Roppongi Hills...

Ironically, it took until last night for me to explore Roppongi Hills, which is just one block from our apartment. Built in 2003 at the cost of $4 billion, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before. Over 75 restaurants and 125 stores are spread out over six floors; this mega-complex also has an art museum, a movie theater, an outdoor amphitheater, an apartment complex, a hotel, a major TV station, a park and a 54-story office building. It was like slipping into an alternate universe; oddly enough, when I went back later with Ashlynn she felt the same way. Trying to photograph it would have been completely futile, so instead I took photos of what I saw there.

There was an excellent view of the Eiffel Tower-inspired Tokyo Tower, a communications and observation tower built in 1958 that is Japan's second tallest structure.

Not sure what these cats are (couldn't find anything on the Roppongi Hills website, so will have to investigate better on my next visit), but they're really cute.

 This should give you some perspective of how big they are.

They were blocked off when Ashlynn came with me later that night, so will have to take some pics with her later.

Somehow the menacing giant spider seems out of place with the sweet kitties, but it does make for some cool public art.

Summer Light Garden...

Last night I decided to eat my dinner while watching the light show at Tokyo Midtown Shopping Center. I was happy to discover that there was a large terrace filled with tables open to the public (as opposed to being part of a restaurant) that offered great views of the light show. Luckily Ashlynn was finished at 9 p.m. (her earliest finish yet) and could join me. The waterfall was accompanied by the peaceful sounds of water flowing. 

After several minutes of the waterfall, the LED lights changed into fireworks. As usual, my photography skills aren't advanced enough to capture the beauty of the show. 

 How nice to watch fireworks without having to plug your ears.

While Ashlynn was admiring the lights, she was unaware of the young girls in kimonos next to her.

It was interesting to see such traditional outfits in such a modern part of the city.

Grocery Shopping...

It looks like today might be my first day this week without a visit to the grocery store, but it's only 4 p.m. so that could still change. There's definitely no lack of options of where to buy food, including 7/11 and lots of convenience stores. Personally, I prefer this beautiful store called Precce that's open 24 hours per day. 

The fresh seafood department is amazing...

...and the options for sushi-to-go are incredible. 

As I'm trying to eat light dinners, I've stuck with smaller options including this delicious octopus, seaweed and cucumbers. A snack like this is less than $2. Looks like seaweed will be my main vegetable while I'm here...

...because the prices of fruit and veg are astronomical. Bananas and grapefruits are just double what we're used to, but these enormous peaches are nearly $3.50 each! Apples are slightly cheaper at $2.50 each.

Of course, those are bargains compared to watermelons at $15 each; larger ones went for $25! I also saw bunches of grapes going for over $20. The packaging might be cute, but I'm going to have to pass.

Traditional Japanese Restaurant...

Yesterday, Ashlynn had to be at the agency at 10:30 a.m. for a casting at a magazine and then had a two-hour break before going to eight of the typical castings for catalogs and websites. I was happy to be able to meet her for lunch. We went in search of a restaurant near Don Quijote (where we were buying a yoga mat), but wasn't having much luck finding vegetarian food. We wandered down a back alley and happened upon a place that had a picture outside of some veggies. Ashlynn showed a card that she's been carrying; the waitress showed it to the cook and confirmed they could make us something. 

This was our first place where we had to take off our shoes; rather than sitting on tatami mats on the floor, we sat at a table. This place wasn't touristy at all. The other customers appeared to be regulars since they were brought food immediately after sitting down. We were very impressed with our meal--steamed veggies (I even ate three kinds of mushrooms including one that looked like a sea fan), salad with hummus and rice.

 Ashlynn was very excited to dine in such a non-Western restaurant.

Along the way, we passed this cemetery, which was quite surprising to see considering how expensive real estate in Tokyo must be. According to Wikipedia, these graves would be family plots to hold ashes (99.8% of Japanese are cremated). The wooden boards next to the tombstones contain names of the deceased.

Japan's Version of Target?

