Anime 'Live' ending

Hi hi sisters ..... hope you have a good weekend so far. I had a pretty thrilling Yonsama weekend myself, kind of like a first endeavour in my life. Concurrently, there's also some very exciting news from the WS Anime camp (as you've read from bb and tomato) - our handsome prince and CJW are actually going to shoot the ending scene of the last episode 26! Wowowow, that leads me to all kinds of hypotheses and imagination ..... You all remember this last scene in the drama itself, ah? The image is so beautiful and romantic with the sunset background, you can't help but wish that they'd get married right away and make a happy family :

So, it's very logical for us to expect the ending scene of the Anime to finish the 'unfinished business'. You know what I mean, right? .........
Hehe anyway, I don't think we should expect anything less than what we witnessed in Tokyo Dome this past September. From the cheering of the fans, we all want JunSang and Yujin to have a 'Happily Ever After' ending :)Hehe, you think they will hug and kiss again? Can't wait and see :)Looking forward to this April 24!

Musically inclined

Hi hi sisters ...... time flies eh? It's already a month into 2010! Everything seems to be spinning on a fast wheel in Tokyo. Sometimes I feel like a small speck of dust being drawn into this powerful force and am so lost. I think at times like this; soft music, complemented with the warm smile of Yong Joon are best remedies for soothing tension :)

Yong Joon said before that he can't sing or dance, but it doesn't mean that he has no aptitude for music. From the classical collection that he chose and the instruments he played, he certainly looks musically-inclined to me! You think so too?

Remember he was so shy after playing just a few notes of Winter Sonata
Relaxing in the hotel room during his Beijing April Snow tour
Recognize this one, he's so lonely in Barefooted Youth
Hehe, Megane Ichiba - all in one price!

Need I introduce more, he even sang too - "natural story, the Face Shop!"
Oh, the very homey and heartwarming Lotte chocolate CF.
Ok ok, let's not push it. He is just pretending here, right?
Hehe, does this one even count that he is musical? At least all the women in that scene thought so, except Sujini :)
Hope you enjoy, have a good weekend!

Portrait I - Inspiration

Hope you are doing fine. I am doing some housecleaning again and noticed this old post from Quilt is missing in my blog, so please bear with me ......

(July 2007)
Hi my dear sisters ….. Sorry for making the 'Houdini' disappearing act lately, but no no no, please don’t strike my name off the BYJ family list. I haven’t defaulted nor evaporated from the face of the earth yet, so what have I been brewing lately?

When I first embarked on this BYJ journey, little did I expect life was going to take such a 180 degrees turn. Gone are the days of my religious inch-by-inch dusting and mopping session conducted daily in my humble dwelling, the endless chat with girlfriends over a Starbucks mocha Latte or the mindless loitering in those mega-bookstores flipping through tabloid magazines to find out the latest love interests of Paris Hilton! Instead, I am proud to pronounce that my everyday life now is filled with purpose and mission : like gluing in front of the computer struggling to create slideshows from our King’s droolingly gorgeous pictures, dashing to the local library to claim momentary ownership to those ‘heavy as boat anchor, forbidden-to-be-loaned-out’ reference books hoping to spark some ideas to write about him, and of course this newest passion of mine – drawing and painting His Royal Handsomeness!



We know so well that BYJ is a man of many virtues. We admire the strength, determination and integrity he showed through his work and conducts. Consciously or subconsciously, we can’t help but are influenced by him and his many talented fans whom has no shortage in articulate writers and gifted artists.

But what has possessed this ordinary country girl to even dream about drawing the perfect face of His Royal Handsomeness on paper? Sure, I have held a paintbrush before, like last year when I felt botanical and decided to paint my laundry room walls to ‘spring garden lavender’ (and still regretting it)! But for someone who has never drawn a perfect circle or straight line free-handed in her life, that sensation is really not too far off from plunging myself down Niagara Falls without attaching to a bungee cord!



