There’s nobody I know who doesn’t like chu-hi (which originated from the words shouchu highball — go figure). It’s a fizzy vodka-like liquor mixed with fruit juice which is especially a favourite in summer.

But this winter, the good people at Kirin are not resting and have released a special Apple chu-hi this Christmas season.

Chu-his can be very sweet so Kirin has “50% offu” (means half the calories) and chu-hi zero (which has no calories). Some people don’t fancy the saccharine taste but if you’re a Diet Coke fan, you would think it rocks.

I’ve been trying to figure out why they are so popular and my conclusion is that it’s available in every conbini (convenient store), it’s affordable (250JPY for a regular can), it’s refreshing and it definitely packs a punch even after one or two, so don’t be fooled by its light taste.

To me, chu-his mean party in parks, cozy get-togethers at home, awesome music festivals, and lazy nights in front of the telly.

Top chu-his in my list:
Apple
Cherry
Kiwi

Photos: Kirin

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If you’re up for all-night clubbing, Ageha is the clubber’s paradise in Tokyo. Located in Shin-kiba, Ageha is a sprawling warehouse-like establishment in the middle of suburbia.

My friends and I were all pumped up at dinner in an izakaya in Shibuya and went onto pocketing chu-his and beers for the train ride to “the middle of nowhere” (which means anywhere outside the JR Yamamote Line or central Tokyo).

Photo: Markiemarc

*These photos were not of the night I went and it was forbidden to bring in cameras. Unfortunately, the camera in my mobile phone kind of sucked, too, so many thanks to the great photographers at Flickr.

UK spinmeister Armin van Burren was spinning the main set and was slated to begin at 330am. The two DJs before him were excellent at working up the crowd to a frenzy.

Photo: switchstyle

The stage was massive and the main dance floor felt like two basketball courts. We did some exploring in the beginning — there were a couple of small rooms with alternative tunes and a spacious poolside bar that was absolutely rocking despite the stinging cold (people just bopped around the huge heaters erected around the water’s edge).

It’s been awhile since I heard such great music blasted from a top-notch sound system so it felt great to dance for hours.

…Till 430am. My body just shut down and I elbowed my way out of the heaving crowd to find a seat. I was kind of like this dude over here.

Photo: soleada

One useful tip for non-nocturnal animals like me: Don’t share a locker with anyone. You can’t return to the premises once you step out and the locker room is outside. I wanted to go home at about 530am but we couldn’t find the last guy who shared a locker with us until much later. With booze-addled brains and half-shut eyes, we stumbled around looking for our equally drunk friend.

Also, if you are clubbing in winter: make sure you bring along a warm coat. It may not look cool but you get to stash in lockers. I, for one, was a little too vain and was decked out in a short dress, a cardi and a thin jacket, which made me shiver my ass off and fall sick after my Ageha escapade.

There are shuttle buses that depart every half hour from Ageha back to Shibuya where most people can catch a train back home. The JR and metro start at 430am from Shin-kiba station so you can take off before dawn if you want to.

My take on Ageha: Fantabulous clubbing experience and you should at least check it out once if you are remotely interested in good electronica.

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Photo: Hiroki Blue

High street Swedish giant H&M created a retail frenzy in Tokyo this November, despite economic woes. The news reported insane queues and disappointed shoppers who couldn’t find their sizes despite waiting for hours.

Photo: kuschti

The lines at the Ginza store looked scary, so I decided to wait till the hype died down a little.

Photo: Guy Flaneur

But there were more crowds at the second opening in Harajuku - check out a short video about it here. Some of my fashionista friends went crazy over the Comme de Garcons/H&M collection and were determined to get at least one piece. Apparently, they look a lot more wearable than the ads make them out to be.

Photo: tokyofashion

It takes about an hour and a half to try something on in the dressing room and another hour or so to pay for your goodies, so a trip to H&M would be a whole-day affair.

Does this sound familiar? Krispy Kreme gave birth to impossibly long queues for their fabled double-glazed donuts — for a year.

Photo: joellymo

Anyway, this is indeed a breath of fresh air in the fashion scene and would make staples, like Zara, Gap, Uniqlo, sweat under the collar a bit.

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The Tokyo Metro came up with a series of cheeky posters about minding your behavior on the train — I find it hilarious because the trains are extremely quiet compared to other countries’, so I don’t see that there’s a need for them. In fact, the hushed silence in the trains freaked me out a little but I come from Southeast Asia and we’ve got a noisy culture when we board the bus or train.

I suppose quiet comfort in the train in important in Japan because there’s such a huge number of people commuting and it’s common to travel as long as two hours from your home to the office. If you have somebody who has loud music blasting from their headphones or taking up two seats instead of one, you would feel thoroughly annoyed after a couple of hours, I suppose.

The Manners series kicked off with “Please do it at home” and among these my favorite is this one below. I have definitely seen women fixing their makeup with a big hand mirror for their entire train journey and the average travel time here is about 30 to 45 minutes within Tokyo. But I don’t really see how this would affect other passengers unless said culprit keeps jabbing her elbows into her neighbor’s ribs.

