I didn’t think the internship would take me so much time, but after a couple of 無礼講　(bureikou, some kind of time where managers put aside their title, and have fun with employees), meeting with other interns, etc. , in the end I just went to bed after showering every night. So where am I working?

Well, first, it’s in Ebisu, a rather famous part of the Shibuya-ku. Then it’s a big building right next to the Ebisu station:

The Yebisu Garden Place building

The big one

YGP By Night

At the bottom of the building, there is the “Garden Place”. Placement of benchs and fountains are a bit different but you get the idea:

Now there are some kind of windmills all around the place

And there’s also what looks to me as a French castle:

Looks nice

See after 2:00, looks like that now. Don’t know why but there’s always wind blowing under the ark and feels nice and fresh. Maybe there’s some kind of ventilation system, I don’t know…

I’ll probably put photos of the inside of the building soon, basically it’s open space, with like 200 people in the same office sitting face-to-face.

When I went to Tokyo for New Year, I saw one b-ball shop in shibuya, in front of TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday, american style restaurant). Name is “Player’s Basketball”.

Shop is quite small, but it has an amazing choice of sneakers, clothing and accessories. Price is ok, and you could find some exclusive models such as All-star game 09 shoes, KG Shoes, several pairs of Jordans. There was a wall with picture of famous people who came to this shop, and I saw Bow Wow. Actually it was the only guy I could recognize (sorry for legends of Japanese basketball…). Anyway, I bought a nice pair of And1 shorts.

The other shop I found out last time I was in Shibuya is called Gallery 2.

This shop is much bigger than the other one, looks more commercial, less eeeer personal and underground I would say. There is good stuff, and pretty impressive choice of sneakers, but nothing original, few exclusive models, shorts and jerseys are just not original, it’s like black and white only. There’s a part for ladies as well. Obviously after reading this you understand my preference goes to the first shop. This one is not that bad, it just looks like the basketball section of a sports shop, just a bit (ok much) bigger.

Anyway I’m sure there are many moreb-ball shops in Tokyo, I guess it will be for next time…

As far as I can remember I’ve never paid an entrance fee for a public park (even if I did not actually paid, thx Wade =D ). Spring break was a good occasion to see sakura blossoms (cherry trees). And I have to add the park is well maintained. Prepare 200 JPY if you are planning to visit it.

Click on any picture to see it fullscreen. Photos are also available in my personal gallery: Here

Shibuya’s Crossing:

"Long time no see". You had already figured that out anyway… Starting a new term is always -errr- difficult, so not so much time to post any news on the blog. But I try to post on twitter once in a while, like saying "hey, i’m still alive". In fact, the truth is I’m being kinda lazy to write a complete article. The other option is I can’t access my PC. Nevermind… ikimashouuu! I spent a week in Tokyo, with sexy Mike mainly, from the 27th until the 3rd of Jan. . We were kindly offered housing by Laura, not to mention the accomodation costs went down thanks to her. We were a bit far from center of Tokyo (Yakou, close to Kawasaki). But I have to say that the commuting time is really reasonable, at least for me (about 30 to 40mins, changes included).

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Comme promis, un post par jour… Aaah Tokyo (東京 en kanjis, litteralement capitale de l’est) . Pour rappel, je suis arrive debut Septembre au Japon, via Narita. Mais je m’etais alors rendu directement a l’IUJ via le Joetsu Shinkansen. En gros j’etais passe dans Tokyo, ou tout du moins je l’avais vu a travers les fenetres des differents trains que j’avais alors emprunte. Mais quand mi-Novembre, une des classes de l’IUJ se rendait a Tokyo visiter le Ministere de la Justice et le Parlement, je profitais alors d’une offre pour les places restantes dans leur bus, a un tarif avantageux donc. Je prevoyais cependant de passer la nuit sur place avec un ami, car venir a Tokyo pour 5 heures, ca n’en valait a mon avis pas la peine. Donc un vendredi a 6h du matin, apres une courte nuit, direction un mini-bus avec a l’interieur un lustre en plastique duquel emanait une lumiere verte. Le cote luxe ou le cote cheap, aucune idee. Anyway, en route! 行きましょう！

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