Gatsby commercials

Japanese commercials are often quite immaginative and fun. And thanks to the very liberal advertising laws they can not only be seen on tv and in the cinema but also on oversized LCD screens at major squares in Tokyo and other cities (most famously at Shibuya crossing) and on small screens on trains. Yes, not only are trains in Japan completely plastered with print commercials, now they also feature tv screens above the doors that play the latest commercials.
Gatsby is the most popular brand for male hairstyling products and I find their commercials some of the funniest. The background music can get on your nerves, true, but the commercials are still entertaining. The face of Gatsby is again "Kimutaku", the former boygroup member become Superstar/-hero with a capital "S" Takuya Kimura (See previous post "The talented Mr Kimura"). Not that this is the only product I've seen his face advertising for. He virtually seems to be marketing every possible product. Chewing gums, Toshiba notebooks, Samantha Thavasa handbags and of course his own new tv drama "Mr Brain" (...)
Here a few of the Gatsby commercials with Mr Kimura:
This one if very funny and an illustration of different esthetics across cultures. Imagine that spot on one of our tv channels - people would die from laughing (ok, might make them buy the product). Lascivous hair spraying - that's how it's done:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5BzT_BaKoo&feature=related
Kimutaku alias Dorian Gray, admiring his own reflection and finally pulling a cutsy tongue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWhfdJNLMoM&feature=related
Hm, kindergarden? "I don't listen, don't listen, just pull my hair..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-2ZwoGKGEw&feature=related
A world premiere: The man with the rubber legs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIrMl1Rl3jg&NR=1
And now watch and enjoy...

Niijima or "Gone with the Wind"

My hard working friends had to leave the Izu island paradise after the extended weekend of course. Me , the lazy unemployed, decided to visit another island. After all the ferry ticket had not been cheap and on the other hand the campsites on the islands were free of charge and I would not spend more on food than in Tokyo. So as long as I'd find an internet connection I would be fine. After having met the tanned surfers heading for Nijima on the overnight boat this island seemed like a good choice... Little did I know there would be nothing like sun, fun and surf waiting for me.
Nijima is a 20 minut boat ride from Shikinejima and quite a bit larger. It is known for its large surf beach and is reputed as a party island. That is on weekends obviously... When I arrived I was lucky enough to be able to convince the bus driver to do a detour and drop me off at the campsite. The campsite was huuuge and almost completely empty, there were a mere 4 other tents. I rented a bike and started touring the island a bit. The famous surf beach next to the campsite was indeed beautiful and a few remaining surfers were still training. But overall the beach was incredibly empty, but stunningly beautiful, a picture perfect beach for a long walk.
The other side of the island featured a little village which seemed very sleepy, no one on the streets, barely any open shops. But I saw a few Izakaya red lamps, so there would be some dinner locations hopefully. Along the roadside there were stone sculptures craftfully cut into large stone blocks. Imagine some kind of Easter Islands light. But soon the rain started and made my bike tour less enjoyable. But the islands community center offered free internet for those able to fill out the Japanese registration form, so I proceeded to do some job search for the day.
In the evening I met the inhabitants of the other tents. A Japanese couple, a French teacher with his japanophile 15-year old daughter and British English teacher twins with a Japanese friend and embassy interns from Belgium. I went for dinner with the British and Japanese girls. We checked out a nice Izakaya which specialized in sashimi (not surprising for an island) and Ashitaba tempura. Dinner was delicious, that is except for the Kusaya that we tried. Kusaya is a dish horrible enough that even most Japanese refrain from eating it. Loosely translated it's "stinky fish" and please don't succumb to the illusion that it tastes better than it smells...
The night started with light rain only. I had Peter's warning in mind that the tent would not resist heavy rain, so I hoped it would not get worse. It did though and all I could do was roll myself up in the middle of the tent in order not to touch the walls. Still, I and my luggage woke up damp in the morning. The guy who was interning at the Belgian embassy left and he wanted to leave his tent behind too, so I put up that new tent for the next night and felt really lucky.
The second day on Nijima was even rainier than the previous one. Non-stop heavy rain, but we still cycled around as this was the only available means of transport. Thanks to the rain the eclipse of the sun was not visible either. Such a rare event and you would be in the right place and then... All we saw was a tv live transmission from Southern Japan at the Community Center. Greeeat - could have seen that back home in Europe too...
Despite the very rainy day I was positive about the night. With the new tent I was sure to resist the rain. Little did I know that the new tents fragile construction would bring new problems. NO, the tent did not leak. BUT it crashed over my head - over and over again. I had to get out in my nightgown with the flashlight and try to fix the poles. Minutes later it crashed again. And there was nowhere to flee - the kitchen area was flooded and the toilet did not seem an inviting place to spend the night. I got up veeery early and packed my stuff, enough was enough and it was definitely time to make my way back to Tokyo.
The boat left in the afternoon only, so all of us campers spent a sulky day at the surfer cafe. The French father and daughter couple wanted to stay on still. The island was obviously a concession to the fathers idea of a good holiday. The 15-year old was your typical japanophile Teenie who is obsessed with anime, manga and of course Japanese boy bands. She tried to strike up a conversation about the above topics with me and the British twins, but for our lack of both interest and knowhow the topic soon died. After a quick soak in the greek themed onsen we boarded the boat, happy to get our damp selves back to a dry and cosy Tokyo apartment.

