CHINATOWN, YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
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CHINATOWN, YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
Today we visited Y O K O H A M A~! Ne....like I've said many times before (in previous posts)...Yokohama is my father's birthplace and hometown. So, therefore, today was an especially memorable day for me. I still have many relatives living in Yokohama...well, to be exact...most of my dad's relatives still live in Yokohama. Only one or two relatives moved to Tokyo with their respective families. However, I was not fortunate enough to be able to visit those relatives, due to everyone's work schedules. It is very difficult for all of the families to get together often (if at all) since each family has different work schedules. So, I was not able to visit my cousins and their families at this time.
However, looking on the positive side, I was able to visit the location of my father's former home. When I say "former" home, I mean that it is still my dad's home....the location space....but my relatives (aunts & uncles) decided to tear down the existing home (the original building where my dad grew up) and built an apartment tower there instead. Wait...I don't want to get you all confused here, so let me give you a little background info about my dad's house.
It all started with my grandparents. After World War II (WWII), my grandfather started his own business making mens suits (and at one point, making womens kimonos, but that didn't quite work out). He opened up a shop called "Rong Shing Tailoring Co." (Rong Shing being my grandfather's name). The store was on level 1, and the family residence was on level 2. Over the years, the store developed...and some time in thd 1970s-1980s, my aunt added a small cafe inside the store. (Trust me when I say that all of my aunts can cook authentic Chinese food...and they are GOOD at it.) Anyway, back to the story, some time between 2005-2006 my family decided that in order to make a better income, they should remodel the family store into an apartment tower, and thus...make money off of the rent they collect. The end result became...."Ryus Tower". That's the name of the apartment building. I don't know what it means, or if it has any meaning at all, but that's what my aunts/uncles chose, so I had no choice in the matter. My grandfather's business is still there, at that location. It's just been relocated to the 3rd level. It's still called "Rong Shing Tailoring Co." even long after my grandfather has passed away. The logo is a Billiards 8-ball with an "R" in the middle where the number "8" should be.
My dad's house is approximately 1.5 blocks away from Motomachi. Motomachi is a very famous and popular street which is a long street filled with restaurants, boutiques, designer stores, cafes, bakeries etc. There are a few residential areas sprinkled along the back alleyways of Motomachi, but the main street itself is a shopper's delight. We quickly visted Motomachi today...whilst on our way to visit a close friend of ours who also happens to live in Yokohama. While waiting to meet with our good friend, we visited a popular bakery. I'm not sure of the name of this bakery, since I cannot read Japanese characters, but at least the signage in the store window was written in English and it said "Established since 1888". Wahh!!! This bakery has been around since 1888?! Yes, it's true. Also, this was the exact bakery my dad used to go to when he lived in Yokohama. He used to visit this bakery every morning before school to buy a bun for breakfast. On top of that...my oldest brother used to visit this bakery often, whenever he would spend summer breaks in Japan as a child. I will tell you the exact name of this bakery once I can get my friend to translate the name. Until then, all I have to say is that this bakery really blows me away. The quality of their pastries is sooooooooo top notch...I just have to give them a shout out...and really pimp them out. I mean...I just have to brag about them for a second. They are just that good.
New layout...
