Just burgers, fries, quesadillas, and an urban sunset.
One of my golden rules in Japan is to never travel during golden week or obon. I've had pretty traumatic experiences getting stuck in traffic during these times and I've learned the hard way that it's best to stick to local spots if you want to do anything.
I'll leave you to guess where I went (it's not hard if you closely examine the sunset picture) and while it wasn't particularly adventurous or wholesome, the food, view, and relaxing atmosphere were satisfying enough.
Obon holiday is almost here. Are you looking forward to your few days off? Many Tokyoites will once again have the opportunity to get away from it all and embrace more idyllic destinations. Following world of mouth, I found myself booked for a trip to a not-so-remote Izu island called Shikinejima, 3 hours by jet boat from Tokyo’s Takeshiba port. This quiet island is inhabited by only a handful of locals (less than a thousand in total) and offers plenty of attractions to nature lovers. Full of natural hot springs, secluded beaches, snorkeling spots, hiking trails and breathtaking views Shikinejima is waiting to give you a treat to remember if you look for a serious cool-down from the hectic city life.
Warning: no 5-star hotels, gourmet restaurants or department stores. Insect repellents essential!
Just in case you weren't aware, last Sunday the Lionesses (England's women's football team) were crowned European champions after beating old rivals and eight-time European champions Germany 2-1.
The nailbiting game went into overtime (not usually a good sign for England) but Chloe Kelly scored a scrappy goal and England were able to see out the remaining ten minutes to win the game and the championship!
I wanted to post a picture here but they're all copyrighted but click here to get a google image search of photos that show you the general mood
Needless to say that Chloe Kelly is now a household name throughout England.
A while ago, prior to the pandemic, I remember going to a very interesting exhibition in Mitsukoshimae. Not sure if I loved it because of the staggering designs, atmospheric lighting or the subject matter. The exhibition made use of fish and aquariums and put them in the context of Japanese art, both modern and traditional. ‘Kinyo’ or goldfish, has been a common theme in Japan’s design and painting for a long time. This time however, the art was teeming with life of myriads of colorful fish filling the sophisticated water structures and extravagant custom-made fish tanks. I could’t speak for the fish but I they looked frisky, well fed and proud as peacocks!
The exhibition has recently been reopened and is now available for viewing at Ginza Mitsukoshi. https://artaquarium.j
It's recently come to my attention how hard it is to understand (and also explain) what they are.
The word “meme” describes a part of culture that developed because it was passed on from one person to another, usually by imitation.
So an internet meme is an image, text or video that’s copied and altered over and over again by different people usually to add their own funny change to the image or text.
It's a form of expressing your thoughts in a funny way for other people to enjoy.
Memes are often the same picture with altered text such as the "distracted boyfriend" meme below. Pay extra attention to the expressions and feelings of the people in the picture.
Compare this:
and this:
Both pictures are expressing how I imagine my old computer (or first cheeseburger) to feel while I am interested in the newer model of a computer (or a second cheeseburger.)
There are hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of versions of this same picture with different text expressing different thoughts on anything from hobbies to complex social issues.
Here's one more:
Finally, here's another meme picture format. This one is of the musician Drake and it's used to express a strong dislike and like of something:
And here's how the Drake meme format evolved while keeping the original emotion behind it:
Memes are probably a permanent part of internet culture so discovering them is a never-ending journey, but if you put in the effort to understand the format and the basic feeling behind it then I'm sure you'll eventually find something that'll make you smile.
(By the way, that cute kid on the blog cover is called the, "success kid" meme.)
but click 
