- whales are whales, but dolphins are whales too -

Journalism is interesting.

Architecture is interesting too.

but it takes some skills to harmonize them with each other. what i'm trying to say is... architecture classes, especially the drawing and planning ones, take time and effort. journalism too, takes time and effort, when it comes to researching and compiling the research materials. well i'm sure i'm not the only one having trouble coping with schedules and deadlines (i'm lazy. and i know some of you out there are watching dramas while munching potato chips)...

right, about journalism.. some "fun" stuff we did or are/will be doing during class:

1. watched the movie Yasukuni
part of it. i heard that it's actually been showed in certain cinemas. this is where you see racial/cultural (national?) disputes. depressing, indeed. i know we have lots of these back home too, but i've never seen one with my own eyes (and i hope i won't be involved in any). Japanese criticising Japanese. Japanese condemning Americans. Taiwanese denouncing Japanese.. we live in this world, seemingly friendly towards each other, sometimes hostile, but deep within we hold dark feelings towards certain individuals/organisations. and we let these feelings out only during specific occasions such as this, when we have enough power and "back-up" to knock these people down. after all, we are being ruled by conformity.

... maybe that's why i don't like "group work". ijime is a kind of group work too (so i don't blame Koda Kumi for what she said). so is gangbang associated to group work.

2. wrote an essay (?) about Japanese whaling
yeah, another heavy topic. but we had the opportunity to visit 2 organisations - we interviewed an officer from the Japan Fisheries Agency (the pro-whaling side) and a representative from Greenpeace Japan (the anti-whaling side). i don't feel like repeating what i've written on the report so i'll stop here...

2008/6/22 update: by the way some of the Greenpeace activists were arrested just a few days ago, ahahahaha.. ahem.

3. we're gonna interview the anti-war activists too.

4. (this is actually a reminder for myself) researching on suicide websites for my final report. if anyone has ever visited one, do share your thoughts with me =p

now if you'd excuse me, i have plot plans to complete..

*****

*ijime - bullying

- thai festival -

since i'm having a week off (from drawing plot plans, i mean, i still have classes), i decided to go to the annual Thai Festival with Siti. it was held at Yoyogi-koen, somewhere between Shibuya and Harajuku. unfortunately it was drizzling, so the park was filled with vibrant coloured stalls AND umbrellas.

^ the entrance... ^

^ more umbrellas!! ^

^ mmm... ^

^ MMM...... ^

^ we had chicken rice and more gai (chicken), under my um-be-re-la ^

^ lovely ladies trying to hook me (yeah right) ^

^ i offered them Siti instead ^

Pear and Koi (and the other Thai students) were doing a photo booth where customers could take photos with traditional Thai costumes. we were really very tempted to "catch the bait" but... it was 2,500 yen per photo (or per person?). the guys offered a special price of 1,500, but it was still too expensive for us poor kokuhi *lols*. "if you wear our traditional costumes, you will look very pretty!" such sweet words.

"thank you but i'm already very pretty."

good lord, Siti, how could you say that?!

for a second i thought we dug our own grave(s) but it seemed that the Thai people were willing to let us go. so.... too bad!

lastly we went to the groceries. bought 2 packets of Thai curry (yellow and green) - till now, the "Yamamori Thai Curry~" song is still stuck in my head..... oh, we bought frozen mangoes and rambutans as well. wanted to buy durians too but, yup, it's almost the same price as taking a photo with Thai costumes. ;)

- some Mashiko pictures -

^ ... isn't this plagiarism? ^

^ ... koi-nobori? ^

^ porcelain-making classroom ^

^ food stalls.. we had corns and kushiyaki ^

^ handmade swing for kids to play with ^

^ steamed buns!!!!! sold out by the time we reached the stall... ^

^ fukurou (literally "no hardships/troubles") - the God of Knowledge ^

^ porcelain castle at the display panel ^

^ aizome - making blue/indigo dye for cloths ^

^ meow~ ^

^ an art by the roadside entitled "The Embryo" ^

^ loads of signboards ^

^ lol.. "Cold DOG WATER. Humans can drink too. Please help yourself." ^

^ lookie the plate, it's the iroha song! ^

^ ... hmm? ^

^ so cute ^

^ Mt. Tsukuba on our way back - a beautiful thick white "coat" formed by the clouds ^

- my rice cooker is molding from the inside omfg -

my new discoveries:
1. Weekly Jump is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
2. Prince of Tennis has ended. (otsukarei~ *grin*)
3. McD's tray paper has actually printings on both sides now! *gasp* i used to doodle on the blank side when i was little...
4. i cleaned the fridge in the common kitchen yesterday and found a molding cocoa drink and a few (some 20 bottles) of oils and sauces which expiry dates were 2005 or 2006. the ones which expired in 2007 were collected by the neighbours, claiming that they're still usable. oh well, yeah i guess you won't die of that. and the eggs were relatively newer, they were labeled 6th February. *grin*

yeah i know some of you think that's dumb and outdated.

*****

finally i'm able to surf the internet for long hours again! ok i see the point that staring at the computer screen is detrimental to your health, so on and so forth.. but the world wide web is where i obtain my little short-lived happiness. how could i survive without a laptop?! <--- yeah if i hadn't bought a laptop i would've become (remained as? *psh*) an ideal studious (nerdy) student who aces in all tests and reports and doesn't have a life other than reading reference books. which i'm quite sure will never happen.

anyway.. to those who have been wondering where i've been or why haven't i been updating my blog..

I'VE BEEN DRAWING.

not drawing as in drawing manga or anime characters. not sketching. i'd love to do these things, if i had plenty of time to spend.

life turned hectic after 2 weeks into the new term (will remain hectic for the rest of my university life, probably). for technical drawing classes, we're told to "trace" (not literally trace, but kinda like "copy and paste" onto another piece of A1 cardboard with a pencil) building plots, a cross section, and a detailed drawing of the Cunningham House located at Omotesando. we were given 3 weeks to complete the work, and i made the greatest (maybe) mistake in my life to only start sharpening my pencil in the 2nd week.

7 drawings - 6 small ones and a big one - 1 day each for the small ones and the rest for the big one, should be enough.

BUT NOOO.

never underestimate wooden houses and their simple structures.

before we began the assignment, we visited the actual building and took pictures of it. inside and outside. thought they'd help along the way. but the ones that i took, turned out to be unimportant. *gah*

in the end i rushed throughout the remaining 2 weeks, every night trying to motivate myself to complete the drawings. "trying". spent 2 nights in the architecture department before Golden Week, without any sleep (thank goodness i'm well-trained because of ragnarok and karaoke, hehehehe...). visited my family during Golden Week even though i knew i shouldn't have done it, and we had a one-day outing at Mashiko for the Japanese pottery festival. the rest of the nights in Tsukuba, drawing. the last night before handing up the assignment, i stayed awake overnight.

^ blueprint of the Cunningham House ^

^ my fantabulous unfinished work ^

(weird... why did blogger tilt my pictures 90 degrees clockwise?)

wrote my name on the cardboards 10 minutes before the submitting session was closed.

and i was far from completing the drawings.

i knew this was going to happen. maybe a part of me deep inside my heart, i was purposely "hoping" to screw up my assignment and panic over it. damn, i AM automasochistic...

at least i didn't miss the fun. i was right to go to Tsukuba even though i was out of time (<--- self comfort). family over deadline, yo. and even though i always ignore messages, i'm now dealing with this bad habit of mine. maybe i shouldn't speak of it anymore, otherwise i might start ignoring people again.. >.>