Shikinejima escape

July brought us another one of those inexplicable Japanese public holidays (one planted into each month, either Friday or Monday). Marine Day was this months, whatever that may entail. Reference to the supply base for sushi? No clue... Anyway, anyone working here and suffering from few vacation days tries to use those public holiday for short trips. So some of my working friends had decided to do a trip to Shikinejima, one of the Izu islands about 200km South of Tokyo. Obviously a rather quiet and very small island with nice free rotemburo/onsen (hot springs) and a free camping site.
So Friday evening we met up at Takeshiba Pier in Tokyo`s harbour area. We were of course not alone heading for the Izu islands, there were masses of people lining up at the pier. At the ticket counter everybody got a free plastic mat which I later realized was the mattress to sleep on the ferry. The boat soon looked like a refugee camp with all those people laying out their stuff on the floor and trying to sleep or party, two naturally enemy activities. Lucky were those who managed to sleep in the chaos. Otherwise you'd party with Tokyo gaijins or make friends with the surfer boys heading to the neighbouring Nijima.
The free campsite on Shikinejima turned out to be very scenic, located above a beach. Some of the tentsites were down near the beach, the others spread over the hill on different levels. We wisely chose the ones up the hill. Like this you had the choice whether to sleep or party, those near the firesites would be inevitably booked for noise all night long. I shared a tent with Sarah, a Japanese woman who lived in the US for 10 years. Our friend Peter had lent us the tent which was a bit old, but spacious and easy to put up.
Peter visits the island every year at least once, so he was very familar with its sites and the local businesses. We rented some rusty mountainbikes from an old man in town and started to tour the island. It is hilly, but small and with a bike you have quickly seen the major sites. So we mostly stayed in the free rotemburo, soaking up and relaxing. I like the Onsen culture, however, I am not the type to stay in the very hot water for long or do ten different springs in one day. But I had fun taking pictures of my friends and doing people and dog watching.
I got to know a plant/vergetable that had been completely unknown to me before, despite having spent many months in Japan already. Peter was midly obsessed with it to say the least. It is a leave that is growing everywhere on the Izu islands and is called Ashitaba. "Ashita" means "tomorrow" and "ba" is for "leave" meaning a leave that grows back tomorrow when you cut it. It is used for a variety of dishes. We went to the islands "Italian" (well, as Italian as it gets out there) restaurant and tried Ashitaba salad, bread and tempura. The latter two were excellent, very tasty. You can also just eat it fresh from the roadside, but it is definitely better cooked up a bit.
The island was also site for some social tensions between "gaijins" (foreigners) which was namely our group and a group called Alpine club Japan or something like that. Peter and Jim both used to be members of that outdoor club which is one of the biggest in Japan with its own magazine and so on. It seems the clubs president is a bit egocentric however. Jim organized a small hike with a couple of other members and outside friends and did not do it through the official club channel. They got "caught" on the hike and Jim was expelled from the club for organizing an event with other members "behind the presidents back". The guy later wanted to back out and asked Jim to join again under the condition that he would sign an amendment to the club members declaration that said that no member was allowed to organize any event with more than 2 other club members without inviting the club as a whole. Jim pretty much showed his middle finger and some other members left as well. Bad luck that both Jim and the club decided to go to the same island that weekend... Of course a lot of members still know and like him and agree on the president being silly. So there was lots of gossip. The president "caught" us with some club members sitting in front of the supermarket and talking about - well - him. He got a little catty...
We finished the weekend with a hike to the highest point of the island, a very windy affair but with a lovely view. The local tourist board had organised some sort of sea snail race on the nearby beach. They threw tons of those into the water and people with snorkeling goggles jumped after and tried to collect as many as possible. Seemed quite pointless, but fun to watch. After the snails were barbecued (but tasted quite bad). We had a proper barbecue in the evening at the campsite which was cosy. The guys again went to the lovely onsen down a cliff. It looks impressive at night. There is a steep, lantern lit zigzag path leading down the cliffs and you end up in this free onsen right down at the ocean with all the lights around. The guys took wine with them and stayed in the spring for hours, probably soaked up with minerals for life...

Disaster season

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting at Starbucks with my housemate Rinko and her friend Yuki. When I took the picture we were just cracking some jokes about the gift Yuki had brought for Rinko, a diary with Rinko`s favourite Korean singer. It`s considered a bit "middle-aged Lady" to be infatuated with neighbour country`s cutie boys, called "Hanryu Stars".
A couple of minutes after I stoped laughing and got rather sick in my stomach. An earthquake... There had been one or two very light earthquakes since I came here, but this one was a much stronger one. Not just a little tremor, but rather heavy shaking as I had experienced only in the earthquake simulator in Fukuoka last year (http://clod-lost-in-translation.blogspot.com/2008/07/preventing-disasters.html). My friends laughed about it, but I thought it was not that funny especially considering that a major earthquake is long overdue in the Kanto area, the last one was the huge disaster of 1923 which left over 100`000 dead. Statistics say about every 70 years an earthquake of that magnitude happens, so make your calculations...
I learned on the internet later that yesterday`s earthquake had had a magnitude of 6.9, some sources say 7.1 and had its center near the Izu islands, where I just spent a weekend lately. A magnitude of around 7 seems very strong indeed, the Kobe earthquake in 1995 had a magnitude of 7.2 obviously. The epicenter may have been a bit further away this time, but that was definitely serious. But except for a few people getting injured by objects falling down there was no damage.
It`s also typhoon season in Japan and tomorrow the large typhoon that was sweeping over Taiwan on Friday is passing near Tokyo, so some heavy rain is expected. The South of Japan however is much more affected and the typhoons occur every year in late summer. This is definitely a country with a lot of natural action, be it earthquakes, typhoons or volcanos. Not quite used to that yet.

