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.
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Sunday, 4 August 2013
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
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, 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:
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.
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, 21 February 2013
Shopping
After all my hard work I have decided to reward myself with some shopping. I can't really afford to go on a super shopping spree, but I am working on replacing broken stuff or things that ran out.
First up is this 'Hello Kitty' bag. At first I felt the design was a bit cringe-worthy, but it has grown on me since. Although I don't go on trips often, I found that I do need a big enough bag with a zipper from time to time. I would always try and stuff things into summer totes, but in winter it's just not going to work.
The bag is very basic with only one huge compartment and a small pocket at the top. Also has tiny side pockets. It was 50% off, and at less than a thousand yen I will probably not find anything cheaper.
While trying to find the bag, I stumbled onto some mirrors. I had a pretty fancy Clinique foldable mirror, given to me by Shiv. But, being the incredibly clumsy person that I am, I broke it. I couldn't find a good enough replacement, so I've stuck with it for a year.
Yeaaaah, I'm pretty relaxed about this sort of stuff. I still hope I can replace the mirror part and clean it up a bit.
Anyway, here's the mirror I bought. It's about ¥970 and super pink and sparkly. It was the least sparkly one I could find. But it was the right size and not too flimsy.
Another broken thing is my little comb. All my hairbrushes come from the 100yen shop, but recently my hair got very long and tangly so I decided to upgrade. From this.
I guess pink is a basic colour in Japan. There are not too many choices. However, this totally matches my new mirror, so I am very happy.
There were some other small things I bought for the coming up trip - small cream containers, make-up wipes, etc. not that interesting :)
Some weeks ago I happened upon some skirts for ¥190 at g.u. I think they cost much more before, but since it's last year's stock they were priced down quite a lot. Here are some pics from the g.u. website.
That's about it for now. I'm hoping to get some more much needed items in the coming weeks.
First up is this 'Hello Kitty' bag. At first I felt the design was a bit cringe-worthy, but it has grown on me since. Although I don't go on trips often, I found that I do need a big enough bag with a zipper from time to time. I would always try and stuff things into summer totes, but in winter it's just not going to work.
While trying to find the bag, I stumbled onto some mirrors. I had a pretty fancy Clinique foldable mirror, given to me by Shiv. But, being the incredibly clumsy person that I am, I broke it. I couldn't find a good enough replacement, so I've stuck with it for a year.
Anyway, here's the mirror I bought. It's about ¥970 and super pink and sparkly. It was the least sparkly one I could find. But it was the right size and not too flimsy.
Another broken thing is my little comb. All my hairbrushes come from the 100yen shop, but recently my hair got very long and tangly so I decided to upgrade. From this.
To this.
There were some other small things I bought for the coming up trip - small cream containers, make-up wipes, etc. not that interesting :)
Some weeks ago I happened upon some skirts for ¥190 at g.u. I think they cost much more before, but since it's last year's stock they were priced down quite a lot. Here are some pics from the g.u. website.
Posted with BlogsyMonday, 11 July 2011
In repentance for the skipped weeks, I'll attempt some more writing.
For the past week or so I've had trouble with my knee. At times it was too painful to actually walk. I am such a grandma. What's worrying is that there is a softball game coming up. I think that's what it's called. Running around with bats, hitting balls in this heat is nonsense. Maybe I can blame my knee and get out of it? Also, I don't have any sports clothes. That may be a problem as well.
This weekend I undertook an enormous task and washed the kitchen. I know, I am so awesome.
On Sunday we went to the city centre and I bought a projector connector thingy for the laptop and headphones. The headphones aren't too comfortable, but they were very cheap, which makes me slightly less unhappy. But maybe next time I'll try to be less of a greedy little goblin and shell out on a decent pair. But the cheap ones are pink, so I forgive them :)
In Japan there seems to be a lack of colour choices that are usual for Latvia, but they make up for it with an abundance of others. Blue items aren't that common as well as grey, but they have a ton of pink and things like turquoise or lime.
Right now it is really hot in Japan (which is normal, since it's summer). It's practically impossible to live without an air-conditioner. I am sort of considering buying opera style gloves that girls here wear. It's to do with sun protection and keeping your skin white. The white part doesn't interest me so much, but the sun protection element I like. Maybe next time we drop by Hikari no Mori.
