anoisette

today is white day. here in japan on valentine’s day, it’s women who give men chocolates and things on valentines day. so white day is when it’s women’s turns to receive chocolates and things. so today the boy bought me this cake for white day. he said the cake shop was very busy, full of japanese men buying cakes. it was so busy they were almost going to run out of cakes! anyway, yay cake. i love the cakes in japan. they come in perfect little individual sized portions and look so exquisitely delicious. and of course they taste delicious too!

at the end of february a friend and i went snowboarding in Hakuba, Nagano for a couple of days. here is a video i shot with my pentax optio w10 of us going down a run.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8yp-98xVCQ]

it was pretty cool to be sitting at the top of a run and doing up our bindings while overlooking rice fields down in the valley below.

today i got a haircut. and it’s not post-worthy because the last time i got a haircut was over six months ago when i was in the philippines. no, it’s post-worthy because it was a surprisingly ‘japanese’ experience. the whole routine of getting your hair washed before the cut? well yes i sat on the usual chair that leans way back so your head can go over the sink, except this special japanese chair also gave a back massage at the same time! and then after getting lathered up and waiting for the few minutes for it to infuse or whatever special shampoo is supposed to, there was the hot (and soothing!) compress or whatever they slid under my neck. and while the stylist assistant washed my hair she put a square of tissue over my face. i’m not sure what the purpose was, whether to protect my face from stray splashes of water or to give me some ‘privacy’? but seriously: so japanese! it was great.

as planned, i went to craft heaven Yuzawaya today to look for origami paper. on my bike ride over i got a great idea for a little creative project that i am very excited about should i actually see it through to fruition. anyway i didn’t end up finding the nice kind of origami paper i was looking for at Yuzawaya, so i ended up having to go to Tokyu Hands to look there. now there’s another store i think is awesome and will also miss when i leave japan. it’s actually pretty similar to Loft.

anyway, i didn’t end up making as much origami goodness as i had hoped i would because i got a call from a coworker inviting me to check out COSTCO and so off i went to Amagasaki. coming home i was jam pack squished on the commuter packed JR train with (amongst other things) a 4 pound tub of jelly bellys in my backpack and 12 pack box of macaroni and cheese under my arm. american bulk food shopping meets japanese commuting. or something like that.

then this evening we watched An Inconvenient Truth, which i guess everyone should see, although it didn’t really tell me anything i didn’t already know. although i suppose the one thing it did give me is hope for the future since it seems to be well received, which means that things are hopefully going to change for the better in terms of bringing global warming back in check.

boy am i knackered. i spent the day in Osaka exploring Shinsaibashi and Namba, and of course, shopping! i was surprised (but not) to stumble upon an american apparel in Shinsaibashi. took a look inside but didn’t see anything too interesting.

i ended up buying a bunch of craftyness inspiring books which i hope will inspire me to make nice things! i bought an origami book because i need an excuse to buy all the beautiful origami papers i keep seeing… except of course after buying the book i couldn’t find any origami paper! i even went all out of my way to go to Loft, but i didn’t like any of the stuff they had. so now i have my origami book and no paper to make stuff with. by the way, Loft is seriously one of the coolest stores of all time and i am really going to miss it when i leave japan. where else can you find a full spectrum of vividly colored shower heads (amongst a vast plethora of other really really really cool stuff!)?

i also picked up a graphics book on japanese pattern, and spotted a future purchase about traditional japanese colors. and lastly, i picked up a knitting book because it’s one thing that i can do in my tiny apartment since knitting needles and yarn don’t take up so much space. sigh. in my exploration i found the coolest fabric store ever, i think it was all (cheap!) ends of all kinds of awesome fabrics. maybe it’s good my apartment is so tiny because i otherwise i’d have come home with loads of fabric and a sewing machine to go with.

so tomorrow i’m going to head over to the 7 or so floor craft heaven here in Kobe, more commonly known as Yuzawaya, to pick up crafty supplies.

it kind of feels like i am just waking up after a long long long slumber. for the past year or so i have not really been keeping a blog or diary, i have not been making things with my hands, two things which have been a part of me for a very long time. i guess i could get all philosophical about it and wonder about change and circles, but instead i will just say that i feel that maybe it’s time to start things up again.

sometimes i feel really frustrated at the fact that i am here in japan and not growing my knowledge and skills of all things textiles as much as i should be. i suppose it is rather difficult to try and find any kind of textiles network since i do not speak the language. but there is just so much here that i know i will kick myself for ever if i leave without feeling like i even got to experience a little of it.

i have been looking for some kind of knitting circle for a while and been frustrated by the lack of results. today i finally found a link to CHIC Kobe. they have all kinds of great sounding classes, including a knitting circle! however it seems like i’ve missed the boat for their winter semester. hopefully they will have some new classes starting for spring.