Joypolis
The purpose of our recent experience on Odaiba was not to take this picture. Rather, we went to Joypolis for Ryan’s 14th birthday party.
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Tokyo Marathon 2010 pictures
During the past week, by far the most popular post has been this one on the Tokyo Marathon. Maybe the weather was such that the usual number of pictures weren’t taken and people are looking for more? I have a few dozen decent shots that I’ll upload in the near future.
The one above is of the promotional poster for the 2010 Tokyo Marathon that was plastered all over the Tokyo Metro stations in the weeks leading up to the race.
The sign in the above photo asks road users to slow down. Of course it’s intended for the drivers normally on the street and not the runners. It’s kind of funny right next to the GO! GO! GO! sign.
This pack of runners must have had a celebrity in their midst, or maybe the female runner who was in the lead at the time, as there were two camera vehicles in front of them.
Iidabashi 飯田橋
The runners are coming down Sotobori Street (外堀通り) and are turning right onto Mejiro Street (目白通り).
One advantage of being 6’4″ in Japan is you can take photographs like the above.
Tokyo Marathon 2010
The day was cold. The day was wet. But it is difficult to pass up a marathon running through town even in the most adverse conditions. So I got on the Tokyo Metro for a couple of stops to arrive at Iidabashi (飯田橋) to view the race.
I got a position in the front row right next to a curve. I figured it would be a great spot to take pictures as I thought runners would be coming from my right before turning the corner. Unfortunately, my sense of direction got reversed by coming out a station exit I was unfamiliar with and runners actually came from my left which meant I couldn’t see them until a split second before they were past me.
The male winner was a Japanese man, Fujiwara Masakazu (藤原正和), for the first time in the Tokyo Marathon’s short, 4-year history.
Once I could no longer feel my feet (I stepped in a deep puddle early on) or hands (I had an umbrella in one hand and my camera in the other) I decided it was time to go home where I watched the last hours of the race on TV.
Imagawayaki (今川焼き)
Today’s photo is from the basement of a department store in Shibuya. This man is making imagawayaki which is basically a thick pancake filled with bean paste or custard. The picture on the right is of taiyaki, a variation which makes imagawayaki look like a fish.
Imagawayaki have been sold in Japan for over 230 years. I had my first one from a street vendor in Kofu over 22 years ago and can still remember the happiness biting into a hot one filled with custard brought on a cold winter day.
Tama River Walk
As mentioned a couple days ago, Tokyo experienced some January temperatures in the 60s (upper teens by local Celsius measures). To celebrate, I took another of the Day Walks Near Tokyo. Walk #9 is called Tama River.
Most of the content in the book about this walk is too dated to be useful. For starters, the book (copyright 1992) states the Komiya Station (小宮駅) has only one exit. Sometime in the past 18 years, a second exit was added to the station, and, of course, that happened to be the one I took which left me instantly lost for the first of a dozen or more times during the day.
Eventually, I found myself in the neighborhood pictured in today’s entry. Parts of this neighborhood didn’t exist in 1992 (although much of the above photo probably did), but this area is along the route of the suggested hike.
There is now a firefighter training center near the Tama River (多摩川), and a group of kids were on a field trip to watch the action.
Did I mention the weather was lovely? You can see part of the kotatsu (炬燵) in this home, but the residents wouldn’t need to use it on this warm day.
Patong Pics
The Sea Hag was our favorite restaurant on Phuket. We went two nights in a row. After the first night I took the above photo of Ellie enjoying the warm evening.
I made friends with this guy. He set up our chairs on the beach. Later on he noticed I was reading a book in Japanese so after we chatted for a while I ended up teaching him some phrases in Japanese that he could use on Japanese tourists. He practiced them every time he approached me the rest of the day, but I don’t think they were sticking too well.