I love walking around my local area. There's no end to what you can find on a lazy afternoon or evening stroll: vast parks that transport you out of the hustle-and-bustle, shrines and temples for every occasion, tiny shops selling specialty goods (taiyaki!), secret research labs and, occasionally, really cool buildings.
This post is about one of the latter. I was walking around the far side of Waseda University, an area I hadn't really been to before, while waiting for a friend one day. Just as I was about to head back, to my great surprise I stumbled across an amazing building right next to the campus!
As the sign above shows, it was called "Waseda El Dorado". It was, apparently, the creation of an ex-Waseda student, and is 'gaudy Gaudiesque".
Whatever the critics may say of it, I absolutely loved it. It's like a fantasy book come to life in a building. The bottom floor is occupied by several shops - an antiques store and a hair salon I think it was - while the rest is apartments. There is a small entrance-corridor/lobby that can be freely entered as well, which allows one to have a good look at the amazing detail which has gone into this building. Everything, and I mean everything, has been looked after, which reminds me of the similar level of detail found in the Ghibli museum (You'll have to visit to see that one though - no photos allowed!).
I could go on and attempt to describe the building some more, but I think that pictures will speak more than any of my words could. Enjoy!

In any case, this story begins towards the end of last year. One day I opened my mailbox, and, after throwing away the usual stack of junk mail, was surprised to find myself with an invite to the seijin shiki (Coming of age ceremony) of Shinjuku, the ward (more like city!) in which I live. I am a foreigner, so I had no idea that I would be invited to an event like this - but I am not one to complain! Luckily, I knew some other people who were to be going as well, so just after lunch on Monday we took the train to Shinjuku.

The event was held at the Keio Plaza Hotel, one of the nicer hotels on the West side of Shinjuku. Now, Shinjuku is a very interesting city. It's reason for existence is one of the world's biggest and busiest train stations that lies smack-bang in the centre of the city (when I say city here, you must remember that it's really just, well, a suburb of Tokyo, but it's certainly bigger than most city-centres in Australia!). This station neatly divides Shinjuku into two parts: East and West. East Shinjuku is probably what most people think of when they picture Tokyo - neon lights, shops everywhere, alleyways, a huge red-light district- in other words, a lively, bustling place.


West Shinjuku, on the other hand, is much more modern and reminds me somewhat of Singapore. Lots of tall towers, hotels, government buildings and wide, tree-lined streets. It seems like another world when compared to the bustling activity of the East.



Now, I seem to have gotten a little distracted... where was I... oh yes, the seijin shiki. As we had approached the hotel, we had begun seeing girls dressed in magnificently coloured and patterned, long-sleeved kimono with white, fur stoles on their shoulders. 'They must be going where we are!', we all thought. And we were right - upon arriving in the hotel, we were greeted to a whole ball-room full of people celebrating their coming-of-age. The girls were, as mentioned before, almost all attired in their kimono, and while some of the guys were wearing traditional hakama costume, most wore western-style suits.
I thought it a little bit strange that this was the case - why had the men moved on to suits while the girls remained in traditional costume? Was it because they would soon become suit-wearing sarariman? In any case, I wasn't going to complain- the kimono were beautiful:



Of course, as is the case with any event, some of the girls were waaaay overdone with fake tans, too much make-up and bee-hives of hair. Most of them had remembered discretion, however, and it was interesting to compare the different colours and patterns on the kimono. One girl, I was amused to notice, had managed to convey her gothic fashion sense into how she dressed in a kimono! (Unfortunately I did not manage to take a photo)

There wasn't really all that much to do at the event itself. It was mainly just a wander-around-and-chat-with-your-friends affair. As this was an event that you attended in your local area, most of the people there would be friends that you had gone to school with, and as such the event was also a huge reunion of sorts. Being foreigners and thus not having grown up with the people in the area we didn't really have much to do at all, so we just spent our time walking around, chatting and comparing kimono.
There were snack foods and drinks provided as well, which I did not touch except for having a few very sour pieces of fruit. I must say, though, that it was quite amusing to see some of the girls, all dressed prettily in kimono and make-up, stuffing themselves with food!



Finally, just before we left, my friend and I also managed to meet some nice girls who let us have our photo taken with them. This, and the others, will serve to remind me of a day when I was allowed to participate in the traditional event of another country - a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

I feel very bad that this blog has been let go for so long. It must be, what, at least a month since my last post?
Anyway, in the meantime, I returned to Adelaide for Christmas and New Year's (as most of you know) during my 'winter vacation' for a much-needed break. I spent my days reading fantasy books (how I love them - dangerously so. More addictive than the internet!) and playing games. Assassin's Creed 2 is great, and I heartily recommend it to anyone, especially if you're Italian and you love history. I just love hearing the cries of 'Hey, you stronzo!' in the comical, but completely natural, English-Italian mix.

Even though I'd been in Japan for three months already, it was still good to return to Adelaide. The pace of life there is just a lot more relaxed, and there's more room to do everything. It helps to be with friends and family too.
However, there was one thing that I found myself missing - while walking from Chinatown to Rundle Mall, I was thirsty, and wanted a drink. 'No worries', I thought, 'I'll just pick something up from a vending machine....'
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And then I realised there were no vending machines to be found. I had to go into a shop and pay three dollars for a bottle of water? What is this place! Where is the convenience?!
In case you couldn't read the sarcasm, I wasn't really that upset, but I did miss the convenience of the ever-present vending machines in Japan. Here's a photo of one to tide you all over until I write my next blog post!

Speaking of which, I promise I'll write another blog post very soon. I have a bit of work to do this week, but I should have time to do it before the weekend is over. It's going to be about the 'coming-of-age-ceremony' that I attended yesterday - so look forward to photos of pretty kimono!