Sunday, March 30, 2008

Concert and cherry blossoms





Yesterday I went to a TOKIO concert. My first concert in Japan, whoo! It was at the Budokan, a pretty big arena in central Tokyo that was originally constructed as a sumo stadium; lots of artists have played at it through the years though. The area that the Budokan is in turns out to be absolutely gorgeous in spring - it's right next to a moat lined with cherry trees that were all in bloom. Lots and lots of sakura overhanging a moat, it was soooo pretty. So before making my way over to the stadium, I first walked around and took a bunch of pictures of the sakura; lots of other people were doing the same thing though, so I had to fight my way through. The place was incredibly crowded, because three groups of people were all converging at the same time - the people going to the concert, people just there for the cherry blossoms, and people heading for nearby Yasukuni shrine. There were police all over the place trying to keep order.
And here are some pictures! Aren't you all excited? They're all pictures from my phone; I tried to take some pictures of the cherry blossoms with my camera, but it was out of batteries and I didn't have time to try to run to a convenience store to pick some up. So, I picked up a couple uchiwa at the concert; these two are of Nagase and Taichi, my two favorite members. The Taichi one is actually going to be for a friend, though. Uchiwa are traditional for Johnnys concerts; generally you wave them around to show support for your favorite members, haha. And then, sakura! These are just a small taste of the scenery surrounding the entrance to the Budokan. I had no idea before that it was such a pretty area; the stadium itself is pretty cool too. I guess I'm just used to American stadiums that are surrounded by parking lot, not cherry trees and a moat.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

My Fridge!

Check out my tiny fridge! Isn't it cute? Well, kind of drab actually... I looked for other colors but all they had was grey. Oh well, it's the perfect size for me anyway. That pink bag next to it is non-burnable garbage that I think should go out on Thursday... have to double check that. I should post a picture of the garbage schedule next; separate days for burnable, non-burnable, papers, PET bottles, glass bottles, and hazardous items (like broken glass etc). No dumpster to just toss it all into whenever, and it's frowned upon to leave garbage in the little wire cage designated for it (to keep the crows from attacking) more than just the night before. If we didn't have that little cage, it wouldn't even be the night before, it would have to be the day of so that the crows wouldn't get in and make a mess.
And you get a bonus, too - the inside of my fridge! Nothing terribly exciting, just some apples, an orange, leftover pasta (I can have leftovers again! whoo), eggs, yogurt, green peppers, part of a red pepper, carrots, and some leftover store-bought mabodofu (which is this spicy tofu dish that I've become rather fond of since I've been here). On the arm is orange juice, coffee, and pasta sauce.
Then finally, a picture of the storage unit I just bought from this place in Shinjuku. It's a household goods store, and everything in the place is 1050. It borders another store that sells smaller goods for 300. Unfortunately everything in the smaller store seems to be decorated with cutesy hearts and rubber ducks. No thank you. I can probably pick up the same sort of things at a 100 yen store anyway.