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Wednesday 4 September 2013

Samurai

The day of the waterfall trip (previous post) we went out for dinner. The place we went to was a small soba restaurant near the highway. It was, of course, delicious, but the most distinguishing feature was that the interior was filled with samurai armour. After I started walking round taking pictures the owner came out to tell us all about it.

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Obon trip

At the end of Obon I went to visit my mother-in-law in Shimonoseki.
It was really hot but we decided that at least once we should go somewhere nice and cool. We managed to convince one of the Aunts to come along as well.
The first stop was near a small waterfall. 

Friday 16 August 2013

Yukata Party

Some time ago we went to a yukata party. It is for this purpose that we bought the yukatas at the beginning of the month.

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Back in Kumamoto

First week back in Kumamoto was quite relaxing. I could eat and sleep all I wanted with no schedule to keep. Aaah, holidays, finally they are here.

On the first day we went to Aeon Mall to buy yukatas. Both Shiv and I bought one, but as usual we forgot to take pictures. But here are a view snaps of the patterns. Mine has butterflies and Shiv's is a kind of stripe and swirly pattern. I was really happy with the stuff we got, so I hope I get to wear it a lot next year.

On 4th we were invited to a wedding after party of one of Shiv's friends - Ippei san of U+.
There was a phone lottery and I won a thing!
We went for cake afterwards. Fun day ^_^

Monday 12 August 2013

Toto gallery and Shibuya

The last Tuesday in Tokyo I managed to get to Toto gallery and subsequently their bookshop.
They were displaying some works by Christian Kerez.

Sunday 4 August 2013

galleries and glass caves

Last Sunday I wanted to go to Toto gallery and the bookshop. However, I didn't realise that it was closed on Sundays ad Mondays. So I ended up going to GA gallery instead.

Sushi, Fireworks, thunderstorms and shopping

Hey, it's a second post in a row. Well what do you know, I'm on a roll :)

The Saturday right after I finished work there was a huge fireworks festival on Sumidagawa river. Obviously, we had to go see. Since it was a special occasion we decided to hang out all day.

First we went to the fish market. Eric wanted to go at 5 in the morning, but in the end it was more like late noon. Hahaha
Apparently, this is what wasabi actually looks like.

Saturday 3 August 2013

Last day

It's been a week with no updates! Major slacking off on my part. But I was just so excited to get some rest. Anyway recap time.

Friday was my last day at CAt. It was like any other day and I was trying to figure out nice patterns to divide space but provide good lighting for the current project.
Kind of triangular skylights. The test model is so shoddy Hahaha... But it's easy to check what the diffused light looks like this way.

I got to eat lunch with lots of people, which was obviously fun. Somehow every time there are lots of people coming, everyone always goes to Park Cafe. It's a good place though.

I had a great time this one month. Even though the schedule was ridiculously difficult, I feel like I could do it if I try hard. I also feel sad to part with Andrea and Eric. they were really fun to hang out with. I hope I get to see them again someday.

Everyone was really nice and I'd love to work with them again.
I will try again next year.   – ͜  –

Thursday 25 July 2013

Wooosh - - - there it goes!


After almost a month in Tokyo I got used to the 12-hour working schedule. Now it doesn't seem as tiring. Time flew by so fast. I do really love working.
CAt is really nice. To tell the truth I wouldn't mind working there even with all the smoking.

Today was one of those days where I felt enthusiastic about work. Although I don't particularly like making paper models, it seemed like the day was over in a flash. I was just returning from dinner and suddenly it's 2 hours later.

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day O_O

This weekend will be really busy though. I am both looking forward to and dreading it. Hahaha...-_-

We went out for dinner to eat 刺身丼 (さしみどん), which is basically rice with raw fish. It was delicious as expected.

Exciting ramen

Food in Tokyo costs a lot. But on the plus side there is a huge amount of places to spend all your hard earned money. Or is that a minus?
Recently I've been going out to lunch more, rather than just buying stuff in konbini. I can't really complain because eating proper food is so much better on so many levels.

Today I also went out to eat dinner. Eric found a ramen shop nearby which had all sorts of different flavours. I've only ever seen regular ramen before, so I was really excited. I ordered 'Genova' ramen, which was, apparently, the most popular. It had tomatoes, spinach and lots of herbs from what I could see. It smelled absolutely delicious and tasted accordingly!
I really want to go there again and try other flavours. So exciting ^_^

Wednesday 24 July 2013

compact days

Yesterday and today were like night and day. On Monday I was sooooo sleepy. I kept switching off. But today I didn't fall asleep once and had a lot of fun working. When I finally felt like my brain was blan
king out, I went for a walk to get some buns.

