Umeda's Nomikai

Friday evening we went to a Chinese resturant to celebrate Umeda'san (to the right in the photo below) that is leaving the company. I tried several new dishes, discovered that Kanji-box app is fun for Japanese too, got requested and did show my back (before started drinking even) and also the stranges thing, got informed that the daughter of one of my collegues is suspected to be evil. There were photos shown as evidence, I did not see it, and asked for a translation to English just to be sure. It turned out that even the Japanese did not understand the logic behind why this little girl was evil. Good thing though, he thinks it is getting better now, but to start with she was 悪魔 (akuma, I learned a new word too, that was good). 

Lotus in Ueno

A little bit of rain drizzling down, no sun and lovely temperature, perfect for a Shibi-Ueno walk. 

Did not bring the good camera so there was one or two of those "almost falling into the pond" experiences. Lotus flowers and that experience were actually what finally provoked me to get the camera back in 2004. (2004?!? surely I would be allowed to get a new one, now... 6 years later?)

Seems like weather was very much like it was today, that day. Here are 3 pictures from the archives. 

Sweet baby sister was visiting, here walking next to Magnus.

Slightly over exposed, my little canon did not have a zoom.  Emma on the ground reaching out as far as she could, baby sister holding on to my legs to prevent a close-to-pond experience. 

Same thing, different year. 

The greenery seem to enjoy the climate too. And there is something with the little island that just make you think you're inside a Zelda game.

Did not find any diamonds, but did not look under the sculptures either, so there might very well be a few of them hiding. 

Speaking of underneath the sculptures, this is the La Porte de l'Enfer - Gates of Hell by Rodin and today I learned that it sits on top of a earthquake safety solution that lets it move a bit and still keep it standing; you really don't want to have a 6m x 4m x 1m bronze sculpture falling over.... especially if it was one out of 3 made from the original cast in 1917.

Walked along Tokyo University campus and then came across this pretty wall, or should I say walls. A beautifully aged red brick wall on top of one made out of stone. 

No Nuclear Poo!

Summer Sonic 2011

It was extremely sold out, but we made it in at the end to see 2 bands. First one was X-Japan, Japanese heavy metal from the 80's. I was not overly impressed, very strange mix of slow and quick songs, and very long piano parts. They are apparently really big and stuff. 

Speaking of really big, but a smaller Japanese version (platform shoes and all, Ace still have to sand on his toes to be seen behind me), were hanging out next to the arena.  

And then finally Red Hot was on the stage. Must say it is very nice being able to stand in the middle of the arena and have space around you and no one is jumping into you, or trying to push ahead. Yes, it was sold out but people behave. 

And then, in the end there were a short hanabi.  

And then in the was lots of waiting to get home. Show ended 21.30 and it took us 1.5 hour just to get on the train and I were back in shibi at 00.45ish. 

Before the Show

Lu, Diana and me, went to Chiba to try and see Red Hot Chili Peppers (and possibly some other bands too). Uninterested in paying radically expensive tickets from the "tickets, tickets, need tickets?" crew, we ended up at a bar (and then another one) to wait for price to go down and the show to start. 

Mint beer is not as bad as one might think (it is exactly as green as one might think though). I was not as brave and went for the cranberry vodka safe card instead. 

Lu posing for Diana while waiting for her food. 

And then, since my two dear friends are into fortune telling I decided to try too for the first time. The lady was super nice, and even ran after us in the end saying that she forgot to tell me that I'm very lucky in business. I was kind of expecting her little book to spontaneous combust when she started to calculate and prepare answers. I learned  a new Japanese word today 運命 (destiny), the paper did not catch fire, but Lu got excited since it was first time she heard a fortune teller being that direct; "It is destiny".  And maybe it is so, but is that always a good thing? 

Pint of 'bow

Sweating with Hellstrom at Irish pub.

Karaoke

Devi

Rövtski outlet

Why have I not seen this before? And also surly there is a spelling mistake, the t should be at the end, right?

Pretty Little Things

And then finally, we have the remaining photos from my Sweden trip. Aron is at Willy's in Helsingborg doing grocery shopping before his camping holiday at Mön in Denmark. The green cardigan he got from me in February is fitting perfect now, and is nice to nibble on too, it seems like. 

A cute little cat belonging to my parents neighbor. Climbed up the tree and posed for a well composed photo.

A purple passion fruit flower, (or are they just called passion flower ?) in my parents greenhouse.