Lost in translation

Paris, c'est joli

2007-10-16T01:44:00.000-07:00

So if you wonder what's going on with the blog, here's the story. I just spent 3 weeks in France (where we leave in caves so we don't have internet) and meanwhile back in Tokyo, someone is pretending to work 15 hours a day. So I guess no one was around to update what's going on in our fascinating lives. Here's what happened...

some people turned Japanese
Some people turned. We're still not sure actually....

2007-10-16T01:39:00.000-07:00

some people turned, hum, 30...

some people sang Karaoke all night

some people tried to bring back cute kittens in Japan

2007-10-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

some people got married

some people walked around pretending to be tourists

2007-10-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

some people just sat on the sun all day

yes, all day.

some people took pictures of le Louvre but didn't went inside

and some people went to some fancy place to eat macarons for breakfast and thought they were back in New York for a minute...

2007-09-09T00:55:00.000-07:00

no this is not the new way of building houses to save space in Tokyo. It's some random Ferris wheel but with little houses. Kind of weird, we'll have to try.

Asakusa is pretty

2007-09-09T00:49:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Asakusa, there's a very beautiful temple from 1649, the "Sensoji Temple". Think of the neighborhood as an old downtown. Small houses and shops, pretty much what you think Tokyo could have been before the skyscraper era.

I'm a big fish nerd

2007-09-09T00:38:00.000-07:00

So here in Tokyo there are a lot of fish stores (not the one you eat silly, the one you lock in a small see through tank and stare at). Usually you find them on the top floor of department stores, or in obscure underground galleries. They have much cooler exotic fish then we do (I guess there are less regulations on what you can sell). Here are one very cool eel (hum, I think it's an eel). Pictures are a bit blurry because instead of pausing she kept trying to attack through the glass. I don't think she liked me.

2007-09-09T00:23:00.001-07:00

sept07

And last but not least a little video. So I'm still tryin g to figure how to post a video directly on the blog, if it's not working just click on the image and you should be ok

gold fish are for real

2007-09-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

So I've always wondered why gold fish were called gold fish. I mean they are usually red right? Well good thing I've traveled all the way to Japan to discover a gold fish that is actually GOLD. So why are they call gold fish? Why don't you check wikipedia yourself if you want to know.

"The first recorded instance [of swallowing a gold fish] was in 1939 at Harvard University." There are so many things going through my mind right now that I think I just won't say any...

En anglais on appelle les poissons rouges "gold fish" (les poissons dores). Je me suis toujours demande pourquoi les poissons qui sont rouges aux USA comme les notres (vous me suivez?) sont appeles poissons dores. Et bien parce que a l'origine ils etaient plutot dores que rouges (explication complete en anglais du pourquoi du comment ici). Et au Japon on trouve des poissons dores! Maintenant je me demande bien comment on appelle les poissons dores en francais. Des poissons rouges?

On japanese アナヒセ (I think that means Anais but I wouldn't bet my savings on it)

2007-09-02T03:04:00.000-07:00

So I've started Japanese classes again (fine, one so far). And I've decided that not only I should try to speak it but I should also try to read and write it (might as well right?). For those of you who don't remember what the Japanese "alphabet" is from your high school years, here's a extremely short, probably not that accurate explanation.

- A long long time ago Japanese wasn't really a written language

- With all that trading going on between China and Japan, the Japanese decided to adopt the Chinese character system, the Kanji (kanji is the fun one, each 教 represent something, so think you need to know as many as there are things in the Universe (also that's not true, let's say you have the symbol for the door and then you had the symbol for "open" or "close" see what I mean? If not, feel free to get on msn and I'll tell you all about it.

- There was also the Man’yōgana in the 5th century (think Chinese characters but used for the pronunciation, not the meaning), this ended up being simplified and turned into the hiragana. Because Japan was a great advanced country like many others, education wasn't really for women and they did not have access to Kanji. So women started writing in hiragana.

- From the Man'yōgana also came the Katakana. But I'm still trying to figure this one out...

- Anyway it all ended up being mixed up and tied together to confuse me.

So to make things clear: In modern Japanese, kanji are used to write parts of the language such as nouns, adjective stems and verb stems, while hiragana are used to write inflected verb and adjective endings (okurigana), particles, native Japanese words, and words where the kanji is too difficult to read or remember. Katakana is used for representing onomatopoeia and non-Japanese loanwords (this is from wikipedia, for the scholars amoung us, click here for the full article

Fun facts:
- You have to learn 1006 kanji when you're in elementary school
- 1945+939 kanji in junior high and high school

Ok, so what's my point? Well my point is that on top of already looking pretty complicated, you need to know how to draw to write this language. And if there's one thing I absolutely can't do it's drawings. Practicing my ただ越え来れば made me remember of elementary school (or whatever school you learn your letters). Lines and lines of AAAAAAAAAA BBBBBBB ccccccc ddddd. Just thinking about it makes me want to cry.

So here I am almost 30, back in school and sucking at it. Nothing ever really change I guess. That's it for today, you'll be thrilled to know that I have finally replaced the battery of my camera. So you'll get fresh pictures soon.

Meanwhile, here's the best thing ever from Muji (for our American friends who don't know Muji take a look here or be patient, I know they are about to open one in NYC)

Glasses of rose in a can, Genius. Merci Muji.

I'm back

2007-08-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

No I didn't move to Malaysia, or even extended my stay. I've just been terrible about updating this thing. Call it the post Malaysia trauma! (well, really call it laziness). Anyway, first thing first, here are the pics from Malaysia, which will only interest you if you like monkeys or if you know my family (and NO the two are not related). click here.

Me revoila. Je sais ca fait longtemps. C'est la faute de la Malaisie. 10 jours sans rien faire ca vous donne envie de rien faire du tout. Et en plus il ne se passe pas grand chose. Pour les photos de la Malaisie cliquez ici.

club med....

2007-07-24T03:46:00.000-07:00

So I'm off to Malaysia tomorrow. Well deserve vacation from all this hard work in Tokyo....
I'll be back on the 7th (or something). Meanwhile you can suggest new names for the blog because Max pointed out that "Lost in translation" was not that original and I kind of agree. So all suggestions are weclome (as long as it's decent).

I hope you're enjoying the summer.

Je pars en Malaisie demain jusqu'au 7 aout. Je veux changer le nom du blog (Max m'a fait remarque que "lost in translation" c'etait pas tres original. Bon ben on fait ce qu'on peut mais en meme temps je suis assez d'accord) donc si vous avez des suggestions vous etes les bienvenus.

J'espere que votre été se passe bien (oui je sais a Paris il fait un temps degueu, mais bon, ca va pas durer).

A plus.