Nanpa - pick-up artists

I was recently meeting a friend for drinks in Ikebukuro, one of the major train stations of Tokyo. My friend Damiano was quite a bit late, around 25 minutes, so I had to wait at the station. With no book in my bag it could have become a little boring. But I got a free spectacle that certainly made excellent entertainment.
There is a phenomenon in Japan that is called "Nanpa". It generally means something along the lines of "flirting", see the following link for a more historical background on the term : http://neojaponisme.com/2007/12/05/nanpa-a-history/. These days it is used for pick up lines on the street and there are certain areas that are especially popular for this, eeh, sport... Tokyo`s main spot would probably be Center Gai in Shibuya where all the male and female fashion dolls like to spend their time at. Or the square in front of Shinjuku`s South East Exit. And definitely the Ikebukuro station area. Ikebukuro as a nanpa spot has even found literary mention in Ira Ishida`s novel and manga "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikebukuro_West_Gate_Park). As one of the more seedy areas of the city and with an abundance of love hotels it seems an obvious choice for nanpa...
So there was this group of guys standing at the East station exit. Excuse the poor quality of the pictures, I took them in a as unobvious as possible fashion with my mobile phone... Quite clever, three guys representing three distinctly different types and tastes. There was a) the epitomy of the Japanese Male Doll or "Gyaru-O" (girly guy) with the "Tina-Turner-in-the-80`s" hairstyle dyed in blonde, super tight trousers, long pointed shoes, all sorts of bling bling and a stupid "I`m so hot" expression on his face. Then b) the Macho Guy. Short hair dyed in sand blond, heavy fake tan, baseball cap and a intentionally manly body posture and facial expression, the internationally recognized "I`m the man" type. And then c) a less obvious candidate, the Nerdy Guy or "Otaku" as they are called here. Next to his friends an obvious lack of fashion sense, glasses, undefined haircut. Still, unlike the typical Otaku definitely not of the shy stay-at-home-and-play-video-games type. In a refined approach that would have made anyone working in Sales jealous, those guys scouted the area for girls to tackle and chose the appropriate team member to address her instantly. I seem to be the macho type target - lol. When I arrived the guy too a closer look at me and seemed to consider addressing me. But they are cowards, so the risk of me not speaking Japanese seemed too big I guess. It was really funny to watch and they were very busy as the approach of Nanpa is not class but mass. Chat up as many girls as possible and try to get their phone numbers. Most will probably be annoyed and leave, but if you approach enough you will get SOME phone numbers. That is the philosophy of Nanpa I guess. The girly guy targeted the dolly girls, the "Hime" gal, princess girl and the super fashionistas. The macho targeted the more streetsy but still fashionable type. And the nerd the shy, office girl type. Despite the obvious stupidity of the endeavour as such I thought their way of approaching the "market" was kind of brilliant.
I failed to count the number of girls they chatted up during these 25 or so minutes, but there were quite a few. They were insistent too, so if the girl kept on walking they would just walk with her for a bit to still talk her into handing over her phone number (or ideally go straight for the love hotel I guess). They did not chat a lot with each other, though obviously being there as a group. In between the chat-ups they would be checking their mobiles to keep track of past success stories I guess and scout the area for new "customers".
The most clever of those guys combine nanpa with a job. A popular form of ads is the hand-out of small items like handkerchiefs or a hand fan with a marketing message printed on. They are handed out in high-density pedestrian areas, usually by students. Quite a few of those guys seem to use this job that requires approaching people anyway for nanpa. Making money while picking up girls, I guess that is smart...

