A Super Mario statue made of crystals?

Where else could you find a statue of Mario but in Tokyo? I saw this little guy at a store in Ginza. See these days I haven’t been able to write much since I have my father and sister visiting me but there was a side-effect which I think is beneficial for this blog – I get to go to a lot of stores of all kinds and see things like this. Oh and if you are interested this guy is for sale – I believe the price is around $15,000 though don’t quote me on that. I unfortunately managed to miss a part of the price tag in all 3 pictures I snapped.

The sun and the ice sculptures in Ginza

Man, today was a hot day... I went to watch the Dark Knight today at Roppongi Hills (六本木ヒルズ) and made a stop-over at Ginza around noon. It was very humid and hot which is pretty common these days but there was something unexpected - a series of ice sculptures set up in the middle of the street (which is closed for traffic these days). I mean come on, I was feeling like I myself was melting. Thankfully the sculptures had a little help from thin blocks of dry ice put on and around them but I think you can see the water dripping even in this picture. I have no idea how long the sculptures kept up but it couldn't have been very long. Pretty lucky of me to have caught them just around the time they were put up...

On a not-so-related note, The Dark Knight, is a very good, if a tad long, movie. I enjoyed it quite a bit and I think the number of "foreigners" at Roppongi Hills Toho Theater was the highest so far.

Chanel Building in Ginza （銀座）

Ginza is the center of luxurious shopping in Tokyo. Cartier, Tiffany's, Rolex, and Chanel are just a few of the stores on the main shopping street. Within the different displays and lights today I realized that the Chanel Building has a huge (i.e. covering all of the front of the multistorey building) screen. Having passed there more than a few times in the past it is quite a huge thing to miss but they managed to blend it so well with the background that it is very easy to miss if one does not look up. This time I made a small video of it - just 30 seconds long. The whole animation lasts much longer than that but you get the idea... It is one of the most harmonious uses of a screen on a building. The fact that it is in black and white makes it all the easier to blend in with the building.

Back at Ginza... Yummy tempura!

I went back to Ginza today. I had in mind seeing the Sony Building again (this time more than the first 3 floors I had a chance to visit last time) and eating at a nice Japanese restaurant. A brief web search turned up Ten-Ichi - an apparently world famous Tempura restaurant. Unfortunately they do not have a website which is very surprising (or may be I just couldn't find it). The nice thing is that the restaurant is in the Sony Building's basement.

The prices at the restaurant are a little bit on the steep side but I think given that it's in Ginza this is resonable. For lunch the cheapest set (they had 3) includes two different kinds of fish, shrimp, prawns, shiitake mushrooms and asparagus tempura as well as miso soup, japanese pickles, rice, and green tea. This costs around ￥４０００ (during lunch). The best part is it is prepared right there in front of you and it tastes sooooo good. Soo fresh and good. Some of the tempura goes well with lemon and a pinch of salt, some with tempura sauce (soy based) with radish puree mixed in, and yet others with a mixture of salt and curry powder. The chef helps you out by pointing to which one to use (which was a great help for me ;))

I could so eat another portion right now...