Not far from our apartment is Don Quijote, probably the largest megastore we'll find in this urban setting with six floors crammed with nearly everything you could want: clothing, designer bags, groceries, fine wines and champagnes, small appliances, electronics, household goods, sporting goods, pet supplies, you name it. I found the costume section particularly fascinating.

 The Sailor Moon costumes came in lots of colors...

...and so did the massage oils and vibrators...

...conveniently located near the toy department selling Hello Kitty.

Better Than Roto Sushi...

We were excited to find a sushi place with the delivery system that Stella, a 17-year-old Dutch model that is also represented by IMG and Dune but is with a different Japanese agency, had told us about. This place was called Genki and they have restaurants in Hawaii as well. First we made our own green tea with instant hot water at our seat.

Then we each placed our own order on the tablet in front of us. We could order three items at one time. The prices were incredibly low.

A few minutes later, a tray would be delivered on a conveyor belt with our items. Once we'd removed our plates, we hit a button so the tray could move back to pick up the next order. So much better than waiting for plates to go by at a normal roto sushi restaurant because the selection was so much larger and you didn't have to wonder if someone else would grab what you wanted first. 

I got a bit daring for my first round. The orange one on the left is sea urchin, which I'd never had before nor plan to have again. And on the left is squid with okra; while I love squid, didn't like the combination. Everything else was excellent, especially the scallops with fried leeks. We'll definitely be going back. 

Who  knew that fast food could make Ashlynn so happy?

First Venture Outside of Roppongi...

I spent much of the last two days familiarizing myself with our neighborhood and hunting/gathering food and supplies, which is complicated by the fact that many products have little or no English on the labels. My first big "lost in translation" moment was when I bought shampoo that said "shiny." Little did I know that shiny would mean oily for our non-Japanese hair. Ashlynn suggested that I look for "blonde" shampoo, but as you can imagine, there's not much demand for that in Asia, so now we're trying "extra volume." Next time, we'll be sure to just bring our own. 

Ashlynn had to be at the agency at 12:30, so I walked with her and then tried out the metro for the first time. It was easy enough to figure out routing from a map, but I did get pretty disoriented at the transfer station. Anyways, made it to Shibuya to see the infamous "scramble crossing" in front of that station which allows pedestrians to cross at diagonals. These photos don't do justice to the number of folks that cross at the same time.

Ashlynn drives through this area pretty regularly in the casting van and can't wait for me to see it at night. Also need to be sure to get a view from above even if it means going to Starbucks. 

I was pleasantly surprised to get a message from her that she had a break after her coffee commercial audition, so she tried out the metro for the first time to meet me. The app she was using gave her better routing, but that meant that she couldn't find the station exit where I suggested we meet. Amazingly she managed to find me as I was crossing the street.

No sooner did she arrive that the agency called and said she was needed back at 4:30 instead of 6:30, so we had less than two hours to explore and grab some lunch. After discovering that my debit card wouldn't work in the ATM or the store, it was just as well that we didn't have time to shop.

First Sushi...

Had no idea that Ashlynn would be working so late, especially not on her first night, so I had to wait for her awhile (while I don't plan to meet her every night, there was no way I was going to have her wandering around on her own that first night). Finding sushi at 10 p.m. was harder than we'd expected. Lucky for us, the sushi place we finally found served excellent food! Here's my lightly seared salmon with fried leeks...

...and Ashlynn's aubergine sushi. While sushi has been Ashlynn's favorite food for years, she declared herself a vegetarian just a month ago (ironically, although we have tried to dissuade her from going vegan, we just found out that she has an allergy to dairy and eggs which is causing her eyes to tear). While she hasn't touched chicken or fish at home since, she has agreed that she'll eat some salmon and shrimp while in Japan.

This fellow was such a sweetie. He hardly spoke any English, but was very entertaining. Definitely much tastier and fresher than any sushi we've ever had in Holland.

Our Model Apartment...

Both the agency and our apartment are located in Roppongi, an area famous for its nightclubs and links to organized crime. Our apartment is on the 6th floor of this building conveniently located near Roppongi Hills.

