New home

Quick blog to say that I'm going to Sydney tomorrow for a spot of house hunting. Will be back in a week, hopefully with somewhere new to live. Have a good week!

My lovely blue car was such a large part of my life for so long and I found it one of the hardest things to say goodbye to when I left. I generally quite green and I'd love to pretend I'm not a car person, but when its raining or stinking hot, I'd far rather be listening to the radio. I'm not remotely interested in expensive cars or gizmos. I find automatic dull and I believe that 4WDs should be kept for fields. Cars like clothing, say so much about you so there have been some very interesting discussions about what car we will be purchasing on arrival in Australia (M having just given up an 5 series BMW and cannot believe I kept a car for 13 years).

Like pretty much everything else, cars here are different. Toyota and Honda, lead by a long shot but aside from the badge, very little is recognisable. There are a zillion variations and a lot resemble other cars - theres a Toyota mini lookalike and one that could be mistaken for a corsa. On the whole they are box like and absolutely nothing grabs me in the same way it did when I fell in love with my previous vehicle.

Recently we've been using M's white Honda concept bike, which looks like it should be in Starwars. I love shifting through Tokyo without getting caught in traffic and there's a whole biker behavioural thing that happens at traffic lights about which I'm learning fast. There are secret parking spaces and checking out of other bikes and a whole hip thing that goes on. Bikers are cool - even the delivery guys with their noodle carriers on the back. There are one group though that stand out for me and that is the drivers of the Honda Fusion bikes. Big wide bikes with wide seats like sofas, slung low. Usually ridden by guys with girlfriends on the back. I want one!

We're shipping M's Honda and I now am the proud owner of a helmet to go with my Belstaff which is for once being used properly. I'm going to start small with a 50 cc and get my license. Then I'm going to come back and get one to take back. A blue one. Just don't tell my grandma!

Opening Ceremony

I think we all know that I'm quite keen on shopping. I love it... everything from the smell, the displays and the whole wrapping/purchase experience. I loved it in London and I have grown to love it in Tokyo, and have even now got used to the slow speed and precision at which the goods are packaged, and then the ceremonious way in which they are handed to the purchaser at the door of the store.

I could blog for ever about the shops I have found here. There are so many curious places to part with your cash. Whatever you seek, you will no doubt find it here. Stores such as the 8- storey manga art shop in Akihabara, where the cute manga dolls on the lower floors morph into pornographic versions the higher you go. There are specialist areas, Akihabara for things with plugs, Nippori for fabric, and bizarrely Fukusawa in Shibuya ku, where I live, for dog fashion. There is a wide range of shopping areas like Ometesando (Knightsbridge), Ginza (Bond Street), Shibuya (Oxford Street slash Soho). Daikenyama (NHG) and Shimokitazawa (Portobello Road slash Camden). There are a couple of other little areas where I am fond of releasing a few moths, such as Naka Meguro, where in Spring you can walk along the blossom covered canal, wandering in and out of galleries, little boutiques and cafes. Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi is pretty good too, particularly if you're into designer bean curd cakes or high fashion bespoke kimonos. There is an amazing bookshop in Roppongi, if you are like me and word-starved. Although I think its just plain wrong to be browsing books with a heavy base pop beat banging in your ear, so I wouldn't recommend it.

All in all, I think its fair to say that I have done my homework in Tokyo, as far as shopping is concerned. Bearing this in mind, it would be very easy for me to endlessly blog about this and that great shop but there are guide books and sometimes its just stumble across stuff on your own. If you're coming and you want something, just email me.

What I love most of all about shopping is the whole experience. I love the way the shops are laid out, I love the thinking behind the layout, the lighting, the smells. I am fascinated about why music is programmed to encourage spending at different times of the day and how supermarkets only bake bread in store, so you can smell it. I think Mary Portas is a genius and I am gutted I can't get her shows on iPlayer here. Before I came, I had heard about Japanese window design being outstanding which to be honest, isn't entirely the truth. I am also amazed at how a shop will put its new stock outside, so you can check it and then pass by but not be tempted by anything else.