For the past week or so I've had trouble with my knee. At times it was too painful to actually walk. I am such a grandma. What's worrying is that there is a softball game coming up. I think that's what it's called. Running around with bats, hitting balls in this heat is nonsense. Maybe I can blame my knee and get out of it? Also, I don't have any sports clothes. That may be a problem as well.
This weekend I undertook an enormous task and washed the kitchen. I know, I am so awesome.
On Sunday we went to the city centre and I bought a projector connector thingy for the laptop and headphones. The headphones aren't too comfortable, but they were very cheap, which makes me slightly less unhappy. But maybe next time I'll try to be less of a greedy little goblin and shell out on a decent pair. But the cheap ones are pink, so I forgive them :)
In Japan there seems to be a lack of colour choices that are usual for Latvia, but they make up for it with an abundance of others. Blue items aren't that common as well as grey, but they have a ton of pink and things like turquoise or lime.
Right now it is really hot in Japan (which is normal, since it's summer). It's practically impossible to live without an air-conditioner. I am sort of considering buying opera style gloves that girls here wear. It's to do with sun protection and keeping your skin white. The white part doesn't interest me so much, but the sun protection element I like. Maybe next time we drop by Hikari no Mori.
Friday, 8 July 2011
Skipping
Even though I said I'd try and update every week, I skipped 2 of them already. Why? Well, last weekend and part of this week was spent franticly getting the presentation ready for my Wednesday class. The week before that was my birthday. So I was super distracted from doing anything else.
So, my Birthday. It was great really. In the morning we cleaned the house some and did the washing - very un-birthday-like. Then we went shopping to Hikari no Mori (光の森) - a shopping mall about 30 minutes away y train. We bought a ton of things, and there was this weird thing near one of the elevators.
When we were inside, it started raining. So when we were leaving to go to the station, the rain was in full swing. Not so bad, since I had a ton of shopping bags to protect my precious locks.
In the evening we went to a French restaurant. The same one we went to last August when I was leaving to go back to Latvia. Or was that the August before last. I can't remember. My passport, however, claims it's been 2 years already. Even more surprising was that the waiter remembered us. I suppose, foreigners rarely come there, since it's quite expensive and totally in Japanese.
It was delicious. And I really like the atmosphere of the place. They also bring out a huge number of cutlery. I am always a bit nervous that I might use the wrong one. But it usually turns out fine.
I had a really lovely birthday thanks to my wonderful boyfriend.
Now, during the past weekend I was rushing to write the presentation. I tell you, my hands were hurting a lot by the end of Tuesday. On Saturday Shiv went on a night hike from Aso back to Kumamoto. So he got back Sunday morning. His feet were in a right state.
I have to admit that because there was no one to scold me for procrastinating on the presentation, that is what took up most of Saturday. I also skipped out of helping to set up screens in the Hall for students to pin their work on Tuesday. But I did finish the presentation on time, and it went rather smoothly.
Also, Tanaka sensei taught me how to print papers double-side and in sets. I shall have to try that later by myself.
So, my Birthday. It was great really. In the morning we cleaned the house some and did the washing - very un-birthday-like. Then we went shopping to Hikari no Mori (光の森) - a shopping mall about 30 minutes away y train. We bought a ton of things, and there was this weird thing near one of the elevators.
It's seriously huge!
When we were inside, it started raining. So when we were leaving to go to the station, the rain was in full swing. Not so bad, since I had a ton of shopping bags to protect my precious locks.
In the evening we went to a French restaurant. The same one we went to last August when I was leaving to go back to Latvia. Or was that the August before last. I can't remember. My passport, however, claims it's been 2 years already. Even more surprising was that the waiter remembered us. I suppose, foreigners rarely come there, since it's quite expensive and totally in Japanese.
It was delicious. And I really like the atmosphere of the place. They also bring out a huge number of cutlery. I am always a bit nervous that I might use the wrong one. But it usually turns out fine.
I had a really lovely birthday thanks to my wonderful boyfriend.
Now, during the past weekend I was rushing to write the presentation. I tell you, my hands were hurting a lot by the end of Tuesday. On Saturday Shiv went on a night hike from Aso back to Kumamoto. So he got back Sunday morning. His feet were in a right state.
