Shinagawa Aquarium! A Pink Cow?

Shark! (Maya's photo)
We thought this was one octopus, reflected by the wall of its tank, when in fact... (Maya's photo)
A beautiful little leaf fish, keeping up with the season. (Maya's photo) (again!)

Blowing jellyfish bubbles.
A snapshot from Keio; Mita campus- the building on the right is the East Gate (it's built upon an arch).
Shinagawa Aquarium is really into the Christmas spirit ^ ^ There were decorations like this all around, including a Christmas tree powered by an electric eel!
The cozy interior of The Pink Cow.
Live band and painting exhibition at The Pink Cow.
Are you hero?
Bremen Street in Motosumiyoshi.
It's hard to tell sometimes whether we're big or the Japanese are small.
Dawn over the Yagami River.



This is Sake no Sakana, quite possibly the most badass band of all time, currently on their "Fish German Suplex Tour." Sorry for the terrible cell-phone quality.


I actually have a free moment to blog. How did this happen? That would be Mita-sai: a huge multi-day culture festival sponsored by the school that's taking over the Mita campus. All classes are canceled for the rest of the week. So hurrah!
Instead of being busy with homework and study, I'll have a chance to be busy with blogging and fansubbing ><; So, much has happened in the past week. (but we are men of Science, so let us get down to business) First off, Shinagawa Aquarium is well worth the money, if you ever happen to be in the Tokyo metropolitan area! 1300 yen gets you unlimited access to 450 species of fish (not to mention a bevy of odd crustaceans, live coral and jellyfish). There are loads of interactive displays, including an open tank where you can get a free exfoliation performed by a dense cloud of suckerfish, and control stations for robotic cameras which you can maneuver around a large central pool (which also happens to house the aquarium's signature architectural attraction: an underwater plexiglass tunnel where you can walk, completely surrounded by sea turtles, rays, and moray eels. The tunnel happens to be lined with poinsettias, for the season :) . Did I mention that there are multiple dolphin and sea lion shows every day, gratis with admission? And those are some mighty talented basketball-playing break-dancing sea lions, I might add. I think Baltimore Aquarium isn't getting any more of my money.

And then...

The next day, I went home from school two hours later than usual, after meeting with Maya in Mita to get some sweet KFC pot pies. The pies were disappointingly small, but the love was real.

Initiating present tense...

Anyway, I get off the train at my home station of Shin-Kawasaki, and begin my weary trudge home, when Sandra (of Francophone Switzerland) spots me. I get invited out to a party in Shibuya at a place called "The Pink Cow." Party in Shibuya! In my exhausted (just pulled an all-nighter for a project) state, the words conjure only the aftertaste of vomit and confused drunkenness. I'm trying my best to politely refuse, but the proposition just keeps getting more and more interesting. Eventually I am compelled to accept. A rambling conversation ensues, I extract some coffee from a vending machine, and get on a train bound for Shibuya.

So, what sort of party were we talking about, with such intense bovine overtones? Well, it was a fundraiser of sorts (1000 yen entrance fee), with the goal of getting enough money to 1) rent a cow and 2) hand it over to some impoverished Cambodians for a year and hopefully get it to breed calves, which the Cambodian family would get to keep. I kid you not, it is completely coincidental that the name of the venue was The Pink Cow.

I was surprised by how many people I knew there (am I that out of the loop?). The interior was warm and dim, with paintings all around and small lights hung in strands. There was a film on depicting the plight of a Cambodian family (and explaining the tremendous wealth and importance a cow would represent for them). I found a seat on (or in?) a cavernous, soft couch. After the film, we were treated to a pretty decent magic (slight-of-hand, or trick, rather) show by a snarky American, followed by a (far too loud) performance by a live band (accompanied by a live painting). I was able to make a few new acquaintances.

After a few drinks, I joined a band of stalwart folk on a journey to Burger King (hah, and hah again, hah! I feel like I own Burger King after the Windows 7 Whopper thing) for some late-night snackage, then caught the last train back.


One of the best things about living in the midst of urban sprawl is that you can run for ten minutes in any given direction and find something interesting. So, what lies ten-minutes north of here, along the Yagami River? Motosumiyoshi, which has its own JR Line station and a really good outdoor shopping arcade called "Bremen Street." Bremen Street is long, lined with vegetable stores, restaurants (including fast-food places) and cafes, and all matter of small boutiques, barbers, and other shops.
Near Bremen street, across the train tracks and past the station, there's a karaoke parlor that's half as expensive as any comparable one in Shibuya. And of course I took Maya there! The only down-side of the experience was the ear-splitting feedback noise that would result from simultaneous use of both microphones. Maya sings "Zombie" better than Dolores O'Riordan ^^.

And I completed my (long, involved) application for a work permit, and submitted it today to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau. Three cheers for Capitalism!