My last posting of the year. I’m at home, finishing a cup of Kirin Namakuro after a great meal (assorted foods from the Seibu depa-chika). The TV is tuned to KOHAKU – just now we enjoyed a quite powerful rendering of the theme song for SHINSENGUMI, this year’s NHK taiga drama. I’m ringing in the new year the same way I always do: some flipping through the various TV specials (I want to catch some of the K-1 fights), a bit later we’ll prepare some soba, after eleven I’ll put it to 99’s annual year ending Okamura extravaganza, and then after midnight we’ll head to the Gokokuji temple for hatsumode (praying for a good year). I’m a bit worried about the walk there though, as we had a lot of snow today, and the streets are presently all slushed up. If we can’t make it to Gokokuji, we’ll just go to a smaller Shinto shrines near our place.

To all you readers, huge thanks for following the site this year. As you can see, I’ve been getting busier and busier with various projects, and here’s hoping that 2005 will be even bigger and better!

The Pause cafe at night.

The Pause cafe in Ikebukuro.

A change of plans. Instead of heading to Kyoto, this morning we made reservations for a trip to Singapore! It’ll be our first time there for the both of us. I’ve never had that much of an interest in going there, but it ended up being one of the best packages available right now, and from doing a bit of online reading, it looks like there should be enough stuff to see and experience during the 2 days we’ll be there. I’d of course love any recommendations (even websites) from anyone who’s been there, or anyone who lives there: nice shops, cafes, etc. I’m really look forward to the markets in the city, and getting some street stall food (it’s what me and Yuko enjoy the most when we travel in Asia).

Heading into Shibuya on Meiji street.

Heading into Shibuya.

Shot taken while walking from Harajuku to Shibuya.

Just thought I’d update you on Radio OK Fred. This afternoon we (me, Ay2, and Yoshi) got together, along with our new sound engineer Gobo, to record the next show. This being the first time we recorded live, it’s a bit more chaotic than the previous mix we did, but it was also a lot more fun to do. Expect it to be online January 1.

Momus’ first post at Design Observer is now up: “Berlin Wheatpasting.”

As the article says, it’s been a crazy year for the Aoyama Book Center this year, but the good news is that things are back to normal, and it’s time for a foreign book bargain sale!

The sale happens January 7-9.

Patrick was lucky enough to win a pair of tickets (from REALTOKYO) to the Koolhaus of Jazz event at the Liquid Room in Ebisu last night, and he offers this report.

A shot of Cat Street in Harajuku.