I have to admit that because there was no one to scold me for procrastinating on the presentation, that is what took up most of Saturday. I also skipped out of helping to set up screens in the Hall for students to pin their work on Tuesday. But I did finish the presentation on time, and it went rather smoothly.
Also, Tanaka sensei taught me how to print papers double-side and in sets. I shall have to try that later by myself.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Routine days
Let's see. This week we were preparing for the debate again. I did manage to get data from my other class, but we didn't use much of it I think. Had to meet on a Saturday too. Our team won though :)
The week wasn't very eventful. I honestly can't remember much of what I did. Thursday's meeting took a really long time. I ran away before it finished (as always). I really want to know what the upperclassmen are doing though. I spent Friday preparing the 2-week report. As usual I do stuff at the last minute. Got to work on that.
I try speaking with the students from the lab a bit. Even my tutor girl forgets I don't understand much and just rambles on in Japanese until she sees my eyes glaze over :))) Well, I suppose it's good practice. I also told Shiori-san I might start attending the competition meetings next semester or the next competition they have. The current one's description was so confusing and vague, I just gave up.
Shiv says I should write my blog every day, at least 2 sentences or something. Isn't that what twitter is for?
I might try it though.
On Sunday we went to the city centre. Did some shopping and fighting :(
I finally bought that make-up thingy, but not sure yet if I like it as much as I thought I would. Need to experiment a bit more with the application.
I think the most enjoyable part for me was drinking the honey-au-lait and stealing Shiv's pumpkin cake.
In the spirit of practicing my Japanese more, I shall attempt to write some stuff -->
今日のディベートで私のチームはかちました。とてもうれしいです。
ディベートちゅう雨がとてもはげしいふっていました。
The week wasn't very eventful. I honestly can't remember much of what I did. Thursday's meeting took a really long time. I ran away before it finished (as always). I really want to know what the upperclassmen are doing though. I spent Friday preparing the 2-week report. As usual I do stuff at the last minute. Got to work on that.
I try speaking with the students from the lab a bit. Even my tutor girl forgets I don't understand much and just rambles on in Japanese until she sees my eyes glaze over :))) Well, I suppose it's good practice. I also told Shiori-san I might start attending the competition meetings next semester or the next competition they have. The current one's description was so confusing and vague, I just gave up.
Shiv says I should write my blog every day, at least 2 sentences or something. Isn't that what twitter is for?
I might try it though.
On Sunday we went to the city centre. Did some shopping and fighting :(
I finally bought that make-up thingy, but not sure yet if I like it as much as I thought I would. Need to experiment a bit more with the application.
So serious.
I think the most enjoyable part for me was drinking the honey-au-lait and stealing Shiv's pumpkin cake.
In the spirit of practicing my Japanese more, I shall attempt to write some stuff -->
今日のディベートで私のチームはかちました。とてもうれしいです。
ディベートちゅう雨がとてもはげしいふっていました。
Sunday, 7 November 2010
What I did the last couple of weeks
Haven't written in a long time. Let's see - a couple of weeks ago we went to see one of Shiv's students perform with her band at a live-house. That was on a Friday (23, Oct). I've never been to a live-house before, and we sort of got lost while trying to find it. The place was rather small, and the speakers were unnecessarily loud, I felt. I got a bit of a headache from it - couldn't even hear some of the singing over all that noise.
Shiori-san (the student) does have a nice voice. It was funny, because almost all of her family came to see her - sister, father, grandfather, and, I think, even her grandmother. Her dad was filming her a lot.
The thing I liked the most was the lights though.
Then, the next weekend (30-31, Oct) we went to Shimonoseki to watch the musical. Had to get up super early - 6:40 it was. On Saturday I walked around the shopping mall a bit. I like it better than the one here, possibly because it's smaller. I was super tired though so just slept in the hotel until Shiv came from the rehearsal. We went to eat some korean food. The lady took pity on a poor foreigner, and made the dish very mild (by korean standards, of course).
Sunday was the day of the performance. It was in the afternoon though, so we checked out of the hotel. I had to spend around 6 hours, waiting for the time to pass. Mostly sat in the shopping mall at one of the tables. Went out for snacks and a bit of drawing. Got the attention of a one year old kid. Later on some middle-school boys came up, and tried spying on my drawing. It was a bit annoying and distressing, but in retrospect - very funny.
