bullshit bbq @ okutama river

#flashbackfriday to one of the last BBQ's I went to before leaving Japan. Also my first time out at Okutama River! Hosted by my friend's label, Bullshit Records, we headed out of inner city Tokyo for swimming, beautiful scenery and lots and lots of good eats :)

bullshit bbq 

It's so hard to believe that Okutama is still considered "Tokyo"! One thing that I think a lot of people don't realize about Japan isn't just how much unspoilt nature there still is, but how close it is Tokyo. According to WikiTravel, it's supposedly a 2 hour trip, but it felt a bit shorter than that to me. Then again, I love trains haha.

Before moving to Japan, BBQs were--to me--held in someone's backyard, and hotdogs, burgers, and corn-on-the-cob were pretty much standard fare. BBQs in Japan are generally held by the riverside or the beach, and feature tons and tons of delicious yakiniku. This one also featured some interesting seafood choices like giant scallops and conch shells. And by interesting I mean, I'm sure they were delicious, but I'm not that into seafood as is and they kind of terrified me, haha.

Anyway, great for a day trip out of Tokyo! You can go fishing, kayak, tube, etc and camp there if you like, as well :)

Check! 

▶ Okutama River (Tokyo)


As always, if you see this post and end up visiting (or have visited) this place, leave me a comment and tell me how you liked it!

♡ jennifer

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dustbox @ tokyo bay

Today's #musicmonday features dustbox at Tokyo Bay! A big ol' show Ri and I attended last July.


dustbox at Tokyo Bay

Waaaay back in...2012? Maybe? Ri and I met the drummer of super popular punk band dustbox at a bar in Shinjuku. We became fast friends and over the next couple years we'd have the pleasure of attending several of their shows. This one was great because, not only was it the last chance I got to see dustbox before leaving, now that I think about it I'm pretty sure it was the last show Lisa and I got to see together! Pretty big deal when you've been pretty much attached at the hip for the past three years of live-hopping :)

dustbox were awesome as usual and it was too cool to see a show down at Tokyo Bay and see the whole waterfront light up.

Check! | Bands

▶ dustbox 

Let me know if you catch them at a show sometime!

♡ jennifer

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make my day tour final @ club seata

Today's Music Monday is about Make My Day's tour final at Club Seata in Kichijoji with My First Story and girugamesh.



september 15, 2014 | make my day tour final @ club seata

hahaha, sam

girugamesh

make my day

Somehow, I got really lucky and was able to see almost all of my friends' bands one last time before I left, including Make My Day! I'd met Sam, Nori, and Julian a few years earlier when they were in their previous bands (Remembering Sensation and Ashley Scared the Sky) and on top of having some pretty awesome heavy music, they're all super nice guys, too.

Do I know any mean musicians? I dunno. Everyone was always pretty chill XD

Anyway, Landon was going to help me shoot an interview so we stopped at Saku-Saku Maple Shou for that decadent masterpiece you can see up there, so good, holy mother of pastries.

We shot an interview with the guys, but unfortunately we never finished it. Hopefully we'll get around to it one day though because it's pretty hilarious. The show itself was great, too! I'm always happy to see girugamesh as they used to be my favorite band once upon a time, and MMD never disappoint either. Always heavy, always wild, always great.

I also met Laura for the first time! She's a sweetheart and a half and she has a pretty awesome blog, too so check it out! I'm glad we finally got to meet over music and taco rice :)


Check! | Kichijoji 

▶ Saku-Saku Maple Shou

1-1-6 Kichijoji Honcho
Musashino, Tokyo

▶ Jingle Jangle

1-23-7 B1 Kichijoji Honcho
Musashino, Tokyo

▶ Club Seata

1-20-3 Kichijoji Honcho,
Musashino, Tokyo

I was thinking that putting up the addresses might make my blog a bit more useful? I may not be in Japan anymore, but if people stumble on this blog I'd like to be able to provide some more options for eats and entertainment besides Sukiya and Gusto, haha.  Hopefully it's helpful?


 ♡ jennifer

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glorious chain cafe

Soon before leaving, I asked my friend Reimi, a stylist at Breen Tokyo, if she could style my hair and take some more professional headshots for my resume. This was followed by yakitori, drinks, and more sweets than one should consume in one sitting :D



flashback |  glorious chain cafe

Thanks for the hairdo, Reimi!

caramel banana pancakes

l-r: yomi, t.j., me, reimi, don-chan, julian

From the salon, Reimi and I made our way to Shibuya (with a pit stop at Cinnabon on the way) to meet our friend Don-chan, (Take Amublance) and T.J. (Her Name in Blood). After drinks and yakitori (because you can never have enough chicken on a stick) we headed over to Diesel's Glorious Chain Cafe to meet up with Julian (Make My Day) and tattoo artist Yomi.

This night was so fun and one of those times where I found myself realizing how much I would miss walking between Shibuya and Omotesando and just running into friends. I remember the first time I met each one of these people and sitting there having wine and cheese with everyone and splitting decadent pancakes with Don-chan, I realized how much I would miss them.


Anyway! Things you should check out next time you're in TKY:
▶ Yomi's tattoos (He did my first one!)
▶ Her Name in Blood
▶ Breen Tokyo
▶ Take Ambulance (Unfortunately, they've disbanded but still good!)
▶ Make My Day
▶ Glorious Chain Cafe


Let's all meet up again someday! Atlanta or Tokyo, haha :)


♡ jennifer

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hëyt @ otsuka deepa

From now on, I'm going to turn certain posts into a series. Not sure why I didn't do this sooner, but I figured it would be nice to have a more organized mix of music, travel, and daily life type posts. This one falls into the Music Monday category!



september 23, 2014 | hëyt @ otsuka deepa

Back in...2012 (I think?) Lisa and I were invited to an event at a bar called Rolling Stone in Shinjuku where we met dustbox's hilarious and incredibly nice drummer Reiji. A couple years later, he invited us to the first show he was playing with his other band, HËYT. We interviewed them in a little restaurant around the corner before their set :)



Electronica folk metal if you're interested!




If I ever start doing video interviews again, someone please remind me to bring a mic, haha.

♡ jennifer

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