Day 64- Roppongi Hills

The other intern and I went to Roppongi Hills. Which is a hip/cool place in Tokyo. Also, where a lot of expats are located. Anyways, we went to Mori Tower, which houses the Mori Art Museum, a Dinosaur exhibit, and a view of Tokyo from it's helipad. So we first went to the Mori Art Museum. WHICH WAS AWESOME! They were showcasing an exhibit called "Sensing Nature: Japanese Perception of Nature".
"Maman" by Louise Bourgeois, just outside the entrance of Mori Tower.

The first installation when entering the exhibit, "Snow" by Tokujin Yoshioka. It was a massive room filled with feathers. The artist's intentions were to emulate snow. Evey so often the fan inside would blow which caused all the feathers to shoot up into the air and fall gracefully. I wanted to go inside...

This was by far the BEST installation I have ever seen. The first image is what you see when you enter the room. At first I thought it was some sort of "Alice in Wonderland" kind of room. Where you just squat and make your way out to the exit. But then, I noticed people's legs just standing there.

Then as I walked around, I found holes cut out into the paper...

Another person experiencing the rabbit hole! The artist, Takashi Kuribayashi, wanted the viewer to experience what it is like to be an insect or small animal on the forest floor.

This is what it looks like from the exit of the forest.

The amazing view from the top of the tower. You could see everything from there.

Day 60- Hanabi-dori

DAY 60!!! 1 month=30 days until I am in the sky off to the chi! Anyways, today was a very special day in Tokyo. It was the Sumidagawa hanabi-dori (Sumida river fireworks). This is the largest fireworks show in Tokyo. Since it is the largest there were tons of people everywhere. I met my boss at noon, since he woke up at 8am to tape off a spot for our group. I though we were intense because we came early to get a good spot. But according to my boss some people come a couple days earlier for the prime locations. The people that guard the spots are typically the underlings of a company. That was me for the day! I was given the honorary task of guarding our spot until the show. It was pretty boring. I sat there and watched as couples started to show up to take their spots. Me=awkwardly sitting on the curb, headphones in, hoping no one bothers me. Which no one did. In the end all faired well.

During all the guarding, I took a break and went to a shrine that was nearby. It was a tourist hotspot. There were so many foreigners. Gates prior to entering the shrine. The lantern in between was HUGE!

Near the shrine there are tons of food stalls and whatnot but there was this one stall that was making candy!

After the old man put the sugar coating on the fruit, he would put it on an ice block to let it cool down. From there you were able to choose which one you wanted.

Then making my way back to my bicycle, I saw this old lady. She was just walking and then all of a sudden she walks right inbetween two buildings! I was like SPIRIT! So, I took a snapshot of her disappearing into the otherside. (If you've ever seen TOKYO!, there's a scene where the two main characters of the first segament are talking about how spirits live inbetween the buildings. In Japan, you can find a lot of the buildings don't touch one another. Usually there is a tiny gap between both. Just wide enough to get a hand in. I think that's where spirits live too...)

I know it's blurry...Anyways, we're all sitting in the middle of the road waiting for the show!
The festival was started by the 8th shogunate to honor the dead and ward of disease and famine. At the time, the local restaurants were given permission to set off the fireworks and its been continued ever since.

Day 58- National Art Center

So, I know I've been m.i.a. for the past...I don't even know...and I'M SORRY! But it's okay because I'M BACK! The past 3 weeks have been uneventul up until now!
Firstly, I had to pay my rent for my last month in Tokyo! It was pretty epic. I have managed to survive 58 days and counting. Hopefully I make it to the end!!! On my way back to the train station I passed this store that had all these posters of bands on the windows. I'm guessing it was some sort of ticket store. But I saw this poster and had to take a couple snapshots. Only because I'm seeing them in September. Again! Really excited!
I went to the Man Ray exhibit at the National Art Center in Roppongi.

For my entire trip, I have been doing another assignment. I have been looking at tons or art/design/inspiration for, hopefully, my art minor show next year. I take my ceramics very seriously. lol. So far I have multiple ideas for the project. Now I just need the studio to start experimenting. Usually, my ideas come to me right before I fall asleep. Then I let them fester in my brain for a little bit before I actually make an attempt to write/sketch/describe them into my sketchbook. At the Man Ray exhibit a majority of the displayed artwork was his trials and products of experimentation. Unfortunately cameras/photography was prohibited. But no worries, I came away with a set of gold lips pin and a postcard! In my opinion it was a successful outing.

