i'm back home! arrived yesterday (may 28) at around 1pm. couldn't find my family so decided to make a phone call using the pay phone. alas! i put my five peso coin in and it wouldn't go in and got stuck in that tiny hole. i went around asking people if they had change for 5 pesos. no one did =( luckily, the security guard gave me 2 pesos (plus my 5 pesos) and i was able to make a phone call (using a different pay phone). turns out my mom and two sisters were there among the crowd. i thought they had gotten the airport mixed up, as i was at the centennial terminal.
my first thought when i landed was "it's hot." then i thought, i'm in manila now. just after four hours, i'm in another country, back to my old life. i'm still adjusting. it's not hard. it's just that sometimes i feel myself thinking about japan and i get sad. so it takes effort to remember to be thankful about those memories, because that's what they are now - memories, a thing of the past. i still feel as if there's something missing. i'm looking forward to seeing my friends, for school to start - that way i'll have something to keep me busy. it'll resemble my past lifestyle; thus, making it easier to adjust.
i guess the hardest thing about adjusting is communication. i chatted with nancy, emma, and kanittha yesterday. today with b, eric, and eka. it's just different. being used to talking to them and all of a sudden, you're depending on msn to communicate. it's just kinda weird. it'll be better though i think with the "talk" option. it'll help to actually hear their voices.
so there, i'm officially home. nagoya, kojima dorm, mister donuts, nanzan, japan - these things will always be remembered fondly.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
kojima party
i'm going home on sunday. 5 words. they evoke mixed emotions. still haven't finished packing. yabai~
just came back from tokyo today (took the shinkansen). it was fun and tiring. have these red spots, sort of rashes, on my face. i don't know whether it was from the heat (after the day at disney sea) or from some sort of allergy (although i don't have any allergies from what i know). tokyo was really crowded. i knew it was crowded but it was different experiencing it. it was like rush hour the entire day. just looking at the mob of people made me tired. all that squishing and pushing. how can people live in tokyo?! ginza was beautiful though with all the tall buildings and designer shops (i think it was where a scene in Lost of Translation was shot), the intersection at shibuya was filled with people streaming to and fro from JR station, the big park at ueno, the old people street, the orchard road-like street at harajuku (ometesando), biking around with diko. but i guess it did kind of fit my expectations of tokyo - the capital of japan - the train lines, the crowds, the tall buildings, the bicycles, the men in suits - all the activity - a city that never sleeps.
the kojima "party" today consisted of sushi, karaoke, and purikura! it was fun ^0^ afterwards, had dinner at marino's with eric, emma, and nancy. discussed what characteristics (personality-wise) made a taiwanese a taiwanese and a hongkong person a hongkong-ese. there was so much food - soup, salad, two pizzas, spaghetti, risotto, and dessert. so~ filling. and so, that was how my day was spent - the day before nancy leaves for taiwan. it just seemed so - well, ordinary and normal...
just came back from tokyo today (took the shinkansen). it was fun and tiring. have these red spots, sort of rashes, on my face. i don't know whether it was from the heat (after the day at disney sea) or from some sort of allergy (although i don't have any allergies from what i know). tokyo was really crowded. i knew it was crowded but it was different experiencing it. it was like rush hour the entire day. just looking at the mob of people made me tired. all that squishing and pushing. how can people live in tokyo?! ginza was beautiful though with all the tall buildings and designer shops (i think it was where a scene in Lost of Translation was shot), the intersection at shibuya was filled with people streaming to and fro from JR station, the big park at ueno, the old people street, the orchard road-like street at harajuku (ometesando), biking around with diko. but i guess it did kind of fit my expectations of tokyo - the capital of japan - the train lines, the crowds, the tall buildings, the bicycles, the men in suits - all the activity - a city that never sleeps.
the kojima "party" today consisted of sushi, karaoke, and purikura! it was fun ^0^ afterwards, had dinner at marino's with eric, emma, and nancy. discussed what characteristics (personality-wise) made a taiwanese a taiwanese and a hongkong person a hongkong-ese. there was so much food - soup, salad, two pizzas, spaghetti, risotto, and dessert. so~ filling. and so, that was how my day was spent - the day before nancy leaves for taiwan. it just seemed so - well, ordinary and normal...
