12 meals

I've been taking pictures of what I eat. At first it was more like a project just for myself. 10 years from now I want to look at these photos and remember what places I used to go to for lunch and dinner.

But then I thought that it could be a nice thing for the blog. So here it is. In no particular order.

1

Maguro Ichiba or "The Sashimi Place". Raw fish on rice!

Maguro Ichiba: Bakudan Don. Tuna, squid, egg and natto. Yes, I can eat natto!

2

Keisuke or "The Black Ramen Place"

Keisuke: Black Ramen. Extra large bowl and rice on the side for free!

3

Oishiiya or "The Chinese Place"

Oishiiya: Jaajaa-men. Miso sauce on cold noodles. I never eat the egg soup in the back....

4

Morikawa. This is my favorite. Fried or simmered fishes. :P

Morikawa: Today's fried fish. Probably red snapper (tai) but I don't know.

5

Pig. Steaks and hamburgers!


Pig: Sirloin steak with butter on top!

6

FamilyMart or other convenience stores (konbini)


The Konbini Triple: Sandwich, onigiri and juice.

7

Kamira or "The Cabbage Rolls Place" (though I almost never have the cabbage rolls)

Kamira: Tonight's (bangohan). 2nd favorite after Morikawa.

8

Mumbai or "The Indian Place"

Mumbai: Chicken curry, naan and mango lassi.

9

Toogarashi or "The Korean Place" or "Bibimba"

Toogarashi: Bibimba, and this is the only thing I order here. So good, so cheap.

10

Yaa-yaa-ya or "The Other Ramen Place"

Yaa-yaa-ya: Ramen with an egg.

11

Kodawariya or "The Chicken Place" or "Kara-age"


Kodawariya: Grilled chicken breast (Amiyaki suteeki).

12

Yamaneko or "The New Place"

Yamaneko: Anchivy and olive pizza. Yes, there is good(!) pizza in Japan... and it will make your stomach full and wallet empty.

Ok, that's it.

Take care!

Say hello to my little friend!

I got a DSLR!

It's a Nikon D70s, which means that it's an old camera. 5 years, or almost ancient when it comes to DSLRs. I didn't really choose it though. Long story. Let's just say that it sort of fell into my hands.

Anyways, I'm having a lot of fun with it! Especially together with my new lens, a Nikkor 50mm f1.4. With it I can take pictures with very narrow depth of field. See below!

Natsuko playing the guitar.

The focus is only on her left hand. Actually, only on her index finger. A little bit too narrow perhaps? Gotta be careful.

But still, photography isn't about equipment, right? It's about seeing something funny.

Tomo showing his strength.

How can he do that?

Ok, short one today.

Take care!

Fear and Japanese Pickles

Cute bear, right? It's an alarm. Pull the string at the bottom and it goes wiiiiwiiiiwiiii! A woman got stabbed the other week by an unknown guy about 500 m from our apartment and now I carry this little guy for protection... Sort of takes away that feeling of complete safety in Japan, doesn't it? Maybe I was naive to believe in that?



I'm making tsukemono (Japanese pickles) these days! It's the easy version, where you just put vegetables in salty water and press them under a heavy glass weight for a day.



Cucumber. Looks a bit slimy but it turned out pretty good.




Komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach). This became way too salty! Got to rethink the recipe...



Went rafting in Gunma-ken with Tomo, Matt and a bunch of other people last weekend. Good times! It's so good to get out in the nature. I wish every weekend was like this.




Wetsuit crew! Believe me when I tell you that they were needed. See below to know why.



Gunma-ken is up in the mountains and there was still snow left on them, melting in the summer sun. Naturally the rivers were freezing.




BBQ in the evening and Go-san is warming his hands over the fire after a long day in the water.




We're trying to grow some vegetables on our balcony now. Here's an aubergine.

And some tomatoes. Still green though.... Maybe another week or two and they might look more tasty?

I've posted a lot of old pictures on Flickr. Here's a link to my Japan set.

That's it.
Take care!

Hakone and Ghibli Museum revisited

We spent last weekend going sightseeing with our friends Christine and Adrien. Ch has been here for an internship and Ad came for holiday.

It's been a while since I went to Hakone. The area is very nice and well worth a visit if you're in Tokyo but want a day away from the concrete.

Got the Hakone Free Pass; return ticket, free rides in the area, maps and guides.





Three companions.






Hakone Open-air Museum. A walking flower and Man & Pegasus by Milles.

Hand.







Adrien on Lake Ashi.

The day after we went to Ghibli Museum. It contains a lot of art related to the movies by Miyazaki Hayao, and also exhibits that explain how to tell a story through animation. If you're a fan of Miyazaki then you should try to go there. I say try, because it's a bit tricky to get tickets. Can't take any photos in the museum... The following snaps are from the Inokashira park were we had lunch afterwards.

Ad & Ch under a tree.





This what I look like nowadays.

That's it.

Take care!

Hello Sugamo

Cohabit, according to the free dictionary by farlex.
Co·hab·it co·hab·it·ed, co·hab·it·ing, co·hab·its
1. To live together in a sexual relationship, especially when not legally married.
2. To coexist, as animals of different species.

None of these two meanings sound very nice, but that's what I am, a cohabiter, and I fell very, very good about it. This time the distance relationship lasted for 1½ year (Osaka/Tokyo) and I can't say that it was easy. We met perhaps 20 times during 18 months... Bygones!

I love it in Sugamo! The atmosphere of the area is great, it's close to both our jobs (every sunny morning I walk to the lab, 45 minutes) and it's close to downtown Tokyo. And the apartment feels so big. I have to wear glasses when watching TV...

Close by we have an old Japanese garden, Rikugien, and on Saturday it was crowded with people watching the cherry trees.

I wonder how many people fall of this bridge in a year...

Someone taking photos of a tree with the cell phone. A very common scene...



I have to admit that I find it beautiful.

Still taking pictures of the Japanese carp (koi).

We've only lived here for a week but already had a bunch of people visiting. This is from the other day when Tomo and Sachi came by for some drinks.

Tomo, the salary man, straight from a wedding party.

Sachi. Note the ring. That's a pretty big diamond! ^^


My cohabiter.

Ok, that's it.

Take care!