National Art Center - Roppongi, Tokyo

Last month I visited the National Art Center in Roppongi for the 11th annual Media Arts Festival.
The main entrance:

Awesome looking building

Japanese ATM bank machine

Japan is a cash based society.  There is the use of credit cards, but most people pay by cash - which means people will be carrying all types of cash on them at any given time. But, when you do run low on cash, then you will need to hit up an atm or bank machine at your local bank or convenience store.

Here is a video of the ATM from a 7-11 convenience store in Tokyo.

Enjoy!

Tokyo State of Mind…

Sunday morning coffee at Starbucks on the Southern Terrace in Shinjuku.
Then take the Chuo line line 7 and 8 to Yotsuya 5 minutes away and just 1 station. As I am about to step on the train, a strange man just
looks at me in the eye and says something - he looked non-Japanese - but I pulled my right earphone out (taking a break from
Chris Brown’s song, With you) and say “hmmmm” to the man, walk pass him and get on the train.
I look up at the 12 inch monitor in the train playing a commercial, while getting hungry.
So I pop back some xylitol gum by Lotte.
I want to go somewhere on the “toei arakawa line” the oldest tram in Tokyo that runs mostly east-west in northern Tokyo. It was recommended by my coworker that says there is still old parts of Japan even amongst the modern Tokyo
So I ask the station master at Yotsuya how to get there -somewhere, anywhere along the “Toie Arakawa Line”  都営　荒川線.  He has no idea what I am saying.  But the line is actually called “Toden Arakawa line”　都電　荒川線.

The mistake here is that Toei means “operated by the metropolitan government” while Toden means “Metropolitan Electric Railway”

Managed to get to Ouji 王子 station via Namboku Line.  Checked out the park there and walked around until riding the whole length of the arakawa line for 2 hours (1 hour one way), and I got a massage
for 1000Yen at a parlor in a shopping street on one stop on the train line.  For my shoulder - still painful.
It gets dark - catch a bus from Waseda university to Shinjuku - 200 yen.
Finally get off and see a film crew filming people walking around near Kabukicho.
Pick up a pair of AirForce 1’s at ABC Mart for 8995 yen. 1500 yen discount.
Go home pop some champagne for my roomates bday and eat some pasta and chocolate.
Sleep but think about updating a video for my blog, but sleep is fun too.
…
I want to update everyday - for real, for you, for me. I should take my time to think about the entries, but to update everyday　would mean to do so at a creative sacrifice - meaning the content suffers.  As you can see, the adlib style above doesn’t make for such an interesting read.
Tokyo State of Mind is fast, blurry, technology, ads, a bunch of たまに読めない漢字でも勉強になるね。

Happy Birthday Mom

March 5 is not mothers day, but its my mothers day!

love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love  love love love                                                                                                MOM
love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love

Shinjuku Love

 I love Shinjuku.  新宿　しんじゅく　New Lodging is the translation.   Busy, tall, grey, flashing, movement, night, day, busy.

In January, I made a little video from within Shinjuku Station and also riding the train in this post.
I mentioned in that post “I am trying to solve the sound problem when titles are added in the video. Learning curves.” Well, I have learned how to deal with the sound in the vids - thanks apple genius bar.
I really like the way the music flows with this one.
This time, after visiting the hospital in Shinjuku for my shoulder injury, I took some video early on a Saturday March 1, 2008 morning of the business office building area in West Shinjuku.  Blue skies, and seemingly clean air.

Do you have any requests for any specific video footage of Tokyo?
Let me know

Shibuya Crossing

Shibuya Crossing is most likely one of the busiest intersections in Japan, if not in the world.
You may have read my post about it here and it is one of my favourite spots - pure excitement, but very busy.
Last weekend I managed to get video footage of the crossing both in the day and at night - merged them together for you to watch.  The excitement of the crossing is how I feel about Tokyo. but not Japan.  Japan is more humble than this crossing.

Here is Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo, Japan.

Does your city have such a crazy crossing?

Japanese New Year 2007

Here is a video that sums up my New Year 2007 spent in Saitama, Japan.
Last year I also spent time in Saitama with a Shuntaro and his family (thanks Shun for introducing me to Japanese life!) but all I wrote about was Boxing Day in Japan.
So what did I do this year - Gabriel Pliska relaxed in the Japanese countryside. I ate special Japanese food at new years as traditional style.
Japan New year is time to spend with your family and visit the temple for the first time of the year - hatsumoude. Parties do happen, but that is reserved for the Tokyo’s and Osaka’s and young folk. Most people return to their hometowns and visit with grandparents, parents, relatives etc.

Here is a video of my days in Saitama over New Year’s.

Thanks for watching. How is New Year’s celebrated in your country?

Snowboarding in Japan

There are several spots to snowboard in Japan. Since I live in Tokyo, I usually (4 times this year) go to Niigata and Nagano.
I have been snowboading in Hyogo, Hiroshima, Gifu, Niigata and Nagano.
My favourite spot is Hakuba 47.
As you may know the 1998 Winter Olympic Games were held in Nagano Japan, so some runs are olympic!
To get there you can take an overnight bus, or take the early shinkansen (bullet train) to get to the slopes.
Lift passes range from about 4000-5000 Yen per day.
Here is a pic of me on the slopes 3 weeks ago.
Beautiful view, but nothing like the Canadian rockies.

I also recently broke my shoulder bone, and am recovering now. The position of the break doesnt require me to have a cast, but I am wearing a sling as I type this.

Kimono in Motion

Taken on the run in Yotsuya.
Japanese socks are tabi 足袋 - worn with Kimono 着物. Shoes are geta. 下駄
Now you know.

8 years of life (2000-2008) in 9 lines

June 2000: Graduate High school. Move out.
August 2000:  Visit Portland, Oregon for cousins wedding.
Sept 2000-August 2004: Carleton University Student
May 2003 - August 2003: Visit Japan - changed my life.
Sept 2004: Move to Boston for 17 days.
October 2004- July 2005: Portland, Oregon, worked at Gbd architects.
July 2005- July 2006: Move to Okayama, Japan as an English School Teacher
August 2006 Saitama: vacation, job hunting
Sept 2006- Present: Marketing account planner.
以上

I also went to Shizuoka and Mt. Fuji over New Year’s. White Waterfalls in Japan
Here is some video of the waterfalls, drinking water, chilling, making you jealous.