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
inuyama
we made plans to leave the dorm at 9. having slept at 330 though, i didn't wake up til 930 and so we left the dorm at around 10. as we were leaving, boe asked us where we were going. to which eric replied, i don't know. we didn't have a particular destination in mind so we decided to just go to the meitetsu station and pick some random place.
stopped by at mcdonald's for a quick breakfast first before heading to jingu mae. over there, we decided to go to meiji mura in inuyama. on the train platform though, eric saw that at a station after inuyama, there was a monkey park so change of plans, and we were off to the monkey park. it was pretty interesting. saw lemurs with their striped tails held up so high. they carry their young on their backs and they run real fast. there were lots of small monkeys - one with white whiskers, the other with a mask-like face. but the small monkeys were quite smelly. apparently, their odor is considered attractive. yelch xP there was this monkey who ran like an old lady. it was hilarious. it wobbled on two hind legs instead of crawling on four. it even had feminine features.
also, there was this monkey who had a very big nose. eric's reaction when he saw the monkey was - haha. jacky chan. why the monkey would remind him of jacky chan, i don't quite understand. hehe.
walked around after buying souvenirs (dangling monkeys and choco chip cookies) and ran into a cat. eric loves cats so he stooped down to pet the brown&white purring feline. the cat followed us to the trash cans which was on the other side of the green area where we found it. it wanted a bite of the choco chip cookie eric was eating. haha. やっぱり。
we even ran into cory and ashley. totally coincidental ^o^
had lunch at this stall selling 刀削麺, which is hand-cut noodles. there's this big pound of dough and with a flat rectangular knife, one slices the dough into strips and into a pot of hot water. the dough then rises to the surface and to it is added charsiu pork or ground pork as well as spicy beancurd sauce. it really was spicy! hehe. the person in charge was from nanjing, china. he said that when he saw me, he had a hunch i was chinese. i seem to have a really authentic chinese face. hehe. eric though could pass for a japanese. he added extra noodles to our noodles and had us help ourselves to the spicy beancurd sauce. eric even got to eat two orders coz the guy put meat in the two bowls, with me forgetting to tell him beforehand that i'm vegetarian. so he gave the two bowls to eric and prepared another for me, which was really nice of him =)
it was raining on and off all day today, ranging from light drizzles to steady downpours. but the rain made the weather cool and brisk. after lunch, we headed off to inuyama castle. we passed by this beautiful lake where we saw an urai bird. there's this festival in the area wherein these birds are used to catch fish. there was this area in the castle where cool drafts of wind breezed into. eric and i sat down there for awhile. relaxing and peaceful. afterwards, we went to see the view from the topmost floor. due to the weather, the view from the top was misty and foggy, which gave it a tinge of mystery and secrecy. it was as if temporality was emphasized as the fog seemed ready to swallow the mountains, bridges, and buildings anytime...covering acres of land with its misty cloak, making it vanish into thin air.
went to two more places afterwards, where they displayed the floats and dolls brought out only during festivals. saw a video wherein a doll turned into an altar. there was also one where a lady bearing a gift came out from a giant blue peach. the dolls' actions were quite slow and mechanical but it was amazing what they could be made to do - to write, hold things, even dance. kind of similar to marionettes but bigger and more human-like.
from inuyama, we went to nagoya station where i got shinkansen (bullet train) tickets for tokyo. going there on monday. luckily, i was able to get a student discount so i got around 3000 yen less (17,700 yen for a roundtrip ticket). i decided to take the shinkansen instead of the bus, figuring in the 4 hour difference. two hours on the train, 6 hours on the bus.
we then headed off to the sanseido bookshop. one thing we both have in common is that we can spend hours (and loads) in a bookshop. i've been buying lots of japanese books lately. won't be able to buy them anymore when i get home =(
monkeys, castles, train rides, books, and enjoyable company made today a good one.
