On Friday, I went to the Pierre Hermé Fetish Party in Shinjuku. This event was held by Shinjuku Isetan department store, they are celebrating their first anniversary of the new food floor in the basement. The great thing was that Pierre Hermé himself turned up to the party! He is the patisserie god to me, I had to ask him to sign my book: pâtissier secrets gourmands which was my birthday present from C. He seemed like a really nice gentleman, so I became greedy and asked him to take a picture together too!

It was really nice weather on Sunday, so we went to Komazawa Olympic Park. After walking around the park a little bit, we saw many TV trucks next to the park gymnasium. We were wondering what kind of event was going on, and it was National Women's Wrestling Championship. Hurray! We like martial arts! We had never seen live wrestling before, so we were excited and enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately Kyoko Hamaguchi didn't take part this tournament because of a wrist injury. She is a very famous (her father is also super famous) and strong fighter who won world championships five times. But she was there, watching the tournament, apologizing for her fan club members, and posing for photos. Surprisingly she looked kind of sweet in normal clothes, but as soon as she walked, she looked like a hunter...

Yesterday was Kagami-biraki, I took the Kagami-mochi (rice cake decoration for Japanese New Year's) down. I was very dissapointed about last year's plastic mould kagamimochi, and the year before that I was also quite shocked to see lots of mold on kagamimochi, so this year's kagamimochi is a real rice cake, made of only mochi rice and salt no additives, and nicely vacuum-packed! I made mochi-pizza as usual, it was tasty.

In France people traditionally celebrate Epiphanie on 6 January by eating a 'galette des rois' king's cake. There is a fève, usually a small ceramic figure (used to be a dry broad bean) hidden in the galette, and whoever finds the fève in their serving becomes the King for the day. Two of us is not enough to enjoy this Galette Ispahan from Pierre Hermé, we invited our friends to join us. In Japan putting a ceramic fève to food is illegal under the Food Hygiene Act, so Hermé put one almond instead a figure, and our friend C got the almond. He became a king but actually he has to host the next party. I'm looking forward to the king's party!

I have spent recent New Years Eves with my neighbourhood friends: first at home and then, after midnight, we've been making the first visit to the temple in our neighbourhood. I guess I will do the same tonight, but this time we can ring the big Joya no Kane bell at the temple! I heard that we could get tickets for ringing the bell on the 24th, so I went to the temple to get a ticket at 8:30 in the morning. I was drinking until 2:30 the previous day, so it was quite hard to get up, but I did OK. I will have to be free from desires to ring the bell, but I'm already quite excited! I hope you all have a very happy new year!

This morning C found our Converse were filled with some Christmas sweets. I realized that today is the 6th of December, St. Nicholas Day. In Germany St. Nicholas fills good children's shoes with candy and fruit, but our shoes were filled by C's sweet sister who is visiting us from Germany at the moment. So nice of her! Actually good kids clean and polish their shoes the day before, our shoes are too dirty.

Last weekend's F1 Chinese Grand Prix was also rainy because of the nearby typhoon, but it didn't seem as bad as the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway the week before. You might have read the Japanese news about Toyota's problems already: the GP was really badly organised and the weather was worse than any weather forcasts. We met up with our friends at the circuit and stayed in a bungalow at a camp site. There was a nice natural bath with a Fuji mountain view (although we couldn't see it because of the bad weather!). So this trip wasn't so bad. In November 2006, Fuji Speedway announced that the number of visitors was expected to be approximately 50,000 on Friday, 90,000 on Saturday, 140,000 on the final day of the event. And actually almost exactly the same number of people came to see the event: 52,000 on Friday, 90,000 on Saturday, 140,000 on Sunday. Somehow I don't belive these numbers, especially since I read the incorrect-sounding news about the Japanese GP...

In Japan there were two bank holidays in a row, so lot of people enjoyed their holidays last week, although our three day holiday starts tomorrow! We are going to Fuji, but not for climbing mountain, we are visiting F1 Japanese grand prix! (it has been switched from Suzuka to Fuji this year) We hadn't planned it until last week, but I managed to get hold of the F1 tickets which was officially sold out, and miracly I found the accommodation in the area too. AccuWeather.com shows rain on the weekend, but not the Japanese weather forecast. I want to believe the Japanese one!

