Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Auntie Sak Goes Awwww

My beloved nephew H was over at my house.

Him getting his nail trimmed while he's asleep:


His arms are hilariously adorable.



Until next time,

Sak

Monday, September 27, 2010

List of 10 -English Words I Had Trouble Learning How to Pronounce Properly When I was 15

1) fifth
2) literally
3) martyr
4) executives
5) Bartholomew
6) Vancouver
7) thesaurus
8) cathedrals
9) itinerary
10) Clinton

All because of f and v and th and l-and-r-confusion. And I was forced to move my tongue and lips in the way that no Japanese is physically capable to.

In no particular order.

Until next time,

Sak

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Good Morning! And Really Early At It, Too!

Awoke and looked at the alarm to see that it was barely 4, but couldn't go back to sleep. I know when it's not working if I tried, so I got up and went over the seminar plan once more at the kitchen table.

It's rare that I'm this nervous about something.

Good luck, me!

Until next time,

Sak

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Lost in Translation

I woke up at 7 in the morning, and was in a total dismay to find the unfamiliar in my room...


...and I come to my senses and remind myself that It's NOT my room. It's the hotel room I've been staying since the night before.

I get up and open the curtains to see on my right...

...buildings. And on my left...


...more buildings.

Good morning, Tokyo!

Anyway, this was last Monday. Two nights in the capital city got me really lonely. Not the kind of loneliness where I miss someone and need a hug, but the kind where things are happening before I can think, you know? The kind where mind comes after matter. Lonely in the sense that you don't know what the heck you want because you can't hear yourself think very clearly.

Well, being lost aside, I do love the over-sized robe thingy that Japanese hotels usually have in each room, though. Very cozy to sleep in. And the cotton slippers.



Until next time,

Sak

Monday, September 20, 2010

List of 10 -Things I Collect

1) magnets from cities and countries I visited
2) macrobiotic-related books
3) Kate Spade
4) handkerchiefs
5) dinosaur-related books and DVDs
6) glasses (eye wear)
7) nail colors (mostly pink)
8) 500-yen coins
9) Issey Miyake fragrances
10) scrunchies

In no particular order.

Until next time,

Sak

Monday, September 13, 2010

My Cousin And Breakfast II

Cousin A is leaving Tokyo in a half month, and our breakfast tradition was to end. Very, very sad about it. I really liked our morning time together. I'm going to miss it a lot everytime I come and stay in Tokyo now.

But leave, she must. And our last breakfast was had at Segafredo in Hiroo, just around the corner from her mansion. I didn't know that they had the cafe in Japan, too.


Anyways, cheers to cousin A for her new journey in life, and to her youth and freedom!

Until next time,

Sak

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Spice It Up!

Cousin A took me to her favorite Indian restaurant in Ebisu, called Tandoor.



The place is small but very cozy, and this Indian waiter in his late 30s was really nice and friendly. I told him "Thank you" in Hindu, sort of recalling from my college years when I had an Indian-American roommate at one point. Surprised myself that I still remembered the word. He was really impressed and pleased, he gabe me a free ice tea.

Why don't people in Japan have a mind of friendliness like that?

Anyways, the lamb curry was superbly delicious as A claimed it to be, and so was tandori chicken salad that we tried. Much to be recommended.



I remembered this Indian place in Vancouver that I used to love and go to very often, and realized I hadn't had good Indian curry like this one since then. Thank you, A!

Until next time,

Sak

Friday, September 10, 2010

List of 10 -Things I Want To Try

1) horse-back riding
2) bungee jumping
3) sky diving
4) cruising
5) tae kwon do
6) bread-baking
7) hato-bus tour in Tokyo
8) camping
9) archery
10) painting

more or less in order of preference.

Until next time,

Sak

Monday, September 6, 2010

Macaron Scarf and Hankie

We were at a department store in Shinjuku and I found La Duree macaron scarves that I was looking for.



And and I have T to thank for buying them right on the spot! Loooooooove them! Thank you, T! You are the best!

Until next time,

Sak

Saturday, September 4, 2010

J'aime Versailles -Concert

So, anyway, I went to their tour grand final live at C. C. Lemon Hall, and totally had a blast! I loved it so much I can't stop thinking how good it was, and keep wanting to relive that magical time all over again. I mean, nothing beats music played live. Don't you agree?