These 2 days I've been having lunch with people from the office. I really like having lunch with the girls, they are really fun and very nice. I wish I could be a positive person like that.

In the afternoon it poured cats and dogs (I don't really understand that saying). There was lightning and thunder and it seems it was close. We heard lots fire-truck sirens. I was glad it was early in the day. When we go home there is usually no rain. But perhaps the weather will stay rainy all week. Weather forecasts are useless.

Today I wore the skirt from my suit that I swore I would never wear. It was relatively comfortable, but still too tight in the waist. I might wear it more in the summer, since wearing trousers is like having a personal sauna.

The past 3 days I've been wearing my pink crocs. I found out that if it's hot and humid the shoes will act the same way as all my other shoes and rip my skin. The obvious solution in to wear socks. But when the weather is cooler the shoes are extremely comfy.

I didn't take any photos today or, indeed, yesterday, so here is a photo from Sunday. We bought a pack of these with our combined money. The guy in the stall recommended the far left ones as the tastiest.

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Weekend trip - Seso-ji, Asahi, Tokyo Sky Tree

I was way too tired yesterday to post about my day. Suffice to say it was pretty awesome :)

I met up with Andrea, Eric, Damian and 2 other girls at Kaminari gate near the Senso-ji temple.

Sunday 21 July 2013

Cute Little Things

I bought shoes today ^_^ I couldn't get the blue or brown ones because they were pretty much sold out. But maybe it's ok to go for bold colours as well. Lately I really like colourful clothes. It's totally the opposite to how I used to dress back in Latvia. I think bright colours suit me much more. Let's be brave! Hahaha

This super cute guy made me take his photo >_<


I walk past this store from time to time and I always think that it looks really cool. Somehow this tiny building incorporates such simple yet stylish design. I love the golden mirror door. The same material seems to be used in windows on the side of the building. And the gold geometric plate has the same design as the wall of the staircase.
 When you first look into the window while walking from the left, the interior is all white. But then you get close and look in and room inside is a neon bright pink - so surprising!

Saturday 20 July 2013

wasting paper :)

As usual, here are some pics I took on my way to work

I had succumbed to the delicacies of the 'Natural Lawson'. They even have a bakery section with absolutely delicious buns. In there I stumbled upon tortillas - something I've heard about, but never had the opportunity to try. They turned out to be pretty good. I also got dinner there as well - some fancy 4-compartment mini bento. But because both those things had raw onion in them I got a stomachache. Luckily I didn't have to suffer for too long in the office.

There doesn't seem to be any particular work at the moment for me, so I have the leisure of just doing loooooots of study models. Massive paper wastage. But you do learn new things in the process. As it is with anything handmade, it's all about the practice.

I was invited to join Andrea and Eric with their group of friends this Sunday. Yay! I don't mind walking round alone, but it's so much better when you have someone to chat with (and by that I mean me talking).

Friday 19 July 2013

Another lunch

I got to do more of the same layout design. But somehow my creativity petered out soon after lunch.

Speaking of lunch, I went with two of the ladies from the office - Ii san and Takada san (if I am not mistaken. I am sooooo bad with names). The lunch itself was pretty good, but oh so expensive. However, I had so much fun talking to the girls.

Let's hope my head works better in the morning so that I can have fun working as well.

In the evening there was a thunderstorm. It rained a lot, but, again, while I was indoors.
I forgot to buy milk on the way back again.

I am thinking of buying crocs. But not those ugly ones that are sold in most places. I want to get one of the jelly ones. They feel very nice on my feet, but I wonder of it's possible to walk for long periods of time on a rubber sole.

Thursday 18 July 2013

Out the window

One thing the office has going for it is a really nice view. The windows look over the park, so you see tree tops on both floors. Super relaxing.

I got to have lunch today with Takahashi Akiko - a lady I met through 東峰テレビ broadcasts. It was fun to see her in real life. We went to eat some delicious curry and chatted about this and that. We ended up talking mostly in Japanese and mostly about me. The truth is I am alway too unsure of my language skills to ask questions. I usually just get the general concept of the things people say, not the specifics. I will try harder in future to make better conversation.