*
tomorrow's my mister donuts farewell party. kinda don't know what to expect. it was my last time to work with sato-san yesterday. these days, it seems that it's countdown time for all the last times.
stopped by at mcdonald's for a quick breakfast first before heading to jingu mae. over there, we decided to go to meiji mura in inuyama. on the train platform though, eric saw that at a station after inuyama, there was a monkey park so change of plans, and we were off to the monkey park. it was pretty interesting. saw lemurs with their striped tails held up so high. they carry their young on their backs and they run real fast. there were lots of small monkeys - one with white whiskers, the other with a mask-like face. but the small monkeys were quite smelly. apparently, their odor is considered attractive. yelch xP there was this monkey who ran like an old lady. it was hilarious. it wobbled on two hind legs instead of crawling on four. it even had feminine features.
also, there was this monkey who had a very big nose. eric's reaction when he saw the monkey was - haha. jacky chan. why the monkey would remind him of jacky chan, i don't quite understand. hehe.
walked around after buying souvenirs (dangling monkeys and choco chip cookies) and ran into a cat. eric loves cats so he stooped down to pet the brown&white purring feline. the cat followed us to the trash cans which was on the other side of the green area where we found it. it wanted a bite of the choco chip cookie eric was eating. haha. やっぱり。
we even ran into cory and ashley. totally coincidental ^o^
had lunch at this stall selling 刀削麺, which is hand-cut noodles. there's this big pound of dough and with a flat rectangular knife, one slices the dough into strips and into a pot of hot water. the dough then rises to the surface and to it is added charsiu pork or ground pork as well as spicy beancurd sauce. it really was spicy! hehe. the person in charge was from nanjing, china. he said that when he saw me, he had a hunch i was chinese. i seem to have a really authentic chinese face. hehe. eric though could pass for a japanese. he added extra noodles to our noodles and had us help ourselves to the spicy beancurd sauce. eric even got to eat two orders coz the guy put meat in the two bowls, with me forgetting to tell him beforehand that i'm vegetarian. so he gave the two bowls to eric and prepared another for me, which was really nice of him =)
it was raining on and off all day today, ranging from light drizzles to steady downpours. but the rain made the weather cool and brisk. after lunch, we headed off to inuyama castle. we passed by this beautiful lake where we saw an urai bird. there's this festival in the area wherein these birds are used to catch fish. there was this area in the castle where cool drafts of wind breezed into. eric and i sat down there for awhile. relaxing and peaceful. afterwards, we went to see the view from the topmost floor. due to the weather, the view from the top was misty and foggy, which gave it a tinge of mystery and secrecy. it was as if temporality was emphasized as the fog seemed ready to swallow the mountains, bridges, and buildings anytime...covering acres of land with its misty cloak, making it vanish into thin air.
went to two more places afterwards, where they displayed the floats and dolls brought out only during festivals. saw a video wherein a doll turned into an altar. there was also one where a lady bearing a gift came out from a giant blue peach. the dolls' actions were quite slow and mechanical but it was amazing what they could be made to do - to write, hold things, even dance. kind of similar to marionettes but bigger and more human-like.
from inuyama, we went to nagoya station where i got shinkansen (bullet train) tickets for tokyo. going there on monday. luckily, i was able to get a student discount so i got around 3000 yen less (17,700 yen for a roundtrip ticket). i decided to take the shinkansen instead of the bus, figuring in the 4 hour difference. two hours on the train, 6 hours on the bus.
we then headed off to the sanseido bookshop. one thing we both have in common is that we can spend hours (and loads) in a bookshop. i've been buying lots of japanese books lately. won't be able to buy them anymore when i get home =(
monkeys, castles, train rides, books, and enjoyable company made today a good one.
*
tomorrow's my mister donuts farewell party. kinda don't know what to expect. it was my last time to work with sato-san yesterday. these days, it seems that it's countdown time for all the last times.
thinking time is always there for us
My aunt captured my feelings - to the dot. Reading her email left tiny knots in my stomach. It reached out to me, touched me, and most importantly, it made me understand.
