Brunch in Yanaka

On sunday we headed up to northern Tokyo to meet up with some family friends of Laura's. They are a lovely Japanese couple who have lived in the area for a long time and took us to a cafe that a friend of theirs runs - Mamoru even made the wooden sign for them. After a tasty brunch of cheesy gratin, they took us up the municipal tower where there was an amazing view of the Sky Tree.  After that, we headed to Yanaka to wander round the tiny streets there and enjoy the gorgeous sunny day.

Brunch in Tsukiji

My lovely Friend Laura is visiting at the mo and it's a great excuse to go out and sample the wonderful cuisine of Tokyo. On saturday morning we went for sushi brunch at Tsukiji fish market. We had to wait in line for about 45 mins, but it was well worth it and the fish was gorgeously fresh.

The line went out the door and round the corner.

There was a menu above the door of the restaurant, so that you could choose what you wanted as you waited. One of the waitresses would then come out and take your order before you sat.

The restaurant was tiny, just big enough to fit a small, long bar with seats on one side and the kitchen on the other. There was some serious chowing-down going on.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of my fish which was a beautiful pink colour and so tasty!

Flask hoodie

I'm always amazed at the amount of effort that goes into dressing up in Japan, from the women who are preened to within an inch of their lives, to the dogs that can't leave the house without wearing a tutu or some other silly attire. Obviously the same applies to inanimate objects like this flask I saw the other day. Not only is it donning a rather fetching puffa jacket (they come in many shades, by the way), it also has a detachable hood for easy access!

Lunch at Kanikousen

Yesterday was my friend Penny's birthday and she decided to celebrate by inviting a group of us along to Kanikousen, a fab Japanese restaurant in Hibiya, specialising in crab meat. The restaurant is decorated in the traditional Japanese style, with stone pathways leading you over a wooden bridge to individual private tea rooms. This is quite disconcerting when you realise you are actually on the 9th floor of an office block! We had our own room, where shoes were taken off before entering and a polite kimono-clad waitress knocked on the door each time before entering. Luckily we were able to order the set meal, so didn't have to deal with translating the menu with our random knowledge of hiragana and katakana, and it was scrumptious!

The room was decked out in tatami mats, a lacquered table and little seat backs resting on the floor. There was also a foot well, so no kneeling necessary - phew!

 Our waitress kindly helped us through the drinks menu.......

 We each received a tray with a wonderful selection of tempura, sushi, gyoza, miso soup, as well as others....

 We had an individual room, but there were also open rooms that you got to via a stone pathway.

Stepping stones leading through the restaurant.

National Foundation Day Festival

There is always something going on in Tokyo and on saturday, we stumbled across this parade in Harajuku. We soon found out that it was actually in celebration of a national holiday and February 11th is the day of the foundation of Japan! Ceremonies are held at the Imperial Palace as well as at Shinto shrines throughout the country and this procession was making its way to the Meiji Jingu shrine near Harajuku.

Snowboarding - Sapporo

A trip to Sapporo would not have been complete without a trip to the slopes, so I decided to take myself off there and see if I could still remember how to snowboard - it had been about 8 years since I last did it! Luckily it was only an easy train and then bus ride away and the slopes were pretty empty, so I was able to amble along and take my time. The first few runs were pretty awful, accompanied by a lot of swearing, but I soon got the hang of it and it was great!

The view from the base of the mountain.

No action shots I'm afraid, just one of my mug on the chair lift.

The slopes were pretty empty and this one was nice and wide for my slow meandering boarding.

Snowmobile Land - Sapporo

We had also read about Snowmobile Land, a set-up just outside Sapporo where you can be a boy-racer and charge around the surrounding mountains on a snowmobile. It was too tempting to pass off, so we booked ourselves in for an hour session. A bus came to collect us and took us to the shack where the base is. We were kitted out in fetching attire and after a quick practice session with our guide, we were off. It was very exhilarating and the views were stunning.

Snow shoeing in Moerenuma Park

We had read about Moerenuma Park, a sculpture park just outside Sapporo, so decided to head out there on the bus and check it out. The ground was thick with snow and it seemed to take a long time to get there on the bus, as well as a long walk at the other end, but it was well worth it as we got to try out snow shoeing!

We were greeted by this rather awesome glass pyramid, which looked quite dramatic standing in the snow. It housed a gallery and performance space.

The inside was beautiful, with cathedral-like acoustics and views over the snow.

We rented our snow shoes from a woman at a little desk inside the pyramid and after repressing our fits of giggles, shuffled off into the snow.

It was quite amazing being able to walk on top of what was probably about four feet of snow. The surrounding forest was magical and led us to random sculptures around the park.

I love this shot of Neil being action man, charging off through the forest - a man on a mission.

Snow and ice sculptures - Sapporo

It really is quite hard to explain the enormity of some of the snow and ice sculptures. Hopefully you can get a feel for the scale of some of them in these photos.

Popular cartoon characters.

Mickey Mouse dwarfs the surrounding buildings.

 Me and Pingu.

Neil makes a new friend.

Aizu Tsuruga castle.

National Palace Museum, Taiwan.

Mickey Mouse as the "Magician's Nephew".

Snow Aquarium - Treasures from the Sea.

The Taj Mahal.

Setting up - Sapporo

Last weekend we headed off for a fab weekend in Sapporo. Every year, at the beginning of February, the whole town comes alive with massive snow and ice sculptures that line the streets of Sapporo. It was started many years ago by a group of school children, and has now become a massive festival where the sculptures are enormous and the size of buildings.

The festival lasts for a week and we decided to go for the first weekend, where we would also get to see the sculptures being set up.

The "smaller" sculptures start off as big blocks of snow. We were intrigued to know how the blocks got there in the first place....

The design of each sculpture is first mapped out on the snow block using a spray paint as their drawing tool. This was the exhibit of Malaysia.

An implement consisting of a length of barbed wire with a wooden handle at each end is used like a cheese slice to shave pieces of snow off the block.

The finishing touches were being done to this one.

Fuyuko Matsui

This afternoon I went to see an interesting exhibition by the work of Fuyuko Matsui, a Japanese artist who paints in the nihonga method - a traditional style of Japanese painting that uses pigments made from powdered natural ingredients such as shell, coral or semi precious stones, bound together with a glue solution. 

Nihonga was originally used on hanging scrolls and Matsui uses a lot of scrolls in her work, but instead of creating pretty scenes or still lives like the traditional ones, she produces rather dark, psychological ones. Many of her themes address death and decay, as well as depression and the supernatural. You can read more about her here.

Florence and the Machine

I went to see Florence and the Machine last night at Akasaka Blitz (along with the whole of the Tokyo foreign community!) and I have to say, she was fab! She came on stage donning her vibrant auburn locks and milky white skin, wearing a soft pink kimono and then opened her mouth and wowed us all with her amazing voice. To top it all, she come across as a really lovely person who enjoyed every minute of it, just as we did. Well done Flo!

Sad snowmen

The snow from last week has pretty much gone now, but there are still some small patches remaining, as well as some forlorn-looking snowmen who are gripping on to their last breath......