Anais

Corbu and the fish / Corbu et les poissons

2007-07-23T03:45:00.000-07:00

Nous sommes ensuite allés a Ronppongi Hills au Mori Art Museum pour voir une expo sur Le Corbusier (oui on se cultive le dimanche). C'était très intéressant surtout pour une ignorante comme moi qui pense que Le Corbusier n'a fait que des fauteuils. Par contre l'enregistrement qui nous expliquait le pourquoi du comment avait décide d'appeler Le Corbusier "Corbu" (Corbou avec l'accent anglais) et donc j'ai du écouter toutes les explications avec du CORBOU par ci CORBOU par la. A cote il y avait une expo d'aquarium avec pleins (de poissons) de façons différentes de rendre un aquarium original. Pas trop de photos parce qu'on avait pas le droit mais bon.

Sunday afternoon we went to Roppongi Hills to see an exhibit on Le Corbusier (for more info click here). Then we saw some sort of exhibit with aquariums. Not sure how to explain but it was beautiful (if you like fish). Click here for more details.

This thing was my size, it was incredible (I've also got yelled out when I toke the pic).

Cet aquarium faisait ma taille, j'en veux un comme ca pour mettre dans mon salon.

Elvis japonais

2007-07-23T03:25:00.000-07:00

We walked a little in Harajuku, that's where everyone meets up in costumes during the week end (and all the time I think). I'll go back and take more pictures but I couldn't resist showing you this, plus video below.

On a marché un peu dans Harajuku. C'est là ou tout les japonais qui se déguisent se retrouvent le week end. J'y retournerai pour prendre plus de photos parce que c'est incroyable. En attendant voile les Elvis japonais.

les elvis japonais.

2007-07-23T03:16:00.000-07:00

dance

brunch is the same everywhere...

2007-07-23T03:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had our first brunch in Harajuku, we went to a place call Fujimamas where they have pretty much everything you can find on a brunch menu. It was pretty decent but nothing can replace the eggs benedict at the Flea Market (tear!)

Hier sommes allés bruncher (3 semaines sans oeufs bénédicts c'est dur). Voila le resultat.

Japanese egss benedict.

Max ordered something call "the Plate". The most enormous brunch plate I've ever seen (bigger than Denny's I think. Speaking of Denny's I think I've seen a bunch. I need to go check it out)

week end part deux

2007-07-23T03:02:00.000-07:00

So Saturday we walked around Ginza (think lots of Chanel, Burberry, and Cartier). They close the main street the the cars so it's pretty cool to walk around.

Samedi nous sommes allés nous promener à Ginza ( genre Saint Honore en 50 fois plus grand). Comme ils interdisent l'accès de la rue principale aux voitures c'est assez agréable. Même si tu es 10 000 à marcher dans la rue, tu as un peu plus de place.

Elle est partout!

My new favorite store!

This is seriously a real dog, watch video further down.

C'est pas une peluche c'est un vrai chien (video un peu plus bas).
So we found Dalloyau and I had to have a Macaron au cafe (they are my absolute favorite, so much better than Ladurée). Unfortunately there was no more battery in my camera when I wanted to take a picture. So that's what is left of it. We also bought tones of different breads there and everything was delicious. Between Dalloyau, Hediard, Fauchon and Maxim's you can pretty much eat French everyday.

Alors on est tombé par hasard sur Dalloyau, et "j'adore leurs macarons au café". Alors je voulais vous le montrer tout mignon dans son emballage individuel mais bon voila, plus de batterie dans l'appareil a ce moment la. Vous imaginez bien que je n 'aie pas attendu qu'il se recharge.... On a aussi acheté pleins de pains différents et nous avons fait un festin le soir.

I mean, he's so cute

2007-07-23T02:40:00.000-07:00

dog

Week end part 1

2007-07-23T02:23:00.000-07:00

So Saturday I had to escort Max to his office so he wouldn't spend the day there. He was only supposed to go there for a minute but we all know how that goes. So here's a tour.

Samedi nous sommes passés au bureau de Max pour récupérer un truc. Comme j'avais pas envie qu'il passe la journée la bas, j'y suis allée avec lui pour accélérer les choses. Du coup, une petite visite guidée de sa nouvelle maison.

2007-07-23T02:21:00.000-07:00

No this is not a spaceship, it's Max's building.

with a BIG scary sculpture in the middle

The vue from Max's floor, I think there's some sort of net in case you decide to jump.

Our car...

2007-07-23T02:14:00.000-07:00

I need one like that

C'est quand meme bien pratique

The Phone: no wonder you need an MBA.

Au moins le samedi il peut aller au bureau en T-shirt

Max works hard, even on Saturday

2007-07-23T02:10:00.000-07:00

You see they do have helmets under their desks.

Le casque sous le bureai

Somehow the enemy is in the place...

On se demande ce que ca fait la ca....

More, in case you're not at your desk when it starts shaking

Encore des casques au cas ou tu n'es pas a ton bureau quand ca secoue

I'm a trader too...

Moi aussi je suis un trader...

update (because you care)

2007-07-20T03:32:00.000-07:00

The Music video is from a movie call "Unfair", it comes out in DVD in September.

Le clip est extrait d'un film qui s'appelle "Unfair". Et il sort en DVD en septembre. Youpi!!

speaking of video

2007-07-20T02:50:00.000-07:00

I'm still not sure if that's a real cat (I know it's moving, but still), but I want the same on my couch. Selima and Zophie, can your cats do that? (great, now I'm going to spend the rest of the day watching animal videos on YouTube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOxd_qO8Qd0

Puisqu'on est dans les vidéos, j'aime beaucoup ce chat, je me demande si c'est un vrai (oui je sais il bouge mais bon...). En tout cas je veux le même sur mon canap. Sabrina, il fait ça Véronique? (Super maintenant je vais passer le reste de la soirée a mater des vidéos de bébés animaux sur YouTube)

I love Japanese pop music / J'adore la pop japonaise

2007-07-20T02:30:00.000-07:00

My new fav song, by 伊藤由奈 (Yuna Ito for the few of you who can't read Japanese). It's called "I'm here". No idea what's going on but it looks pretty serious (and yes, I'm aware it looks like it's from a movie, I'm trying to track it down, but if you think it's easy to google people in Hiragana think again). Oh and if you don't watch it till the end you will miss an awesome stick dance ;-)

Ma nouvelle chanson préférée. "I'm here" par 伊藤由奈 (Yuna Ito). Oui parfaitement après 3 semaines ici j'écris parfaitement bien le japonais. Je pense que je vais me mettre a importer des chansons japonaises en Europe, j'veux dire, ça s'écoute bien non?

What can I say...

2007-07-20T02:18:00.000-07:00

Clearly I'm already famous, also I'm not sure how I feel about my name next to that derriere (much improved after the treatment, with Anais Skincare lab, you get real results on real people). I wonder if I can get a discount...

Bon alors je suis deja celebre... Mais le premier japonais qui me sort, "oh, Anais, comme ANais Skincare Lab" soyons clair, je l'etrangle.

