Jonelle Patrick's Blog, page 78

How To Get Anime Eyes, Part II

If only I could be an anime character like Asuka!

Eyelid glue? Check!

Colored circle contacts? Check!

Long curled eyelashes? Oh no! Quick, get thee to the eyelash salon!

Seems like there’s a shop on every corner promising Japanese women the long curled eyelashes of their dreams. Because Asian eyes have single fold lids, eyelashes tend to point straight down instead of out, and Japanese eyelashes tend to be short and straight rather than long and curled. Girls are often seen on the train using one of those medieval-torture-device-like eyelash curlers, crimping their natural ones into submission.

But if you’ve got a stack of spare ¥1000 notes lying around, you can have an aesthetician painstakingly glue extensions on every lash. Prices vary according to how many individual lashes you want glued: forty extended upper lashes cost about $34, a hundred upper lashes cost about $70, eighty upper and twenty lower is $87. The three pictures above correspond with the set prices, suggesting that the cheapest one makes you look Natural, the mid-range boosts you up to Gorgeous, and the most expensive is guaranteed to make you Sexy.

And all of them move you that much closer to looking like Asuka from Evangelion…

I got interested in All Things Cosmetic while researching Fallen Angel , the second book in my Japanese mystery series. A number of the characters – including the young men who work as hosts – use every trick in the book to make themselves into ideal fantasy figures for the opposite sex.

Please Tell Me That’s Not Banana Coffee

Oh noooo! It is! Chocolate banana coffee, to be exact, and it’s this month’s special at the Excelsior Cafe. In my humble opinion, those two flavors go together like mushrooms and whipped cream, but that’s not the worst part. The feature that really pushes this one into the category of foods you would only serve your worst enemy is that the banana flavor is supplied by a dollop of the most dreaded food in the fruit world: SMUSHED BANANAS.

The Godzilla Of Pancakes

If you are what you eat, right now I’m a righteous tower of these tall boys. This “short stack” came topped with butter and kuromitsu (Okinawan black sugar syrup) and yes ma’am, I ate every single fluffmonster bite.

It was so good, I had to return to Hoshino Coffee for an encore. The next time, I ordered this puppy topped with whipped cream, blueberry sauce, and maple syrup. The verdict: yes sir, may I have another, sir?

If you want to try some of these the next time you’re in Tokyo, Hoshino Coffee is on the second floor of the Men’s 109 building near Shibuya Station. Directions are on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had.

I discovered the Men’s 109 building when I was researching  Fallen Angel , the second book in my Japanese mystery series. Men’s 109 is a sort of vertical mall, filled with all the brands men who work as hostboys love best. It was a goldmine for outfits worn by Hoshi and Shinya!

I Thought I’d Seen Tricked-Out Cars, But…!

I’d whipped out my camera to capture some arty-farty reflections of the Shibuya neon on cabs stuck at a traffic light, and when I looked at the display YOWZERS there was this CAR! And because traffic getting through Shibuya was wicked slow even at midnight, Lady Luck smiled upon me and gave me a half a minute to chase it down the street where it was stopped at a traffic light and get a couple more shots as it vroomed off into the dark.

SoCal lowriders, eat your hearts out, baby!

You’re not allowed to drive this car unless you’re wearing a white hat.

The Bar Owned By A Dog

Like any good bar owner, Hana waits to greet her customers at the door with a look of cheerful recognition, even if she can’t remember if you’ve been there before or not. Then she makes the rounds of her tables, stopping to chat with her patrons…and be petted.

Hmm, looks like the table in the corner could use another round. Bartender!

Yes, Hana-tencho, two strawberry daiquiri coming right up!

Hana is a shiba inu, a dog that originated on the small Japanese island of Shikoku, and I think they still look like clever foxes. Shibas are usually this lovely red, but there are also black, cream and rather rare brindle varieties. I admit I’m not usually much of a dog person, but for some reason, shiba inus have wriggled their way into my faithless cat-loving heart. The only problem is, they are quite smart and energetic so…

…Kuma-kun’s owner told me AIEEEEE! that he needs to be walked a minimum of two hours a day!

If you want to visit Bar Black Sheep the next time you’re in Tokyo, directions and a map are on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had . Or check out Hana’s Facebook page .

