Hey there

This weekend passed in a blur – last weekend in Tokyo for a bit. Going away dinner for me and another colleague who is being posted in another prefecture (different area in Japan).

Went to see hanabi (fireworks) at Sumidagawa River (’tis the season for hanabi..) with D, a Dutch expat who’s been in Tokyo for a while. It was pretty good, not as crowded compared to other hanabi, and all the Japanese girls were in yukata, which was really pretty – so we had a good time admiring girls’ outfits , but my all-time favourite, I think best of all the outfits I’ve seen in Tokyo was the goth yukata. Even her obi (sash) was all goth, with lace and teardrop pearls. Very cool. I wish we went in yukata too, but it’s a really difficult thing to wear and tie properly. Drats. Fireworks were great! 1 hour of fireworks (and sitting on newspapers on the road), there were some like golden streamers, star bursts, crazy alien rockets but the most stupendous was one that sounded like a great waterfall, and then the whole sky would turn red as a fountain of thick columns of light (about 10 storeys tall) gushed out…I love fireworks. As usual, there were police with megaphones telling people where to sit and walk – it is really common in Tokyo. Which is good, because there are so many people at these events that it would be chaos if there weren’t. Everything was really orderly and clean plus no garbage on the ground after. Finished up with a tops dinner (thanks to D’s superior Japanese skills) and cocktails in Japanese restaurant before going home.

Odaiba on Sunday for the Miraikan museum – long name is National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. Coolest museum for little kids, you get to manipulate a 2-storey high globe with LCD screens showing changing weather patterns, temperatures, change the planet… and just swivel the whole thing, fast forward the years..and of course other stuff like Assimo (freaky how humanlike he moves), spider robots kids can manipulate with Playstation controls, VR…I think the Malaysian science museum has something on tadpoles turning into frogs. Hmm. And the Fuji televion building had some summer festival at the bottom with the weirdest giant elephants and celebrities heads, policegirl uniforms for Japanese girls to take photos in (although being Japan, the skirts stop ½ inch below the butt) And the Statue of Liberty with the Rainbow Bridge in the back. Dancing Elvises also on tour in Odaiba seaview deck.

Went to Omotesando on a mission to find Herzog and de Meuron’s Prada building before leaving Tokyo – and found it. It is now one of my 3 favourite Tokyo buildings. Love the treatment of the façade, the intersital spaces where stores rooms can be hidden yet appear if needed, the slanted planes with images projected at an angle so that person on the street can see catwalk show projected from the 5th floor, uber-cool creamy white honeycomb structure and custom made glass panes. Love the effortless cool. Then cooled down the hot Tokyo night with green tea frappucino on the 2nd floor while people-watching the Shibuya crossing.

Tired now. 3 days left, working till I leave. Will let you know if there is a second chapter of this Tokyo tirade.

Later,

Shi.