Coo and Riku!

Loitering around my neighbourhood (Nishi Funabashi ) one sunny afternoon I came across this store..
"Coo & Riku"..any guesses for what kinda store this was??!!!
Clue: I went "yippeeeee...thooooo cuuuuuteeeeeeee"
If you know me you must have guessed by now ...was a pet store :)
"Coo & Riku".

Coo = kitten, Riku = pup in jap..I guess..it could be vice versa but I go with this cos "Coooo" sounds cuter..(I am slightly biased towards kittens you see)

Was totally thrilled...cos when I went in ..I had to deal with cute overload :)

I was giddy..did'nt know where to look..ahh..the feeling of ecstasy....For people who are NOT animal freaks this may sound like a lot of nautanki(drama)..but trust me..to be able to feel that way when seeing kittens and pups..you need to have come to earth with a loot of "good karma"..yeah people keep praying..maybe next time..

Check these pics..

It was bad too see them caged..One would just want to free them all and take them home..but check out the cost of owning them!!

I guess I would have to sell my soul to the devil to have enough money to buy them all..

50,000Yen for this kitty..Yappaaaaaa!

I swear this one was telling me "take me take me"..che :(

The curious one..

Duh!!!

Awwwwwwwwww...

Dopey..eh?

This was my favorite one..cos it was the most retarded looking :)

My bonding with animals started decades ago..I believe as a toddler I never ever used to try to talk..no goo goo gaa gaaa...so my folks thought I had some serious speaking disabilities (now they wish that was the case!)..

One fine day when a kitty walked past my sight..that was it..finally broke my silence ...went on and on and on...blabbering uncontrollably with excitement ..to the delight of my parents.. :)

Will write about all my cats some other time...thats yet another long story.

So anyone interested in exporting pups (breed kantri) from India to japan?? Am sure it would get to be very veryyyy lucrative :)

Wishing all of you a wonderful 2007!

Wishing all of you a healthy and a prosperous New Year! I had saved these favorite pics for this post.

Enjoi maadi :)

Food! Glorious Food!

I always thought that Indian cuisine topped the charts when it came to variety. But looks like Japanese food rules. I still have not tasted it but I certainly have seen most of it :)

Most restaurants here display their entire menu in glass cases outside.
This is to attract customers and whet appetites.

Its a common sight to see scores of hungry people drooling over the displays.

The Japanese have an amazing aesthetic sense and this extends to their food as well. Their food platter is a visual delight!

The food is so beautifully presented that it makes even a hardcore eggetarian like me think twice about my food preferences.

I have somehow managed to resist the urge to grab stuff from the showcase and gulum (eat) it :) And boy am I glad!

Cos instead of going "Ummmmmmmmmmmm" I would go "Haaaak Thuuuuu"!!
Yeah.. because I would be chewing some non biodegradable @#$% (read high quality plastic!).

Surpsrised! So was I when I figured out that the visual delight was actually gastronomical deceit :)
Some program on discovery enlightened me. Looks like the Japanese have perfected the art of making food replicas.

A restaurant wishing to have a model of one of its dishes first prepares that dish for the replica food company, which takes photographs and makes sketches of each item's placement on the plate. The sketches are then whisked to the factory where the actual food is dipped in silicon. When the silicon dries, the food is popped free, leaving exact-size molds for hamburger patties, deep-fried prawns, spring rolls or whatever the dish requires. Replica artists then prepare sauces and garnishes flawlessly matched with the photographs.

Cool huh? All this does not come cheap. Each piece of the silicon food can cost upto 90$, and an entire menu display a couple thousand dollars. Each of these displays can actually be considered a work or art.

So Dessert anyone ;)

These are real..I guess :)

Blew money! Had Fun!

Had been to Akihabara over the weekend..kown as the electric town it has more than 500 electronics goods shops.
Jam packed with shoppers its a "must go" place for anyone visiting Japan, especially gadget freaks :)

Laox is a well known chain of duty free shops selling everything..cameras to souvenirs. Especially good for desi shoppers because they have sales guys who can manage to speak some english. Spent a lot of time and money at Laox..

Akihabara has this shopping festival going on in this festive month. Most shops hand out a "scratch card" ..if your luck is shining and you get to scratch the right card you get to shop for 100000Yen :) adu bittii (my favorite kannada word..means Freeeee)

We got some 3 cards at Laox..eagerly scratched away..and guess WHATT??
We won nothing :( I coudnt believe my eyes..NOTHING!!