On Thursday night, C and I went to Kitasenju to see the Adachi Fireworks Show. We were planning to sit on the embankment of Arakawa river, but we bought beers and snacks on the way and missed the start of the fireworks. So we ended up joining some local people who were sitting on the street in front of someone's houses. Nothing obstructed our view, so it was the best fireworks we've seen in Tokyo. I will come back here next year too! BTW, July 21st was the forth anniversary of LDK. I haven't been updating regularly, but I hope you don't mind my slow pace. Thank you for reading!

I went to the Pierre Hermé Fetish Party (in Japanese) again. The theme of the party this month was 'Ispahan Festival'. C really likes the Ispahan flavour (rose, lychee and raspberry) so he came along with me. Everything was tasty and I had much too much! What a happiness!

I didn't hesitate when my friend offered to take me to the Pierre Hermé Fetish Party (in Japanese). I got very excited when they told us to try a lot of their new sweets. But everybody was so calm and well-behaved, so I told myself to relax and slow down. Still, in the end I tried almost all the sweets on the menu. Herme is still my favourite patisserie!

I bought a box of Serge Alexandre (in Japanese) chocolate. Serge Alexandre is Callebaut (chocolate?) Ambassador in Belgium and winner of the 2003 International Belgian Chocolate Award. At the moment, his only shop in Japan is at Daimaru department store in Fukuoka city. But because of Valentine's day, his chocolates were available at other Daimaru branches in Japan too. I bought this at Sapporo Daimaru and it was ¥1,260.

On February 3rd, we celebrated Setsubun. This year I bought soybeans from Kyoto Mametomi which came in cute packages (different from the past years). I also got a bunch of holly tree twigs at the supermarket as a special decoration for the house.

The 11th of January was Kagami-biraki so I opened our Kagami-mochi (New Year decoration) shaped plastic mould and I was quite shocked to find only four small rice cakes inside. It's quite difficult to cut mochi, so small pieces are easier to use. But I expected more mochi inside. I usually buy the version made out of real mochi from a rice shop, I think it's quite expensive. But I realised that this decoration was even more expensive!

From 8-13 November, there was a France fair at Isetan Shinjuku departmentstore. As part of the fair, there was a talk by Sébastien Bouillet from Lyon. I heard that only forty people could attend, so I was a little bit worried, but I managed to get a ticket. When I entered the seminar room, I was the first person to arrive. Was I too excited?!

Today I went to the three day IDÉE bazaar (prices reduced by 30%-80%) at Aoyama Bell Commons. I was so excited about this massive sale, but I bought only three moleskin notebooks (which were only 30% off). I arrived there just one hour after the shop opened, but almost all the nice furniture had "sold out" tags. I didn't even see the TV cabinet and the lamp which I was hunting for. I wonder what they sell in the weekend. At lunch time, a lot of people were queueing outside the shop without knowing that there was nothing left to buy...

On our last day at the Suzuka Grand Prix, we arrived at Inou station near the circuit just after 9am. There were already lots of fans with crazy/silly look, and my blue and yellow Fernando (Alonso) T shirts didn't look special at all. But Alonso won this GP, even though he started from fifth position, so it was all good in the end. Thank you Alonso! Thank you Suzuka! We enjoyed it a lot! There are more photos on flickr.

Saturday was a beautiful clear day. There was a record crowd of 146,000 for the Saturday qualifying at Suzuka. No wonder the platforms at JR Nagoya station and our trains were incredibly packed. I uploaded some photos on flickr.

We finally went to see the F1 GP in Suzuka, and it was amazing! To be honest, I don't really have a particular interest in cars, but I always enjoy a festive atmosphere, so it was so much fun. We spent three days there: Friday practise, Saturday qualification and Sunday final. It was interesting to see that each day had a different atmosphere. My big mistake was that, because of the rain on Friday, I forgot to put extra sun block on my skin, so the skin on my nose peeled off! I'm too old for that! Anyway, here are some pictures from the Friday.

