Kokochi

For Izumi

... My sister-in-law. We gotta go together! I've been with Dav and it was yummy.

I draw badly ... and it's so much fun!

Dav pointed me to this site, and after a little hesitation, I decided I just might have the right combination of bad drawing skills to be accepted. I submitted a drawing from here. With all that "healthy, bitter, competition," I had my doubts. But voila!

international jet-setting goofy statue

In response to this entry, Hans Keller kindly emailed me about a similar sighting he had. Rio de Janeiro and Monterey, CA. He's a popular one, isn't he?

How Weird Street Faire

Good 'ol San Francisco. A perfect day with a fun fun street faire. Costumes in full-force and a mini appetizer to Burning Man! I wore my giraffe outfit. Met up with friends and enjoyed the scene.

I love the 3rd picture; it's totally by chance that it got distorted that way, but it looks rather neat, no?

To 6A's Paris office

Antoine safely arrived. I am glad it's such a beautiful day for his first time in the U.S.

A multiple venue night

[This was actually Friday night, but I was too busy having fun to moblog it. Technology still has a ways to go to make moblogging seamless so I don't have to hunch over my phone for 5 minutes and ignore the person I'm with...]

I met up with Joy. She did move to Tokyo, and now is back! It was difficult for her since she really loved living in Tokyo and wanted to stay longer. She had to come back for work.

We've discussed this business of living between SF and Tokyo a lot. We went to high school in Tokyo (ASIJ) together, but our childhoods are different. I grew up in Tokyo thinking I was Japanese but treated as a foreigner. She grew up in the States, but also felt as an outsider since she is of Japanese descent. I discovered SF and love the freedom it gives me to be myself. It matters less here that I'm racially mixed. For Joy, Japan allows her to feel more herself than SF. So although we identify with Japan and the US differently, the issues are similar. Being able to talk to her and hear her perspective is always so helpful.

Anyway, our first stop of the evening was dinner at Olive (743 Larkin Street). After snacks and a Ginger Martini, we went to the Bambuddha Lounge (Warning: if you click on the link, it plays loud music). Definitely a cool looking place, but the crowd was boring. Lots of wandering eyes trying to get the attention of others. But the pool outside and the decor was worth it. But I didn't like the fake bushes of plastic grass they had.

Then we headed to the Odeon Bar since it was recently announced that it was sold and will be closing. Unbelievable news so I'm trying to go there as much as possible. Sean and his friends were there too. Sean blogged about the closing.

Then we stopped by one more bar before finally ending up at Joy's. I didn't know, but her grandfather is a great potter and she had some beautiful pieces of his. Sean marveled at the perfect bean cushion chair Joy had brought back from Japan, the guys tinkered with her sound system so we could get it running (notice the ipod?), and we were challenged by her gas-enabled pop wine opener, which worked great once we figured it out. Conversations went onto the wee hours of the morning...poor Joy dozed off in the corner while we were all yapping like there was no tomorrow. Total fun!

Another proud moment in Kokochi history

Remember this?

Well, another Kokochi picture has been used on a prominent site: OCN's Blogzine posted an article written by Mena, and they included a picture of her (need to scroll to last pic) that I took when we were at Blogger Con.

Kane and Elida

Met at Doc's Clock in Mission with Elida. Then her friend from capoeira showed, and we talked about what a blog is, so this is to show the power of moblogging for Kane! Heh...Felt like a sales person about blogs, but seperate from my work, I totally believe in blogs as in giving access to the internet for people like you and me. So when someone wants to know about blogs...I can't resist not giving a live example...

To give a little context...

Dav posted a snippet of our IM conversation. (forgive the misspell) (and yes, my icon is Wakame)

But he didn't post to what I was responding:

[15:48] Dav: i'm super mega awesome with the optional extension pack!

I miss Tokyo

Saw Full Belly and instantly felt that familiar longing pull...It's the everyday mundane going about life that I miss most. Food is certainly a big part of it too.

Last time I was in Tokyo, I spent over an hour in the basement of Sogo Department Store (where amazing delicacies from all over Japan are sold), mulling over what to buy for lunch to eat on the train on the way to Narita Airport. I just couldn't settle on one lunchbox, so I identified 3 specialties and bought small tastings. On the train, I adored unraveling the immaculately presented lunch bits I had bought and savored each bite.