i think i'm moving again. got till tomorrow to make up my mind, but meanwhile, click here and have a peep. leave me a comment too, that will tickle me pink : >

edit: お待たせしました！i've decided to go ahead with it for now. the site was down for a little while but it's all right now. so hop on over and bookmark the new blog!

sometimes it's just better to look away.

平凡な毎日を楽しんでいる

i think it's time to lay those unrealistic expectations to rest. it's just too much hard work, and really bad for the nerves, for a matter of fact.

i'm unique, no doubt. just like anyone else. but i'm ordinary as well. just like anyone else.

i guess i'm nothing else but me. like it or not, plain ol' average me. no third limb, no seventh sense.

and i'm grateful for that.

やっぱり。。。

project 365 is now downgraded to project what-is-left-of 52. i think i stand a better chance at posting a photo a week than one everyday. :( here goes the first:

Amelie. illustrations by 100% orange.

and here's something else bicycle related that i stumbled upon. my pillow was a little wet after watching it, and no it wasn't drool. definitely worth watching:

it doesn't have to matter

quite a lot happened (a bulk of it in my mind though) and as usual, i'm terrible at expressing them in words. but i do believe it's time to put on a funny polka-dotted hat and remind myself of my new year's "resolution/theme" for this year :　気楽に。。。気楽に。。。

桜舞い散る

and finally, as promised, pictures of the pride and joy of japanese people. there are of course, many types of sakuras, but here in japan, the 染井吉野 (somei yoshino) is probably the most common. i call the someiyoshinos cotton candy sakuras.

i was taking close-up pictures of the blossoms in my school when sugawara sensei came over again and talked to me about the flowers. there was this young tree with flowers a slightly darker shade of pink and it was surrounded by a few sturdy someiyoshinos. it looked much frailer with its branches hanging down than its cotton candy counterparts.

sugawara sensei went on to tell me that that was the 枝垂れ桜 (shidare zakura), and how people usually prefer the someiyoshino, but not he, because...

and he was lost for words. the tiny tree was obviously overshadowed by its perkier cousins and not half as eye-catching. but i could understand why he felt so, even if he didn't know how to verbalize it. and i appreciate that there people in this world with a soft spot for the more delicate beauty in life.

but the following tuesday, i walked through the しだれ桜散歩道, 1 minute away from the school i visit some tuesdays in kitakata, and had my breath taken away. a tiny tree might not make that huge a statement, but put 1000 of them in a row and you get a whole new story. if the somei yoshino is beautiful in a poofy kind of way, then the shidarezakura is just quietly gorgeous.


and i say that because it was actually past the peak time for viewing the blossoms in kitakata. after a heavy downpour the sunday before and strong winds that continued to blow, i wasn't expecting such a turnout. though the petals had already started to fall and little green leaves were peeking out of the branches, the petal-strewn street simply added on to the charm. and there's nothing more romantic than being caught in a moment when sakura petals flutter around you.

and the last picture. did somebody just say dreamy? indeed. and it didn't even need the help of photoshop.

project not exactly 365

i know a part of me will probably regret deviating from the format that i decided on in the beginning of the year. things always seem to look better in a set. and people look for a certain consistency, a style by which to identify the photographer/artist with. of course i use the term photographer/artist loosely. because well, i take photos and i draw, but i won't exactly venture to call myself a photographer or an artist.


but i'm keeping at it, despite being distracted lately. during my month of absence here at the blog, i kept myself busy and picked up a few sports along the way. i've always labeled myself as the one with three left feet, but i'm actually pretty decent. decent enough to enjoy myself. it helps to be grown up enough to walk away from critical voices, of which the loudest is obviously mine.

i wonder what took me so long.

but all is well. yet another change? i think i can deal with that.

project 365

i'm moving my project 365 here and changing the usual square polodriod format to anything-thing-goes. i'm starting to think that as plain as this blog might be, it isn't so bad after all.


perhaps, all the blog needed was a new post.

simple does it

having allowed myself to go on for a month without updating, i am now entertaining the idea of abandoning this blog and starting afresh somewhere else. i've been poking around a trial squarespace blog and like the flexibility that is offered over there. a part of me thinks that having more control over the design would bring back the enthusiasm to blog, but another part of me figures it's all but wishful thinking. paying for a service has never really stopped me from not making use of it, so is it worth depriving myself of eight extra cans of coffee a month for a temporary blog botox? i'm still undecided at the moment but my computer is full of pretty pink pictures that shouldn't be kept waiting.


