Sunday January 28
I met Midori Mitsui today at a exhibition of 80 designers in an area just outside of Shibuya. It's sort of a cute little area, the exhibit was in a series of buildings called "Hillside Terrace" just near the Daikanyama train stop. The exhibition was mostly of drawings and slides and not many actual objects were there with the exception of maybe five or six pieces of furniture and a set of glassware. Midori was very nice, and introduced me to several people who were there. However the interesting part of our meeting was discovering that she has a daughter that just recently lost most of her hearing in one ear. I was trying to explain to her the process of Cochlear implants with some difficulty. She had never heard of it and was somewhat intrigued. It helped to create a familiar ground; her designs were nice albeit very conservative and straightforward. She seems terribly busy though so I doubt that I will be able to see much of her beyond today.
I made the mistake of going into Shibuya; I wanted to go to the Tokyu Hands Store there, where Eugenie and Robert took Karen and I - I had to buy a three-prong adaptor for my coffee pot and also a water filter. The tap water here is terrible, you can smell the chemicals each time you turn on the tap but bottled water is too expensive at ¥288 for a 2 liter bottle. I also wanted to see what kind of little gifts I could bring back; there are all kinds of neat little things like cherry bark spoons for ocha, those special scarves for wrapping food, letter openers, etc. I think I will bring Mom and Laurie here too, they would love it.
But anyway as time went on the crowds really started to get to me and at one point I asked some security guard a simple question and he was incredibly rude so I hissed at him calling him "rude" over and over until he finally walked away. (I had forgotten the word for asshole in Japanese so I couldn't use that) But then that's when I knew my tolerance for these weekend crowds is dangerously low. I should have gone straight home and stayed home. It's just that I feel guilty if I stay home when I could be out exploring something. I also had an incredible headache and had not had any time to eat lunch; plus, I didn't want to have to buy something to eat. . .so I got myself home immediately and ate an early dinner. I also took a nice long hot bath, Japanese style. I still get a bit bored sitting in the tub but it did feel pretty good.
I made the mistake of going into Shibuya; I wanted to go to the Tokyu Hands Store there, where Eugenie and Robert took Karen and I - I had to buy a three-prong adaptor for my coffee pot and also a water filter. The tap water here is terrible, you can smell the chemicals each time you turn on the tap but bottled water is too expensive at ¥288 for a 2 liter bottle. I also wanted to see what kind of little gifts I could bring back; there are all kinds of neat little things like cherry bark spoons for ocha, those special scarves for wrapping food, letter openers, etc. I think I will bring Mom and Laurie here too, they would love it.
But anyway as time went on the crowds really started to get to me and at one point I asked some security guard a simple question and he was incredibly rude so I hissed at him calling him "rude" over and over until he finally walked away. (I had forgotten the word for asshole in Japanese so I couldn't use that) But then that's when I knew my tolerance for these weekend crowds is dangerously low. I should have gone straight home and stayed home. It's just that I feel guilty if I stay home when I could be out exploring something. I also had an incredible headache and had not had any time to eat lunch; plus, I didn't want to have to buy something to eat. . .so I got myself home immediately and ate an early dinner. I also took a nice long hot bath, Japanese style. I still get a bit bored sitting in the tub but it did feel pretty good.
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