For every party there is an ending at the end. For every life, there is an end to sometime, so everything is so transient. When we remember this, we treasure time and people and everything, but normally we always forget, thinking time is always there for us, so we forget, and remember when something is coming to an end. Almost everyone is like that in different degrees and I am like that too in my own degree, but at this age should be much better than when i was young.
I can see you enjoy your student life here. It is tempting and can make one lazy because it is so much peaceful and we do not have to worry so much like in PI. I can also see that your family missed you a lot, especially your father. It is time to go home, finish your degree over there, then come back under a different scholarship if you like, or go elsewhere.....so many options for a bright nice girl like you.
-> Indeed, it is time to go back - to go back to family, to go back to friends - to go back home.
For every party there is an ending at the end. For every life, there is an end to sometime, so everything is so transient. When we remember this, we treasure time and people and everything, but normally we always forget, thinking time is always there for us, so we forget, and remember when something is coming to an end. Almost everyone is like that in different degrees and I am like that too in my own degree, but at this age should be much better than when i was young.
I can see you enjoy your student life here. It is tempting and can make one lazy because it is so much peaceful and we do not have to worry so much like in PI. I can also see that your family missed you a lot, especially your father. It is time to go home, finish your degree over there, then come back under a different scholarship if you like, or go elsewhere.....so many options for a bright nice girl like you.
-> Indeed, it is time to go back - to go back to family, to go back to friends - to go back home.
little green turtle
the sea green turtle with yellow lines etched on its shell hangs from my cellphone. i toy with it a lot these days. sitting in my room, with my back to the wall, i can't help but stare at the little green turtle. what i'm really staring at though is the phone. i'm willing it to emit some sort of sound. i'm waiting for a message. waiting blindly would be a more apt term. i know that it won't come but still i hope. such a sad cycle.
you walk into the room and the place brightens up with your heartfelt chuckle and loud voice. you have this uncanny knack of putting people at ease, of bringing out the good in people. it's probably because you're down-to-earth and sympathetic. Happiness is your aura.
i finished reading bel canto last week. one of the sentiments in the book that struck me was how people fall in love with talent. 「people fall in love with what i can do. they do not love me for me, they do not bother to know me, because they love me for my talent. 」maybe that's why women before were attracted to playwrights and painters. it was probably because of the intensity and passion such artists exuded when they were in their element. talent overshadows any limitations one may have, be it a bad temper or ordinary looks. talent seems to make a person appear bigger than life.
in the same way, when we see in someone a trait that we value but don't possess, we are drawn. we are attracted to a person because we see in that person something we can learn. given that, perhaps that special trait is that person's talent. because it is what makes him stand out. and it is also perhaps why others love him( 愛された理由).
you walk into the room and the place brightens up with your heartfelt chuckle and loud voice. you have this uncanny knack of putting people at ease, of bringing out the good in people. it's probably because you're down-to-earth and sympathetic. Happiness is your aura.
i finished reading bel canto last week. one of the sentiments in the book that struck me was how people fall in love with talent. 「people fall in love with what i can do. they do not love me for me, they do not bother to know me, because they love me for my talent. 」maybe that's why women before were attracted to playwrights and painters. it was probably because of the intensity and passion such artists exuded when they were in their element. talent overshadows any limitations one may have, be it a bad temper or ordinary looks. talent seems to make a person appear bigger than life.
in the same way, when we see in someone a trait that we value but don't possess, we are drawn. we are attracted to a person because we see in that person something we can learn. given that, perhaps that special trait is that person's talent. because it is what makes him stand out. and it is also perhaps why others love him( 愛された理由).