At work I got to do some simple layout compositions, which I love to do. The only downside was that I was extremely sleepy, so I couldn't concentrate. In the afternoon I resorted to buying chocolate. It perked me right up. However, I home next time I can go without, as I still want to fit into my fancy clothes. 

Tuesday 16 July 2013

:(

When I was coming home, there was an accident on the stairs of the crossing. I didn't see it, but one of the people was barely moving, so it was obviously very serious. I took a wide detour, because the stairs are very narrow and I didn't want to step over the poor people. Thankfully, there were already 2 people trying to help.

The stairs in Japan are generally much steeper than in Europe. It is very sad that such accidents occur.

Sunday 14 July 2013

something or other

Today we had a barbecue party somewhere near Shukugawara station. It seems that lots of people from other companies came as well. I was pretty surprised to see 2 people from Tanaka-ken. The world sure is small. I guess finding a job in Tokyo might be a good option.

As usual when I am among people I become overly talkative (because I'm usually alone). So now that I've talked almost continuously for 10-12 hours I feel really really tired.

I was very diligent at putting sunscreen on. However, not so diligent at where I was putting it. I remembered my face and arms, but not my chest. I got burned pretty badly in that area. I'll have to wear a button up tomorrow. Good thing it doesn't hurt too much.

After the barbecue Andrea, Eric (the other interns), their friend Damian and I dropped by Omotesando. The guys did some last minute shopping before closing time, because Andrea received a 50% discount coupon. Lucky :)

We decided to take a quick walk along the street to see the golden dinosaur, because - obviously. The big corner building at the first crossing had already caught my eye before with the fancy entrance. Here it is with no people (the better to see for...nom nom (obscure reference ;;;;-_-))
I really like this deconstructivist-ish entrance, but I wonder if it doesn't make people dizzy. I do want to go back and look around more some other time.
 Our friend the dinosaur. Take 50 points.
This building marks the corner for the shortest route to my house. Why yes, I am so very fancy >_<

Suburban jungle Tokyo style :)

I did nothing but relax today. It was wonderful. I did feel a bit guilty at wasting an opportunity to look around the city, but I will make up for it later. Sometimes one needs to just lie in bed all day.

Saturday 13 July 2013

The sea will part

'When it's 29C at night, it's not fun.'

I have never had trouble navigating busy streets. But lately, when I can't be bothered to weave through people, I adopt a new approach. If you just walk forward briskly with your head held high, people just get out of the way. Just goes to show that if you walk with confidence, the sea will part :)

Also on the subject of walking, I wore my fancy trousers today. They are the best for hot weather as they are super wide - like 2 skirts, one for each leg. However, I may have lost weight or something, because I keep stumbling over the hem even when I wear high heals. So very dangerous, especially on the stairs. But what can you do - 'Fashion'.
I think I should hem them some more.

After working all day on gluing textures to a huge model, we went to a small drinking party. For a job well done, since this morning they submitted the competition entry. We went to a very busy bar, which, I was told, is the cheapest in the area. It was really fun and we even remembered to take some pictures.
A special thanks to Andrea for uploading them so quickly.
The snacks were delicious and the company excellent. Thank you everyone  ^__^

Thursday 11 July 2013

Small things


I came to work slightly early, so I decided to relax a bit with an ice-cream in the park. The ice-cream was a bit disappointing - definitely not cold enough, but the view was pretty nice.

I worked around 9 hours on colouring a single picture. Ridiculous. But it had so many tiny parts that had to be individually coloured. The last hour and a half of the day I had nothing to do. The small changes to the presentation sheet were covered by regulars. All the interns had nothing to do.
So this is what I did ^___^

I know it looks like I don't work at all...

Wednesday 10 July 2013

You are feeling sleeeepy...


Today was so hot. I think it was about 35C or so. I am glad that the path I take to work is mostly in the shade.

I fell asleep twice today. I just can't stay up anymore. It could be a combination of heat and overall tiredness. I think I would only agree to work that long if I lived within a 5 minute walk from the office. This way I could drop by my house anytime to take a shower or take a quick nap and stretch out. I cannot understand how Japanese people look healthy following such an inhuman schedule.

The deadline for the competition is coming up, so everyone is scampering around trying to finish the presentation sheet sooner. I have less stuff to do, so it sometimes feels a bit boring.

Anyways, I will try to go to sleep earlier (meaning not bothering to make dinner). Hope that will solve the midday sleepiness problem.

el perro corre por la carretera...

