Have just realized I haven't even been on line for three weeks, let alone updated a post on blog. I've come a long enough way keeping Diary of a Japanadian, I refuse to let this die.
While I was busy off line, I turned 33, too. Thank you for wishing me a happy birthday, those of you who did. I did, indeed, have a very nice, homey birthday where A was adorable and T was sweet (bought me roses in antique pink! my fave colour!). Couldn't have wished for more.
Until next time,
Sak
Showing posts with label Can I just say.... Show all posts
Showing posts with label Can I just say.... Show all posts
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Thoughts On Our First Anniversary
A year just flew by. It friggin' flew!! I mean, I can't believe just how so much can happen within that short-seeming period of time.
On September 23rd last year, T and I got married. And boom! 10 months later, we became a couple of parents. We still can't quite conceive of the fact that we are now such responsible people. I mean, often times I look at A, sleeping so peacefully with that cutest possible face imaginable, and I feel like I want to apologize and beg her at the same time. My apology? "Sorry, sweetheart, I am what you got." What I beg? "Please don't hate me if I screw this up!"
Babies don't come with a guide. I don't know what the hell I'm doing most of the time, really. I just go with my instinct, hoping and praying that I do have the right kind of instinct and what I do try isn't half bad.
Parenthood. It's horrifying. You know, the more I think about it, the more mixed I feel. A will grow thinking that T and I are the two most absolute figures for her for most of her early childhood, and our perceptions and likes and dislikes and choices and decisions and screwups and everything that we do and don't do will affect her for the rest of her life. How could such a huge responsibility be put upon a person who is barely sure of what to do with dinner tonight!? Exactly a year ago, my prominent worries were what tomorrow's weather was going to be, or, if my favorite spot in the public parking lot had been taken by another car. Where did those small, insignificant, self-centered worries go? Now I am worried, terrified actually, about growing a human being right.
Well, anyway.
With love that grows everyday, happy anniversary, T!
Until next time,
Sak
On September 23rd last year, T and I got married. And boom! 10 months later, we became a couple of parents. We still can't quite conceive of the fact that we are now such responsible people. I mean, often times I look at A, sleeping so peacefully with that cutest possible face imaginable, and I feel like I want to apologize and beg her at the same time. My apology? "Sorry, sweetheart, I am what you got." What I beg? "Please don't hate me if I screw this up!"
Babies don't come with a guide. I don't know what the hell I'm doing most of the time, really. I just go with my instinct, hoping and praying that I do have the right kind of instinct and what I do try isn't half bad.
Parenthood. It's horrifying. You know, the more I think about it, the more mixed I feel. A will grow thinking that T and I are the two most absolute figures for her for most of her early childhood, and our perceptions and likes and dislikes and choices and decisions and screwups and everything that we do and don't do will affect her for the rest of her life. How could such a huge responsibility be put upon a person who is barely sure of what to do with dinner tonight!? Exactly a year ago, my prominent worries were what tomorrow's weather was going to be, or, if my favorite spot in the public parking lot had been taken by another car. Where did those small, insignificant, self-centered worries go? Now I am worried, terrified actually, about growing a human being right.
Well, anyway.
With love that grows everyday, happy anniversary, T!
Until next time,
Sak
Friday, June 8, 2012
A Mom-and-daughter Relationship Paradigm
I am back home at my parents'.
As expected, mom is driving me nuts. How did I ever live with her? It's a wonder. A moment she opens her mouth, my stomach just shrinks and I just wanna leave the room. Was she always like this when I was growing up, and didn't I just know any better? I am going bananas just by hearing her talk to me, and I am probably doing the same to her to a degree by being mute, a solution I came up with to shut her up.
I wonder if it's because I am too much like her, or if I've grown so completely different from her. I have a mixed feeling that it's probably a bit of both. And here's hoping that I won't make my daughter feel the same about me when she is my age.
Until next time,
Sak
As expected, mom is driving me nuts. How did I ever live with her? It's a wonder. A moment she opens her mouth, my stomach just shrinks and I just wanna leave the room. Was she always like this when I was growing up, and didn't I just know any better? I am going bananas just by hearing her talk to me, and I am probably doing the same to her to a degree by being mute, a solution I came up with to shut her up.
