The Blower's Daughter is an awesome song
Closer was a surprisingly good movie. There seems to be nothing much to it save for confusion, illusions, fickleness and superficial love, all presented in the messed up, tangled lives of four people: a stripper, a fickle-minded photographer, a perverted asshole and a sad, sorry soul who thinks he understands love by recognizing it to be a complex something. It has it's hilarious moments, mostly those involving Clive Owen's character. He had his share of pityful and heart-breaking moments too when he just cried in front of Anna. Dan, on the other hand, is, I swear, a deranged loser. Come on, we all knew it from the start when he said he wanted to be a writer but had to write for the obituaries due to a lack of talent. Okay, maybe not, I'm just kidding. But he's the one who jumped from one person to another the most, thinking he loves them. I don't know what exactly made it so but near the end, when Dan and Alice were in the hotel room and just talking, you almost think, "That's it. Glad it's now going to work out good for them." Until Dan suddenly goes Doctor P.A. (perverted asshole, sorry I forgot his name) on Alice. However, when he ran back and picked up that rose, you still think it's going to end up all okay for him and Alice. Until Alice suddenly realizes that she doesn't "love" him anymore. (Those were seemingly heartfelt "I love You"s that Dan dished out. But he said that to Anna too. And they seemed tragically, heartfelt too.) What I'm pointing at is an example of how the movie gets the audience involved, no matter how evil, sex-starved, or superficial the characters may seem. (Or maybe just me.) I think a certain wonder I found in the movie is that it appears interesting, at some level, no matter how unextraordinary the situation, or characters, may seem. Being able to sit back and watch the complex, or not-so-complex, interplay of illusion and sudden realizations (built around the recognition of illusions) has a certain charm to it. It may not be in a movie or a play, and it's just the same. If it's not that being able to see the whole picture and watch and sit back, this certain charm the movie has may be from the acting. They were all good and natural. Natalie Portman was not Natalie Portman, she was just a stripper look a like. And that wasn't Jude Law, it's a hopeless wannabe writer who seems to love every woman he's attracted to. And Julia Roberts? Well, that was Julia Roberts. (Just kidding :D I thought she did good too. And Clive Owen too, he was just crazy in that movie.) Anyway, the movie breaks a cliche in that honesty doesn't keep couples together (do you really think some guy will stick to his wife if, even from the start, she informs him of an affair? Maybe. But come on...) Also it presents the words "I Love You" as a mere phrase that isn't as immaculate as it seems. It's like the other side of "I Love You" that spawns broken hearts and broken souls, disgusting secrets and dark lies, tragedy-bound illusions, or nothing at all. Lastly, isn't it tragic how Dan (Jude Law) and "Alice" (Natalie Portman) met as strangers and parted ways, still, as strangers? You know what, this movie and post just inspired me to write a short on fickle "love," minus the sex talk, that I shall call "I Love You All Over Again." And yes, it's going to be sad. Again.
Things you wear to protect your eyes
I found these vintage (in the true, non-mass produced-style, sense) shades/sunglasses/whatever inside my mother's drawer. I think the first pair, the Ray-Bans, is my dad's. You can notice the evident "guilded" Police shades, and the groovy white Gucci I was supposed to wear to the prom. Click for a larger image.  And I also got my first serious pair of shades today. And I am going to abuse it for the first week. Just kidding.
