Dog Park

One thing that Coco-chan does not like is, for some reason, the dog park. It’s a fenced area in a big park where small dogs can run around without a leash. And another fenced area next to it where big dogs can run around. The thing is that Coco-chan is a chicken. He is so scared of the other dogs.

Johan and Coco in the dog park

Still we bring him there to train him to be around other dogs. At first we let him loose but he looked so lost. And then some small dogs ran to him to say hello and he got scared and ran in to a corner to hide. So we put the leash on him so that… Well he could not run away. But it also made him a bit calmer.

After a short while though we decided to take a walk in the real park instead. Coco-chan seemed pleased with our decision. Until we met a small white fluffy puppy of probably not more than a few months. Jsut half the size of Coco-chan or maybe a third. Still Coco-chan got scared.

In the evening we had Chinese food at home. Mabu-tofu and deep fried chicken with a chili sweet and sour sauce. Yummy!

Visiting Coco-chan in Tokorozawa

It’s finally weekend again. Chie and I woke up and got ready to leave for Tokorozawa. We were going to visit Coco-chan, the cutest toy poodle in the Universe. He just loves Chie. He always follow her everywhere. And his favorite place is sitting on her sholder, when she is in a reclining chair, with his feet over the back of the chair.

Coco and Chie

Arriving in Tokorozawa we played with Coco-chan for a while. And then we went to AU to change Chie’s and her mother’s cellular phones. We brought Coco-chan in the car, because he likes to drive. But it was really hard work. We ended up with a new guy at the AU that took such a long time to do anything. After three hours we had finish so much that we could leave the store for 30 minutes and then the last phone would be ready.

Coco and Chie in the car

So we walked around with Coco-chan. And walked. And walked. And after 30 minutes we were back at AU. But the last phone was not ready. So we went home instead. And planned to pick up the phone tomorrow. We went to Musashi for dinner instead. It was great food. I had so much I had to roll back home.

An Ordinary Work Day

Now I have been working for almost 1.5 weeks. An ordinary work day I wake up around 7 am to get ready to leave the apartment by 7:40 am. I walk along the Meguro-gawa (Meguro river) and then Meguro-dori (Meguro street) to Meguro-eki (Meguro station).

At the Meguro-eki I push along with all the other people on their way to somewhere. Probably to where they work, it is after all an ordinary work day. I pass the gates by using my Suica commuter pass card. A blue light and a sound makes it clear that I can pass.

Then I push myself into a train cart on the Yamanote-sen (Yamanote line). It is quite crowded but no people with white gloves to push people into the carts are necessary. Still, sometimes I have had to back-pushing into the cart.

The train starts rolling. It is smother than the subway in Stockholm. But it is anyway difficult to fall. I guess I could only fall if the whole train falls with me. Then we stopp briefly in Gotanda. Doors open. Some people get off. Some get on. The netto in the cart stay about the same. Then we smothly start rolling again. Next stop is Osaki. Same procedure. Some people get off and some get on. Some people even get off to let other people off and then get on again. No one in the cart is sitting. All seats are up during rush hours.

Next stop is Shinagawa. I am one of all the people to get off at this station. So I join the black snake of people out of the train. Up the stairs. Out of the gate. I use my Suica commuter pass card to get out of the gates. Again a blue light and a sound makes it clear I can pass.

The black snake of people continues in a wide hallway. I am one of them but maybe not as black as the other since I am more blond than the average Japanese. Someone at my office told me that in Shinjuku, one of the bigger train hubs just like Shinagawa, more than 4 million passes through every day. 4 million people is just a little bit less than half the Swedish population. Every day. Then you can imagine what kind of black snake I am part of.

Shinagawa

Out of the station. Uff, it is hot in the sun. I start to sweat. Nice. Heck, everybody else is sweating so why not me. I continue to walk. No longer part of a big black snake. But a smaller one. People going in my direction. NTT has a building here. And just behind my office building Sony has a big building.

I cross a street and turn a corner. Then I enter through a glass cube to the building where Sony Ericsson has its main office in Tokyo. A guard sais “Ohayou-gozaimasu” (Good morning). I am not special. He does that to everyone entering. In the evening he sais “Arigatou-gozaimasu” (thank you). I feel special, though I am not.

I take the elevator to the 11th floor. Exit the elevator. And use my Sony Ericsson ID-card to enter to the open landscape that is my office. About 60 people (I guess) work here. I know just a few of them. Many are consultants. From India. But I can smell no curry today. I punch in by using my Sony Ericsson ID-card.

I sit at my desk and work hard. A lot of meetings. Already after less than two weeks of work here. At 5:30 I punch out. I worked 8 hours and 30 minutes. They guy that was here in the morning when I arrived is still here. He was here at 9 pm the other day too when a teleconference with Sweden and USA ended for me. The way back home is the same as the way here. Only doing the things in backwards order.

Summer Night Festival

Although we were up late yesterday and Chie worked hard to cook all the food for our guests… And me, we decided to take a subway to Azabu-juban to visit the Summer Night Festival there. A lot of food stands. Including an area were the embassies in Minato-ku promoted their culture and food. Of course the Swedish embassy was there with meat balls and lingon berry jam.

We arrived in Azabu-juban at 2:30 pm. The festival was not supposed to open until 3 pm so Chie and I thought we were going to have to wait. And we were so hungry. But we were lucky. Some food stands was opening as we arrived. First we had kalbi (Korean BBQ), kebab sandwich from Dönner Kebab, yakitori (Japanese grilled chicken).

Azabu-juban

Then we walked to the Swedish embassy to have meat balls with lingon berry jam. It was so crowded you sometimes almost had to push to get somewhere. There was a long line, maybe 40 meters, in front of one food stand. We followed the line to see were it led. To the German food stand where they served sausage of some sort.

Azabu-juban    Swedish fod stand

It was so many people everywhere. The only place where you could be by yourself was in front of the Brittish food stand. There were no people there at all. Poor Brittish people.

Brittish food stand

It was too many people in the area where the embassy food stands were so we went back to the other area. We had some grilled beef from one of the most famous beef places in Japan (Yonesawa) almost comparable to Kobe beef. Chie had some cooked starch ball. We bought a Coke. Then some Sasai sea shell. I may have forgotten something but you can understand that we were quite full.

By 6 pm we returned back home. Just in time before the rain started.

Raider Nation Japan

The whole evening last night after work and most of the day today Chie and I prepared for the Raider Nation Japan party. Cutting vegetables and other things so that it would be easier to cook during the party.

Mash-san was the first to arrive at around 1:30 pm. The rest popped in one by one after 2:15 pm. A total of 5 people, excluding Chie and me. We had a lot of different dishes. All of them deliscious. And talked about the upcoming football season. Will Raiders make a good year or just as poorly as last year? We also watched Super Bowl XV, from the good old Raiders time.

Raider Nation Japan

It was nice to see old friends again (Mash-san [upper left], Power-san [lower rigth], and Satoko-san [middle]), and to get to know new friends (Moonlight-san [lower second to left] and Kurohyo-san [upper right]) as well.