The Luxuary of Feeling Natural Breeze

A week ago, I moved to a new apartment. The main reason was that the previous place faced a busy street, and the noise had gotten worse and worse -- to the extent that I couldn't sleep well.

So, for the past few months, I spent many weekends looking for a quiet place, with a parking lot. I finally found an apartment that met my most conditions. I felt overall OK.

But it has turned out to be more than just OK. In fact, this new place reminded me of the luxury that I had missed for a long time: feeling natural breeze coming from the window while still in bed. Last Sunday, as I felt the breeze, that automatically in my mind brought me back to a dorm where I stayed eight years ago: Escondido Village at Stanford University (see picture).

When I attended the summer school, I lived with a room mate and her boyfriend, living a kind of strange but fun life. Due to her dorm contract, she later moved out and then I had the two-story, three bedroom apartment all to myself. That accompanied natural breeze coming on to the bed in the morning.

Somehow, my new apartment in Tokyo possesses the same atmosphere as the Escondido Village that I cherished......well, I guess that's a good start!

A Good Year

About a week ago, I saw a movie entitled "A Good Year." I was supposed to see it for free, as I had received an invitation ticket to a preview. But as the day coincided with my boss's farewell, which I couldn't miss by all means, I gave the ticket to an old friend. She wrote to me and said that it was a fun, good movie. Since I really wanted to see it, I decided to go see by paying 1,800 yen in a Sunday afternoon.

The story is about an aggressive, successful British financial dealer called Max, who spends a very busy life in London. He was notified that his uncle running a vine yard in southern France died. As Max was the inheritor of it, he flew there, to sort out and sell it. But as the old house brought back good childhood memories and related people, mixed with romance, he decided to live there in the end.

Aside from the romance department, I encountered a similar situation this week. My dad told me he will give me our house, which is located in a leafy Tokyo suburb. Since he is hospitalized, nobody currently lives in the house. So, I go there every two weeks to ventilate it, take away spiders' nests, vacuum the rooms and stairs, etc. This week, somehow electricity was gone, so I called the electronic company. A technician came, checked and found out the automatic short circuit censor had functioned and stopped all electricity. Which means, inside the fridge was mess, so I got rid of rotten food and wiped out inside the fridge.

Then I checked the garden. Last time I was in the house, a gardener came by and asked if I wanted him to take care of it. Well, the trees did need to be trimmed, the grasses did need to be taken away. So I asked them to do the gardening, which they reported they did last week. Well, the result was the garden got back to normal, now looking like a garden! As they left an invoice in the post, I sent money to their bank account this evening.

Hummmmm....all this needs a lot of work. It really takes a lot of work to maintain a house. But for me, doing so is a luxury. Condos would be more convenient, but I really prefer a house to a condo. Especially when it is related to good memories......

Still in the Dream

It was as if I were awaken while still sleeping.

"Hi Sam, how is it going?"

That was a phone call from a guy whom I had JUST SORT OF, SLIGHTLY KIND OF been dating. Since I hadn't seen him for long, I almost forgot about him, and my memories about our conversations were mostly deleted from my brain. But just like a PC, my own brain went back to a certain time we used to talk a lot.

"How is your writing project going?"

He was talking about my novel, which I somehow stopped writing a few months ago.

"Ah, yes, right, sure...well, I am stuck. I mean, I ran out of creative juice....thanks for reminding me of that....yeah...that's right....."

You know, it's hard to speak right after being awaken. I was just like that.

"Well, then, you'd need to drink some beer...."

Maybe because my answer was just "yeah" and not anymore, he moved on to ask how I will spend summer, when I take a vacation, etc. He then told me his own summer plan, which was going to a resort island on business. Well, that may be true, since it is also god damn true that I did go on a very busy business trip to the Caribbean last summer. He ended the conversation by suggesting lunch together without suggesting any specific time and place.

I wondered why he called anyway. Maybe it was just that I ran into him on the street yesterday for the first time in a long time. But at that time, I was probably in the worst condition: my hair was messy under this humid weather, my shirt was tatty, and I was groggy as it was Day 2 of my period. So, when he asked me how I am, I only replied in the standard beginner's middle-school English, "Fine thank you, how are you?"

Well, the world is too mysterious to decipher. That is the only thing I can say..........

Louvre Pyramid in Tokyo

In the Louvre Pyramid-like gym (see picture), I swim a few times a week. That is the best way for me to disperse confusion and take back sound simpleness.

Why Do People Tell Lies?

Japan's Prime Minister Abe said that his patience has come to the limitation on the abduction issue of North Korea. Right, he is tired of their lies.

The most frequent lies that I have encountered is about ages. Somebody told me he is 48 several months after he stated he was 51. Well, did he have a time machine that makes him younger as he age? Another person had said he had got divorced 1.5 years ago. The same person now says he has been single again since 1997.

My friend who used to lecture me about her perfect marriage suddenly gave me a call and said she has been preparing for a divorce. According to her, his husband has been violent. I was stunned as he looked so nice and even a bit sheepish.

From my standpoint and background -- journalism, whose most important mission I believe is to seek the truth -- all this is astounding. I don't even know what makes a difference between the two statements -- 51 and 48, for example.