Day 29- Asia Cont'd

So day 2 of Asia's visit. We were originally going to go and visit a famous shrine 3 hours outside of Tokyo...But we woke up later then planned and didn't think we could make back in time for Asia to catch her bus back to Kyoto. So instead, we went to pay my rent and roam Tokyo. We headed over Shinjuku where the offices to pay rent are located. Afterwards, we went to this Indian/Pakistani restaurant which was so good. They had naan which was delicious. I'm not a naan expert but it was warm and soft and perfect. After lunch we decided to head over to Harajuku so we could visit the Meiji shrine.

There weren't any oddly dressed people. Partially because it wasn't Sunday. Until then...
We headed over to the Meiji shrine. In all honesty once you go to one shrine the majority of shrines are all similar.
Monks(?)

Asia crossing the rope! AHHHHH!!!

These are the tools Lotteria gave me for the next task...

HERE IT IS!!!

What's inside you ask???
10 patty burger!

DEMOLISHED...but didn't feel too good afterwards...still feeling the after effects...


-rog

Day 28- ASIA!

So for the past two days I got to hang out with...ASIA! Which was very surreal. She had been in Japan for the past 6 months studying abroad. Now, I was in Tokyo and she was in Tokyo. We were able to hang out! So I ditched work for the two days just so we got chill. So on Tuesday, we went to the Yasakuni Shrine. I was hoping for some protests (for those of you that don't know: the Yasakuni shrine was built in memory of the soldiers and 7(?) generals. They were convicted by the Tokyo war tribunal after WWII. They were guilty of crimes against humanity and other crimes which resulted in execution. So the Japanese government built the shrine to honor them. The controversy is that the government is honoring the people who took part in the Nanjing massacre, comfort women, and etc.) The day we went was the anniversy of the building of the shrine. But we found out nothing was happening until later at night. So we walked around the shrine and people watched. There was a wide variety of people that came to the shrine. There were old people, young people, couples, families, and we even saw a naval officer (I think it was a naval officer. I knew he was of high rank because of all the stripes on his shoulder board.)
The Yasakuni torii

Then our way to the train station we passed this...(i know a dead rat...no biggie)

BUT LOOK HOW ******* IT IS COMPARED TO MY SHOE!

After we regrouped, several hours later, Asia and I went out to look for the Japan vs. Paraguay match. We went to a bar but then got kicked out because we didn't have reservations. (reservations at a bar? What The Freak.) But then we found some random one that only served international beer. Then Japan lost. YEAH!!!

-rog

Day 27- mondays

No matter how interesting I would like Mondays to be, I am stuck writing about nothing. I always have work on Mondays. So until something interesting happens on Mondays I'll just skip them.

Day 26- sore...

Holy crap. My body is killing me. The end. My back has never hurt so much not even after a rugby match.

Pain.

The end.

-rog

Day 25- Camera battery!

I went to a new area, with my neighbor who's from Germany, in search of postcards a.k.a. tourist location. The area was just a massive market. A market where every stall sold the same thing you could buy three stalls over. There were many photo oppurtunities but my camera battery went dead.
We went to a Chinese restaurant thinking that it would be good...but the photos told lies. Either way, never again.
Also, I went to play volleyball! I found an international club that meets every week. It took me some time to find the sports center. Good thing I left 2 hours beforehand. Some of the people were complete douches. This was the intense v-ball session. It was much better/harder than playing at conn (no offense). We will see how my knee and body hold up after not doing anything so intense for months.

-rog

Day 24- Soon to be on my own...

It's two days before Rie is off to Beijing. This means...PARTY! ahahahah. After work, I met up with Rie for a one last outing before her internship in Beijing. The bad thing about not having a car is public transportation stops running at a certain time. This means I can:
A) take a cab (way too expensive).
B) roam around the city until the subways run again.
While waiting for the others, I discovered the best snack thing in the world! They're these whole grain crackers with some sort of cream in the middle. They're also an energy bars. Either way, they have become my favorite snack.
Also, tonight has officially affirmed my theory. Everywhere we went people thought I was Japanese. But it's okay, not everyone has the skill to distinguish the different Asians. Either way, I guess that's what happens when you go to a homogenous country.
If you're reading this and thinking, "No duh that's going to happen when you're surrounded by a majority of the same ethnicity." It's not true, when I'm in Korea people think I'm Chinese, Japanese, S.E. Asian, and even Hispanic before they guess Korean. I don't know if I should be offended or relieved I can blend in with the crowd. Do I dress Japanese?!?! noooooo.....

