My Proud Baby Brother in Tokyo

I'm proud of my baby brother. He was awarded one of Senden Kaigi Awards, the prestigious copy awards! He appears about 12 minutes from the beginning. Look at him!

Cultural Experiences in London

I don't think myself I'm a city girl, and I don't think I want to live in a big city. But one thing that I really miss is cultural life in a big city. Big cities provide you cultural experiences, arts. It is hard to feel arts in my little town. So, why shouldn't I take advantage of being in London!

The Picasso exhibition at Tate Britain is one thing.The collection is limited to his arts related to Britain, and therefore, it didn't necessarily wow me. But still interesting. For instance, you learn how Picasso arts affected British artists. And in the first place, Picasso arts are always attractive and powerful to me.

Oh, the interesting thing is Guernica. A copy of Guernica is displayed in the exhibition. The size is the same as the original, but the impression is totally different. When I saw the original in Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, oh my, I just froze. It impressed so much. But this copy, no. Hm, an amazing difference.   

Yakult In London

In Victoria Station, Yakult was being given away as a promotional campaign. MT explained me that Yakult is doing a different kind of promotion in the U.K. Yakult is considered a nerdy drink (not a drink for kids in Japan), and Yakult is using nerdy celebrities in TV commercials, taking advantage of this image. Hm, interesting.

Billy Elliot in London

Urgh, I slept during the show! I was awake only when the music was loud. Exhaustion from a long trip and jet lag are hitting me hard. Anyway, their dance was fantastic.

Cosmetic Surgery

FV was waiting for me in Heathrow. He looked different with short hair, that's what I thought on a first impression. Of course, this was not my first impression because I used to work with him and saw him almost every day. But I haven't seen him for a long, long time.

We chatted in a coffee shop in the airport. I told him that he looked different, and to my surprise, he said that he had a plastic surgery. Wow! He had his eye lids lifted and got botoxed in his forehead and around his eyes. No wonder I didn't see any wrinkle in his forehead.

FV is married to a Korean woman, and his wife's sister encouraged him to have a surgery. Actually, she paid for the surgery. FV had the surgery with her surgeon. FV said that because she is a regular of the surgeon, she gets discounts on surgeries. Wow! Anyhoo, FV is happy about the result, looking younger and feeling younger.  

Weird Sales People in SFO

Yay, I'm going to the U.K.! It is not cheap to go to the U.K., for me, a super poor adjunct instructor. But thanks to MT who is living in London and willing to have me at her place, I don't have to worry about hotel fees. In order to show my gratitude, I thought of giving her a bottle of vodka, MT's favorite alcohol.

While I was waiting for my flight to London in SFO, I went to a duty free store. I was looking at the shelf of vodka, wondering which one is good for MT. Then, a Chinese-looking sale person approached me, by saying, "Vancouver? Vancouver?" I didn't understand what she meant. I said, "Sorry?" The person asked me her question in a sentence, "Are you going to Vancouver?" My answer was, "No, I'm going to London." Then, this person left, smiling. Hm, the purpose of this sale person was obviously not to help me or sell stuff to me.

I decided to buy vodka distilled and bottled in Russia. The label looked scary, which attracted me a lot. I went to a cashier and placed the bottle with my boarding pass and passport on the counter. The cashier said, "Taipei? Taipei?" From my earlier experience, I thought this person was asking me where I'm going. I said, "I'm going to London," pointing at my boarding pass. But this person seemingly didn't understand me and changed destinations by saying, "Japan? Japan?" She apparently saw my passport, not my boarding pass. "I'm from Japan, but I'm going to London if you are asking me where I'm going." And she asked, "Are you going to Japan?" Hearing this question, I was like, "What the hell is this person?! I keep saying, 'I'm going to London!'" I probably made an angry face, fed up with this stupid conversation, if you call it conversation, with the cashier, and the cashier realized that I was irritated. She took my boarding pass and punched something into her register machine, apologizing, "I'm sorry. Your destination is London." Yes, I kept telling you so!

Spoiled Cat and Human Buttler

Funny, Tatsu san no longer bothers to go around to get to the cat door. He just waits until the door to the backyard opens for him, like this, which means I open the door for him. Hilarious.