So...now the time has come to meet up with our friend. Her name is Yukie (most people pronouce her name as "Yu-kee-ah" but it could be pronounced other ways). Our friend Yukie once lived in the U.S. and that's how we met her...through a friend of ours who lived in the same apartment building as she. Yukie just happened to have moved back to Yokohama around the same time we were visiting, so we just had to meet up with her along the way. That afternoon, we had such a fun time chatting about nothing, catching up on old times. Little did we know what Yukie had in store for us, as a little "welcome to Yokohama" invitation. That night, as we set out for dinner, Yukie brought us to a little sushi restaurant that she visits often, while spending time in Yokohama. Let me tell you....this sushi restaurant was THE BEST I ever had in my entire life. And it will probably be the best I'll ever have for a long time to come. The sushi chef was so much fun to talk to, and he would instruct us on how to eat each piece of sushi/sashimi/nigiri properly. (On a side note...sushi=raw fish + rice wrapped in nori; sashimi=raw fish, plain or topped with the tiniest garnish; nigiri=small, hand-rolled ball of rice, with a tiny dollop of wasabi, topped with raw fish or cooked sweet egg.) I can't fully describe how delicious each piece of sushi was...that would just take hours and hours to explain. BUT...............I will say this....WE ATE REAL WHALE SASHIMI. Yes, you heard it here folks. We ate raw whale meat, and it was TASTY as hell. (Side note: it tastes like beef sashimi.) Also, we got to eat sashimi that was still ALIVE! It was the "Geo Duck". We watched as the sushi chef prepared the Geo Duck nigiri-style, and just before he placed it on our dishes, he slapped it real hard...and thus made the Geo Duck wiggle and crawl around on our plate. Not only that, but we got to eat "Otoro" which is the fattiest, most delicious, most expensive part of the tuna used for sushi. For example:
Basically, Otoro is the "be all, end all" of tuna sashimi. Oh...did I forget to mention that toro is my all-time favorite nigiri/sashimi fish?! So, I nearly died and went to heaven after eating "otoro" for the first time. I metaphorically popped my sushi "cherry" after eating this.
Later on that night, after dinner, we went to a bar-type lounge called "Colors". Yukie's brother visits this bar quite often, so the bartenders all recognized her. We sat a table in the corner of the bar, which was very small. This bar could probably only hold 20-30 people max. This bar is very interesting. It's not like any other average bar. If you can't think of any specific drink you want, then the bartender will ask you what types of flavors you like, and he will make a custom drink based on the flavor you choose.
Until tomorrow............We'll be heading off to Asakusa to check out Sensoji, as well as make a quick stop at the "golden turd" also known as the Asahi Breweries HQ!!! Maybe a pit stop in Nakano to search for some rare goods and hidden treasures at Mandarake!! What vintage & collectible toys we'll find...you'll just have to wait and see... Later!
]]>A little glimpse of DAIKANYAMA...
CHINATOWN and its surrounding areas
Konnichiwa! It's me again! I'm back...and I'm ready to tell you all about our day in Daikanyama. Ok, so not a lot of travelers head to Daikanyama...mainly because it is not a widely known district, nor is it extremely popular like Harajyuku or Shinjyuku...but it's a great place to just relax and get away from all the busy crowds. Daikanyama is a newly marked place for some good boutique shopping, and there are plenty of good sidewalk cafes you can pop into for a cup of coffee and a small pastry or a satisfying set lunch.
Jian and I love to head to Daikanyama because it's mostly a suburban neighborhood with quiet streets filled with interesting boutique stores and fun sidewalk cafes. Also, one of our most favorite denim boutiques, Evisu, is located in Daikanyama. We went to the store today, but they were closed. Apparently, they are closed on Mondays. Who knew? Well, anyway...this place is really great if you want a custom pair of jeans...and I mean really C-U-S-T-O-M (but be prepared to shell out some serious moola if you want very high-grade quality). Last year, Jian came to this store on a mission to snap up a pair of high quality jeans. The Evisu store is the foremost place to find quality denim. They've got lots of different types of denim in various denim colors (i.e. black, white, blue), lots of waist sizes, and a variety of cut styles (e.g. bootleg, skinny, straight-leg). However, the catch is that all jeans come in one length size only. But wait!!! This is where the customization process begins. Here are the basics on getting your own pair of custom Evisu jeans...
Tada! That was easy and painless, right? Er...except on your wallet. Joke! Seriously speaking though...all jokes aside, Daikanyama is a really relaxing place to visit when you want to just wind down for a bit. It's a mostly suburban place with nice, quiet streets, but a good getaway place from all of those distracting neon lights and buzzing hordes of people.
