The Force is with me!
Hello again!
So it is still my birthday, and I've had a great day of staying cool indoors (still stupid hot outside; bring on Autumn!), skyping family and playing games with friends. My birthday is normally in Winter, being from the Southern hemisphere, and so it is a very different experience here when people are away on holiday and enjoying their Summer. A more uniquely Japanese aspect to my birthday is that it falls close to, or on, a public holiday (Mountain Day), giving me a three day weekend on which to enjoy birthday celebrations.
This year Claire and I had a pretty busy three days; starting with watching the NZ-Australia Bledisloe Cup match with some other New Zealanders at a craft beer bar in Roppongi; featuring huge pizzas and good beer (even though NZ lost that particular game). The next day was something I had been looking forward to since a long time ago; the Star Wars Identities exhibition - basically a huge collection of Star Wars props from across the films, mostly focussed on the original trilogy, but with a decent amount from the prequels too. It was, as the name suggests, about identity and the things that influence that, using Anakin and Luke Skywalker's experiences in the movies as the case study. It was a bit flakey in that regard, some pseudopsychology and so on, but I was really there for the costumes and props - making this blog largely a photo essay with a whole lot of Star Wars going on!
All through the exhibition there were points where we could tag a special bracelet to, and make "identity decisions" that shaped us as a character in the Star Wars universe - Claire ended up as a Senator from Endor and I a Jedi from Coruscant - both chose the Light side of the Force thankfully!
It was a very cool exhibition in that there were so many legit props and costumes, so I went through the whole thing with a massive grin on my face like a schoolboy, absolutely worth it - huge thanks to Claire for tolerating it (she's not so into Star Wars)
The rest of that day was spent having a very late lunch of falafels and then watched some TV back at Claire's, before embarking on our next adventure.
When I was here as an AFSer in 2011, I visited Enoshima, an island attached to the mainland by a bridge, very close to where I used to go to school. Despite being close to where I spent a lot of time (or perhaps because of), I only went there once, and during a very busy day, meaning I could only spend an hour and a bit there. So with a desire to do it properly, Claire and I went there for the day. Taking an early train from hers into Kanagawa, we beat the crowds and wandered around the island.
Enoshima is famous for a story involving a dragon that terrorised the area, until a beautiful woman came across it one day, which the dragon fell in love with. Asking her to marry him, she refused until he reformed his ways, and in doing so brought peace to the land. Accordingly, the shrines on Enoshima are all about love, and there is a sea cave you can visit which has a roaring dragon in it. Thought that somewhat appropriate given my relationship with Claire!
Following on from the island, having done it pretty extensively, we made our way back to Tokyo for a coffee and cupcake, and then another day drew to a close. It was very nice to visit Enoshima at a more sedate pace; despite the summer heat it was a more pleasant time given we weren't rushing everywhere, and so I was able to take it all in considerably better! Enoshima would be a good day trip for someone visiting Tokyo, and also for people who like the beach, Zushi and Enoshima beaches are very popular with sunbathers, jetskiers and surfers alike!
That's all for now blog wise, but there's another adventure coming up in a week which will surely provide me plenty more material, and with camera in hand you'll have some more Troy In Tokyo material to read over in no time!
Tata for now,
Troy :)
So it is still my birthday, and I've had a great day of staying cool indoors (still stupid hot outside; bring on Autumn!), skyping family and playing games with friends. My birthday is normally in Winter, being from the Southern hemisphere, and so it is a very different experience here when people are away on holiday and enjoying their Summer. A more uniquely Japanese aspect to my birthday is that it falls close to, or on, a public holiday (Mountain Day), giving me a three day weekend on which to enjoy birthday celebrations.
This year Claire and I had a pretty busy three days; starting with watching the NZ-Australia Bledisloe Cup match with some other New Zealanders at a craft beer bar in Roppongi; featuring huge pizzas and good beer (even though NZ lost that particular game). The next day was something I had been looking forward to since a long time ago; the Star Wars Identities exhibition - basically a huge collection of Star Wars props from across the films, mostly focussed on the original trilogy, but with a decent amount from the prequels too. It was, as the name suggests, about identity and the things that influence that, using Anakin and Luke Skywalker's experiences in the movies as the case study. It was a bit flakey in that regard, some pseudopsychology and so on, but I was really there for the costumes and props - making this blog largely a photo essay with a whole lot of Star Wars going on!