The shopping experience is at its best in the new Shibuya branch of the American fashion store, 'Opening Ceremony' which opened at the end of August. I have long ago learnt to bypass clothing, which is always XS or S only. Frankly it looked perfect for glamorous Tokyo fashionistas who spend a fortune and are the only nation I have known to actually wear catwalk fashion in the street. We did try and buy a cool compass but discovered it was for display only. I was far more interested in the shop styling than anything else. Each floor is different, with a running theme of animals shlepping glass cases on their backs. There are automated running men wearing horses heads, brick walls with elephant shapes cut out, and school rooms with a shifted perspective. It felt like an art project and I loved it. I wonder though how well it will do as a shop.

Sneaker Freaker promotion

Autumn is here.

I say that, not because there is a decided nip in the air, but rather that because its past 1 September, the official start date and the Tokyo-ites have moved from their summer to their winter wardrobes. So, despite the fact that its gorgeously sunny, with perfect blue skies, and I saw a few red (Western) faces today, the Japanese were clad in warm bobble hats, leggings, corduroy and jumpers. It was the same when Spring moved into Summer. I was feeling uncomfortable showing my arms in May in a vest, but arrived back from my trip to be the only one not showing the tops of my thighs. Today, I was pretty much the only one still in shorts.

Autumn equinox is on Wednesday this week, and with 'respect for the aged' day tomorrow, this period is known as 'Silver Week' and offices are closed until Thursday. We expected Tokyo to empty in the same way London does at Easter. We couldn't have been more wrong - its packed! Traffic is unusually terrible and most areas are busy with a shopping frenzy. M's team have a promotion in Harajuku, one of the main shopping areas aimed at the younger crowd and we went in to check it out.

The campaign is for 'Sneaker Freaker', the definitive guide to trainers. There were a number of dummies positioned hanging off walkways, peering over the edge to see the passers by's shoes. They had also taken an escalator, and placed faces on the up risers, thereby appearing to look at the shoes being worn. It was a great idea and worked well, however at times, the area was so busy, it was impossible to see. I think it would work much better on a longer escalator ride - like Selfridges.

It seemed to be the day for promotions to encourage more spending - if that were possible. There were many, along with a lot of shop openings, causing great bottlenecks along the roads. A man in an orange mask hung from the signage of a spectacle shop, apparently by one hand. I felt sorry for him as it was boiling hot and he must have been melting. I'm not sure if it actually brought much additional custom because the crowd below meant it would have been hard to gain access. Design T'shirts next door were certainly benefitting. Maybe it was their promotion! Would be very shrewd move it it were.

More jingle jangle

I'm not sure why I've developed my recent fascination for jewellery. I have loads of course, a lot with sentimental value, some with financial value and also a lot of cheap tat that has allowed me the shopping experience, to be closely followed by the 'what was I thinking' experience when I got home. But I am not known for my jewellery. For my birthday a year or so back, my dear friend Billie took me to have my ears pierced. Rather surprising to discover that they had already been done some years ago and forgotten about.

After 8 months of knowing that the clothes and shoes won't fit, I think my lustful shopping eye has moved elsewhere. And here it landed, at the rather un-Japanese but still beautiful Tribu, who have a store in Tokyo, but also sell online in London. Tribu's stock is described as 'tribal body adornment' which isn't something I normally go for, and many of the pieces I have no idea of their purpose. But the fat black, green and cream designs, fixed with rope and silver or copper are gorgeous and really unusual. They have a hint of modern Maori about them and I loved the slithery snake that, in black, looked it might move.

More Shimokitazawa shopping

I'm still talking about it, I know, but there were 2 shops I particularly wanted to mention for their gorgeousness. The first was 'Dorobou-Nikki' whose designs were eversoslightly American Indian stylee but with a utility twist. It is predominantly a man's shop but frankly, I'd have walked out with half of the stock, including furry desert boots, utility bags and sweatshirt-style cardigans with big fat butterflies all over them.