I still llike Gap no matter what you say
Nobody cares about what happened to me today and only really bored people (or stalkers) would read through this but here it goes. Went to get my UP Health Certificate, which turned out fast because I already had my medical and dental check-ups outside UP. Kaye accompanied me. After that we went to SM North to watch a movie with Dixi and Ayisse. Dixi wanted to watch at Gateway but Kaye checked and there were no movies for the day. After much debating at McDo we watched Kaye's pick which is House of Wax (because it would be fun to see Paris's lack of skills "outshine" the others'... and Chad Michael Murray is hot.) I wanted to watch La Visa Loca because I think it would be dang funny. Ayisse said Bikini Open is better (let's face it folks, it isn't actually porn. A butt exposure is the worst there.) Anyway, it is true, Paris' acting was painfully effortless in a negative way. And we all got to see a "preview" of her infamous sex video. Chad Michael Murray was pretty good though. The movie had its freaky moments too although the characters had a lot of stupid moments. After that we went around a bit and just ate. After after, Dixi and I proceeded to our beloved SM Fairview and went around a lot. Just laughing at silly clothes. We also bought a couple of VCDs which were on sale. We were supposed to buy Fight Club, Heat, Jesus Superstar, Bedazzled, EuroTrip, LXG but ended up buying just Fight Club and LXG since somebody already got EuroTrip, neither of us prioritizes owning a copy of Bedazzled, she's watched Jesus Superstar (and I'm not very keen about it) and I already watched Heat (and Dixi's not buying it because it's P200). Well, next time perhaps. So, while going around we were trying to look for artsy fartsy clothes. Too bad the only place we can get it right now is at Red Tag because most shops mass produce clothes, ye know. But then again, we don't really have money and Red Tag better come up with better stuff soon. There's this certain item there that Dixi and I think is lovely and I wanted to buy. Right now it's down to P600 because it's the last stock. Too bad it's too big for me. Artsy fartsy clothes, which is perfectly balanced artsy clothes. It has a certain level of uniqueness that in order to look good on a person must be worn right and carried right (or suit the person) and at the same time not too artsily flashy. You can get them at high end shops, high end but affordable shops or second hands. In relation to artsy fartsy clothes, I told Dixi that more people should be more inventive and try to dress up a little (us included) because it's boring to see everybody wearing jeans and a top (typically a tee). At least it's gonna be more varied if people try to be a little more creative. I guess that thought was partly influenced by my recent stay in Japan because no matter how weird their normal fashion sense is, as the cliche goes, it's a breath of fresh air. But I guess the effects of mass produced boring fashion sense is inevitable. But as for mass produced goods, they're not entirely evil and bad. There are witty mass produced shirts, lovely mass produced coats, and nice mass produced skirts (like this certain skirt from Gap Summer 2005...hahaha). So that's it. PS Dixi, I am still willing to be your personal stylist. HAHAHA
Interesting Things
To those people who have never read my blog because I didn't post anything about clothes you'd probably read this entry since it's inspired by my just-finished closet fixing. I had a lot of clothes from Japan (since it's the only place I go to shop, shop) and I needed to stuff them inside my cabinet if I want to empty my suitcase. So I obviously had to get rid of all the clothes-from-where-the-fuck? inside my closet. I categorized them into, T-shirts, shirts-i-would-have-to-commit-suicide-before-wearing, house clothes and etc. (Too tired to write all of them.) I don't have a lot of clothes because I'm a pretty practical shopper and I'm not really a clothes person. Not really. So it was pretty easy to fix everything inside the damn closet. I realized though that through my aunt I acquire a lot of interesting items like these Suxi N. Rice stuff.
I also have this thing for Gap sale items and have a couple of shop shirts (Bubba Gump, Planet Hollywood).
I also love the Japanese labels, indie designers and clothes from assorted Jap stores.
I also recently bought this pair of AVV Michel Klein Paris lose fit cropped pants at the wonderful gem of a recycle store somewhere in Kisarazu (where you get brand new brand buys starting 1/10th the original price.)
I have two wrap around plaid skirts. What's up with that? I think the other one's Yuki's when she was yonger and she never wore it so she gave it to me.
I have too many beige/brown/khaki pants
And I love Suxi N. Rice.
My aunt knows the designer, worked with the designer (before-she-became-a-full-time-designer-and-after-studying-in-paris) during my aunt's modelling days in New York. I love their stuff. There's a website at http://www.suxinrice.com but it is currently being updated. I'd do their website for free, damn it.
Anyway, Yuki got this used-to-be-tunic top from which she had cut and now decided to give to me because she'll never use it. I got annoyed because why the hell did she get the top cut (she said it was up to above her knees). She knows it's supposed to be that way but had it cut anyway. It doesn't look so bad now that it's cut. It's not like it's short, it's just the right length. And the silky cloth is addictive.
And while were talking about clothes, Shibuya is totally buzzing with shops. I don't know why the hell I didn't get in any of the stores or why I didn't get in the only FCUK branch I've seen in Japan so far (which is in Shibuya). I had Y14,000 in my pocket anyway but I didn't want any more clothes. I've reached my very low saturation point already.
But I want these.