here's a picture i like, but there's more to come. the golden week is upon us in japan, and hopefully that translate into more time to post pictures. so, do check back soon!

illustration friday: subtract

the world according to susie

illustration friday: intricate

when i saw the topic, i wasn't sure if i knew how to approach it. i've been told that my style is 'simple' and 'intricate' to me, seems to be quite the opposite of 'simple'. but i gave it a go anyway and liked it enough to post it, even though it doesn't feel particularly intricate to me. but it's definitely something more detailed than what i'd usually draw. and a week of looking at bridal photos has found its way into my illustration. no, i'm not a bride-to-be, but a photographer-to-be and i'm am totally stoked to be going to australia in august for that purpose. 頑張ります!

illustration friday: celebrate

my scanner doesn't scan water colours well, but here's my take on 'celebrate', a quiet one though. my idea of celebration doesn't only take place once in a while on special occasions. it's a celebration of ordinary things, of everyday life.

disney sea

i'm not quite the theme park kind of girl, or that was what i thought. disney land was never on my to-go list in japan but when he suggested making a trip to disney sea on his 2連休, i found myself looking forward to it.






times like this i wish i had a point and shoot camera. a staff offered to take a photo of us when she saw us struggling to take an extended-arm type of picture with my bulky dslr. alas, i underestimated her experience of taking photographs for tourists and set the focus on the center. she obviously understood the rule of the third.



and this is where we volunteered to wait for about 40 minutes to scare ourselves silly. the infamous tower of terror. i'm particularly 苦手 at this kind of 'drop' rides and wouldn't do it on my own accord. but he would have dragged me there kicking and screaming and so i wised up and saved the kicking and screaming for later.

and there was this bear i saw hanging out of so many people's arms that day. the logical part of me knew how overpriced this bear is, and i could see what a good marketing tactic it was, to have so many people touting this little bear all around disney sea. but when he offered to buy the bear for me, i just grinned widely and didn't refuse. i couldn't refuse. the bear is lovable and there's something strangely warm about being able to hold a stuffed bear in your arms and roam around the place at the age of 30. just like there's nothing wrong with wearing your underpants on the outside on halloween day. but only on halloween day.

there are some things i would queue for. and there are some things i wouldn't queue for.



the little mermaid area was also quite nice. we saw two couples asking a random staff to take pictures for them while they posed in front of king triton and his friendly dolphins and we thought we would do it too. then a long queue started forming behind us, like the one with the arabian stitch above. gomen ne, random staff.



my favourite part of the day was the gondola ride at night. we were so tired of walking around by then and when we saw that there wasn't much of a queue, we quickly hopped on. i loved the smell of the water. i loved the sound of the ripples as the oars pushed through the water. i even loved how the very cheeky looking theme park staff pretended to be italian (while speaking in japanese), and when he belted a presumably italian tune for us as we passed through the canal, his unexpectedly rich voice echoed in my ears.

we were done with walking around by about 5, tired and cold, but stuck on so that we could see the 25th anniversary fireworks at 8:30. the weather was just right during the day but it got really windy at night. when we finally ran out of things to do and buy, we found a spot that was slightly sheltered from the wind and plopped ourselves down, a little uncertain where the fireworks would be displayed. but it seems that we got the best view after all :)

いい思い出になりました...

and 334 more to go

i really like how this project is turning out. it's great to be able to look at the photographs and sort of recall what had happened that day - a big feat for someone who sometimes can't even remember what she did the day before. there were of course blah days when the last thing i wanted to do was to take photos, but i think even the blah picture represents the blah day quite well. now i just have to make sure those days don't appear so often...

illustration friday: flawed

i'll take him

illustration friday: climbing

they climbed their summer vacation away

when i was colouring this illustration, i hopped over to COLOURlovers for inspiration. there are so many delicious colour palettes over there and some of the colour combinations just make me smile. it's funny though, how the title of the palette affects the way i see the colours and my illustration if i were to use it. i was looking for something with both warm and cool tones and creepy gnomes looked just lovely. but the title and the comment had me imagine how the tiny rabbits would whip out their knives and demand the boy hand his onigiri over.


a picture speaks a thousand words, but a title does have the power to suggest what thousand words it speaks.