I ate raw tuna.... / J'ai mange un morceau de thon cru

2007-07-18T01:02:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Lucas, Max and I went to eat Sukiyaki (thin sliced beef cooked in some sort of Soya sauce) in a restaurant called Banyou. Somehow they decided to put us in a private room - it was only the 3 of us and the room could have easily seat 8 people - and we had 3 waiters. One to order (he spoke English so he was pretty much behind the door making sure everything was ok) one who brought the food, and a waitress who was wearing a kimono and cooked the Sukiyaki in front of us (tres fancy). It was a full menu so obviously as a starter we got some raw tuna (no rice, just the tuna). So i decided that the tuna looked ok enough for me to try. I poured wasabi and Soya sauce on it. And I ate it! It was ok, also today I feel a little weird, but it might not be tuna related. So next stop, the sushi conveyor-belt restaurant (so I can see what's around and not order something too weird)

Hier avec Max et Lucas nous sommes allés manger un Suriyaki (tranches de boeuf cuite dans une sauce de soja, un peu comme une pierade mais avec une poêle) dans un resto qui s'appelle Banyou. Je ne sais pas si c'était pour nous cacher ou parce qu'on avait l'air hyper sympa mais ils nous ont mis dans une petite salle privée ou il y avait de la place pour 8! En entrée bien sur il y a eu du thon cru et je me suis dit, bon c'est maintenant ou jamais vu que c'est un bon restaurant et qu'il n'y a personne pour me regarder au cas ou je fais la grimace. Alors ce n'était pas mauvais, j'ai mis beaucoup de sauce de soja et de wasabi et hop. Aujourd'hui je me sens un peu bizarre mais je sais pas si c'est le thon, l'idée du thon ou autre chose. Prochaine étape, le sushi sur tapis roulant, peut être ce week end qui sait...

I have a phone! Enfin un telephone

2007-07-17T01:28:00.000-07:00

Ca y est! j'ai enfin un telephone!! bon alors il fait pleins de trucs mais l'instant je ne comprends pas tout. Certains trucs sont en anglais mais parfois c'est juste en japonais
Ca donne
Attention lisez cette information tres importante: 謎のテープ、白鈴會、骸骨男……小さな点が、事件解決への糸口となる！2007年7

Ben oui tout a fait... Et la tu ne sais pas si ton telephone va s'autodetruire si tu reponds oui.

Finally I have a phone! So now I have to figure exactly how it works (it does a lot of great stuff, like you can use it as your metrocard, or you can do video phone call). Some of the features are in English, but not so much. So sometimes I face a very important choice
謎のテープ、白鈴會、骸骨男
or
事件解決への糸

It's good to be connected!

Sake is dangerous/ Le sake c'est dangereux

2007-07-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

I hope you can see that picture, I toke it in the Edo-Tokyo Museum and it's a drawing from the 17th century (or something). It just cracks me up. They all just ate and going crazy (I think too much Sake). One is trying to climb the wall, half of them lost part of their Kimonos there's food everywhere.

J'espère que vous pouvez voir cette photo. Je l'ai prise au musée Edo-Tokyo (oui je vais au musée). Elle date du 17th eme siècle (enfin quelque chose comme ça, je sais plus) et représente un paquet de samouraï complètement saouls après le repas. Ça grimpe au mur, ça perd son kimono, ça rigole tout seul... J'adore

Japanese people are smarter (and naughtier) than us

2007-07-17T00:47:00.000-07:00

Because from 6:57am to 8:57am (you've got to love the exactitude!) some subway cars are WOMEN ONLY. Meaning that while you're pressed against the people around you like you were only one gigantic sweaty person, there will be no grabbing, no pitching, no "did that guy just touch my derriere on purpose or not".

A Tokyo, le matin, il y a des voitures réservées aux femmes dans le métro. Parce qu'il y a tellement de monde que ces petits cochons de japonais en profitaient pour pincer tranquillos les fesses des filles. Du coup, de 6h57 a 8h57 du matin les filles sont tranquilles. Je me demande si a 8h58 les japonais se précipitent dans les wagons a femmes pour pouvoir y pincer quelques fesses...

Pas de typhon mais un tremblement de terre

2007-07-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

Bon alors le typhon s'est change en tempête tropicale alors qu'il s'approchait de Tokyo (il est censé en avoir 8-10 par an donc on est pas rendu). Par contre ce matin a 10h13, on a eu droit a un tremblement de terre (6.6 de magnitude apparemment pas sur l'échelle de richter parce que c'est dépassée et que c'est que pour la Californie ou un truc comme ça. Il faudra que je me penche sur la question parce que moi mes connaissances tremblementerriennes ça remonte a la 4eme). Mais en tout cas , 6.6 c'est fort, vu que le plus fort c'est 10. Donc l'immeuble c'est mis a tangue. Sérieusement a tangue, imaginez un immeuble de 32 étages qui tangue, c'est très bizarre. Les rideaux se sont mis a bouger et puis après tu sais pas trop si c'est toi qui bouge, l'appartement, ta tête. Bref, ça a dure 2-3 minutes et puis plus rien.
J'ai appelé Max au bureau pour savoir si tout allé bien et pour me faire confirmer que c'était bien un tremblement de terre (et pas un effet secondaire du typhon. Après tout je n'en sais rien, c'est mon premier typhon et mon premier tremblement de terre). La bonne nouvelle c'est que les immeubles ils tiennent bien le coup et que ça n'a l'air de perturber personne. La mauvaise c'est que j'ai mal au coeur maintenant.
Voila voila, ça commence fort la semaine!

no Typhoon but an earthquake

2007-07-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

So the typhoon was downgrade to a tropical storm as it arrived in Tokyo (no worries, apparently there are about 8-10 a year so we will probably get another one sooner or later). And this morning, at 10:13, the building started shaking. I was in my bed and it felt like the bed was turning (kind of the same feeling as "the bed is turning" when you're hangover. Not that I know anything about that). It' pretty much the same feeling as being in a boat, if the boat is in the middle of a small storm. Stuff started shaking in the apartment and I think it lasted about 2-3 minutes. I seriously wondered if I was suppose to go under the table or the desk but I think I was too confused about what I was experimenting. It's my first earthquake after all so I wasn't sure if it was that or some crazy side effect of the typhoon. The good new is that the building is in one piece and everything looks the same (from what I can see by the window). And there's no bad news (I do feel a little sea-sick though). The magnitude was 6.6 (for the earthquake expert among us) meaning that it was kind of strong. Max felt it at work too, he didn't wore his helmet (yes, they have helmets at work, I'm a little jealous) and he's still working.
Voila, more to come later today.

last blog du jour

2007-07-13T02:08:00.000-07:00

Today I'm in a very bloggy mood, but I guess I'll keep some of it for another day. I don't want you to do a Tokyo overdose.
I went to Isetan again (the tres chic mall that has an amazing food court in the basement.) I was so happy I think I had tears in my eyes. Here's some pictures and videos...

Bon dernier blog de la journée (sauf rappel des fans). Aujourd'hui je suis encore allée a Isetan, le mega Bon Marché qui a une "epicerie" au sous sol. J'adore je veux tout acheter (meme les macarons Pierre Hermé). Voila quelques photos et vidéos (vous remarquerez que je ne suis pas encore tres au point avec la video). Ah et puis ce week end il y a un Typhon qui se ramene. C'est sympa pour visiter les apparts. Pour voir ce qu'il se passe plus d'info ici.