The second shop was Shuhari, a tiny handmade jewellery shop, down by the railway line. A simple washing line hung outside with a handful of landscape pictures of blue skies. On the side walls were box frames containing the jewellery. Inside the simple white and wooden interior, the stock was shown on old wooden ironing boards, mangles and old knitting bobins.

Finger on the pulse

Beautiful Sunday morning so we went over to an area called Shimokitazawa, recommended by one of M's creative department. Turns out this is THE new area in Tokyo and I loved it. Not a whiff of English anywhere and we were the only gyges to be seen. The town is about 2km square, not far from Shinjuku. There were few chains, and mostly great clothing and design shops as well as cafes and galleries. There was also a market which reminded me of Camden. There were also an extraordinary number of opticians, I have no idea why! Many of the shops had an American Indian vibe which I couldn't work out was just because its cool here or something to do with the area.

Second House, a cafe (pictured) sold big fat slabs of proper cake, including Victoria sandwich, avoiding the normal use of beancurd with everything. We'll be coming back to eat at 'Sunday Brunch' with bacon and eggs on the menu. There were also hundreds of isakayas (bars with food) and I washed down fried fish and Camembert and beans wrapped in filo with a welcome beer in one on the main street with a open area at the front. We loved 'Flower Bar' which, rather obviously, sold flowers too. M bought t'shirts at Cune with the funny bunny logo in another shop come bar and added to his collection of ugly Sonny Angel baby dolls. We found a galleries showing student work and a great bead shop called 'Toodleoo Kangaroo'. Best of all I found 'Andes', a food shop, which, having spent time in South America this year, allowed me to lust over dolce de leche and buy a pile of freshly ground coffee that tastes like the real thing. I loved their huge display of Spam but couldn't help think it was slightly out of place!

Lost

Like most major cities, Tokyo, or Edo as it was first known, was originally a series of villages linked by roads. Despite major disasters such as an earth quake in 1923 when the city was pretty much flattened, and despite the fact that the city is constantly being built and rebuilt, the planning department have not bothered to do much about the road layout. With the exception of a few roads widened in places, it remains as spidery as it was, centuries ago. It is often possible, particularly on some of the side roads, to imagine life way back then, as very little has changed.

The address system is also confusing. Only the largest streets have names and they aren't even used in addresses. Instead, Tokyo is divided into numbered wards (or ku). These ku are then again named and sub divided into numbered cho, which also have names. An address such as ours which is 7-11-2 means that we are in the 7th area (or chrome) then the 11th block in that area, and then we are the 2nd house in on the block. Got it? Good, but you would still never find it without a map. This is why most Tokyo-ites walk around, looking down at their mobile, reading a map (or maybe watching TV but thats another story). Very few people know their way around and we have learnt not to ask, as cultural politeness often encourages a response that is nowhere near correct.

Once I thought I might become a London cabbie. I love driving and I always find it relatively easy to get my bearings. A couple of years ago, I invested in a Tom Tom and had come to think of it as a second brain. Admittedly I was becoming increasingly reliant on it, mainly for arrival times, but it was far from essential. This is certainly not the case here and I have no idea how drivers even considered doing so in the days before satnav. It was done by the stars apparently, which must have been interesting on a cloudy day in a built up area like Ginza!

The satnav system uses the numbered address or the telephone number of the destination, which is often more successful. As you can see from the pictures, the maps are in Japanese and its lucky we have an English language function. Our lady is from southeast London to be precise and I have come to love her. She does get a bit stuck on place names so she hands over to her Japanese mate who pronounces the name in a shrill baby voice that Japanese ladies here often use (and I can't believe actually talk like that but they do!) The system is complex and gives precise instructions. The bar on the left shows the actual junction, often with a graphic image of what the junction will look like when you get there - brilliant when you have the choice of 4 exits, often in places you would not expect.

