Portugal

do you want to see the world?

Travelling

Kublai Kan - Caminhas sempre de cabeça virada para trás? - ou - O que vês está sempre nas tuas costas?

Tudo para que Marco Polo pudesse explicar ou imaginar que explicava ou imaginarem que explicava ou conseguir finalmente explicar a si próprio que aquilo que ele procurava era sempre algo que estava diante de si, e mesmo que se tratasse do passado era um passado que mudava à medida que ele avançava na sua viagem, porque o passado do viajante muda de acordo com o itinerário realizado.(...)

Chegando a qualquer nova cidade, o viajante reencontra o seu passado que já não sabia que tinha: a estranheza do que já não somos ou já não possuímos espera-nos ao caminho nos lugares estranhos e não possuídos.(...) Os futuros não realizados são apenas ramos do passado: ramos secos.

- Viajas para reviver o teu passado? - era agora a pergunta do Kan, que também podia ser formulada assim: viajas para achar o teu futuro? E a resposta de Marco - o algures é um espelho em negativo. O viajante reconhece o pouco que é seu, descobrindo o muito que não teve nem terá.

Kyoto 京都市

Religion is not in prayer, but in an underlying way of life.

God is not confined in a name, or in a certain way of thought, but in light.

Enlight.

Welcome to Japan.

With mind and arms wide open, alll good hearts are welcome, regardless of their beliefs.

Moving on Up,

...climbing on down. The world is a set of perfectly paired opposites, claimed Parmenides. Each one carefully fitting into self-contained preconceptions of right and wrong. good and bad. Others called it Yin and Yang. Black and White. Good and Evil. But then came those who asked if weight could be weightless and lightness unbearable. Came those who looked at all the shades of grey and the world sprawling within them. Still, in Japan, most of those haven't came around. Conditioned. tagged. pre-defined. Logical. Accepting. Abiding. And Kundera by my side still pondering on this unbearable lightness of being that here, most don't seem to understand. Because they haven't even reached the point of even posing the question. Silent acceptance. On the way to work. On the way from work. In their homes. Outside themselves. Japan is this silent sea of ever-moving unquestionability.

Waking up (in different places)

Lo svegliarsi di una città, che avvenga con la nebbia o altrimenti, per me è sempre più commovente dello spuntare del giorno in campagna. Ci sono molte più cose che tornano alla vita, ci sono molte più cose da aspettarsi quando il sole, invece di limitarsi a indorare (prima di luce oscura, poi di luce umida, infine di oro luminoso) i prati, le sporgenze degli arbusti, le palme delle mani delle foglie, moltiplica i suoi possibili effetti sulle finestre, sui muri, sui tetti [...]. Un'aurora in campagna mi fa star bene; un'aurora in città mi fa star bene e male, e perciò mi fa star meglio. Sì, perché la maggiore speranza che mi arreca possiede, come tutte le speranze, il sapore lontano e nostalgico di non essere realtà. Un mattino in campagna...

Bernardo Soares "Il Libro dell'Inquietudine"

Aishiteru 愛する

He encontrado el lugar justo donde se ponen las manos,
a la vez mayor y menor que ellas mismas.

He encontrado el lugar
donde las manos son todo lo que son
y también algo más.

Pero allí no he encontrado
algo que estaba seguro de encontrar:
otras manos esperando las mías.

Roberto Juarroz

(love in Japan is a set of rules. from white day to darker days, love is still just an english dictionary definition stated and publicized by large corporate companies. love is dangerously close to mandatory "i love you" box of excquisite chocolates and daydreamy foreing inspired cards. and obligation dawningly close to the necessity of women transpiring naif virginity. but breathing ignorance, submission and sex. And all that is left for the 30 year old ex-Lolitas is a cold bottle of water to grasp sharingly.)

Unasked for (piece of advice)

wisdom is self-reflective evitcelfer-fles

Tsukiji #05

"Return is the reconciliation with life's finitude"

Milan Kundera

Japanese mind frame (chinese wisdom)

"Some things, though right, were considered wrong
for generations. Since the value of righteousness
may be recognized after centuries,
there is no need to crave an immediate appreciation."

Koan de Zengetsu, dinastia T'ang.

Tsukiji #04

Tsukiji #03

Tsukiji #02

Tsukiji

Happy Easter

Wine Winning Wining Whyning

There's more to the countries wine sector than Madeira, Mateus and Port.

I'm not the one saying it, he is.

On the Agenda for the weekend

" Welcome home, Man of the house.

Would you like your maid to serve you some tea?

And some therapeutic care?

Please unwind and make yourself at home "

Note to Customers:

PINK : The Maids dressed in PINK offer a higher level of service, such as therapeutic care. They’ll help alleviate all the stresses of the day.

BLACK : The Maids dressed in BLACK AND WHITE specialize in cafe service.

If you require any assistance, please ask

Kaizen #04

For the next couple of days, you can find me (on display) over here

Lost in Translation

...when you come to Tokyo, you can't escape some common place clichets.

Like visiting the New York Bar at the Park Hyatt's 52th floor.

Or sometimes feeling like this:

meme

meme

A contagious information pattern that replicates by parasitically infecting human minds and altering their behavior, causing them to propagate the pattern.

An idea or information pattern is not a meme until it causes someone to replicate it, to repeat it to someone else.

All transmitted knowledge is memetic

(welcome to everyday life in Japan)

stolen from him

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