(re) turning Japanese....part II

It's fun being able to wander around on our own. Tours are fab, but once you figure out where you want to venture, turn yourself loose. We decided to get a full day metro pass and go and discover "kitchenware Town", "fabric Town" and "electronic Town".
First stop, Kappabashi Dori (Kitchenware)...

Giant chef head at base of street. And why does he look French??

plastic food models, used in most restaurant windows, on sale here

children's dishes on display

Tea cups across from Giant Chef.

They love their owls here...

Amazing cookie cutters

We could spend hours combing these shops. Everything from skillets, clay pots, chopsticks, food models, aprons to take away plates can be found here. We were in heaven. Many things are familiar to us, but then there are the uniquely Japanese items.
Soon it was off to Nippori, or Fabric Town. Oh boy!!!  I knew better than to spend too much time here or Hubby might go insane. So we hit a few shops, and of course everyone had something you "needed". Kept it short and sweet, but got a few meters of usable fabric.

public art

Look what we found....

look what I found!!!

fabric, fabric everywhere. So neat and tidy. (unlike LA)

clever use of cardboard

Akihabara, or the electronic Town is a visual overload. I wish our boys were here. They would know what to do and where to go. I had hoped to find some mania/anime items, but I didn't even know where to begin. Also we were starving so we had to find food. Lunch at 2:30 is something we are not used to.

Wow, don't I wish I looked this good all the time.

Didn't eat here, but you that know, KNOW

Side street

Visual overload everywhere

Vending machine store

One of two Sega stores

Cute car, nothing more....

wall art

cosplay girl passing out flyers

The area is home to the Cosplay cafes as well. It is short for "costume play", were people dress in their favorite anime or comic costumes and meet with friends like minded. We would have loved to snap more photos of people on the street but you really should ask permission and some are moving fast. It is a very interest area to people watch as well.

He had no idea what he was standing in front of.  Perfect though

arcades everywhere.

We enjoyed ourselves immensely, and will have to venture back again. Next time with larger suitcases to haul stuff home.

Add on: it was mentioned to us to go to Roppongi, where all the clubs are, thus the sailors go. Really?? Turns out it was one metro stop next to us. We decided to walk there during the day. It was a nice walk on a crisp day (love it). Passed a gal on the street passing out flyers for massage. Yes please. It's the middle of the day, so nothing weird there. I will highly recommend this place - 60 minutes for us$30 (day price I think), fully clothed (in their Ts and shorts). So relaxing. There seems to be a theme to our holidays - eat and massage!! If you are in the area and decide to go, exit Roppongi metro station exit #3, turn right, turn right at the next light and look for this sign on the right side of the street. Sorry, I can't read the name, but look for the two hands symbol.

Legit massage!

street scene

nice eatery

one of the MANY clubs here in Roppongi

(re) turning Japanese.....

So with our second time here in Japan, we decided to take a few days and head north to Tokyo. It has always been one of those cities I was timid to visit, cause you hear so much about: it's overcrowded, it's a mass of  traffic, it's dirty. I didn't find any of this. So either I am in the wrong places, or it's just not that bad. Of course I have lived in other major cities, so perhaps my rural-ness has worn off.  I found it averagely crowded and traffficed for a city it's size, the people lovely (only the yung adults are afraid to speak English), it is very clean (or clean enough for me) and there is something for everyone!! More so than in Singapore.
We travelled up from the south two nights ago, and since we didn't take the express train, our 1.5 hr journey was closer to 2.5 hrs. Oh well. Now we know. We had instructions on how to get to our hotel (The New Sanno), so we navagated the metro just fine. We were greeted warmly and shown to our room, which turned out to be the Japanese suite.

entry hall

futons - ready for bed

view from our window - private garden

ceiling outside the Japanese restaurant at New Sanno

No cheesy stuff heere, only the real McCoy. Futons on the floor and dining chairs without legs. Everything Japanese compfy. I ahve to say the beds are extremely good. I must have been Jpanese in a former life. There is a deep soaking tub in the bathroom as well. Ahhh

Deep and wide tubby

Yesterday we explored the area surrounding the hotel. I still don't know what the neighborhood is called, but  the metro stop is Hiro-o. There are many embassys here and the area is mostly residential but has a very "western" feel.

down a side street, near hotel

local park

neighborhood cemetery

local temple

There are many European restaurants around (we did find the chain curry house Coco Ichiban though).  In the after noon we took a five hr bus tour to familiarize ourselves with the city. It covered only a portion, but we were pleased. Like London, there is so much to see, you can't do it all at once, or even all on one trip.
We visited Hama-Rikyu Gardens, which had been a duck hunting grounds for Shoguns since 1654. This lovely park has a 300 year old Pine tree, shaped and controlled as a bonsai would be...only life sized. It also features tidal ponds from Eto Bay. The Kanto earthquake and WWII bombings left the garden in disarray. But in 1945 the Imperial family donated it to the city and it has been returned to the public as an historical site.

tea house

Then we took the Sumida River cruise up river to the Asakusa Kannon Temple. We did the gauntlet of Nakamise shopping street (after Singapore, no biggie) going through two gates, the outer Thunder Gate and the inner Treasure Gate. Originally built in 942 ad, this current ( Thunder Gate) gate dates from 1960. Apparently they have a lot of fires.... The "lantern" in the picture below weights 700kg. Eek, I'm not walking under that!

Thunder Gate

Our Guide with flag!!

