We all need saving, sometimes

On that fateful Friday morning, I was south of Tokyo, in the seaside resort town of Atami, sitting by the balcony of the hotel we were renting, watching, almost crying at how simple yet arresting it was to be swallowed by a beautiful sunrise. It was one of those soft mornings, so soft in fact that I feel I'm dense and drowning to its sublimities whenever I remember.

I took a shot, three times, thinking I won't find the use of that memory someday but only in little photographs for this blog. Little did I know, with the turn of events later that afternoon, that that sunrise is the only memory I want to remain and remember out of the many unforgettable things that happened that Friday.








My heart goes out to Nihon.  I can't help but cry a bit inside every time I see the raging waters surging quaint little towns up north. It kills me like a thousand heart break every time. It wrenches me but at the same time strengthens my love for this country even more, and in the hope that it would stand back stronger after all of this.

If you are following this blog, take a minute of silence, whisper a short prayer to your God, to whatever is bigger than you, and ask for relief over this country we all love. What Japan needs now is our comfort.

In a more practical level, if you cannot find anyway to give your donations, I encourage you to buy something made in Japan one of these days, even something as little as Japanese toys or t-shirts or manga magazine which are being sold in your country. It may not serve any direct purpose or may sound silly amids all of this, but in the long run, may take a little burden to the adverse effects of this disaster.

Thank you for your well wishes. I felt all of them across our oceans.

PS. We all need saving by Jon Mclaughlin was playing on my earphones while I took the photos of that sunrise. I know, it was heartbreakingly coincidental.

Better together

Jack Johnson is making me feel swell, ya'll. Have a nice weekend.


Better Together, from the album In Between Dreams.

By the way, thank you Ms. HangSee Lee of Nylon Korea for a small feature of my blog. Got your package on a rainy morning. Nice! 감사합니다.

Sweet November

I'm saying goodbye to the sweetest month of my year while the Hot Action Cop is singing.

Baby, what is it with autumn that keeps me feel alive when everything else around me is falling off to shreds of yellow? This isn't the best season to recover from my year-long depression but yeah, I'm breaking slowly back to life.

Anyway, got a new shade of yellow in my room. Went to Ikea yesterday and bought a stand-alone lamp for less than 20 bucks. It shines 20 times greater than the lamp I bought online in Rakuten a year ago. So you guess I'm more than happy!

I love furniture shops! What I love about it the most is how I don't get this whole Andy Warhol feeling all over me while pushing my shopping cart. Is there anyone getting this same vibe or am I just being annoying?

The other thing that I love about furniture shops are the kids. I especially like those who are having tantrums inside the shopping carts=prams while they're towed away together with the towels, the yokes, the curtain rods, etc. because mum and dad are not done shopping yet. This one, I totally get. Makes me so hopeful about the future. lol.

Well I guess the Swedes got it right with the furniture. But it got me thinking how many Vietnamese are being paid below the minimum wages to deliver the perfect White Westinghouse photo. Only the babies kept me from overanalyzing things.

By the way, Ikea has the cheapest hotdogs in town. They got the pickles right, too.

That Knot Unties?

when you close your eyes
i can resist, i will not cry
and i will not try
to know why all things die

You see, I know a few of your favorite things

Lately, there are so many things going on in my head I just wanna get over this month quickly.

On logical order of things, I'd be starting my doctoral course in a few days. I can't help but pant about it way before even it started. The only consoling thought is that I can start afresh and my head is bustling with ideas. The  previous four months have just been so unmerciful to me. Thinking about mathematics and physics and mechanics every single day has, I think, taken its toll on the more moist part of my brain and has provokingly fettered my creativity until this blog has only seen a post per month. My camera has grown cobwebs, so to speak, and so did my artsy-fartsy-ness.

The past few weeks were spent on these issues, and how much I would need to reformat my say on things. I came to the conclusion that I am so unfortunate to be blessed with a fluid character but with a structured set of faculties. It came as no surprise, come to think of it, because 2 years ago, I was choosing between art school and soil mechanics. Now I wish numbers had colors.  

I breath quite oddly because I think I was cursed. I was talking with an American friend a few weeks ago who told me I am making a fool of myself thinking I am working on my dream. But what is it to dream really? Is it to think of things you can actually achieve and have a good grip of and proceed further from that once they come true, or is it to think wishfully of things that you can only blindly find your way into and out?

I wish I have answers to toss around. But right now, I can only speak of things that're on my desk. Because who said you can't have multiple dreams in one lifetime, right?

The photos I took a few months back. Had some typography over there. That's all I can think of at the moment. Credits to Taking Back Sunday for the wonderful song.

House

This is how busy I was. For about 7 weeks, my life was a circle of seclusion. I wake up at 3 in the afternoon, grab a late lunch, and stay inside coffee shops till they close. At around midnight, I'd find an open ramen shop, and eat a late dinner, bike home, and drop by a convenient store for a watermelon Popsicle. At 8 in the morning, I'd prepare myself some cereal, and eat breakfast before going to bed.

