After a full week in Japan, I am honestly starting to feel a little homesick (but not in the conventional sense, like I don’t miss work, I don’t miss the place I live in; other than my [amazing] friend’s, theres not a whole lot of things really holding me to how I’ve been living for the past 2 years other than a comfort in routine, mistaking distractions as actual progress, and excuses). While this trip has been awesome so far and a vacation from work was badly needed, it has also given me time to think clearly and given me motivation to greatly change my everyday situation and start being more proactive towards my goals. Along with starting to actually write on this blog, I also want/need to make big changes back home (moving to a new place, organizing my life and purging alot of the stuff I have and prioritizing my time better), and am chomping at the bit to do so. Until then though, I’ll continue to enjoy being 13 hours away from it all.
Café Gusto
We started our day going to a diner for a late breakfast, it was pretty sub-par and overpriced though so now we know not to return (bright side). The food looked nothing like what was on the menu, the portion sizes were tiny. I just asked for a coffee and they insisted on us both getting the bottomless juice bar add-on to our meal. The food was pretty bland and we were both still pretty hungry afterwards.
Take a Walk Down Godzilla Road
After breakfast we decided to just wander around the surrounding neighbourhoods and buildings and see what we could find, returning to the same neighbourhoods as day 4, I took a picture of Memory Lane without even realizing it, we were just passing by a alley and I thought it was really pretty. I feel that really goes to show just how beautiful the streets of Tokyo are if the alleyways filled with shops are legitimate tourist attractions. We also did a big loop around the skyscrapers and talked about the little differences between Japan and Canada. Between the huge amount of city-workers constantly beautifying the city, the smooth blend between huge blocks of concrete and trees/foilage, and how impeccably clean/neat the streets are.
Coco’s Curry
We tried out a new curry place, and this one is quite different than Hinoya Curry, but equally good! The biggest difference being that Coco’s is a larger chain of restaurants, as we all as there were a couple tables in the restaurant (but we still sat up at the bar). Another difference was the Japanese punk rock being switched out for some smooth jazz. The curry itself was awesome, and you could build your own and add as many ingredients as you’d like! First choosing the base of the curry sauce, spice level, and rice portion. The ingredients were added costs but you could add as much as you’d like, and that really spoke to me on an emotional level.
“A bowl is most useful when it is full of curry.”
Wasabi Kit-Kat
Long is the search to find Wasabi Kit-Kat bars, I’ve been trying to find it in convenience and grocery stores but to no avail. I have fond lots of Matcha flavoured Kit-Kats but may need to go directly to the Kit-Kat Chocolatory to find Wasabi Kit-Kats to bring back for people. That will have to wait for sometime next week though, or I may have to go there alone one day, because we’ve been to Ginza twice already and Cole doesn’t feel like going back.
Day 9 - Eating In
This morning was actually pretty fun! Most mornings we end up not eating until quite late into morning but I got up at a good time this morning and took a trip to the local grocery store. I grabbed bread, jam, eggs, shredded cheese, and butter and made breakfast. Sunny-side up eggs with cheese on toast, and the other piece of toast with jam on it. Forgot to bring my chef’s hat on this trip, but I know it’s with me in spirit.
The 50mm, Almost Too Versatile
One problem I;’m finding in Japan is that everything I want to photography seems to only look good through a 50mm lens. While all my pictures have been quite similar in style (landscape-type, wide shots of urban areas), I feel like I should be branching out to my other lenses. To be fair, I have been trying to force myself and switch to another lens to try to capture a different perspective, but I end up switching back to my 50mm within 10 mins because the other lens just isn’t what I need for a certain shot. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very convenient to just keep the same prime lens on and not have to worry about switching, but it’s just slightly alarming as a photographer to wonder if I’m lacking in creativity in my shots. I know that most of my shots of japan have been quite similar in style and colour, and using the same lens would make sense because I’m going for a certain look… I don’t know, it’s just an itch I guess!
Ramen in a Basement
One cool thing about Japan is the efficient use of space, things only take up as much space as they need to function (unless it’s a tourist bus, those things are mammoths). For instance you can have a small strip mall but instead of a row of businesses, it’s more a column of businesses, taking up the different levels of a multi-floored space. There’s anything from 3-floor McDonald’s, 5-floor arcades a cafe in the upper floor over top of a drug store, all sorts of mixes! In this case, after we hung around the neighbourhood and people-watched, we grabbed some lunch in a basement ramen restaurant. It was incredibly well-organized and effiicent at moving people through quickly. They had the ticket machine as part of the line this time, and once a little cubicle opened up you would sit down, give your ticket and within minutes you’d be eating! Sort of like if fast-food, ramen, and a stable trough were fused into one business. I did like that I could customize my spice level, get free extra garlic (load me up), choose my noodles consistency, and add any other extras I’d like. This was about half the price of the halal ramen we had on day 2, and that made complete sense to me. You get was you pay for and this was decent ramen. Not as good as Koichi Ramen (my favourite place) in downtown Ottawa though!
Window Shopping
After we ate we walked to a Nikon store which was only a block away! I had no intention of purchasing anything (money is already a scarcity to be conserved while I’m here) but it was fun to look at the large cases full of lenses, dslrs, mirrorless cameras and more! They even had a bin of broken cameras you could buy as props or decorations, which is tempting to go back and search through. I’ve only ever bought camera equipment online, so it was very fun to browse the shelves of them. We also tried to find a gift shop to buy some souvenir’s but all we found was Hello Kitty merch. Still looking out for cool things to give to loved ones, but am promising myself to not just buy something for someone just for the sake of giving them a knick-knack. If I see something that someone would actually like then I will absolutely get it (like a wasabi Kit-Kat for my sister, or a snow-globe for a friend, or a quirky t-shirt for myself), but I’m against getting something valueless from a convenience store or gift shop just to shove some material representation that I was here at the people I love. The best idea I could think of is if someone I care about really likes a photo I took while here, then I would get them a print/poster of it and that would be my gift for them.
Yayoiken - Syokudo and Teishoku Restaurant - Stir fry and miso soup
To take a small break from Japanese curry, we decided to try a new place tonight. A place that is just around the corner from our hotel (I know I keep saying that every time, but not this place wasn’t around that corner, it was the other corner, I swear!), which also had a ticket-machine out front. I ordered grilled chicken teishoku, which is basically grilled veggies/chicken, with a bowl of rice on the side, a bowl of miso soup, and a small cube of what imagine was soft tofu with onion sprouts on top. This was the first time I’ve eaten in an actual both and it felt weird, while I didn’t quite fit in the chair, and the wall we were against didn’t allow for much arm movement, it was alright and the food was pretty good!
Tourist or Alien
After deciding to head back to the hotel for the night, we got settled in and watched Alien: Covenant before heading to bed. The past couple days were pretty laid back and not a whole lot of photo opportunities. Tomorrow we are going to the Skytree, the Samurai Museum, and finally meeting up with Brandon! It’s been months since I’ve seen him and it’ll be good to spend time with him AND add a dynamic to our group rather than just Cole and I. Super excited but heading to bed now!
Keep Capturing,
Eric