I wonder if it's because I am too much like her, or if I've grown so completely different from her. I have a mixed feeling that it's probably a bit of both. And here's hoping that I won't make my daughter feel the same about me when she is my age.
Until next time,
Sak
Monday, March 26, 2012
Questions
The dongle for my laptop died yesterday. It was bent in a way that was not going to unbend, and I guess the wires in it no longer functioned.
T thought this might not be a bad timing for me to get a new laptop. I got my HP in 2006. He doesn't mean it's ancient, but "it is American." He doesn't mean American laptops suck (they probably do, though), but "it's hard", if at all possible, "to fix it here in Japan if something happens to it." Like losing the dongle, for example, I guess. I am now using T's lPanasonic, and it's freaking tiny I keep hitting the wrong keys. I miss my stupid American laptop.
I mean, we have a history together, you know? It even died of virus once, but gracefully resurrected, thanks to a very talented computer nerd that is my friend Y's husband. I don't watch porn or do illegal downloading of any sort (that no one else is doing), and my laptop is perfectly viable. I can't move onto a new one yet just because I lost the power. I am not ready to let go of it.
What is considered the best retirement age for a laptop these days, I wonder? Is a 6-year-old laptop past its prime? And while I am pondering, here are some more questions I'd like to know the answers to. Will everything be shifting to touch panels in a couple of decades, if not years? Am I the only one thinking of buying yet another cell phone, not an iPhone, if my current cell phone breaks? Am I the only one under age 40 who still likes the idea of reading news on paper, or still enjoys sending friends hand-written cards and letters? Is that pro-global-warning of me to love things in a paper form now? Am I a lame-o the way I think people who still use a paid phone are lame-os?
Until next time,
Sak
P.S. I placed an order for a new dongle on US amazon.com. My HP will live on.
T thought this might not be a bad timing for me to get a new laptop. I got my HP in 2006. He doesn't mean it's ancient, but "it is American." He doesn't mean American laptops suck (they probably do, though), but "it's hard", if at all possible, "to fix it here in Japan if something happens to it." Like losing the dongle, for example, I guess. I am now using T's lPanasonic, and it's freaking tiny I keep hitting the wrong keys. I miss my stupid American laptop.
I mean, we have a history together, you know? It even died of virus once, but gracefully resurrected, thanks to a very talented computer nerd that is my friend Y's husband. I don't watch porn or do illegal downloading of any sort (that no one else is doing), and my laptop is perfectly viable. I can't move onto a new one yet just because I lost the power. I am not ready to let go of it.
What is considered the best retirement age for a laptop these days, I wonder? Is a 6-year-old laptop past its prime? And while I am pondering, here are some more questions I'd like to know the answers to. Will everything be shifting to touch panels in a couple of decades, if not years? Am I the only one thinking of buying yet another cell phone, not an iPhone, if my current cell phone breaks? Am I the only one under age 40 who still likes the idea of reading news on paper, or still enjoys sending friends hand-written cards and letters? Is that pro-global-warning of me to love things in a paper form now? Am I a lame-o the way I think people who still use a paid phone are lame-os?
Until next time,
Sak
P.S. I placed an order for a new dongle on US amazon.com. My HP will live on.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Kate Spade Watches
My beloved Kate Spade has come up with a watch line!!
They are not available in Japan yet. All the more reason for me to hurry up and get one before anyone else does...
Until next time,
Sak
They are not available in Japan yet. All the more reason for me to hurry up and get one before anyone else does...
Until next time,
Sak
Friday, January 20, 2012
Magazine Debut!
Guess what, I'm in February Nikkei Woman!! in a "What Working Women Do in their Free Time" section. If you happen to be in Japan this month and find yourself roaming around a book store by any chance, please take a moment to find me on page 46.
Nikkei Woman is usually stacked up in business mag section, not women's fashion shelf.
All the more reason for me to rev on drawing and writing.
Until next time,
Sak
Nikkei Woman is usually stacked up in business mag section, not women's fashion shelf.
All the more reason for me to rev on drawing and writing.
Until next time,
Sak
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Happy New Year!
World? Hey, is it really you? Oh thank God! I finally got myself wired at new flat, and can't be more stoked. How detached from you have I been feeling for the last two weeks or so without the internet?!
