Kimono Pics~!

I wore kimono the other day! It's a tradition to wear kimonos in New Year in Japan. or I would say it used to be. Not many people wear kimono these days but I love wearing kimono and since I have some, I try to wear them as much as I can. Many people say it is so tight and too tiring to wear kimonos but I don't mind at all.




My sister and I wore kimono together and we went to visit our grand parent's place. We were a little embarresed on the way cause many people looked at us in kimono. My dad looked pretty happy this day. I was happy too:) My mom was tired putting kimonos on us and my sis looked exhausted wearing the kimono. She wanted to take it off as soon as possible.

Happy New Year 2006!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!
wow, it's already 2006... time flies soooo fast.
but that's good cause that means you're enjoying your life. If you're bored, time flies so slow, right? I can't believe it's almost 1 year since I came back to Japan from Seattle.

My goal of this year: to be a wonderful, cute, beautiful woman, and intelligent, active business woman. I will start working from April and I can't wait! Many of you might say being a student is better but I'm so tired of it. I want to see the different new world! Hope I can do what I want. Since it's a big company and I don't know where I will be placed at. My hope is to be in International Marketing or International Sales. I'm also interested in Invester's Relations (International).

Anyway, I just came back from Paris and also trip to Okinawa (the most southern part of Japan). I will write about them later on but let me tell you, Paris was great. Food is good and the city is so so romantic.

Happy New Year again and hope year 2006 will be a fabulous year for you all!!!!

明けましておめでとう！！！

ついに2006年明けました。2005年は本当に早かった。シアトル留学から帰ってきて、東京と関西を行ったり来たりして、就活し、晴れて内定もでてまた海外（シアトル）へ1ヶ月行き、帰ってきたら卒論に励み、終わったと同時にまた海外（パリ）へ飛び出し、大晦日、元旦は石垣島・・・というような1年でした。

2006年の目標はいい女・できる女・良い社会人です！新社会人としてどんな人生になるのか楽しみ♪ また、外側も内面も美しい女性になるよう努力します。

みなさまにとって2006年が素晴らしい年になりますように☆今年もよろしくお願いします！

Beautiful Kyoto

I went to visit Kyoto for sightseeing the other day. I used to live in Kyoto and been to most of the tourist places (parks, temples, downtown..) but I wasn't bored at all. Kyoto is the most traditional Japanese city where there's many temples, old houses, geisha so many forigners love it there, but it is also a place where Japanese want to visit once in a while just to feel the atmosphere and relax. Walking in the Japanese garden, seeing the temples and discovering the history... I don't know how to explain but just feels GOOD.
I took many pics and will share some of them so that you can get the image of Kyoto.


Banboo path to the temple / at night time



Arashiyama



saw a wedding held at / Seki-tei ; sand garden
the temple. Bride in white kimono.



Kabuki theatre / real Maiko (Geisha)



Huge Budha!!

Speaking of Geisha, I saw "Memories of Geisha" or in Japanese title "Sayuri". It was amazing!! Ziyi Zhang's dance in Kimono was so beautiful and gorgous. Took my breath when she was dancing on the stage in the snow. All the jp actress, acters were good especially Ken Watanabe (of course!). He was in a huge dept a while a go but now he's a hollywood star and got married recently. Must be happy.
In this movie, JP and English were mixed. Most conversations are done in English but sometimes they speak Japanese. I felt a little wired listening to that. I learned about Geisha too. They are not same as prostitute. "Geisha is a moving art."

神戸ルミナリエ開催♪Kobe Luminarie

ついに今年も神戸ルミナリエスタート！今年で11年目。阪神大震災の復興と被災者の希望を込めて1995年から始まった行事。毎年行ってたんだけど、去年は留学でいなくて行けなかったから今年は行かなきゃ☆本物を見るのが楽しみ。人が多くて嫌って言う人もいるけど、あれは絶対見る価値あるよ～平日にいけばまだましだし。神戸に住んでてよかった～って思う事の一つ。週末はもうギュウギュウ詰めで小さい子がいる人とかは絶対行かない方がいい。押しつぶされてみててかわいそうになる。そんでもって母親が無理やり引っ張ってるんよね。。ということで、来週行く予定です♪
Kobe "Luminarie" started☆☆ Those of you who don't know about this, this is a illimination festival held in Kobe to courage people who suffered from the Hanshin Big Earthquake happened in 1995. It is held every winter since this earthquake and this is the 11th year. (Every year they have a different design!) I used to go see this every year except last year(cause I was in Seattle) so I am soooo excited that I can see this year☆ The illuminations are lightened up along 1 big street and leads to the park. and in the park, you can get into the center of the wall made out of　millions of lights. 360°surrounded by illiminations!!! So beatiful and breathtaking. Some people say that it's too crowded so they don't wanna go but it's worth it. If you avoid going there on the weekends, it's not that bad. But DO NOT take little kids there in the weekends cause they'll be squashed n dead. I saw some moms taking their kids, dragging them around but they didn't seem to be pleased. Poor little kids... anyways, I'm planning to go see next week:)