Thursday, May 11, 2006
making a connection
went to emma's dorm today. she was having problems with her internet, specifically she couldn't connect to the internet despite having connected the LAN cable. being the computer genius that i am (obviously not =P), i decided to call the internet company. turns out they got the address mixed up (how that is connected with there being internet or not, i don't know) and once they got that all fixed, and once the cable wires were connected to the right places, the internet was working! afterwards, we spent the afternoon snacking on cookies and chips and listening to japanese music. ^o^
*
i'm racing against time. i only have three more weeks left here. with my friends asking me when i'm going to get back, i do feel comforted, looking forward to seeing them too. but at the same time, my friends here are asking me when we're going to meet again and i can't help but feel sad at the uncertainty in my response. it's like clutching thin air.
next week: monday (kojima dorm goodbye party), thursday (mister donuts goodbye party - they were so sweet to arrange one for me), friday (ufj goodbye party), and saturday is the closing ceremonies for cjs and the goodbye party as well.
i go to tokyo the week after that. on the 26th, there's a karaoke/sushi party for kojima dormers. nancy goes home on the 27th and i go home the day after that, on the 28th.
but compared to before, japan doesn't seem as distant anymore. i feel that i'll come back here, coz i have something to come back too. so japan will always be remembered with fond memories.
*
there are times when you can't help but laugh and shake your head in disbelief. certain things have happened that have made me question just how open i am, just how understanding i can be of other cultures. there are times when i just can't believe how different they can be. i guess i can somehow pride myself on having a rational head on my shoulders.
*
i'm racing against time. i only have three more weeks left here. with my friends asking me when i'm going to get back, i do feel comforted, looking forward to seeing them too. but at the same time, my friends here are asking me when we're going to meet again and i can't help but feel sad at the uncertainty in my response. it's like clutching thin air.
next week: monday (kojima dorm goodbye party), thursday (mister donuts goodbye party - they were so sweet to arrange one for me), friday (ufj goodbye party), and saturday is the closing ceremonies for cjs and the goodbye party as well.
i go to tokyo the week after that. on the 26th, there's a karaoke/sushi party for kojima dormers. nancy goes home on the 27th and i go home the day after that, on the 28th.
but compared to before, japan doesn't seem as distant anymore. i feel that i'll come back here, coz i have something to come back too. so japan will always be remembered with fond memories.
*
there are times when you can't help but laugh and shake your head in disbelief. certain things have happened that have made me question just how open i am, just how understanding i can be of other cultures. there are times when i just can't believe how different they can be. i guess i can somehow pride myself on having a rational head on my shoulders.
Friday, May 05, 2006
banana bread
woke up this morning to the sight of eizel looking at me, or was it to the sound of nini telling ai not to talk too loudly coz i was still sleeping? anyways, i woke up and saw the two of them sitting down on the edge of the futon. ai with her gameboy and nini combing her hair.
had an oatmeal and vie de france bread breakfast. dad and mom came to the dorm soon afterwards (after eating at yoshinoya). talked in my room for awhile and then headed to nanzan. walked around campus then had lunch at pastel (their cakes are really good!)
window shopped (and actual shopped a bit) at rio (kanayama station) and aeon. nini and i argued about the color of the aeon sign, me saying it was red while ni said it was pink. we asked mom and she managed to settle the petty argument by saying nonchalantly that it was fuschia.
on the way to aeon, ni kept checking the passing meitetsu trains to see which one it was they took from the airport to jingu mae. she said it was a pink/red train. then one such train did pass by and dad goes and says, there it is! the train we took, that orange train. ni and i just burst out laughing. dad can be really funny at times, him and his antics ^o^
*
late this afternoon, keiko came over to the dorm to prepare dinner. kanittha and i helped her bake a banana loaf or banana pound cake. 250 grams of sugar, flour, butter, 4 eggs then mashed bananas, put it in a preheated oven, let it bake for around 3o minutes and it was done! it was fun, seeing how it actually rised in the oven. it was yummy too, with just the right amount of sweetness.
i prepared kare-kare and had a minor heart attack coz i added too much water and it tasted to watery. ended up okay though. keiko made chanpon noodles. ni and ai were supposed to help in the preparation but they fell asleep at the hotel and got to the dorm late. after eating, they watched eric play final fantasy for awhile. afterwards, they headed up to my room and when i went in after walking with keiko to the subway station at 930, they were already fast asleep. they must've been really tired and still a bit jetlag.