Kamakura Buddha

Kamakura is located just outside of Tokyo on the seashore and one of the "must-do" trips around the city. Kamakura itself used to be Japan`s capital for a brief period of 150 years in the 12th to 14th Century. These days Kamakura is renowned for its many temples that make it being called little Kyoto by some. And the Daibutsu, the large Buddha statue, although not quite as big as the one in Nara, is a famous object of pictures.
I went to Kamakura with a friend from Okinawa who came to visit his parents in Saitama prefecture. So I could combine a day of sightseeing with a day of Japanese speaking practise. And it went very well and added to the feeling that lately my Japanese is becoming quite functional. I don`t need to consult my dictionary every couple of minutes and I can express myself fluently in most situations. And my friend Yuuki speaks a lot, so this was definitely a good challenge.
We set off from Ikebukuro in the morning and it took us about one hour to get to Kamakura. There is an old tram that links the different sites and goes down to the seashore as well, so we bought a "Norihodai" ticket - "all-you-can-ride" ("hodai" in Japanese means "all-you-can", so it`s used in a variety of package offers like "Nomihodai" ->drink "Tabihodai" -> eat and so on). I found the expression quite funny as "all-you-can-ride" was a new term to me and sounds a bit silly. Anyway, the tram prevented us from getting too wet as it was raining quite a bit unfortunately.
The large Buddha figure in Kamakura was of course well visited. You could enter it as well, but I doubted that there would be any worthwhile view up there considering the weather and paying money to enter a narrow damp stone Buddha, I did not consider that again (see post on visit to Kurume last year...). The seemingly aslepp Buddha figure with the pouty mouth looked impressive though. Yuuki said the its hair looks like salmon roe - the kind of remark that as a culturally sensitive foreigner you are trying not to make usually ;-) We also visited some temples nearby and a little cave with statues of Shinto Gods. After paying reference to the cultural aspect of the cave we could however not resist playing "Caveman" in there as well...
For lunch we stopped at a restaurant that is obviously a must-visit too and famous for its super fresh sashimi and shirasu. I definitely was in for the fresh sashimi, but did not know what shirasu is. Turned out to be tiny, almost transparent raw fish. One Japanese friend later told me she can not eat it fresh, only dried because of all the tiny little eyes of the fish looking at you. It was not bad though I slightly prefered the delicious sashimi.
In the afternoon the weather cleared up a bit and we visited Enoshima, a little island linked with the mainland by a bridge. There are some famous temples on there as well, so we took a walk over the island. For the lazy folks there are escalators to climb the islands hills if you are ready to pay 500 Yen for the luxury. We did not of course. The island was also full of cats, they were virtually everywhere - from the expensive Siamese to street breeds. We had another couple of bites of seafood on top of the hill, more shirasu and grilled marinated squid, yum!
Before going back to Tokyo we lazied around the seashore in Fujisawa for a bit. Yuuki wanted some French fries and we had to eat them outside because he also wanted to smoke absolutely. There were warning signs on the beach saying you should NOT eat outside because of all the birds (whatever they are, crows maybe?) that would attack you if you had food. I am seriously scared of big black birds, have been for a long time (no, I haven`t seen "The Birds" though read the book). So I was veeery nervous and the birds circling above our heads were not encouraging at all, not the situation to enjoy the actually very pretty sunset. Yuuki hid the package of fries under the table and once in a while stuffed a bunch into his mouth. Was quite funny, but I still had the vision of the birds attacking...
P.S.: I had to correct several spelling errors before posting. I wrote "Karmakura" instead of Kamakura. Maybe that should be the real name, good karma place it seems for sure...

Starbucks Tribes

Starbucks is definitely not the most original place to spend your time at. But then again it is a really good place to study at. Obviously Starbucks has recognized that exactly this is a major appeal and has placed an extra shared study table in its stores here in Japan. Even the regular tables are mainly occupied by people studying, having informal business meetings, reading, working on their laptops, having language lessons and so on. So basically Starbucks has turned into one big office/library/meeting room with the benefit of decent coffee.
I go to study in my favourite Starbucks in Akabane almost every day. It`s the ideal atmosphere to study: some noise but not too distracting, a cup of coffee, other people studying as well to make you feel you are not alone and the impression that you are still having a social time while working. I do like small private cafes, but unfortunately you quickly get the impression that you should buy a new cup of coffee every 30 minutes or so or else start moving on. I had developed a dislike of Starbucks in 2006 when doing my internship in Boston where you have a cafe every 5 meters or so. But now I`m in again, just too good of a study spot.
The other guests, and some of them are regulars too, are interesting to observe too. There is this English teacher who gives conversation lessons to a Japanese business man at Starbucks. He totally confirms my impressions that many English teachers are not cut out for improving Japanese people`s English skills. All he does is just sit there and chat with the other guy and being paid for it. I haven`t heard any serious inputs from him to improve the others grammar, vocab or anything. There is also a foreigner who gets Japanese classes with an elderly lady. She looks very stern, he looks very clueless... And there is this guy who comes to "study" at Starbucks frequently. Seems to be a student of city planning or something like that according to his books. The trouble is just, he reads like 3 lines, then he starts typing messages on his phone again or he re-arranges his hair or he looks at his too tanned face in a small mirror or he goes to the toilet or he falls asleep (see pic)... He could easily skip taking those props (aka textbooks) with him as he never seems to get anything done.
Coming there so often plus being a foreigner has made the staff of the Akabane Starbucks notice me. The boldest of the guys there asked me for my Facebook contact after a while and then gradually introduced me to his colleagues. It`s nice, I get special treatment now, little figures drawn on my cup and so on. Makes it even more fun to go there and I have the chance to practise my oral Japanese skills as well. Now every time I enter the store I get a big "Hello" from the staff and of course lots of encouragement for my Japanese studies.

Tokyo mountains

Tokyo is the largest city in the world and incredibly densely populated with 35 Million people in the city area stuffed into a rather small piece of land. Still, some nature remains even in the close vicinity of the city. The most popular destination for excursions is Mount Takao. I have not yet had the chance to visit, but it seems a little on the overrun side with masses of schoolkids and families going there all year round.