Autumn in Japan

I've been studying so hard these days, and I finised the draft for my thesis (I wrote about 60 pages!!) so I took a break yesterday. I went on hiking to see the changing leaves. It was a little too late for the fallen leaves season but luckily, there were still some that were red and beautiful.
The pic on the left is called "Momiji" which is the most typical type of tree that Japanese enjoy the red color. It is so beautiful when there are bunch of trees that are in bright red. Usually we go to see them in temples or japanese gardens. But this time I needed some excercise so I went hiking in the mountains. Man, it was so tiring to go up these rocks...
In Japan, people love hiking in the mountains especially older people. Like in the pic, many people wear the same outfit (hat, stick, vest and backpack are must) and go up for their health. My grandpa used to do that every morning in 5 a.m. for 10 years, never missed a single day except when it snowed. Wow. He actually got awarded for that.


It's getting colder and colder everyday. Winter is coming. I love winter though. It's my favorite season:) My birthday, Christmas, beautiful decorations and illuminations, New Years... It just makes me exciting! Hope everyone will enjoy the remaining 2005 and wait for the 2006 to come!!

紅葉はやっぱいいねぇ～☆こういう四季を味わえる時って”日本人でよかったなぁ”って思います。

Good wine and cheeze

Good wine and delicious cheeze... those are the best.

Today, I went to this wine bar. It's true that good wine won't make you drunk. It was after a couple drinks that we went there but I could drink more! Usually I start to feel good after 2 glasses of wine but hey, I drank 3 more. Wow... and I don't feel dizzy nor drunk. I enjoyed the taste of wine and cheeze. hmmm, those were good:)

I used to only be able to drink sweet white wine but these days I can drink dry white or even red. I'm beginning to learn the taste:) I had this year's Beaujolais Nouveau the other day. It that was okay, I mean, not the best though. I prefer others. I don't know why everyone's so excited about Beaujolais Nouveau this time of the year when it opens. Is it like that in other countries too? or is it just Japanese that crazy about anything french.

おいしいワインとチーズ、これがあるとほんと幸せな気分☆

These days...

I'm becoming an owl these days... Awake and study at night, go to bed when the sun rise...
Actually I can concentrate more in midnight. When outside is quiet and dark, I feel like I can study.

It's 12 a.m. now so better get back to work.
Beginning of my day...

シアトルのカフェ事情 Seattle's Cafe

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　シアトルといえばやっぱりカフェ♪みんなコーヒーもって歩いてます。

日本上陸しているシアトル発カフェといえば、TULLY'S、Seattle's Best Coffee、そしてもちろんStarbucks。日本でもスタバ、タリーズは至るところにあるけど、本場シアトルにはかなわない。初めてシアトルに行った時、スタバの数には本当に驚かされた。同じ通りのちょっと行った数ブロック先にまたあったり、斜め向かいもう一軒にあったり、一つのモールに数箇所あったり。こんなにあって儲かるのだろうか？って思うけど、結構どこも人いっぱい。学校やスーパーのコーヒーも大抵スタバだし。さすがスタバ！
でもシアトルにはこのようなチェーンのカフェだけでなく、小さな個人でやってるようなカフェもたっくさんある。一軒一軒個性があって、コーヒーの味も違うし、なんといってもそこで働いている人を見るのも面白い。働いている人でその店の雰囲気とか変わるしね。あっ、あとバリスタの絵もいろいろあって楽しい。
そこで今回は私が今回の旅で巡ったいい感じのカフェ紹介します☆

まずは一番よく言ってたCafe VITA。お家からも近く、アーティストの絵とかが飾ってあってBroadwayらしいカフェでした。 隣にはこのコーヒーカップを作っている工場があった。カフェからガラス張りだから丸見えで、とてもおしゃれな感じがした。お兄さんたちが汗水たらしながら楽しそうに働いていたのが印象的☆