What Lizzie wore

For an avid mag-hag and newspaper devourer like me, its hard to walk past the many book stores, knowing that nothing within is printed using my alphabet and even a flick through needs to be done the other way round. I've found 2 great book stores in Tokyo. Hacknet in Daikenyama is filled with books on architecture, fashion and art and I now know that plastic film on books is to protect them from drooling. The other, Shimada Yosho in Ometesando is stacked high, overflowing even, with a plethora of international books and I would be happy to move in if only there were room. Unfortunately, the availability of books in English makes them expensive, so dribbling on them is about all I do.

Instead, when the rest of you are sitting with your sunday morning papers, I'm loving t'internet! Daily in fact, I sit with a big cup of coffee and read through the blogosphere of material posted overnight. Anything and everything... I now know all about crafting, including that I will never do it. I can tell you the Saturday menus of the London underground restaurants. I lust after interiors mood boards knowing that my next house wont be in taupe with cushions and drapes (who can live like that?!) I am grateful to a number of Tokyo bloggers, including Tokyo Story, for getting me out there. But the blogs I'm truly fascinated by are those about fashion. Now its September and the new season energy for all things creative can be felt even here. With the global fashion weeks about to start, the industry is buzzing and I'm starting to feel jealous that I can't join in. I'm planning my new season 'must-haves' (dinner jacket and leggings) and Top Shop have twittered about some luella boots for which I would kill. I could order them online of course and sit them in my humidifier storage cupboard next to the other boots that I didn't wear last year. These blogs however have made me realise how different my life has become (and will be more so when I get to Sidoney). How I wish I could join What Katie Wore, and post daily the outfit I had put together, (grey wife-beater from American Apparel, sarong from floor, flops from the bottom of the cupboard...).

In her article in the Sunday Times last weekend, India Knight talked about why she believes muffin top models will never make Moss status. In it, she states that fashion is a thing of fantasy that we don't actually want 'ruined' by reality. I'm with her on this. My wardrobe is testament to my fantasies and contains very little now that I actually wear. Have no fear however, I will keep adding to it!

Tokyo Brick Square

The weather is now perfect and we are getting out and about on the bike at every opportunity. Yesterday we were out in Tokyo central, visiting the Imperial Palace grounds and came across this lovely new little area which had opened on Thursday. Brick Square which is squeezed in behind new buildings and unusually, some old and features a museum of architecture, a gorgeous florist, a couple of restaurants, mostly Italian, with open ovens and delicious looking pizzas for which I was drooling. The area is also incredibly green, with plantage and art installations everywhere - up walls, on balconies and a Henry Moore sculpture is sitting in a rose garden. There are also some great looking shops, all with queues to enter, probably because it was the first weekend, but I'm definitely going back to check out the recycled shop, 'Pass the Batton' which featured a range of french horses and china. Next door, with a much bigger queue, was a cheese and butter shop. There were some really interesting clothing shops closeby too. Look at the amazing staircase in the 'Land of Tomorrow' store.

Flash king

A quick bout of research for good interactivity and the name Yugo Nakamura comes up repeatedly. He is the man responsible for the Flash work on award winning stuff for people such as Uniqlo, including Uniqlock, and Uniqlo Grid. He also created the amazing ECOTONOHA which makes me want to go back every day and place a new leaf. His site, linked from his name, gives lots of chance to play too.

Community Bookcase

I picked up this idea from the lovely blog, decor8. I think its such a great idea and I wanted to share it. I love books and I believe that if you have enjoyed reading something, you shouldn't hoard it but pass it on - if you are meant to read something again you will get it back. When I left London, I turned up at my local library with a big box of brilliant, but well loved books. The library was only interested if they were in perfect condition so I ended up giving them away elsewhere.

I wish I had been able to put them to better use in something like this in Hannover - a community bookcase, where people can freely borrow the books, on the understanding that they return them, or supplement with books of their own.

I'm going to try to do something like this next time I find a home

image borrowed from: thorsten becker for decor8