Had a very fun day today. I went to lunch with some of the people from the office and we spent one and a half hours chatting. I told them that if people speak slow enough I can understand the conversation. To which they instantly started reciting tongue-twisters -_- I'm pretty bad at those, but the one I remembered in Russian was - шла Саша по шоссе и сосала сушку (shla Sasha po shosse i sosala sushku). And one in Spanish that they really liked - el perro corre por la carretera.

This Sunday I was also invited to a barbecue party or rather football party? It will start in the morning with football and after 2-4 hours there will be food. I said I would cheer them on from the sidelines. No way am I going to run around in 30+ degree heat.

No new photos today, so here is one from Sunday. I like these types of angles.


Monday 8 July 2013

Cookies!

Was really sleepy today and actually nodded off at work for half an hour. I think it was fine, since the girl next to me was napping at the same time.

When I went out to get some food, there were some really ominous clouds looming. I also forgot to take my umbrella, but it worked out ok, because it rained when I was indoors again.

I received a cookie around 5pm, which was lunchtime today. It was branded with the name of the person who brought it. Really delicious and an awesome alternative to meishi (business cards).
Other than those 2 things the day was absolutely uneventful. 

Tokyo weekend trip 1

Going into the light, hehe.

Picture heavy post.

Saturday 6 July 2013

Non-working day -_-

I came to work this Saturday even though it wasn't an official work day. I only found out when I got there. I guess, I misunderstood because people here work all hours of every day of the week, and the fact that my previous internship had a 6-day work week. Well, good for next week - I'll be able to visit more places.

I took a different road today as well, but it was too sunny and I had to walk up and down so many times ;;;;;;-_- It was very hot as well. They say Kumamoto is the hottest, but I see no difference between   it and Tokyo. It's seriously むしあつい here as well. Maybe not as むし but certainly あつい.

I stayed half the day at work trying to figure out the requirements for the competition. I had to manually translate all the names of the required areas. Lots of new words like 相互 (そうご)and 倉造(そうぞう), 性能(せいのう) and 採用(さいよう), and on and on. Kinda like this:


After I got home I could finally do some housework. I went to the nearest grocery store (Kinokuniya on 青山通り) that turned out to be soooooo expensive. I think I'm going to stick to コンビニ food from now on.

Tomorrow I want to go to Omotesando, since it's really close by. Also, Tokyo station has lots of famous architecture around it, so I might go there first. Aah, so many places to see, so little time... Good thing I have 3 more weekends to look around.


Very european looking building on my way from the store. It was so shiny and at the same time fuzzy - the picture doesn't look like the original at all. Tomorrow I hope to have fancier pictures to post.

Friday 5 July 2013

Justified

I was finally justified in buying my umbrella. It rained a bit on the way to work.

I am finally getting more fun tasks, although nothing major yet. I really wouldn't mind if they let me do some layout designs for the current competition they are doing. I am mostly doing volume studies for that.

The two other interns came downstairs today to work on arts and crafts type design. The company received some glass hooks from an italian company to incorporate in whatever design we'd like. It was really fun to play around with all sorts of stuff like tree branches and wires, and so on.


Lots of roofs from the volume study stacked on top of each other. I thought it looked like a rose.

I think I'm slowly getting used to the 12-hour days. I didn't feel as tired today. However, that might be due to me sitting a lot more. The first few days I spent the 12 hours standing.

Comatose

It rained while I was indoors again. I feel like I cannot justify my umbrella purchase if I don't get rained on at least once.

I have forgotten my phone at work. But I downloaded an alarm app, so it should be fine.
I wonder if I can charge an iphone at work?

I was given a fun task at the end of the day and thus, in my excitement, I stayed until 11. Now I am comatose.

Thursday 4 July 2013

Tasty sweets

Went out really early today to go to the station where they have ATMs in English. Then went to work, stopping on the way to get an umbrella. Even though I was prepared it only rained while I was indoors.

I came too early, but luckily the door was open and I could get in. So today I actually worked for 30-40 minutes longer. Today was kind of windy, but it was still hot in the office. Somehow there's not a lot of cross ventilation even though there are lots of windows.

I was invited out to lunch by the secretary lady. It was a welcome break from being in the office. I ate a really huge salad. It was delicious. I even drank chai that has cinnamon in it. It was surprisingly ok.

Today I was cutting out the surrounding buildings for the model. It was more relaxing then making the base, because I could sit.

Someone brought in おみやげ, so I got to eat some delicious sweets.