　　 　　


ここはBook Cafe Bauhaus。本が壁にそってギッシリと並べられている。通りすがりの人がみんなここで一杯買っていくからレジはいつも並んでいたな。ここら辺のカフェはほとんどワイヤレスインターネットが使えるからパソコンをもって勉強している人も多い。シアトルには珍しく、ここは結構遅くまで空いてるし、私も勉強してました。
　　　　　　　




右はPike Place Marketの前にあるカフェ。おなかが減ったので近くのおいしいと評判のあるピロシキ屋でピロシキを買っていきました。ここでは滅多に頼まないブラックを注文。





他にもいっぱいあるんだけど、今日はこの辺で。

でもやっぱりスタバのラテは毎日とは言わないけど、よく飲んでたな。スタバのラテを飲むとシアトルを思い出します。もうこの味に慣れてしまって、一番落ち着くかも。コーヒーにこだわりのある人からこんな事いうと非難をあびるかもしれないけど。スタバ依存症の人多いのでは？Addictedは怖いね。

Japan's pornography culture

日本のポルノ文化について一言いいたい。

この前東京から神戸へ帰る新幹線でのことである。日曜の午後ということもあり、禁煙席は満席だったため、喫煙席をとるしかなかった。乗ってみると車内はたばこ吸ったり、ビール飲んだり、イビキをかいて寝ているおっさんばっか。。苦しくてしかたがなかった。まぁこれは喫煙席だし仕方ない。
私の隣に座ったのは50代くらいのおじさん。ビール2本に週刊誌みたいなのを持っていた。

私が腹が立ったのは、２０代の女の子が隣に座ってるというのにどうどうとエロ雑誌を広げて読んでいたことだ。丸見えだった。確かに、個人の自由かもしれない。だけど、恥・プライド・マナーというのはないのか？と思う。そしてその時、前にイギリスの友達が日本のポルノ文化について激怒していたことを思い出した。彼らに言わせて見れば、日本ではエロ本・エロビはほぼどこでも誰でも手に入るし、コンビニには子供の手の届くところにいかにも見ろといっているように置いてあるし、電車に乗ってもおっさん達が何の恥もなくおおっぴらに読んでいる。イギリスでは考えられないのだそう。確かに日本ではお酒もタバコもエロ本等も誰でもどこでも手に入る。自動販売機として置いてあるし、コンビにではIDは見ることになったものの、実際にチェックすることはほとんどない。こんなことでいいのだろうか？

そして失望して辺りを見回してみると、マナーのないおっさんばっかり。お仕事して疲れてるのは分かるけど、公共の場だし、もう少し恥というものを感じてほしい。日本のおじさんたち頼むよ！！

I wanna say something about Japan's porno culture.

I was on the bullet train (shinkansen) the other day on my way home from Tokyo. Unfortunately, I had to sit in a smoking seat since non-smoking seat was already full. The carrige was full of business men (or salary men in Jp) smoking, drinking beer, or sleeping and snoring. A man sat next to me was about in mid 50s, also drinking beer and reading magazine.

What I was upset about was that he, even though I (20s girl) was sitting next to him, was reading this porno magazine without hesitation. He had that magazine so wide open that I could see everything. Of course people have a right to do anything they want. It's freedom. But, dont't they have some kind of embarrassment or pride or manner?

Then, this reminded me of my friends talking about Japan's porno culture long time a go. They were from England and were so angry at the fact that anyone can buy porno books & videos almost anywhere! alcohol and cigarettes too. For those who don't know about Japan, let me tell you. Almost anyone (even kids) can buy alcohol, cigarettes, and porno stuff anywhere in Japan. I know, it's ridiculous. All of them are sold in vending machines, porno books on the shelf of convenience store where kids can see & reach, many men (mostly old men) reading porno books in the train, and there are a rule that you need to show ID when buying them at convenience store but most of the time staff won't check for yourID unless you obciously look under 20. Can you believe that?

And when I looked around the train, I saw many 50-year-oldish men in a terrible manner. I understand they are tired after their work but it's public place and I wish they have more manners.

Seattle & Chicago Pictures!!

*Seattle*









*Chicago*





Sorry it's not a good quality. I took them with my cell phone camera so not so good pics...
for more pics, see here:

Seattle & Chicago Pictures