Also there's a typhoon coming to see what's up, click here.

Isetan

2007-07-13T02:04:00.000-07:00

oui c'est une tete de gros poisson (et oui je suis nulle en poisson donc je peux pas vous dire ce que c'est. Un thon?)

yes it's a very big fish head...

Et ca c'est une pasteque carree. Alors bon, je sais pas si je sors de ma province mais ca ma quand meme bien impressionnée. Celle en triangle aussi remarque. Pour les curieux .

That's a square (and a triangle) watermelon. You give it as a gift. I kind of want one (but it's ridiculously expensive). Wanna know more.

Pot de confiture a la framboise a 10 euros.

Strawberry jam for $12.

La prochaine fois j'essaye la glace bleue.

Next time, I'll try the blue one.

Sushi fiesta

2007-07-13T01:33:00.000-07:00

Isetan

2007-07-13T01:32:00.000-07:00

See why I get lost in the subway / Vous voyer pourquoi je me perds dans le metro

2007-07-13T01:22:00.000-07:00

Le subway

2007-07-13T00:51:00.001-07:00

I hope you can read French because this will be a short version of what I just wrote below (ha! I'll probably end up writing more...)
So the metro card here is quite complicated. You have to buy individual tickets because the prices change depending on:
Where you're going
What line you're on
What day (no, just kidding)

Finally this spring someone came out with a card call PASMO (it toke me 2 weeks to figure it out). You can use it for the subway, the train, and the buses and even to pay for your groceries at the Seven Eleven (yes there are 7/11 in Tokyo, THEY ARE EVERYWHERE).
So I tried to get it but (and I think that can only happen in Japan) it's sold out. Yes, the freaking metro card is SOLD OUT. I mean, what can you say...

Luckily for me I was complaining about it to my Japanese teacher yesterday and she told me that another card, the SUICA had the same features. So ok, it's not pink like the Pasmo, but it's green and has a penguin on it (in Japan, penguin = subway?? not sure why, but as long as it works... and I love penguins anyway).

Now I have my card, it's a magnetic card so you don't have to take it out of your wallet, you just place it in front of the entrance and hop, the doors open. You don't have to worry anymore about the fare, the right ticket and so and so. Can't believe it toke until spring 2007 to come up with the concept!! Right in time for moi I guess.

In the subway

2007-07-13T00:39:00.000-07:00

Dans le métro/train/bus pour circuler c'était très compliqué jusqu'au mois de mars (ou avril) dernier. En effet, les tickets n'étaient pas les mêmes. Un ticket pour le métro, un ticket pour le JR (réseau train/ métro prive), une ticket pour la ligne rose qui fait partie du JR mais pas vraiment, et tout ça et tout ça. Il y avait bien la carte Suica (photo ci-dessous) mais elle ne marchait que pour les lignes de JR.

Et puis en mars quelqu'un de très malin a sorti la PASMO une carte non seulement très pratique (utilisable pour le métro, le JR et le bus, et qui te sers de carte de crédit dans certains magasins) mais en plus rose. Alors je me dis formidable, achetons la! Et ben non, parce que figurez-vous que le Pasmo, c'est en rupture de stock m'explique le monsieur du guichet. Mais enfin, c'est une carte de metro???!!! Oui ben c'est sold out.

Bon tres bien je vais continuer d'acheter des tickets a l'unité comme une galerienne (oui parce que non seulement les tickets sont différents, mais en plus, selon la distance, les prix ne sont pas les mêmes. Petit exemple concret. C'est pas le même prix si tu vas de Charenton-le Pont a Bastille, que si tu vas de Charenton-le Pont a Saint Germain).

Mais le lendemain j'en parle a ma prof de japonais qui me dit que maintenant la Suica fait la même chose que le Pasmo donc je peux avoir une carte avec un joli pingouin (en plus j'adore les pingouins. Par contre je me demande quel est le rapport entre un pingouin et le RER? la glisse peut être?). Et donc tout ca pour dire que je suis allée m'acheter une Suica (tu la gardes toute ta vie, tu peux la recharger rapidos aux machines).

Pour ceux qui s'inquièteraient du sort de la Pasmo, elle devrait être réédité en Septembre ou Octobre. Bien sur, j'irai en acheter une.

My Suica card. With it I can:

Ma carte Suica. Avec je peux:

- pay for food in the subway

- payer les distributeurs de pates (bon je sais on voit rien sur la photo, mais tu commandes tes pates dehors, ca te donne un ticket et puis apres tu vas les chercher a l'interieur de la boutique. Enfin je crois, j'ai jamais essaye)

- pay for my drinks

- payer pour les boissons

- thanks to Suica, even if I don't have money, I can drink delicious green tea.

- grace a Suica, meme quand je n'ai pas d'argent je peux boire du delicieux the vert.

- but I can't buy flowers

- par contre je ne peux pas acheter de fleurs

and of course, I can take the subway.

et bien sur je peux prendre le metro.

Craziness

2007-07-12T04:43:00.000-07:00

In Tokyo, you're not allowed to smoke in the street, there are spaces where you can smoke. BUT I discovered yeterday that you can smoke in the subway...

A Tokyo, on ne peut pas fumer dans la rue, il y a des espaces reserver (comme ca les gens mettent pas leur vieux megots partout). Mais en meme temps tu peux fumer dans le metro...

More apartments

2007-07-12T04:34:00.000-07:00

Mon jardin japonais

My japanese garden

My pool

Ma piscine

Mon salon qui donne sur mon jardin japonais

my living room with the vue on my Japanese garden

my private terrace

ma terrasse

2007-07-12T04:25:00.000-07:00

Japanese restaurants are pretty

2007-07-12T04:22:00.000-07:00

Before...

After... (eat very close to the plate and make a lot of noise)

My favorite thing, they have fresh garlic on the table and you can just squeeze some in your food

I'm turning Japanese

2007-07-12T03:35:00.000-07:00

So today I had my first real Japanese food experience. I told the broker I wanted to try Japanese food (because so far we had Indian and Mexican) and I swear to God, he started laughing so much, I got upset.

Broker: hahahaha Japanese food Anais-san, I don't think so hahahaha.
Me: Well, I know I don't like sushi but there's more than sushi to Japanese cuisine right?
Broker (still laughing): yes of course, but I really don't think you will like it.
Me (now very upset): but you know, I ate Japanese food before.
Him: hum hum, sure.
Me: whatever.

I gave him the silent treatment for like 10 minutes (my broker and I we are so comfortable with each other that we often don't speak for a while and start conversation again), and he probably didn't notice but then he said, ok let's try Japanese.
YEA! oh, hold on, if I don't like it now, he's going to make fun of me for ever. Maybe we're going to have a soup where the fish in it are still alive or something.
We went to a ramen place (I know, it's Chinese, but it's been in Japan for ever and they eat it all the time).