Hmm, Today I Think I’ll Do A Little Body Piercing…

That’s right, these little beauties are SELF-PIERCERS! How many ways can I say OW?! And even though the “birthstone” earring included suggests they are for 13-year-old girls, the store that sold them in the Shibuya Men’s 109 building specialized in jewelry that wasn’t exactly made for earlobes.

 

How do I pierce thee? Let me count the ways…

For those who would, um, prefer not to perform this sort of operation themselves, there are, of course, excellent body modification studios in Tokyo, ready to pierce your every…well, see for yourself.

The above pamphlet is from an excellent Harajuku shop called Extreme Body Piercing, the absolute opposite of DIY. They perform piercings with totally clinical procedures, and after reading the serious aftercare instructions they give their clients, you can see how paying a professional would definitely be the sane thing to do.

Middle photos courtesy of Men’s Knuckle, the go-to fashion mag for hosts. I discovered this informative publication while researching Fallen Angel, the second book in my Japanese mystery series.

 

I’ll Take A Pound Of The Cricket Snacks, Please

Mmm-mmm, on market day in Koshinzuka, they still sell inago tsukudani, scoops of Jiminy Cricket’s relatives all toasted up nice and crispy in a salty-sweet marinade. And what do they taste like, you may ask? Okay, I admit I chickened out of this one. But if they’re anything like shrimp tsukudani or tuna tsukudani or seaweed tsukudani, they taste like…tsukudani. A combo of soy sauce and sweet rice wine. Only maybe a little, uh, crunchier.

If you can get past the idea of bugs in your mouth, I bet they’re actually quite tasty. It’s snacks like these that made it possible to put a little extra protein in people’s diets during lean times, so the fact that people still buy them when there’s a McDonald’s right around the corner tells you they’re probably not bad at all.

Here they are, up close and personal, in case the idea didn’t squick you out enough!

If you’d like to visit the market on Koshinzuka Street, directions and more pictures are on my website,  The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had . The market is held every day that ends in a “4″: the 4th, 14th and 24th of each month.

 

What’s With The Tiny Gate?

Wow, people were totally troll-size back in the days before homogenized vitamin D milk! Check out the tiny gate in this old wall!

No, wait. Then why is there an eensy-weensy gate next to the car entrance at this temple in Daimon? It was built after the war, when hamburgers and milk had already invaded Japan and made all the kids’ uniform pants too short. Is this a temple dedicated to short people?

Actually, none of the above. These gate have been built less than person-height on purpose, so everyone has to bow as they enter. Whether you’re the emperor or the guy who’s arrived to take out the garbage, you have to humble yourself before entering the sacred ground beyond.

Many garden huts built for tea ceremony have the same small doors, emphasizing that you have to leave your worldly status behind when performing tea ceremony.

If you want to visit the Nihon Minka-en (where the first picture was taken) the next time you’re in Tokyo, there are more pictures and directions on my website The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had . The Nihon Minka-en is a park with 24 beautiful thatch-roofed farmhouses that have been moved in from all over Japan. It’s about 20 minutes from Shinjuku Station

Tokyo At Night: Kabuki-chō

In Kabuki-chō, the day starts when the sun goes down. The streets are thronged with those who are looking for a good time, and those who are looking to provide it. I got to know this area pretty well when I was researching Fallen Angel, the second book in my mystery series, because it mostly takes place in this world where anything your heart desires is available…for a price.

But unlike red light districts elsewhere in the world, Kabuki-chō is pretty safe unless you’re a gangster or you’ve made one mad. Foreigners especially are left alone.The flip side  is that foreigners aren’t really welcome in most of the glittering businesses that line the streets, so you’ll have to be content with strolling along and being seduced by the glow of the neon.

Buildings next to the entrance to the club district.

The street where the business of luring customers into the clubs starts to get intense.

Where hosts and hostesses go snag a fresh bottle of spirits when one of their clients puts them in a pinch

A side street, lined with clubs, eateries and karaoke joints

A quiet back street in the love hotel quarter

The Hanazono Shrine, where everybody in the neighborhood makes offerings to ensure good business

If you’d like to see Kabuki-chō yourself the next time you’re in Tokyo, directions and more pictures are on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had.

You Always See Weirdos On The Train

Required apparel for all oddjobs.