Tokyo December 2005

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Friday 2nd - Saturday 31st December 2005. A random selection of pictures taken in Tokyo in December 2005.

Friday 2nd December

21:47:18 A snack and a drink at a little izakaya near our temporary flat. Mmmm.... pizza and chips!

21:47:57 Chie attempts to eat the bowl.

21:48:21 Another picture of me, same as before but with different camera settings.

Saturday 3rd December

See pictures of our trip to Takaosan on seperate page.

Sunday 4th December

13:27:57 Outside the Hobgoblin pub in Roppongi, where we'd decided to go for Sunday lunch.

13:45:30 In the pub, lighting not so good here. Chie had a roast and I had that old pub staple - the vegetable lasagne.

13:45:53 Another attempt without the flash - a little tricky with this lighting!

13:46:10 Me looking very pleased to be in the presence of a vegetable lasagne.

13:58:20 A view across the pub.

14:16:49 A road somewhere in the Roppongi area - you can see Tokyo Tower down at the end there.

14:23:47 The Grand Hyatt, with olive trees in the foreground.

Sunday 18th December

12:45:39 The outside of It's Vegetable!

12:52:50 Inside. At lunctimes they do a Tabehodai/Baikingu (from the English word Viking, implying an eat as much as you want buffet).

12:52:57 The food was all really good, and also very reasonably priced (about 850 Yen for the buffet, under a fiver).

12:53:16 Me digging in and really enjoying it. This hot and sour soup was particularly good.

14:33:58 After lunch we went for a wander through the Kappabashi Kitchenware Town in the Asakusa area. Whilst there I saw this temple, which I decided I ought to take a random picture of.

15:29:28 On the way back to our flat we stopped off at Tocho - the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, in Shinjuku. It occurred to me as it was a clear day we might be able to see Fuji-san, and it turned out we could, although the sun was kind of bright and made it difficult to get a good picture.

15:30:07 Again, there's Fuji, albeit a little washed out because of the sun.

15:30:28 A general picture of the sprawl of Tokyo.

15:30:42 Chie with a view out over Tokyo behind her.

15:33:46 Trivia fans may be interested to here I have been up to see the view from Tocho once before (see here), a few years ago. The view was much clearer this time round!

15:33:53 The building opposite, where I thought I could see some people lookingback at us...

15:34:01 ...zoomed in version of the previous picture.

15:34:19 Another general view over Tokyo.

15:34:27 ...and more of the same really!

15:34:52 Looking down to Shinjuku Central Park again - have been there before.

15:35:02 A helicopter!

15:36:05 Just more buildings really...

15:36:21 Tried to zoom through the gap betwen the buildings a bit here.

15:39:08 It was hard to find anything quite as fascinating as Fuji-san, although it was really hard to get a decent picture due to the late afternoon sun.

15:42:03 ...also the glass reflecting didn't help!

15:42:43 One last view out towards the mountains before leaving...

16:00:28 One the walk back to our flat, this yellow building with a turtle painted on the side rather caught my eye.

19:51:55 I had one of those pre-Christmas urges to eat mince pies, and luckily managed to find a jar of mincemeat in an imported food shop... ...I'm normally not that bothered about mince pies, but it somehow felt like a requirement in order to get a sense of Christmas in this remote corner of the world!

19:52:56 Kimchi nabe, made in the irritatingly small cooking area of our temporary flat which we had for the first two months. Note the single hob, and its position right next to the sink with no actual work surface!

19:53:14 Chie watching telly in our temporary apartment.

19:53:47 Again, in our temporary flat, I'm drinking beer.

Friday 23rd December

21:37:13 So this is our new flat now! Note the significant improvement in space, particularly as regards the kitchen (i.e. we actually have one!).

21:37:25 Chie, as seen through the hatch to the kitchen, doing a spot of cooking - I think we were having Mexican

21:37:40 A rather hazy picture of the rest of the main living/dining room. Although we have a separate bedroom, it didn't have any curtains yet, and thus our bed was in the other room.

21:38:54 A view from the kitchen looking out.

21:39:00 Chie and the cooker!

21:43:14 The little wireless device which gave us mobile internet access in the absence of a proper phone line.

Saturday 24th December

10:19:05 Me asleep (or just pretending).

Friday 30th December

18:45:23 Chie and Shingo-san in the first izakaya place we went to, close to Shibuya station.

20:14:35 Me and Shingo-san, with irrefutable evidence of darts, plus added silliness.

21:14:11 A picture presumably taken by one of the staff in the bar.

22:01:32 I think this is Meidamae station. Taking these kinds of pointless pictures on stations is always a sign that I've had a bit too much to drink!

22:01:53 This is particularly unnecssary, however, from an artistic point of view it is an important bit of iconography from my daily routine, that I felt important to express. Erm.

Saturday 31st December

19:31:48 The first few dishes that arrived - a dal massala, sag paneer, and of course a nan. All very good!

19:31:54 Chie getting ready to tuck in. Unfortunately we were too busy eating after this to take any more pictures!