Tuesday 2 July 2013

The longest day

I had decided during this internship to try and work the way Japanese people do - 12 hour-work days. However, I might leave Sunday off. I don't think I'd be able to do it mentally or physically.

Today, I spend the whole day on my feet. Standing, walking, squatting, dragging things, cutting things, gluing things, etc. It felt like the longest day ever. I had done similar things before my finals, but it's different when it's for myself. Anyway, today I finished the base for the competition project that some of the people in the office are participating in. Tomorrow I will make some basic volumes of surrounding houses. At least that doesn't require standing.

I am really happy I took my moccasins with me. If not for them, I would be in much more pain today. And possibly wouldn't be able to stay the whole 12 hours.

The cool shower after I came home felt so wonderful. I was so ecstatic and happy and grateful that I can finally sit down on a soft bed with a cushion and stretch my legs. It really puts things into perspective. However, I still feel it is absolutely unnecessary to spend 12 hours at work. 8 is more than enough. You can stay longer if there's a deadline or you simply wish so, but it should be an exception. I'd much rather work 4 more hours within the comfort of my home rather than in an office.

Have to sleep now  or I won't be able to wake up in the morning. Things I have to figure out - how to get money from my card (find an ATM with English), where to get an umbrella (didn't see any in nearby コンビニs).

Weird egg on a plinth on my way home o_0


東京 - Tokyo

Today is my second day in Tokyo and the first day of my internship. I wore a suit ^_^ I really wanted to wear it, but there never seemed to be an occasion for it. I am happy now. Suits are surprisingly comfortable, except when you need to lean all the way across the table (which you shouldn't neet to usually). However, I might wear my comfy shoes tomorrow.


I spent yesterday running around Shibuya station trying to find a locker for my huge trunk. I ran around for an hour and a half - because, obviously, I got lost. Lucky for me I could get to my room earlier. After that I was running around buying things like pillows and blankets. I was dead tired and fell asleep by 10.

Today I was very fortunate to be able to sleep in. Thankfully, I know my navigation skills, so I went out half an hour early. This way I could find my workplace in about an hour :))))))))

I was given a relatively straightforward task for my first day - mainly making a sketch-style base for a competition project. The work day here is from 10 to 10 -_- But it's not scary coming back home at night as there are lots of people around at all hours and the streets are very well lit. Definitely different from Kumamoto.


Coming to Tokyo several times before I didn't particularly like the place. I am looking forward to see if I change my mind after living here for a month. There are certainly lots of pros to living here, but I'm still stuck in my provincial mentality.

Since I am staying at a share house, there are still a lot of things I need to buy and figure out - like food for lunch and dinner. For now I'll be settling for コンビニ food. This week I'll be trying to get into the swing of things.


Tuesday 25 June 2013

25th of June

Today I found out that I share a birthday with a couple of my favorite architects - Antonio Gaudi and Alvaro Siza Vieira. Maybe one day I'll be famous too. Hahaha, unlikely -_-...

I've been sick for most of this month. The doctors here prescribe a lot of drugs. I had to take 3-4 pills 3 times a day, which is probably totally unnecessary. My symptoms moved from an insane amount of coughing to near constant nose dripping. Oh well, seems it's getting better at least. 


Monday 27 May 2013

Catching up

I finally got a spouse visa. It took us forever to get all the documents sorted. Not because it's all that difficult, but because we are horribly lazy when it comes to paperwork.
Mine is for 3 years which I thought was unusual for first-time applicants. I heard you always get a 1-year visa the first time round. But maybe it's one of the recent changes to the laws. In any case, I was chuffed.

I also finally cut my hair. It is so much easier to have short hair in the summer. And all year round for that matter.

From this...
to this ^_^

I might actually maintain this hairstyle longer than the other times. I always just let it grow out.

This month was really busy and the next one promesses to be even more so. Got lots of projects going.

I got a bicycle. It is very useful, since I don't have to pay bus/train fares and don't have to drag heavy bags on my shoulders, but also super tiring as there are lots of hills in the area. I hope I don't get legs like professional cyclists. I guess it's a good workout. The downside is, I cannot use my UV umbrella when I ride the bike. Even with a 50+ sunscreen my skin burnes in this weather. I don't mind tan, but not when when I look stripy all over.
Tomorrow is the start of the rainy season. Or so it seems according to the weather forecast. Going to rain all week. I must find our one raincoat. Where could I have stuffed it?...

Ok, need to go study now.