For me, it is not even the matter of age; it is a lie that honestly backs me off.

Perfect Combination

I finished reading Le Garde du coeur this morning. I tried going to France's Amazon to see what reviews it has gotten from the French-speaking audience. I couldn't find any reviews, but a recent version has a perfect combination -- Modigliani and Sagan!

They're the most favorite artists in painting and writing. I just think they're so sophisticated.

Same Old Fantasy

A bit tired, beautiful, successful career woman wavering between a young, impossibly good-looking, pure-hearted man and a middle-aged, sexy, elusive playboy type.

That's all about my all-time favorite novel entitled "Aimez-vous Brahms ?" by Françoise Sagan.

I don't know why I've been so attracted to this story for such a long time -- the past 12 years to be exact. Well, I am a bit tired, that's for sure. That is exactly why I went to the Body Shop's reflexology salon already twice for the past week.

But I don't think I've ever been caught between the two opposite types, though the two characters sound very attractive to me for different reasons. Well, that may be why I am so into the novel.

Anyhow, reading the novel in original is my objective of learning French, at least for now. By doing that, I'd like to architect a perfect fantasy in my mind.......

Simple Life

When I was browsing in an electronic appliances shop -- on the floor of 30 to 50 inch TV sets to be exact -- I somehow irresistibly felt that I needed a more simple life.

Over the weekend, I also looked around a few condominiums. But the more I did, the stronger I thought that I needed to study real estate. And to me, it seemed like a daunting task to find a nice condo that would not be damaged even when a big earthquake hit Tokyo. Plus, I learned that earthquake insurance covers only 10 million yen (about USD 83,000). So, what if a massive quake comes on the day I purchase a condo?

Well, I currently live in a small, but cozy, and best of all, safe apartment. Perhaps I should just read Sagan's novels here, and live in my fantasies.....

So, What Is My Story?

Ever since I saw a movie titled The Silence of the Lambs (see below), I have been wondering then what my story is.

Off the top of my head, it's related to a car. One childhood scene that flashes back sometimes is when we did a road trip to my grandmother's place in Nagano. As our car was so small that it was not comfortable for a long trip and I often felt sick. But I knew my parents would be in trouble every time we took a rest as that would multiply the travelling time in a crowded road. So, when I told them I was sick, I was really, really sick. I appreciate, even today, the fact that they never accused me of that even once.

But all this has made me determined to obtain a big car that nobody would question its comfortable quality. So, for me personally, it was a little success story that I took my mother by my BMW to Nagano earlier this month.

My uncle, however, cast somewhat a cold attitude. Of couse, he didn't openly criticize it, but I could sense he didn't like the car, or the fact that I drove it. Perhaps it was in part because his son, i.e., my cousin, works for Nissan. Overall, I felt he simply doesn't like yuppie things. From a conservative rural point of view, he might have thought that a black sedan is too much for a woman.

Anyway, I love my car, I obtained it with no debts from anyone, and I continue to love it. What's more, it made the road trip much easier for my aging mother. What the hell is wrong with that?

Everyone Has A Story

On Day one of this long weekend, I got most content with a move for the first time in a long time: The Silence of the Lambs.

Everyone has a story that motivates you to do something, good or bad. It can usually be buried under your unconsciousness. But once you discover it, you can act effectively toward your end. I thought that is the main message of the movie.

For an FBI Academy student Clarice Starling, it is a story when she ran away from her relative's house. She has lost her father who was a police commissioner from a duty, and as her mother had been also gone, Clarice was sent to her aunt's in a farm. There young lambs were screaming when they were being killed. She could not stand that and ran away by managing to take one lamb. But then a local official caught her and the lamb ended up being killed, too.

That made a deep impression underlying her motive to become an FBI agent -- to save those who were on the verge of being killed, just like keeping the lambs silent.

The irony is that the person who made Clarice notice that, Dr. Lector, the cannibal ex-psychiatrist, is still on the run, wanted by the FBI. He would probably have his own unique story that has led him to eat human meat.

Each acting has a taste. It is one of the rare, classy movies that you'll love!

Famous Steps

Several weeks ago, I was guided to "famous steps" in Philadelphia -- though I didn't know what they meant.

"Don't you know the scene where Rocky ran the steps? It's here!!"

Since my friend was so passionate about the site, I was feeling a bit bad as I actually had never seen the Rocky movie series.

Last night, I finally finished seeing all the six episodes. I thought Rocky IIII sent the most compelling message, and probably the last one, Rocky Balboa, was the most educational. I especially liked his following lines to his son:

The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth.

Well, I think I can appreciate the sight much better if I have a chance to go visit there again......

The 60s Is a Boom

As I was going to a class that starts at 7 pm in Sendagaya, I stopped at a local small restaurant there to have dinner before the class. I didn't pay too much attention to it from outside, but as I sat at a table I noticed the restaurant was so 60s......the whole concept of the restaurant, from pictures on the walls to its menu itself, was the era.

That age was before cell phone, PC, the Internet, even message telephones.

Somehow, people seem to be enjoying going back to that simple time.

