the girl... but the seriousness of the guys taking the photo!