We were originally told that we'd be sharing a studio, but at the last minute we were informed that we'd be sharing a two-bedroom with another model, 21-year-old Maria from Finland. Apparently she's moving out later this week into her own place, but no idea if we'll get another roommate or have the place to ourselves; it hasn't taken us long to figure out that communication is sparse and we'll just have to go with the flow. Regardless, it's bigger than we were expecting with a kitchen...

...and a living room. The place is clean, but it is a bit shabby; could definitely use a paint job and some new appliances as the TV, oven and dryer don't work, but I'm thrilled there's a functioning washing machine. And the A/C units work well, which is really important during the muggy summer. 

You can see that our sleeping arrangements are tight; Ashlynn was kind enough to take the mattress on the floor. We were surprised to find a decent size walk-in closet and are happy that we're not tripping over our suitcases.

When you first enter the bathroom, there's a sink and the washer/dryer (the toilet is in a separate water closet). Then you go through another door to enter the shower room, which looks a bit strange at first glance but is actually very functional. On the left is the bathtub and on the right is a large space with a shower head just mounted on the wall and a drain on the floor. There's also a really good fan that manages to dry the whole place, including the towels, quite quickly.

The Glamorous Life of a Model...

When we arrived at Narita Airport, we had a few errands to run, including getting my phone a data-only SIM and grabbing food for Ashlynn in case she had to go straight to work. While wandering the airport, a television crew interviewed us for a show about traveling to Japan. No idea if the footage will ever air, but hope it's a good sign of things to come. 

We were instructed to take a bus to the Tokyo City Air Terminal where someone from IMAGE Models, Ashlynn's Japanese modeling agency, would meet us and drive us to the agency. It was much nicer than we'd expected after watching a documentary on the shady side of modeling in Japan. Imagine how thrilled I was when we were greeted by Ashlynn's picture on the wall (here's her portfolio).

After filling out some paperwork, we were dropped off at our apartment so Ashlynn could take a shower. She was picked up at 3:30 p.m. (which was just a first day courtesy as all other days she'll need to walk about 10 minutes to the agency) and didn't get back to the office until 9:30 p.m. Turns out that was actually a short day! Yesterday, she was at the agency at 2 p.m. and didn't get back until nearly 11 p.m. At least she got to sleep in.

Basically a typical day consists of sitting in a van with around six other models (all the other girls are either Scandinavian or Russian) and going to possible jobs--anywhere from eight to ten "castings" per day. Most are for catalogs or websites, but yesterday she went to two magazines. This morning was like something out of America's Next Top Model. She had an audition for a TV commercial for coffee. She was supposed to act like a Bond Girl, throwing her arm around James Bond, who was "at least 30," and act sexy while handing him a cup of coffee. She said it was hilarious as she managed to choke him and spill on him (luckily the cup was filled with water). Can't imagine that she'll be getting that job! In fact, no idea if she'll be getting any jobs as apparently there are too many models and not enough jobs--we'll just have to wait and see.

Off to Tokyo...

If you've been following my blog, then you know I've only posted through mid-April. Next up would have been how we celebrated our first King's Day, but instead I'm going to interrupt our normal programming for this late breaking bulletin: Ashlynn and I are spending the summer in Tokyo! Instead of you having to wait months to hear about our trip (and risk me forgetting most of the details), I'm going to blog from Tokyo as time allows.

On Sunday, July 26, just two days after we returned from Poland, Ashlynn and I headed to Schiphol. It was nice that Jimmy came along to have lunch with us and to help with our heavy bags.

The day before was our 22nd wedding anniversary. Instead of having a nice celebration, I spent the day doing laundry and packing, while Jimmy set off to do some last minute errands for us. The weather was insane as Holland experienced the worst recorded July storm with nearly hurricane strength winds. Luckily, the weather was nice and calm for our departure and our flight went smoothly.

Our Mini Pizza Oven...

For Jimmy’s 50th, Sally and John gave him a mini pizza oven.

One month later we finally had a chance to try it out. Ashlynn even experimented with crusts made from cauliflower and also sweet potato.

It was a big hit!