sheesergirl bobs her hair

i only wanted my hair trimmed neatly so that when i land in heathrow, i don't look like i travelled all the way in the luggage compartment.

but when my hairdresser said he knew of a style that would suit me perfectly, and that today was his only chance to try it as he would be moving to the countryside in a few weeks to take care of his sick dad... i knew i had no choice.

so it's very short now. i must confess: i am very weak when it comes to hairdressers. yes, i know they're all gay. it's just that i find it very difficult to disagree with anything they say because i have an inferiority complex towards The Fashionable People. and they've got those huge, sharp scissors, you know.

more fermented stuff

because it wasn't really available in california where i grew up, natto, or stinky fermented beans, was always a challenge for me. i remember the drama of the first time my mother made me eat it... i held my nose and had to be rewarded with some dessert afterwards. but i know that it's one of the healthiest foods in the world, so i try to eat it when i can. and i've actually begun to appreciate the flavor, although i still prefer it cooked along with other foods.

so today, i ordered the natto and okura curry at "shin soup curry" in shimokitazawa. i was quite impressed. not only was it eatable, the spiciness of the soup and the distinctive smell of natto complimented each other perfectly. so-- yet another fermented thing i must bully purpleman into trying!

the natto left a bit of a funny aftertaste in my mouth, so i wandered over to the "CAFE USE" down the street, a cafe that does a beautiful job of mixing antique japanese furniture, old Coleman lamps and Fire King cups from the 1960s. judging from the menu, they are very serious about their coffee beans. i tried some from papua new guinea, because that's where purpleman grew up and i never knew they made coffee there. it was very rich, very good.i thought my brother-in-law might like this cafe because he's very particular about his coffee, but he might feel out of place because he's a Very Loud Person and this is one of those funny japanese cafes with a very serious feel where customers somehow feel like they need to whisper.

buried in sawdust

being buried in steaming, fermented sawdust might not sound like much of a treat, but appointments for a 15-minute "enzyme bath" at the nogizaka treatment center are pretty hard to get. i finally made a booking yesterday after about 20 phone calls.

it had been a year since my last visit but nothing had changed, from the brisk and cheerful service to the funny smell that i can only describe as garden compost. after changing into a pair of baggy shorts, you lie in a coffin-shaped box full of sawdust and various grains. the mixture produces heat through natural fermentation. once inside, it feels like a sauna, but it has a much stronger effect than simply making you sweat. i can tell that it boosts my metabolism because i become very, very hungry afterwards. and i feel like a newborn the following morning. so, i'm planning on bullying purpleman into trying it when he gets back.

after the treatment, i went to the book store to browse through guidebooks on london and paris, but decided i'm not taking any this time. i will be taking maps, though. purpleman doesn't think much of my navigational skills but i quite like looking at maps and knowing where i'm going.

i found a map of paris in one of my old Figaro Japon issues. it's a 20-page booklet that lists almost every cafe and boutique in the saint germain, saint honore, marais, etienne marcel and montmartre neighborhoods. it's amazing how accurate and detailed some japanese maps are.

saturday shopping and listening

a very productive shopping day.

first, i bought some 35-mm film for my london-paris trip, including some Ilford black and white of different ISOs, at bic camera in shibuya. on the same floor, they had a huge section for digital SLRs, so i had a look. my old minolta xe is so much heavier than any of them, and considering that i always have to worry about pictures not coming out right, maybe it's time to go digital... but i don't feel like making the move just yet. maybe next year.

then i went to aoyama book center and found a book about oberkampf, a neighborhood in paris where purpleman and i will stay next month. looks like a cool area with lots of good bars and cafes... i can't wait!

my last stop was tower records, where i bought this album by the icelandic group, sigur ros. i've been listening to it over and over since i got home.

i think purpleman has it already, so i put on my headphones, close my eyes, and imagine him listening to the same sounds. only two more weeks now.

comfort foods

i'm sorry if this gooey white glob looks disgusting to you, but it's my favorite food: tororo, or grated mountain yams, served over a bowl of steaming soba. i don't like ordering it at restaurants because the broth is usually too salty for me, and with tororo soba one has to finish the soup. at home, we make the broth with some konbu kelp, a mix of black and white soy sauce, some mirin and a tiny pinch of sugar. moutain yams are supposed to warm your body, and there's really nothing more comforting than soba in homemade broth.

but speaking of comfort, there are few things better than eating karinto at night with a cup of hot hoji-cha to recover from a not-very-enjoyable day at work. aaahhh, what a relief it's Friday!

