Sign here... Ooops!

A little bit of historical humour in this post. The document below is the Instrument of Surrender signed by Japan and the Allied Powers on 2 September 1945, in which Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers and officially ended the Pacific Theater of WWII.

A historically important document to say the least. Now, on to the funny part. Where is Canada's signature? It's not there? Huh? They were most certainly one of the Allied nations and there's even a spot for them to sign. Look a little closer. Canada's representative signed on the wrong line!  This forced France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand to scratch out the next country's name and sign on the wrong line, all of which required initialization.  A silly mistake at a very important moment in history.  Was it jet lag, nervousness, forgotten eyeglasses?  

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Tokyo!  Hope you have a wonderful day everybody, wherever in the world you may be!

Ramen

For lunch today I had a bowl of delicious ramen noodles in Tokyo's Meguro Ward.  In the photos below I summarize how to acquire a bowl of ramen in Japan, taken from my experience today.  It's not as easy as you may think.  First, find a ramen bar, which either means you stumble across one facing the street or you search a building directory as in the photo below.  Next, find your ramen bar - if not facing the street it could be in the basement or way up on the 7th floor (mine was in the basement).  Next, put some yen into the machine and push the button for your ramen of choice and another button for any special toppings if you so desire.  Next, duck into the bar, find a stool, then give the ticket to a guy behind the counter and wait a few minutes for your ramen to appear!

Disney

The three of us spent Monday and Tuesday this week at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea.  Both are located near Tokyo Bay in the southeastern part of the city.  Disneyland is more or less a replica of the same theme park in California but was nostalgic and tons of fun to experience again.  DisneySea is a whole different Disney experience - a sort of Disneyland for adults - with theme zones that recreate world port cities like New York and Venice, Mayan and Persian zones, and a huge mountain in the middle of the park that has a 20,000 Leagues under the Sea theme.  Both days were wonderful and we'll definitely go back in the future.

    

Plum blossoms

I was out for a walk yesterday in Umegaoka and came across plum trees in bloom along a pedestrian walkway.  In bloom in early December?  What??  I knew that plum trees bloom earlier than cherry trees (a seasonal event often written about by the great Japanese haiku masters) but these December blossoms kind of baffled me.  Cherry trees typically start blooming in March or February in Japan (and along BC's coast) and I was under the impression that plum trees bloom in February or January at the earliest.

And what's more, it was cold enough to snow in Tokyo in November, marking the first November snowfall in 54 years and also the first November snow-on-ground measurement since 1875 - the Meiji era!  So these plum trees have already had to contend with unusually early winter weather.  But, December has been warm with a few days pushing close to 20 degrees Celsius.  Just warm enough I guess...

Samurai winter

I saw this awesome weather forecast graphic on cable TV in Japan a few days ago.  It features a samurai over the Sea of Japan blowing cold air into the country.  If you look closely at the samurai's helmet, you'll notice it displays the Kanji character for winter, which is read as 'fuyu' in Japanese.  This winter samurai figure could be Japan's equivalent of Old Man Winter or Jack Frost, don't you think?

Gonpachi / Kill Bill

On my birthday, Neko treated me to dinner at a restaurant called Gonpachi, located in the Roppongi area of Tokyo.  This is the restaurant that inspired Quentin Tarantino in creating his setting for the restaurant fight scene in Kill Bill Volume One.  Remember Beatrix Kiddo taking on O-ren Ishii and the Crazy 88s?

It definitely feels like you're walking into the film the moment you enter the building, despite the filming not being done on location.  It's large and cavernous, in Edo-style with dark wood and bamboo. We had bar seats facing the grill area.  The food, mostly izakaya fare, was quite good for the most part.  The highlights were the many grilled skewers of meat and vegetables and gingko nuts, the taro salad, and the sake.

Upon leaving the restaurant, you pass by a wall of photos of musicians and politicians who've dined at Gonpachi in the past. Stephen Harper was one of them!