The choices are pretty easy: do you want your ramen strong or light, do you want your noodles soft, medium or hard.
That's it. And it comes with dumplings and on the table you have sauce and stuff you can add to it. It was delicious, I ate everything, and I think I gained the respect of my Japanese broker.
"Anais san, you're eating like a real Japanese, very good." You bet!

I hope you guys come soon so I can bring you there (I thought I've discovered some super secret place but he told me that it was actually a chain! Whatever, it's still delicious)

c'est difficile le japonais...

2007-07-12T03:04:00.000-07:00

Et bien voila tout est dit. En gros pour apprendre le japonais il faut oublier tout ce que tu sais. Par exemple le mot "NO" ben en japonais ça signifie le possessif. Alors c'est très pratique, parce que ton cerveau cela fait 29 ans que quand il voit/entend/lit: non, niet, nein, no, nada, ne (en esperanto que je parle très bien) il pense négatif. Mais NON, en japonais, "kimono no" ca veut dire mon kimono (en gros). Ya aussi pour t'embrouiller encore plus 3 façons différentes d'écrire le même mot. Par exemple si tu cherches une station de métro toi tu cherches un long mot complique "azabujuban" et puis sur le plan de métro c'est ecrit "azabu-juban" attaché, pas attaché, cadependdelhumeur. Et puis ya "de rien" que je vais être obligé de m'écrire sur la main parce que vraiment ça rentre pas: Do itashimashite.
Bref que du bonheur. J'ai l'impression d'être a l'école, j'ai des devoirs, tout ça...

I love Japanese music

2007-07-11T04:04:00.000-07:00

So I still have to do a post on my Japanese classes. And I also want to talk to you about MTV Japan and my new favorite MTV guy BOO. But this is has absolute priority on everything else.
Everyone who knows me is aware of my love for all things cheesy. Let me tell you one thing. JAPAN IS FOR ME. So since I'm very busy today (yes I am) I wanted to share with you this amazing video. And in case you wonder, no it's not from the 80's, it's number 4 in the MTV charts this week.

And, yes, they all have vegetable microphones, and yes one of them is about 10 years old.
And as for the title since I'm know a Japanese scholar Itoshi no Napolitan (that’s the title) doesn't mean "I'm not Napolitan" it means "I am Napolitan" (or something like that). Because NO in Japanese express belonging or affiliation.

Sorry I don't have time to figure out how to put the video directly on my blog so click here

2007-07-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

Japanese people are smarter than us.

That's a parking payment machine in the street. So? So there's no time limit and you don't have to run feed the meter every hour. You pay at the end, the smart machine tells you how much time your car spent there (there's some detector in the ground underneath your car) and voila!

Voila une bonne petite machine. C'est pour payer quand tu te gare dans la rue. Au lieu d'etre obliger de calculer combien de temps, et puis apres tu peux rester que 2 heures et puis t'as pas de monnaie et le tabac du coin n'a plus de carte...
A la japonaise ca donne:
- tu peux rester autant que tu veux
- tu payes a la fin comme ca on n'en parle plus (ya un detecteur sur les places)
- tu peux mettre des billets

More apartment pictures

2007-07-09T04:42:00.000-07:00

Ma salle de gym

My gym

Mon studio de dance (c'est a dire le salon)

My dance studio (and the living room)

I mean, do I have to comment on this one... That has to be the name of my building!

Jveux dire, ils sont magnifiques ces japonais, Chanel/Chanex....

Ma vue de pleins pieds au 34 eme etage

Baguettes et Burritos

2007-07-09T04:04:00.000-07:00

Aujourd'hui première leçon de japonais. Je pense que ce n'est pas gagné. Ce n'était qu'une demi heure d'initiation (c'est un peu ce qui m'inquiète en fait) donc je vous en dirai plus demain.

J'ai aussi mangé mexicain. Je sais je n'ai même pas encore mangé de sushi que je m'attaque au burrito. Je vous rappelle que ça fait une semaine et un jour que je suis ici et je n'ai toujours pas manger de macdo. Ne vous affolez pas, je compte bien faire une étude comparative entre: le macdo, le local, Wendy's et le burger King qui vient de se réimplanter au Japon apres plusieurs année d'absence (un peu comme en France). Et puis je suis la pour un moment donc je vais pas mager que des trucs japonais tout le temps. C'est même pas moi qui est eu l'idée du burrito, c'est le mec de l'agence immobilière. "Anais-san, ça vous va le mexicain?" "OUI".

On a encore vu tout pleins d'appart dont un au 45eme étage. C'est très haut et, non pas que ça change quelque chose, mais si il y a un tremblement de terre, moi le 45eme étage ça me dit moyen. Bon d'accord, au moins tu tombes sur tout le monde mais bon, j'ai comme un doute.

Sinon aujourd'hui je me suis perdue en :
Allant a la banque
Allant au métro
en rentrant chez moi en sortant du métro

Mot du jour (a mon avis plutôt mot de mois ou de l'année):
SUMIMASEN
Ca veut dire excusez-moi et on peut l'employer pour tout
sumimasen quand je te pousse
sumimasen quand je t'écrase le pied
sumimasen quand tu appelles le serveur pour qu'il t'apporte l'addition
sumimasen mais je ne parle pas japonais...

Burritos and chopsticks

2007-07-09T03:44:00.001-07:00

Today I had my first Japanese lesson. Not much to say except that it's going to be tres tres difficult. I'll write more about it tomorrow since today was just some sort of initiation.
I also went to see more apartments. I saw one on the 45th floor, it's very very high and I'm not sure I will like leaving there. More apts on Wednesday, the broker is going to show me some houses as well. "Anais-san, do you want to see some houses?" "I sure do broker-san, I sure do".

I also ate my first Japanese burrito today, not my fault, the broker made me. And I'm not sorry. I'm not going to eat sushi and bento boxes only for 3 years! (ok I know, I haven't ate sushi yet, but so not the point).

Today I've also got lost:
1/On my way to the ATM
2/On my way to the train
3/on my way back home once I was out of the train
The result is a blister so big I'm scared just looking at it.

Oh and here's my new favorite word : "Sumimasen"
It means "excuse me" like it means excuse me in English
Sumimasen in the subway when you push people
Sumimasen at the restaurant when you need something
Sumimasen I broke your nose
Sumimasen no hablo Japanese

First week end/Premier week end. Part deux.

2007-07-09T03:19:00.001-07:00

Donc ce week end est est reste assez tranquille. Je rappelle qu'on est la pour 2-3 ans alors on va pas trop s'agiter. surtout que quand vous allez TOUS venir, il va falloir se retaper tout les trucs, alors autant les découvrir avec vous. Parce que Soho le samedi apreme a New York, on va éviter de se le refaire version Tokyo. (Remarque ici il y a tellement de shopping areas que tu peux changer a chaque fois...). Donc samedi tranquille, Max a un test pour le boulot mercredi donc il doit étudier, et moi je cherche un boulot (et oui ca prends beaucoup de temps d'envoyer des CV et des lettres de motiv).