We finally received the tickets for F1 Japanese grand prix in Suzuka (I ordered a week ago). It's been about ten years since we started to watch F1 on TV. We wanted to watch the race at the circuit one day, and we thought this is our chance. The amazing driver Schumacher, I don't like him though, will retire at the end of this season, and this comming grand prix seems like Suzuka's last one. Actually I'm losing my interest in F1 these days, so I want to party at Suzuka to make a nice ending. We planned everything last week, so it was very tough to find hotel but I managed to reserve a hotel room in Nagoya. Now I just need to resarch about where to eat nice Nagoya cuisine, such as Miso-katsu (deep fried pork cutlets with miso), Ebi-furai (deep fried prawns), Nagoya cochin chicken, and Kishimen (flat wheat noodle) etc.

We went to Miura in Kanagawa prefecture for the wedding party of our good friends. It was a 80's Miami theme party, held at the beach house, so we were so glad that it didn't rain! It was great to see the happy bride and groom with beautiful sunset, nice music, and lots of drinks. Congratulations! I was asked to prepare some sweets, so I chose something I wanted to try for a long time which was 'ma bonne' and 'von de mer' from Chocolatier Erica (Japanese) in Shirokane-dai. They are similar to the one I made before but they were very delicate and quite a grown up taste. Actually I prefer if it's bit more sweet.

I love German bread and German sausages. They are so tasty! I think many Japanese don't know that there are lots of different kinds of great German breads and sausages besides dark rye bread with sour dough and Frankfurter. I'm sure Japanese people will get very excited when they see many bread and sausages in Germany, just like I do every time!

We went to see Konono No.1 at Roppongi Hills Arena (in Japanese). I didn't know about this Congolese band, but they also played at the huge Metamorphose music event last weekend, they seem to be very well known. A few weeks ago, C bought their CD and I liked their music, but the live show was much more fun. I was a great sweaty night!

Yesterday we joined our friends' BBQ party at Mori no Beer Garden (Japanese) in Meiji Jingu Gaien (Meiji Shrine Outer Garden). The main occasion for this meeting was the big fireworks festival which was held in the stadiums next to the beer garden. We couldn't see much last year so we were looking forward to this event.

Last weekend, I visited my parents in Hokkaido and we drove to Furano to see a lavender farm. The lavenders were in full bloom and I almost felt sick because of the strong smell! We enjoyed the great view of the countryside in Hokkaido.

The real Japanese summer has finally arrived in Tokyo after a long rainy season. It is incredibly hot, but I like eating Okinawan 'Goya Champuru' in this weather. It has been a month already since we went to a five day trip to Okinawa. I finally uploaded some photos to flickr!

On the weekdend, our friend invited us to the summer night festival. People were dancing Bon Odori in the middle of tall buildings, and it looked quite different from our summer festival at a local temple, where we go every year. That is because it was held in Japan Defence Agency headquarters in Ichigaya!

We had been very busy for a month, so we went to Okinawa for a relaxed holiday. Everything was the same as when we visited there three years ago, we even had a typhoon again! Doh!

On Saturday, I made more plum wine with a friend who couldn't come to the Umeshu event the other day. I made two different kinds of Umeshu with 750ml size bottles (the big one on the photo is my friend's bottle). One contains 280g ume plums, 336ml barley shouchu and 140g cane sugar (a little bit sweeter than the other day). The other one was made with 280g ume plums, 336ml barley shouchu and 112g pure honey. There were lots of choices of honey at the local supermarket. I chose a pricey Japanese honey at ¥848/250g, but I wonder if I would be able to tell the difference.

This year's season for making Umeshu (ume plum liqueur) has arrived quickly. My friends and I gathered at my place to make Umeshu together, just like last year. As the organiser of this event, I ordered special ume plums this year. The Umeshu will be amazing (hopefully).

Last Friday, we went to see our friends' exhibition at information gallery. I had heard about Hektor, a graffiti output device, but it was amazing to see how Hektor actually draws on the wall. He carefully drew each line, and I like that he made smooth paths in the air. At the end of the event, Hektor drew C's portrait.