*
being away from my family, living here by myself has made me know myself more. one reason is that i've been taken as separate from my family. i wasn't the moody quiet one in contrast to nini's more bubbly, talkative persona. i wasn't kaka. i wasn't all the stereotypes attached to me. here, i was able to be someone relatively new. the "me" whom people knew was separate from "kaka." and i guess it was because of that that i got to know my good points, bad points, got to know who i really am as a person.
had an oatmeal and vie de france bread breakfast. dad and mom came to the dorm soon afterwards (after eating at yoshinoya). talked in my room for awhile and then headed to nanzan. walked around campus then had lunch at pastel (their cakes are really good!)
window shopped (and actual shopped a bit) at rio (kanayama station) and aeon. nini and i argued about the color of the aeon sign, me saying it was red while ni said it was pink. we asked mom and she managed to settle the petty argument by saying nonchalantly that it was fuschia.
on the way to aeon, ni kept checking the passing meitetsu trains to see which one it was they took from the airport to jingu mae. she said it was a pink/red train. then one such train did pass by and dad goes and says, there it is! the train we took, that orange train. ni and i just burst out laughing. dad can be really funny at times, him and his antics ^o^
*
late this afternoon, keiko came over to the dorm to prepare dinner. kanittha and i helped her bake a banana loaf or banana pound cake. 250 grams of sugar, flour, butter, 4 eggs then mashed bananas, put it in a preheated oven, let it bake for around 3o minutes and it was done! it was fun, seeing how it actually rised in the oven. it was yummy too, with just the right amount of sweetness.
i prepared kare-kare and had a minor heart attack coz i added too much water and it tasted to watery. ended up okay though. keiko made chanpon noodles. ni and ai were supposed to help in the preparation but they fell asleep at the hotel and got to the dorm late. after eating, they watched eric play final fantasy for awhile. afterwards, they headed up to my room and when i went in after walking with keiko to the subway station at 930, they were already fast asleep. they must've been really tired and still a bit jetlag.
*
being away from my family, living here by myself has made me know myself more. one reason is that i've been taken as separate from my family. i wasn't the moody quiet one in contrast to nini's more bubbly, talkative persona. i wasn't kaka. i wasn't all the stereotypes attached to me. here, i was able to be someone relatively new. the "me" whom people knew was separate from "kaka." and i guess it was because of that that i got to know my good points, bad points, got to know who i really am as a person.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
family in town
my family's in town. they arrived today. i thought they were arriving pretty late so i signed up for a three-hour shift at mister donuts, from 6-9 only to find out that the family was arriving at 630. luckily, the manager asked shibata-san to come earlier and also helped me with my tasks - the donut trays and the yeast stuff. it was just so sweet, he even apologized when he saw that some of the tasks hadn't been done yet. it was as if the whole staff knew my family was coming. i ended my shift after two hours and left the tasks to shibata-san (thanks!!)
turns out they arrived at 530, an hour earlier, and had been waiting at pare marche for some time already. it was good seeing them. it really was.
with them here, i feel as if i'm seeing my two worlds at once - manila and nagoya. both are my families in different senses of the word. interesting. i talked to my sisters today and i felt that "family" in the true sense of the word is being able to talk about anything, not being afraid of being judged, because you know that you're accepted and loved for who you are.