Le soir on est quand même sorti avec un ami de mon ami Sam (de New York), Hiro, qui vient de revenir a Tokyo (il a fait son MBA a New York). Pour fêter son retour lui et ses potes sont allés dîner sur un bateau et ils se sont tous habiller avec des Yakutas (Kimonos). Il nous a gentiment invité et on les a rejoint devant un boite de nuit appelée Ageha. C'etait énorme de les voir sortir des taxis avec des kimonos et des tongues.

La boite immense, genre l'Acropole avec des salles différentes, une piscine, pleins de stand pour caler les petits creux et de la bonne techno a fond. C'était assez rigolo. Les japonais ils s'habillent tous d'une façon différentes. Yen a en costumes, yen a en jeans avec des t-shirts fluo, yen a en trucs tu sais même pas ce que c'est. Ça change de New York (ou Paris) ou tous le monde est plus ou moins habillé pareil. On est resté jusqu'à ce que Hiro plonge dans la piscine et puis on est rentré (il faut réviser, il faut trouver un travail...).

Pas de photos de la soirée parce que comme je suis une petite maligne j'avais oublie mon appareil. De toutes façons, c'était interdit de prendre des photos dans la boite.

First week end/ premier week end

2007-07-09T02:04:00.000-07:00

So nothing major this week end (I would like to remind everyone that we're here for at least 2 years so if we don't go-to-the-fish-market-at-4am-in-the-morning-and-then-to-the-imperial-palace-the-ropongi-shopping-and-do-the-tea-ceremony in one day, IT'S OKAY).
Max has to study for his test on Wednesday and I have to keep harassing people so someone will give me a job.

Saturday night we went out. Max's friend Lucas from Brazil is here and the 3 of us went to meet up with Hiro (who did his MBA with my good friend Sam, a.k.a. the future king of the Universe). Hiro just came back from the States and he was celebrating being back with his friends (Plus a bunch of his MBA friends that were here in vacation). They went out for dinner and all wore Yukatas (kimonos). We only met them at the club (Ageha) but it was pretty hysterical to see all of them wearing Kimonos.
Sadly there are no pictures because:
A/ you couldn’t take pictures in da club
B/I forgot my camera anyway

Club was pretty crazy, huge, with tons of different rooms, a pool, a mini food court, and some American dudes wearing bermuda pants (I mean people, this is not the Club Med).
Because Hiro is connected, we were in the VIP section (where the music is not as loud). It's overlooking part of the club and you're allowed to drink in real glasses (in the rest of the club, it's plastic glass, which is smart because I still remember a little girl who was diving in the pool at the Raleigh in Miami and she found a broken glass. Still surprise her parents didn't sue the hotel, I was ready to testify!).
All night Hiro was dying to jump in the pool but the security told him that if he did so he will get kicked out (they have rules and times about the pool apparently). He finally jumped in and that's when we left (no no my Celine shoes will not get close to any chlorine saturated water, you know how much Celine costs here? and God knows if they have my size, everyone here is a sizen5 and I’m much much closer to a 9).
Anyway, the night was pretty fun and hopefully we'll meet up with Hiro very soon.

Pictures of the NYC goodbye party

2007-07-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Party NYC june2007

Japanese people are smarter than us

2007-07-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

In one of the building there's a special "dog" button in the elevator. If you have Fifi with you, you push it so people who are waiting for the elevator know that there's a dog in it. So if they don't like dogs, they are aware of Fifi's presence in the elevator and they can take another one. At least that's what the broker told me, maybe he was bullshitting me, but I mean do you guys see any other explanations? I wish they had a button like that for well, everything I don't like.

Dans l'ascenseur ya un bouton a chien. Comme ça si vous êtes dedans avec Fifi, vous pousser le bouton et hop, tous ceux qui aiment pas les chiens peuvent monter dans un autres ascenseur. C'est tout de même bien pratique. Et ca fait rever...

Apartment hunting

2007-07-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I went to look for an apartment.
Oh joy! I can't wait to live in a 2-bedrooms-with-a gigantic-leaving-room-a-terrace-and-a-shoe-palace.
We have a very decent budget so we should be able to find something nice. We still have to decide where we want to live (somewhere in the south-west), if we want a doorman, and this and that.
So my new bff the broker and I went on a 5 hours journey. First let me reassure you, brokers are all the same. Everywhere. I mean, the Japanese brokers are very nice and polite and they don't call you sweetie or honey, and they don't show up half an hour late or try to show you something in a basement when you specified that you wanted a lot of light. But still, they emailed us a bunch of apt options and we said we wanted to see all of them except for the one that were over 700,000. Ah, well I saw all of them anyway...
Which was fine, because it's always interesting to look at apts in a new city. See where, you know, real people live.

I saw 10 apartments yesterday and I cried, everytime. After living in the west village apt, everything looks like a castle. Think 1600 square feet with a garden in the back, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a 279 SF living room.

So I'm thinking about opening a bed & breakfast. I'm also thinking about taking a cat, and a rabbit (I know, bad combination) and maybe a hedgehog (why not, there’s room, he would fit so perfectly on my new cream carpet. Yes because 80% of the apartments are fully carpeted (ok, that's probably not a word, but you get it), and the carpet is always whitish, and you know how delicate I am, so that's going to be interesting,. Even more if I get a hedgehog).
Another apartment had a terrace, that was, I think bigger then our old apartment. And of course, there are the super buildings with gyms, Jacuzzis and sky lounge bars open from 6am to 2pm. I'm telling you. Oh joy!
Maybe if we move to a cheaper neighborhood we can live in a penthouse with rooftop and swimming-pool.
Anyway, I will be looking at apts all next week and Max will look at the ones I really like next Saturday. Hopefully we will be able to make a decision sooner then later (because yes, I have better things to do).

I'm actually starting Japanese classes on Monday, this is going to be very interesting, especially since I can't concentrate on anything (except on TV shows) for more then 10 minutes. I wanted to take the super extra intensive classes (3hours, 5 days a week), but the nice lady told me I should start by doing 1:30 every day since my brain was not that big (they have a machine that measures your brain to see how much you can take. Just kidding people, just kidding. That would be cool though.)
I think I'm secretly relieved, I want to do good, but the idea of seating still in a Japanese class for 3 hours freaks me out.

I can't wait to teach you all new words.
Sayonara!

Trouver un appartement...

2007-07-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hier je suis allée visiter des appartements. C'est très pratique quand on ne sait pas vraiment: ou on veut habiter, si on veut un doorman ou pas. Si on veut vivre au 30eme étage ou en rez de chaussez. Bref de nombreuses questions existentielles qui empêchent de dormir.

Enfin on sait deja dans quelle partie de Tokyo (dans le sud-ouest), et on veut une terrasse ou un balcon. Et puis bien sur, au moins un 2 bedrooms pour que vous veniez tous nous voir.

