Tokyo Tour Guide / 東京案内人

I usually like writing my pieces in chronological order and as I said on my previous post, I have a lot of things to write about but haven't gotten around to writing them yet. A friend of mine had given me a load of B-movie DVDs and I've been spending more time watching them then writing on my blog. Apparently my brother-in-law has been waiting to read my new posts as well and said I shouldn't be wasting my time writing about instant noodles. So, I'm going to skip into the future and write about being a guide for an American's first trip to Japan. I received mail from a childhood friend of mine asking me if I wouldn't being his guide if I have the time as it would be his first trip outside the U.S. And I couldn't refuse a request from my childhood friend.

普段は体験した事を順序良く書いているが、ネタも貯まっていますが、最近は家で自分勝手のB級映画祭に夢中になってます。友達から大量のB級映画のDVDを貰いまして、個人ブログより、映画鑑賞を優先してたところです。今回はちょっと時間を飛ばして、私が東京案内人になった話です。２、３週間前に久しぶりに幼馴染からメールが届いた。働いてる会社の部下が一人旅で日本に行く予定。それに、この旅行は彼の初海外旅行。時間があれば、案内してくれますかと聞かれて、幼馴染のリクエストは断れませんよ。

American Tourist, Bryan in Japan / アメリカ人観光客のブライアン

As most of the places we went, I have featured in previous posts so there may not be as many pictures as there would be in one of my "neighborhood walks".

案内した場所は以前のネタでいろいろ紹介したので、「近所散歩」のネタほど写真は撮ってません。

Bryan had sent me his proposed intinerary for his trip so I thought I would try to hit as many of the places that were on his list. Today I figured we would check out Takeshita Dori in Harajuku, Meiji Jingu, Shibuya, then to the Carrot Tower in Sangejaya where we will meet up with my wife. We were going to take to our favorite ramen shop, Miso Ichi and after lunch we would head to Asakusa to check out the Sensoji Temple, the Sky Tree and Kappa Bashi. I met up with in front of the Hachiko statue in Shibuya station. We first took the Yamanote Line to the next station over to check out Takeshita Dori in Harajuku. It was still fairly early in the morning so the area was not crowded and it being a weekday, there were no Goth Girls to look at.

ブライアンが自分の予定表を私に送ってくれた。それで、出来るだけ、そのリストに載ってる場所に連れてあげおうと思った。今日は原宿にある竹下通り、明治神宮、と代々木公園に行って、渋谷を通って三軒茶屋のキャロットタワー（嫁と合流して）、そのあと三人で昼食を食べて、浅草の浅草寺、スカイツリー、と河童橋に行く。渋谷駅のハチ公前で待ち合わせして、山手線に乗って原宿へ。最初は竹下通りを探索。まだ朝早いか、まで込んではなかった。表参道のほうに回って、明治神宮へ。

Wall of Sake on the Meiji Jingu Temple Grounds / 明治神宮の酒の壁

After checking out Meiji Jingu, we walked around Yoyogi Park - I told Bryan we would be here again tomorrow for the Laos Festival. We then walked to Shibuya and caught a bus to Sangejaya and headed up to the 26th floor of the Carrot Tower as we waited for my wife to get off work. We then headed to Miso Ichi Ramen for lunch. Afterwards, the three of us headed to Asakusa to check out Sensoji Temple, the Sky Tree, and Kappa Bashi.

明治神宮を見たあと、代々木公園もちょっと探索。上記の花たちと壁画の写真は代々木公園で撮ったもの。渋谷に戻って、バスを乗って三軒茶屋へ。キャロットタワーの最上階で町を眺め、僕の嫁が仕事を終るの待ってった。 合流したら昼食は味噌一のラーメン屋へ。食べ終わったら浅草へ。

Giant sandal at Sensoji Temple / 浅草寺にあるデッカイ草履


Tokyo Sky Tree / 東京スカイツリー

A Kappa at Kappa Bashi / 河童橋に居た河童

Also, as I mentioned before, Mikako and I love walking around Asakusa. We always seem to find something new. Our treat on this excursion was discovering the Higashi Honganji Temple.

僕と美香子は浅草を散歩するのが大好き。いつも新しいものを発見する。今回初めてみたのは東本願寺。

Higashi Honganji Temple (it's huge!) / 東本願寺 （結構デッカイ！）

Front Entrance of Higashi Honganji Temple / 東本願寺の正面口

It was too late to ride the Water Bus to the Hama Rikyu Gardens so we headed to Shinjuku for dinner. Excellent food at [Sekai no Yama-chan].

浜離宮恩賜庭園も行くつもりだったが、時間が時間で、新宿に戻って夕食を。行った店も僕と美香子が好きな「世界の山ちゃん」。

And so we called it a night. Tomorrow - Laos Festival at Yoyogi Park!