*
i thought that loving and being loved came hand in hand. but it appears that there are times when they appear by their lonesome. is it possible to know how to love but not know how to let oneself be loved? if you've been giving and giving, and then one day someone decides that he wants to do the giving, do you feel a bit out of place being on the receiving end? i feel as if i've been knocked out of where i was, as if i've been awakened (though not rudely) and i've been set off on a spin of questions, a whirlwind of emotions.
i've decided to give up loving because it's hurting me. that i realize now. but i've also decided not to be loved because it somehow doesn't feel right, as if i would be choosing it for the wrong reasons. but it's not to say that i wasn't touched, that someone cared enough to see me, that someone cared to care for me and helped me realize that i wasn't caring for myself.
turns out they arrived at 530, an hour earlier, and had been waiting at pare marche for some time already. it was good seeing them. it really was.
with them here, i feel as if i'm seeing my two worlds at once - manila and nagoya. both are my families in different senses of the word. interesting. i talked to my sisters today and i felt that "family" in the true sense of the word is being able to talk about anything, not being afraid of being judged, because you know that you're accepted and loved for who you are.
*
i thought that loving and being loved came hand in hand. but it appears that there are times when they appear by their lonesome. is it possible to know how to love but not know how to let oneself be loved? if you've been giving and giving, and then one day someone decides that he wants to do the giving, do you feel a bit out of place being on the receiving end? i feel as if i've been knocked out of where i was, as if i've been awakened (though not rudely) and i've been set off on a spin of questions, a whirlwind of emotions.
i've decided to give up loving because it's hurting me. that i realize now. but i've also decided not to be loved because it somehow doesn't feel right, as if i would be choosing it for the wrong reasons. but it's not to say that i wasn't touched, that someone cared enough to see me, that someone cared to care for me and helped me realize that i wasn't caring for myself.
Monday, May 01, 2006
summer breeze
scheduled for 11am today: spring cleaning. i woke up at 10am, despite having slept at 4am, to the sound of doors opening and boxes being put on the floor. the new korean guy was moving in. okaasan came a bit later at around 1130. eka and i bravely took on the first floor bathroom. the others cleared the kitchen, and i mean that literally. it seems so clean and bare now that it's almost alien. i still do a double take sometimes. it's that clean. it would make for amazing before and after photos.
*
nancy gave me and kanittha make-up lessons. i guess that make-up doesn't have to be that complicated after all. of course, you do have to find your own style and which colors suit you but it's not as complicated as the salons make it seem. make-up doesn't necessarily mean a cake of foundation on your face or having raccoon-like eyes. make-up can actually mean "natural" too. it's "natural" with a little bit of effort =P
*
nancy and i walked around hoshigaoka this afternoon. it was just a simple walk out, window shopping with a friend, with dinner at an italian restaurant to cap it off. hoshigaoka is this stucco-tile avenue of small boutiques. it's very western. it was really pretty though with the flowers lining it - tulips and lavender.
while i was talking with nancy today, i felt a sudden settling of ease and comfort. it might be because we only have one month left. everything just suddenly seems to move in slow motion and to move too fast at the same time. it's as if everything is emphasized. i'll miss her when i go back home. she's able to make me see things from different perspectives, teaches me to be more open to things. today was a day where we talked about relationships, insecurities, dreams, goals, wishes. it was a day of sharing complemented by the clear cloudless sky and warm summer-like weather.
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nancy gave me and kanittha make-up lessons. i guess that make-up doesn't have to be that complicated after all. of course, you do have to find your own style and which colors suit you but it's not as complicated as the salons make it seem. make-up doesn't necessarily mean a cake of foundation on your face or having raccoon-like eyes. make-up can actually mean "natural" too. it's "natural" with a little bit of effort =P
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nancy and i walked around hoshigaoka this afternoon. it was just a simple walk out, window shopping with a friend, with dinner at an italian restaurant to cap it off. hoshigaoka is this stucco-tile avenue of small boutiques. it's very western. it was really pretty though with the flowers lining it - tulips and lavender.
while i was talking with nancy today, i felt a sudden settling of ease and comfort. it might be because we only have one month left. everything just suddenly seems to move in slow motion and to move too fast at the same time. it's as if everything is emphasized. i'll miss her when i go back home. she's able to make me see things from different perspectives, teaches me to be more open to things. today was a day where we talked about relationships, insecurities, dreams, goals, wishes. it was a day of sharing complemented by the clear cloudless sky and warm summer-like weather.
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