The Importance of Being Convenient

I was reading the Weekender (an English language magazine in Tokyo) and came accross an interesting articles about convenience stores in Japan. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

A joint venture between the large securities firm Nikko Cordial Securities and Lawson in July 2004 saw the convenience store operator open a branch inside
Nikko’s brokerage office. The branch distinguishes itself by featuring an impressive 13m2 screen shared by both businesses. The giant screen tracks investment programs and lists various stock and financial information, thus encouraging possibly risk-shy middle-aged and mature investors to seek financial advice in the non-threatening sales environment of the friendly combini.

...This also reflects a wider shift in Japan, with consumers reexamining
their personal definition of what’s valuable and worth their money. This new trend would find it logical to drive to a combini in a brand new European sports car to buy a 500yen ($5) bento lunch.

The peculiar mix of factors that is modern Japan may be the perfect environment for convenience stores to grow. The shortage of physical space, the lack of concern over customer satisfaction with government agencies such as the national post office (where you can’t even buy envelopes people, envelopes!), and the loneliness of a workaholic nation attracted to the warm, midnight glow of the combini make these stores the most highly tuned, rapidly evolving stores, possibly on the planet.

Kirsten

Ode to Chocokuro

You may be wondering what at "chocokuro" is. I will tell you. It is a chocolate filled croissant you can buy at St. Marc's Cafes in and around Tokyo. They keep them warm at the store so when you bite into them the chocolate is still soft and warm. It's like you've died and gone to heaven.

あなたたちはチョコクロは何だろうと思っているかもしれない。知らせてよ。チョコクロはチョコレートが入っているクロワッサンです。クロワッサンはフランスのペストリーです。サンマルクカフェで買えます。温かいままで売るので噛む時にチョコレートはやわらかくて、温かいですよ。天国にいるような感じですよ。

Kirsten

Sayonara ChitChat

I went to my favorite bar, ChitChat, for the last time last Thursday. I'll miss that place. It's a little far from my new place.

I love the music they play there. And I will never forget the bar tender Kentaro who is pure of heart. And the boss Rei-kun.

I'll miss you Chitchat...

この前最後に一番好きなバー行きました。そのバーに行けないことがさびしい。新しい家はちょっと遠いと思います。

聞いていた音楽はいつも楽しかったんです。けんたろうという店員とレイ君というボスも忘れない。

さびしいいなー。

Kirsten

Is it a warehouse or a house?

So anway...is this a house or a warehouse?

I just can't decide. Metal siding is typical for a warehouse but the wood finish near the door is really nice. Infact it may be the nicest door that I've seen in a long time. They just finished building it down the street from me. It doesn't fit into the neighborhood at all. Oh well, I hope the owners are satisfied. This shows my conservative side.

この建物は家か倉庫かどしらでしょうか？

私は分かりません。金属の壁は倉庫な感じだけど木の戸口はとてもきれいです。最近の見た戸口の中で一番素敵です。この建物は私のアパートの近くです。他の建物は全然違うので合わないです。

Kirsten

Masa's first trip to Costco

Masa's uncle took us to Costco yesterday and Masa was completely overwhelmed. He wanted to buy everything in sight. We ended up buying a spice rack for the new house. It's amazing how fast you can spend 10,000yen. Did you know you can buy a package of 96 granola bars? I wonder how long it'll take us to eat them...
私たちはマサの叔父さんとコストコに行きました。コストコとは卸で商品を売る店です。マサは商品がいっぱいあるでとても圧倒した！何でも何か買いたかったんだー！短い時間で１万円をつかったんですよ。グラノーラクッキーの９６個が入っている箱が買えるのが知っていますか。全部を食べるのはどれぐらいかかるんだろう。。。


We also went to an asainy store and picked up something for our new bathroom. We've decided to go with an asiany type style. Very cool. We bought dark wood furniture from friends who are leaving Japan. I wonder what we're going to put in this thing...
昨日アジア風の店に行って、新しいトイレの部屋におく商品を買いました。すべての部屋はアジア風を決まりました。カナダに買える友達から濃い色がある家具を買いました。左の方の商品は何を入った方がいいんだろう。。。

Kirsten

belly dancing

I've decided to take up belly dancing. I've just ordered a dvd from the Amazon Japan website. I think it's kind of sexy and it's supposed to be great for your abs. I like belly dancing music too. I think a varied workout is the best way to go. It'll be hear sometime after next week and then I'll be able to start.