夕食後で解散。明日、代々木公園でラオスフェス！

Ippei-chan Omori Yomise Yakisoba / 一平ちゃん 大盛 夜店の焼そば

To be honest, I have a lot of things to write about but haven't made the time to sit down and write anything, so today's post is another instant noodle I recently tried.

正直と言えますと、書くネタが溜まってます、でも書く時間が作ってない為、なんにも書いてません。そうゆことで、今日はまた僕が大好きなインスタントの麺紹介します。

I was a little nervous about using the mayonaisse that came with this noodle but I figured if I didn't use it, I wouldn't be eating the actual Ippei-chan yakisoba. It's not bad but I think I like my yakisoba without the mayo.

からしマヨネーズ使うのはちょっとやだったが、付いてるから、使ったほうが本当の一平ちゃん夜店焼きそばになると思って、使用しました。個人的にはやっぱマヨなしの焼きそばが好き。青のりで十分。

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Ern's Monthly Visual Victuals (April 2010)

*映画に関するネタ日本語書き込みません


I suppose you've been wondering when I was going to write my film reviews as the book reviews have already been posted. Okay, so more than half of the month is over, but it still is May and here they are. The majority of films this time around are Japanese. One Hollywood film, one independent, one from Germany, another from China, and lastly a film from France with a Vietnamese director. In this month's choices, I've discovered a new favorite Japanese film which in my opinion should have been released internationally. Now go and make some popcorn and enjoy the reviews!


アマルフィ ～女神の報酬～ [Amalfi : Megami no Houshu] (2009) - The international English title is [Amalfi : Rewards of the Goddess]. Before this movie debuted at the theaters, it was heavily promoted with an emphasis on it being shot entirely on location in Italy. It stars Yuji Oda (of "Bayside Shakedown" fame) as a diplomat named Kosaku Kuroda, who is sent to Italy to ensure the security of the upcoming G8 summit. While in Rome, a young Japanese woman on vacation, played by Yuki Amami, reports that her child is missing. In fact, her child has been kidnapped. The kidnappers demand a ransom but no cops. However, by Italian law, Kuroda has to inform the local authorities who are not much help is resolving the crisis. But it isn't money that they're really after, it's something else. But you will have to see the movie to find out what happens. Great scenery and a fairly decent story. Although the Japanese media did go a bit overboard with all the special segments in their variety/news programs. The film also features one of Italy's top stars as well, but as I'm an American I couldn't tell you who that would be.


LOLA RENNT (1998) - This is an entertaining movie from Germany and release in the States with the International English title of "Run Lola Run". The movie starts with Lola's boyfriend Manni calling her at home in a panic and says she needs to bring him 100,000 Deutschmarks in twenty minutes or he will be killed. He says he wouldn't be in this predicament if Lola was supposed to be at the arranged place as planned. As a last resort, Manni says he's going to rob the supermarket that he's standing right outside of. Lola tells him to wait and not to do anything rash and she will bring him the equivalent amount of money. Then Lola is off and running. But what makes this film really interesting is that it tells the story in three different ways, all with a different outcome caused by some a minor change in action. Non-stop thrill and a great ending!


RED CLIFF PART 1 (2008) - Against my better judgment, I decided to watch the first part of John Woo's historical Chinese epic. Learning from my past mistake of trying to watch "The Warlords" in its original language, this time I had the DVD set-up to watch it dubbed in Japanese (English dubs and subtitles were unavailable). This features two big Asian stars I'm familiar with - Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro (yes, Kaneshiro also starred in "The Warlords" as well). But to be honest, the first part was long and boring. It was "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" without any action scenes, except for the very beginning. I thought it was the same story as "The Warlords" but found this to be dated even earlier than when "The Warlords" took place. Whereas "The Warlords" took place during the Qing Dynasty, "Red Cliff" takes place at the end of the Han Dynasty which is dated around 208A.D. I imagine all the action takes place in Part Two but it will be a while before I decide to watch it.


南極料理人 [Nankyoku Ryorinin] (2009) - Apparently there was no international release which is such a shame as this is one of the best Japanese movies I've seen to date. The easiest translation of the title would be "South Pole Chef" or "Chef of the South Pole". The story is based on the book written by Jun Nishimura who worked as a chef for the coast guard. He was transferred to Dome Fuji Station in Antarctica which is located on a mountain top at an elevation of 12,500ft and has an average temperature of 50 below. Along with seven other men, the movie depicts their life in one of the world's most extreme environments as the chef tries to make every meal as appetizing as can be using the limited resources available to him. This movie definitely should have played at some International Film Festivals. It's become one of my favorites.