Summer brought on this one and it’s the coolest so far in the series. I’ve definitely seen salary men transform into action heroes as they leap between closing train doors.

I only ever see rowdy peeps on the last train after a night of drinking, though it seems the norm to take a tall can of beer on the shinkansen (bullet train) even if it’s 10am in the morn…

I wonder how many more quirky posters they would come up with….?

Photos: courtesy of Jean-Marc Rocher

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Much has been gushed about Ippudo Hakata Ramen in New York since its grand opening in March this year — news articles reported that New Yorkers waited in the brutal winter cold for up to 90 minutes to eat a bowl of steaming ramen that was a “religious” experience, as quoted in popular food blog, Serious Eats.

A friend who lives there declared Ippudo was her favorite after eating her way through many ramen shops in the Big Apple. With such a vote of confidence, I had to try this tonkatsu (pork broth) sensation when a couple of friends were in town for a visit.

For kicks, I decided to patronize the very first shop built in Ippudo’s chain, which is located in Ebisu, a chic well-heeled neighborhood known for its cool nightlife and culinary delights.

There wasn’t a line to get in (phew…) but it was pretty full of salarymen and OLs (office ladies). I got a seat immediately and pointed to the fabled Akamaru set. Being Singaporean, it was the natural choice as it’s topped with a spicy paste that is not in the Shiromaru one which is just plain tonkatsu soup.

Large bowls of spicy preserved spinach and bean sprouts were placed at every table — this simple but yummy appetizer whetted my taste buds for what was to come.

The rich, savory flavor of the ramen made everyone at the table slurp in silent appreciation. Oishiiiii (delicious)… The noodles were al dente and slippery, while I was just floored by the complexity of the soup — it was a melange of mysterious minced beans (probably from the spicy paste) and punchy meatiness.

You’ve got to try the sui gyozas (steamed pork dumplings) which swim in a clear, light broth and spring onions. Since I’m Chinese by ethnicity, I’m quite critical of gyozas and these little babies were definitely a five-star experience.

What’s unusual about the yaki gyoza (pan-fried pork dumplings) was it had a smidgen of yuzu (Japanese mandarin) paste on the side. The citrus bite completely transformed its heaviness and you’d feel you could stuff in just a few more.

Did I see the Ramen Gods in Ippudo? Almost, just almost. I’ve yet to find another shop that’s better and it’s no wonder that it’s touted as the best ramen chain in Tokyo.

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Address: 1-3-13 Hiroo, Hainezu Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-5420-2225
Opening hours: 11am – 4am daily
How to get there: Take the West Exit from Ebisu JR station and head towards Meiji-dori. You’ll spot the shop next to a post office.

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Hi, I’m Yu Ming and I’m a new blogger for the Tokyo edition of Metblogs. I’ll be posting on what’s going on in Tokyo, interesting places to visit, and anything quirky in that Japanese way all of us Japanophiles love.

Even though I’ve been here for two years now, I still get a bit starry-eyed when I see the William Gibson-esque skyscrapers right next to ancient Zen temples. Japan is a living, breathing oxymoron that’s a fascinating creature to watch whom no one can quite figure out.

I’m familiar with the city and can get around without a glitch, but it is a huge metropolis and I’ve still got loads to discover. So come with me and follow my exploration of this adopted home of mine and hope you enjoy the ride. Feel free to give me feedback or ask me a question about Japan.

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Writing for Metblogs has the potential to be the most rewarding experience in your entire life. It’ll make you rich, famous, good looking, will help you lose weight, make your clothes fit better, and get you a super good deal on a new car. It will make you the most well known person on the entire planet. Yes, each and every one of you. Really.

OK maybe not. Actually those are all lies, but it’s fun at least. The truth is Metblogs is the largest network of locally focused blogs on the web, covering almost 60 cities around the world and we’re looking to add a few new bloggers/writters/authors to this fine site. If you wanna know more about us check out this wikipedia entry but it’s kinda boring so I won’t waste time repeating it all here again. If you wanna write for us, here’s the scoop:

• All author positions are volunteer. That means you don’t get paid.
• You must live in (or very near) the city you plan to write about.
• Anything you post must relate to the city somehow. That means you shouldn’t post a movie review, but talking about going to see a movie at a local theater is fine.
• There’s no requirement for how much you can or should write, but we ask that if we set you up as an author you make about 3 posts a week.
• You can post about things you love, you can post about things you hate. It’s entirely up to you

Additionally, because of our global network, there’s plenty of options for things you write to be read by people all over the world. Interested? Want more details? Post a comment and we’ll be in touch!

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At Shinjuku Stn when entering the Mosaic Street that leads the way up to the MyLord (to be pronounced Merôd) department store you can find the so called MyLord Box. It is an interactive light instellation, that is especially nice when it is dark outside. The programm is changing every few minutes: sometimes it is all blue with white light-clouds appearing whenever you touch the screen, then it is snowing and the snowflakes are piling up around the spot where you touched it, and the other time it is gray with colourful lights popping up. It is quite entertainig to watch it and how the passer-bys react and interact. I thought it is quite amazing how many people, no matter what age was curious, tried to touch it, giggled, watched it for a while..
For all those of you who don’t have the possibility to see and touch it live and direct i uploaded a video here [click!].

