Happy Birthday, Sandry!

Happy Birthday, Sandry!
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

Bless the waitresses at Barbacoa, who tried to make CEDRIC's (not Sandry) birthday extra-special with a personalized dessert.

So close!

by the turtle fountain

by the turtle fountain
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

Fighting off our Tsujiri sugar high.

macha bliss

macha bliss
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

Tsujiri in Caretta Shiodome.
Macha bliss in ice cream sundae form.

I met up with Ai and Hiroko after work for girl talk at the uber-popular green tea sweets shop in Shiodome. It was a Thursday evening and we had to wait an hour. You don't want to go there on weekends.

I had the basic: macha kanten, macha ice and vanilla ice cream, macha whipped cream, and a side of tokoroten with kuromitsu.

Tokyo bay at night

Tokyo bay at night
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

gotta agree with miss Ai's testimonial about Shiodome and Caretta. It's heavenly.

After macha sundaes at Tsujiri, as we always do when in Caretta, we stopped by the 46th floor to take in the night bay views.

gardenia

gardenia
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

Gardenias always remind me of San Francisco, where they sell individual blooms on little plastic disc-shaped holders on the streets. You can put them into a glass of water and they'll last for a day or so. Even after they've lost the beautiful white color and shape, the fragrance lingers. On humid summer nights, seems like one single gardenia bush can infuse an entire block with the smell.

gardenia

gardenia
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

signs of summer: fragrant gardenia and katori-senko.

she's baaaaack

wine cellar
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

let's give a round of applause for the return of Miss Ai.

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

We took Pop out to his favorite okonomiyaki restaurant of the moment, Shichigosan in Asakusa. In the past few months I've been there around 4 times at least with him. He LOVES it. I think he goes every Sunday.

We talked about the restaurant biz, the music biz, the publishing biz... Grilled up some tasty okonomiyaki, mushroom sautes, Pop's favorite じゃがバター, potatoes fried in butter, and toasted our dad. Thanks for your hard work Pops! We love ya.

grilling hanpen

grilling hanpen
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

Our Pops loves fluffy white hanpen fish cakes. They sizzle up to a golden brown when fried on the griddle with butter, looking a lot like toasted marshmallows.

The Organizers and the Special Guest

The Organizers and the Special Guest
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

Ai & HK's first Spinshell Night club event at Warehouse was a smashing success!!

In addition to AG's own slammin' performance, Prince Squad and Diva Rose debuted their new single "Honey Bear"; Hardliner set the mood with their mellow beats; DJ Ram Rider kept the crowd happy and dancing (or was that the free beer?); and Kumiko got the crowd pumped with her amazing voice. What World Cup?

See ya next time in October y'all!

Lu & Ai

Lu & Ai
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

One of the performers was Lu, a pole dancer. Not at all sleazy, it was really gorgeous and kind of tribal and required amazing athleticism!

I love her promotional leaflet: "Pole dancing, dance instruction, and pole sales."

Atom-ewok

ewok
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

It appears that Atomik is part Ewok.

corn field by the path

corn field by the path
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

It's tuesday morning, I need to get on a crowded train for an hour to go to work, sit at a desk for 10 hours and type. Then get on a train again for an hour. Repeat.

Missing the open country! Was it really just two weeks ago?

lunching at the Irish Pub

lunching at the Irish Pub
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

The trip was way, way too short, but each day was a delight! Like the day we went to a next door town for window shopping and lunch at the local Irish pub (one of two of the trip).

atomik!

atomik!
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but apparently does not regrow severed limbs: Atomik was still the adorable, beefy, three-legged sweetie pie that I said bye bye to last year. He seems to love the new digs, and so did we!

babushka

babushka
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

Chuchu was a very good sport about keeping Ai and I entertained as we packed for our Maryland trip. (Poppo was not so cooperative)
Those eyes!

Ginza Mikimoto 2

Ginza Mikimoto 2
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

The dazzling new restaurant Dazzle opened over the weekend. Its home is on the 8-9 floors of the Ginza Mikimoto 2 building, which has odd-shaped windows which are apparently supposed to look like seafoam. It was all very atmospheric, with glittery crystals hanging overhead and gauzy pink curtains.

morning

morning
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

Popo had a very special appointment recently that he was so excited for.

"Popo, today you are getting your balls cut off!! Doesn't that sound FUN?"

"Yes!" his testosterone-ridden brain thought, "that sounds like a BLAST! Let me show them off one last time, though."

When he got to the vet's, though, he didn't pass his preliminary tests--something was wrong with his liver. So now he is chowing down on meds which will hopefully correct the problem, and then he can try again once he's better.

open open!

open open!
Originally uploaded by ninapod.

I got to take a sneak peak this morning at the new IKEA in Funabashi, in Chiba. It took a freaking hour and a half each way but it was worth it. I love this store. Going to the one near Seattle was an adventure (no, I do not get out much) and it made me feel like fulfulling my secret desire to become a home stylist diva like Martha Stewart was achievable. Plus they served $1 lattes (this in the land of Starbucks) and sold funny Swedish goodies at the food market. This new one is just a few stops away from Tokyo Disneyland, and the gentlemen leading the tours said that they would be their No. 1 competitor, only half jokingly. It'll be up to the consumers to make this a success or not but I hope it is.

hangin

hangin
Originally uploaded by ninapod.