Tiny But Macho...??

When I washed my car at a coin car wash place this afternoon I somehow came to this thought....I may look tiny, especially to Americans and northern Europeans, but I would probably be very macho inside.

It was a moment when a strong stream of water came from the hose pipe, which I targeted to the car body. Somehow I thought this action is quite macho, which I was excited to do. Looking around, only men were doing this. Not sure why, but the sheer fact that I came upon the idea of washing my car in a Sunday afternoon as a relaxing pastimewas quite macho, at least in Japan.

What's more, my car is a black sedan. A man who had started car washing before me saw me curiously. His car was a Toyota Lexis, if I remember correctly.

Anyhow, my car now gets sparkling! I wish the weather continues to be beautiful at least for the next few days......

La Science des Rêves

Only one movie theater in Shibuya, Tokyo currently runs this film in Japan: La Science des Rêves (The Science of Sleep.) The story is that the main character young man falls in love with a girl who moved to the next door in his apartment building. But she is not too interested ted in him. So, he dreams the ideal situation that he wants....and the whole movie is basically his dream...

Well, sounds familiar. Sometimes life goes on as you like, other times, doesn't. That's why you fantasize. My best fantasy is a democratic version of the world that Françoise Sagan depicts, you know.

In an attempt to best fantasize her world, I started to study French really hard....The material is NHK's radio French program. It runs from 7:25 to 7:45 am. My best plan is to preview the text at the previous night, listen to the program while driving to my workplace, review it by CD-ROM, and then see and check the text when I'm waiting while the security checks my car before entering the office building...actually, this works quite well.

Practicing repeating same sentences over and over again reminds me of when I first learned English. But since French has similar concepts with English, so now it's much easier!

Mission Completed

In the perfect weather, my mission was successfully completed. It was a family gathering to go visit our ancesters' souls for the first time since their grave was renovated. My mission was to drive my mom to the gathering in Nagano. After we prayed before the tomb, white arums nearby were sparkling under the sun.

The highways between Nagano and Tokyo were so crowded, but we killed time by chatting and listening to classical music CDs. Speaking of music, my uncle, mom and myself all love Western classical music, which are influenced by my grandfather....no wonder I adore Brahms like crazy.

Golden Week

This is not New York, it's actually Tokyo!

The Statue of Liberty in the picture was originally founded to commemorate the French year in Japan in 1998. Two years later, it came back to France. But because it was so popular, a replica was created in France and returned to Odaiba, a seafront area in Tokyo, in 2000.

It is now the best season in Tokyo -- nice and crisp, not hot, not cold either. In fact, this kind of nice weather is fleeting, as we're expecting the rainy season soon followed by a harsh summer.

In this gorgeous weather, my friend and I went see a movie in Odaiba. The movie was excellent...I'll write about it soon.

Yeah, it's Golden Week!!

Serge Gainsbourg - La Javanaise

Yes, it's April...as this song tells...and you know what, I'm set to learn French really seriously. When I finished reading La Laisse, I reconfirmed how uniquely excellent Françoise Sagan really is. So, my goal is to read her books in original.

So, I tune into NHK's radio French lesson at 7:25 am each morning. The theme music of the program is this song. Tonight I bought flash cards...gosh, this fondly reminds me of when I first started to learn English.......

Talent Is Everything....Almost, Perhaps

When I was chatting with a friend a few days ago, I came to this conclusion.

"After all, talent is everything, I think. If you have talent in a certain field, things will go well because the talent will make making effort make sense. But if you have no talent in other field, even if you make tremendous effort, things won't go well because you don't have the talent that makes making effort make sense."

The simplest example may be diet. Some people need to exercise, try really hard to refrain from eating a lot, and yet they stay fat. But I have never been overweight in my life. Rather, most of my life I've been categorized as thin. And yet I have never been on diet. It's just that I haven't liked sweets and fatty food since I was a little child.

Career would apply, too. Just recently, without any asking, I was offered an extremely honorable mission. I was frankly surprised. From any point of view, that means a top-level success in my chosen field. It's true that I have always put my career on the first priority in my life, and I have made tremendous effort. But that's not everything. I think I am talented in this particular field.

By contrast, there is a certain field in which I have also made tremendous effort, but have had little fruit, if not zero. I come to feel that I am not talented in this particular area....

So, my conclusion is that talent is everything.....well, almost, perhaps.

Car Wash

Over the weekend, my car did a debut of car wash! I realized that a black car needs so much care to look shiny....because once it's rainy, it's all over....but it was such a beautiful day on Sunday, I really wanted my loved one to shine. And it did become shiny! But again, it started raining tonight....ah well, that's life. It's just that a precious thing needs constant love and attention.....:)

A Famous Grocery Store

A grocery store where I go sometimes has gotten a lot of media attention these days.

The Narita Higashi, Suginami store of Summit, a middle-sized grocery store chain in the Kanto area, started to "sell" plastic shopping bags. They charge 5 yen (like 5 cents) for one bag in front of the cash desk. As a result, 89% of customers, including myself, are now carrying their own shopping bag.

If you google this grocery store, you'll swamped by so many stories on this!