This weekend I went hiking on a mountain in the very West of Tokyo, Mount Mitake. We were four expats lacing up our hiking boots and taking the Chuo line in direction of Tokyo`s outlayer. It takes about 1.5 hours from Shinjuku to get to the final train station. We had a little lunch right in front of the station. A local farmer was selling sandwiches and cucumbers with miso paste and chatted cheerfully with us. He also had some local bugs in a box, I was not quite sure whether they were supposed to be eaten as well... Then we took the bus and a mountain railway up to the top of Mount Mitake.
We did a beautiful round tour on Mitake that takes you through the little village, the large pilgrim`s temple and a lot of forrest area. I just love the look of the Japanese forrests and we were lucky to pick a good day for hiking, cool but not raining. My friends Andrew, Michael and Jim were trailing a bit as they constantly stopped to take pictures of mushrooms. They have grown very fond of growing and collecting mushrooms here in Japan. Not that I want to suggest it has something to do with the very strict anti-drug policy in Japan... There were two nice waterfalls in the forrest to which we climbed down. Climbing them up again was definitely better than any stepmaster in the gym. The guys freaked out a little bit because I drank water from the river. It`s supposed to be full of little bugs and their fecals here and cause of serious diarrea. But I was simply thirsty and the wasabi that I ate later probably cleaned up my stomach quite well, I didn`t face any problems later.
A lovely stonegarden was also hidden in the forrest. The atmosphere was just beautiful and it felt very far from Tokyo. Due to the clouds you could not even see the city either. People we met on the way were unusually friendly. It`s only hikers who greet each other with "Konnichi wa" here. (Other than that they just scream "Irrashaimaseeeee" (welcome) in every store - because they have to...). The hikers were of course superbly equipped as usually in Japan, with expensive and a little over the top (for such an easy hike) mountain gear. Strangely enough you don`t see those Japanese in sandals and shorts trying to climb serious mountains here in Japan. How often we laughed about them... They must all exile to Switzerland, seriously, you don`t meet them in their home territory.
After the hike we had a dinner break before heading back to the city. We found a lovely oldfashioned soba place on top of Mitake, managed by two elderly ladies. We had some cool beer and soba noodles. They served us some extra free goodies on the side which was actually clever. They were so good we all ended up buying them from the little store the ladies have as well. We were really tired (more from lack of sleep than from the hike) and felt like lying down right away on the tatami mats in the restaurant. Instead we had to do the 2-hour trip back to Tokyo and started snoring on the train, twisting our necks painfully.

Japanese literature - first recommendations

The one Japanese thing I`ve been really interested in before coming here, was Japanese literature and I have read quite a bit more since. So in this post I`d like to give recommendations for those who are interested in reading Japanese authors. After all, I was member of a literature club in Basel and maybe you girls back home want some tips since we never got to read Japanese authors in the club...
Here are the first two recommendations by two contemporary Japanese authors. I really like Ishiguro`s work, I have read almost all of his novels by now. He is maybe not strictly a Japanese author as he has been living in the UK for a long time and is publishing in English only. But definitely worth reading
Kazuo Ishiguro, "Never let me go" ("Alles was wir geben mussten"), 2005
The novel is set in rural England, sometime in the near future. Young people are living in a strict boarding school on the countryside. But they are not there to be educated for their future, they are clones and their reason for being is to serve as a human spare parts stock and are taught how to be good at that and are taken care of after each operation to continue serving until the lethal operation is necessary. The youth, despite being brainwashed that their existence serves only one purpose, try desperately to give their existence sense and maintain relationsships. This novel is a chilling future vision and was named one of the most relevant books of the year. Ishiguro is a Japanese native living in the UK and has published many other novels, among them the novel turned into a film "The remains of the day". Another novel of his that I highly recommend is "An artist of the floating world" which deals with the Japanese "day zero" after WWII and the question of individual guilt and collaboration with the previous regime.
Hitomi Kanehara - "Snakes and Earrings" ("Tokio Love") 2004
Lui is the typical Tokyo Barbie Girl, cute looking with a single focus: consumption, her nickname being a derivate of Louis Vuitton. But Lui is attracted to men with a darker side, her boyfriend being a instable punk and her lover a tatoo artist fantasizing to kill her. The menage a trois is linked by their interest in body art, tatoos and more extreme forms of piercings and modifications. Working towards Lui`s split tongue, the three delve deeper and deeper into sex and violence. Kanehara is in her twenties and considered one of Japan`s most promising young authors. "Snake and earrings" earned her two of the most relevant literature prizes. "Autofiction" is another work of hers that has been translated and well acclaimed.

Swiss dinner

Being abroad for an extended period of time, you sometimes crave a meal from home. Rumour has it that there are two or three Swiss restaurants here in Tokyo, but I have not checked them out yet. But home-cooked food is better anyway, right?

I had asked Joanna who visited in Marc to bring me some spice for "Zueri Gschnaetzlets" (sliced veal in a creamy mushroom sauce with potato pancake). So I invited my housemates Rinko and Hi-chan for a Swiss dinner. The ingredients for the dish are easy enough to find except for the spice that I already got. The main challenge was the Roeschti (potato pancake) since we do not have the right kind of grater in our kitchen and no pressure steam cooker. I cooked the potatoes in a regular pan and then grated them on a grater with smaller holes. Turned out a little mit mashy, but the Roeschti still turned out tasty, despite having a slightly different consistency. The mushrooms were not quite the right ones either, but nevertheless good.
We had a very fun evening, Rinko and Hi-chan seemed to enjoy the meal and we drank a bottle of sparkling wine that Rinko had bought. Took a some pics of my lovely housemates, see here...

