Frequent eating places

Here is a quick list of the places I frequent for dinner or wished I did around where I stay at Yushima. Mostly I go there because they are close by and its late at night and I really don’t want to travel too far for anything else. Nevertheless, they are good (to me) and that’s why I visit them more than once, well not necessary everyday, but I won’t mind going back to them.

Taxi taxi

Some basic facts and figures about taxis in Japan (which you can also find via googling):

• Its has one of the most expensive fares in the world

• Most of us cannot afford to take a cab from Narita airport to Tokyo (except fat and rich CEOs) . It would probably set your budget back by 10,000 円 (about S$200)

Pictures at Yushima Tenjin

This is my first venture on photographic photos:

This lion is at the base of the bronze gate at Yushima Tenjin. You can see the temples name in the background

Noon run

It should come to no surprise that afternoon in Tokyo now is actually the best times to run. In the morning, it may be still too cold and in the night its freezing!

New Year (06) in Japan

明けましておめでとうございます! (Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!)

Its almost 12 midnite on 31 Dec 2005 and we were still deciding whether to go to the Meiji Shrine or a smaller Hie JinJa shrine at Asakasa. But looking at the time, it was obvious that we could never make it to Meiji Shrine in time, with the crowd and long walk into the main shrine, so we headed for Asakasa from Shinjuku ni-chome and a mad dash to the entrance. Made it about 5 mins before 12. There is already a queue at the main door.

かっぱ橋 – Kappabashi

かっぱ橋 (Kappabashi) is a long street that’s about 3o0 m East from the 雷門 (Kaminarimon) at Asakusa. Although this place is branded a Kitchenware street, its more than that. Its a place where you can buy EVERYTHING you need for your food business, from disposable plates and chopsticks, to chairs and table, to waiter uniform, to plastic food display! Its a must visit place for all upcoming Martha Stewart.

I want to ride my bicycle

My Muji Bicycle (Click image or here to view actual size).

Cycling to work (Click image or here to view actual size).

Running redux

Temperature outside is 4 to 5 degrees and I’m all dressed up in the new running gears to run.

CW-X cap = 3,675 ?
Nike sweater = 9,240 ?
Fila t-shirt = forgot
CW-X tights = S$120 (fr bkk)
CW-X socks = 1,365 ? (with left and right socks)
NB 900RT = 10,395 ?

If the weather gets any colder and I cannot tahan, I will opt for a new half length CW-X thights (yippee!).

Being in Tokyo is like a toy shop everything I step into a sport/adventure shop. The number of things they have is just overwhelming. As a runner, I just love the range of apparels they have, including a full range of CW-X from caps, shirts, tights to socks.

箱根 – Hakone

Tadashi, Saeki, Masahiro, Tim and me went down to Hakone for onsen (温泉) about 2 weeks ago.

Most of you would know of Hakone for its wonderful view of Mt. Fuji, while pampering yourself in a onsen.

Well… you see most of the time Mt. Fuji is covered with clouds and its only during the cold sessions like winter when the top can be seen clearly and with its full glory of snow peaks and the best view is during early morning. So now, you have to wake up early in the morning, in the middle of winter and walk (run?) out naked in the open air into the hotbath… how romantic can that be?

Also the main 小田急 (Odakyu) line stops at Hakone-Yumoto station, which is in a valley of sorts and to see Mt. Fuji, you need to travel say another 2-4 hours from there.

Lunch time

It must be very cold today… and it is. The cold winter winds are blowing at full force and you can scarcely see anyone walking along the streets at lunch time… all in mole city (underground).

It must be usually cold also, because most if not all of the bento lunches are gone at my B1 of the office building by 12:30 pm. Usually, even at 1:30 pm, I could still have a good selection of bento boxes. Not much to choose for today though.