Got to the hall ok, but had to wait in line some 20 minutes. When they finally started the performance, I wasn't sure if I went to the right place. There were some opera singers from Korea(?) on stage. They did 3 songs - a duet and two solos. The ladies dress was a modern interpretation of the hanbok - so lovely. Her voice was amazing as well. The guy was a bit funny with all those exaggerated movements.
After they finished there were some speeches by some really important dudes. It was incredible how after the speaker would say "good evening", everyone in the hall would respond with the same phrase. Kind of like kindergarten. And all that bowing...
Anyway, the musical itself was kind of fun, even though I couldn't understand many things. Shiv was hilarious in his role as Sakamoto-san. Seems he couldn't remember some of the movements for the crowd scene dances, nor lyrics to the songs.
After the stage we went for dinner with some of the people from the musical. The waitress totally forgot about my order, and only brought it after Shiv asked about it. Discrimination! :D
The stage dragged on longer than we expected, because of all the speeches and singing. We couldn't take the train, and had to go back to the hotel again. All my waiting was in vain, could've slept at the hotel...
The 10th of October (Wed) was a holiday here. We went to the shopping centre, but Shiv caught a cold, so we didn't stay long. Found awesome cotton leggings - promised I'd bring back some back to Latvia for my mom and sis. The weather was nice, and we decided to sit on a riverbank near the castle for a while. I got bitten on the knee.
On Friday we went to Kumamoto university to talk with a professor there. Need to translate some of my documents and prepare a CV. Hopefully, I can get it done by mid week.
Now we're both a bit sick. Did absolutely nothing this weekend.
Shiori-san (the student) does have a nice voice. It was funny, because almost all of her family came to see her - sister, father, grandfather, and, I think, even her grandmother. Her dad was filming her a lot.
The thing I liked the most was the lights though.
Then, the next weekend (30-31, Oct) we went to Shimonoseki to watch the musical. Had to get up super early - 6:40 it was. On Saturday I walked around the shopping mall a bit. I like it better than the one here, possibly because it's smaller. I was super tired though so just slept in the hotel until Shiv came from the rehearsal. We went to eat some korean food. The lady took pity on a poor foreigner, and made the dish very mild (by korean standards, of course).
Sunday was the day of the performance. It was in the afternoon though, so we checked out of the hotel. I had to spend around 6 hours, waiting for the time to pass. Mostly sat in the shopping mall at one of the tables. Went out for snacks and a bit of drawing. Got the attention of a one year old kid. Later on some middle-school boys came up, and tried spying on my drawing. It was a bit annoying and distressing, but in retrospect - very funny.
Got to the hall ok, but had to wait in line some 20 minutes. When they finally started the performance, I wasn't sure if I went to the right place. There were some opera singers from Korea(?) on stage. They did 3 songs - a duet and two solos. The ladies dress was a modern interpretation of the hanbok - so lovely. Her voice was amazing as well. The guy was a bit funny with all those exaggerated movements.
After they finished there were some speeches by some really important dudes. It was incredible how after the speaker would say "good evening", everyone in the hall would respond with the same phrase. Kind of like kindergarten. And all that bowing...
Anyway, the musical itself was kind of fun, even though I couldn't understand many things. Shiv was hilarious in his role as Sakamoto-san. Seems he couldn't remember some of the movements for the crowd scene dances, nor lyrics to the songs.
After the stage we went for dinner with some of the people from the musical. The waitress totally forgot about my order, and only brought it after Shiv asked about it. Discrimination! :D
The stage dragged on longer than we expected, because of all the speeches and singing. We couldn't take the train, and had to go back to the hotel again. All my waiting was in vain, could've slept at the hotel...
The 10th of October (Wed) was a holiday here. We went to the shopping centre, but Shiv caught a cold, so we didn't stay long. Found awesome cotton leggings - promised I'd bring back some back to Latvia for my mom and sis. The weather was nice, and we decided to sit on a riverbank near the castle for a while. I got bitten on the knee.
On Friday we went to Kumamoto university to talk with a professor there. Need to translate some of my documents and prepare a CV. Hopefully, I can get it done by mid week.
Now we're both a bit sick. Did absolutely nothing this weekend.
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