The Piano Man Mystery
Piano Man is all the rage here in Japan. THere's this Piano Man Mystery in UK right now, the story's on 3 TV stations all at the same time here in Japan. Who is Piano Man? He can't even answer it. Comparisons have been drawn between him and that dude in the movie Shine. Anyway, for the story and pictures, check out http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1484698,00.html Everybody check the link NOW. hehe Just kidding. Not sure if he's been around on TV there in the Phils? He must be every tortured artist's prince charming. I mean come on, he's a mystery, a great piano player, and not a bad looking chap.
Chronicles of My Brief Kyoto Encounter Part 1
May 10, 2005 9:26 PM I arrived at Kyoto about 6:30ish in the morning. I thought the place was sort of barren at first. There weren't much people and a certain type of silence hung in the air. I walk the whole length of the train station twice, walking back and forth looking for the bus information center. I asked a bus driver; he slightly confirmed my stocked knowledge, from previous readings, that I am at the back or south side of the big groovy glass JR Station building. He was unsure as well since he`s a tour bus driver, not a city bus driver. I still think he should know where the bus information center is. So, that`s why the place was kinda... uglier than I expected. It`s like, "I fucking spent 10 hours on a night bus just to see this?!" And then I spotted a north-south pedestrian bridge and took the escalator going up to it. Suddenly, everything around me lit up, I lit up, the vending machine lights were no longer grim, and the sound of stroller wheels on tiles didn`t sound lonely; all because there were more than 0 human beings within an imaginary circle around me of 10-20 meter radius. Finally! The Kyoto JR Station is mighty huge and ultra modern. It has this huge open air, no ceiling mall-like leisure center on the 5th floor with a flight of stairs like that of the Spanish Steps in Rome. The station turned out to be architecturally breath taking. Very. The station wasn`t very packed yet though. I mean, I was alone in the huge expanse of the 5th floor with just one other photographer dude on the 5th floor and 2 escalator technicians. After looking around for a potential locker, I decided to get one on the second floor because the basement lockers were too tucked into a dark-ish corner. My feng shui vibes weren`t chiming happily down there. But it`s just mental you know... And then I go back down outside to look for the damned bus info center. I finally found the bus info center. Inside was also a coffee-bake shop. Oh man. It was such a refuge from the cold, lonely outside. Finally, human beings within 1 meter radius. I felt lost outside because I had no idea where to go and how to go about. All my plans for the day evaporated into the dry, cold air that caused me to flake like a fish and spawn ugly dandruff for 1 week. So, I got my bus map and three all-day bus tickets and sat down for a while, trying to see where I could go first within the vicinity of the station. Before walking on and about I stuffed my bag inside the locker only to realize that I left my bottle of water and bus map inside. You pay Y300 to use a locker. When you open it, and close it again, you have to feed the expensive locker coin slot another Y300. I spent Y600 in a matter of 3 seconds. And it`s not for food. Nishihonganji Temple it is. I attempted to walk to the temple since it was near anyway and I wanted some adventure, thus I did not board a bus. After less than 10 minutes I arrived at what I thought to be Nishihonganji. But I arrived at a different temple similar to it but on the eastern part. Of course, I only realized this as I got back to the train station. I tried to walk around the block instead thinking it`s too early to come in the temple despite the open gates. After rounding the second corner I was officially lost. I tried to make the most of it and walked the back streets instead, still trudging towards the general direction of the station. It was a so-so experience although there were a few interesting houses in the area. It was fun pretending that you are not lost, or lost on purpose. There were a lot of people passing by on bikes though. Mostly high school students. Yes folks, Japanese high school students ride bikes to school even with their short skirts somewhere around 2-4 inches above the knees. (Junior high school students, the girls at least, wear shorts too, only knee-length or slightly below the knees. Funny how the higher your year level, the higher your skirt hemline becomes.) I arrived at the station less than 30 minutes later only to find that there are hundreds of junior high school and high school students and a class of grade 1 students. Wow, finally there`s more life around this station. Then things became livelier. I just realized I love people so much... Although I do so from afar in a "I am observing you like a specimen" kind of way. Heh. I finally decided to board a bus to Nishihonganji temple and take a few photos inside. After that I went to this Umekoji Park which was just a flat mass of grass lang with a paced walk and trees where old people do walk-a-thon. I just wanted a place to sit in. Snapped a few photos and those of an old man sitting 2 benches away from me. Secretly, of course. I moved my ass back to the station to pick up the bag from the locker and checked it in at the Utano Youth Hostel. After that was a tiring walk from temple to temple. I`m getting tired of writing so I'll update you with the photos I took instead. (I will, next week, when I get the films developed.)
