the small thing

We have always overlooked the small thing. We overlooked the domestic workers who help us our house chores, we overlooked the cleaners who make sure our toilet and roads are clean, we overlooked the rubbish men who make sure our community hygiene are preserved. We prefer to look at the the big man… we aspire to follow their steps..

Well.. the bottom line is we forgot the small things. I learnt something new today. It is the small thing that make the difference. In fashion, details matter. Without the small things. it will just be an ordinary clothes. It is the stocking, the shoes, the color, the accessories, the belt and all the minor things.. that I never bother about are things that decide how good it looks..

Yeah.. I have to learn to see the small thing..

It is the same thing as in orchestra.. there are some small instruments that only sounds once or twice throughout the concert, but without which.. it won’t be a beautiful orchestra.. it will be just too bland..

great news…

Well.. just received a  call from mom… my sis is pregnant!

Thank God.. it has been awhile that they expect a child… so.. can only pray that everything goes well… a healthy baby..

Despite the good news… it is really time for me to contemplate and move on… I am not young.. I better know what I am doing..

asakusa and ueno

 Hehehe.. so today is another sightseeing day. Today is sunday and I missed the church service. The reason is because we (ms s, ms a and me)  planned to go Nikko today, but the plan was abruptly thwarted because of the long travelling time to the location and it would be a rush trip to go all the way there. Nikko is a beautiful place with many interesting places and thus, it takes more than 1, it would be best to spend around 2-3 days, but we practically had half a day inclusive of the 2.5 hour travelling time each. Therefore, it is not worth it.

So, we spent the day at Asakusa, since we were already at that station. We walked around the area. The area is still traditional and it has various places with authentic Japanese produced and foods. It is also famour for its tempura. There is a temple there, Senso-Ji. The temple is pretty recent, erected in 1950. The area, however, has a long and rich history. The area around the temple was crowded. I can see many tourists both domestics and various nationale. There are a lot of souvenir shops, fauthentic food stalls such as rice crackers, soya beans snacks, mochi, yakitori and many others outside the temple. We did try some of them and they were really nice. The sweetness is just nice, also the saltiness. We did however, found problem with lunch. The food places there are expensive . So, we need to make extra round just to find affordable meal.

We spend around 1/3 day at asakusa, oh ya.. regarding the temple. I think the temple is rather commercialised. Despite the free-entrance, inside the compound there are numerous charm booths cost 100 yen. So many people pay to look at their destiny. Well… I think our life is much more complicated then what is written on the charm paper. Anyway… people still prefer to simplify their lives. When we were there, there were also a prayers session going on, errr in the midst of influx of the crowd….

From there. we headed to Ueno. We only visited the department store day. Yeah.. another shopping session and fashion-consultation.

Hehehhe.. so we stopped at Muji. I think Muji is relatively affordable shops here. Again my friend (ms a) pointed out what I need to look for. She really trained me. Wah.. I really owed her… So, these are the things I need to look for: I need to wear skirts that is above knee lenght, I need a simple tops (the simpler, the better), the tops must stop at mid-rift (absolutely important *****). It is important to choose the right shoes and stocking. Do not forget to wear clothes of the same family and similar color. Match the stocking, with shoes and both skirt and tops. As for jacket, the jacket must have a slight curvature and it must stop at mid-rift. Never use a top with round neck or square ones. Do not wear sleeveless or short sleeve. As for the jeans, make sure it is straight cut. Empirial cut is the best for me. Actually another important accessories is the belt. I have never understood what a belt is for. But.. but.. it makes the difference. Also the high-heeled shooes. Never used a flat one! I need at least 2 colors shoes, black and brown.

Hmm so, I bought some clothes and when I wanted to pay, errrrrrrrrrr I realised that I didn’t bring enough money. Gosh… sigh.. yeah.. I am blur.. So, I need to borrow from my friend, just a small amount though, no worries.

Thereafter, we went to GAP. So, again she helped me looking for a jacket. Wah.. let me tell you, she is superb. She is someone who is too good for most things…. Wow.. the jacket fitted me nicely. It looked so good. I wonder whether it is the cut or it is just GAP! well.. she told me, it is not easy to find the fit jacket for me. I think she is right. All along, I have not been able to find the one that fits me nicely. Anyway, it is too pricey for me.. so it would be better to wait and looked around elsewhere. Again, I tried another jacket, something like winter jacket but not the buble one. Wow.. it looked really good. I love the jacket.. but well.. still out of my budget now..

