good old days

Lets talk about the good old days for a minute. do you remember when riding the metro meant reading a good selection of manga?
i am talking about roughly 5 years ago, when you would find them in the overhead compartments, left by salaryman on their commute.
nowadays, you rarely see those weekly treats anymore. it is not because there are no salaryman anymore, it isn't that salaryman don't read mangas anymore. no, those two go together like internet and porn. further more, to not get things wrong, the number of publications has not decreased it increased. but somethinge else has changed: finances.
accordingly, the number of guys like the one seen on left side of the picture: homeless (if you don't count cardboard boxes as homes). at strategic points on the metro map they will rush through the cars and fetch all the free mangas. to re-sell them on the street. it is becoming an annoyance... to say the least. we are talking about publications the size of a local telephone book worth less than 5 euros (the reason they are left in the trains). what profit are they making? 1 euro a book?
oh, there is another thing that faces an increase: it's the number of crowds (including salaryman) reading (of course not buying) mangas in convenience stores. and if you are determined, maybe one night you will see me there, with them.

the wicked witches of the east

Now, i am no chicken. good german assertiveness... so you shouldn't assume i could sit it out all day in the hotel, last weekend.
so i went on a little expedition on the stormy day (as a side note: don't go out when it is raining in japan, you will definitely get wet to the bones) into the protective coat of thick forest around the island to find a shinto shrine situated on top of a mountain. to reassure myself that there is no ship in sight and in turn have a better view of the inferno that surrounded the island.
and there, of all places, in a small cabin half way up i found 4 little grandmas. i couldn't believe my eyes. not only did they manage to get up there in what they said was the worst storm they have ever seen! even more, someone let them get up there!!
and because i had thrown a coin at the shrine, they invited me in to have a green tea and some tangerines. very sweet ladys, very friendly. if you read this: thank you.
"faces of americans are always beautiful" they said. for most elderly japanese, foreigners are naturally from the usa. and yes, YOU, even YOU, can be a star here in japan.

excellent voyage

It is these days that i wish i had updated this blog more frequently, because someone who'd read it regularly (which in itself is of course not much more than a theoretical possibility), well, this person would possibly have noticed my mysterious absence over this last extended weekend. and I was not only absent, i was actually lost and cut off the rest of the world on a remote island in the pacific ocean. (no, I am not just talking about japan in general.)

to explain it, over the new year holidays I decided to venture the izu islands south of tokyo. accidentally, the same weekend lord petrus decided to send his first marvelous taifun to japan and so it came that I first couldn’t venture to my original choice of island because the ship couldn’t anchor at the port in question. and secondly couldn’t return to Tokyo as planned one day later, because the wind was so strong that neither ship nor airplane would commute. so I grabbed a good book, sat down in the spa of my hotel and chilled (as much as I could while facing the threat of permanent exile on an island I didn’t much care about in the first place.)

check out these pictures, first day “just” rain. (search for the road on the right to get an idea of the scale)

second day, beautiful sunshine and a wind that pushed waves 9 meters over the coastline and plans to return home likewise.

Rewind: panoramic christmas

Someone told me that hakodate has one of the 3 most scenic views worldwide. i am not sure what the criterias are or the other contestants for that matter. but it certainly is amazing. see for yourself.

Rewind: Sushi shock

Many associate japanese food with sushi. and it is true there is a lot of it around. but not all japanese food is sushi. and not all sushi is raw fish. this for example is raw meat - horse meat.
i wish i could remember the taste, memories of taste are so fragile.

Rewind: Christmas Illumination

Hakodate had of course it's own illuminations. i encourage you to imagine happy hardcore techno versions of famous christmas songs, to get an idea of the kind of merry feelings i experienced...

Rewind: Christmas Dinner

Well, you know i have been to hokkaido on chistmas. hokkaido as the northern main island of japan is renowned for the horrible creatures that lurk in the deep cold seas.
good thing is, as frightening as they may seem, they are quite tasty. let me introduce: christmas dinner. boiled and ready to eat.