ベリーダンスをし始まるつもりです。今日アマゾン二本のウェブサイトで注文しました。ベリーダンスはセクシーだと思います。音楽が好きです。いろいろな運動した方がいいだと思います。早くて来週からベリーダンスのDVDが来て、始まります。

Kirsten

I am a cat

I picked up I am a Cat by Natsume Souseki last week. The entire thing is written from the perspective of a cat. The cat just sits and observes humans all day adding it's comments here and there. What a fabulous idea. How did he think of it. The book is really thick, 638 pages in English. I have no idea how long it is in Japanese. It may be shorter because Japanese cultural things don't have to be expanded upon. I've only read thirty-six pages but I'm hooked.

先週夏目漱石の我輩は猫であるを買ったんです。猫の見るところで書かさせました。一日中人間のことを見て、批評します。それはとてもすばらしいです。どのように彼は考えたでしょうか。英語で厚さは６３８ページがあるが、日本語でページはどれくらがあるか知らないんです。多分日本人は日本の文化が分かるので日本語でより英語で方が厚いだと思います。３６ページ間しか読んでいないが、興味があります。

Kirsten

Take me home!!!!!!!

A couple songs went through my head today. The first one is a song I heard Great Big Sea sing on one of their cds. The line that keeps running through my head is:
"We arrived in December and London was cold...TAKE ME HOME!!"
I have absolutely no idea why this song has been going through my head.
This pic is soooo Canadian


Masa and I went to an Irish pub last night with Etsuko and Mr. Topless and we had a riot. It's been a long time since I've had immature fun. You know like when you douse your salad in tabasco sauce and dare each other to eat it. Or when you tell your friend to jam the lemon wedge into his Corona really fast and the foam explodes everywhere. And I was the only one under thirty.

One kind of weird thing we saw at the bar was a Japanese man in his sixties and a Japanese woman in her late forties making out. Yes people that age don't usually make out in public. But in Japan no one makes out in public. I thought it was weird but my Japanese friends were appalled saying it was really disgusting.

Kirsten

The placebo effect

I have always been interested in research methodologies and while I was preparing to teach a lesson about health I came accross an interesting article on the Science Daily website. It is about the placebo effect. A group of researcheｒs did a clinical trial that studied the placebo effect of sham pills versus sham acupuncture. People reported they felt more of an effect from the fake acupuncture compared with the fake pills. There is something even more interesting. Each participant in the study had to sign a waiver form that listed possible side effects of the treatment. 25 percent of sham accupuncture and 31 percent of placebo pill patients reported experiencing the side effects listed on the waiver form. The power of the mind is very interesting.
Check out the article if you have the chance: All Placebos Not Created Alike: In A Trial Of Sham Acupuncture Vs. Oral Placebo Pill, Patients Experienced Greater Pain Reduction From Sham Device

The article came from Harvard Medical School.

Kirsten

昔から研究の方法に興味があるんですね。今日レッスンの準備をしながら、Science Dailyのウェブサイトに面白い論文を見つけました。テーマはプラシーボ効果なんです。プラシーボ効果の説明はこちら。偽の鍼の効果と偽の錠剤の効果の違いを研究しました。偽の錠剤より偽の鍼の方が結果がよかったんです。もっと面白いポイントがあるんですよ。研究の前に参与者は可能な副作用がかいてある承諾書を読んで、サインしました。偽の鍼を取った人の２５パーセントとピルを飲んだ人の３１パーセントは可能な副作用を発生しました。でも両方のトリートメントもプラシーボなんだー。
興味があれば、読んでください。All Placebos Not Created Alike: In A Trial Of Sham Acupuncture Vs. Oral Placebo Pill, Patients Experienced Greater Pain Reduction From Sham Device

カーステン

Happy Birthday to Masa!!!!!!

