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January 4th, 2010
10:20 pm - Burn Baby Burn
It is with a heavy heart and a sad soul that I report on today's Geisha photos.
Just prior to going to the studio, I had looked up the website for Ellen, because she was interested in knowing more about it.
On the website, there was a notice of temporary closure at the top of the page. It didn't say much more, other than, "temporary closure".
I mentioned it to Pete, but assumed that they had posted the closure notice in regard to their holiday closure period, which was to end today, their first day back after the holiday period.
So we headed off to the studio, only to find a note on the door saying they would be closed for "some months". We thought it was odd, since I had confirmed a reservation with them about a month ago for today at 2pm.
We backed up a little from the building and realised something wasn't right.
Then we noticed the smokey smell. Then we noticed the broken glass, and state of disarray in the garden where they take many of the pictures.
Then, we noticed the flowers and notes left at the front door. White flowers, which Pete pointed out usually symbolise death.
We looked up at the structure and realised it was burned out!
Apparently they had had a huge fire in the building which, from the look of things, had pretty much gutted the building, and judging from the flowers and notes (not in English, so we're not sure... but), it looks like the studio lost everything, and perhaps even a life or more.
Indeed, you could see the area in the middle of the building where the fire had started, and could see all the broken glass that had come out either due to explosion or breaking the glass so people could get out, and the elecrical box was open, presumably to cut power to the building.
Oddly, this is not the first time I've had a near miss with a Geisha photo session. A couple years ago, I was planning a session in Kyoto, where this is a more common practice than in Tokyo, and on the train on the way to Kyoto I came down with the Norovirus from some suspect farmed oyster's I'd had for lunch. I was sick as a dog passed out in bed (between excruciating trips to the bathroom) for about 36 hours, and missed out on the day I was supposed to have the session.
We've had a similar experience trying to get to the Ginkakuji (Silver) Temple in Kyoto, where the first time we went, I lost my camera, and by the time we retraced our steps and found it (and we did find it, because Japanese never steal anything when it drops somewhere... they hang it up in the hope the person will come back and find it, which we did, on a bamboo fence), it was too late in the day to go. The second time we tried, a year or two later, it was a few days before the holidays and we had no cash left... we had to run around town trying to find an open ATM that would accept our card... a difficult feat at the time... and again, we ran out of time.
Third time lucky, we managed to get there.
I've had two tries at the Geisha photo, but maybe it's third time lucky again, next year, when I'm 42... 42 would seem to be a good number.
I just hope everyone at the photo studio is OK and got out alive. It's a bit sad to think of all those beautiful kimono and wigs torched to the ground... from the look of it, I doubt there was anything left. I hope it happened during the holidays when nobody was there and it was an electrical fault or something.
I have their e-mail address, and I don't know if they'll be checking e-mail, or if they'll understand it in English, but I'll make an effort to express my sadness and hope that they're OK!
Here are some photos. First, the front of the studio, with some of the windows blown out and burned out:
Here's the formerly lovely garden, full of rubble, glass and charred stuff:
And here is the entrance, with bouquets of flowers and notes and some drinks left at the entrance... not sure what it means:
Current Location: Japan, tokyo
Current Mood:  sad
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09:50 pm - Engrish of the day
Today's themes are silly cunt, and fanny.
That's right, you heard me. What more can I say?
I think it's enough.
Oh, let's not forget about being second. I'd rather be first:
And one of my personal favourites, not just a bit of a tool but a...
And ya gotta love this... in case you need to change your clothes while in the toilet stall, pull this board down so you can stand on it rather than the filthy bathroom floor:
Current Location: Japan, tokyo
Current Mood:  amused
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09:44 pm - Washing Day
Sometimes when you're running around a city having fun, you start to get tired.
Sometimes you just need to take a break.
Sometimes doing laundry is just the thing.
And so it was that I put the name コインランドリ (coin laundry) into google maps, and found the closest one to us, only about a 5 minute walk away. Google maps is so good that there was a link to street view and the opening hours of the coin laundry.
We walked over to a cute, residential area where we proceeded to spend about $10 doign laundry. Considering a pair of pants costs $18 to get washed at the Westin, this was good value.
It was on a very narrow alley, as Pete was keen on demonstrating.
They had these great 9Kg dryers, similar to what I'm currently having installed at home.
After a walk around the local area to see the cuteness while the laundry was washing/drying, we were back on the road to explore more of Tokyo.
Current Location: Japan, tokyo
Current Mood: accomplished
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January 2nd, 2010
08:29 pm - Fun in Tokyo... every year!
Today was our first day in Tokyo.
As Oakwood Apartments has had some problem with the Japanese government (they were apparently trying to get around paying the 14% occupation tax on hotels by renting apartments on month leases and then allowing you to break them with a week's notice at check-in) we were unable to stay at our "winter home" here in Tokyo, which was a bit disconcerting.
However, since Pete's Starwood Platinum and seems to be on good terms with the GM of the Westin Tokyo, everything has worked out just fine. More on that in another post.
Anyway, today is January 2nd, which is the start of the big new years sales in Japan, and the day for fukubukuro, or "lucky bags"... pay a set rate and get somewhere between a 40 - 75% discount on the goods inside.
