Kurikaesu no Kurushimi

Tonight's a particularly cold night. The rain's been stubborn...imposing...so I'm staying in, finding refuge under my blanket. Moved in to my apartment 3 days ago. Still waiting for my Muji furniture to be delivered tomorrow morning. Up 'til now, I'm without basic necessities, not to mention without internet. I'm writing from my blackberry and couldn't care less about the roaming charges. Ame ga furu no toki, itsumo kibun ga chotto sabishikunatte shimatta. Nan de darou ka?
Dashed through the rain to get dinner from a nearby bento shop that charges by the gram. I don't have a microwave yet so I ate everything cold. Cold.
The couple who ran the shop were seniors. She was still cooking in the kitchen while he manned the cash register. It was midnight when we got there. Osoku made zutto hataraite...nan no tameni no kana? I felt a pang. It's loneliness that binds us all together.
Sore wa jinsei da yo ne...a series of recycled efforts, which over time gradually loses its meaning anyway.
What am I doing is the question I ask myself everyday...except the answer is never apparent, always inconspicuous, always shrouded, always elusive.
Maybe tomorrow will be different is what I tell myself everyday...except Sartre is right. I'm still pushing my rock.
I'm watching my curtain-less windows as they gather dew. Through the blur I see nothing but pitch black. And the sound of zooming cars become the only indication that I'm still part of this absurdity that is life.
But at least I'm calm...no, I'm still, void and devoid of anxiety, which is actually preferable.
And I reminisce about everything I left behind. How useful are memories if they only remind you of all that you can't carry.
I know not of how the future is going to unfold but I know it will not bring with it fresh revelations.
But what do I know...I know less and less as I push my rock up for the umpteenth time.

Whoa

I don't think you can ever prepare yourself for the sheer volume of everything in Tokyo, especially human traffic. It's overwhelming...seriously! You have to be alert and agile while navigating your way through the train stations. The Japanese are always rushing to get somewhere since tardiness is an absolute no-no here. No one walks at a leisurely pace, which is kinda stressful for someone coming from a place where everything is done at a leisurely pace. I took this picture on the way to school yesterday...i guess i'm not used to seeing that many people heading off to work at the same time. I guess it's kinda similar to peak hour traffic in Jakarta, just replace the cars with people.

There were moments where I just stood still in the middle of the crowd...just to take time to process things...before someone rams him/herself to me.

Another thing I noticed is the national obsession, perhaps even demand for options. The other day I was looking for a LAN cable...there were at least 2 full rows of LAN cables, 1 meter, 2m, 3m, 5m, 7m ones, then there were the thin ones, thick ones, round ones with smaller diameters...it's overwhelming! and the place where we bought the cable from was this 6-storey building called "Bic Camera," which is stocked full with every imaginable and unimaginable electronic products. 

Enough of the not-so-splendid observations of Tokyo. On a more cheerful note, the Japanese dress their pets better than they dress themselves (this is just a random over-generalization of course). Case in point: this cute fat Daschund decked in a sleeveless hoodie and backpack. 

Food-wise...I'm beginning to crave for junk food. After a week, Japanese food starts to taste a lil too clean for my palate :P So today I decided to have lunch at Lotteria (no, it's not a lottery center), a Japanese Burger King-like joint. Ordered a BLT.

Pardon the disconcerted tone of this entry. I haven't had the time or the enthusiasm to explore other areas...Been preoccupied with trying to find a suitable apartment...the procedure is just endless! Phewww!!!

Ya Ya Ya

Thanks to all your enthusiastic response to my food entries, I now feel extra motivated to post more food pics. Brace yourselves, folks!

First is the chizu kare raisu (cheese curry rice) set I had for lunch last Thursday. Suki-ya is another chain restaurant similar to Matsu-ya and Yoshinoya--cheap, fast and yummy (just in case you're wondering, ya is Japanese for store. Hence, Kinokuni-ya, Ten-ya, etc etc). They sprinkle cheese on top of the hot kare so when you mix them all together you get mouthwatering, gooey goodness. 

Next are some of the more exciting stuff I found while treading along Ueno Park. Matsuri snacks always seem more inviting because of the festive atmosphere in general I guess. I wish I could've eaten more but the cheese curry rice was way too filling.
 

Doraemon & Hello Kitty-shaped batter cakes

Rainbow-sprinkled, chocolate-dipped Bananas

After Ueno Park, I met up with a friend in Shinjuku for Sushi! 

On Friday, we went around looking at apartments right after class. We didn't have lunch until about 3pm so we were STARVED! There was a Tonkatsu place right across one of the apartments we surveyed, which inspired us to stuff ourselves silly with some P-O-R-K! Thankfully, our agent knew this tiny place in Ikebukuro (right across Ootoya) that serves really good Tonkatsu. Just look at this:
 

Moving on...for dinner I had (what else?!) Omu-Rice in Apple Tree, this teeny-tiny basement restaurant in Harajuku. I ordered the Number 1--the Japanese always denote their most popular dish on the menu. I figured it would be the safe choice, especially considering they poured both the demi-glaze and tomato sauce on top :D 

Phew...I just realized how much I'd eaten in the last couple of days. Anyways, this afternoon, I went back to Harajuku for KyushuJyangara Ramen. This place is so legendary among tourists that they had English, Mandarin, Korean and Thai menus! Again, I ordered their Signature Ramen, which comes with generous servings of Chashu, Bamboo Shoots, Mentaiko (spicy cod roe) and Egg. Ramen 38 is nothing compared to this!

