Nadine does Little Tokyo

Check out this 2 minute video of my walking tour in Little Tokyo at nycfilms.org.

Filmed by the talented Daniel Baer, the itinerary included:

• air market – Japanocentric shop dedicated to all things cute – 97 3rd Ave (12th/13th)
• Jas Mart – Supermarket just like in Japan – 35 Saint Mark’s Place
• Otofuku – Tiny restaurant serving takoyaki, grilled octopus balls (no octopuses don’t have balls you sick mind) – 236 East 9th St (2nd/3rd)
• Panya – Japanese bakery known for their green tea tiramisu – 10 Stuyvesant St (3rd Ave/9th St)
• Giant Robot – Books, toys, pop culture fabulousness – 437 East 9th St (1st/A)

Tokyo trip

It is nearly a year since I left Tokyo to move back to New York City. This week will be my first trip back to Japan. I plan to stock up on the Japanese pottery that I love and visit with the Harajuku girls now made so famous by Gwen Stefani. I will post some new pictures as soon as I can.

TokyoShoes update

It has been some time since my last entry. I thank those of you who continued to visit the site and who have offered your support through comments. I appreciate your patience.
There have been many changes in my life, most importantly that I am no longer in Tokyo and have moved back to New York City in April 2004. I had an amazing run in Japan, almost 3 years, with no regrets (other than perhaps not learning to speak Japanese). I am sure my experiences will continue to be important and relevant to me for my life.

I am happy to be back in New York but am missing Tokyo. I have always been and will always be a bit of a Japonophile. My first days back were spent at Japanese restaurants because if felt familiar.

By the way, the picture is me.

On hiatus

Tokyoshoes is currently on hiatus. I will be back eventually.

How many shoes can drop

Surely it may seem like I have the perfect life: fancy restaurants, exotic trips, and fabulous footwear. But, I am sorry to have to tell you that not everything is all sugarplums and gumdrops over here at Tokyoshoes. For one, the heel of my favorite Sigerson Morrison shoes just broke; for another, the bank I work for in Tokyo closed last week leaving me with little means of sustenance and soon no place to live. (note: the bank was my main client; I have one other).

What will I do? Where will I go? Stay tuned. I love living in Tokyo and hope like hell that we will stay.

Dropped shoe. I found this shoe stuck in the bushes somewhere near Shibuya. Who lost it and how it got there we shall never know.

What is Marketing?

A frequent topic of conversation among me and my friends is my age, specifically my advancing years, and don’t let me wrinkle free face fool you.

Last week I gave a presentation on marketing jobs to a group of 200 bright eyed and bushy tailed exiting Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program participants. I kicked off my presentation with this joke.

During the Q&A a number of these kids asked things like, “I am not sure if you can remember THAT FAR BACK, but when you went to business school…” and “I know you have been doing this FOR A REALLY LONG TIME, what do think has changed since you started?”

It may be that I spend too much time behind the computer, but I am convinced I am coming down with arthritis.

In case you are interested in knowing a bit more about marketing jobs, here is my presentation.

After the presentation I walked through the Sunshine complex in Ikebukuro and past a toy store filled with these Kewpie dolls:

I love shoes

The Japanese, as the world greatest fashion victims, provide constant amusement for me, especially from the knees down: fur, sparkles, animal prints comprise daily footwear.
And, I confess I love shoes of all kinds from sexy high heel pumps to sexy high heel sandals to sexy high heel boots.
Hmmm… this should be coming together for everyone now… she loves shoes… she lives in Tokyo. Tokyo… shoes… tokyoshoes.

Photography class #1, grade: F

A friend was kind enough to give me some instructions on using my new (film) camera, the Nikon N65. Immediately after our “class” and photosafari I got the pictures developed. Most of them looked like this:

I did get this signature tokyoshoes shot:

I think I deserved an “F” but my kind teacher gave me a C.

Because I care

I made a few minor modifications to tokyoshoes today, most importantly is that the home page brings you automatically to the blog to save you, my dear readers, the extra click.
Friday night I had dinner at Soho’s with Fifi.

A picture of the cab driver on the way home taken with my cellphone. The cabbies who work the late night shift should really learn to drive a little bit better or they are likely to end up with the contents of people’s dinners on their back seat.

New cellphone

Last week I lost my cell phone and took it as the excuse to upgrade to a new one with built in camera. Here it is, in the store, in its entire super-futuristic, pearlized, curvilinear glory.

I was seriously tempted by the pink cotton-candy colored one, but opted for more sophisticated white. A special thank you to “V” for helping me with my recent purchases.

Here is my first photo taken of the seriously embarrassed shop girl who sold me the phone. Unfortunately the protective film was over the lens, which explains the blurriness.

In true Japanese form my lost phone was promptly delivered to the police who have tracked me down and contacted me to pick it up. Where else in the world would that happen?