Philippines

It occurs to me that I never talked about my trip to the Philippines. I think because it was the fall of 2010, and I didn't get around to sorting the pictures right away, then the holidays, then the earthquake, and then we were all pretty busy for awhile.

The Philippines in kind of in our neighborhood out here. It's another archipelago in this neck of the ocean generally, and you could just about island hop down there from here. In fact, the very bottom of Japan is only a couple hundred miles from the very top of the Philippines. If you could drive across the ocean, you could do it in less than a day. If you count all the tiny islands (and whether you do depends on who you talk to), it's about 240 miles between the two countries. That's less than from the top to the bottom of Oregon.

Here in Japan, we get a lot of our tropical fruit from the Philippines. Some stuff is grown down in Okinawa, but it's really common to see stuff like bananas and pineapples and mango with PI labels. Stuff that in the States comes from Mexico, in Japan comes from PI.

It turns out that because it's so close, air tickets there are relatively inexpensive. I regularly see deals going for around ¥30,000 ($300). It also means that the cost in miles is pretty cheap. A intra-Asia ticket costs the same as a domestic US ticket at about 20,000 miles.

For the first hotel night too, I was able to book a place using some miles rattling around in a different account for an airline I never use. Not enough for an air ticket and about to expire.

The hotel was fine. I almost never stay in big chain hotels like that unless someone else is footing the bill. I'd rather spend my money elsewhere but also I don't have enough money to give it to places like that. 

The next night, we moved to a pension in Malate. The building was beautiful, old dark wood, with friendly staff and in a pretty, if gentrified, neighborhood. There are a lot of small businesses and lots of street life, night life. Big grand old churches.

Food is kind of hard for vegetarians in Manila I think. Seems like a very meat-centric cuisine, but Manila also has an international streak and I managed to find stuff to eat. Most of it was not very traditional. Something I did manage to get though were these cassava fries. Delicious.

Took a walk by the ocean.

Took in a free concert in the park. Pinoys love music, people are doing karaoke and jamming all over the place.

Love this sign.

Next stop: beach. This is a country made up of over 7,000 islands. We have to visit at least one of them.

cafe shozo nasu

   

We decided to make the trip up to Nasu to see Matt's show there and I'm so glad we did.

Pulling into the town on a crispy fall evening, we found a warmly lit cafe with a rustic clothing shop below. Glass jars of coffee beans gleamed on the shelves next to packets of handmade shortbread biscuits. Once upstairs, we chose a corner table next to a heater in the yellow glow, with pretty lamps and stylish clientele scattered around. The Wien coffee and cake set was delicious.

When it came time for the doors to open, we made our way next door and up the narrow staircase to the venue. A bar was positioned in the back, serving drinks and hot soup and a few other nums. Mismatched chairs lined the area in front of the stage, which was lit by dozens of candles.

This country is filled with the most beautiful of little shops and cafes in the unlikeliest of places. Cafe Shozo in Nasu. 

bar derek and the dominoes

On a small shotengai leading from Shin Maruko station in Kawasaki there is a tiny roots bar called Derek and the Dominoes.

It's small and dark and offers many kinds of whisky and frequent live music, specializing in artists and styles from the U.S. American South.

I saw my friend Matt there this time and Scrappy Jud Newcomb three years ago. You can find the coolest stuff in the unlikeliest and most unassuming of places.

Angel Auction at What the Dickens

The lovely folks at What the Dickens in Ebisu hosted our Angel Auction last weekend, where volunteers put their professional services up for bid. On the block were marital arts lessons, Indian cooking and piano lessons, a tour of the German embassy & meeting with the ambassador, and much more.

Photo by Jennifer Julien

WTD is a great spot even when they're not raising money for a cause, with free live music most nights. They also have nice food - in additon to the standard British pub fare like meat pies and fish & chips, they also have veggie offerings like a cheese & tomato sandwich, hummus, some kind of quiche, and other stuff that the chef dreams up. Plus the whole place is dark and woody with cozy corners and feels like something in Diagon Alley.

space 12

Yikes, I've been meaning to mention Space 12/Enjoy Kitanaka Hall for some time now, but a year has passed! 

 

This spot in Koenji is an infospace of sorts, where you can find vegetarian food, quilting and craft circles, indie music, zines, handmade stuff, dumpster life, activist literature, and tha punx.

 

Kim worked on her huge awesome quilt while we shared smuggled-in betel nuts and plates of vegan deliciousness from Vege Shokudo, across the street.

Incidentally, this spot is run by some of the same people, like Yoyoさん and Yukoさん. Go for sewing, food, and community.

old timey

The other night I went to a small live house in Akabane with my parents and old family friends. The Suzukis have known my parents since before I was born, a fact that Mr. S. pointed out to the singer of the rockabilly band we were there to see. The Suzukis have been frequenting this bar for awhile, and have made friends with both the barkeep and the band, to the extent that the band played at their daughter's wedding.
The bar is very small, seating perhaps 30 people at capacity, which it was filled to that night. Everyone in the place looked over forty, with the exception of myself and a girl at the front next to the stage, who turned out to be the singer's fourth-grade daughter. The table next to us was filled with septa- and octo-genarians, one of whom remarked that we were the kokusai (international) table tonight. Their table was a lively one, the old folks knocking back the drinks, coffee, and cigarettes with impressive alacrity.
The band mildly rocked, playing lots of Elvis covers and the like. They wore a rockabilly uniform of coveralls (singer/rhythm guitar), overalls (stand-up bass), flannel shirt (guitar), and jeans. The guitarist, who had played with some of Elvis's ex-backup musicians at some past date, was talented, with lots of hot licks and a charmingly demure stage presence, offsetting the singer's slightly obnoxious hamminess. The singer spent approximately fifty percent of the stage time telling anecdotes and jokes, most of which, being in Japanese, went over my head. He kept poking fun at the table of old timers, guessing at their age and making predictions about their demise. The old folks took it in stride, shooting witty, cranky comebacks toward the stage.
After an hour set, the frontman told the crowd that the old-timers were actually old-time rock stars, and after a little cajoling, coerced them on to the stage. Two guys and a woman took the stage and belted out a beautiful Hawaiian wedding song; next she sang a near-impeccable Tennessee Waltz. Then another old guy replaced her and sang his ass off, doing Sunny Side of the Street complete with Louis Armstrong vocal chops.
They were utterly fantastic: their English talent in singing and stage presence blew the other band out of the water; but even that aside, they had something the other band didn't. Grace, style that didn't come with hokey requisite costumes, genuine likability rather than trying-too-hard comedy...
The rockabilly frontman reclaimed the stage a bit later, with jokes about how the old fogeys' group was called the "Heabenly Fathers", who could sing to you from the other world. But while I'm not sure I would pay to see his band again, if the Heavenly Fathers were on the bill, I would certainly attend. Jokes aside, these folks' time probably IS running short, making them seem all the more valuable. I couldn't seem to get a good picture of them with the crappy camera phone - maybe the halo around the lead singer is indicative of something.
After the show, we saw a few of the old folks in the train station, and told them how much we had enjoyed the show. I hope to see them again on this side of the great divide.