During those times, my only form of distraction were episodes of House M.D. Otherwise, I'm pounding on my computer, cracking my head open for the last ounce of words to fill my thesis.

A shot from exactly where I sit some 6 am in one of those days. Dreamy is Blur's Good Song.

I'm floating

-I see you, you see me, The Magic Numbers

Signs

I see signs now all the time, that you're not dead, you're sleeping.





Signs, Bloc Party

Woah, this song.
Photos from a quick out-of-town trip last week.

You know concrete colored buildings all grow stale

-Maria Mena, What's another day?

This song has all the right words, you know.
Morning shots of Tokyo some weeks ago.
Thanks everyone for your nice words!

I'm about to come alive..

Slowly now, I can feel you coming out of my skin. You, and all your beautiful motifs.
You inspire me to come back to life.




Train's I'm about to come alive

Photos from last's years spring.

Sunshine

I notice that I've been clamoring a lot for sunshine these days. Well, who doesn't, right?

Like today, it snowed again in Tokyo, and was it like a week ago when I thought spring was just around the corner?

Some highway photos when I went to Chiba some weeks ago.






I was hooked to this song by Matt Costa like 3 years ago, and now my head sings it indefinitely.

Thanks everyone for your nice comments. I'll pick them up when I ain't as busy as I am right now. ^^

The whiner has to go

Strays Don't Sleep's For Blue Skies

^I miss this song^

I've been a little depressive these past days, due to an unhealthy combination of sleeplessness, boredom, self-imposed academic pressure, and loads of sad music. The Tokyo weather, which are indefinitely grey most hours of the day, are not helping me either.

I'm at this point where a sunshine, and endless blue skies are the only form of distraction that can pull me out. Last day of February, and I hope for balmy days ahead as I consign myself to writing my first technical paper.

My wish of salvation and relief to the people of Chile, one of my favorite countries in the world, for the current disaster they are facing. Next week, I will attend this and let's see what are the bubble thoughts of the experts. So much for anguish.

Photos are from my computer in the school, what're left after I cleaned my hard drive.

Meeting people makes me damn sad

Sigur Rós' Untitled 01


Everytime I go out of Tokyo, even on a quick trip, I feel that when I come back, something has changed in a madly lonely way. Photos taken on a foggy Thursday morning.

:(

You are my heartache this lifetime

No surprises by Radiohead


Would you believe me if I tell you that we've met before, in the past, before these present lives?

Feb 10 Ear Candy: Kings of Leon

Revelry by Kings of Leon

This whole month of February, ever since they won the Grammy's last month, I've been hooked to Kings of Leon. I think that their album, "Only by the night" is one of the best things that ever happened to rock music these recent years.

It's the first rock album that I can listen to the whole selection without feeling nauseated. ^^

The picture above is special. The other day, it snowed again in Tokyo at 6AM. Someone called me to tell me about the beautiful crystals parading the early morning skies. I was dreaming of revelry, really.

Blue moon

Blue moon over Tokyo last Saturday.

Blue moon as hearts.

Song by Elvis Presley.

If you got time, take a look at our Issue # 7. Have a good week ahead of you wherever you are!

Cast your eyes down low

I'm posting the out-takes of issue#6 of my collab project. The theme for this issue was anything below the eye contact.

I'm having a long weekend this time. I still don't know what I'm up to. Maybe will just lazy around the house and read.

By the way, the music in the player is The Breeze by Dr. Dog. Sounds like a vinyl record or something.

Jan 10 Ear Candy: Haruka Nakamura

Thanks to Aron, who posted this song in his blog, I was hooked indefinitely to Nakamura-san's music. There was a time when I just looped this song the whole night, and I had the most vivid dreams! This is also the best companion when I usually go home from the school at 1 in the morning, and there's only me, Toru the bike, the empty dark alleys, and the silent traffic lights from every other block.

Arne, Haruka Nakamura from the album Grace (2008)


YG said Nakamura is like the Japanese Sigur Ros. Now I can't wait to go to one of his live performances (I'll definitely look for one).

Anyway, I'm posting some out-takes from my other blog from our issue #5.

Rainy night

Today, it was raining so lightly all over Tokyo the whole day. Days like this one, you just want to snuggle under the sheets and pretend your world is a four-cornered space.

Or, you can have coffee with a good friend, walk, smoke, talk and eat sushi!

My mouth and my stomach and I had fun today with revolving sushi plates (my first!). I will post the photos next time. Meanwhile, I enjoyed Tokyo in its comfortable darkness. I hope you do, too.

Random photos of the things I saw on the way to the sushi shop and on my way back home.



Wet pavements remind me of Dashboard Confessional's Hands Down.
Memories!, memories!, memories!
おやすみみんな