last last

back in norway

it`s strange writing about tokyo, when I`m not there. I`ve kind of lost the tokyonese feeling. but I thought I should post my last photos. everytime I take a look in my "my pictures folder"..it`s becoming a habit these days, I wish I was back in the city of subway perfection, sushi, convinis, salary men, sleepy people, umbrellas, identical old taxi drivers...etc. but I must say, I`m glad I don`t have to wear havaianas in the shower anymore, and if I should feel like it, I can cook in clean environments.

these shoes were made for walking

my converse are dead.

may they rest in peace in the well recirculated japanese garbage.

they made a great deal of effort during their lifetime, walking a whole lot of meters in;

oslo

århus (aarhus)

porto

københavn (copenhagen)

ås (aas)

namsos

trondheim

beijing

new york

amsterdam

tokyo

rotterdam

boston

lübeck

osaka

istanbul

frankfurt airport

helsinki airport

heathrow airport

the list of numbers

3,52 million people "floats" through shinjuku station every day, that`s almost every existing norwegian. imagine the chaos if they all were norwegian..o lord...(noo gunnar, I know it`s that direction!! no turid, it`s to the left..look at the sign, goddamn it!..well, if you say so honey)
35 million people living in tokyo+suburbia
4 the number of pregnant women I`ve seen during 4 months..true, where do they all come from?
3 nuns
8 pair of shoes paid by mr. visa, only six will make it back to europe..ops, small suitcase.
5 times I`ve been jogging in yoyogi..so much for that healthy livestyle
4 yoga sessions...hmm
3 gb with tokyo photos on my computer
8 books read, some good, some bad
7 (6) the number of japanese words I can read and know all the characters, calori, karaoke, coin laundry, coca cola, yen, nora...oo, damn..promise, it`s seven.
13 withdrawals at 7-11
40-60 meters below streetlevel, you`ll find the subways
21 coffee shops (japanese style) and convinis in my neighbourhood
24 billion one-time-use chop sticks used each year in japan
130 million japanese people
200 exits at shinjuku station
3 visitors during my stay, thanks mum,dad and hilde!
11 trips up in the sky (skyscrapers, 8 in tokyo, 1 in osaka, 1 in yokohama, 1 in kyoto)
4 rides with the shinkansen ( I found out why I never got to ride with the 700 series, it`s beacuse I had a jr-pass..they only work on the 300 series, oh well)
1 one trip to china, beijing...huge ugly airport, huge city, huge streets, huge blocks, hugehugehuge, hard beds.
115 splendid days of urban delight

1. hold on

lesson nr 1: remember, always two hands on that mic. hold on real good.

karaoke stories

maybe I`ve already written about the following story, I don`t remember and I`m not going to check..suntory times. the first time hilde and I went for karaoke, we freaked out when we realised there was no english menu and the remote control was all japanese. hilde did her ususal stunt, tried every button until something happened. the only problem was that we didn`t know what was happening. totally stressed out, I ran down the stairs, in high heels I might add, to the lobby and got one copy of the english menu. here we found the number for each song, we decided for AC/DC "highway to hell". we dialed the number and nothing happened, we dialed it again and again, but to no response on the TV screen, suddenly the unmistakable tunes of this rock `n roll hit filled the tiny room and the party was going in the right direction. we sang the song with great drama and unpitched voices. the song ended, and we immediately started the search for a new song..but then, to our surprise, the tunes of the same old rock `n roll hit filled the tiny room once more...and once more...and once more... in the desperate attempt to get the party going, we had managed to schedule "highway to hell" no less than nine times. I mean, it`s a cool karaoke song, but NINE times, was kind of an overkill. and now you`re thinking; but what about the delete button? well, do I look like a japanese??

wednesday last week, we met up with the norwegian girls form the park hyatt elevator, for an evening of karaoke and beer. we did it the old teenage way, smuggled the alcohol in backpacks and shopping bags, because the karaoke beer cost, are close to gold. rikke and ida were really into rap music, hilde and nora is not so much into rap music, so we had major problems trying to follow the lyrics. basically it came out like one long sound with no words, there were some highlights whenever the refrain arrived. after singing for 3,5 hours, and discovering the smallest garbage bin ever in the girls toilet, we went for golden gai. here we ended up in a bar with two old japanese men, and a karaoke machine. the old men bought us beer and sang english songs...we ended up wasted, like teenagers. theme of the night. old homeless men always get a crush on hilde, so when we were standing outside mcdonalds waiting for rikke, a member of the homeless gang came up to us and asked hilde if they could meet the next day. and the day before, as we were eating our dinner in a rather cheap establishment, an old, of course, man took pictures of her with his cellphone, and it`s not like he tried to be discreet, he just sat down right in front of us and started a photoshoot. he was a charming guy, standing up scratching his ass right in our faces, and picking his teeth/nose.

yesterday, alex and I met for "one beer", the night ended at 5 am after several hours of karaoke and golden gai.
the first karaoke place had a special sound feature, echo. but I`m not picky when it comes to karaoke, as long as I can sort of recognize the tunes and read the lyrics, I`m satisfied. bring it on. today has been a hardcore hangover day..but in the end it`s worth it. karaoke forever.

last week pics