Having fun in Tokyo

[Flying_Monkey]

Some people may be wondering where I am. Some people may not care. I'm going to tell you about it anyway...

I'm in Tokyo again at the moment to do some work and attend a conference on uquitous media - which has been okay. However I've been taking time to enjoy myself too - the food here is so much better (and better value) than in Britain (including London, sorry guys!). Real sushi for a start...

I've also been to a couple of gigs - particularly brilliant were Shonen Knife play live in at Club Quattro in Shibuya on Saturday. Probably the most fun I have ever had with my clothes on... They are basically the Ramones channelled through the day-glo minds of 3 bored female Japanese office workers. They've been around for 25 years now, but still going strong, although the only orginal member is Naoko, the guitarist and singer. The new drummer E-chan, is unfeasibly cute for someone who drums liks an absolute bastard. They had a temporary bassist, Tomo-chan, who was lovely and just grinned the whole gig like she couldn't believe how much fun she was having. They wore matching pastel tracksuit / dress combos in orange and pink and blue, threw rockstar shapes, played terrible guitar solos and sang songs abous crabs and jelly beans and rubber bands. The whole place was a massive poggoing, singalong, frenzy. The best band in Japan? No way... the best band in the world? Quite possibly, but certainly the most enjoyable.

 

[Andy in Sig]

So you're not going to be too thrilled to be coming back to UK food then?

Bonj's found the forum too.

I bet a life of permanent exile is starting to look appealing.

 

[Kirstie]

Hello FM. Well I'm missing you even if nobody else is. I saw Shonen Knife supporting Nirvana in 1992 at the Hummingbird in Birmingham and although they were mostly lost on me I did appreciate their sense of irony and kitsch...





PS Could you take a look at the mail I sent you re Scotland on Sunday? Ta.

 

[Keith Oates]

Good to hear that you're enjoying Japan again FM, and I agree the food there is very good (most of the time). Hope the quake didn't affect you or yours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fnaar]

Flying Monkey... how long does sake last in a bottle? I've had half a bottle left since I was given it (and drank half) in 1992... still drinkable? Not that I'm desperate, you understand, but....

 

[GaryA]

SimonCC has a few questions about flights to Japan, global leftie hypricrisy and carbon offsetting for you to address whan you get back

Tyneside weather has not improved

 

[Flying_Monkey]

SimonCC has a few questions about flights to Japan, global leftie hypricrisy and carbon offsetting for you to address whan you get back

Tyneside weather has not improved

Well, we've had a typhoon and two earthquakes since I've been here!

And I had hoped we'd left the wellspring of all tedium and misery behind at shiteradar... oh well.

 

[dan_bo]

Bugger I haven't been to japan for donkeys..... Miss them little bars with the half curtains over the doors and of course the sushi.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Flying Monkey... how long does sake last in a bottle? I've had half a bottle left since I was given it (and drank half) in 1992... still drinkable? Not that I'm desperate, you understand, but....

Not really, well at least sake tends to be drunk in the year it is produced or within a couple of years after. There are some matured kinds, but I don't think people in Japan generally let it sit around that long... however, I don't think it will be poisonous - have a try and let us know how it is!

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

What does whale meat taste like then?

 

[Flying_Monkey]

What does whale meat taste like then?

I have no idea, but they did have it on the menu at a sushi bar I went to the other day. It's pretty unusual these days and hardly any Japanese people eat the stuff. The government's 'cetacean research institute' (sic) has to get rid of it all by forcing schools to dish it up for lunch...

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

What does whale meat taste like then?

I have no idea, but they did have it on the menu at a sushi bar I went to the other day. It's pretty unusual these days and hardly any Japanese people eat the stuff. The government's 'cetacean research institute' (sic) has to get rid of it all by forcing schools to dish it up for lunch...[/quote]

That's good news. At least whale stocks don't have to contend with a huge Japanese demand.

 

[GaryA]

Was that big shiny sushi bar in Fenwicks, Newcastle, Up and running before you set off FM?
It is now...sparrows on the washing line

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Was that big shiny sushi bar in Fenwicks, Newcastle, Up and running before you set off FM?
It is now...sparrows on the washing line

Yo Sushi? Yeah, it's awful. And 3 times as expensive as Tokyo! Most of what they do isn't even sushi. It's just for fashion victims...