Friday at work

was like this

(and suddenly everything feels better - maybe that's why the japanese never miss out on ohanami)

Decisions on the making (Do Not Disturb)

Procrastination

procrastinatus pro- (forward)
crastinus (of tomorrow)

.deferment or avoidance of an action or task often linked to perfectionism. For the person procrastinating this may result in stress, a sense of guilt, the loss of productivity, the creation of crisis, and the chagrin of others for not fulfilling one's responsibilities or commitments. While it is normal for individuals to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning.



types of procrastionators: tense/afraid; relaxed

It's that time of year again

ohanami 花見
(cherry blossom flower viewing)

photo by Yuki

Tokyote Lifestyle

Tokyo has the most impressive, massive, glamorous, appealingly sexy, money making/spending, time/life consuming concept spaces you can find anywhere in the world.

Malls, gallerys or mere department stores such as Harrods look overdated when compared to the new all-in-one life style small cities concept spaces such as Roppongi Hills or Izumi Gardes.

In this real-estate multi-million complexes you can do and find anything - luxury apartments to rent, gyms, a vast array of shops, state of the art work offices, gardens, museums... you name it, it's there! It is as if you breeze along your everyday and also "every other" day needs without actually leaving one of these several thousands square meters complexes.


And after the smaller but none the less charming and tempting fashion statement like Omotesando Hills or the undisputed shiny Roppongi Hills, the same area of Roppongi now has yet another one of these real estate moguls which once again aims at turning Tokyo into the center of intellectual creativity for business and culture in Japan, Asia and the world*: "Tokyo Midtown".


...And it's exactly do this never ending capacity of renewing itself, also based on the competitive spirit that pushes forward the 23 differente autonomous administrative areas that Tokyo comprises that Tokyo IS the center of intellectual creativity for business and culture in Japan, and I daresay Asia.

*Hiromitsu Iwasa, head of Mitsui Real Estate, which developed Tokyo Midtown

Change of pace

Starting monday "eigo ga wakarimasu ka?" comes one step further torwards no longer being a part of my vocabulary. With a little help from them.

Changes are around the corner.

We are all animals

Alphabet

...of all things random that compose the words which are made of music and dream pictures inside our everyday lifes.

.::Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind::.

Roadtrip

Patagonia is the portion of South America mostly in Argentina and partly of Chile made up of the Andes mountains to the west and south and plateaus and low plains to the east.

To the east of the Andes, it lies south of the Neuquén River and Colorado rivers, and, to the west of the Andes, south of (39°S), excluding the Chiloé Archipelago.^[1] East of the Andes the Argentine portion of Patagonia includes the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego, as well as the southern tips of the provinces of Buenos Aires, Mendoza and La Pampa. The Chilean portion embraces the southern part of the region of Los Lagos, and the regions of Aysen and Magallanes. It excludes those portions of Antarctica claimed by both countries.

Patagonia is where we'll be in November.

Wannabe tourist #02

.::109::.

is a mandatory stop for teenage girl shoppers as well as Tokyotes fashionistas, and therefore, for western guy tourists all the same. Located in Shibuya, it oversees the famous crossroad where millions of ever in a hurry people cross everyday as well as one of our "meetup" points, a coffee called Cheesecake - heaven and home for all things cheeselike.

Portugalopedia #02

Salazar was elected "the greatest Portuguese"

...maybe that's why we are so utterly alone, placed in the farthest end of Europe's ever longer tail.

HomeWear #02

HomeWear

Life(Style)

...is like Nike's slogan.

(either you do it or you don't)


And that's all there's to it.

(photo: my home's garbage bins)

Same wave lenght

as her.

words (andorinha inspiration feed)

words
work

wore
down
words.

"E nós, embasbacados, perante quem mais queríamos que as ouvisse, vazios de signo e sinal…"


Paper obsolete.


(I bought postcards today. But it's been so hard to write them. Filling in the blanks.)

Wannabe tourist #01

.::Shibuya::.

Visitor #02

...arrived last wednesday for a quick visit, and has just left. Since we had a holiday and I'd been working the previous weekend the last few days were- finally and exclusively - dedicated to getting to know the above ground Tokyo (yes, there is life sprawling besides the massive subway lines...). And all we have to say is that:

photo by Yuki

Ganguro, Yamanba and Center Guys

If you're strolling down Shibuya or Ikebukuro, especially if it a Thursday night, you probably have notice flashy meets shabby/africa meets the disco era japanese assortment of girls and guys.

