Crossing Shibuya

"Travel with Bloompy" takes you crossing one of the busiest intersections in Tokyo and into the nearby Tokyu Department Store's Food Section. Bloompy is experimenting with this format. In the near future Bloompy hopes to produce more of these small vignettes from the different aspects of life in Tokyo. Comments and suggestions are welcome (they are good for laughs . . . just kidding!)

How Can You Not Appreciate This?

Big deal, you say, a secured bicycle parking place; so what? Well, for one, the first four hours are free! The Tokyo city gym at Sendagaya, which last year decided to work together with the private health club Tipness to renovate its gym and pool facilities and to operate jointly, provided this secure-lock bicycle stands for their clients. There is an area to park your motorcycles securely as well. The first two hours are free, and the next two are free as well, but one must get a validation from the reception desk.

Gym and/or pool users who are not members of Tipness may use the facility for two hours using the old method of payment (day card or value card); therefore such users are also alloted the same two hours for free parking. Tipness users can use the gym and pool facility as long as they want, and they get two extra hours of free parking; afterwards, they will have to pay at the rate of ¥100 per 3 hours (less than $1 for 3 hours). I do not see how they will profit from this, and that's why I thought it was a nice gesture nevertheless. While bike thievery is not a common occurence in Tokyo, providing such secure area to park one's transportation will give him and her a peace of mind.

When you get to the stand, bring the front wheel all the way forward until the device locks. Then go to the green pay station, enter your stand number, and put in four digit security code, and voila, it is locked. At collection time, put in the stand number and security code, and the pay station will calculate time usage. When it is free, you can then collect your bike within five minutes; otherwise, you can pay, or enter your validated parking card.

Election time

The Japanese election this year coincides with the first voting of the French presidential election, on April 22, 2007 (today). Last week I would hear mini vans or mini trucks passing by with loudspeakers announcing the candidates and their platforms. Then today, on the last day of campaigning, I ran across a politician with his entourage, campaigning old style: two people with banner flags at the front and at the back, flanking the candidate who walked in the middle. A "spokesperson" carried a megaphone and made announcements. They went in and out of the alleys, back to the main streets, all smiles.


I noticed the absence of candidates plastering the city with their posters and piling in their brochures in people's mailbox like in the United States. Instead, a week ago or more, each neighborhood erected a board, within which it was divided into blocks, with each block containing a number. In the following days, candidates would place their posters in the corresponding "districts;" very typical of Japanese: neat and clean, tidy and orderly. I bet tommorrow all of these boards will be taken down promptly.

Tokyo MidTown

Avoiding the huge crowd since the opening on March 30 of Tokyo MidTown, a new sprawling complex of shops, restaurants, museums, and Tokyo's first Ritz Carlton Hotel, my partner and I finally visited the site on late Friday night, when the shops had just closed. Access to certain floors was still permitted, so we took a quick walk along two floors. First impression: warm and spacious, an antithesis to the cold and cramped Omotesando Hills (although to be fair, the latter had a very limited space to begin with).

We also went up to the 45th floor of the MidTown Tower to the lobby of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. All of the hotel's dining experiences (the Lobby Lounge & Bar, "Forty-Five" restaurant, Hinokizaka, and labels) could be found on this floor, while the lone Ritz Carlton Café and Deli stayed at the ground floor, near the alternative entrance to the hotel and close to the main portal of the shopping complex. Cover charge for the Lounge is currently at ¥2500 per person. High tea is served between 12:00 and 17:00, and offers two main set menus at ¥3900 and ¥8900. All of the dining experiences are non-smoking except for the Bar (just at the Bar, not at the Lounge), which allows it.

Tokyo MidTown is located at Akasaka-9-chome, and is a quick walk from the Roppongi Hills complex, and like the latter, it is also served by the Hibiya, the Oedo, and the Chiyoda lines. Click HERE for Tokyo Metro information.

More on Tokyo MidTown.
More on Ritz Carlton Hotel Tokyo.

Old Romantics

Please watch until the very end to see this romantic couple!