October 22, 2009 |
| Urban Tokyo; Rhythm&Booze |
Tokyo’s hottest Urban Link Up
Rhythm & Booze is currently Tokyo's only urban music event. Expect to dance all night to hip-hop, dancehall, Reggae, r 'n b and hip-hop. The event which is held every 2nd Saturday at Odeon Bar, Roppongi brings something different to the club scene in Roppongi. The event has a nice mix of classic and current billboard hits.
Last month’s event saw patrons dancing non-stop as DJ Baku, Dj Flex & DJ Ryu played some of the hottest mixes in Tokyo. Next month, DJ EKO from NewYork will end her 2 week long Japan tour at Rhythm&Booze. DJ Eko is known to be one of NewYork’s hottest female djs. www.ekogirl.com
Free shots for everyone and discounts for students with I.D (1000JPY).
Check the website for more information and check out DJ Eko’s mixes.
Don’t miss is Saturday, November 14th.
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April 9, 2009 |
| Cocohime Logo |
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Created by Ama Osei
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コこ姫
CocoHime - Chocolate Princesses . An online blog for women of African Descent living, traveling in Japan.
Created by Ama Osei
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April 9, 2009 |
| Life after Tokyo: Views from South Africa |
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Yolisa Madela/Cocohime lifestyle writer
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Life after Tokyo By Yolisa Madela Today marks exactly a month since I have been back in my beloved country (Mzantsi ) from The land of the Rising Sun ( Japan).
How does it feel being back home?
Nothing is as beautiful as being surrounded by so many things that are at the core of my being and have propelled one to strive and thrive in life. Nature, humanity , familiarity, my people’s daily struggles, richness and diverse South African culture…Therefore I can say being back home has been nothing but pure joy, Pure Joy for my soul !
Being able to say Sawubona or Dumela or Heitha daar ( Hello in my native language) sometimes to even strangers, and knowing you will greet back with a smile…This is what I call the spirit of African warmness…
Reuniting with family members and friends that I missed so much when I was away, sometimes filled my eyes with tears of joy… Having BBQ / picnic by the lake with old friends celebrating my return and birthday. With it enjoying the South African soul food- Pap, chakalaka and big potions of meat. All these made me say: It certainly feels great to be back home!
Driving along the free way and being surrounded by ocean views, beautiful landscapes of trees, green grass, sunny and blue skies brings calmness to the spirit…
These are all the things that I missed dearly when I was away from home.
However being back home has also had its moments of disappointments. I guess this is what most people would call reverse culture shock!
My first week back was the worst ever…I started work during that week as well. Meaning I had to juggle my work and personal issues…
Work: New job in a new city!
I moved from Durban office to Johannesburg office. Meaning a totally new environment all together…The people at the office were quite welcoming and warm. However there was one glitch…Paper work was not done ahead of time…Most of the things were done upon my arrival…Getting a work station, telephone line, desktop and doing all the medical check up in order to start a job took almost a week. This meant I could not do work that required a computer for almost a week. I could not send my colleagues in Japan email letting them know I arrived safely in South Africa…That bothered me a lot!
This was contrary to Japan. When I arrived at the Tokyo office by the end of that business day I had a laptop, a workstation and a phone. Basically it was all systems go from day one…Most importantly the following morning I was able to send communication to my colleagues and my friends in SA letting them know I am safe…
Returning home, since we are the same company I expected the same treatment! Now that I had seen best treatment I expected the same …Also logic tells me we are the same company therefore we should be doing things somehow the same. Well that not to be!
I was so accustomed to efficiency I forgot how things are done differently in my country. I had been gone so long( only one yr) that I forgot that this not first world but third world and how certain things can happen at a snail pace! Yet this was the norm before I left my country…
Personal life:
On my way from Japan I stopped over in Malaysia and enjoyed a lovely holiday there for a few days. There I was just chilling and lazing at the beach. Excitement got the best of me and I lost my mobile phone a day before my connecting flight to South Africa.
I was not sad to lose the phone because getting a new phone is a matter of just few hrs( 2hrs at most).
Well that was the case in Japan -I went into Softbank and 2hrs latter I had a phone! But now back at home there are some few red tapes! Which I totally forgot about! To get a contract phone one requires a 3 months bank statement, proof of salary and identity.
Now the trick for me was getting the salary statement…Well I pulled a few strings and I managed to get the salary statement…Once I managed to get the documents sorted I went into a dealer and guess what- they were offline! Meaning I had to come back the following day…Being off line is not a crisis in South Africa there is still tomorrow! But my problem was that I have never heard that line in a year! I was now not accustomed to it…
The only thing that was on my mind at that time was that I need a phone ASAP! The following day I went in and started the process but because the service provider had lots of request for the new phones I had to be on the waiting list…
With all the ups and downs, it took me almost 5 days to get a mobile phone…Most people say it is unusual but I guess in my case it was the “exception”
My excitement of coming back home was short lived by the small irritations that were not necessary… As much as I tried not to stress about such trivial things - the fact of the matter was that I did actually!
What was even worse for me was that when I explained some of the things to people they did not understand why I was making a mountain out of a molelhill…Some of my friends and colleagues would ask: Why are you stressing about this?? Your laptop will arrive in a months time just use this desktop until then. The service provider is off line so just go again tomorrow!
Even if I tried to make people see from my perspective some did not understand. I had to now understand that people don’t understand!
Accepting the above reality was very hard for me. But such things remind me what makes countries like Japan the 1st world. My journey to Japan was fruitful in a manner that I lived and experienced the best customer service . I know what it taste like and how consumers/customers should be treated. Do I now have to settle for the worst in life? Or do I accept this as my new reality and appreciate the other things that are way better than what the 1st world offer….
I looked back and say Japan was great - offered me a lot of convenience and best quality and customer service ever…But at the same time I also had to live through the most impersonal people I have ever come across life…
The question to me now is how do I bring the best of both worlds in my life . Is there such or it is only a fairy tail?? I don’t know only time will tell! For now I will strive to give the best I can and were possible educate people about the best that I know…
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April 9, 2009 |
| The Genesis |
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Phelia Weir/Cocohime Writer
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Coco Hime: Women of African Descent in Japan
Written by Phelia Weir
Saturday, 28 March 2009 05:53
The women of African decent living in Japan have come from all over the globe and have different languages, customs, and backgrounds, but we all are related through our Diasporas history and various shades. Our mission is to provide a resource of information and sense of community to women of African decent living in Japan. Our aim is to provide useful information that will lead to a successful and fulfilling experience in Japan. This website will act as a common ground where women of African decent living in Japan can network, develop relationships and a better understanding of the new culture and challenges they will encounter while living in Japan. Coco Hime wishes to welcome women of African decent to a place where they can be themselves, stay healthy, share experiences, network, connect with other sisters, shop, and be entertained while living in all corners of Japan.
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2009
Urban Tokyo; ...
April (3)