I thought I had overcome my early addiction with the cyber world long ago, but the silence therapy nearly killed me this time. A week or two without the internet is no problem had I been on a vacation. Having the whole 3-bedroom apartment to myself for 10 hours a day for two weeks without one is HELL! It doesn't help when one is not very into TV, too, like myself. And it's bloody cold outside and it's not like I have the nerve to go on a joy stride and explore the new city I live in.
Yes, I do live in a new city. A city that I mean to blog about in good time -hopefully, but so far as I can tell, it's just an ordinary city that's like thousands of others in Japan. It's neither super exciting nor dull. It has what it should as a civilization of the modern day. It neither lacks nor overloads. But let me, as I said, blog about the place a little more in detail as I get myself more familiar with it.
Anyhow, I just thought I should let the world know first and foremost that I am back and I am happy.
Until next time,
Sak
I thought I had overcome my early addiction with the cyber world long ago, but the silence therapy nearly killed me this time. A week or two without the internet is no problem had I been on a vacation. Having the whole 3-bedroom apartment to myself for 10 hours a day for two weeks without one is HELL! It doesn't help when one is not very into TV, too, like myself. And it's bloody cold outside and it's not like I have the nerve to go on a joy stride and explore the new city I live in.
Yes, I do live in a new city. A city that I mean to blog about in good time -hopefully, but so far as I can tell, it's just an ordinary city that's like thousands of others in Japan. It's neither super exciting nor dull. It has what it should as a civilization of the modern day. It neither lacks nor overloads. But let me, as I said, blog about the place a little more in detail as I get myself more familiar with it.
Anyhow, I just thought I should let the world know first and foremost that I am back and I am happy.
Until next time,
Sak
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The Year Gone By
Highlights of my 2011:
Walking down the aisle with dad (didn't think this would be possible when he fell ill):
Taking the vow of life:
As I'm moving to Aichi today and won't have internet till January, I wanted to post my thanks and wishes to all my dear readers today. Thank you for following Diary of a Japanadian. I will continue blogging once I settle in new apartment. Have a very merry Christmas with beloveds, and a happy new year!
Until next time,
Sak
Walking down the aisle with dad (didn't think this would be possible when he fell ill):
Taking the vow of life:
As I'm moving to Aichi today and won't have internet till January, I wanted to post my thanks and wishes to all my dear readers today. Thank you for following Diary of a Japanadian. I will continue blogging once I settle in new apartment. Have a very merry Christmas with beloveds, and a happy new year!
Until next time,
Sak
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Can I Just Say...
It's been a while since I last posted, but I'd just not had the heart to -the heart that is nearly breaking, since I have to leave my work in the end of the month. I've been telling everyone at school that I am leaving, but it's just making me feel worse.
My newly-wedded hubby is being transfered to Aichi, and I am going with. It entails a lot of goodbyes for my part, and I am not being very good at it so far. I only know that I deal best with anything in my super positive, watch-me-I'm-gonna-laugh-about-it way. I hope I can pull that off till the end.
Some don't care, and some don't even know me that much. But some have earnestly told me how sorry they are that I have to go. A young student actually shed tears for me today. It nearly killed me. The last 5 years of my life will probably look really short in my death bed. But they were my first 5 years of my life in Japan, and will always going to be one of the best parts of my life. I hope I will never forget that.
Until next time,
Sak
My newly-wedded hubby is being transfered to Aichi, and I am going with. It entails a lot of goodbyes for my part, and I am not being very good at it so far. I only know that I deal best with anything in my super positive, watch-me-I'm-gonna-laugh-about-it way. I hope I can pull that off till the end.
Some don't care, and some don't even know me that much. But some have earnestly told me how sorry they are that I have to go. A young student actually shed tears for me today. It nearly killed me. The last 5 years of my life will probably look really short in my death bed. But they were my first 5 years of my life in Japan, and will always going to be one of the best parts of my life. I hope I will never forget that.
Until next time,
Sak
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Packing and In Panic!
I am off to the airport in ten hours, during which I am, planning at least, to pack, have a nice long bath, get 8 hours of beauty sleep and have a hearty breakfast. I will have to remember not to leave anything important behind, like wallet and glasses, like I did the last time I went to France.
