Update of the month

Mm.. If there's one thing (among many) the Japanese are good at, it's making a damn good salad dressing. In general, I'm not that discriminating about dressing, but I just thought I'd mention how this one I'm eating now claims it has no oil and is 13 calories a serving... It's made with daikon, which I kind of rolled my eyes at the first time I saw it at the store, like "yeah right I'm eating a dressing made out of a radish," but taste(and health)wise, I'd rank it right up there with any of your creamy, fat-laden salad toppings. It makes me actually want to eat a bowl of leaves. I might even add sticks and pebbles as long as I could cover it with this stuff.

Anyways, I didn't mean to make this blog about dressing, I just got momentarily side tracked by food, which should come as no surprise. I haven't updated in a while, so I decided to post a quick update on what's been going on in these parts lately.

There was another earthquake, and again I was all "What earthquake?" when my relatives expressed their concern over me. So I still haven't witnessed the quintessential Japanese experience, the stuff of legends. It's a bit unfair, really. When the Great Tokai earthquake rolls around, I'm sure I'll enjoy it with relish.

This past weekend, we celebrated my friend Louise's birthday by going to Tokyo to gawk at parasites, photography, beer, and above all, Deerhoof. The parasites were courtesy of the Meguro Parasitological Museum, the only one of its kind in the world. And by "museum" I mean two floors of an unassuming building in Meguro, filled with parasites jarred and preserved, photographs of people and animals afflicted with said parasites, and a gift shop. It was revolting, and I loved every minute of it. Of the elephantiasis of the testicles, 8.8meter tapeworm, or exploded gerbil, I can't say which was my favorite, but it was grand. And you should have seen the guestbook!

After that we saw a special exhibit of Eikoh Hosoe photographs at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. Mostly because my friend Amir is obsessed with Yukio Mishima, and there were some famous photos of him there. But the whole thing was pretty cool, and I hope to go back to the Museum someday, now that I know it exists. Nearby was the Yebisu Beer Museum, which was alright, but kind of uninformative as it was all in Japanese. There was a beer garden inside where you could sample Sapporo beers though.

Then dinner and then to the gig at Shinjuku Loft. Unlike the name suggests, it was in the basement. And it was non-smoking! Ah, it makes such a difference. It was my first real concert in Japan, and I noticed a couple differences. 1) The non-smoking. 2) General politeness and quietness of the crowd. 3) Not obnoxiously scene as it is at home. I probably only saw a handful of scenester looking kids, and they were white, and they were turned away at the door because tickets were sold out, hehe. Although maybe all the Japanese there were scenesters too, but just a different breed. Hmm. 4) The show started pretty much on time. My god. So it isn't too much to ask. 5) The only bands playing were the only ones advertised, Deerhoof and OOIOO. I hate sucky opening bands that get snuck into the lineup. And it finished on time as well, so we didn't miss our train. Although as we were leaving Deerhoof started up a second encore, but oh well. C'est la vie. Overall, it was awesome and worth the 5000¥.

Fast forward to 14 hours later where I was sweating bullets in a Japanese step aerobics class that I thought was only 15 minutes but ended up being 45. Three hours after that, I was stuffing my face with real homemade Indian food at Louise and Amir's. But I had to bike home in the freezing rain, which was terrible. Sigh. Mother Nature, she is a fierce and fickle mistress, isn't she?