Natalie Portman shaved her head and I need to marry a chef
The Other DayWe went to Tokyo Techno Tower in the reclaimed Yokohama seaside area (actually, a lot of the places in Japan are reclaimed. And they reclaim lands so fast.) We ate at the Teppan-yaki Restaurant for lunch. Wow. Teppan-yaki is the most expensive Japanese food (basically, steak cooked in front of you) because the chef who cooks it cooks it in front of you (or you can choose to sit on another table away from the huge frying table), the chef needs a license, the chefs are freaking perfectionists when it comes to their, ahem, art, and it only uses the best beef... kobe beef. But, every lunch time there`s a huge discount so from a \5000 beef teppan-yaki, it becomes \2000. Yippee for that. The most expensive meal in the restaurant by the way is a pork, beef, fish and half lobster meal priced at \20,000... which is too crazy. (Bill Clinton and the US presidents eat at this Teppan-yaki restaurant and order huge Kobe beefs priced at \50,000... you know, they eat a lot hehe.) Anyway, we were lucky we got the master chef of the restaurant, yey. He was really a perfectionist about it. Of course, Jasper was being cute and all and the chef liked him. The little boy winked and did a thumbs up sign at the female waitress for chrissakes... Well the 2 waitresses adored him anyway. (At this certain restaurant, last year, all the waitresses though he was so cute and took pictures of him with their cellphones. What a charmer. He`s still a devil anyway.) Getting back on track for the second time, I thought maybe I should marry a chef instead so then he`s get annoyed at how mediocre my cooking skills are and cook himself instead. But then, I still don`t know how the hell he`d be able to cook my dinner, erm... our dinner, haha, if he`s in the restaurant. Just a funny thought. And then, last night, I realized that for me, Danny from that cheeky band is now passing on to Drew Fuller status. You don`t understand what I`m saying, I know, so you should probably head down to yesterday. *Points down.* YesterdayYesterday I got to be full time house wife for a day because my aunt and uncle both left early for work. I had to wash teh dishes, look after Jasper, wash more dishes, reheat our lunch from the last evening, look after Jasper, try to put Jasper to sleep and watch movies. Yesterday, I watched the following movies from my aunt`s collection: Heat - I though Robert De Niro and Al Pacino should make a movie together even though they`re rivals. Well that was before I knew Heat existed. The movie has both of them but Robert De Niro and Al Pacino filmed it separate from each other. The scenes where they confront each other involved doubles. It`s more than a crime movie, it goes deeper than that. Brilliant.
As Good As It Gets - it was funny and Jack Nicholson was awesome. The supporting actors and actresses were good too, of course. I`d crack up everytime an un-sad scene with "Simon the Fag" would come up.
Roman Holiday - was witty and real funny. Even though it`s in black and white and with dead people (or mostly dead, whatever) I was able to appreciate it. I think the style and background musics (no matter how seldom-used it was) used at that time worked well for the movie.
And then there was Monk airing on bilingual channel last night saw we watched that too. I always fall asleep waiting for Monk in the Philippines and it`s such a pity because it`s a hilarious and, all together, really good series.
Today
Today my aunt is leaving a bit later for work so I got 2 hours extra sleep. I would probably watch Nick Of Time, Philadelphia, and Sommersby which all of, including the ones I watched yesterday, I`m ashamed to say I haven`t watched yet. (Hey, I am seriously lacking in resources anyway.)
This morning, there was a 10 minute Hollywood shobiz and tabloids talk segment on TV which I love because I am a huge hollywood tabloid whoring person. I mean, they are loads interesting. Among the couple of things I learned today are:
Kylie Minogue is in the hospital, but you don`t really care about that.
Tom Cruise`s new girlfriend is Katie Holmes, who broke up with her fiance to be with Tom Cruise. But you might not care about that.
A new tabloid headline: "Jen to Brad: How Dare You(?)"
Natalie Portman cut her hair for Closer. Now her head is shaved (as seen in the Star Wars 3 premiere... not sure if it was for Star Wars.) She now looks like Demi Moore in GI Jane.
I forgot the rest.