-rog

Day 22 & 23- work.

So for the past two days it has been nothing but work. I know work. I wish I could just sleep all day. For those of you that know me...I probably sleep more than a baby does. Anyways, now that i have an assignment I haven't had time to go roam. Also, it's getting really hot/humid. Until an actual adventure...

-rog

Day 21- Auto-pilot

The day after a game is just brutal. I woke up and everything is killing me. Especially my back. So, I woke up early, thinking, "I'm going to go to work early." But it didn't happen. I just laid in bed and couldn't move. Eventually I was able to function, but it was after 2 hrs of laying in bed. I made my way to work and stayed for a while. Anyways, the rest of the day was run on auto-pilot...
-rog

Day 20- Tokyo Gaijin Rugby Club vs. All France

SUNDAY= RUGBY DAY! Normally I'm very good at using subway systems. It's very straight forward. However, the odd thing about Tokyo is that it has multiple different rail companies. The major one is the Tokyo Metro (gov't run). But once you move towards the outer parts of the city they're privately owned. So on maps all the stations aren't explained. So, the combination of my luck and "knack" for direction I got lost. Yay! fml. I even woke up 2 hours early just in case. Fortunately, I found my way and the team.
After watching 3/4 of the game, I got to play!!! It's probably because of last week's performance that they didn't let me start in the 2nd half. And this time I was given the wing. fml. wing?! seriously?! OKAY! Better than standing on the sidelines. Also, because of me I assisted in a try!

This week's goals:
1. Find postcards.
2. Explore another area.

from Tokyo,

rog

Day 19- MoT

Another day of museum going! I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. I went to the special exhibit of Hussein Chalayan's work. (He is a fashion designer) All his stuff was crazy. There was one, where you walked into a pitch black room and inside the exhibit case there were three outfits. He had attached lasers at different angles to hit the pieces, which were covered in Swarovski crystals. The lasers bounced off the crystals while the mannequins spun around. My favortie concept was his clothes that were inspired by refugees. The clothes were converted from the seat cushions to dresses; table into a skirt, and chairs into brief cases. I wanted to take photos but oddly photographs were not allowed anywhere in the museum. lame...
The MoT


I thought the museum would have very good selection of artwork, but it was pretty weak. That maybe because I do not know Japanese contemporary artists. But the information provided was not foreigner friendly. Ususally museums have the medium the artist used, but many of the pieces didn't. Ultimately, I probably can't appreciate contemporary art...

-rog

Day 18- MAID CAFE

Today was such a goofy day. Not only was it raining all day but everything we did was ridiculous. I met up with Rie and Amy (Rie's elementary school friend). Amy brought her sister, Erika. So the four of us all decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Tokyo. After walking around the park, where the museum is located, for more-or-less 15 minutes and stopping to look at 4 different maps we could not find it. So, we decided to ask a construction worker where it was. Rie went to go ask him where it was. Next thing you know, he points to the construction site. All I could think is, "Are you serious...". She comes back to tell us it won't be done for another two years...Instead, we went to Tokyo National Museum. Here, the four of us goofed around while looking at priceless Japanese artifacts. And this...

Amy resting...


Doughnut seat!


There was also the MELON PAN!!! for those of you that have never had melon pan. missing out...Essentially it's melon flavored bread. This one had a special filling. I think it was tangerine or peach? It was somesort of fruit. It's really really good...thinking about it is making me drool.

World Cup Chocolate bread

I have no idea what there are but it looked good...


