Signs of Spring...

Looks like it's the end of Winter... and Sakura season! Time to sit under a Cherry Blossom tree and drink lots and lots of Shochu, so much Shochu in fact, sitting under a Cherry Blossom tree starts making deep meaningful sense... It's probably more fun watching inebriated salarymen in their black suits, prancing around the Sakura tree shouting out Japanese Karaoke favorites then actually partaking in such activities.

Like I said before, I much prefer winter, no bugs, no sweat, did I mention no sweat? Spring just means that the dreaded heat of Summer is close by...

Obligatory Sakura photo here...


And another one, this time on the Meguro river, click for a bigger view...

La Foret Park

And proof that it's HOT... 29.5 degrees.

The End

Random pics

Really, really, really old salt... still, it's cheaper then salt from the Triassic period.

Don't like old salt? Try going crazy!


Recently Tokyo retook the top spot for most expensive city in the world, here's why, TWO whole limes for almost US$3...

Another silly English sign for an Italian restaurant chain...

All I want for Christmas is...

...my two front teeth.


Followed by a visit from the Japanese tooth fairy, who generously bought each tooth for the princely sum of ¥500.

Finally Snow... alright sleet.

Well it's almost the end of winter here in Japan and finally we get a spot of snow, it's really nice to see the white stuff falling from the sky.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea that it's a seriously overcast day and it's wet...

Unfortunately, it's too warm for the snow to stick and it's just becoming a slushy mess on the ground, but nice to see it at least once this winter... it's also the coldest day of the year, with a high hovering between 2-3 degrees.

Big Steak... big view

The view from the 51st floor of the Sumitomo Building in Shinjuku...

click on the picture for a bigger view...

This was the view from Misono an awesome Teppanyaki restaurant. They claim to be the originators of Teppanyaki and from the look and smell it's clear the restaurant has been around for rather a long time... I won't dispute their claim because they serve a pretty mean steak, unfortunately at a pretty mean price.

Too bad the three of us were enjoying our red meat so much, we forgot to take photos...


Thanks to a couple of Singaporeans (Linda and her boytoy, Kok Weng) for introducing us to Misono...

Nicole gets a new Hairdo...

It took a lot of convincing from her parents that 'trimming' does not equate to 'chopping off' her hair, while realizing that she wants to grow it out, it was beginning to look more like a strangled mop then a Disney Princess' mane... Much better now.


Hmmm, after Adrian commented that she looked more like Mei, maybe there's a little truth in that, maybe mother wants daughter to look like her, I did a little research...

Last year...


and now...

Hmmmmm...

A beautiful Saturday afternoon in Yokohama

This past Saturday was a gloriously beautiful winter's day. While a little chilly the sun was out and the sky was a deep blue.

We zipped down to Yokohama for a spot of ice skating... well, the girls did, I just watched.

A beautiful setting, an ice rink by the old red brick warehouses.



Trying very hard not to fall... with the sun out, the ice was a little slushy.

Perhaps a smaller helmet next time.

After skating, we had a spot of lunch at the Red Brick Warehouse on the bay in Minato Mirai, 100 year old warehouses completely refurbished from top to bottom, all-in-all a picture perfect day.

Believe it or not...

...the Sashimi has no news to report.

It's been a very quiet start to the new year, very quiet. Apart from our friends Lyndsey and his wife Beverley spending a week and a half in Tokyo at the beginning of the year, there is absolutely nothing of interest to report on. We haven't tried any new restaurants, done anything outside the ordinary, or been anywhere remotely interesting.

I think it's because of the cold weather, instead of wanting to venture out, it makes you want to stay at home where it's nice and warm. Having said that, it's been a relatively mild winter, last year we had much colder January days, it even snowed in Tokyo a couple of times.

Anyhoo... it's quiet here, shhhh.

Singapore flashback...

... a big thanks to the inlaws for letting us stay at their place during our quick trip back to Singapore. Apologies to those we did not get to see during the 12 days, it was badly planned on my part even though the three of us did feel like rockstars... everyone wanted a piece of us!

Aside from the usual binging at hawker centres and meeting up with friends and family, we managed to squeeze a bike riding crash course into Nicole's busy holiday schedule... 4 lessons, an hour each and by the end of the course she could ride like Evel Knievel, spectacular crashes and all...

Anyone need lessons? Mei has his details, his course is guaranteed!

And as quick as that the holiday was almost over, between all the meals and visits we managed to sort out our banking, shop for christmas presents and even stock up on our Singapore food supplies. Everyday felt like a mad rush from one part of town to the other trying to buy stuff or sorting something out, but the next thing we knew, we were back on a plane and back in Tokyo.

After a year of whinging about Japan and missing everything in Singapore, you know the really funny thing? When we opened the front door of our apartment, all three of us breathed a collective sigh... we felt like we were home.

The Sashimi is back in big Tokyo...

...and promises to update his blog as soon as he can. In other words, not today.

Happy New Year to one and all! It looks to be another interesting year here in the land of the Rising Sun and I hope to be a part of it!