Jonelle Patrick's Blog, page 76

The Sumida River At Night

As the sun goes down in Odaiba, the dinner boats gather like fireflies

By day, the Sumida River is a busy thoroughfare of boats and ferries, but at night it turns into a magical sea of sparkles.

As night falls, the boats take off upriver

As darkness falls, the river begins to glow

Every boat is different

Skytree is at its best after dark

Odaiba, after sunset

If you’d like to ride the waterbus ferry between Asakusa and Odaiba, directions are on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had.

Catch Your Own Noodles

Next time you hoist a brew over the sad story of the one that got away, nobody is going to believe it was a NOODLE. But if you want to snag a tasty bite of nagashi sōmen, that’s just what might happen when you try to scoop the slippery little dudes up with your chopsticks as they float by. Learning to catch them is worth it, though, on the hot summer days that are just around the corner!

Cold sōmen noodles dipped in a savory broth flavored to your taste with wasabi and spring onions are the perfect way to beat the heat, and they taste even better after a morning of exploring the interior of the giant Daibutsu in Kamakura or doubling your money at the Zeni Arai Benten Shrine. If you want to try nagashi sōmen the next time you visit Kamakura, directions and more photos are on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had.

Personal Porta-Potty

Three to a pack! Wide mouth! Holds a lot! Can be used by men, women and children!

For the Japanese travel fear that dare not speak its name, behold the PuruPuru Mini Toilet bag! A quick flip to the back side convinces the already-anxious traveler (especially the one headed to barbaric foreign lands) that this product might not just be desirable, but urgently needed. Not only does it answer when nature calls, it zips up afterwards like an industrial-strength baggie. Better buy a dozen, one in every color!

Traffic jam from hell? Down to your last two cans of tuna during a multi-day disaster? Trekking the uncharted and latrine-less wilderness of Sound Of Music-ish hat-wearing lands? PuruPuru to the rescue!

For All Your Medieval Decorating Needs

Yep, you can waltz into this schwanky interior design store in Gotanda and walk out with a life-size replica of Arthurian-looking armor! Take your new buddy home on the train! Surely it’s just the welcoming touch your home was needing. (Also note that it comes in mini-knight size, in case you have mini-apartment size digs.)

Fortune-O-Matic

In Japan, you can get just about anything from a vending machine. Banana milk. Fake sea slugs. Miniature marble busts. And now you can get…the future!

Yes, these handy vending machines at the Narita Fudo Shrine will spin the wheel of fortune for you and deliver advice on your love life, next career moves, health, wealth and welfare for just a few coins! Are you feeling lucky?

Mmm, Charcoal Roasted…Coffee?

Ooo, love that campfire-smoky, sizzle-licious, summer-grillin’ charcoal roast flavor…unless you’re talking about COFFEE. Do you think the namers of this product thought they were marrying the roasty goodness of arabica with the purifying effects of charcoal? Instead, they ended up with a product that tempts me somewhat less than a Frappucino Hot Dog.

Kayak The Untamed Canals Of Tokyo!

After you’ve climbed the north face of Everest, surfed the 50-footers at Mavericks, and helicopter boarded the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, what’s left for next year’s Golden Week?

Sadly, you discover that your idea of kayaking the Amazon from its headwaters in deepest darkest Brazil would require longer than five days. But then you see this subway poster at Akasaka-Mitsuke! What about a heart-stopping adventure right in your own back yard?

Of course, it’s rather unlikely you’ll spot any rare blue poison dart frogs while padding your way through Asakusa – even though this uncharted canal will take you through eyepoppingly grim parts of Tokyo that aren’t mapped in any guide book – but on the other hand, in the Amazon you can’t stop off at Skytree for some nice sushi and a beer at lunchtime.

Nyan-tastic Cat Wares!

Catnip tea? Yes, please!

I knew Kappabashi was the acme of destinations for obscure kitchenware and plastic food models, but it turns out they’ve got killer nyan-ware too! Next Christmas I bet Santa will fork over everything on my list when he sees that I left out nyancat cookies instead of boring old reindeer!

Too hard to choose – better make them all!

Who could resist a potential gf/bf bearing these choco-nyans on Valentines Day?

If you’d like to visit Kappabashi Street the next time you’re in Tokyo, there are more pictures and directions on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had.

Auto-Incinerate, For All Your Sacred Garbage Needs

Now you no longer have to do the heavy lifting when it comes to heaving that sacred garbage into the shrine’s designated bin! Here at the Narita Fudo-san Shrine, this conveyor belt incinerator churns year-round, ready to bear away your tired old lucky charms and exhausted household gods to be cremated in the proper way. Just step up to the offering box, throw in a coin, and wave goodbye to last year’s tapped-out Safety In Traffic amulet as it’s automatically spirited away under the altar to the purifying flames beyond.

But clueless worshippers be forewarned: not only are you forbidden to send Daruma figures that didn’t deliver that 7th grade boyfriend,discarded My Little Ponies and grubby stuffies to their fiery doom, the sign to the left warns against launching anything made of veneer (toxic fumes may result), plastic (likewise), or non-burnable items like glass.

Wanted: Human Shield And Occasional Apologizer

See those guys in blue uniforms? Their job is to stand there like human bollards until the massive crush dies down, making sure the mob getting off the inhumanly packed morning train doesn’t block the people scampering to catch their ride going in the opposite direction, out to the burbs.

This is rush hour at Shibuya Station’s new Toyoko Line platform. On this particular day, the trains had been delayed by something at Jiyugaoka, so the blue suit guys were joined by a black suit guy, whose job was to loudly apologize to the arriving commuters for the train delay. It wasn’t enough of a glitch to warrant a Get Out Of Work Free Card, but it was enough that the commuters were all on the edge of surliness.

I was thinking this was probably not the kind of satisfying job experience that was highlighted in the “Your Bright Future With The Train Company!” recruiting brochures…