Donc me voila partie avec l'agent immobilier qui m'appelle Anais-san (j'adore) sur les routes de Tokyo (cette ville est une autoroute, y'en a partout, ca monte, ca descend, ya des ponts sur les ponts).
Je ne vais pas vous décrire tout les 10 appartements, mais bon quand on passe de 30 mètres carrés dans le West village a 140 avec jardin dans Tokyo, et bien on a la larme a l'oeil (et cette impression d'avoir gagné au loto). Le 1er appart, 148m2, balcon sur le devant sur la rue, grande terrasse/jardin derrière, 3 chambres, 2 salles de bain avec baignoires, 26m2 de salon et un placard rien que pour les chaussures (c'est très important d'enlever ses chaussures quand on rentre dans un appart, alors il faut de la place pour les ranger). Entre le broker et moi, je ne sais pas lequel était le plus content. Il n'avait jamais vu l'appart non plus, et on courrait partout comme des fous. 'It's so big Anais-san, it's very very big". Tu m'étonnes.

Je peux peut etre ouvrir un bed & breakfast (je me demande si je peux avoir un visa pour ca). Bref celui la c'était le plus impressionnant. Il y a aussi celui de 138m2 avec un placard de 4m2 dans la chambre principale et une terrasse plus grande que notre ancien appart. Et puis celui qui a la gym, le jacuzzi et un bar (oui un vrai bar en haut avec 2 bartenders, ouvert de 6h du matin a 2h de matin).
Beaucoup d'émotions et d'indécision: celui-ci est trop loin du métro, celui-là est trop loin du supermarché (ah oui parce que non seulement ils ont tous un système GPS dans leur voiture, parce que même eux, ils savent pas ou ils vont, mais en plus le GPS t'indiquent ou sont les supermarchés), celui ci ya pas de doorman, est ce qu'on veut un doorman ou pas, est ce que 4 chambres c'est vraiment ridicule (oui mais pour le bed & breakfast c'est bien quand même), et puis celui la accepte pas les animaux, et si un jour je veux un chat...
Enfin, 10 appartements et 5 heures plus tard, c'etait pas gagné, mais au moins on a du choix. Je vais continuer a visiter cette semaine et samedi prochain, Max visitera MES préférés et j'espère qu'on se mettra d'accord. Il faut en trouver un avant le 25 vu que je pars en Malaisie (youpi!).
Je pense que le broker a cru que j'étais une machine, je n'ai pas voulu m'arrêter ni pour manger, ni pour rien du tout. A14h, il m'a oblige a aller au supermarché parce qu'il était entrain de mourir de faim le pauvre.

Il m'a ensuite déposée au un centre de langues et vous serez tous très heureux de savoir que je commence lundi. 1h30 par jour (je voulais prendre 3h mais la fille a rigoler en disant que 1h30 pour commencer c'était mieux vu la taille de mon cerveau (oui parce qu'il mesure la taille de votre cerveau au Japon. Non c'est pas vrai, mais bon ça ne m'aurait qu'a moitié etonnée. En parlant de cerveau, ça me fait penser qu'ils vendent des bons gros cerveaux de vaches dans les supermarchés ici. Enfin ça doit être de vache parce que c'est gros, je voulais prendre une photos mais j'ai eu peur de me faire arrêter).
Donc je commence l'école lundi et je vais commencer a vous gonfler avec le japonais.

2007-07-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

My shoe palace.

Le palais de MA chaussure

My 360 degres vue. Ma vue panoramique

My lobby

Ma terrasse a barbecue.

Mon salon dans les arbres

My living room in the trees

First expedition

2007-07-05T03:51:00.000-07:00

Happy late 4th of July! I hope you guys are all in the Hamptons (seriously)...

So yesterday I had an appointment with someone from the French chamber of commerce (CCIFJ) so they could tell me how my job quest was ridiculous since my Japanese level was, well, inexistent. But before you get to the CCIFJ, you have to find it. And here goes my first experience by myself in the subway...

Actually I did well (I left 2 hours in advance to go to a place that was, the reception told me, 20 minutes away). The subway is pretty easy, everything is in English (most of it at least) and when you survived the New York subway system, you can handle any subway.
First can I declare my love to the Tokyo Subway System (not to confused with the Metropolitan Tokyo Rail system, I haven't try that yet. It's another subway company or something, I have to get to the bottom of that. actually, here you go). Anyway the subway is so clean, I think you could trustfully eat sushi on the floor (but you can't do that, it's not polite to eat or drink on the street here). Then when they say the subway will get here at 4:22:45, it gets there at 4:22:45. In the car themselves there's a little map of the line with an arrow that tells you in which direction you're going and a little red dot that indicates the station. After 4 years of taking that stupid express instead of the local because I wasn't thinking, this is dreamy.

So here I was at the station, trying to figure how much my ticket could cost (depends on how far you go). I did the smart thing, I asked some nice subway agent (there're pretty much everywhere, and since I can't believe they're here to help the poor lost souls like me, I think Japanese are just as confused about Tokyo). So: got the ticket, got in the subway, got out at the right stop. That's where it starts to get confusing. The outside world. Don't ever expect to go in the right direction. I mean I have the worst sense of direction anyway but someone I know gets confused as well.
I was looking for an avenue. I could see it on my map, I could see it on the subway map at the entrance. It was supposed to be right in front of me but it wasn't. Another avenue was there. I went back in force in every possible direction and decided to (and that is really the smart thing to do in this city) ask someone right before I had a nervous breakdown.
Oh irony! I was in the right avenue the entire time, it just had a different name (like let's say you're not from New York and you're looking for 6th Avenue and you get to the Avenue of the Americas but underneath it doesn't say 6th avenue...). I went to a cafe to wait for my meeting (it only took me 1hour and 30minutes to get there), the cafe was called "café crié" (which means nothing in French). There I had to sit and listen to a instrumental triangle version of "when you believe", the Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey song.
My meeting went well, the nice gentleman who met with me agree that not speaking Japanese could be a problem, but that-I had-a-great-US-experience-and-that-should-help. I purchased a 600 pages book that has most of the info of the French companies here and was sent home. (they are also supposed to email my resume to all their database, so if your bff if the VP of LVMH Japan, now would be a good time to tell me).
I tried to take a cab to go back to the apartment (to much emotions for a day, and it was raining and my shoes were new), but the cab driver wasn't happy with me when I show him my little apartment card that says "can you please take me there" and it has a map and direction and all in Japanese. So he yelled at me for 5 minutes and then told me to get out of the cab. It's probably for the best since a cab would have cost me millions of yens and the subway is only 160.
I made it back ok. With the right subway, the right stop, the right exit (there are like, 20 options). How exciting is my life...
Max works late so he doesn't have much to say. It sucks to work in finance in Japan because you're awake before everyone and than you have to work late to interact with people from the US. Since when it's 8:30pm here, it's 7:30am there (or something like that), it's not that much fun. Luckily I think he's working mostly with London, but what do I know...