花見：HANAMI

Apologies for not updating more regurlarly but I had a very productive day yesterday. Finally went to Ueno Park to check out the cherry blossoms in bloom. I've seen lots of beautiful pictures before but to experience it yourself...man...i don't know how to describe the experience without reducing it to sentimental cliches but if solace were to have a visual representation, it would look like this: 

I'm not going to say much since the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. At times like these I wish you were here. You who are missed, you know who you are :)

Animals on TV

One of my favorite things about the Japanese is their genuine fascination in everything! I was watching some random program on TV the other day and there were these images of animals doing the most random, idiotic/adorable things. 

This gorilla is a veteran smoker as you can see. 

Above is a pair of ... i don't really know what species these cute furry things are ... otters maybe? but they're holding hands! how adorable is that??? According to the announcer, they're 11 years apart (the male is the younger one). cougar bitch!
And then... 

Dewi Soekarno on Japanese TV! Some stupid weight-loss program, I assume. Her diet consisted of nothing but avocadoes! Insane! I must say, though, that she looks smashing for a 70 year old obaasan. Oh, she speaks excellent Japanese, btw. 

To go off on a tangent, here's my very first picture of a sakura tree. Planning on going to Yoyogi-koen tomorrow for a more proper viewing. Will update soon :) 

Berry Cafe Chou Chou

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that the Japanese drug their food with some mysterious, chemically-engineered flavor-enhancer. I've been eating non-stop ever since I arrived because I have yet to find a single disappointing serving. let me break it down :)

For breakfast i had a cheese gratin/chicken filling bread that i bought from the konbini yesterday, with a cup of instant UCC coffee of course ( i have a weak spot for instant Japanese anything, really). All i had to do was pop the bread in the microwave for 10 seconds for instant yummy-ness. kick ass! Notice the number of times I reiterated the word "instant." For someone who usually skips breakfast because she's too lazy to do anything in the morning, instant is imperative. 

For lunch, I had Ramen Ippudo. I had tried the franchise that had recently opened in Singapore and thought it was "meh." I'm probably biased but the one I had today was heavenly. It's probably due to the cold rainy weather but if i were to be completely honest, I think it's the charming garlic masher that won me over. The utensil looks like one of those crab cracker thing except it has a concave nook where you put the garlic in...squeeze...then you've got fresh grated garlic coming out from the other side. Then you pour some gyoza sauce over, mix with chopsticks, dip the perfectly charred gyoza...ahhhhh

For dinner, I went over to this cheap Yoshinoya-like place called Matsuya. The great thing about this place is that they also serve pork-bowl...shabu grade :D First you pick the set you want from the vending machine, bring the ticket over to the girl over the table counter, less than 5 minutes later...you're chowing away. Btw, that opaque white thing is a perfect half-boiled egg. I love the fact that you get to determine how you want your eggs done at a fast-food restaurant. And the whole thing costs just over 500yen (Rp 50,000). So, please, no more talk about how expensive food costs in Japan or I'm gonna have to whoop your cheap ignorant ass. 

Then, as I was making my way home, I passed by this beautiful cake shop in the Sugamo train station. I've been eyeing them since Day 1 but was either too full or too tired to actually stop and buy me a slice. Today, I decided to approach the glass display, chose a strawberry mango tart for myself. Was going to convince my sister to get the mixed-fruit version but she was already hypnotized by the grape tart and would not be swayed. Each slice costs around 850yen, which is rather expensive but the sight of those ripe mango cubes...impossible to resist! True enough, when we ate one just now, despite our rounded, bloated stomachs, we both started giggling for no apparent reason. I'm not joking. That cake was otherworldly. The crust was flaky pastry I think but not too flaky that it crumbled into pieces...on top of that was the custard, soft and sweet, on top of that was a thin layer of sponge cake, fluffy and unimposing...on top of that was whipped cream, super light...and then of course the strawberry and mango slices. OMG!If i were to die before sampling that tart, I would consider my life one not fully lived. 

The most important thing is, after tasting this life-altering goodness, I couldn't care less that the place is called Berry Cafe Chou Chou.

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu

Greetings from Tokyo! Arrived this morning with 2 gigantic suitcases that we had to drag along 4 train lines to get to our ridiculously liliputian apartment in Hakusan. Got scolded by an ojiisan in the train because of the chat noise we were making... My God! I am in Japan! Friggin' unbelievable! 

Since I'm still kinda tired and in no mood to write, I will officialize this entry with a picture of my very first meal in Tokyo: Omu Rice! Bought it from a nearby konbini for less than 400yen :)