ハイキックガール [High Kick Girl] (2009) - As you know, I like to claim to being an action-movie connoisseur. So when I saw the package and title of this film, it looked pretty promising. Young girl kicking butt - how can you not go wrong? Well, you shouldn't be taken in by the package alone. This was one of the worst, badly acted, poorly choreographed action-movie I've ever seen. It was a cheap version of "The Karate Kid". Wait, I take that back, this flick doesn't even fit in a league with "The Karate Kid". It's as if the director wanted to make a practical karate instructional film. The story is quite lame as well (or pretty standard depending on how you look at it). Brown belt high school girl thinks she deserves to be a black belt but her teacher does not think so. To prove her worth, she seeks out other black belts from different schools and beats them as well. Still her teacher will not make her a black belt (and as well he shouldn't as she hasn't seemed to learn the basic concept of karate, that being self defense and not who's the toughest). However, she is recruited by a gang who run a "kowashiya" - thugs for hire who intimidate and crush businesses for a living. It just so happens that the leader of the kowashiya has a long standing grudge against high kick girls teacher. Girl is used as bait to bring teacher out into the open and blah, blah, blah. In the words of a friend of mine who had this to say about "District 9" - Crap! Crap! Crap!


片腕マシンガール [Kataude Machine Girl] (2008) - If you're a follower of my blog and movie reviews, you know I have a taste for really bad B-movies. This one fits the bill to a tee. The international English title is "The One-Armed Machine Girl" and as you can see on the package, our heroine is a sailor-suited high school girl that has a Gatlin gun attached to her left arm (shades of Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror". Ami was a happy-go-lucky school girl who looks after her younger brother. Her parents were labeled as murderers causing them to commit suicide. So when Ami finds that her brother and his friend have been bullied then killed by the son of a Yakuza family she tries to get revenge. Unfortunately, she gets caught and has her arm hacked off in the process. The father of her brother's friend works at a machine shop and builds the gun for her arm. Then Ami goes on gut-spilling, head-lopping, rampage of revenge against all those people who had a hand in her brother's death. Lots of bloods and guts and gore and flying limbs and, and, and...


のだめカンタービレ 最終楽章 前編 [Nodame Cantabile : Saishu Gakusho : Zenpen] (2009) - With the success and popularity of the anime, television drama, and made-for-television movie, the silver-screen version was bound to come along. The title literally translates to "Nodame Cantabile : The Final Movement : Part 1". Thankfully, the movie's storyline picks up where the tv movie leaves off. Noda Megumi or Nodame as her friends call her and Chiaki are still in Europe. Nodame continues to dream of playing the piano while Chiaki conducts. This movie was broadcast on network television the same day Part 2 was released in the theaters. And as I have watched the drama from the very beginning, I had to watch the movie as well. This drama has sparked a renewed interest in classical music as well. But this being part 1, the ending leaves you wanting more. And as Part 2 is not yet available on DVD, I shall have to refrain from expressing my opinion about the film until I've seen the story in its entirety. But, I have been renting more flicks that stars Juri Ueno who plays Nodame - she's so cute. She also starred in the movie I reviewed last month "Killer Virgin Bride" or "The Killer Bride's Perfect Crime" as it was released internationally.


KNOWING (2009) - To reiterate my shortened review that I had written on Facebook - You're better off not "Knowing". Although, a friend did not share my opinion. Lately, there has been a rash of "end of the world" movies, perhaps because of the success of "Armageddon", who knows. There was "2012" and before that there was "The Day the Earth Stood Still", "Deep Impact"...need I go on? Then there are the disaster movies such as "The Day After Tomorrow". Okay, in this flick, which starts out some 50 years previous, a young girl at an elementary school writes a long list of numbers on a plain white sheet which gets buried with the other student's pictures of what they imagine the future would look like fifty years hence in a time-capsule. Shoot forward to the future, where the son of John Koestler (Nicholas Cage) attends the same school that is having a ceremony for the opening of the time capsule. Guess what? The son gets the sheet with all the numbers on it. John thinks it might be some kind of code. And what d'ya know, he breaks the code, it's a message that lists the number of victims of some major disasters along with the location. Uh-huh. The ending was just corny as all heck, but the movie does answer what of life's long-standing debates - that of creation vs. evolution. If you go by this flick, it really was aliens that brought us here!! No God! No Monkeys! Oh, but only the Chosen Ones get to go with the spacemen, which happens to be John's son and some girl. But wait, they're brought back to earth after the disaster (caused by some sun flare, whatever). Adam and Eve? How can they not be as they look upon a large tree that's sprouted in the middle of nowhere - "the Tree of Knowledge"? Of course. I'm sorry, but the build-up to the climax was great but the ending lacked a certain something. Overall, I would say pass on this one.