bowling chic

two friends from work had a joint birthday party together last night at the spanking new prince hotel towers bowling alley. i hadn't gone bowling in years, probably since my first year of college --as i kept on reminding everyone as an excuse for my poor performance.

one thing i discovered: bowling has become fashionable. okay okay, maybe not fashionable, but look at these cute red sneakers. one reason i've never been too keen on bowling was the ugly shoes. these would look okay even on the street, right? some might even mistake them for camper.

the bowling alley also had a bar with futuristic design and prices (very post-deflationary japan).

coffee geek

one of the great things about cafe ordinaire in shimokitazawa is the selection of funny books and magazines in their bookshelves. you can go there alone and entertain yourself for hours, reading about the history of harmonicas or leafing through the latest issue of casa brutus. but i personally find the waiter the most amusing feature. he's codenamed "coffeegeek" because he takes his job so seriously.

today was no exception. when i ordered an apple pie with my coffee, he warned me that this apple pie was no ordinary apple pie, that there would actually be two layers of apples of different textures: one caramelized and the other barely cooked, separated by a thin layer of almond paste. did i still want it?

but then what came next was rather unusual: he asked if he could give me a present, a piece of paper with drawings of a little girl and boy. "like you and your friend," he said.

is my handbag hot or what?

how could i come all the way to yokohama and not have a nikuman from edosei in chinatown?!

nevermind that it was during work hours. or that i was running late for an important central bank conference. my biggest concern was getting the right shop, because they all look so similar from the outside.

i actually got it wrong once about a year ago. i realized the mistake right after ordering 2 nikumans. i was so shocked that i couldn't help yelling, "OH NO, you're NOT edosei!" and they were very understanding and let me cancel the order. i was quite relieved, but purpleman looked like he would die of embarassment. i wonder if anyone had ever done that before.

i'm pretty confident that i'm the only person to have ever shown up at a Bank of Japan conference with a nikuman in her handbag.

hara museum of contemporary art

sometimes the gift shop is the funnest part of visiting a museum. i'm very materialistic that way. but at the hara museum of contemporary art, one of my favorite art spots in tokyo, it's the outdoor cafe!

the hara museum is doing an exhibition on the photographer miwa yanagi of "elevator girl" fame. in her latest works, she challenges perceptions of innocence in young girls and the portrayal of old women as witches, inspired of course by folk tales like the brothers grimm.

the pictures at the show were so genius that i wanted to order prints. my favorite was the one used in the flier, an old woman, or perhaps a young girl with wrinkly hands?, wearing a tent. but the prints were very expensive. well, the next best thing to buying art is EATING it, no? so i had the exhibition-inspired dessert plate, a mango and peach mousse covered with a crispy tent, held together by a skinny breadstick.

fall foods

october already! it's gotten slightly cooler at night, so i traded in my thin cotton blanket for my feather duvet. ahhhhh, it's nice to be wrapped up in something warm and fluffy again! i also put my tank tops and sleeveless chiffon blouses to the back of my dresser, and instead brought my cashmere and wool sweaters within closer reach. i found myself stroking them --some fabrics can give you such a strong sense of comfort and indulgence.

fall (or autumn for some) is also the best season for food. the rice is freshly harvested and lots of tasty fish --including fatty sanma-- are in season. chestnuts also start appearing in markets and make their way into all kinds of desserts. marron crepes, mont blancs, marron glaces... i love them all. my favorite is this chestnut pie. it looks homemade but no, i didn't make it. i bought it at the "sieges kranz" bakery in setagaya last night, and had it for breakfast this morning because i couldn't wait for tea time.

already thinking of my next vacation

i've always loved looking at atlases and fantasizing about trips to far-off places. so holiday-planning is one of my favorite activities, and it gives me a buzz that i can't get from anything else... except maybe shoe shopping. i usually start by downloading subway maps, browsing the internet to see what's on while i'm there, reading hotel and restaurant reviews, making bookings, and thinking of a rough plan.

my trip to london and paris isn't for another 4 weeks, but i'm already getting a bit too excited. i've already downloaded and compared menus from a few indian and pakistani restaurants in london (so far tayyabs in whitechapel looks very good) and decided which shops to go to in paris (christian louboutin for shoes and galerie triff for a rug). my brother-in-law says that i plan things too much and miss out on carefree, adventurous travel. he has a point, but the planning process is so fun, and besides, by doing research and making reservations ahead of time, you have more time to walk around or rest. and as long as you keep an open mind and try not to tire yourself out with a down-to-the-hour itinerary, you can always discover new things, right?