Nakajujo hits back

The agency that we are renting our rooms in the Nakajujo Guesthouse from seems to feel the global recession too. They started to encourage us to save energy a in April. Well encourage means threatening us with additional charges if consumption would not decrease. Strange, because April was warm enough already not to use heating anymore which is consuming lots of energy and cool enough not to switch the aircon on which is equally consuming.
Knowing the Japanese tendency to accept rules however absurd they are and not to voice opinions too openly, I expected my housemates to comply and say nothing. Haha, I was wrong. A vivid discussion started in the house. Especially the three "oldest" tenants (in terms of length of stay) started pointing out to the agency`s failures (such as to provide a second decent-sized fridge or a bigger than baby-size rice cooker) and said they had no grounds for complaints as long as they did not meet their end of the deal. There was some discussion as to if the newest housemates who had moved in in March had caused the excess consumption, not really conflict avoiding either. Another suspicion was that agency simply pretended that consumption had increased and that we should check whether it applies to our house at all.
Well, last time I was at the agency`s office for signing the new contract they made me fill out a questionnaire on utility consumption. The tone was pretty much "please turn your housemates in and report their excessiveness in using energy". Methods used by certain doubtful state organisations... I did just put a few crossed that we always switch light off and so on and suggested that THEY put in energy saving lamps and such.
Now the cleaning lady put posters all over our house - that is next to any potentially engergy consuming item like stove, fridge, shower, light switch, etc. that says "Please turn X off after use". I didn`t even get upset anymore, I`ve gotten used to being reminded of rules everywhere I go here. But obviously one of my housemates got mad - justifiedly so. She wrote nasty comments in Japanese on the posters with permanent marker and little English comments like "Yes, Sir", "Yes, Commander" under the reminders. It`s very funny. There are two housemates who know that kind of English and I suspect it is Tomoko who is a pretty straightforward person in general. You go girl!

Kaohsiung, Southern belle

Kaohsiung is Taiwan`s second biggest city and about 2 hours from Taipei by fast train (Japanese Shinkansen technology). Economically it`s somewhat less relevant, though a major port in Taiwan. The city is rather large, but easy to navigate and has a more laid-back vibe than Taipei, despite (or because?) of the oppressing heat. I was staying in Kaohsiung most of the time as I was invited to stay with someone and ventured out from Kaohsiung as a base. So I got to know this city quite well.
Kaohsiung bustles with life at night. There are so many food stalls and a couple of night market areas where you can grab cheap and delicious food. There are also night markets with cheap clothes and accessories and other gimmicks which make a nice stroll after dinner. During the day there are fancier shopping options in the department stores and boutiques around town. Kaohsiung also features some of the famous Japanese department store chains like Mitsukoshi and trendy Japanese boutiques selling the latest fad from Harajuku and Co. So a large commercial city that is not that noticeable at first sight, but turns out to be charming with time. Lots of small coffee shops to relax, avenues with a lot of green and parks make it a leisurely spot too.
Really nice is the area in the North of the city where Kaohsiung University is located. I was quite blown away by the University`s location at the far end of the bay, overlooking the sea and with a nice beach right in front. My host who had studied there before found it less interesting, but coming from a country with no access to the sea that is a dream-come-true of a study location... Further up the road there is one of Kaohsiung`s major tourist attractions, the former British consulate (actually not a former consulate, but seat of a trading company). A red brick building with a temple next to it, steep steps leading up to its entrance.
Cijin island is a nice retreat from Kaohsiung`s bustle. It`s located right in front of the city, a long stretch of island that is connected to the harbour area by ferry and on the South end with a tunnel. We went for dinner on Cijin and the ride on the small, old, very cute ferry with flower paintings is really lovely. Dozens of fish and seafood restaurants line the main street. The available seafood is on display at the entrance of each place and all you need to do is point out the desired pieces and indicate how you would like to have them done. Very fresh and yummi! During the day Cijin has a long, palm tree lined stretch of beach and some temples and a lighthouse to visit.
There are two lakes in the vicinity of the city that make a quiet retreat as well. Lotus Pond and Chengching Lake. Lotus Pond`s Dragon and Tiger pagodas are a popular motive for postcards. There are two pagodas on stilts in the water, one of them has a dragon, one a tiger an oversize entrance figure (classical Chinese symbols). Shops next to the pond sell Taiwanese sweets (had to buy some "omiyage" for my housemates) and traditional Chinese theatre puppets and masks. Beautiful. Chengching Lake is a bit bigger, but does not feature and specific attractions around. The park announced the aquarium as one, but it was about the most old-fashioned, and sadly run-down aquarium we had ever seen. Fishing in the lake is forbidden, but you still see people sneaking around for fish.
Once I had learned how to ride motorbike, I really cruised around in Kaohsiung a lot. As this was my base for most of the trip and I had such a good time there I got really fond of it. Is it a must-see for other tourists? Well, at least Lonely Planet says too that it has developed into one in the recent years. And I`d say it`s worth a visit for sure.

Little Japan

Taiwan was occupied by Japan for an extended period of time, for around 50 years until 1945. Still some older people speak Japanese. Despite the occupation period, Japan seems to enjoy a rather good reputation in Taiwan, as opposed to other countries that have seen Japan as an invader. The fact that the Japanese lay the foundation for the country`s economical success that followed later by remodelling its infrastructure, namely transportation may have contributed to this.
There is a heavy presence of Japanese companies and brands and their popularity is soaring among young people especially. Japan seems to be considered cool and hip and technologically cutting-edge from what I have heard. Tokyo is an extremely popular destination for short trips, especially shopping trips. Japanese pop music is very popular. Japanese fashion is sold in hip boutiques and is considered super trendy among the young. Luckily though they show a bit more restraint in expressing their fashion sense... The large Japanese department stores and clothes brands have jumped on that train and opened branches in Taiwan`s cities. Mitsukoshi and Co. can be seen all over Taipei and other cities.
Japanese food is equally en vogue. Sushi now also features the menu on the night market where you can grab some dirt cheap nigiri. Some Japanese chain restaurants like Yoshinoya or the Japanese competitor to McDo, Mo`s Burger are very present and popular too.
The title of the article is provocative to a Taiwanese for sure. And it certainly isn`t "Little Japan" that much. But the influence of Japanese culture is visible and does not seem to be rejected. Is it a genuine love for all things Japanese? Or is it rather a second worst alternative for a country that tries to distinguish itself from the threatening "homeland" China from where most of its culture comes from? Obviously, the leaning towards America is strong as well. Besides all Taiwanese having an English name as well they also are quite keen English learners and way more successful than the Japanese. The Japanese language seems to have lost almost all significance, young people focus on English study and skip Japanese. However, Japanese words such as "sugoi", "kawaii" etc. are very trendy and you hear exclamations of those by the young generation very often, so again Japan provides the fashionable element.