In recent years, because people are so picky, this has meant they have started to reveal what the goods are inside the bags. Since I don't fit in the clothes here, and other such stuff, I always liked the element of surprise, so it's not quite as fun now, although I do have a few hair and jewelry accessory shops I go to for specific fukubukuro that aren't revealed ahead of time. I went and got those today.
I also got some more Pylones rings. I will post more about these things tomorrow, once I have opened my fukubukuro.
For now, I will post the following photos. Pete sat down today next to another "sleeper" on the train... this looks really uncomfortable!
Pete then proceeded to try and do his best "sleeper" imitation, although I don't think he was quite as good as the real thing.
Finally, when we were wandering through the train station, trying to find an empt locker to deposit all my fukubukuro purchases in (a feat nearly impossible on this particular shopping day... but we finally managed it around 3pm), we saw this sign, which made my day.
Pete feels this is about surfing for porn on the internet while in the trains. In any case, it's pretty hilarious. Haha!
And seriously. Please do it at home. Nobody else wants to see you doing that. Whatever it is! Oh, the mind reels.
Current Location: Japan, Tokyo
Current Mood: accomplished
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January 1st, 2010
08:34 pm - Engrish o' the day
I'm hoping they will be open tomorrow:
And I'm sorry, I decline.
Current Location: Japan, Tokyo
Current Mood:  cheerful
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08:30 pm - New Years Libations!
Tonight we made our yearly pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine.
Like many shrines, Yasukuni has a sort of "fair" atmosphere during this time of the year with food stalls and the like setup. It's very festive, and that's why we go.
Of course, I have recently found out that this shrine is dedicated to the... *ahem*... war heroes of the second world war. I suppose this is a little like going to a shrine to honour nazis, so it's a bit odd I'm going there with a Jewish husband.
However, we go there for the fair atmosphere, and don't ever worship at the shrine. That makes me feel a little better.
On this very lovely, clear winter night, I managed to catch a beautiful twilight photo looking up the road leading to the shrine.
While we were at the shrine, we passed by a drum of New Years sake that they had beat open today, so Pete bought us a round of New Year's sake to welcome the new year!
Current Location: Japan, Tokyo
Current Mood:  cold
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08:21 pm - Four seasons in one day
Today, we boarded the Nozomi Shinkansen from Osaka bound for Tokyo on a very crisp but very clear, sunny day.
Up in the mountains along the way, for the first time ever, there was actually snow falling, and it looked like it had been for some time. There was 8 to 12 inches of snow on the rooftops and cars and it was currently snowing for probably 45 minutes of the journey.
It was so beautiful seeing the snow, the likes of which I haven't seen since we used to go up to Tahoe with the Jesfjelds every February Presidents' day holiday when I was growing up!
A few Kilometres down the road, we arrived at Fuji-sama, where it was once again clear and beautiful. In fact, I don't think we've ever seen it this clear and sunny and beautiful before.
What a lovely four seasons in one day!
Current Location: Japan, Tokyo
Current Mood:  peaceful
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09:46 am - Once in a blue moon
For the first time since the Japanese have been using the modern calendar, a blue moon occurred on New Years Eve.
We awakened this morning to said blue moon setting off on the horizon, so Pete grabbed a few shots.
And here is the first sunrise of the new year 2010 in Japan:
Happy New Year everyone! (And happy new decade).
Current Location: Japan, Osaka
Current Mood:  hopeful
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December 31st, 2009
10:04 am - Taking the bad with the good
Don't get me wrong. I do realise how privileged I am to be able to travel so much and do it in style. I really have no good reasons to complain.
But every once in awhile things get out of hand, and I want to scream at someone.
Included in our rate at this hotel we have the option of a club breakfast or a continental breakfast in the restaurant. This morning, there was a 20 minute wait for either. This is unacceptable in a 5-star property that actually has a second restaurant adjacent to the first, which they could easily open during busy times.
In the club lounge, they stock about 1.5 serves of each thing on the buffet, and despite 5 staff standing there, nobody restocks it. So even if there's not a 20 minute wait, there's no food.
This is just stingy.
Then, this morning's last straw was when the people's kids in the room next to us decided they were going to scream and sing and jump all around the room. Oddly, you can't hear a thing from the hallway, but there is a connecting door that is clearly not soundproofed!
We finally had enough this morning while Peter was trying to do some work, so we pounded on the connecting door. Fortunately, they got the message, but what an awful thing to have to do!
Speaking of Peter working, he asked me this morning why it is that his clients think it's OK to contact him on 31-Dec while they know he's overseas and the next day is a holiday. I tried to explain to him that he needs to let them know next year that "the office is closing" and there will be no "emergency" or other service available from 31-Dec to 02-Jan. But he's not having it. Apparently his clients are special.
He's got so much work to do that it looks like I'll be going for a trek in Umeda by myself today.
Current Location: Japan, Osaka
Current Mood:  aggravated
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08:16 am - This one's for Honeywoney
Current Location: Japan, Osaka
Current Mood: happy
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