live tokyo

Speaking of weddings - last month was also longtime friend and fellow Tokyolab-er Shane and Maki’s wedding party. At the Hara Museum.

Yesterday was a little grey and windy, but unusually warm for mid-November and with unexpectedly beautiful sunset. Good friend and colleague Yuko married her fiance Ghen yesterday. She looked happy and gorgeous!

Eric has been telling me about his friends Yuri and Mike’s stationary store for the longest time. Whenever we’d see their Postalco products around, which is quite often, he would mention their store on the 4th floor of a Ginza building. So last weekend we finally made it there. It was actually in Kyobashi area just north of Ginza.

Even if they were not friends, we would have been a fan of their classic/modern stationary sets and colorful leather trimmed pouches. They make me want to write letters, the real kinds with pen on paper.

After a long line and a rush to ATM for the entrance fee, I made it into the super-crowded Design Tide exhibit.

Interesting cloud formation inside…

Of the many clever gadgets and smart design products, something not quite useful and very hand-made stood out the most. A silk-screened roll of fabric titled “Still Life” by Yuji Mizuta. Absolutely gorgeous and the details were unbelievable. The silk screen pigments were actually quite textured and some felt like very fine lines of velvet. I would totally hang it as art.

Exit

The first week of November was the Design Week in Tokyo. Wieden held an offsite at a Harajuku cafe Sunshine.

Kuki the organizer.

The programming whiz.

Mai the nail.

Sunshine cafe turned WK

Genki’s midnight animation workshop with Jema DJing. Live design + live music = good times for the design nerds.

Eric’s cousin Ochie was also here last week for a week-long stay.

We shopped at Prada (or not ;-),

had Takoyaki on Cat Street,

admired the window displays on Omotesando,

had Donkatsu at Maisen,

took photos with cosplay girls at Harajuku,

went to the Asakusa temple,

had Okonomiyaki at Bochibochi,

and a nice meal at Gonpachi, the Kill Bill place.

And now she’s off to NYC for even more fun.

last Wednesday for a whirlwind visit. He had a job at Tsukuba but came to see us just for a few hours before he had to fly back to Seoul.

New receptionist at Wieden…

not.

Last weekend we went to Odaiba to check on the PlayStation event. Players’ “playfaces” are recorded in those boxes and later the public vote for the best playface. The winner wins lifetime supply of PlayStation games! Here is the website.

Tokyo’s very own lady liberty at Odaiba.

Real-size gundam was in Tokyo for the past few months. Eric caught him on his last day along with a few thousand other fans.

Dad and I went out for lunch and did an impromptu tour of the best eats in Myung Dong. This one alley way near the cathedral has many good eateries that’s been around forever (forever meaning since the war).

The beef soup place we were going to go to was closed for renovation - it had been in business at the same spot for 40 years and looks it. Hopefully they won’t renovate too much. Interesting contrast with the fake LV bags next door…

A couple of doors down, also with a long history, is Myung Dong Gyoza, famous not for the gyoza but the incredible Kalguksoo noodle. This is where we had lunch. I like how they have only 4 things on the menu.

Chung Moo Kimbab, where my parents took me to when I was 9 or 10 on one of my rare outings to the city. Just simple rice roll with kimchi but really really good kimchi.

Famous grilling place and nengmyun place behind the alley. Haven’t been but apparently well known to the Japanese tourists.

Diagonally across from Lotte Department store is an historic food alley way. Nam Po Myun Ok is one of dad’s favourite. Famous nengmyun place he used to come for lunch when he was working in the city. It’s often featured on TV - perhaps that’s why it looks so proper now.

The one with white sign is another one of his haunts - serves a peculiar old-fashioned soup dish of fish and tofu.

2009 August 23rd.

While in Seoul the last time, my parents and I went to a small fishing village we last visited perhaps 20 years ago. It was hard to know what to expect - things have certainly been developed, but at the same time a lot were still quite raw. Just an hour away from Seoul, but quite a different world.

A small fishing-net-making industry was thriving there.

Enter the fish market.

The system was, you pick the fish and they slice them for you on the spot.

Voila, the dining hall… mats on the floor!

Me and mum.

Lunch part 1: Sashimi, Korean style.

For sure one of the most interesting dining experiences we’ve had.

Lunch part 2: Our main goal was actually the local “flower crabs” which were in season. We picked up 4 crabs from the market,

took them to the restaurant nearby

and they steamed them for us for 8$. (Crabs were 25$ or so?)

Super fresh - perhaps not the best looking, but certainly the best tasting.

More scenes from the fish market.

Being in Korea is being inundated with color, noise, taste, and a little bit of craziness.

My cousin Hwa Jung is getting married in a couple of weeks. The Song cousins got together yesterday to welcome the new family member Mr Park.

The soon-to-be married couple.

Soon Yi the teacher jumps in.

Moon Gu the doctor-in-training is stymied by the digital camera.

Baby Ji Min.

Ki Hoon and family.

The baby makes the rounds.

All of us and the aftermath.