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Tokyo really is a place where more or less everything is available if you are willing to pay (sometimes a lot) for it. This can be wonderful: shopping or even just walking around and have a look at all the beautiful, delicious, strange or funny things is a lot of fun! Especially when it comes to food I often feel like in heaven here. However there are things of which I think they are just not right! Minke whale-, bear- or sea lion curry are definitly part of those things!
Don’t get me wrong: I also love to try food that I never had before. Give me some veggie I’ve never seen before and I will be happily excited like kids on christmas. But I am absolutely not appreciative of eating animals that are in danger of extinction, especially when people from an affluent society with plenty of other foods eat those meatproducts just out of curiosity or fun! It is not like someone is starving here without whale meat.
Furthermore I guess no one buys this in an endeavour to appreciate the meat - canned and soaking in curry sauce it surely won’t have any distinctive flavour. So it is all just about the idea of eating some “exotic” animal and about the colourful packaging. I found those cans in a shop for presents and all kinds of knick-knack - not in a grocery store - I don’t want to know how many people bought this as a oh-so-funny christmas present… I guess most of the cans will never be opened, they will just get dusty on the kitchen shelves of the presentees. What an unhappy end for a grand whale…

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Even the local fauna seems to have adapted christmas ;)

Happy holidays!

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X-mas and the New Year Holiday (o-shogatsu) have become a major joint celebration in Japan, with western influences - such as carols in the supermarket - and shrine and temple visits: Added to that a lovely romantic twist, as young couples enjoy a chance to have a nice dinner and maybe more (much more) together. Sparkling wines and rice cakes? You bet. Anything goes. ‘Tis the season to be jolly.

For the New Years Holiday, you’ll find a lot of fun decorations, such as the one above. A mixture of styles that show a lot of originality! In Tokyo, people like to throw in a few wild cards too, but a Wacky Wobbler…?

Micky and Minnie wearing kimonos? Sure! Why not!

While some of my neighbours go for western-style decorations, I have opted for a o-shogatsu kazari (New Years Decoration) on my door.

Happy holidays!

God Jul & Gott Nytt År

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I remember having to put my thumb to the ink pad when I first applied for the Alien Registration Card that all foreigners in Japan are required to carry at all times. Seven years ago, that law was changed, and my sparkling new card, which has a lot of other fancy features, is no longer blessed with my unique imprint.

Should we all be subjected to fingerprinting as we enter Japan? Well, if Aliens need to do it, why not also Japanese citizens. The “terror law” that Japan has imposed would not have stopped Japanese citizens belonging to Aum Shinrikyo from coming up with the Tokyo Subway gas attack 12 years ago. Fingerprinting would not have stopped the Japanese citizens joining the infamous Japanese Red Army from killing innocent victims in Israel and elsewhere in the 1970s. Japanese people didn’t take much responsibility for these autrocities; most people - and lawmakers - here probably have “forgotten”.

So what is behind all this nonsense?

I really do not know.

Join Amnesty International or its English-speaking branch in Tokyo.

(U.S. Visit, the system that Japan appears to have copied, currently holds a repository of over 50 million persons, primarily in the form of two-finger records…)

(Photo from The Mainichi: Protesters ‘flip the bird’ at Justice Ministry over forced fingerprinting)
Read more

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It’s an exciting season to be a gamer in Tokyo. We’ve already seen the release of Super Mario Galaxy, which is being hailed as the true “spiritual successor” to Super Mario 64. But for those that wanted to move to “true” next-gen but were hindered by cost, the even better news is that the Xbox 360, with its library of great games, is now being sold for the lowest price, anywhere in the world.

Coming in December, you will be able to get an even better deal on the Xbox 360. For 39,880 yen, you’ll not only get the new version of the system, complete with hard drive, HDMI support and two games, you’ll also get a copy of the hot new Mistwalker RPG, Lost Odyssey (Link). Having an NTSC-J version of the Xbox means that you can play the asian version of games. This is a boon for many reasons, but one major one is that the asian versions are cheaper than the same game marketed for other regions. Most of these games include English dialogue and menus which means that Westerners have an easy way to access cheaper games that should be easier to follow and are often released before their Japanese iterations. Play Asia is a great source for asian games and they offer free shipping to Japan. If you aren’t into RPGs, the Xbox 360 bundle currenly runs for 34,800 yen. If you’re into gaming, now you know what to ask for for Christmas or Chanakah or Kwanza or whatever relevant gift-giving holiday comes at the end of the year for you.

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Curious display of petals & coloured sand near Triton Tower in Harumi, Tokyo. What happens if the wind blows?!

Posted from my mobile phone

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What did you dress up as for Halloween this year?

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