Odaiba

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    Batch Of Brommies Bring A Little Bit Of Magic

    Maybe it’s the residue of all the macabre atmosphere of Halloween or some other mystique, but the past couple of days have been a bit enchanting. Rather than fall for all the made-up poppycock, I reckon the magical feeling probably stems from my Brompton bike. The bicycle that really got me into cycling has sent most of he past few years gathering dust, but when it gets rolled out, there’s something truly special. Yesterday, I got our and headed down on my Brommie to Tokyo Tower for a morning meeting. It was a great ride, if a little chilly, as well as somewhat chilling with drivers on the busy road…

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    Fabulously Fulfilling But Frenetically Flat Out

    We’ve had an amazingly busy past few weeks packing in all sorts of activities in very little time. It has been frenetic, but fun. Probably the highlight was heading into Odaiba to see a show by Damiano David, the lead singer of Maneskin on a solo tour of Japan. I wasn’t keen on going, but Mrs. Kangaeroo dragged me there and I’m glad she did. David put on a good show and I was up and dancing by the end of the night. We also got a visit from Uyu, the border collie, who stayed a few days and was her typically snarly self. She melted my heart with her…

  • Going Down in a Haze of Story

    For various reasons, I got to look at YouTube for the first time in years this morning and, by sheer coincidence, got to see a video captured exactly 10 years ago to the day. The footage came from a fire that had broken out on the spectacular Rainbow Bridge, which links the Tokyo mainland (well, another reclaimed section) with the artificial island of Odaiba. I was working in the Yokoso Rainbow Tower, an exceptional work of architecture that reflected the flavor of the then-recently burst economic bubble when it was completed in 1995. I’d just finished my lunch break and returned to the office to see Rainbow Bridge on fire….

  • Cranking Out the Clicks

    For Kangaeroo, 2019 was a year in which cycling played an influential role. This was the first year for Kangaeroo to commute daily by bike. Apart from a week overseas and a couple of weeks recovering from an injury incurred while slipping off the bike, the yearlong commuting mission was accomplished. It was only fitting, then, that the year ended with a concentration of cycling. And that’s exactly how it panned out, averaging more than 100 km/day for the nine days from the end of work on December 27 to the end of the year four days later. These are photos from the Shiraishi Pass in Saitama Prefecture, the Tama…

  • Art World Aoyama

    It’s hard to believe that I was deeply disappointed to leave our old workplace near Odaiba because I loved the walk across the Rainbow Bridge but the art-filled district of Aoyama where I work now is really making up for it. I love wandering the streets at lunchtime to find little nooks and crannies filled with unexpected beauties, and the Aoyama area, one of Tokyo’s trendiest, really puts them on show. I’m only a few minutes’ walk away from the wonderful (and free) Spiral art gallery and cafe, which regularly puts on outstanding displays. I remember when I shared my disappointment of relocating, my doctor told me that most people…