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Sumida River

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 12:28:13 +0100

There is no trace of what it used to be like during the Edo period. Over the Sumida River was the pleasure quarter Yoshiwara and a vast view of central Edo. This area is now known for an ohanami spot, for viewing cherry blossoms along the riverbank in Spring. Quite frankly, it is not the most scenic place any more. There is not even a luxurious condo nor anything else to take advantage of the waterfront location.

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Visiting Oxford

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 04:38:55 +0100

I have only been to Oxford once, but I know that if I ever get to go there again, I will revisit to the Natural History Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum. What I will have to look for though, is a nice place to eat. What's best for dinner in Oxford...(?)

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The famous Topshop

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 04:21:53 +0100

After living in London for two full years, I went to the Topshop for the first time, just before Christmas 2005. How the words spread - my friend who was visiting me from L.A. knew of this place somehow, took me there, and boy, the shoppers' enthusiasm was grande. Never knew how popular this place was, I was more than stunned - Has anyone noticed how much stuff there is to filter through, in this huge department store like shop building complex? Another friend of mine visiting from Paris the same month, spent half of her time in London shopping there, contributed to the alarmingly hot consumer-generated heat inside and ouside by the corner of Oxford Circus. Something VERY special there must be about the numerous items selected and displayed in the Topshop - Still, a memorable site of London's economic peak.

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Wapping Hydraulic Power Station

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 18:27:25 +0100

I met a curious photographer last night at this refurbished gallery/restaurant in Wapping - the Wapping Hydarulic Power Station, which currently shows works by Sergei Shutov. Putting aside my impression of the show, I wish I knew who this photographer was, taking pictures of the displays and... It is dreadful to imagine myself in that stranger's photographs (God knows how beautifully ugly I looked there, never mind). Regardless, I should have asked for his name at least.

The place is quite interesting by itself for once being a power station. The exhibit was, although rather small with 1 space installation and 3 works on paper, inspiring enough to keep people around for a good half hour at least.

It just happened that I am in the middle of reading "The Devil" now, by the Russian author whose anti-European attitudes can relate to some of what this contemporary exhibit seemed to have conveyed. The rise of democracy in Eastern Europe and what seems to me so confusing of the religious amalgamation in Russia, are just few of many topics, I'm sure, that both fascinate and pester thinkers in the discourse of Modernism.

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Bully phone

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 08:37:35 +0200

One thing that drew my attention at a gadget store in Shibuya the other day - This new mobile phone outfit has the shape of a cow, free-standing by itself, made of soft elastic material. How cute and silly. It is designed not for practicality but for catchy playfulness, so as are many other Japanese gadgets and industrial products.

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Toyota's mobile suit!?

Sat, 27 Aug 2005 17:36:44 +0200

If in the future, a 6-month-old baby starts to wonder about on the street alone(!) by riding a robot like this, my determination to postpone any maternal responsibilities will only extend for ever. (I do not have children now.)

Such a use of mobility and technology combined for individual convenience keeps on developing, and I do not necessarily agree with it. But I must admit, seeing this walking robot I became excited at once - The iFoot (or Eye-Foot) by Toyota has been nominated for the 2005 Good Design Award and is also exhibited at the Aichi world exposition.

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3rd generation art deco

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 00:27:09 +0200

This is why I kept saying that we were in the midst of the 3rd-generation Art Deco. The Paris Spring Collection 2005 was another example. Ooo well, the peak has passed now. Above is a shop window in Ginza, Tokyo, cited in the Japan Design Net.

Yukata was back in trend this summer, which was predictable given all the reviving kimono fashion had been around in the market for some time now. Thinking back further, I would even say that the vanguard for this second revival of 'Japanese art deco' had already been apparent by the time Takashi Murakami made his name internationally known circa 2000.

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Ireland

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 02:12:54 +0200

I went to Ireland for the first time last weekend.

Shannon region is not the most scenic area in the country according to some friends, but on the way through Limerick (where the picture was taken) to Dromineer I think I saw some interesting sites. The city of Limerick looked to me very much like suburban Massachusetts towns, where Scott and Shinji used to live near Brandies Univ. and perhaps also Worcester, to where Joe and Maurizio and I drove once to visit Louise at the museum. What was most different though, I thought, was the people not to mention their ways of living.

The main purpose of this trip to Ireland was to attend the wedding of Veronica and Oliver in Portroe. Nadine and I took many photographs during the long reception/dinner/dance (and so on so forth) which we will bring together and I will hopefully upload on the flickr's or kodak's web photo album later this week.

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The site of it...

Wed, 03 Aug 2005 03:10:41 +0200

...ahh(!) is over, and it still feels nice. Now that I am out of this place, having started a fresh, new month and a new cycle of life, I begin this blog to log my usual monologues. I will also upload recent gradutation photos and others from the past two years as I sort them in order, o-n-e by o-n-e...maybe.

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