After all this we went to Akihabara. This district is known as the electronic district. You can find anything electronic related here. There are appliance stores and tons of arcades. We went in search of an arcade where you can win food but the majority of the prize games were these little anime figurines or other toys. After several failed attempts we went to a "maid cafe". For those you who don't know what a maid cafe it is a cafe and the waitresses are dressed in french maid costumes. Don't ask me why, but clearly it works here. We go into this cafe and there are 2 dudes already there and no one else. It was so depressing. Since we went in speaking english, the maids dropped off our orders and hovered around our table. It was a really awkward situation but hilarious. You could play games with the maids, have them dance/sing, take pictures, and etc. but it all costs money of course. After this weird experience and one last attempt to fine a food arcade, we went our seperate ways.



-rog

Day 16 & 17- bored and boring...

So these two days are clumped together because nothing has happened what-so-ever. I know it sounds lame but the most exciting part of these two days were:
Got bit by mosquitoes which rarely happens. On my way home I saw crabs on a rock. However, I discovered a store that sells everything for a ¥100! So, it has become my favorite store. So, other than work it's been pretty low.

-rog

Day 15- Dance.

Today, I received a tour of the park that is near the office. Then we went to this Japanese "sweets" shop. I thought it was candy but it was not. They were these pancakes with filling. Some of them had pineapples, cream, red bean paste, and others. They were really good. The filling was sweet but the pancake balanced out the sweetness.
There were candies, too. These were in the shape of fruit and hydrangeas. (Side note: Hydrangeas are monsoon season flowers [according to the mother who game me the tour].)
Also, there were these weird shaped pastries(?). I don't know what these are...but I think they're mochi. Mochi is usually made from rice but this store had made it out of soy. Anyways, this "mochi" looked almost fake.
I WENT TO A DANCE WORKSHOP! (KASEY- IMMA SCHOOL YOU!) I travelled all the way to the other side of Tokyo to attend this dance workshop where Keone & Mari were teaching. I LEARNED THIS Not only did I get to learn choreo from these guys but THE SH**KINGZ WERE THERE TOO!!! IT WAS AWESOME~ Hopefully, they'll post the videos from the workshop. You can see my crappy dancing. But it was all worth it because... that's rightttt~
-rog

Day 14- Monsoon season...

It's been cold and rainy all day. Reminds me of Conn Coll. It must be the start of monsoon season... NOOOOOO~ After the rain, it's going to be hot and humid. EGH! I hate humidity. It makes it hard to breathe and you become sticky. Nasty.
Anyways, I rode my bike to work. The front of my pants were the only thinking soaking. But the rain brought the other intern in! She interned at Greenheart Project last summer. Her name is Hemlata. She is from India, which is really cool. She made some delicious chai tea. She also had these really really good sweets. I forgot what they're called but they are made out of cashews and milk. She had brought store bought ones but it is possible to make them at home. So, I NEED THE RECIPE. Other than that nothing super eventful happened. I blame it on the rain. But tommorrow is supposed to be eventful! Fill you guys in afterwards!
-rog

Day- 12 &13 'World Cup' & 'Tokyo Gaijin Rugby Club'

I'm really tired right now. This weekend has been crazy. On Saturday, before meeting up with Rie, I went to buy my rugby boots! Which I did. Then, I met up with Rie. She invited me to her elementary school reunion which was pretty funny. I met several of her friends she knew from long time ago. Afterwards, we went to another one of her friend's house. AFter all this, we went to her house to rest up before heading out to a world cup party. At the world cup party, I met more Rie's friends. THEY'RE REAL! just kidding Rie. I had a lot of fun and ended up falling asleep in one of the rooms. That's how tired I was.

Today was a lot of fun. I FINALLY PLAYED SOME RUGBY!!! I learned that I suck at it. The people on the team were older and international people. There was someone who was from Chicago! He was from Naperville. There was another player who knew CONN COLL! He had played against Conn's rugby team back in the day. He clearly knew because he said, "Isn't the field down by the river?" AHAHAHAHAHA oh Dawley~ There were people from NZ, Britain, South Africa, and even Fiji. Although, they looked out of shape, they knew how to move. They're passing was incredible. They constantly did loops and jukes. But seriously, their inside passing and looping was amazing. Also, their grub kicks were wicked. Just what I want to do but too paranoid about screwing up. Nevertheless, today was a huge learning experience. I know for sure I was not at my 100%. I think I'm still scared to do things because of I might reinjure myself. But it's been six months so everything should be alright. right? It's all mental. For those of you who have been injured and needed rehab, know what I am talking about. 85% of the game is physical, the rest is all mental. I'm lacking in both the physical and mental parts. So, I need to crank up the training if I want to play well this season. I didn't even tackle well. I just hugged people. I bet the other players were like this kid sucks. BUT, none of them knew or know that I had surgery. Excuses...Anyways, they invited me to play again next weekend. ALSO, if you do not put your 100% into a game, you're more likely to injure yourself. I had fun this weekend.