My right arm is hurting like hell now from waving it around the whole time. And I lost my favorite piece of necklace while at the concert. Too much jumping, I think. Oh well.


Until next time,

Sak

J'aime Versailles -Prélude

Was in Tokyo this weekend for a concert on Saturday. Of what?

Voilla!!



Introducing Versailles Philharmonic Quintet, I think I have to first write about my favorite Japanese heavy metal band for the first time in my blog before I talk about their concert.

Surprised?

Please don't let what you see decide if you like them or not and stop reading this post here. Or, please don't judge my taste altogether and stop being a reader of this blog. I am not exactly a Goth-and-Renaissance-fairs-and-role-playing-video-games-with-a-Medieval-setting-lover type of person who moved back to Japan from the states to embrace anime-otakuness. I have nothing against whoever may be the case. I am just saying I am not. I am also not for too much makeup and costume in anything other than a ballet performance or the wonders of Cirque du Soleil. I also am not even readily fond of heavy metal music in general to begin with.

So why did I come to being a fan of them? Because I never knew what they looked like until after I heard their music and fell in love with it to begin with.

I heard their CD, without any conception of what the band is about (or what they look like), and I have to admit I was totally and utterly wowed by their musical concussion. Sure, they were different from Chopin and Schubert and Rachmaninoff that I usually hear from my stereo, and I had to turn down the volume a lot the minute it started playing... by A LOT. But I genuinely liked what I heard. I played the CD again, and like it more.

Their music, while linguistically confusing at times (like any other music by a band, heavy metal or otherwise, really), is simply great. I was intrigued enough and googled them and saw what they looked like, and I went totally dumbfounded because of their gender-confused, French-aristocrats-meets-Final-Fantasy sort of presentation of themselves. Well, I pretty much had the same exact reaction that you had when you first saw them a little while ago in my post.

I also wiki-ed them, and found out they are also critically quite acclaimed, and each member is super duper talented and have a classical music background to base the band's music on. And they are more majorly known in Europe and Latin America than in Japan.

Whatever critics say or whatever they look like or whatever they are to other people, though, I decided I love their music. Let them wear whatever they want and look however they want, because if their looks and performance styles were to overwhelm their music and their talents take backseat, I would stop listening to them pronto.

I am not writing this post to promote the band or spread my love for them. I'm not even tagging their clip on YouTube, see? (Although, I am sending copies of their CD to my friends in USA who are actually the Goth-and-Renaissance-fairs-and-role-playing-video-games-with-a-Medieval-setting-lover type of people who wish to come to Japan to embrace anime-otakuness. Oh yes, I am. Wait for CDs, E and J!) Let me tell you honestly. Had I made my visual encounter with them on line or CD jacket before I actually heard their music, I might have not given them so much of a chance to begin with. Well, because, like any other person who is not optically challenged, more often than not I use my eyes to decide what I like. And I certainly am guilty of having judged a book by its cover, or worse, by my presumption, on many occasions in my life. Aren't we all? And sadly, sometimes, as much as we know it's not the ideal, we have to be that way. There are simply too many things available out there that we can't stop and give each and every thing a fair chance to be liked, and you have to use something as your filter system, be it your eyes or ears or instinct. I am just saying, Versailles Philharmonic Quintet is something I liked using my filter system that I normally would not use. And I am sticking to it.

Until next time,

Sak

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Got My Ass-sets Back!

I just had a Julie-Andrews-singing-with-her-arms-wide-spread-on-the-hills-that-are-aliiiiiiiive-with-the-sound-of-music moment!

I had a funeral to go to today and being clad in all black was called for.

So, 10 o'clock in the mo, I have my head and ass in the closet digging deep for something black and formal-looking, and what do I find? A pair of Ya Ya silk-and-satin size-zero skinny pants that I bought when I weighed the least in my life at age 25. With them in my hands I'm thinking, "Hmmm... do I dare?"

I hadn't fit in these for the last three years, and the last time I tried them on I couldn't even pull them up half my thighs. And nothing feels worse than when something that used to make my ass look pretty darn hot doesn't even make it thus far. Right, ladies???

But tried them on, I did. And...

... they slided up on my skin all the way to the waist!! Can buckle both bottons, with no love hundle hanging on the waist or anything!!

Whooooo hoooooooooooo me and my size-zero ass!! I'm so happy I migh just sleep in those tonight.

Until next time,

Sak