May 1st, 2006
114736257456688547
High life
 |
 |
 |
The noodle restaurant on the right is one of my most cherished Tokyo traditions. I have been going to it and scoring quickly prepared three dollar bowls of piping hot buckwheat and wasabi from the kindly old men and ladies for four years, every time I trek out to Akihabara for geek indulgence.
Somehow about two hours before the fact, I seem to have procured twelve straight days of vacation time. Though I will be in Paris or transit from for only eight, so four days are mine alone to prepare for the trip, play Final Fantasy X, and catch up on some things that have been nagging me, most importantly my wounded bicycle (more on that another time). After getting my wheels up and running in somewhat usable condition, I took off to Akiba since I needed to stock up on memory cards and camera supplies before the big trip to Europe. I did manage in just under two hours, some rather nice browsing through the chop shops on the west side of Chuo-dori, as well as a trip to Yodobashi for film, lens cleaner and a blower. Since it was still light on the way back I decided to take my sweet time and picked my way through Soto Kanda and up several flights of stairs to Kanda Myoujin. On my way I got to photograph a very lazy cat, the best shots of which are probably on the TMax and will have to wait a couple weeks before getting to a ready-for-online format.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
As seen in the lower right, even religious institutions apparently have to pay the bills, but here it’s hard to decide whether the installation of vending machines next to the purification basin is more the eyesore or insurrection.
After that I wiggled and wove my way north of Sotobori-dori, since I was hungry for some unfamiliar scenery. This of course let my heart lead me to Kouhinata, one of the nicest neighborhoods inside the Yamanote Line. If I’m ever lucky enough to have a family and live in the smack center of Tokyo, it may very well be there. After picking my way through the serene school-zones and humbly warm stone houses, I let the wheel follow another instinct and made my way farther northwest towards Edogawabashi, and then west along Waseda and eventually meeting the southern fork of navigational bellwether the Kanda, which of course I took leisurely through the parks all the way back to Yamate-dori just north of Shimizubashi, which is my dear home of now two plus years.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
North central Tokyo is quiet, pristine, and one of the most charming places one could hope to find.
At night I decided to treat myself to frivolity, even though I was heading to the land of cheese and wine in only a few days. Basing my decision on some internet advice about the lifespan of modern reds, I opened a bottle of 2001 Ronchedone that I purchased from a specialty importer the summer of 2003, at the beginning of my career with iNiS. I used the last of my pocket change on some “premium” Meiji Hokkaido Camembert and an issue of Weekly Playboy, namely because there were a couple of articles on Ichiro, and Ito Misaki [Kya!!] was on the cover (even though I knew there was no chance she’d be caught in anything less than a skirt and blouse inside).
 |
 |
 |
Really, what more do you need than this?
So, Auron and I kicked total ass, and I had a very snappy bottle of Italian wine and succulent northern Japanese dairy goodness. Hats off to me, for finding a good deal, for capturing a sleepy Siamese, and for fixing my indispensable bike (sort of).