This week's goals:
Explore a new part of Tokyo. (maybe the famous Tsukiji Fish Market)
Figure out if I can join a dance studio.
Go to a museum?
Make more friends.
Watch the world cup.

-rog

Day 11- SUCCESS!!!

I GOT TO WORK WITHOUT GETTING LOST!!! I have finally found a route that I can travel without getting lost. That's only because there is no left or right turns involved. Anyways, I am set up and about to work when I could not take the glare on the computer. So, I close the curtain but I notice a shadow on the curtains. I flick it because I thought it was a dust bunny. But then it moved and scampered up and down the curtains. I go outside to look through the window and see what it is...IT IS A ******* COCKROACH AS BIG AS MY PINKY!!!! Long story short, I dealt with the problem. SQUASHHHH!!! kidding. I tossed it out the door and poked it awhile with a stick. Now I am paranoid about finding roaches in random places. Next time, I'm going to tie some string onto its leg and keep it. I'm going to name it Rex. I'll paint it too. I'll start a roach kennel; have races with them.

This is the roach next to a juggling ball.


The bread truck. Can't read? No problem just point and it's yours.
-----------------
Tonight, I got hungry so I hopped onto my bike and roamed around. I found a McDonalds and figured why not. I discovered, IT TASTES EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE STATES except the ginger ale. That was weird. It had a perfume taste. It smelled really aromatic, too. I wanted a sprite or 7up but they didnt have it. Anyways, the big mac and fries tasted just like they did in the states. Or maybe it was because I was starving...I saw some interesting things. Business men wasted and puking. Clearly someones been having too much fun. But for those of you who do not know, in Japan and Korea, it is normal for business men to go out for drinks after work. I should just randomly join them. Or maybe challenge them...
-rog

Day 10- Lost (not the tv show)

I went to work early today. In hopes of roaming around the area for a few minutes. Which I did; then went back to the office. I was working for a little bit but then got hungry. So, I figured I would go look for a bank or ATM do take out some money then grab a bite to eat. I had seen a bank on my way back from roaming. I went in the general direction...but of course, I got lost. I know for sure I went the right way. For those of you who are thinking, "You can't read Japanese. No wonder you got lost." WELL ACTUALLY, I can read Chinese characters which Japanese people use. So I was looking for the characters for bank. Either way, while I was lost I passed by a bank so I went in and made an attempt at taking out some money. The machine would not take either my atm card or my credit card. So, I am screwed. (Oddly enough, I have been very good recently. I haven't done anything to deserve bad karma...) I have 180¥ which is equivalent to $1.75 and two plastic cards that are worthless. Now, my goal is to find a bank that I can take out money from. I tried five different places. FIVE! None of them worked...I gave up and made my way back towards the office. I find the main street that connects to the office. But of course, I somehow get lost again and end up on the bridge I had taken to get home last week. Now that I knew where I was I just turned around and headed to the office. By now I am starving and broke. It has been, probably, an hour and a half since I left the office just to step out, find a bank, and get lunch. Two hours later, 4 'Sumiyoshi station doko desuka?' questions later, I reached the office. After talking to my boss and some reasearch online, 7-11 and post offices have International ATM machines. So now it has become a duel adventure. We head off towards a 7-11. However, no luck. Next is the post office. and YES! IT WORKED!!! When the money came out, I felt as though I had won the lottery. So with my winnings, we went to a supermarket to buy our lunner/dinch (lunch+dinner=lunner/dinch). I was so worried that I would have to survive on 11 eggs, 5 slices of bread, spaghetti noodles, and 2 boxes of dried tomatoe sauce bricks(I don't know what their called in english. But they're these breakable pieces like a chocolate bar. You boil a couple of the pieces in water and it turns into sauce. For those of you who do know what I am talking about, it is like the curry bricks). These were the things I bought last night on my new bike. But now that I know where I can take money out of, I will not go to bed hungry. YEAAAA...I also learned, recently, the japanese postal service was privatized. One can now buy stamps, life insurance, and deposit money. I KNOW, RIGHT?! Buy life insurance at the post office; deposit money into your account?! These things were done by the government before but I guess now its privatized. Where in the states, the postal service was debating whether or to shorten its services. Nevertheless, it was an interesting day and I discovered many new things.