And after visiting Daikanyama...we headed back to Harajyuku with 2 friends for some seriously FANTASTIC chicken. I'm not kidding. There's a great specialty chicken restaurant in Tokyo called Toriyoshi. There are approximately a dozen locations scattered around Tokyo, and the one that we visited is hidden among all of the urban boutiques in Ura-hara. Toriyoshi is a restaurant that specializes in chicken and home made tofu. When we went there, we each ordered the 9-course set meal. Yes...I said NINE course meal. On top of that...for an extra $10 bucks per person, you can add on an "all you can drink for an hour" set to your meal. So, it's safe to say that we pounded 4 PITCHERS of beer in an hour's time. And just for reference, this is what our 9-course meal consisted of:
After such a kick ass chicken dinner...everyone was pretty much buzzed from all the beer. So we decided to sing some karaoke. Oh yes....drunken karaoke is always appropriate at a time like this! We headed back to Shinjyuku so we wouldn't have to mind the last call at the train station. and went to Big Echo...which is like a chain store of karaoke bars. We sang for approximately 3 hours before heading back to our hotel rooms in a drunken stupor. So, I'd say we had a pretty relaxing day overall.
This was one crazy...drunk...karaoke night at Big Echo. And I must say...Big Echo is the BEST karaoke joint! Room Service, food & alcohol, and a song selection you wouldn't believe. I mean, they had the Coldplay song "Viva La Vida" 2 weeks after it hit the radio station airwaves, and they had the music video version....not some crappy bootleg ripped version!!! They had a H-U-G-E English song selection...and they even had older songs from artists like Johnny Cash & Bad Religion...wow!
Until tomorrow! We're heading back to my dad's hometown...YOKOHAMA! And we're going to be visiting a close friend of ours..............Later!
]]>Hello. Welcome to Odaiba!!! We have now traveled to the lovely island for some fun in the sun...and some major video game action! Today we visited Sega Joypolis, Aquacity and most importantly..........RAMEN STADIUM!!! In case you guys don't know about Ramen Stadium...it's an aisle in the food plaza of the Aquacity shopping mall, where the best ramen chefs in Japan host their ramen restaurants to compete to see who is the best ramen chef of the year. Also, we had ramen made by the only female chef in the whole Ramen Stadium.
So anyway...we're here at Odaiba...and what is Odaiba usually famous for??? GAMES AND RIDES! I gotta tell you...for those of you out there who love to play video games...this place is a really great place to visit. The Sega Joypolis hosts some of the most interesting games and rides you'll ever imagine. For example...Jian played the Initial D Stage 4 car racing video game....and this isn't your average ordinary video game. You don't just sit in a seat and press the gas pedal. This video game is set in a REAL car! No joke. The Initial D Stage 4 video game is unlike any other virtual reality game where the seat just vibrates and wiggles around. In this game, you actually get to sit in a real car with fully functional gagues (i.e. speedometer) etc. Except that the gear stick is replaced with a video game joystick. Other games include a haunted house full of creepy dolls, a small rollercoaster ride where you get to wear virtual reality goggles, and a skateboarding ride where you get strapped on to a swinging skateboard-style platform and swing side-to-side as though you were on a skateboarding halfpipe ramp. Those are just a few of the fun rides and games available at Sega Joypolis.
There were plenty of other fun attractions to visit in Odaiba...such as the Fuji Terebi building...but the most visited attraction would be Aquacity. Aquacity is most widely known for hosting the Ramen Stadium (which is explained at the top of this post). Other than the Ramen Stadium, this place is like any other shopping mall in Japan, but with a lot of American brand names such as: Gap, Stussy, Brooks Brothers, Aeropostale etc.
I think in total, Jian and I spent half the day at Odaiba...and the other half of the day was spent in Shibuya. Now, I know that Shibuya might be the last place on Earth that Jian would want to visit on purpose...since most of the stores are geared towards high school girls...but there are a few choice gems scattered about Shibuya that perks up Jian's interests. One of the main reasons for visiting Shibuya is that there's a new Bathing Ape store that just recently opened excatly across from the PARCO department stores. However, we didn't get a chance to take a peek inside because there was a line in front of the store, and we were NOT about to queue in a line in the blazing hot weather.
