The party was good. It was packed and certainly had a good sense of community around. Designers, artists, musicians, organizers, curators were there to celebrate the anniversary. It also gave me a chance to catch up with some of my friends I bumped into at the party.

A friend, Theo, missed the last train to Kawasaki-city. So we decided to stay longer at the party and went to eat Ramen at one of my favorite Ramen shops in Roppongi around 1 am.

Zabon Ramen is where we went to finish the day. It is located in the middle of Roppongi but has a deserted feeling around the corner where the shop is located. I also think this Ramen shop is a sort of buddy or old friend type of place for Roppongi people. It is a place to eat Ramen after party.

“Sir, it seems typhoon no.9 is coming.”

“Yes, it seems so, when will be the hardest time, do you know?”

“I am not sure, I am not following weather forecast.”

“See, but the weather was bad today, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, indeed. there was just squall before you got in. One of customers said, it is like being in Indonesia!”

“Yes, it is like we are in tropical zone.”

“You know, my customer, I remember when I was a kid, we used to check temperature on weather news every morning because we were so excited about swimming classes at elementary school.”

“I did that, too.”

“I remember temperature we used to see was always ranging between 28 and 30 during summer. It rarely went up higher than 32.”

“Yes, but driver-san, we see 35, 36, or even 37 in these days. This is something.”

“That’s right. Climate is changing.”

“Well, it will be a crazy day tomorrow because of typhoon. Take care. Thank you for the ride.”

Tokyo gets heat-island effect during summer. And it has become more intense over the years. Lots of people are anxious about it. And people in Tokyo have started Uchimizu project in 2003.
They basically set up special Uchimizu weeks from the end of July to mid August, and splash water on the street all at once. It actually cools down tokyo for few seconds.

I think this is a cool collaboration project that let people know one of the facts about Tokyo and big city in general. But, heat-island effect should be tackled by facilitating exhaustive and reliable plan like this one in Seoul.

Anyway, this Typhoon no9 seems to bring the beginning of autumn as well. But, firstly, I hope people careful about this typhoon and will be fine when they get out of house after it passes away.

I thought about what I am going to write for the first entry. But, I was never be able to come up with a good subject matter to start with. So, I would like to share with you what I have been doing in Tokyo these days.

I used to live in New York City by October 2006. I had lived there for more than 6 years in New York before I came to Japan. When I was in New York, I went to college, spent some time in different parts of world after graduation, and did internship in Brooklyn before I came back.

Since last December I have been living in Tokyo, working at an IT marketing company in Shibuya. It has been hectic and I am living in Tokyo feeling like a foreigner. Yes, some of you might think that I have some mental problem or difficulty to cope with this great metropolis called “Tokyo.” Indeed, this is how I enjoy life in Tokyo.

It is better for me to keep some externalities toward this city, you know being foreign can also mean being new and being always curious about external environment. Indeed, the only attachment to Tokyo is that I have a job in Tokyo and I live in Tokyo. This is good enough for me to explore this city, turn upside down, and venture some cool stuff.

Of course, I am not always foreigner. When I have my friends visiting me from New York, Taiwan, or even my hometown in Japan, my friends can be foreigners in Tokyo. However, this is not what I mean using “foreigner.”

This is approach to enjoy Tokyo, a gigantic Japanese city on the shore of Eurasia. It has become hotter and more shaking in terms of environment. It has been more stable and resourceful in terms of economy. And, it has been multi-layered and diversified in terms of society. I hope I can write more details about what I see and experience by being foreigner in Tokyo jungle.

Cheers.
Below is a photo of Shinobazu-Ike in Ueno Park.