 From there.. all of us are already tired, so we went back. yeah.. that is all for today..

shinjuku harajuku shibuya

Yay.. weekend again… Some friends are coming . I can speak my mother tounge again for the couple of days. They are 3 of them, 2 sis and another friend. yeah, it was great to be able to meet people that you have known for years. They were here for holiday. Well… glad to meet them, chitchat and shared whatever we know.

Hhaha.. we did share about what we know about Japan and how their work projects are handled. The difference between Japanese and US is the way they see human error. For Japanese, it is about precision. Everything must be correct to the last significant figures, to the last second. The bottom line is, they allow no mistake. No wonder, many of their products do not fail, yeah.. no room for error. A small matter is thoroughly check. It is believe that if you can’t keep the small matter right, how can you make sure that the big thing is OK? Hmmm… It is different from US. They work base on the majority wins, on the margin of errors. Thus, as long as it is 90% ok, then it is OK. They allow room for human error. This different value has significantly affect they way both countries live their life. Interesting.

Anyway, today or yesterday rather was spent on tokyo- errrr shopping.. what else… They have bigger money pouch then me and well.. I guess shopping was also their interest. I followed where they went. I am not into shopping, variety of goods give me a headache. I am too practical by nature and I will only buy the basic necessities and things I need, the rest I will not bother. Having said that, it doesn’t mean I don’t like good products or unaware of branded goods. I have critical eyes for good stuff, it is surprising considering I hardly shop or look around or there is this inherent truth that beauty is universal.

First, we went to shunjuku, one of the shopping area in Tokyo. Well.. the products are expensive, my friend said the most expesive is at aarrggh… I forgot already. Gosh… Anyway, it doesn’t really matter. Back to the topic. I am amazed by people who are interested in shopping. When I saw the clothes, my head was already spinning. So many types, colours and models. How to choose? ANyway, they are good. They just choose some of the things they like and try them on. Hmmm… We also visited this accessories shop. It was basically a corner with many accessories, earrings, necklace, err what else…

My friend told me what kind of accessories I need to wear, what color and the type. Due to my facial feature, I am best-suited for elongated earings, not the big round ones. Bright colours will be good for me due to my skin color. She also mentioned that it is a small thing that makes the different. Is it? She is right. It is always the small thing that makes the mark different. Is it 70% or 90%? I will no longer depend on the content. It is the detail. Based on the law 80-20, it takes 20% to achieved 80% of the job and it takes 80% effort to finish the last 20%. I agreed. I did that most of the time. I found it is relatively easy to achieve 70 or 80% and the effort is minimal. Very often, I do not want to spend the bulk of the time for excellence. Hmm.. why? Well.. that good years must be ended soon. I think it may be good for me to learn what details mean. I should not be satisfied with practicallity.. Should I? YES.

Ok, back to the shopping. Hehhe.. we continues our journey to harajuku and shibuya, another shopping spree, but a relatively cheaper price- hmm it is cheap by japanese standard. Well.. we can see the difference. The products are not as refined as the former place. Ah, we ate waffles there, I think it was really really nice waffle. The texture is just right. Japanese is good with dessert. The crepe here is also a thumbs up.

Along the journey, again another shopping lesson. So, my friend told me what kind of clothes suit me best. Well.. this friend is exceptional. Having been working in the advertisement, she is totally absorbed with colours, matching… she could see which one suits and which one doesn’t. So again, she told me to wear more skirts, which length is above the knee and to wear a shirt up to mid-rift level with the v-neck. I am not suitable with round or square neck and with 3/4 length skirt. Well.. really good points and I wrote them down as a reminder when I am buying clothes.  I remembered that I have been wanting to be fashionable, but I do not know how. So, I guess.. Japan is a good place to try, because everyone here wears interesting clothes.

My friends are really observant and see concepts. We visited paul smith store as well and my friend pointed out the difference in shopping experience. Hmmm.. hehhee… I know it is different. But.. but.. to some or people like me, it may not matter much. As long as the product is good and price is reasonable, it is ok.

So, I think that is all for today… really glad to be able to speak my mother tounge..

nihonjin and anime

When I was young, I used to read Japanese comic or some anime. Well, I am not exactly a fans or totally into them, but I read them as a matter of reading. Err, most friends read comic, why shouldn’t I.

Anyway, I used to think that Japanese are imaginative in the descriptions of the characters. The facial features, the uniform, the clothes and the stories. Hmm.. to my amazement, the students here do not look that much different. The people here are relatively handsome and pretty, the clothes are fashionable and the hair is colored. As for gilr students, the skirts that they wore are really really short. It is uniform. I started to wonder… does the anime represent the life or the life is just becoming the anime.. Which one first?