It’s the first of December. With it came the unexpected rush to cancel memberships and hunt for a new apartment for next month. I took over 20 photos today to experiment with the different camera features, specially the long exposure mode. The one above was taken in Shibuya near the Forever 21 store.
This is the last photo I’m taking with the Fuji Instax Wide 300. My Lomo’Instant Wide arrived in the mail this morning and I’m just finishing the film before making the switch.
This is a photo of a furniture designer holding a tile from his latest furniture piece: a powder table with a top that looks like the deep ocean. I’ve forgotten his name.
I met Haruka for a cocktail after work. We went to Trench bar, the one I’ve been to two years ago with Miki. Haruka has a very unique look. Her hair is red, her lips are sharp and eyes are wide. I had an amaretto sour.
Omotesandō is dark and whispery. Like a silent catwalk. The Ao building has bright sparks of red all around its body.
I meet her for dinner at Brown Rice tonight.
I met Alex, Haru and Sunyoung today. We went to a Spanish festival in Yoyogi park. We had sangria, paella, jamón ibérico and churros.
After sunset we stop for a drink at Lil’ Rire Café. Beer joins us. Everyone speaks Japanese. Despite my efforts in studying this language every day I still can’t follow the conversation.
We went to Tasuichi (たすいち) at the end of the day. If this diary was a TV Show like Friends, Tasuichi would be the Central Perk Café equivalent.
Today I met Marina at Streamer Coffee Company. I go to this café so often most of the staff recognise me. Marina is a design graduate from Tokyo, but she was raised in San Fancisco and did high school in New York. It’s great to meet someone who speaks English fluently. She was preparing for a job interview on the seat just accross mine.
As I’m waiting for Shun at Bridge. I notice one of baristas from Streamer is here. We say hello and introduce each other formally for the first time. Her name is Yungji. She’s stunning.
I suppose I’m being introduced to her friends as I can’t understand Korean. The girl with black hair gives me a docile slap in the face without a word. This must mean hello. Later she’s at the DJ booth and I’m taking photos. Her name is Mari.
She opens the door and asks for my Facebook. I’m busy, I tell her to wait. I zip up my trousers and wash my hands. A guy walks in but he doesn’t seem to care. We leave the toilet and exchange details. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing Mari at Womb next week.
I received a rejection email from the hiring manager handling my interview at Google. Being rejected from Google twice has to at least be admired. I also turn 25 today.
New definition of success: Living happily making the best work I can make rather than belong to a socially recognised place of successful people.
I met Shun and Kaoru today. They are good friends. They listen, don’t judge, give only solicited and most times useful advice, and don’t take things too seriously. Unlike me.
We were at the Tasuichi (たすいち) in Shibuya. Tasuichi is a very foreigner-friendly bar, and as Shun and Kaoru have lived outside of Japan for most of their lives they classify unofficially as half-foreigner. After that bar we went to the Hub. Hub is chain of British-style pubs in Tokyo and if one day you have a chance to visit a Hub pub in Tokyo I highly recommend you visiting another, more interesting, venue.
The silhouettes on this photo are people looking over the Shibuya crossing at the Hikarie (ヒカリエ) building on the 8th floor.
Cheap food doe not have to be unhealthy. And service at cheap restaurants does not have to be unpleasant. Tokyo is full of restaurants optimised to be cheap and fast while serving good quality hot meals in a clean restaurant with great customer service.
Commonly you will order your meal in a vending machine and get a ticket in exchange. The waiter will place a glass of water in the desired seat for you, you hand will hand your ticket to the waiter, receive your meal in exchanged and leave shortly after completing it. These fast style restaurants usually serve udon, ramen, rice dishes, with eggs, vegetables, pork, beef, curry. All these dishes cost less than a Starbucks beverage.
I took the photo above at the Yoshinoya in Sangenjaya before paying ¥480 for my gyūdon meal topped with raw egg.