Kyoto and the Expo

It was tiring.

Period.

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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.