Today is Masa's birthday!
Yesterday we went out for a quick dinner and drink at Mother in Shimokitazawa. It has an interesting interior and an eclectic menu. I had German spiced wine while Masa drank Jamacian beer. We dined on Pakisani and Japanese food. A nice little bar.
今日はマサの誕生日です！　昨日下北沢にあるマザーというバーで飲みました。雰囲気はよかったし、メニューもとてもかわっていました。
ドイツのホットワインとジャマイカンビールをそれぞれ飲みました。
ナシゴレンとアボカドパスタも食べました。　とてもナイスなバーでした。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　カーステン








It snowed all day Yesterday. I was elated. I love the snow! I felt at home walking on the snow while others were slipping and sliding. Did I mention that I love snow?

昨日は一日中雪でした。私は雪が大好きです！沢山の人が転びそうになっていましたが、私はカナダにいたこと思い出していました。
私が雪が好きだってはなしましたっけ？

カーステン

Duke

下北にあるdukeというメキシカン料理 barにいってきました。
メキシカン料理好きの僕には最高でした。
グローリッシュというオランダのビールを飲みました。
ポップのきいた苦味がおいしかったですよ。 ＾＾


I went to a bar, that also serves mexican food, in Shimokitazawa called Duke. I love mexican food and it was really good. I drank Grolsch beer from the Netherlands. It had a bit of a bitterness to it that was really good.


でもいつも思うのですがなんで日本には　TACOBELLがないんでしょうね？？
I always wonder why there is no Taco Bell in Japan...

もしかしてありますか？？
Maybe there is...

Masa
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Good Surfing pics

I was looking at Keison's website and found a link to the guy who takes most of his photographs. Buntaro Kato is the photographer's name. He's really good. I miss surfing. I'm too much of a cold wimp to surf in the winter. I was looking at surf blogs this morning and now I miss surfing even more. When is it going to be April again... Keison will also be appearing in The Green Room Festival that I mentioned in an earlier post. I'm really excited. He has a great voice.

Kirsten

Batting Center

本当に久しぶりにバッティングセンターにいってきました。
ここは一回(２０球)３００円でしたが１０００円で４回の回数券がありました。
二人で４回ずつやりました。
始めはあまりあたりませんでしたが、後半の２回は結構いいあたりしてました。
次の日は案の定筋肉痛でした。。（笑）　年ですかね。。でもカーステンもでしたが。。ｗ
まさ

I went to a batting center for the first time in ages.
You can buy one round(20 pitches) for 300yen or a four round card for 1000yen.
We each did four rounds.
In the begining I could not hit well, but I did pretty good during last two rounds.
The next day I had sore muscles. Am I getting old? But Kirsten did too.... ;-)

Masa

The Green Room is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ayako and I have started talking about going to the The Green Room Festival this year. We went last year and it was great. It's a surfing culture festival. It has art, photography, a bit of fashion, video and of course music. It was sooooo good. We ran into the owner of our favorite bar. He's a music nut. It's the bar that I mentioned in my last post.
あやこちゃんとグリーンルームフェスタに行くつもりです。楽しくて、享年行きました。サーフィンカルチャーのフェスタです。アートとか、写真、映画、ファッション、と音楽があるフェスタです。とっても良かったですよ。

Onto Caravan. He plays the acoustic guitar and various other instruments. And he's pretty cute. Always an added bonus. I might be going to his show in February if there are any tickets left. I reccomend that you check him out. Masa and I listened to him on my ipod on our first date. It kind of reminds me of that date.


Kirsten

麺屋武蔵新宿店

いつも沢山のひとが並んでいるのでとおりすぎていました麺屋武蔵新宿店に先日行ってきました!! 　(念願の武蔵。^^)　死ぬまでに一度は行ってみたいとおもっていました。　ちょっと大げさですがＷ　　

予想していたより並んでいるひとは少なめでしたが、３０分並んでようやく写真のらーめんにたどりつけました。　はじめにまずスープからー、隠し味の柚がはいった魚系スープはなんともいえません。＾＾　　くずれそうにやわらかいチャーシュー、コシがありしっかりと固めの麺も最高でした。

またぜひいってみようとおもっていますー。　でも毎週とまでは。。月に一回ぐらいいけたらいいなーーー　

ではでは
まさ

Hot wine and my favorite bar

A friend and I went to our favorite bar Chit Chat in Shinyurigaoka. We ordered some hot wine and it was delicious. I experimented tonight and I think I figured it out.