SWEET RAIN ～死神の制度～ [Sweet Rain : Shinigami no Seido] (2008) - I don't know, I guess I was just on a Takeshi Kaneshiro roll as this is the third film I've rented with him in it. Also released with the international English title of "Sweet Rain" and "The Accuracy of Death" in Canada for some reason but that's beside the point. Unlike the other flicks I rented, Kaneshiro is the star of this film - another "Heaven Can Wait" type of flick. You know the one. Kaneshiro is a shinigami, a God of Death - the Grim Reaper if you like, but doesn't carry a scythe and isn't dressed in a hood to hide his face. As a shinigami he is sent to earth to evaluate his target, is given a week to decide if that person should die or not. This movie was told in three segments with the first one co-starring Manami Konishi (another favorite of mine - she's so darn cute). Anyway, she is the first target but he lets her live. The second episode was just filler and really ruins the flow of the movie. The last episode, the shinigami's target is an old lady. However, we find that the old lady was the young girl (Konishi) that he let live years ago. It's not a bad movie but not something I would recommend.


感染列島 [Kansen Retto] (2009) - This was released internationally with the title "Pandemic". It's like "Outbreak" except instead of one town being affected, the entire country of Japan is infected!! As you can tell from the title, this is movie about virus that's been killing off a major portion of Japan's population. The only difference with other films is that the victims do not return as flesh-eating zombies! Thank heaven for little joys (not that I have anything against zombies mind you). And with the recent outbreaks of SARS or avian flu, it's very timely. Although the scientists and doctors fear that this is another mutation of the avian flu which was spread by some bad eggs from a chicken farm, it starts a panic among the citizens. First the chicken farmer and his family are threatened, then blamed for the pandemic which leads the farmer to suicide. But then it's discovered that this virus was not the avian flu or an offshoot thereof. It is an entirely new virus that nobody has seen to date and it's more damaging then the Ebola virus. In fact, it’s given the name of being the "Satan Virus" - don't you love that? As you watch the movie, you discover the story is set in the near future. More than a third of the population of Japan have died, the streets of Tokyo are barren, and yet the doctors refuse to give up on finding a cure. It's a decent panic movie that might be able to stand on its own against "Outbreak".


I COME WITH THE RAIN (2008) - In the words of my friend who had this to say about what she thought of "District 9" - "Crap! Crap! Crap!" This is so f*&%n' awful I can't believe I managed to watch it all the way through. It had such great promise as it features two of Asia's biggest stars - Byung-hun Lee from Korea and SMAP member (boy idol group) Takuya Kimura, along with Hollywood's Josh Hartnett. What a waste of their talents. My wife said it was crap to begin with if it features Takuya Kimura (which she cannot stand for some reason), even though she does like Byung-hun Lee. OMG, that awful BGM was grating on the nerves as well - it makes you want to rip the director to shreds (I apologize to those of you who are fans of Radiohead). And the story - it sucks as well, it's just crap! crap! crap! How can't believe how crappy this film is. Okay, ex-cop who's now a P.I. (Hartnett) is hired to find the son of some corporate magnate who never shows his face named Shitao (Kimura) who has special powers, (think of the Star Trek episode "The Empath"). Then there is Su Dongpo (Lee) who is a manic mafia boss who goes on a rampage when his girlfriend disappears. Okay and somewhere along the line all three of them are interconnected. Whatever. Had I been aware of the director's other movie, namely "The Scent of Green Papaya" which got rave reviews but I found boring as hell, I would have never rented this piece of dog turd. I nominate this film for a Razzie! Oh, just in case you were wondering, the director's name is Anh Hung Tran. And yes, this was a French movie, directed by a Vietnamese, and starring a Korean, Japanese, and an American. Too bad that international flavor was without taste.


SUNSHINE CLEANING (2008) - To get the bad taste of the previous movie out of my head, I rented this, from the makers of "Little Miss Sunshine". Now, this is how a movie should be made. It should be made to entertain you, not put you through untold agony. As I truly enjoyed "Little Miss Sunshine", I was not disappointed with this flick either. A single mom working for a maid service and having an affair with a police officer is struggling to just get by. Her policeman boyfriend suggests to her that instead of cleaning people's houses, she could make a lot more money cleaning after crime scenes. With absolutely no experience, she dives into the business along with her unreliable younger sister. This is by no means a thriller like "Cleaner" in which the main character also cleans up after crime scenes. This is quite heartwarming even if the subject matter is a bit heavy. Highly recommended.


ヤッタマン [Yattaman] (2009) - Released with the international English title of "Yatterman". This movie is based on the popular anime series of the same name. It also stars popular boy idol member of Arashi - Sho Sakurai with Saki Fukuda who's nemesis the Doronbo gang, with popular actress Kyoko Fukada playing Doronjo. As I'm not too familiar with the anime, I only watched this because it was aired on network television and because Kyoko Fukada looks so sexy in the costume she wears. In fact, the anime itself is pretty risqué with Doronjo and her gang failing in their exploits, only to try again the next episode. I suppose if I was a fan of the anime I may have enjoyed this even more. But hey, you can't go wrong with a film that also features Sadao Abe as well, but my American friends wouldn't know who the heck that is!


