Otsukaresama deshita!

Ahhh.. the weekend! It's been a busy busy week, but here I am. My hands are sore, my back is aching, my eyes are red, but I'm going to write this because people will yell at me if I don't. So here goes; get comfortable.

On Sunday, May 17, I went with my family to a high-end shopping center called Takashimaya to eat. It has several floors dedicated to just restaurants (because shopping builds a healthy appetite), and we decided on one called Kamakurayama. It's most famous for its beef, and I've got to say: That was good meat. If you have a lot of money lying around and like eating cow, please come here. Or please give me your money because you are being irresponsible and should never leave such large sums lying around. The other thing Kamakurayama known for is it's view.

La vue. Le grand symbole rouge est pour "Takashimaya." Le centre commercial est si grand qu'il enjambe plusiers batiments. C'est pourquoi tu peux voir Takashimaya quand tu est dans Takashimaya.

The view. The big red symbol is for "Takashimaya." The shopping center is so big that it spans several multistory buildings. That is why you can see Takashimaya even though you are in Takashimaya.

Bouef tres delicieux

Very good beef.

Kamakurayama etait delicieux mais il n'y avait pas assez nourriture. Pourqoui est-ce que la nourriture chere est si petite? Nous sommes alles a un "ramen-ya" ou un restaurant de ramen apres nous avons mange a Kamakurayama.

Kamakurayama was good but it wasn't enough food. Why are portions for fancy food so small? We went to a "ramen-ya" or ramen shop right after Kamakurayama to fill up.

I started work the next day, Monday, May 18th. It took me about an hour to get from Oyamadai to the Kagurazaka station, but all in all it wasn't bad. Except for the excessive sweating. And the packed train car. There are specific tran cars for just women and children during rush hours because there have been problems with touching. There are just too many people crammed in there for anyone to do anything should it happen. So I get to take part in that fine mess of manly bonding, exchanging breath with the old man who clearly had garlic last night and forgot to brush his teeth. I love open spaces.

Sou Fujimoto Architects is on the 6th floor of what is mainly a paper manufacturing building. It is an open studio (not unlike what the architecture kids have been in) with spaces dedicated to staff, meetings, and Fujimoto's office. I say spaces instead of rooms because nothing is really closed off. I would love to show you guys some photos, but I didn't think it would be appropriate for me to come in with my camera blazing during the first week. As soon as I think it's ok, I'll do so (which should be this week). Unfortunately, there's a confidentiality agreement we had to sign, so I can't show you any projects until they're published or completed.. which is killing me because I've been working on a sweet one. For the past week, I have spent around 40 hrs (excluding all breaks and meals) making models for this incredible something (I will be able to tell you about this project around June 8th or so). And yes, the hours really are from 10am to midnight. It's pretty grueling, but you can leave knowing that you don't have to be ashamed of your model making muscles. My right forearm is gonna be huge by July.

Monday I got to meet most of the people including Fujimoto himself. There are interns and staff from Australia, Germany, Canada, Thailand, the US, Portugal, Spain, and of course Japan. I actually started the same day as another intern, Claudia. What a day to start too! A magazine happened to come in that day to take a picture of the whole firm, and we both got to be in it. No one seems to really know which magazine though... We did some heavy lifting on Tuesday, and the rest of the day and week was spent on the aforementioned project.

Oh, and Fujimoto is awesome. He walks around in slippers all day, jokes with the staff and interns, and checks up on projects. One time he spent about 20min brushing his teeth while pacing the studio. Hilarious. I actually got to sit in on a staff meeting (because I had worked on so many of the models they were using) and see him sketch and explain how he wanted to progress the design. It was really fascinating because even though I couldn't understand what he was saying, I could more or less get it from the way he was showing us the models and drawing.

On Saturday, my coworker Pear (her Thai name is Titayas, but she goes by Pear) and I went to Odaiba. It is a man-made island that looks like it got beamed in from the future. Seriously, if they want to make another Star Wars movie they should cut costs and just shoot here.

Attendre Pear dan la gare Oimachi.

Waiting for Pear at Oimachi station.

La gare Oimachi: la ligne JR Saikyo/Rinkai

Oimachi Station: JR Saikyo/Rinkai line

Ramen-ya dans Venus Fort d'Odaiba. Je n'ai pas eu assez d'argent pour acheter ramen... donc j'ai achete riz.

Ramen-ya in Odaiba's Venus Fort. I didn't have enough money to buy ramen... so I got rice.

Un pont.

Bridge.

FujiTV de Kenzo Tange.

FujiTV by Kenzo Tange.

FujiTV. 6e etage.

FujiTV. 7th floor.

A l'interieur de FujiTV. C'etait comme "un parc d'attraction" que Pear a dit.

Inside FujiTV. It was like "an amusement park" said Pear.

Une maquette insenses! Elle a ressembler a la maquette de la ville de Monsieur Rogers mais dans Japon.

An insane model! It's like Mr. Roger's model town but in Japan.

I didn't get to spend much time in Odaiba because I had promised my family I would eat with them. What do I love more.. food that I would never be able to get on my own or sighting seeing and architecture?? I don't know what to do the next time...

Le restaurant s'appelle Kakiyasu et il est un buffet cher. L'assiette un.

The restaurant is a pricey buffet called Kakiyasu. Plate one.

L'assiette quatre.

Plate four.

Le dessert un.

Dessert one.

Le dessert deux.

Dessert two.

Sunday I went to my cousin Jared's graduation luncheon. That's sort of a family thing, so I'm just going to post one picture. The best picture... that I have ever taken.

Mon oncle.

My uncle.

A Kishouji qui est celebre pour shabu-shabu pour le diner.

At Kishoji, known for shabu-shabu, for dinner.

Chawanmushi. Un flan d'oeuf japonais.

Chawanmushi. A Japanese egg custard.

Shabu-shabu!

Shabu-shabu!

Elle avait des cheveux cools.

She had cool hair (but you can't really tell in this picture).

That's it for now. I'll try and have some pictures from the office for you guys to see. Thanks to all of you who have replied or commented either through email or on the blog itself. It's great to hear from you guys, and I hope you're all doing well. It'll probably be another week before I post, but I sure hope not. Be well, eat your vegetables, go to church, and stay safe!