I so hope there`s a good band that I like that would be performing this Saturday or somewhere else. Which is why I should probably check out Metropolis for gig scheds and all. Metropolis, the magazine for expats (also visitors and japs) here in Japan, is awesome, by the way. Everybody should read it at http:://www.metropolis.co.jp They have this part called The Small Print that usually puts funny, odd or unusual news bits, like this one:
"Bullet trains have been strutting their stuff lately and going over their 272 kph speed limit, apparently just for the heck of it." (from memory; almost exact)
Every summer, by the way, all the kick ass music festivals in Japan are held. It`s such a bugger because the Summer Sonic 2005 rock concert or something is going to be held on August because they have the best line up so far. I want to go badly because the bands that are going to be there are: Oasis, Weezer, Oasis, Weezer, Weezer, Weezer, Oasis, Oasis.
Sorry, keyboard malfunction.
Anyway, there`s gonna be Oasis, Weezer, Interpol, Nine Inch Nails, etc. Bloc Party and Asian Kung Fu Generation are going to be in it too, I think? The Fuji ROck Festival has a pretty good line up too but I like Summer Sonic`s better because Oasis, Weezer and Interpol are there. hehehe
Insert:
“Fuji Rock Festival 2005”
New Order, Coldplay, Aqualung, The Beach Boys, Beck, Cake, The Coral, Dinosaur Jr., Fatboy Slim, Foo Fighters, Juliette & the Licks featuring Juliette Lewis, Kururi, Mercury Rev, Los Lobos, The Music, The Pogues, Sigur Ros, Steel Pulse, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra and more. July 29-31, \16,000/\38,000 (3 day pass). Naeba Ski Resort. Tel: 0180-993-998. http://fujirockfestival.com
Among the bands I`ve discovered through Metropolis that I have yet to check out are: The Beautiful Losers, Hanoi Rocks, Boom Boom Satellites. I`ve also found out from them that Garbage has a new album OMGWTFO$U43D56OSHIHFSIHaveToGetThat. And that THe Bombjacks has a concert here on Sunday.
I am now a reformed citizen of Earth
AM is now reformed. Or soon to be, anyway. These past weeks I have been too busy staring into space but this time breathing japanese air. So I have not been able to bloghop much because I am doing something! (Which is breathing foreign air. How... dumb.) And it just dawned on me that I will be bloghopping less (but will still be bloggin ever so regularly) because I`m onto something now. (Bloghopping here is equal to hopping from one stranger`s site to another.) I don`t know what yet exactly but I have a beautifully confusing image of the things I will be busy with from now on in life, thus I have something to preoccupy myself with aside from hopping and hopping virtually. There are certain qualities blog hopping has brought me though. I have further exercised my lessening of acid-spitting when it comes to reading things or stuff about strangers that I get annoyed at. I just try to understand. This way, I get to develop my reading-people skills and develop my patience and understanding. Whatever, you don`t want to hear about it anyway. hehe So instead, here is a guide on how not to make temple and shrine hopping boring: 1. Try to find the differences between each temple or shrine, no matter how similar they all may seem. Look into the detail. 2. If looking into the details fail, try imagining how life is probably like there when the temple/shrine was at it`s prime (ie when live, breathing, weird clothes-wearing people still lived there.) 3. If that starts to get boring too you should probably try to imagine different scenarios in each place. A few scenarios I did were: it just happened to be afternoon tea at that temple; there is a seige in the middle of the night in this temple; the soldiers from 348.0000004 miles away have just arrived after a trip on foot; there is a wedding ceremony; the master of the house lost his sock (replace with some other foot item in case socks didn`t exist at that time); the youngest son just OD`d on opium. See, it`s fun.