のんちゃんのり弁 [Nonchan Noriben] (2009) - There apparently was no international release for this title. I rented it because it stars Manami Konishi, who I mentioned in "Sweet Rain". She's just so darn cute. I must admit that I thought this film was going to be a lot funnier. This is based on a manga by Kiwa Irie which ran in "Morning" magazine from 1995 to 1998 but ended without a proper ending. Anyway, Non-chan has just left her no good husband and has taken their daughter to live with her mother. But now that Non-chan is out of work and raising a child, and not receiving any money from her husband, she must do something to make a living. Non-chan is great at one thing, making nori-ben for her daughter, but that doesn't bring in any income. Meeting up with one of her childhood friend's from the neighborhood who is now a photographer who invites her to come along on a job he has. To change the pictures of a neighborhood izakaya. When Non-chan eats the meal there, she has an epiphany - she wants to become the restaurant's apprentice so one day she can open her own bento shop.


剱岳 ～点の記～ [Tsurugidake : Ten no Ki] (2009) - Released with the international English title of "Mt. Tsurugidake". This is the story of a group of men who climbed Mt. Tsurugidake in 1907 in order to make an accurate map of Japan. What makes this movie is so great is how the director made the film using only equipment that would have been available at the time. However, before making the ascent of Mt. Tsurugidake, the group had to set 28 markers around the mountain to get as accurate a measurement. While the Japanese Imperial Army continue to nag them to be the first to climb the mountain. At the same time, there is a mountaineering expedition also set on being the first to climb Mt. Tsurugidake. Beautiful cinematography.

This month (meaning May), I have already watched quite a few films. A music DVD, animation, a couple of action flicks and some really awful B-movies. In fact this month is B-movie month at Chez Ernie's for the simple fact that a friend of mine had just given me about 20 DVDs of low-budget B-movies, and not all of them are from Hollywood (although there is a Troma title in the batch). But you will have to wait for those reviews next month or whenever I finish watching them. I also have a couple of major Hollywood blockbusters to check out to that are sitting around waiting to be watched - "Julie & Julia", "X-Men Origins : Wolverine" and "Year One". Well, I don't know if you would call "Year One" a blockbuster though. And the Japanese film industry made a remake of "Sideways" which I'm looking forward to watching. That's about it, until next time.

Happy Movie Watching!!

Ern's Monthly Page Turners (April 2010)

*本に関するネタ日本語は書き込みません

I've decided not be anal-retentive about posting my book reviews at the beginning of every month. I will post them when I finish writing them; however, it will still be within the month. I had to continue reading "The Borrowers" series and am still looking forward to seeing the new Miyazaki film, which is based on the first book, at the theater in a couple of months. This month is eclectic as always, it wouldn't be me if it wasn't. But you may be surprised to find a fiction title and a science-fiction title as well. I also like to reiterate that the number of books should not surprise you because I write about the visual and children's book I read as well. Some of those titles can be read in less than a half-hour. Now, to share with you my choices for the month:


THE GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS : THE GRUMPIEST MAN ON THE PLANET GOES IN SEARCH OF THE HAPPIEST PLACE IN THE WORLD by Eric Weiner - Eric Weiner has been a foreign correspondant for NPR for over ten years. He had been based in such far flung places as Jerusalem, New Delhi, and Tokyo. After years of reporting on disasters, mayhem and whatnot from some of the worl'd most depressing places, Weiner decides to take a break from it all and travels the globe looking for the happiest places in the world. It may seem ironic that with a name like Weiner (pronounced whiner) to be writing about happiness. However, Weiner is not writing about Who are the happiest people in the world, he is focusing on Where in the world are the happiest places. His friends and peers tell him he's crazy and ask him how is he going to measure happiness? But that doesn't stop him from hitting the road. His travels first take him to the Netherlands where a Dutch professor named Ruut Veenhoven has created the "World Database of Happiness" who is also known as the "Godfather of Happiness Research". With the "World Database of Happiness" as a guide, Weiner visits the happy people of Switzerland, Bhutan (who's King has created the GNH - Gross National Happiness, happiness as a policy). To Qatar which is a country with a lot of money but no culture to speak of, to Moldova (rated at the bottom end of the happiness scale in the database), to Thailand where he experiences something called mai pen lai which is similar to the French "c'est la vie" or the crude American phrase of "Shit happens!". He also visits Great Britain, India and travels back to the States. So, who are the happiest people in the world? Well, you will have to read this and decide for yourself.


