A Tokyo oasis

So I woke up and decided that I should get out of my shitty dorm* in exchange for some fresh air, and a new perspective. The heavy curtain renders my room in constant darkness and one can easily lose track of one's sense of time and purpose.

I cycled to Shinjuku Gyoen, a big piece of green space tucked in between the concrete jungle that is Tokyo, where the free screening of environmental movies organized by Reina's internship place was being held for the last day.





The whole park was marvellous to walk in and every step brought me further away from my initial plans, and before long, i parked my ass on the grass, lied down and gave in to procrastination. One hour led to another.



The two hour on the grass was haunted by Emilie Simon's "Désert", its steady downtempo beat rewinding itself again and again sans control.

Oh mon amour, mon coeur est lourd
Je compte les heures je compte les jours
Je voudrais te dessiner dans un désert
Le désert de mon coeur

(My love, my heart is heavy. I count the hours and I count the days. I want to draw you into a desert, into the desert of my heart)

Dans la nuit parfois, le nez à la fenêtre
Je t'attends et je sombre
Dans un désert, dans mon désert, voilà

(Sometimes in the night, I wait by the window. I wait for you and I sink.. into a desert, into my desert)

Dans la nuit parfois, le nez à la fenêtre
J'attendais et je sombre
Jetez au vent mes tristes cendres, voilà

(Sometimes in the night, I wait by the window. I have waited for you and i sunk... Throw into the wind, my sad ashes)



That was the perfect melancholic song to offset the perfect weather, perfect turf, perfect breeze, perfect autumn scent in the air, the perfect oasis in parched Tokyo, and its the perfect song for waiting.

There is something about the greyness of Tokyo that offsets my balance: the lack of trees, the not-tastefully-designed buildings apart from the selected few iconic ones, the neon overdose, the onslaught of people yelling into PA systems 24/7, the army of black-suited salarimans during rush hour, traces of vomit on the streets of Shibuya. There is supposed to be no paradise here.

"Désert" is the perfect offset to this beautiful illusion. Désert is the balancing equation.




* Refer to the 'City Wok" joke in South Park!

Voilà l'été!

I know the title of the post is very unsuitable for the northern hemisphere as it is nothing summer-like at all at this time of the year. Summer is slowly exiting, the air growing chillier by the day!

I have missed out on the gradual change the seasons, being trapped indoors in the office building, time kept still by fluorescent lighting and the sun (or the absense of sun) shut out by drawn-down blinds.

Despite being a child of the tropics, I am not particularly immune to the blazing sun of japanese summer. This summer I have escaped to the milder Hokkaido which boasts of having the best weather in the whole of Japan during the hellish summer season. Here's a little preview of my trip, and I guarantee that I will write about it soon, though one season too late.



The office I am interning in is of course not particularly lifeless, as a plethora of creatures (particularly our amphibian and reptilian friends, and fishes too) do happily co-exist with us. These creatures enjoy superstar status and are revered by all. I spend at least an hour a day feeding/staring/admiring/talking about these creatures at work!

My fellow colleagues:

Japanese Fire-bellied Newt (ニホンイモリ, in kanji 日本井守). This is what would become of you booze too much.
(Pic taken by Mr Itoh, my Homo sapien colleague)


Black-spotted Pond Frog (トノサマガエル, in kanji 殿様蛙) which actually has a pretty golden sheen. My favourite fella, this.
(Pic taken by me, my Homo sapien self)


Tokyo Daruma Pond Frog (トウキョウダルマガエル, in kanji 東京達磨蛙), a crazy frog that is always jumping around and eating everything!
(Pic taken by Mr Itoh, my Homo sapien colleague)

Another creature that I have encountered from my internship for a conservation project is this cute little thing, my life-long passion, Leopard CAT!! Notice the capitalized "cat". I like cats. Any cats.


Tsushima Leopard Cat (ツシマヤマネコ)
(Pic taken by Mr Itoh, my Homo sapien colleague)

They provide great entertainment but I still can't believe the fact that I find frogs cute.

A song of eternal sunshine, Voilà l'été by Les Négresses Vertes (which I got to hear last weekend when a dear friend of mine visited Tokyo) has been stuck in my mind for the past few days. The infectious shouts of voilà l'été, enfin l'été and toujours l'été are hard to shake off. Summer is here! Finally it's summer! Its always summer!........

Voilà l'été, j'aperçois le soleil
Les nuages filent et le ciel s'éclaircit
Et dans ma tête qui bourdonnent ?
Les abeilles !
J'entends rugir les plaisirs de la vie

The eternal optimist in me is now restored!

A pilgrim's tale

A trip back to Kyoto (with loads of hugs) healed all ailments. Woke up to bird song. Time to take on Tokyo with renewed optimism!

I spent a weekend in Kyoto recuperating and meeting good friends with a free lunch of tomato cream macaroni courtesy of estie and a dinner of smoked salmon salad by kendall, a night out to the Kyoto Sam and Daves, another lunch and karaoke the next day with my dearest friends. Once back in Tokyo, the crowded JR Yamanote line greeted me as I re-started my normal routine of commuting to my workplace.


With estie


Dries the Big Belgian

Even though Japan has never been my choice of country to visit when I was still in Malaysia as Japan is so expensive, Tokyo was somewhat intriguing to me especially the gorgeous buildings by master architects that I have only been able to read about in architectural magazines.

Tokyo for me is a great place to enjoy in solitude if you enjoy taking a stroll, and I personally like Omotesando and Roppongi area best with its stylish buildings, chic museums and that surge of energy that you can't really find elsewhere in Japan. Of course also the display of wealth (vulgar or not, you decide) of one of the world"s most expensive cities.

Here is one of the buildings that I like best, the Prada building in Minami Aoyama designed by Herzog and de Meuron, just a hop from Omotesando metro station.



If you were to peep from your door....







The entrance to the store

I love this pic below, the back of the Prada building, where the ugly power lines can be seen juxtaposed against this iconic structure, reminding us that although Tokyo is touted as the Future, it still lacked the sense to bury these lines under the pavement. Nevertheless this pic has a very "derelicte" sense to it, and for understanding my meaning of this word more deeply, please watch the Zoolander and you will see...



I think this post will be the first of more to come about all my favourite things in this city and all that I see during my many solitary walks.

Come take a walk with me :o)