Hey, hey
So... I didn`t tell yet but the bath in the youth hostel I stayed at was onsen style (japanese public bath) but divided into men and women, of course. So I didn`t take a bath for 3 nights. Just kidding. Of course I did. I was lucky anyway I didn`t bathe with anybody else. I think everybody should go to an onsen or public bath at least once in their lives (when I saw onsen it`s always separated into male and female). It`s amazing how everybody`s in their birthday suits and not caring about it like we normally walk without clothes along the streets. Anyway, before going to Kyoto we stayed at a Ryokan for 2 days and 1 night. A ryokan is an inn with a hot spring (which is in onsen style too). It was, as expected, full with old ladies. Anyway... on our first night in the ryokan, Bloc Party was performing in Club Quattro in Shibuya(?) and it was a huge bummer that I wasn`t able to go. But the hot spring was good anyway. Besides, it`s not often that I get to bathe with a bunch of old ladies in a natural hot spring. (It`s not often that you get to be supposedly near a location some band from miles away is playing at, too.) Bummer. And no other good band is playing in Shibuya or Shinjuku or wherever near Tokyo. Drifting to another topic... It`s such a pleasure to spot sales in Japan... and now that there`s a coming season shift, there are sales again. (I can`t believe I`m talking about sales.) I got a pair of really good beige straight pants for Y500 (P250!) and a cool shirt at Uni-Qlo. (Because I found a .uk version of their site... so that`s why they have a lot of designs from Europe... must have franchised and recruited from there.) By the way, Uni-Qlo is the shiz. 2 years ago they sold these boring shirts with bad grammar on them but now they have recruited works and designs from (as print on their shirts): Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, London/Paris/NY Selections, Barbara Kruger(sp?), etc. They produce a lot of the shirts, sure, but they still kick ass. And they have good pants too. And comfy hooded sweaters in many colors. And considerably cheap. There`s this shirt I found which had this printed on it with hearts and cursive writing: Don`t talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddamn rules. Would`ve been cool but didn`t get it since I didn`t like the T-shirt material and I can live without it.  Shirt I got from Uni-Qlo.  Pants from Uni-Qlo I also found a new line of shirts called Happy Warmingman (I think it involved Sony but what the hey.) Happy Warmingman is hilarious. See and visit him at http://www.warningman.com Recently, since about 2 months ago, I`ve been developing an affinity for coats of all kind. (Speaking of coats, maybe Danny from McFly and the cute jap guys are more attractive because they wear suit-like coats/jackets casually? I dunno, I find it amusing.) So, I have finally bought a longer than normal coat (I`m not sure if I should really call it a trench) and it`s lovely. My dad bought this ridiculously light pink trench coat but it`s turning out to be cooler than it first was. My dad bought a pink denim trench-like coat months ago too, I think. But I haven`t seen it yet. So yeah, you might see me around UP wearing a coat on a rainy day or a chilly Philippine December day. Whatever.
Kyoto and the Expo
It was tiring. Period. --- Okay, so you knew I won`t be able to go on with daily chores without blabbering at least 1058 words about what happened. I`ll just write about the expo first because it`s shorter, definitely. So... my dad kept cracking corny, as in the unfunny, hopeless kind of corny, jokes all through out. I laughed about thrice. heh. We just went in one corporate pavillion, the Wonder Circus which had a ride that takes you through 8 different levels, because all the other corporate pavillions were packed with long lines. So I wasn`t able to get in my much awaited future cast experience from the Mitsui Toshiba pavillion. We got to visit all the Global Commons though and that`s what the World Expo is really about anyway: being able to skim through the whole world in one day. I`ll just list the noteable stuff because I`m lazy. It really smelled hell like pits inside some parts of the African pavillion but the antique, original bead necklaces were beautiful... and expensive. I was to get one that was considerably cheaper but decided an authentic Nepal bag instead.
The Nepal pavillion was the first one we got into. Guess what? Two vendors tried taking to me in Nepalese. One of them asked, are you Nepal-jin? (Nepalese in japanese.) Of course, I said I`m Filipino. Do I look Nepalese? I don`t think so. Most of them (and all of the Nepalese women inside the pavillion) looked like Indians though. One of the dudes looked Tibetan. Maybe there are two kinds of Nepalese. I dunno.
Without bias (although we all know I like Turkey. A lot.) the best pavillion setups for me are Turkey`s and Morroco`s. They both seem simple yet the detail makes it all wonderful. Turkey`s had their famous tile work and aside from that there were beautiful metal structures and lighting arranged into pattern on the wall. Morroco had this whole separating wall of intricate brass lace leaf work sandwiched between two glasses and glass floors.
The pavillion of industrialized countries were pretty disappointing because they were all video presentations and light projections. The impressive ones were those the middle eastern, near middle east, east europe and artsy countries like Italy and Spain.
Spain wins best outer architectural work. THe whole "shell" of the building was a mosaic of tiles.
Italy had this whole car made of white chocolate and road made of milk chocolate. One japanese lady who was smelling the chocolate suddenly stuck out her tongue and tasted it while the jap lady manning the exhibit was not looking.