THE BORROWERS ALOFT by Mary Norton - Continuing the story of the Clock family - Pod, Homily, and Arietti think they have finally found a permanent home. Spiller has led them to a hamlet called Little Fordham. It’s a model village built on the edge of garden created by one Mr. Potts. It is here where Arietti also makes a new friend - another "human bean" named Miss Menzies. However, Miss Menzies isn't the only who has seen the Borrowers. A couple named the Platters who live across town and have a rival miniature village feel they will lose more business unless they do something drastic. That something is to kidnap the Borrowers and showcase them in a miniature glass house like a zoo for the rest of their lives! They succeed in the their scheme and have trapped the Borrowers in an attic room for the time being as the miniature house hasn't been completed. But with Arietti's reading ability and Pod's ingenuity, the Borrowers set out on freeing themselves from their captives. This book also includes a short story called "Poor Stainless".


JAPANESE LIVING : MINI LIFESTYLE LIBRARY by Noboru Murata - To put it simply, I shall just quote what was written on the back of the book - [Illustrated with over 150 stunning colour photographs, "Japanese Living" is an inspirational celebration of the unique aesthetic charm of Japanese architecture and interior design.] In my own words, it's a small photography book filled with pictures of rustic and traditional Japanese houses. The book also explains the Japanese terms you would need to know to create your own Japanese style room or house - tatami, shoji, fusuma, engawa, genkan, and tokonoma among others.

THE BORROWERS AVENGED by Mary Norton - The final chapter in Mary Norton's "Borrowers" series. The Clock family - Pod, Homily, and Arietti have narrowly escaped the attic room of the Platters by building a hot air balloon. Although Homily longs to move back to Little Fordham, Pod puts his foot down and says it's too dangerous. He says they need to find a new home and also makes Arietti swear not to talk to any "human beans" under no circumstances. And that's only one of their problems - because the Platters have not given up on re-finding them and using them for their own purposes. Will the Borrowers ever find peace and a permanent home?

MILKWEED by Jerry Spinelli - The story opens with a young boy who steals food to survive in the streets of Warsaw, Poland at the beginning of World War II and doesn't even know his name other than "Stopthief". He doesn't know who his parents are, how old he is, if he has any brothers or sisters or even where he came from. He doesn't even know what he is - German? Jew? Gypsy? When he grows up, he wants to become a Nazi so he could have nice shiny boots to call his own. But when the Nazis start emptying out the Jews who live in the Warsaw Ghetto, the boy decides he no longer wants to become a Nazi. In fact, he feels it would be safer if he was just a nobody. Pretty intense for a young adult novel dealing with the serious subject of the Holocaust, yet the reader is left feeling hopeful with a beautiful ending. Perhaps you should have your kids read this if you have any.


EXTREME CUISINE : EXOTIC TASTES FROM AROUND THE WORLD by Eddie Lin - If you're a fan of Andrew Zimmern's program on the Food Network, "Bizarre Foods", you will be familiar with some of the dishes that are featured in this book that Zimmern himself has tried, such as the Nutria - a large rodent found in the swamps of Louisiana, balut from the Philippines which is a duck embryo, hakarl from Iceland which is rotten shark, haggis from Scotland which is a boiled sheep stomach encased in its own innards to name a few. Even Japan's natto (fermented soy beans) and shirako (fish sperm) gets a mention, as does the very American dish of Lime green Jell-O Salad. Some of my friends may call me a foodie, and even I claim that title myself at times, but some of the other foods featured in here, I'm not sure if I would have the courage to try. Balut is one. The giant grubs of Australia might be another as well as any food item that has six legs or more - (although I have tried inago (grasshopper) and didn't find it too bad. Other items featured are Casa marzu, the maggot cheese from Sardinia, lutefisk (a whitefish soaked in lye), durian - the King of Fruit, seahorse, sea worms, geoducks, etc. A total of 65 different delicacies are covered. I've had or at leat tried at sixteen of the 65 items listed. Can I really call myself a foodie if I've only tried less than half? And I can't believe they didn't include a dish from Laos called "Ant Egg Soup".


BOOKS DO FURNISH A ROOM by Leslie Geddes-Brown - Aside from having my own book published, I have one other dream. To have my own personal library. I've always wanted a house with lots of shelving so I could display an assortment of my first editions and autographed copies of the various books I own. This is a beautiful visual book which shows you how you can create your own library by showing examples of the personal libraries of various people from around the world. It gives you examples on lighting, shelf length and height. There is a chapter devoted to designer shelves, which the author isn't too particular about. There is also a chapter devoted to those people who lack the space to store their books and shows how they cope with the limited facilities they have by stacking books on the floor, in the corner, on top of table, etc. But to each his own. The formal and informal libraries of certain designers and architects will make you green with envy. I have to make do with my tiny apartment and can only display a small portion of my collection as my wife is more of a minimalist and wouldn't allow heaps of books on the floor or scattered every which way in our limited closet space. But I can dream!


