1. Birdsong in tube stations (heard in Ikebukuro on the Yurakucho line). When I first heard it I thought there was actually a bird somewhere up above the platform but of course it’s underground. No birdies down there. So they have a recording of birds singing. Why? A Japanese friend told me the singing is [...]
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Nihon wa dou desu ka?
Since arriving in Tokyo, several people have asked me this question: Nihon wa dou desu ka? How do I find Japan? A simple question, but one that until recently had been quite tricky to answer. At first I was excited to be here, of course: this is my first time travelling solo. Actually it’s my [...]
But that’s three things all in one, chocolate, a toy and a surprise!
I like Kinder Eggs or, as they’re officially known, Kinder Surprises, although that seems a bit of a misnomer to me since there’s nothing surprising about the crappy toy you’re bound to find inside. I have a lot of complaints about Kinder Eggs in fact, or perhaps I should say disappointments, but despite them, I [...]
Noob
The gap in posts is due to my being a noob. Or perhaps it is because I was so lazy (or so busy) in 2009 that I didn’t write anything. No, it’s because I’m a noob and lost all my blogs. Doh.
There’s more to Japan than raw fish
The mere mention of Japanese food can evoke such diverse reactions as, “yuck, raw fish” to “mmm, I love sushi”, but the association with sushi is always the common factor. However, sashimi and sushi are not the only Japanese dishes out there and, although these days more restaurants are cropping up in London serving cuisine [...]
Review: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Overview: The distinguished Professor Layton and his young sidekick Luke are back with another puzzle-filled adventure in Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, available on the Nintendo DS from September 25th. Review: Game Plot In this sequel to Professor Layton and the Curious Village, our astute archaeologist encounters a new mystery surrounding an artefact known [...]
Shh!
Recently, with increasing regularity, I’ve found that people just aren’t comfortable with silence. Not a groundbreaking revelation I admit, but it seems to have cropped up an awful lot. Only yesterday when I was helping my boyfriend make dinner, his flatmate (who I’ve met just a few times) and I were the sole occupants of [...]
eBay: the commercial siren
She beckons to me, enticing with her promise of amazing bargains and impossibly good value for money. She lays her bait and I think to myself, ‘It’s only 99p. What difference would it make?’ And that is when she knows she has snared me, that all she need do is reel me in, gently at [...]
To sleep, perchance to dream
I had a bizarre, protracted dream last night. I had to go in a great hurry to meet some friends and so began packing necessary items into a bag. Despite not finding everything I needed, I left to catch a bus. The bus was slow and was going in the wrong direction so I got [...]
Me and my not-so-Japanese face
お 早うございます O-hayo gozaimasu!This morning on my way to work I remembered it was my mum’s birthday and for some reason this got me to thinking about me being half-Japanese. Being a halvsey in the past twenty or so years has ceased to be such a rare thing. There are so many different races living [...]