All the Central and SOuth Asian countries provided a nice atmosphere of their countries inside their pavillions. You really feel like you`re in the middle of an Indian market with all the vendors peddling their wares and coercing you to look at their stuff.
We ate at the Central American pavillion for lunch because we were hungry and the Polish restaurant was still kilometers away. And my dad didn`t want to eat crocodile meat from the Australian restaurant.
We made it to the Poland pavillion for dinner where we just had something light, like pre-dinner. The forest mushroom and cream soup was wow. THe Polish ladies were wow too.
Before making it to the Poland pavillion, we passed by the Uzbekistan pavillion beside it. I told my dad maybe we shouldn`t go inside since we`d see the same thing plus they had a clear glass so you can look inside.
But you see, all the pavillions had a receiving person waiting outside the door. Usually, the whole pavillion staff are from that country but some had a japanese staff. (They all speak Japanese by the way heh... Yes, even the Nepalese all speak Japanese.)
So, as I was saying... we weren`t supposed to go inside the Uzbekistan pavillion but I spotted this blonde pretty boy receiving person at the Uzbekistan pavillion and I went: Maybe we should go in, it looks interesting. But authentic Polish food cannot wait so... yeah... I had to stare at Polish ladies for the next 20 minutes instead.
THe Philippines pavillion was pretty disappointing because they only showcased our tarsiers, flora and fauna, and indigenous etcetera with matching artifacts. This expo is a huge promotional thing so why didn`t they even showcase our beaches? And instead of making the whole inside one huge abacca hell house, why didn`t they include a corner with a clear glass floor where you can see fish swimming and some corals? Or a whole wall with pictures of beaches. WHY NOT? WHY? There was a huge groovy aromatherapy abaca ball anyway. But they didn`t offer any pure mango dishes or coconut drinks and the japs are crazy about mangoes and coconuts. And they have and are willing to spend money too.
Do I look Nepalese? I don`t think so.
Check in devArt for a couple of the digital stills I took of Kyoto, the Expo and Nagoya.
Hm, really huh?
You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.
Cultural Creative | | 69% | Materialist | | 63% | Modernist | | 56% | Idealist | | 50% | Postmodernist | | 50% | Existentialist | | 38% | Romanticist | | 25% | Fundamentalist | | 13% |
What is Your World View?
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Dahn, dahn dahn daranahndarahn
I wasn`t able to finish my past post so here it is... It`s a Fuji FinePix 4900Z which I got for only around Php14,000 with a tele converter lens and 3 other lens attachments. I only have to buy battery and a smart media card. I guess it`s a steal since I would`t really buy a brand new digicam unless it`s a brand new digital SLR (On second thought... I might as well get that from a recycle shop hahaha.) So, I`ve noticed that them high school and younger bunch of jap kids have grown cuter, both the males and females. I guess the jap guys have grown more passable or half good looking because of the large influence of fashion among the younger portion of the society in japanese society and also because these guys have learned to get weird hair cuts, grow their hair, fix themselves up a bit, etc. Except that those who shave their eyebrows are kinda freaky. Speaking of freaky... We went to Disney Sea today. I like it better than Tokyo Disneyland (which I`ve been to tons of times so we didn`t go anymore) because it`s more laid back and the stage productions are extremely good. I like the way the park is divided as well. The Mediterranean Harbor buildings really do look mediterranean(sp?) and all the workers there speak basic Italian... like the hellos, good bye, welcome, thank you, etc. And in the gondola ride, one of your two gondola people sings in Italian. We`re lucky we got the one who sings best (from what I`ve heard, anyway.) And then the best stage performance has got to be Mystic Rhythm in the park division called blablabla... it`s south american-Indiana Jones kind of thing. Anyway, there`s a real water fall onstage and the dancers bathe in it and the stage gets really wet. And there`s this pond where they really do dive. And the dancers are dancing in freaky leotards (now that`s where the freaky comes in). And the dancers playing four legged animals really do slither, crawl, and slide across the slightly uneven floor. And then the acrobats are really good. They hang without support from these strips of cloths hanging from the ceiling. THey fly around with only their hands holding on to those cloths. And then the music is live as well: This 5-man band that plays a mix of ethnic, clarinet and keyboard. (Reminded me of Ma`am Cardenas.) We also watched Ariel, Sebastian, Flounder, Ursula and her two side kicks in the Mermaid Theater. It was kind of freaky watching a red rope-haired Ariel doing swimming acrobatics above you. It was freakier when a leotard-clad starfish suddenly appeared to my left. Kinda fun though since the mechanism for all the giant puppets (giant Ursula head included) were really good. The 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea ride was also really fun. You get in a 6-people submarine (we were only 5 though) and you get submerged under a water and like go around "20,000 leagues under the sea". The good thing about Disney Land/Sea here is that they don`t force you to sit beside a stranger when you`re riding alone. Maybe it was just that th park wasn`t packed today since half of the Jap work force is still on holiday. So there... we`re going around Yokohama tomorrow. It`s time to people watch again. I might go on alone to Harajuku though. And then that`s where the more weirdly fashion sensed people are.