STILL LOST IN TRANSLATION : MORE MISADVENTURES IN ENGLISH ABROAD - by Charlie Croker - Living in Tokyo as I do, I cannot help but find strange signs in English as well. One that caught my attention was a sign forbidding leaving certain items in a coin locker. No.9 on the list was "corpse". Of course this was before I even heard of a phenomenon called "coin locker babies" which is the term used for unwanted babies being left in a coin locker. Another one of my favorites was "No downstairs please". There are many similar books on how English gets mangled abroad as well web-sites devoted to showcasing these priceless gems. This book collects the mangled English from around the world - in newspapers adverts, menus, signs, and from the World Wide Web as well. I think I laughed most when I saw what was listed on some menus. Of course the Japanese language doesn't have the "r" or "l" sound so it’s not surprising to find "Fried Lice" on the menu but check out some of these others - "Fish poup" from a menu in Mallorca, "fresh stirred crap with black bean sauce" from Ealing, "green jewess with jam" (Spain), "crap meat omelet" (Thailand), "deep fried ghost" (China) and there are lots more. Quite entertaining and no long attention span required.


THE WALKING DEAD Volume 1 : DAYS GONE BY by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Tony Moore - This is a graphic novel with the currently popular theme of...zombies!! The story opens with a couple of cops chasing down a bad guy. Unfortunately, one of the cops, Rick Grimes, gets shot and later wakes up from a coma in a hospital. That beginning reminds me of the English film "28 Days Later". Anyway, as Grime wakes up, he can find nobody around. No doctors, no nurses, and no other patients. As he does some exploring, he is nearly bit by a former patient - now zombie! He has awakened to a world that's been taken over by the "walking dead". Unlike the movies of this genre, although the walking-dead are flesh-eating zombies, they are extremely slow and stink up to high heaven. Hoping that his wife and kid had tried to take shelter in the big city, Grimes heads for Atlanta. But the city is even worse than the hospital, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of the walking-dead. Before Grimes himself becomes fodder for the masses, one of the remaining unaffected humans helps him and leads him to a place where there is a small group surviving day by day - including Grime's wife and son! As this is an ongoing series, the story is left open ended. Not only does this remind me of "28 Days Later", it also blends aspects of the classic science fiction thriller, "Countdown to Year Zero". It should be fun to see how Grimes and company continue to survive in their new world.


マイ・アイズ・トウキョウ [MY EYES TOKYO] by 徳橋 功 (Isao Tokuhashi) - Full review previously featured on "Asia by the Book" blog at http://asiabythebook.thingsasian.com/ Being an ex-pat and living in my adopted city of Tokyo for the past fifteen years, I am always fascinated by other people's perception of Japan and Tokyo in particular. Apparently, Tokuhashi shares my interest as well and decided to share the stories of the people who were willing to talk to him. In the prologue, Tokuhashi mentions that he had lived in a small town in California for a short time and realized how much of Japanese culture had already penetrated America - Hondas and Toyotas running along the freeway, Panasonic or Sony stereos in people's homes, kids playing video games on Nintendo, the popularity of anime such as Pokemon, Sailor Moon and Dragonball. But then his roommate would ask him questions like, "Do you speak Chinese?", "What color are the signal lights in Japan", "Are there really more bicycles than there are cars?" Tokuhashi thought for a state like California with a large second generation Japanese population and a lot of Asian exchange students that the majority of Americans really know nothing about his home country. And as I'm one of the many who has also decided to live here, I can tell you there is more to Tokyo than just karaoke, anime, or electronics!


GHANAVISION : HAND-PAINTED FILM POSTERS FROM GHANA by Thibaut de Ruyter - This is an interesting collection of art work of movie posters created in the African nation of Ghana. According to the author, the VCR was introduced in the 80s. In the early 90s and throughout early 2000, the major cities in Ghana such as Accra and Kumasi were saturated with video clubs but with television becoming easier to buy, a new business was formed – the mobile cinema which usually consisted of a VCR and a monitor, a generator and a car, and traveled to the more rural areas showing Hollywood blockbusters and some long forgotten titles as well. And to advertise their wares, the video stores and moving cinemas would commission artists for posters of the latest movies – even if the artist has not even seen the movie in question. Most of the posters look like they were drawn by junior or high school students with too much time on their hands featuring buxom babes and sword wielding men chopping off the heads of their enemies. Some of Hollywood’s big name actors even get the Ghana treatment such as Sylvester Stallone in “Rambo” and Bruce Willis in “Die Hard”, it can’t help but put a smile on your face when you see them.