2 parts wine
1 part orange juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 shot of brandy

I cooked it on low for about twenty minutes until the really strong wine taste went away. I used a 300yen bottle of wine so apparently the cost doesn't matter.

By the way, the bar I mentioned is great. The owner is a musician so there is always good music playing in the background and I've never been to a show there that I didn't enjoy. Check it out if you have the time.

Good Restaurant

I went to a good restaurant last week with a couple friends. The atmosphere was good and so was the food. One of my friends tried Cassis beer. It was suprisingly good considering I don't like beer. The pizza and pasta were also good. The only bad part is that they played the same Jack Johnson CD all evening. I love Jack Johnson but when you hear the same CD three times... Anyway, for those of you in Tokyo please check it out. It's near Yoyogi-Hachiman station on the Odakyu line.

http://www.s-life.jp

Kirsten



先週友達といいレストランに行きました。ムードは良かったし、食べ物はおいしかったですよ。友達はカシスビールを飲んでみました。私はビールがあまり好きじゃないけど、おいしかったでびっくりしました。ピザとパスタもおいしかったんです。良くなかったポイントは同じジャックジョンソンのCDをずっと聞いていました。ジャックジョンソンが大好きですが、３回くらい同じCDはちょっと。。。
東京の人時間があれば、是非行って下さい。小田急線の代々木八幡駅の近くです。

http://www.s-life.jp

カーステン

Clearance sale

Yesterday we went to the clearance sale at Marui (a big department store). We were planning to get up at seven and make it for opening time but we ended up getting there at noon due to a traffic jam. We aren't good at mornings...
There were a lot more people waiting in line than I had expected.
The people who bought "fukubukuro" had already left. "Fukubukuros" are grab bags. They aren't the two or three dollar ones with candy in them. Major labels like Nike have them and
they cost about one hundred dollars. Lucky people who arrive early can end up with a grab bag with a winter jacket, shirt and a pair of pants in it. All by a major label. It is comparable to Boxing Day sales in North America.

We ended up buying a pair of boots for Kirsten and a black jacket for Me. We really like them.

Masa


昨日はマルイのバーゲンにいってきました。
朝７時に起きていくつつもりでしたが、道も込んでいて結局ついたのは昼ごろになってしまいました。。
とにかく朝に弱いので。。。。。
沢山人がくるときいていましたが、行ってみてびっくり外にものすごい人の列、列、列　
福袋をもった人はすでにかってかえっていたようでほとんどいませんでした。
今年はよさげな福袋を買おうかなとおもっていたのですが。。。
結局Men's bigiの黒コートを買ってかえりました。　
でもこのコート結構気にいってます　もうかなりｗ

ではでは
まさ
　
http://www.0101.co.jp/index.html

Random thoughts

There is something wrong with my ipod. I think it's dieing. I can't live without music. I've had it for two years, so for two years I have had music at my disposal. I tired reinstalling the software, resetting the ipod. What is there left to do?

I haven't had much to say in the last little while so that is why I'm boring you with my ipod story.

I'm spending New Years Masa's parents' house. A family New Years celebration will be great. It was of great comfort to be around a family during Christmas. I think I would have had a really hard time without them. Some times you just need to be loved and be surrounded by loving people.

I'm watching "Sex and the City" at the moment. I'm in love with that show. I want to buy the entire series on DVD but that will take a while since it is so expensive. Maybe I'll buy one season per month. In six months I'll have the whole thing.

Kirsten

Christmas Pictures

Hello all,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I put some pics from Christmas Day in my online photo album.

If you have a chance, check them out.

http://takokun1981.shutterfly.com/action/

Kirsten


ハロー！

メリークリスマス　＆　ハッピー・ニュー・イヤー！

オンラインアルバムにクリスマスの写真を載せました。
機会があったら、是非見てください。

http://takokun1981.shutterfly.com/action/

カーステン