Nakamise Shopping Street 80+ stalls

Giant slipper on Treasure Gate

fortunes tied to rope, to bring them "true"

Sensoji Temple 

The Treasure Gate has a pair of giant slippers believed by invading people to be the shoes of the temple guardian. Hopefully it scares them off. Buddha's ashes were distributed between some 8000 temples. A portion of them are housed here somewhere ( I didn't quite catch that part).  Legend has it that two fishermen in the year 628, pulled an idol from the local river. After throwing it back, they pulled it in again many times. At this point they built a small shrine for it and placed it here. Then in 645, a traveling sacred priest had a dream that this was a secret relic and should not be on public display. At that point it  more sacred, and today is only viewed for 20 minutes once a year ( I assume by the "chosen")
Poked around and took tons of pictures before hopping back on the bus to do a drive by of Kappabashi and Akihabara. Boy, those were right up our alley, so today we spent 6 hrs exploring those....

Wonderful Whirly-Pop.....

I love this thing. I know it is sad to say, but I do. I labored too long on whether or not to get one. I asked for one for Christmas and didn't get it. Must be a sign. But I still hankered for one.
I had used one at K's house and thought "what a great thing."  I control the oil, butter, flavorings. I had stopped buying the microwave popcorns years ago. If you look to see what's in it, it 's a bit alarming. So I had been doing the microwave paper-bag method. Nice, but messy and a lot of unpopped kernels.
Then, about a month ago I bought this baby on Amazon ( I do so love Amazon). Lickity split it arrives and I begin making all sorts of yummy corn. First there was the basic. "Look Ma, two unpopped kernels." Then it was the kettle corn. This is awesome for doing that!! Dump in corn, oil and sugar (which I control how much - and NO, stevia does not work in this recipe), stir, pop and pour. Then last night it was a pre-buttered corn. came out ok, but not too sure I got the oil, butter ratio correct. Darn, I'll have to try again....  And clean up, a breeze. The whole unit seems to be a thick aluminum, so a quick soak (if needed) and wipe and dry. So nice.
I can see carmel corn this Fall. red and green popcorn balls at Christmas. I'm sure I can come up with something for Valentines and Easter by then too.

Happy Mother's day...

Ah, it's that day again. Mum's Day. What a better time to get work done!! After church this morning, Hubby and I headed to Giant for major food shopping. Giant is the closet things we have to a Walmart here in Singapore. Not I frequent Wally World at home. I don't. But Giant here has vast groceries and home goods under one roof. A rarity in Asia.
But the morning started out with me FINALLY getting around to project for Hubby. He bought a sarong in Thailand and wanted a "Man skirt". Oops I mean a wrap.....  So I took 10 minutes this morning and sewed it together.
Voila!!

Then after we got home, more chores. Boy they pile up!! The gutters around the house have been clogging up for a few months now. This is the second time I've had to clean them out (in the 8 months we've been in the house). Hubby, being the sweetie he is, helped, so it went much faster.

All cleaned and showered. Just getting ready to dust off the ceiling fans, which probably means another shower afterwards....

Working for the weekend...

This month is a "happening" month. Seems like ever weekend we have something, or somewhere to go. Not bad. Beats the hum-drum of the other dull months. This past weekend was our 27th Anniversary (still trying to get my head around that!!), and Hubby decided to take me to Phuket Thailand, a place he had said  years (ok decades) back that he wanted to take me. So he planned and arranged, and last Friday we jetted off. It's only an 1.5 hr trip from here, so much easier than from back in the States.

One of many Thai/Malay islands

drop me anywhere here

can I get on one of those boats??

We stayed at the Amari Coral Beach on the south coast of Patong Bay. It is not in the midst of the craziness of Patong, but a short 7 minute walk to the main beach/shopping area.
Our room was lovely, as all the resort was. Very few kids, so the pool was usable and quiet. It was along the bay and had a jetty on the west end of the resort,  accessible by a small path. the jetty hosted a bar with nibbles, had staff, towel service, loungers, umbrellas and a ladder into the water. The water was crystal clear, so we knew we had to get in and "peek".

a welcome cleaning

fruit in the room, so good, but not sure the names

ready to jump in. Can you see the submerged rocks?

resort jetty

hanging bugs along the path....

the path

idea for water feature later

along the pool, looking out onto the bay

Food was good too. While not an all inclusive, the food and drinks were reasonably priced ( drinks were a bit "loaded" as well).

breakfast buffet

But visiting a different country is about staying full time at the resort ( well, sometimes it is!!). But I wanted to see the town. I've heard so much about Phuket over the years from sailors who stop here, and Patong is renown for it's hedonistic area. Now let me say right now, I had no interest in partaking of any of that.
 1. other than to people watch, there is no appeal. But I do get fascinated on the types who do participate.      guess too many years in the theater.
 2. I'm too old
 3. can't see spending money for craziness

Japanese "twin" couple, right down to their flipflops

wouldn't go at night, but I can peek during the day

I just thought this was too funny...Angry Babes

anything to get you in the door.

Patong public beach

I want to see the REAL town. So we wandered off the beaten track. That's when you see the good stuff. First off, we found the good Thai massage places. Oh yes, we enjoyed hour long massages ( thai are fully clothed thank you!) each day!! and they only cost us$8 for an hour. These were not little back scratchy things. These were full on, bend you like a pretzel. Oh so good. Forget smuggling drugs back, I would smuggle a Thai masseuse home!!

But we wandered down back streets and alleys. We saw how the locals lived and ate. Then we ate as they did. So good!!!! Couldn't tell you what we had, just pointed and they piled it onto the plate.

cute wood working

sitting at a street bar, we saw this

what it really said

Soon the weekend was over. Man, that went fast. It was time to get back onboard the AirAsia plane and head home. Just a few last shots that I thought was fun.

Baby Boy could have worked here....

I should see if there's a parachute onboard!

I've been having trouble with blogger for the last two posts, as you can see. Something is wrong with the layout and trying to get pictures posted. Forgive me. I'm having to shoot between two computers to get this done.