THE EARTHQUAKE BIRD by Susanna Jones – This is Susanna Jones’ debut novel. I was a little undecided on my opinion as to whether I had enjoyed this book or not but now that a bit of time has passed, I think I did enjoy it. It's one of those stories that make you think about long after you've finished reading it. The story is set in Japan and is narrated by Lucy Fly. Lucy has just been arrested by the police for the murder of her friend Lily Bridges. Although, she does not admit to anything, she also does not deny anything as well. Then she fills us, the reader, in on how she escaped from her Mundane life in Yorkshire, England and found herself working in Tokyo as a translator for technical manuals, falls in love and has a relationship with a man named Teiji who has also disappeared. But we, as the reader, cannot be sure if Lucy is guilty or not. But if I were to tell you the outcome, then you would understand why it’s taken me some time to decide if I had enjoyed this or not. It really is a subtle little story which sucks you in and make you wonder. I think I may have to expand this review and feature it on the "Asia by the Book" blog.


DARK ENTRIES by Ian Rankin – Popular mystery author Ian Rankin has taken on the task of writing a story for a graphic novel which was illustrated by Werther Dell’Edera. Rankin writes a story for the main character of “Hellblazer” – John Constantine. For those of you who are unfamiliar with “Hellblazer” or “John Constantine”, all you need to know is that he is an occult detective who fights demons and other nasties. In this story, Constantine is talked into appearing as a contestant on a popular reality television show. The producers tell him that although the studio had set up a bunch of booby traps and whatnot, it appears the contestants are suffering some delusions that are not the studio’s doing. However, it turns out that this reality show isn’t aired for normal people – Constantine learns the secret of the show – the contestants are already dead but they are not aware of it and the show is being aired to all the demons in hell who seriously want to do some damage to Constantine as he was the one who sent them to hell in the first place.


STAR WARS : A SCANIMATION BOOK by Rufus Butler Seder - Continuing the "Scanimation" series which started it out with "Gallop!", then followed by "Swing!" and "Waddle!", we are now treated to eleven separate scenes taken from Star Wars and given that Scanimation touch. What is "Scanimation" you ask? For those of you who are not familiar, it's a low-tech design technique using vertical lines on acetate which interacts with an image to give the illusion of movement (or something like that anyway). Scenes include Darth Vader light-saber fighting with Obi Wan Kenobi, R2D2 and C3PO walking across the desert of Tatooine, Boba Fett flying away on his jet pack, and more. Very cool! Okay, I admit it, I’m a Star Wars fan but not as geeky as one of my friends in the States.


THE ENGINES OF GOD by Jack McDevitt – Thinking about the kinds of books that really spawned my interest in reading, I decided to revisit the genre that had captured my imagination when I was a teen – that being science-fiction and fantasy. But I wanted to read some hard science-fiction, the kind that would include other worlds, interstellar travel, technology far beyond our present capacity and so forth. So I picked this McDevitt book which reads like a cross between Arthur C. Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama” and the movie “Star Trek IV” with maybe a bit of “2001 : A Space Odyssey” thrown in there as well. It appears there were other space-faring races long before humans have even developed spaceflight. But two of the three known races aside from humans seem to have been extinct for ages. The earthlings have named these ancient space-farers the Monument Makers as they have found remnants of old monuments on the satellites of planets spanning many light years apart. Archeologist Richard Wald and Starship Pilot Priscilla Hutchins are studying the alien ruins called Oz on a planet called Quraqua. Unfortunately, they are running out of time. As the earth is suffering from serious environmental damage, the government has decided to terraform Quraqua to create another Earth. Will they discover why the aliens made their monuments? What exactly are “The Engines of God”. Reading and finding out about it was just as delightful as getting back to my reading roots. I think I’m going to read even more science-fiction again!

As always, I hope you enjoyed my literary journey. For next month I have already made a few purchases. I bought the autobiography of Ozzy Osbourne - "I am Ozzy", along with the new release by Barry Eisler - "Fault Line" and am a third of the way through reading Alastair Reynold's space opera "Revelation Space". I also finished reading another title which is currently featured on the "Asia by the Book" blog - "Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential" as well as a few children's book which were published by ThingsAsian Press and an unofficial biography which you will have to read about next month. Until next time.

Happy Reading!!

Random Photos / ランダム・写真

Just to take a short break from writing, I figured it was time for another post of random photos. These were taken on random walks here and there.

今日はネタを書くより、またあちこちで撮った写真を載せてます。


Tokyo Big Sight


I think I "saw" something!


300 Year Old Pine at Hama Rikyu Gardens


Bronze statue of Mars or 可美真手命（うましまでのみこと）[Umashimadenomikoto]

Warner Bros. characters! Cool!!


"What's up, Doc?"


Promo stunt for Strider gum, this statues moves because there someone inside it.



Ke no Shiru (from Aomori)