And on the way home I managed to go in a massive loop. and ended up at the office again. FML.

Day 9- Rainy Day and Mystery Food

Today's a rainy day. It was on and off the entire day. But nevertheless rain makes everything bleh. Could this be the start of monsoon season??? NOOOOOO...If so it is going to get wet everywhere. Then, it's going to get super hot and humid. I hate hot and humid. Worst combination ever. Hot is alright but humid is a no. Anyways, on my way to work I pass this restaurant. So today I walked passed it thinking, I'll roam around and look for somewhere with delicious ads or fake food displays that look good. If they do then I'll eat there. So I kept walking and realized I had walked in the same direction before so I turned around and walked in the other direction. But then I realized I would have to walk back in the direction that I was going to get to work. Being lazy I walked back the 20 steps I took and went to the restaurant that I always pass. There is no person that takes your order. Instead, you put in money into the machine and push the button. There was a man before me that "ordered" and that's how I picked my lunch out. Either way it was very good. For what I paid, probably 5 dollars, I ate way too much. More great news- I HAVE A BIKE! After work, I rode my new bike home. And no, scott, I did not steal it. It belongs to my boss. He reclaims bikes and had a spare one at home. On my way home I went to the supermarket and bought some food to try and cook. aka I bought some eggs, bread, mini sausages, and dried tomato blocks. So, now I don't have to eat only hershey's kisses I brought from the state! YEAHHHHH!!! Until tomorrow.

-rog

Day 8

So far, I accomplished two of my goals for this week. I MADE NEW FRIENDS!!! more or less. haha. The director of my internship introduced me to one of his students (a mother) who's son is about my age. As a result, next week tuesday, they are going to show me around Toks in exchange for my English skills. Maybe I'll speak in "engrish". Then I met another student (mother) who's son is my age and possibly going to start coming to the office to exchange some words. Hopefully, I'll have some friends. Secondly, I went running. Once again, I got lost. This time I even looked at a map prior to my run...but nevertheless I still managed to get lost. As a result, I explored some new area of Toks. I found a supermarket finally, too. Now I don't have to starve! But with my cooking skills I'll probably end up starving anyways. I learned that the area I ran through is known for its shrines. The shrines are for pregnant women. The women go to the shrines to pray for a safe delivery and a healthy baby. Also, the shrines have dogs which are representative for safe pregnancies. This explained the sudden presence of statues of fat women with babies on their shoulders.
I also had my first conference call. This was intense. There are so many logistical twists and turns, which I did not even think existed. For those who do not know what this organization is, here is an overview: The Greenheart Project (GhP) is an NPO. The Greenheart Project is trying to create an environmentally friendly cargo ship that can be used for educational and fair trade purposes. Currently, the organization has acquired 3/4 of funds to commission this boat. All the members are pure volunteers. They all have jobs outside this organization. Having this ship is crucial because transportation is crucial in a developing nation. Simultaneously, it is "green". My job title is "public relations and marketing coordinator". In other words, I will be doing everthing from research to running an online auction that is to help fund the ship. I really believe this is a innovative idea and my contributions will help push the organization further.
I am hoping all goes well.

-rog

Week 2

So after a week of setting up and getting acclimated to my new environment, I feel as though I have not left home. Although I can only speak a couple of words, Tokyo is far too kind. Everyone I have encountered understands what I am saying even if they cannot speak English. However, within the past week I have been mistaken for a Japanese person. Which I guess is good? At the same time not okay because people think I'm stupid because I cannot speak the language. Either way, すみません (sumimasen).

This weeks goals are as following:

1. Join a hip-hop class. (just for you Zooey)
2. Explore another part of Tokyo.
3. Find a rugby kit (cleats) for upcoming Sunday's "friendly" match. (email had friendly in quotes... should I be nervous?)
4. Makes some friends that are hopefully Japanese.

-rog