They're called Ganguro ガングロ (literally meaning "black-face"), and the most extreme expression of this trend is known as Yamanba ヤマンバ who have even darker tans and go to the extent of using white marker pens on their faces. Their male counterparts are known as Center guys センター街, Sentaagai.

To do list

Buy #01 [canon powershot g7]
Buy#02 [this, that or dit?]

Kaizen #03

Hoteres + Foodex + Portuguese Companies mission to Japan + New house settling + work work work etc etc + no internet at the new home = lack of time for new posts


(I should get Internet by Monday though so I'll be back soon. Hopefully next week will be quieter in terms of work, and busier when it comes to social gatherings, since I have visitors number 2 and 3 coming over already!)

Moving out, moving on #04

And finally, this morning we moved our bags from the Hotel to our litlle cozy japanese style HOME!

(pictures soon, promise!)

Galo de Barcelos (Barcelo's Rooster)

GALO. ROOSTER

. author's dolls in a numbered collection, inspired in the traditional Portuguese character of the Galo de Barcelos and in its legend, these roosters are one of a kind and have different personalities.

They are handmade by Marisa Maia with traditional portuguese fabrics and cotton ones, in a mixture of tradition and break of the rules.

Moving out, moving on #03

the next few days it will be like this

Moving out, moving on #02

Home = 泉岳寺

Due to a rather untrustworthy landlord that wouldn't want to commit on move in due date and other episodes we decided that it was probably best to keep the other house (contestant #01 Sengakuji/Takanawa/Minato-ku)

Located right next door to one of Tokyo's most celebrated Temples my soon-to-be-home oversees a nice little garden and has a warm, sunny typical japanese feel to it.

And almost as soon as I move in, I'll get to watch one of the reenactments of the tale of 47 Ronin - the samurai that committed seppuku after avenging their master, and that now rest in Sengakuji, next to Lord Asano and Kira - one of best know and most appreciated in Japanese history.

photo credits: Stéfan

Moving out, moving on!

changing places
(part I starts tomorrow, part II probably by Thursday)

Strolling down Shibuya #02

photo credits: Yuki

Strolling down Shibuya #01

photo credits: Yuki and Antonio

On the Agenda for the day #02

...was Shibuya after work.

Another visit to Hachiko - the faithfull dog that kept waiting for his deceased owner in front of the exit 8 of Shibuya station (thus named after him) long after he was gone - and a first visit to one of the main theme restaurant/bars that populate Tokyo nowadays, with a stop over at Christon Cafe. It has a catholic cathedral sort of déco and ambiance but once you get past the reminiscences of a probably christian background which included a few trips to the local church - enough to teach you it's no place to drink or dine at least - it has a rather nice atmosphere and the menu's not bad at all. I intend on going back.

(and once again we almost ended up accidentally roaming into kinky stores)

*photo credits: elothek

Tomorrow morning I'm off to Asakusa to take a peek at old Tokyo's district.

On the Agenda for the day

Akihabara
(electric town)

秋葉原

10/2= 5 sq meters*

Yesterday arrived my first visitor: youkoso! (welcome)

(*and this goes to prove that whenever there's a will, there's really a way!)

Nikko #03

Nikko #02

Nikko #01

Kaizen #02

Gov't study international food issues

"Friday, March 2, 2007 at 16:16 EST

TOKYO — The agriculture ministry said Friday it will set up a panel to study issues related to international food production to secure stable food supplies for the country in the future.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is set to hold its first meeting of the internal panel on Monday to study issues such as projections of the global supply and demand balance for food, with four experts participating. The ministry plans to continue the survey for about a year. The panel's establishment comes at a time when the circumstances surrounding food procurement are changing. One example is a sharp rise in the price of corn and other farm crops on the back of surging demand for bio-ethanol, which has drawn attention as an alternative fuel to gasoline."


Now that is what I call "sustainability" and "planning ahead". This should serve as an example to other countries (such as mine) where the advantages of actually planning something and sticking to the plan, are widely overlooked.

Portuguese Fashion Week

...starts today

iroha dokun*

"Those who sleep late and don't work hard will be poor"

"New wisdom can be found in old things"

*Iroha dokun refers to Japanese "ways of living" written in Iroha order, which means that the first letter of each "way of living" begins using a character that corresponds to the same order that is used in hiragana. The second "way of living" will begin using a character corresponding to the second character of the hiragana set. The number of hiragana and the number of "ways of living" are thus the same.