We had a 'hanami' cherry blossom viewing party in Yoyogi park on Saturday, April Fool's Day. It had been cold and rainy, but Saturday was a perfect day for a hanami party: sunny, no wind, and cherry blossoms in full bloom! A LOT of people came to see the cherry trees in the park, but we found a nice place and enjoyed the lovely day.

Last week I went to the party of visionaire 48: magic on the 52nd floor of Roppongi Hills. The invitation was a 3D print, we see a different image depending on the angle and the party was as glamourous as the invitation. My champagne glass was never empty and the DJ lady was very gorgeous!

Omotesando Hills, designed by Tadao Ando, finally opens on 11 February on the site of the old dojunkai Aoyama apartments (in Japanese), which were knocked down in 2003, 75 years after they were built. Yesterday, I went to the pre-opening with my friend. The pale green glass wall on the right of the picture is a public toilet! Ando Hills is amazing (all guests got a green wristband)!

We went to Cafe Pause for the opening party of Canadian Style. It was sooo packed! I gave up taking photos and got myself a Labatt beer and some maple cookies. Canada is one of those countries which I really want to visit. This was my first time to check out snapazoo, it was much nicer than I thought. It might be a good gift for children.

Today is Kagami-biraki, I took the Kagami-mochi (sticky rice cake New Year decoration) down. It's meant to be broken by hands or with a wooden hammer (not with a knife, because cutting has a negative meaning in Japanese), but the Kagami-mochi was so hard, looked like a dry heel, and I decided to use the microwave. It seemed much easier than using hands or a wooden hammer. Oh, I did use a knife to scrape off some mold on the Kagami-mochi. I guess it's allowed.

Yesterday morning (just before noon), I had Nanakusa-gayu (Rice porridge with seven different kinds of spring herbs) and I took off New Year's pine decorations 'kadomatsu (simple version)' from the front door. I've been keeping this old tradition every year since we moved to Tokyo. Unfortunately a suzushiro (Japanese white radish) in a handy seven herbs pack from the super market near the station, has almost gone off, but I made quite nice Nanakusa-gayu with a bit of white miso, and I enjoyed eating it with tasty umeboshi (pickled plum) which was from my sister.

Happy New Year! I've been just staying at home during holidays, but I was very busy. I guess it was because I decided to invite many of our friends for a traditional Japanese new years dinner. It was crazy but fun! I wish you all an exciting 2006.

Yesterday, we were invited to a Christmas dinner at our friends' place. I wish I had taken a photo of the whole turkey.

On Thursday afternoon, we went for shopping at a snowboard shop and Apple store etc, then we watched snooker on cable TV with pints at an Irish pub before going to see Peter Jackson's three hours and seven minutes long King Kong. This is what C wanted to do for his birthday. For dinner we went to YanKuq (in Japanese), an Italian restaurant in Roppongi which our friend A recommended. When we arrived there, the waiter took us to their basement bar because there were no free tables. We had a free cocktail in a nice bar.

We had four friends giving their presentations for pecha kucha night on Wednesday. I hadn't been this event for ages, and I was surprised their three big screens and many many audiences. I also bumped into an old colleague from where I used to work about five years ago.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to Roppongi Hills to meet up our friends, who haven't seen for a while. We had coffee at the cafe, but I didn't realised that it was Rojak (in Japanese) by IDÉE. I felt the atmosphere was bit different from the one in Aoyama. One of our friend ordered hot herb tea, and it came with a wine glass. It looked cool, but it was too hot to drink from!

Yesterday, I realised that it was the day of the Tori (Rooster) in Chinese calendar, so I went to Ootori Shrine, where the torinoichi fair was held in Meguro, to return the old kumade (lucky charm) from last year. I went there quite early, so it wasn't packed and also there were lots of school kids, mothers, and young children. It was a nice atmosphere.

It has been two weeks already since my good college friends and short-time flatmates from London were visiting Tokyo, so we enjoyed a very long Saturday night. We started with dinner at an izakaya from 9pm and we drank and sung until after 7am! I had to cancel my appointment on the next day. Doh!