Lanyu island

Before going to Taiwan I bought the Lonely Planet guidebook to get an idea of what I could do there. As I have always had a thing for small islands, I specifically looked at the various islands off the coast. I would have been interested in Kinmen, a Taiwanese island that is very close to the Chinese mainland and therefore heavily militarised. Yes, admit, I was less interested because of the beaches or other scenery and more for the atmosphere that must be pretty peculiar.
And then I came across the chapter on Lanyu. It`s a small island in the South East of Taiwan and quite off the beaten track still (well all of Taiwan is off the beaten track in terms of European visitors pretty much). It has an aboriginal population and is very different from the mainland plus it seemed to be naturally beautiful too. So a good destination for a hop off the main island.
I did the trip from my "home base" in Kaohsiung and my friends helped me organise the plane ticket and accomodation and a rental scooter. I took the train early in the morning to Taitung and then ventured to the small airport that had a very easy-tropical-breeze vibe. Except for being called back for a hairspray in my luggage the check-in was as quick as it gets. A tiny 19-seat plane is flying to Lanyu 6 times daily. Somewhat bumpy of course, but fun for anyone who is not afraid of flying. Upon my arrival my host mother waited for me with the scooter and I then rode it, following her car to the accomodation. Luckily I managed to do it well enough not to wake suspicions that I had barely sat on one before in my life...
I did a first tour of the island right away. The tour around the island by scooter takes around 1.5 hours if you don`t stop. There are many impressive rock formations around the island which itself is mountaineous as well. Little beaches that are virtually deserted show up once in a while. On some you can see the traditional long boats with beautiful paintings that are typical for the local Yami tribe. The locals like to hang out in small huts that are on stilts and right next to the road. Looked a bit like the "fale" in Samoa that my sister showed me. They were friendly for sure and always greeting and winking at me, the benefit of a rural place. There is little traffic on the island, most people ride motor scooters and there is just one bus that tours the island 4 times a day. The major traffic obstacle are actually the ubiquitous goats.
In the evening, after sampling some of the host mum`s fish soup (hm, very bony - soup, not the host) I went for a night tour of the island to watch animals. We were around 20 people to unite at the guide`s home. Robert, a Spanish guy and me were the only non-Chinese speakers and the whole introduction as well as the tour were in Chinese. We had some friendly translators though. We ventured out on our motorbikes to a small forrest on the hills to watch night animals like owls and various insects and endemic plants of Lanyu. The Yami, the local aboriginal tribe is still quite connected to nature and know how to use the various plants and have a lot of mythological stories associated with them as well. I got translated enough to make it interesting. The only annoyance were the long breaks because everybody wanted to take bad pictures in the dark. Not just a Japanese thing, this constant clicking obviously... We ended up in the harbour to see some fish that glow in the dark. I was glad to make it back home since I was running very low on gas. But I even made it back to the airport the day after, but then the tank was probably more than empty.
In the morning I had breakfast at the LP recommended cafe "Breakfast" and enjoyed delicious pancakes, coffee and fresh homemade soymilk. We could also delve into politics a little. It seems that the relationship with mainland Taiwan has not always been the best. The island was cut off for a long while and very underdeveloped. It was then chosen as a dumpsite for toxic waste which still lies off its South coast and of which the locals were not informed. The Yami also feel treated as a bit of a tourist curiosity for the Chinese descendant Taiwanese. Taiwan has a population with around 98% Chinese descendants who immigrated from Southern China mostly, a long time ago. The aboriginal tribes make up for few people only and have been somewhat instrumentalised, even though publicly nurtured by Taiwan`s government as they make a good argument for Taiwan`s cultural difference to the mainland.
In any case Lanyu was a very worthwhile trip and is probably naturally one of the most beautiful spots in Taiwan. It takes a while to get there, but the rewards are rich.