Let me tell you a story. The last voyage to the country of my dreams, I miraculously managed to leave my wallet behind. It's a good thing no one tried to rob me in Paris because I would have been killed or at least done some serious damages to 'cause I had had literally nothing for him or her to hawk off me. Imagine a Japanese female tourist walking down St. German de pres sporting a Pucci bag and Manolo boots and be completely penny less. Ridiculous, right? Yet penniless I was, and without my sister's magic plastic card, I would have had to turn my miserable ass back home at Narita Airport on the day one.
I also miraculously left my glasses at the hotel on the day I visited Luvre to face Mona Lisa. It would have been the most anticipated, marvelous artsy moment for me too, outshining all the things I have artistically done and seen in the presumptuous little life of mine. It might as well have beeen the moment for me to see a unicorn. So I stood there, and then there she was. On the wall. In that ridiculously small frame of gold or brass or who-can-tell-what-the-fuck. Right in front of me. Except there was this 10 cubic square meters of space! Who the fuck knew Lisa was not to be viewd within a decent distance? And when I say decent distance I mean I-am-able-to-actually-see-the-painting distance. Anyone who wears glasses but not on an every-waking-moment-of-his-or-her-life basis should be warned at the entrance of Luvre or provided with binoculars. But no warning, or no binoculars, even a monocular. So I did what I could to catch a glance of the centuries-old lady the 21st century way: zoomed in on the painting with my Cybershot. Haha, take that, Da Vinci!
Wasn't about art anymore at this point.
So anyway, I can't leave anything important behind this time. Need to make my reunion with Lisa at Luvre, and I must apologize to her that I failed to make our first encounter properly.
Oh, and and I need to introduce her my husband, too. How can I do that without looking directly into her eyes, no matter the distance between us, right?
And I just spent 10 minutes of the 10 hours that I had left. Crap and a half! Gotta go!
Until next time,
Sak
Let me tell you a story. The last voyage to the country of my dreams, I miraculously managed to leave my wallet behind. It's a good thing no one tried to rob me in Paris because I would have been killed or at least done some serious damages to 'cause I had had literally nothing for him or her to hawk off me. Imagine a Japanese female tourist walking down St. German de pres sporting a Pucci bag and Manolo boots and be completely penny less. Ridiculous, right? Yet penniless I was, and without my sister's magic plastic card, I would have had to turn my miserable ass back home at Narita Airport on the day one.
I also miraculously left my glasses at the hotel on the day I visited Luvre to face Mona Lisa. It would have been the most anticipated, marvelous artsy moment for me too, outshining all the things I have artistically done and seen in the presumptuous little life of mine. It might as well have beeen the moment for me to see a unicorn. So I stood there, and then there she was. On the wall. In that ridiculously small frame of gold or brass or who-can-tell-what-the-fuck. Right in front of me. Except there was this 10 cubic square meters of space! Who the fuck knew Lisa was not to be viewd within a decent distance? And when I say decent distance I mean I-am-able-to-actually-see-the-painting distance. Anyone who wears glasses but not on an every-waking-moment-of-his-or-her-life basis should be warned at the entrance of Luvre or provided with binoculars. But no warning, or no binoculars, even a monocular. So I did what I could to catch a glance of the centuries-old lady the 21st century way: zoomed in on the painting with my Cybershot. Haha, take that, Da Vinci!
Wasn't about art anymore at this point.
So anyway, I can't leave anything important behind this time. Need to make my reunion with Lisa at Luvre, and I must apologize to her that I failed to make our first encounter properly.
Oh, and and I need to introduce her my husband, too. How can I do that without looking directly into her eyes, no matter the distance between us, right?
And I just spent 10 minutes of the 10 hours that I had left. Crap and a half! Gotta go!
Until next time,
Sak
Friday, September 23, 2011
The Hills Are Alive and I Am So Damn Happy
There are few things that one gets to say only once in her life time, and I'm going to say one of them now:
I just got married!
I honestly can tell you that I have never felt happier and more loved in my entire life, not just by T, my now lawfully wedded husband, but by all these people, even the ones that are an ocean away or two. I've been getting so much blessings from every one, from a tiny little student to an 86-year-old at school, and from friends from all over the world. Thank you! And thank facebook!
My favorite and only nephew was there at the wedding, too, which made me extra happy.
You most definitely earned that berry, sweetheart.
Went to the city hall for the registration on the same day, too, and became officially a Mrs. The man at the registration window certainly did not give a rat's ass, but I was on the cloud nine.