I was positive that I would win a fundoo camera or something.. :( GRRRRRRR..NOTHING!

Ashith managed to console me..told me ivatthu raahu kethu position sarigilla..we will try again some other day antha.. :) Now I have it all figured out..Will be trying my luck next wednesday.

Ended up buying this awesome camera.. http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/a710.html

Adi thanx for this link..helped me a lot. You should also check this http://www.myproductadvisor.com/mpa/camera/inputSummary.do

So me very happy..Will be posting lotsa train pics (dunno why this obsession with jap trains)

Camera ....kaka ushhhhh :(

A friend who was checking out my train pics was asking if the japs do not have any problems with me taking their snaps..boots an all..
Well Of course They DO!!..Its not like I go to them an say..$%%$^& $#^&^*^&^ #@$#%^#% (thats japanese for .."Hey I think you boots are lovely..pose please!! )

You guys really must be thankful..all this photu taking is high risk activity..puhleeez DO NOT TRY IT AT HOME...It has to be done veryyy veryyyy discreetly..yeah thats right..else you run the risk of getting few pattaars..or getting a hole drilled in ur foot with one of their pin point heels..

Vee was actually wondering how I do it..he thought that I have this chocki (an apple in my case)..then I "accidentally" drop it down..then "ooppppsss"... go down on my knees to pick up the chocki (or half munched apple) ..then click click click click..all around..get like half a dozen snaps..HAH!! His imagination knows no bounds!!
Wish things were that simple..

Anyways coming down to the point..its not about me taking snaps..its about what happened next..(sigh*)

In the voodoo classes I had attended a loong time back they always warned me that Jap curses were reallyy strong..I guess one of the Jap hen makkalu (read "chicks") actually was smart enough to notice what I was up to..in the train of course..

She must have cursed me big time..cos I lost my camera :(..yeah..reallll baddd..

I was at the tokyo tower..awesome..its some 13 mts taller than the Eifel tower..and blah blah..u can check out the rest of the statistics on the net..
after which we came out..an saw this place selling some very yummy looking stuff..somethng called japanese crepes..

My hubby bought one..its more like our own dosa..with real wierd toppings..thay have this dosa..put some cream..some icecream..some syrup..some peaches and the works..tastes sad..(man my mouth is watering for masala dosa)..

So I wanted to take a snap of this..that was the last snap I took :(

We were on the bench..eating..some indians came along..adu nam kannada mathado jana..we were soo thrilled..started yack yack..

"bengaloorinda na..ohooo naavu aste.."
"illi idly vade sambhar elli sigatthe gottha??"
"illa...che che..en jana no uppu khaaraa enuu thinnalla..."
"alrii adu henge baduktharo.."

(English translation:You from blore? coool so are we (big smile)..
Do you know any place where we can get idly vade sambar..no...
damn..these guys eat no salt and spice..how do these guys survive ..i say..)

This went on for quite a while..we were so happy..said byee..exhanged cards..left my camera on the bench..and happily walked away.. :(

(Dee wipes a tear )..

But somethings deep inside tells me that I will surely find my camera..I know I can get a better one here..but im very sentimental about this one..probably the most expensive gift I have given myself..besides I had taken nearly 300 really nice snaps that day..mostly mine..

So all of you please pray..Madz and me are up to something on this..I am positive it will work.
more soon :)

In the Train

In the train

Train networks in Japan are soooperr cool..
Even a "Japanase gotthilla" case like me can manage to go to any damn place :)

My favorite pasttime while travelling- check out all the jap women..dnt get me wrong..im purrfffectly normal :)

Most women are extremely fashionable..I mean there is hardly anyone dressed casually in jeans-tshirt..

Forget about sneakers..these women are always in some sooper cool boots..with 3+ inch heels!! How do they manage it..i wonder..
They have the perfect hand bags..accesories..

You should also check out their hairstyle..its crazyyy :)

One more thing..all japanese women are totally into make up..especially eye makeup..i guess its cos their eyes are small or somethng..
some 50% of them loveeee false eyelashes..and they are loaded with mascara :)

I was recently asking for direction from a woman who sweeps the train stations..even she had some blue glitter on her eyes ..lol..

check out these pics..

Amazing Japan!

Hello everyone!

I have been wanting to create this blog since a loong loong time..finally today I have got down to actually do it..

Came to Japan a little more than 3 weeks back..and there is soo much to write about this place.
Watch this space for lotsaa pics..musings and more :)