This is exhausting, I'm not sure I want to keep writing in both French and English, the last thing I want to do now is to write that again in French.

2007-07-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

Maybe they don't have the sky in Tokyo.

Je peux toucher les nuages de mon balcon, et c'est comme ca depuis dimanche

Ah enfin! A moins qu'ils aient dessines des nuages bleus dans le ciel, ils en sont bien capable.

Finally!

2007-07-03T01:50:00.000-07:00

A Tokyo ils font des coeurs dans ton cafe au petit dejeuner

There's a place call ABC cooking studio in one of the malls (I wonder if it's a chain) you can learn how to cook bread, and delicious cakes. At least that's what it looks like

A ABC cooking Studio tu peux apprendre a faire du pain. Ce qui me parait problematique vu que le four dans ce pays est souvent un mini grill uniquement utilise pour griller le poisson. Tu peux aussi apprendre a faire des gateaux. Peut etre que j'irai quand je serai parler japonais.

That's in the same mall as ABC. No it's not some Indonesian temple, it's a thai restaurant

Mais non c'est pas un temple indonesien. C'est dans le meme centre commercial que ABC et c'est un resto Thai.

Day one and two/ les 2 premiers jours

2007-07-03T01:47:00.000-07:00

So we've got to Tokyo Sunday night. We're in Shinjuku http://http://gojapan.about.com/cs/japanmaps/l/bltokyosightmap.htm

It happens to be where the red light district is. It's also the home of about a billion shopping centers (I think Tokyo entirely is just one gigantic shopping center). They're everywhere: underground, on the 40th floor of a building, in the subway stations. And when I say shopping center it's anything from sad little stores to Cartier, Chanel, tiny sushi places and some fancy French restaurants. It's ok, but I don't think that's where we want to leave.

Our apartment is nice, bigger then the one in NYC (thanks God!). We're on the 21st floor and you can't hear much (as in not much obnoxious sirens every five minutes).

Pictures to follow after the French text

Donc nous sommes arrives dimanche soir. Nous sommes a Shinjuku qui s'avere etre le red light district (enfin ya 3 rues...). De charmant japonais qui distribuent les prospectus n'arretent pas d'essayer d'en refiler a Max derriere mon dos. Il y a aussi des centres commerciaux a tout les coins de rue. Tout et n'importe quoi. De Cartier a tout a 1 euros en passant par Chanel, des petits restos de sushi et des grands restaurants. Dans les sous-sol, dans les immeubles de bureau dans les metros. PARTOUT. Il y en a un qui s'appelle Isetan (les Galleries + le Bon Marche + la Samaritaine (oui je sais, c'est ferme) reunis) au sous sol, il y a la plus grande epicerie de luxe que j'ai jamais vu. Du Hediard, du Pierre Herme, du (vrai) pain frais, du super sushi-c'est-limite-s'il-n'y-a-pas-un-elevage-de-thon-frais-pour-te-servir-les-sushis-les-plus-frais-de-la-terre-entiere. Et pleins pleins pleins d'autres merveilles. Bon plan pour les envies de bouffes francaises/italiennes chez soi. Je pense qu'il faudra que j'y retourne pour prendre des photos et vous montrer.

Sinon l'appart est sympathique, plus grand que celui que nous avions a NYC (oui je sais, c'est pas difficile). On est au 21eme etage. Quelques photos

Day one and two

2007-07-03T01:04:00.000-07:00

un cote avec la chambre / One side with the bedroom

et hop on se tourne et voila l'autre cote. le salon avec le mini canap.

and you turn around and here's the leaving/dinner/tv room

and la kitchen

2007-07-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

A l'aeroport de Tokyo, ya
un
hotel
pour
animaux.
Comme
ca si
tu peux pas partir en vacances avec
Fifi, tu la laisses la et tu la recuperes en atterissant. J'veux dire les japonais ils sont quand meme tres tres malins.

if you go in vacation but somehow you can't bring you beloved dog Fifi, you can just leave her at the pet hotel in the airport.

2007-07-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

a Tokyo meme les chariots prennent les escalators (et c'est meme pas des escalators specialises comme chez Carrefour)

2007-07-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

first japanese snack (I don't really like cold noddles for breakfast)

1er repas japonais (les nouilles froides au petit dej c'est pas trop mon truc)

2007-07-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

I just love business class, it's so pretty and easy

en business, ya encore du monde, mais bon.

2007-07-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

avec la queue en eco on serait encore entrain d'attendre notre tour.

In coach we would still be in line at JFK

2007-07-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

On a beaucoup de valises / Only 6 suitcases, and I had to ship the beauty products

At the Airport/ A l'aeroprt

2007-07-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

Bon alors, nous etions fin pret, tout etait emballe (6 valises de va savoir combien de kilos qui ont coute $180 de surplus) et en route pour l'aeroport. Et la, 1er probleme.
Le type au comptoire American Airline: Mais mademoiselle, ou est votre billet de retour?
Moi: mon billet de retour, ben j'en ai pas, vous comprenez je sais pas quand je rentre parce que....
Lui: oui tres bien mais sans billet de retour je peux pas vous laisser monter dans l'avion
Moi: ... ... ...
Lui: bon alors qu'est ce qu'ont fait?
Moi: ben je vais aller acheter un billet aller-simple a $6000?
Bref il nous a quand meme laisse passe et on est alle en cata acheter un billet dans le lounge (c'est l'avantage d'etre en business).
1ere crise resolue. Et nous sommes arrives entier a Narita avec toutes nos malles Vuitton.

So here we were, ready, at the airport with our 20, 000 pounds of luggages. And you think that nothing can go wrong.
The guy from American Airline: where's your return ticket little lady?
Me: my what?
Him: yes your return ticket, I can't let you on the plane if you don't have a return ticket
(I mean you will think that after all these years having nightmares about my US visa I would have learned something)
Me: well I don't have it because you see, I'm not sure when I'm going to leave blahblablablba
Him: well what are we going to do?
Me (wondering if crying will help): buy a return ticket now?
Anyway we bought a ticket and I was able to get on the plane.
I'll spare you the details on how AA has the worst business class ever (yes I'm that girl now). Seats don't work and all. Anyway, we made it in one piece so did the luggage.

We've made it! Ca y est

2007-07-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

So we've been here for 3 days now (because here it's already Tuesday) and I already have one very big problem... Should I do the blog in English or French? I think I'll do both, and just go back in force. I'm pretty sure some things we'll see will only make sense either in French or English. So I want to apologies in advance for: my bad English, my bad French, and my non-existant Japanese (for now) and anything you won't be able to understand. Since I'm not too busy with work right now (...)I'll try to translate in both languages, but don't get too used to it.

Voila, nous sommes bien arrives, et apres trois jours (ici c'est deja mardi matin) j'ai deja un TRES gros probleme. Faut il faire ce blog en anglais ou en francais. Devant cet insolvable dilemme et vu que pour l'instant je ne suis pas tres occupee, je vais essayer de faire les 2. Mais ne vous y habituez pas trop.