Hola
I am now pretty happy. Dunno, at least not much stuff are bugging me. I have been thinking though if I am finally getting tired of Japan. Well I haven`t really gone out to places I haven`t seen yet. We went to this place south of Yokohama called Kamogawa, by the way. That`s where Tito Mikki surfs. It was really windy that afternoon so we went to my Dad`s place about one hour from the beach and spent the night there. And then early morning the next day (that`s this morning) Tito Mikki and my aunt drived to Kamogawa again so he can surf. And then this morning my dad, Jasper and I went to the recycle shop, it`s basically a level-higher ukay-ukay haha Because it`s like a mini department store. We went there to get Ayisse`s brother`s SLR. The cheaper less than PhP10,000 manuals and semi-autos aren`t very good except for the Canon EOS Kiss. It`s the same model as mine. I might get that for Ayisse`s brother. That plus a 28-70mm zoom lens is only worth a very lucky and practical PhP5,000+ But I didn`t get it yet since I haven`t checked with Ayisse. Jasper got this ugly mutated spider man action figure and Alien Spider Hunter or something action figure (a Spidey villain, it appears to be). And I got a digicam instead hahaha Hey, it was really cheap and the only difference between it and a brand new one are a few scratches. That recycled shop actually has a 3-month guarantee for electronics and cameras. I got a FujiFinepix accompanied with a tele converter lens, a lens protector, a starburst attachment and this other light enhancing attachment for only around Php14,000
Hello
Hello. Sometimes I get these empty feelings. You know? This is another one of those days. Maybe thoughts of Lost In Translation, my brother whining, my father voicing "self-pity" (or perhaps pleas for self-appreciation - not that I`n saying it`s an entirely bad thing, not really), and future talks are altogether brewing a depression inside me. (I love you dad and Jasper, no matter how whiny you are.) Future talk, again. I`m no longer obsessed with the future much. The possibilities are still exciting though, but they can be depressing too. It`s started to bore me too. Or maybe the stranger complex is just taking over me here in Japan so I`m feeling bored and depressed about a lot of things. (Stranger complex = when you feel like a stranger in a certain place too much that it affects your activity.) Future talk ends there. (surprised?) I just want to people watch so badly now. There, the fact that I still want to do things around here denotes that I am not entirely bored with this country...yet? My energy level is just down to 0.1 after a day of walking around Motomachi and Landmark Tower and Queens Square. Took tons of photos too. Bought traditional kimono slippers thing from this huge opening sale (cheapest were at Y300) - dunno, maybe I`d wear them around the Phils? haha Bought a skirt too. And this sort of longer than usual tops I`ve been wanting to wear forever that almost all Japanese girls are digging at the moment. You know, they wear them tops with jackets or long sleeved shirts or anything else over it. Exactly the way I think they should be worn. haha I got both top and weird skirt for Y1000 each, cheap already and a quality buy, methinks. We also watched this street performance of some funny American guy in landmark tower. Photos coming when I get them developed... in the Phils maybe. Finished 3 rolls today. Went to a huge bookstore too that had books like A Clockwork Orange and Trainspotting. Worth twice the price of what they probably are in the Phils. But they`re not available much in the Philippines anyway. I`m really tired. My thoughts are weirdly erratic. Not that I`m saying I am capable of organized thought when NOT tired. haha Anyway, planning the Kyoto trip is still stressing me out like hell. Hello. (I`m currently writing this semi-fiction currently titled: And This Starts the Recounts of My Stay In Japan)
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