Until next time,
Sak, with loaded love
I just got married!
I honestly can tell you that I have never felt happier and more loved in my entire life, not just by T, my now lawfully wedded husband, but by all these people, even the ones that are an ocean away or two. I've been getting so much blessings from every one, from a tiny little student to an 86-year-old at school, and from friends from all over the world. Thank you! And thank facebook!
My favorite and only nephew was there at the wedding, too, which made me extra happy.
You most definitely earned that berry, sweetheart.
Went to the city hall for the registration on the same day, too, and became officially a Mrs. The man at the registration window certainly did not give a rat's ass, but I was on the cloud nine.
Until next time,
Sak, with loaded love
Monday, August 8, 2011
Summer Begins
They gave us an unusually long 9-day summer break this year, from 7th to 15th, and with my regular Tuesday off combined, I have a whopping 10-day vacation!
A pregnant colleague went on a maternity leave last month and I was covering for her the whole month and was working 6 days a week, and occasionally doing seminars on Sundays. I don't want to complain, but I was stretching myself a little too far. So I could really, really, really use this break. On my days off I am usually thinking about my work in one way or the other; what to do and how to do them. But I've decided to cut out all senses in me that have anything to do with work for the 10 precious days that I have. Have a great summer, me!
Until next time,
Sak
A pregnant colleague went on a maternity leave last month and I was covering for her the whole month and was working 6 days a week, and occasionally doing seminars on Sundays. I don't want to complain, but I was stretching myself a little too far. So I could really, really, really use this break. On my days off I am usually thinking about my work in one way or the other; what to do and how to do them. But I've decided to cut out all senses in me that have anything to do with work for the 10 precious days that I have. Have a great summer, me!
Until next time,
Sak
Friday, April 1, 2011
31st Birthday
Two weeks after the horrid earthquake that devastated Japan, I turned 31. And I was more thankful for that day than I ever was.
It is easy to fear and worry. We are weak, and we fret at every chance we get. But that's when we need to stay brave the most. Be thankful for everything. Appreciate what is usually taken for granted. Words of kindness. Smiles. Food. Water. Heat. Home. Bed. Family. Friends. Boyfriend. Girlfriend.
My birthday this year highlighted all of that. And I cannot begin to describe how much I love everything that makes my life what it is. No earthquake or tsunami can take them away from me. And I thank all my friends who took the time to celebrate my birthday while the country is in such a turmoil. Thank you all, with all my heart!
Until next time,
Sak
It is easy to fear and worry. We are weak, and we fret at every chance we get. But that's when we need to stay brave the most. Be thankful for everything. Appreciate what is usually taken for granted. Words of kindness. Smiles. Food. Water. Heat. Home. Bed. Family. Friends. Boyfriend. Girlfriend.
My birthday this year highlighted all of that. And I cannot begin to describe how much I love everything that makes my life what it is. No earthquake or tsunami can take them away from me. And I thank all my friends who took the time to celebrate my birthday while the country is in such a turmoil. Thank you all, with all my heart!
Until next time,
Sak
Monday, March 14, 2011
May God Be With Us All
Japan is going through a severely tough time, possibly the toughest ever that I might experience in my life time. I am beginning to fail as a believer of "things happen for a reason", because of this.
What is happening out there is beyond my conception. I simply cannot conceive of what I am seeing on TV and reading on papers. Where it's all happening and people suffering, where everything is tangible, is far from where I lead my life. I go to work, eat warm food three times a day, use paper or gas or heat or water as I please, and in the end of the day I have a warm and comfortable bed to sleep on. Like nothing happened. In the bed I often imagine for a second that the people in the north have lost all of this that I have, and I am at loss for words to describe how I feel. Places of dear memories. Items of values. Beloved family members and friends. All gone. All.
Yet, my life keeps going as it did before. I am lucky to be alive, and to have everything that I do, both of which I have easily taken for granted. I keep telling myself "it is wrong of me to despair. Not now. Not yet."
May God be with us all. May God help the country get through even this.
Until next time,
Sak
What is happening out there is beyond my conception. I simply cannot conceive of what I am seeing on TV and reading on papers. Where it's all happening and people suffering, where everything is tangible, is far from where I lead my life. I go to work, eat warm food three times a day, use paper or gas or heat or water as I please, and in the end of the day I have a warm and comfortable bed to sleep on. Like nothing happened. In the bed I often imagine for a second that the people in the north have lost all of this that I have, and I am at loss for words to describe how I feel. Places of dear memories. Items of values. Beloved family members and friends. All gone. All.
