Bon enkai season

The Bon Enkai (end of the year part) season has begun in Japan. I already had a small one but plan to be a part of a few more before the end of this month. In the U.S. people usually get worried about packing on the pounds from the family and friend get-togethers but in Japan its the year end parties where everyone indulges in fatty foods and drinks liters of alcohol.

Speaking of food, I went to a friend's birthday party last week at one of Ikebukuro's newest high-end Chinese restaurants and I must say I was pretty disappointed. I usually do not find bad food in Tokyo, but this place, at the particular price point which was about 100 dollars per head was terrible. The main protein course was too salty and the yakisoba took forever to get to our table (I think about an hour of waiting) and when it finally arrived, it was bland a cold. The service wasn't bad but it wasn't better than what you get at like a Denny's. The only positives I could find during my dining experience were the view, it was on the 59th floor and the dumplings. Not the best I ever had, but definitely juicy and tasty. Pictures of those two below. I do not think I will ever go back there again.

Gym + onsen = Awesome

This month a new gym opened up close by. It is much better than the previous gym I went to. The men's locker room doesn't have the constant stench of dirty armpits on a hot summer's day like my old gym. All the equipment is also brand new and the staff seems a bit nicer. The best part of the new gym though is the proximity to my place. I can finally walk to the gym as opposed of taking the train like I used to.

I also discovered an onsen (hot spring) last week. The place is also somewhat brand new being less than a year old. Yesterday, I made it a double event, going to the gym and then relaxing at the onsen. Let me tell you, it was awesome. The only drawback was that it seemed everyone in Tokyo decided to go to this onsen and I found myself squeezing myself next to a bunch of old naked men. I have always tried to go to the onsen when it is least crowded so I can take my time and have some privacy but unfortunately, with work and all, the only time I can go to this particular onsen is the peak time. After the onsen, I ate at their cafeteria which was pretty good and reasonable. They also served soft ice cream which I love.

I think I will make this a weekly thing. Work out and then unwind at the onsen. I won't lie and say everything has been good in Japan but these are the types of things make me happy that I'm living here.

Christmas wonderland

It seems every year Christmas in Japan gets bigger and bigger. Walking to the office in Nishi-Shinjuku for me is like walking in a Christmas illumination wonderland. Everything and anything is decorated with some ornament or is illuminated. Tokyo itself is already very bright but it really is refreshing to see everything decked out like this. I haven't decorated anything "Christmasy" since high school and do remember that it was fun putting up the lights and setting up the tree; however, it was a huge pain in the arse putting everything away. I feel bad for the people who have to clean up all the decorations after new years.

All nighter

It was a busy weekend. I was out on the town all night which I haven't done in quite some time. The day started out with a friend's wedding. It was really nice. The ceremony and reception was in Roppongi. After the wedding activities, I met up with an old friend that I haven't seen in a few years. It was really cool seeing him again. We hung out with a couple of his classmates until the trains started back up the next morning. We were all drained at the end, including my friend who had to quickly go to Narita in order to catch his morning flight back to the U.S. I am glad to say that he made it all right. Anyways, here are some of the pictures from that night:




The most unique Chapel I've ever seen.



Decor was beautiful, food was delicious, service was surprisingly sub-par.



Nice tasty drink while waiting in the lounge area.



View of the city from my table.



Lots of nice cars in the hotel. Too bad I don't own any of them.



Tokyo tower view with a Christmas twist.

Nice day at Komazawa park

Enjoyed a nice day at Komazawa park. There were a lot going on that day, including an Ultraman festival, half marathon, and a local college American football game. Fall is definitely in the air and I'm trying to take full advantage before it gets too cold.

Hiroshima weekend

Life is moving on as expected. Work is still kicking my butt everyday. The weather has gotten colder and I have gotten sick, again. As my grieving period ended and everyday routines getting established again, I looked towards Hiroshima for a new start.

Moving on

Its been really hard trying to move on and getting myself back to "normal" life. I've been doing things like going out and trying to clear my head and do something fun. Places that I went to in the past 2 weeks that I don't usually go or have not been to were Gunma-ken and Chiba-ken. Every time I return home though, I always expect Dondon to be right there and I end up getting emotional again no matter how much fun I had earlier. I have to realize that from now on my "normal" life will never return to the life I used to know 2.5 weeks before. That aspect right there depresses me whenever I think about it. It serves as a constant reminder to me that life can change in an instant and I should never take each day for granted and be thankful for what I have now.

Going back to distractions, one thing I did do this past weekend that I haven't done in a while was eat sushi. Its honestly been a while since I picked up a piece of raw fish at a restaurant. I think the last time I ate sushi was in the middle of September, at a new kaiten sushi place not to far from where I live. The cool feature that I never saw there was that they had a laser counter to count the dishes after you ate them and transferred the data into a hard ticket that you used to pay with at the front. All the other times I've been to kaiten sushi, the worker would come by and manually count which plates I had eaten and then write everything on a paper ticket. I thought the automatic counter was cool until my sushi experience yesterday. The place yesterday had touch panel LCD screens at each seat where you would order what you wanted. Moments later, the chef would bring out the desired freshly cut up raw fish on top of vinegary rice. It was pretty cool. I felt like I was in a scene of "Back to the future Part 2".