First Full Week

Well, the first week went something like this: work/sleep/work/sleep/work/sleep.... you get the idea! This is my building on the left, a 5min walk from the South exit of Shinjuku station. It seems that most people work an average of ~60 hours a week, so I'm doing my best to keep up with them. Actually, work is really amazing and fun, I'm at the headquarters of one of the premier video game production companies in the world, so I got to see all types of cool stuff from a live mo-cap studio to behind-the-scenes animation work that will soon go into real video games played by people around the world! (and there was some secret stuff that I could tell you, but then I'd have to send a ninja to kill you! We have a whole floor dedicated to ninja training...)

Here is my cool business card in Japanese! I think is says: 'Warning, foreigner; do not trust!" (j/k)




Here is a list of some cool things about Japan I didn't know, like:

Toilet seats are heated and spray water at you from below (!)

Elevator buttons can be toggled on/off if you accidentally hit the wrong floor

Tipping is not expected (!)

Your train pass can buy candy and drinks from most vending machines

Sliding doors can open by hovering your finger over a little circle without touching it

Escalators turn on/off if no one's riding on them

...and plenty of other things I'm starting to forget 'cause they seem normal now.

The night after the "fish incident" (see last post) I tried cooking a vegetarian dish, fried eggplant with ginger and sprouts. I surprised myself with how well it came out; here are a series of pictures so you can follow along at home too:
1) Food prep...

2) Frying the baby eggplants...

3) Comparing to recipe picture...

4) Close up. Tah-daa!

Okay, I think I've posted too many pics, but I'll end with just one more, this is the view from my current apartment on the 3rd floor of Kagurazaka district in Shinjuku-ku. See you all soon! (and make some posts, darn it!)