Yet, my life keeps going as it did before. I am lucky to be alive, and to have everything that I do, both of which I have easily taken for granted. I keep telling myself "it is wrong of me to despair. Not now. Not yet."
May God be with us all. May God help the country get through even this.
Until next time,
Sak
Friday, December 31, 2010
On The Year's End
By the time this blog gets updated, I will be in UAE, doing God knows what. My sister asked me to come along with her on her spur-of-the-moment trip to Dubai a few weeks ago, and I said hell yea! to that. Right on the spot.
2010 is ending, and I need to take a moment to thank God for all the things that have happened to me because I was truly blessed this year. Everything that I could have wished for came true and better. Everything that was in question and in doubt fell into right places. So thank you with all my heart!
Thank all of you that are in, around, and out of my life.
Until next time,
Sak
2010 is ending, and I need to take a moment to thank God for all the things that have happened to me because I was truly blessed this year. Everything that I could have wished for came true and better. Everything that was in question and in doubt fell into right places. So thank you with all my heart!
Thank all of you that are in, around, and out of my life.
Until next time,
Sak
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Whoever Came Up With Tankinies Must Have Never Gone On a Trip to a Beach Resort
I have always thought that the anticipation is probably the best part of a trip. And this time, when I was heading to UAE, was no exception to my excitement a la packing, espeicially because I had never had the chance to take my bikini anywhere before.
I'm so glad I didn't chuck it along with other things I hadn't worn just a while ago.
I'm so glad I didn't chuck it along with other things I hadn't worn just a while ago.
And of course, my sun allergy is still good and valid, so I'm slipping into something cover my whole skin too, but who the hell cares! I get to wear a bikini in winter, whooo hoooooooooo!
Until next time,
Sak
Monday, October 11, 2010
Lost in Translation II
Woke up and the first thing that jumped in my eyes were a sight of two sliding window doors.
...Right.
...I'm in Nagoya now.
I tell myself.
Still groggy, I get up from the bed, walk to the window to open them, only to find...
... another building 20 feet away from my hotel. How delighting...
Which overlooks a skyscraper that tries to look very cool.
Nagoya's very likable, though. I find the city very easy to get around and not too traffic-y like Tokyo. The beautiful autumn weather didn't kill it, either.
They have a zoo and an aquarium, too. Wish to come back for them in near future.
Until next time,
Sak
...Right.
...I'm in Nagoya now.
I tell myself.
Still groggy, I get up from the bed, walk to the window to open them, only to find...
... another building 20 feet away from my hotel. How delighting...
Which overlooks a skyscraper that tries to look very cool.
Nagoya's very likable, though. I find the city very easy to get around and not too traffic-y like Tokyo. The beautiful autumn weather didn't kill it, either.
They have a zoo and an aquarium, too. Wish to come back for them in near future.
Until next time,
Sak
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Look, The Sun Is Rising!
Woke up at 4:30. Crap. It's very depressing when it's still dark out and you can't bring yourself to go back to sleep. So I got up and gave myself a pedi-and-mani treatment. I'm doing laundry as I write, and I probably will start cleaning after this. Love how unnecessarily productive I am being out of freaking out and not being able to stay still.
Didn't I just have a similar morning? click here. Well, this time, it's not about a debut at an important seminar or making a maid-of-honor speech at a wedding. It's about, gasp, meeting "the parents." Obviously, being brought up in a very traditional household, I never thought the day would come until I am to lawfully tie the knot with my other half, where meeting them would be more like, "hi, my name is Sak and I am to be your daughter-in-law" kind of thing, rather than, "hi, my name is Sak and your son has not proposed to me but I am here because, you know, I thought I should give you the headsup."
My high-school gal pal R is getting married today, by the way. Congrats, girl! Sorry I can't go to the wedding, but we will meet soon to celebrate, 'K?
Maybe it's a great day for me, too. Well, I can hope, can't I?
Good luck, me!
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
It's rare that I'm this nervous about something.
Good luck, me!
Until next time,
Sak
Saturday, September 4, 2010
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
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
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