tokyo series: yoyogi village

so, tokyo. i'd been a couple times before but the last time was about 20 years ago. aside from that, my knowledge of tokyo began and ended with narita airport, a frequent layover on my way to taiwan. basically, i knew nothing about tokyo except for what everyone was telling me, which was mostly stuff about how amazing and interesting and exciting it was. my impressions: i loved that every train/subway station has a totally clean and very usable bathroom. we all know the value of a clean public toilet. that's an important part of enjoying one's vacation, don't you think? that alone made it a pretty cool place. anyway, onwards. another great thing about toyko was yoyogi village. it's an interesting spot right outside the jr yoyogi station, an entire complex of galleries, restaurants, cafes, and businesses all within a park-like atmosphere. the plant life was really impressive - there were all kinds of plants from different regions, and they were labeled with information and their country of origin. we went on a sleepy, rainy weekday, so it wasn't too crowded, but there were a few people in each cafe hanging out or working on their laptops.

we wandered around a bit, checking out the restaurants and stores and popped into pour-kur, the bakery on the premises. 

a travel agency called love, peace, travel sits at the top of the stairs.

all the stores and restaurants are in double-stacked shipping containers that have been painted white, with walkways connecting them on the second floor.

one mile wear by urban research is the only clothing shop in the village (that i could see). it carries "pre-organic" (??) clothing in minimalist styles. like all the other stores we went into on our trip, it was beautifully designed.

the walkway to one mile wear.

a corner of the shop.

code kurkku, the restaurant/event space collaboration between  that is the mainstay of yoyogi village. it's described as "kyoto-italian," but we didn't have a chance to try it out since we were stuffed from all the other things we'd already eaten that day. next time.

kurkku cafe is upstairs, an offshoot of code kurkku.

the path leading to code kurkku.

lush greenery on the first level.

the view from the street.

a map of the village can be seen here. it's a nice spot to spend the afternoon! next up...rose bakery.

paperwhites

my next-door neighbor introduced me to paperwhites when he brought some over as part of a very thoughtful holiday gift. they came in a bulb vase a lot like this one, and hadn't yet bloomed. as a result, hhh was convinced for weeks that they were scallions. the stalks kept growing until the plant was about twice as tall as the vase, and then tiny muslin blossoms appeared. 

the bulb on the left was started about four weeks ago, and the one on the right just about a week ago.

the holiday paperwhites lasted quite a while, but eventually died off. i hadn't yet asked the internets what to do with the bulb after the flowers faded, so apparently did everything totally wrong and had to throw away the bulb. (what not to do: trim the stalks in hopes that more blossoms will come in. they will not.) 

i find it weirdly delightful to watch the roots grow.

willa enjoying new smells.

then, i saw a whole basket of paperwhite bulbs for sale while we were in hudson last month. i grabbed a couple and vowed that i'd do everything right this time. i started one in the bulb vase, and waited a couple weeks to start the next bulb so that there would be some vertical diversity. since a lot of people have trouble with them toppling over, this tip might come in handy: you can add some gin (or tequila, vodka, whiskey or rum, for that matter) to the water. this stunts the growth of the leaves without affecting the flowers. (also, who knew there was a flower bulb research program at cornell university? i need to reevaluate my life choices.) 

they are also reeeaally fragrant. some people love it, some people don't. 

this time, i know to let the flowers die off before trimming and drying off the bulbs. then i'll store them in a cool, dark place until the dead of next winter, when i'll get them out and force them (ha!) to cheer me up again. 

it grows on trees

i have always loved basil. it smells great, looks good, and is so easy to grow. for the past few years, i've planted sweet basil every spring. in astoria, i had it in a little pot on my windowsill. two years ago, i had a whole mess of it in the yard. i thought that i would just do the same this year...that is until i discovered basil trees. hhh and i were just strolling along manhattan avenue in greenpoint (he in search of records, me in search of something delicious) when i saw a row of small green planters topped by airy, leafy spheres. from far away, it almost looked like tiny boxwood. i ran inside the store to ask what they were, and the shopkeeper told me it was "tree basil." i scoffed and said, "that's not basil!" he said, "smell it. it's basil." 

it's gotten a bit unruly since i've had it. 

this is what it looks like close up.

i've had the basil tree for a few weeks now, and keep it in the bedroom (where there's good southern light). it smells so good. today, i finally looked it up on the internet to see what the deal is. apparently basil trees are the grafted result of  two strains of basil - one for trunk sturdiness and another Greek variety for tastiness. and amazingly, it's perennial and will live for up to five years. that means no annual replanting! (you do still have to bring it inside when it gets too cold out though.) it's even won prizes and stuff. i'm a fan. 

but don't worry, sweet basil. there's room for more than one basil on carroll street. 

doesn't that look tasty?