Another treasure hidden behind all of the hoopla and glitter of the Shibuya 109 crossing, behind the 109 department stores, behind the Seibu department store, behind the HMV music store...and tucked away from all of the crowded streets is the official Medicom toy store called Project 1/6. This store showcases many (if not all) of Medicom's finest creations including a few limited edition items. I was able to snag Jian a much sought after Project 1/6 with Choro-Q collaboration Bearbrick. This cute little bundle of joy only cost me $20 bucks...where as in the States, this little fella goes for $60 bucks minimum........MINIMUM! So, it's fair to say that I got a good bargain. Well...by then, our day was ending for the most part. We were hot, hungry and ready to head home early. So we ended up having an early dinner at an organic pasta restaurant (which Jian deemed to be too girly), and then we headed home.
These are some of the awesome toys at Medicom's Project 1/6 store in Shibuya...check out the 1:1 scale Saw doll...kowaii ne.
A few fun things we happened to catch in Shibuya. Sweet car. Funky computer mouse...shaped like boobs...and of course, the famous 109 crossing (a.k.a. Hachiko crossing).
Tomorrow we're going to Daikanyama...for some relaxation (and quiet time). Later!
]]>It's day two everyone!!! Yes, we were back to our old "stomping grounds" again. Harajyuku desu. It's always Ura-Hara and the quiet streets of Aoyama, the posh suburban district of the ever-bustling Tokyo.
Ah...I almost forgot one more thing!! We ALWAYS gotta make a trip to eat at the lovely BAPE Cafe!? (and yes, this restaurant's name has an exclamation mark and question mark in it...don't ask me why...it just does.) This cafe always showcases the Simpsons collaboration artwork drawn by the Original Fake artist KAWS (a.k.a. Brian Donnelley). This series of artwork is titled "the Kimpsons". Not only that...but the food is pretty good, and the prices are very affordable, even for kids on a tight budget. If you ever get a chance to go to Harajyuku and/or the Ura-hara side...you should definitely make a trip to BAPE Cafe!? . If not for the food, then for the incredible artwork....and pretty much everything's got a Bathing Ape print, logo or design on it...right down to the ice cubes.
Yo everyone! I'm back in Japan again, with Jian and 2 other friends. We've only been on Japanese soil for a few short hours, and we've already accomplished a lot of activities! I'm kind of at a loss for words right now, so let me summarize today's activities with bullet points:
Wanna know where the source of all my information, articles, and pictures come from? Take a look here...I'm trying to compile an ongoing list of different resources that have been used in my posts. And on that note, see below:
Articles, Pictures, Videos & Information Resources:
Fashion, Culture, Hobby & Lifestyle Information & Resources:
I don't know. Whenever I stumble upon interesting information, stuff that I think would be fun to share, then I post it here....as long as it pertains to this blog. Oh, and I must say...Metropolis and Pingmag are my two most favorite resources for cool and interesting information from or about Japan. So, naturally, most of the articles I share mainly come from those two sites.
And that's my lovely introduction just to say that I have brought you another exciting article from...Pingmag! Yay!
Link: http://pingmag.jp/2008/03/31/japanese-school-uniform/
Article Title: Design & Mystique of the Japanese School Uniform
Written by: Michael Mahoney
Provided by: Pingmag
Article Snippet:
"The U.K., Malaysia and Ireland have nice school uniforms, but how come Japanese school attire seemingly takes it to another level, leaving the students looking like little sailors and marching band leaders?... ...I’ve been amazed by the variety of uniforms as well as the ways students customise them as far as they are allowed. PingMag shows you interesting details in fashion and the social performance that accompany this apparel to a point where the traditional Japanese school uniform has developed beyond the schoolyard and into pop culture."