Taiwanese cuisine

Eating in Taiwan was rather interesting, maybe a bit more interesting than in Japan, despite my love for Japanese food. Very varied - things I have not seen elsewhere is eaten, tasty and sometimes spicy and especially the night markets provide a cheap and fun opporunity to sample many all types of food.
A classic in Taiwan is the hot pot. In a heavy large pot over a fire various ingredients simmer until done and everyone fishes for the pieces that seem yummy. It`s kind of a Fondu, the base being soup and various types of meat, seafood and vegetables and noodles swimming in it. Really delicious and it`s easy to overeat, which we did when having it at one of Kaohsiung`s night markets. It`s something that is obviously popular all over China. I remember being invited for a hot pot back home already by my friend Viet.
Being an island, Taiwan is an obvious destination for seafood. Although just like Japan, quite a bit of the seafood is imported and not caught locally. The still heavy polution of the sea water due to Taiwan`s rapid economic development in the recent past is a reason for this. Still, there is seafood sold everywhere. During the day you can buy grilled squid that is deliciously seasoned before grilling and cut into snack pieces. In the evening there are many restaurants that have a display of the seafood on offer in front and you can point to what you would like to eat and how you would like it prepared (fried, steamed, etc.). I was a bit shocked about the frogs with their bellies slit open among the seafood, but well... Really nice was eating seafood on Cijin island, right in front of Kaohsiung city. A cute old-fashioned ferry leads there and there is a whole street lined with seafood restaurants in the evening, lovely.
One thing that I did not appreciate much was the soup made of stinky tofu (impossible to describe that taste) and duck blood (see picture right). The duck blood is obviously frozen and then cut into pieces. I also ate little birds that are fried entirely (head and feet off only). I was made trying without knowing what it was and it actually tasted quite good. It`s not only Italians killing their singing birds... I missed out on the dog meat that is still eaten in certain places in the South. My companion wanted to take me there, but was unable to find the restaurant - uuuuffff! It`s obviously street dogs that are shot and it is now a bit of a taboo, so it`s not greatly advertised. I also didn`t get to taste snakes (which I wanted to) or swans (less keen). I found my favourite vegetable again that I had tasted in Indonesia, still don`t know what the English name is, but it`s very green and leavy and tastes good when it`s a bit "al dente". The Chinese dumplings are very good of course, there is good ramen and those meat balls that are sold in all convenience stores. And oyster omelettes from the night market, mmmh (see picture top left).
The desert menu is quite nice too. It sounds a bit strange, but a popular desert is green bean soup, green beans in a watery cold soup. Very refreshing on a hot day. There are some other soups like these like taro. They don`t have the typical sweet desert taste, but are nice. Jellies are popular, just as in Japan. Slashed ice with fruit or beans and jelly is very good too.
My favourite drinks were the fresh fruit juices for one. Passion fruit, pineapple, guava, water melon, and and and... Nothing better than a freshly squeezed fruit juice. And does not cost a fortune like elsewhere. Reminded me of old times in Brazil where I lived on fruit juice only almost. And then there was my no1 favourite drink in Kaohsiung. It`s a speciality invented by a local guy, iced green tea with a special white froth on top. Very, very delicious. Just have to be careful, that tea is stronger than coffee and can keep you up all night. The froth is a secret recipe. We figured that it consists of milk, butter and some salt as it tastes somewhat salty. But how to do it exactly? No clue. Although the guy I stayed with would have been close to the source as the inventor wanted to date his sister. She didn`t, dammmmmn... There are some copies in town, but none as good as the original.
By the way, Taiwan is inventive in terms of take-away drinks. Instead of the usual plastic cup lid, they have machines to put stick simply a layer of thin plastic over the top of the cup. Totally vacuum, so if the cup falls over in a car or so nothing leaks out. And it`s less garbage and cheaper as well for store owners. Generally Taiwan is less wasting on packaging (despite the fact that Japan likes to see itself as the no1 green nation). They skip packing every little thing separately and you have to ask specifically for plastic bags and pay a small amount for them.

Taipei -a glimpse

My 3-month Japan visa was about to run out. I made a phone call to the Japanese Immigration Ministry and when asking for a visa extension they recommended simply to leave the country and come back again. Considering that this was not much appreciated last year, I was a little surprised. I told them that our countries have an agreement that we can stay up to 6 months, but in the end I decided that I kind of need a break from Tokyo life and booked a flight to Taiwan for a 2 week holiday.
Taiwan so far has been in my mind solely through the ongoing claims of mainland China of the country and for the ubiquitous "Made in Taiwan" label on products. But it seemed like an interesting place to see, especially since it is quite off the usual travel itineraries in Asia.
So after landing in Taipei I explored the city a little. It is a large bustling commercial city and features the tallest building in the world, the Taipei 101. The first few floors are occupied by an exclusive designer shopping mall. From it`s 5th floor we took the fastest elevator in the world to the top of the building, so another superlative. Not a cheap ride, but the view from up there is really nice. You get a very good idea of what Taipei looks like and how it`s beautifully situated in between lush green mountains.
Taipei of course features the usual international food, cheap fast food chains and upscale restaurants. But it`s major culinary attractions are the night markets. A very laid-back way of sampling Taiwanese (Chinese) food of all sorts. It`s a bit of a greasy spoon, very casual and would maybe not make the cut in terms of hygiene requirements back home. But lovely, lovely food - some a bit adventurous too. Next to the food market there is the shopping corner, outdoor stands with cheap clothes and accessories mostly.
As mentionned, Taipei is surrounded by mountains and there are some easy day trips from the capital. I went to Beitou. a hotspring town nearby and had a nice soak. Amazingly the MRT (subway/city train) system directly connects Beitou to Taipei`s main station. so it`s very convenient to go there.Taiwan`s transport system overall seems to be one of the most best-developed and efficient in the world. They use the Japanese Shinkansen (high speed train) system which links all major cities in the West coast. It`s just as good as Japan`s trains, the stations are futuristic looking and it`s considerably cheaper than a ride in Japan (depending on the time of the day a third to a forth of a Shinkansen ride of the same duration).

So Taipei was a positive surprise, much smaller and closer to nature than Tokyo and still big city buzz, good and cheap food, abundant shopping opportunities. It just seems that the way streets are labelled confusingly, even taxi drivers get lost here (had to change taxi twice to get a driver who was able to find the destination). So be careful not to get lost in Taiwan`s capital...