loud

loud
Originally uploaded by renfield.

On the right is my house. On the left is the "noise blocking" plastic squares enclosing the old office building/factory that at this moment is being torn down via the aggressive use of serious heavy construction equipment.
Note that the distance between the two is about 50 centimeters. Also imagine the total lack of effectiveness of a piece of plastic to block the bone-rumbling sound made by machinery designed to pulverize concrete.
So yes, we will be moving in a matter of weeks, and none too soon!

astronaut jesus

astronaut jesus
Originally uploaded by renfield.

Jen had a posse in town, so we did the Akihabara thing. Somewhere around the 4th floor of Yellow Submarine we found the ultimate action figure: Astronaut Jesus.

Also don't miss the cool TVs.

gonna make love to you...

...just as soon as I finish this level.

dojo debut

First Day of Spring (Infernal Equinox I think it's called) is a national holiday in Japan. Beautiful sunny weather so we strapped in the Tonchabeast and headed over to Honbu Dojo where they were having a wee eating and drinking festivity. By the time we got these everyone was done stuffing themselves, and Tonchan promptly fell asleep on the Shihanseki (teacher's seat at the front of the dojo.)
Salty took some photos.

When we got home I was really, really jonesin' for some pizza, so we ordered from Salvatore's. P and I put away 3 larges. Granted, they're all Japanese-sized, cheeseless, and thin crust. But still, damn that woman can eat!

sunburn

sunburn
Originally uploaded by renfield.

Papa is the master of understatement: "Forgot the sunscreen."
Indeed. Good thing he has Leprechaun powers to regenerate.

ikea tonchan

ikea tonchan
Originally uploaded by renfield.

Standard early morning wakeup, quick breakfast, then onto the train to head down to Ikea in Shinyokohama. Not 30 minutes on the train, and then onto the waiting shuttle bus. Just after opening, so Ikea wasn't too crowded and Tonchan was in a fine mood. Wandered the furniture jungle and checked out the sleeper sofas, shelving units, and other bits and bobs before feeding Tonchan and then inhaling several hotdogs. Back on the shuttle bus and up to Shibuya.

We walked over to Harajuku and up the street to check out antiques at Oriental Bazaar, and walked straight into the Saint Patrick's Day Parade. Actually most folks were on the street checking out the parade, so the store and sidewalks were empty. A couple of nice pieces but nothing really calling, and Tonchan needed a diaper change so we walked up to Crayonhouse, then down to Nishi Azabu Crossing and got a cab home.

Tonchan was totally zonked and didn't even wake up for her bath; just slept!

farewell, ben

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Ben Miller.
Seems he died at the end of February after suffering two brain aneurysms.
Good friend, great man, internet legacy.

tonchan walkabout

After zazen in the afternoon, I came home dropped The Tonchabeast into her Mighty Chariot and off we went on our standard walkabout. Went up the hill past the crashed rocketship and down to the Starbookstore, then up past the slide park and back home.
When we got back, I shot these two masterpieces that I have titled:

"Sneeze"


and

"FEED ME NOW!"

steak!

steak!
Originally uploaded by renfield.

Serious carnivorous action. Thanks BoonBoon! DingDingDing!

sausage in crust pizza

sausage in crust pizza
Originally uploaded by renfield.

13 years in Japan and I continue to be amazed: sausage-in-crust pizza, half crab/shrimp/mayo/corn/onions/broccoli, and half BBQ pork/mushrooms/mayo/corn/onions.

Wow.

okuizome

P1000577.JPG
Originally uploaded by renfield.

100 days old, so we did the traditional pretend-to-eat ceremony. And then we really did eat!

Later in the day the weather cleared up a bit so Ton and I took a walk around the neighborhood; wandered up through Roppongi Hills and back down through Azabujyuban. Started to rain just as we passed Cravings, so we popped in for some tea until the rain stopped before heading home.

big day 99

Tomorrow Tonchan turns 100 days old, so we will have the traditional okuizome, literally the "first eating". Obviously she won't be eating anything other than breast milk, but we will pretend to feed her as we dig into our special bento prepared by Hashimoto-san from Toyoda.
So today we left the house about 3 and headed over to Mitsukoshi where we did some shopping before picking up our bento.
Then we headed back to the Fighting Gym as today was the last practice. The gym will reopen next month in an as yet undecided location. The Power Puff Girls Posse were all there, and everyone made squealing noises and poked Tonchan a bunch.
And now back at home, Tonchan is having dinner after a long day out and about.

tonchan exciting

For those who are curious as to what 3-month old babies do, here you go.
She's either asleep, feeding, pooping, or wiggling about and making noise:

us citizen tonchan

us citizen tonchan
Originally uploaded by renfield.

Someone got herself a birth certificate and a passport. Though she'll probably want to get rid of them when she has to start paying US taxes. Doh!

bye-bye nick!

bye-bye nick!
Originally uploaded by renfield.

Slick Nick is off to Hong Kong, and LoveTrain will miss him.

hiccups

that hurt

Had to skip teaching iai this week as we had a visitor from London and we took him out. Actually he was so jet-lagged he went home after his second gin tonic, but the rest of us were hungry so we went to Sankoen for some quality yakiniku and smack talk.

But I did finally manage to go to fighting for the first time in like 5 months. I got destroyed. After 100 pushups, 6 minutes of situps, and 200 back arches, we did an hour and a half of glove work and I am now in serious pain.

wii60

Whenever I need a videogame fix I head up the street to Conan the Gamebarian's house. Spent the afternoon jumping tall buildings in a single bound and shooting ugly rabbits with a toilet plunger gun. Quality.

hina matsuri (doll festival)

hina matsuri (doll festival)
Originally uploaded by renfield.

A Japanese tradition: put out the dolls in hope for happy and healthy daughters.

big norm, little tonchan

big norm, little tonchan
Originally uploaded by renfield.

Big day out for Tonchan! First went to the US Embassy to get a passport, then did the rounds at work meeting everyone. She mostly spent her time in the office asleep, being passed around like a ragdoll.
Big Norm gave her a taste of life 2 meters above ground, but she wasn't really paying attention.