手作り日記

1. my attempt at a tiny happy shoulder bag. all i need is the perfect button, and リラックマ seems to think that miffy's button would look just right on my bag.


2. my attempt at a variation of the 失敗なしハンバーグ. i've tried this recipe before and really liked it because it tasted great and i didn't have to worry about under cooking or burning the meat patty. the original recipe suggests cooking the meat by simmering it in red wine and then adding ketchup and worcester sauce (i used 中濃ソース and it was alright) to make the sauce. but i thought wine is kinda expensive so i decided to use pepsi instead (don't laugh, i tried boiling chicken in coke and then added the same ketchup and 中濃ソース to the mix and it was reaallly good). but! i had to forget the milk and so i replaced the milk and breadcrumb mixture with what i had in the fridge - tofu. so here is my accidental 豆腐ハンバーグ:

it was actually quite good. yum.

peach-coloured crayon

i get distracted easily. how easily? think dory. i started to see it as a problem when i realised i couldn't read beyond of few paragraphs (mmm, sentences?) of a book before putting it down and doing something random that popped up in my mind (ooh shiny!). i often find myself getting back to my dishes at least 5 times and would still not have finished washing them. and it occurred to me that this lack of concentration was probably my main weakness when i sat for my jlpt paper in 2007. while the rest of the paper wasn't so difficult for me, the first long passage in the reading section was a complete train wreck. my heart was palpatating and i was desperately wanting to control-tab.

that's why concentration appeared on my resolution list. and i'm glad to say my kitchen sink has never been emptier. not any shiner though, just emptier. i've also been making myself read for a longer period of time. say a few pages at a time. heh.

i borrowed chihiro iwasaki's ももいろのクレヨン from the library a couple of days ago and since it was a simple illustrated book, i could go through it pretty fast. chihiro iwasaki is a well-loved children's book illustrator and her water colours are soft, wistful and amazingly beautiful. i've always been very drawn to her works, but then again, with most popular artists, most people are. but reading the book - a compilation of her sketches, extracts from her diary and the letters she wrote - and a biography of her life in a magazine that i borrowed at the same time, gave me a little insight into her life. and now, her illustrations are more than just beautiful pictures to me. her words struck a chord with me and i now understand why the characters she drew often had the distant look on their faces.


i especially loved the illustration of a little black cat in the book and knew i couldn't imitate it even if i tried. so i photocopied and pasted it into my journal. it also reminded me of the photograph i wish i took few days ago - of a black cat on a street covered with freshly fallen snow.

the librarian told me there is a chihiro art musuem in tokyo. i suppose i will be making my way back to tokyo again. when spring comes.

i heart bokeh, or what whatever you may call it

despite all the haphazard taping, my slightly out of shaped handmade lens hood works like a dream! i got the idea from photojojo and if you want to try making it, be sure to check this out first. it might save you some tape and brain cells.

it started with some Words

we all know what happens to new year's resolutions, but still, i wanted something to guide me. so in place of specific resolutions, i came up with... resolutiony words:
balance in life
concentration
気楽に

i was also reminded by my principal in his opening speech on the first day of school:
to always be thankful.

these signposts that i'm putting up in my mind as reminders are working beautifully, so beautifully that i've been making bento lunches for the past 3 days. perhaps, someone sneaked into my apartment and sprinkled fairy dust on me the night i turned 30 (gasp! there i said it). that might explain the sudden zeal in making bentos.

i've never really been that afraid of turning 30, though i will admit that dating H made me mind it just a wee bit (blast his smooth skin!). in fact, i've always told my friends that i quite looked forward it. i had a feeling that things would fall into place in my 30s and the elusive peace that i've been desperately looking for won't be elusive anymore. maybe just coy.

now that i'm almost 2 weeks into this brand new phase of my life in a brand new year, i actually still feeling optimistic. and that, for me, is something.

birthday celebration part 2

the get together on my birthday was more of a last minute thing, but it truly is one of my more memorable birthdays, all thanks to the 2 crazy peeps i hung out with. first stop, we (well, mostly they. i was busy snapping away) made snowmen in front of the house of a friend who was away on vacation. the crazy american made those naughty ones.


then we went to a cafe for wine and cake, and then to an izakaya for more alcohol (the super nice owner treated us to a nice little bottle of champagne) and food, and then to a karaoke for some more booze and music. yes they are wacky but it's a bonus that they photograph well :p