Sfera: A drink like you

All the glassware is gorgeous, too.

Expert bartender Hihara-san at Sfera Bar Satonaka will of course make you any kind of cocktail you like. But he most likes to make drinks for customers after spending some time talking and then creating something based on his "image" of them. This is where drinking becomes communication, he says. He spent some time in Kentucky, and he has some ideas about American women. He made me a bright red Scarlet O'Hara. "American women are very strong and beautiful," he said as he was assembling the ingredients. The drink wasn't something I'd have chosen for myself. I like bitter or herbal flavors, and this was more of a boozy cherry popsicle. Sweet and packs a punch, though? I'll take it as a compliment.


View Larger Map

Shichimi man

The seventh spice

Because Twitter has chopped my brain up into little squirmy fragments, I'm going to put up my Kyoto trip in bits and pieces.
This bit is the guy who blends your shichimi spice mix on demand, grinding the sesame seeds, nori, chili, sansho, shiso and ... two others (anyone?) into the "seven flavors" of the name.
He's set up near Kitanomangu, and he has apparently been there forever.

Hotel Mume

The exact opposite of a capsule hotel. You know how sometimes life is incredibly unfair and you get overcharged for something subpar? This is also the exact opposite of that.

9 hours

Sleep in capsule hotel - check. (In style, no less.)

Snokyo!

We got snow on Monday in Tokyo, lots of it. Lots for here, anyway. It came down all day in fat, wet flakes pushed around by gusty winds. It was a national holiday: Coming of Age Day. This meant a big decrease in potentially stranded commuters and an infinite increase in beautiful pictures of young people in the snow in kimonos.
And snowmen! I didn't venture outside until dark, and the sidewalk was lined with a full day's worth of abandoned knee-high snowmen. They reminded me of a question I have every year: Is Japan the only country where the default snowman is made of two spheres? I asked on Twitter, and quickly found out that two is common in Ireland and England. Lest you think this is by decree of her Majesty, three is the norm in Australia and Canada. Or so says Twitter. What say you?

Junichi Arai himself at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery

Arai explains how Praxis was created for this show.

Everyone else was taking pictures, so I did too. (Turns out they were press or something. As the staff woman wasted no time in telling me.) I admit I didn't know his name but recognized his fabrics as soon as I saw them. Arai is the man behind Issey Miyake's pleats, for the most obvious example. The exhibit has sheets of fabric laid out gorgeously in a dark room with gently pulsing lights that bring out different shades and glimmers. There are a few videos showing how some of the dying is done and a few cuts of cloth tacked to the wall to satisfy the almost overwhelming urge to touch. They don't do much to quench the urge to wrap yourself up in them and prance down a red carpet, though.
At ¥1000 yen, the show is probably a little steep if you aren't super into textiles. My friend Angie is super into textiles and was communing with the fabrics on another level, though, long after I'd wandered off to see the nature paintings upstairs.
TimeOut Tokyo has all the pertinent location and admission info.

Where to find eggnog in Tokyo

The best thing about making eggnog for 50 people is when the checkout ladies at the grocery store try to guess what you might be doing with all those eggs and all that cream. "Are you making some... cake?" Once I explain what eggnog is, they want all the details. Is it served warm or cold? In a mug, juice glass, wine glass? They ask a million questions, repeat all the ingredients like they're going to be tested on it later, and then one goes in the back and brings out a half dozen new containers of cream, saying they're fresher than what's on the shelf and will be more delicious.
It's the first time they've ever said a word to me beyond "Do you have your point card?" and "Here is your change." They wave as I leave, still chatting and laughing to each other.

I use this easy eggnog recipe with great results every time. It tastes good after sitting overnight, and the second (and third) batch whipped up in the middle of the party is great right away, too. Cheers!

Ho Ho Home invasion Santa

Japan doesn't really have chimneys, because Japan doesn't really have central heating. That has some nice results, like cozy evenings cuddled up with the electric carpet or under the kotatsu, and some unpleasant results, like GAH it's freezing in here! But the most important unexpected consequence is that Santa has nothing to slide down. And so he climbs up. Santa-on-a-ladder is something of a decorating theme around here. Here are a few I've seen around the neighborhood. Send your pics along if you'd like to add or link them!

Stumbling unawares toward an oncoming train

Now this is what December posters are meant to be about. Tokyo Metro warns that some 60 percent of platform injuries involve alcohol. (Is that all?)
Someone on Twitter (I'm sorry, please tell me if you remember who it was) points out that he's so drunk he's about to get himself accidentally killed, but not so drunk that he'd forget to bring a little gift.

Cellphones!? Where are the drunks!?

"Do you have to use your mobile phone here?"

I could have sworn the last four Decembers were mannerized with posters about drinking and/or being drunk on the train. It's no coincidence. In December, everyone is drinking and/or drunk on the train. It's a thing. So what's with the ever-green cell-phone scolding!?