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| Infamous Bounty Hunter, Boba Fett, flanked by Imperial Stormtroopers |
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| Add caption |
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| Selection of droids |
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| The legend himself, R2-D2 |
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| BB-8 |
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| Gasgango, my favourite podracer |
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| Concept art for Jar Jar Binks, that divisive character |
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| The Ponda Baba mask - the alien that Obi Wan cuts the arm off in the Cantina scene from the original movie |
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| Sebulba there is going to win I think! - A bust of Sebulba, Anakin's main rival for the Boonta Eve Classic Podrace in Episode One |
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| Hootini! |
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| One of the mechanical eyes used in the Jabba the Hutt puppets |
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| Han Solo frozen in carbonite |
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| The Master himself! |
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| Not that you can see, but I am wearing my Yoda T-shirt |
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| Episode V Star Destroyers and other Imperial craft |
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| Rebel Alliance/Resistance fighter pilot helmets |
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| Rebel alliance spacecraft |
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| Schematics describing the engineering behind the Millennium Falcon's turrets |
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| A-Wing |
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| Millennium Falcon in all it's glory |
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| Costume worn by Mark Hamill as a Rebel Alliance pilot |
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| Chewbacca! |
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| Anakin Skywalker and Owen Lars' speederbike |
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| Various costumes worn by Natalie Portman |
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| Jedi Master Plo Koon |
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| Jedi Master Kit Fisto |
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| Darth Vader himself! |
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| Vader's helmet with the hood removed |
All through the exhibition there were points where we could tag a special bracelet to, and make "identity decisions" that shaped us as a character in the Star Wars universe - Claire ended up as a Senator from Endor and I a Jedi from Coruscant - both chose the Light side of the Force thankfully!
The rest of that day was spent having a very late lunch of falafels and then watched some TV back at Claire's, before embarking on our next adventure.
When I was here as an AFSer in 2011, I visited Enoshima, an island attached to the mainland by a bridge, very close to where I used to go to school. Despite being close to where I spent a lot of time (or perhaps because of), I only went there once, and during a very busy day, meaning I could only spend an hour and a bit there. So with a desire to do it properly, Claire and I went there for the day. Taking an early train from hers into Kanagawa, we beat the crowds and wandered around the island.
Enoshima is famous for a story involving a dragon that terrorised the area, until a beautiful woman came across it one day, which the dragon fell in love with. Asking her to marry him, she refused until he reformed his ways, and in doing so brought peace to the land. Accordingly, the shrines on Enoshima are all about love, and there is a sea cave you can visit which has a roaring dragon in it. Thought that somewhat appropriate given my relationship with Claire!
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| Wishing tablets, all with a love theme |
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| Turtles! |
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| A cheeky crow cawing about, but can you also see the love heart? |
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| Dragons feature heavily on the island |
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| Chinese pagoda in the Samuel Cocking garden, established in the late 19th Century by an Irishman who moved to Meiji-era Japan |
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| Part of the garden was filled with terrariums |
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| Futatsu-yama, the remnants of a collapsed sea cave that now almost cuts the island in half |
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| Can you see a Kiwi here? |
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| Another dragon guarding a small shrine in a cave |
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| At the Dragon Love Bell |
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| Overlooking the Pacific Ocean and towards mainland Kamakura |
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| My friend Perry and I visited the Narusawa Ice caves in the late winter - amazing to think that maybe the two systems are connected! |
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| Follow this to Mt Fuji?? |
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| The birthplace of the Enoshima Shrine |
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| From the seacave looking out to the ocean |
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| The roaring dragon in the sea cave - best keep him on good terms lest he terrorise some village folk! |
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| A bridge to nowhere |
Following on from the island, having done it pretty extensively, we made our way back to Tokyo for a coffee and cupcake, and then another day drew to a close. It was very nice to visit Enoshima at a more sedate pace; despite the summer heat it was a more pleasant time given we weren't rushing everywhere, and so I was able to take it all in considerably better! Enoshima would be a good day trip for someone visiting Tokyo, and also for people who like the beach, Zushi and Enoshima beaches are very popular with sunbathers, jetskiers and surfers alike!
That's all for now blog wise, but there's another adventure coming up in a week which will surely provide me plenty more material, and with camera in hand you'll have some more Troy In Tokyo material to read over in no time!
Tata for now,
Troy :)
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