As you can sympathize, my dear sisters, at this age, I have no time to waste drawing a bird first and then a fish next, I want to draw His Royal Handsomeness right now! So I plead with my art teacher wearing this pitiable puppy face that I wanted to learn ONLY portrait drawing. For the first few weeks, she just slipped me some drawings of eyes, noses, ears and mouths to copy. I’ll tell you, that repetitive practice has tamed my hands to be so steady, now even if I ride on a bumpy winding road at 180 miles/hour, I would have no problem putting on my ‘BYJ Deep Moist lip cream & gloss’ smudge-free! Before I went berserk copying more noses and ears, Miss Restless here has made an executive decision (behind my teacher‘s back) - so my dear sisters, this is my very first drawing of BYJ, no principles, no rules (yet) :






During this creative journey, I find that the most cherished moment was when I tried to capture his soul through his sensual eyes and luscious lips. It called for more than just the eyes and hands, but also one's heart and imagination to accomplish that. From the moment I put down my first stroke, I felt like he was holding my hands and walking this entire journey together with me.

I realize I am still at kindergarten level here, and there is an infinite world of art and knowledge beyond me. I remember Yong Joon always feels that he lacks talent in acting and is not born to be an entertainer. But with his quest for knowledge and determination; he learns, he perseveres and persistently seeks new challenges. This is the man who inspires me from the day I knew him; first on technology, then on writing, and now into this magnificent world of art. Yong Joon ssi, thank you for being my inspiration!

Make himself at home

Hi hi sisters ... hope you had a good weekend. Have you watched that clip during his "Journey into the Beauty of Korea"? You remember this part when he visited a traditional Korean country house? Our Yong Joon looked so relaxed and easy with this kind-looking obaasan as if she were his grandma?

Hey hey handsome boy, it's not polite to peek into someone's room :)


He really made himself at home here.
serious digging in :)
Umm.... so good! Obaasan was so happy to watch this cute boy enjoying her cooking :)

from BYJGallery by style, captured by yasai - thank you so much :)

Pindrop

Hi hi ..... Baeland is so quiet that you can almost hear the drop of a pin. Thanks to BYJGallery - arayo and tomato99 for sharing these pictures from BYJ mobile. I guess everyone is busy with her own life, gambarimasu!

Nezu Museum

Hi Hi sisters ...... Sorry for the long absence and thank you for your interest in chanoyu. To see the finest in tea aesthetics, you can visit Tokyo Nezu Museum. It was founded by the industrialist and president of Tobu Railway, Nezu Kaichiro Sr. (1860-1940), an avid chanoyu practitioner. In addition to its world famous ancient Chinese bronzes, calligraphy, paintings; Nezu Museum houses a fine collection of tea aesthetics like thirteenth century Chinese celadon flower vases, Japanese Ashiya type tea kettles and Seto tea caddies and incense containers, to Korean ido tea bowls.

Situated in the chic Aoyama district where you can find international fashion names here. The architecture and interior design of these stores are attractions themselves.

Look at the bubble building of Prada, the interior is all white, modern and curved, wonder how it feels like to work in there all day? hip and dizzy?

Then, the Cartier building at the corner. Hehe, I think you have to show your bank book before entering, that explains why I only have a picture from the outside

The adorable Dior Boutique. Imagine Audrey Hepburn peeking through the window admiring the beautiful dresses inside @@

Nezu Museum was re-opened in Oct 2009 after major re-design by world famous architect Kuma Kengo. He tried to create an experience of wa - Japanese harmony in relation to its exhibits. The visitors are separated from the bustling commercial world by this high wall of bamboo and the soothing sound of dripping water.
The museum offers the latest in technology yet the feel is country and warm.
The many Chinese stone sculptures
Extensive use of glass bringing the beautiful Japanese garden in.
Since this used to be the private residence of Nezu san, it has an expansive Japanese garden with ponds and tea houses, even a Tori gate!
An old teahouse hidden up in the hill.
A boathouse in the pond. The rain was pouring so hard that day. Hehe, we were both standing on this narrow slippery bridge, me holding the umbrella so hubby could take this shot. A real collaborative effort :)
The winding creek in fall color
Another old teahouse with a moss covered stone lantern.
It was very dark by now and the museum was about to close. We got lost in the dark since the garden is so big and hilly, and covered with thick foliage. By the time we returned to the museum building, we were shivering and soaking wet (my poor new black suede boots!) but were very happy that we visited here :)

Chanoyu Forum

Hi hi sisters .... ahhh, I finally have a chance to write about this - Tea Ceremony. Last November cloudnine took me to the annual Chanoyu Forum (茶の湯) organized by the Urasenke School (裏千家). Urasenke is one of the 3 direct descendents of Sen no Rikyu (千利休), the 16th century historical figure whose teachings defined the philosophy of Chanoyu today. The other 2 Head-Houses are Omotesanke (表千家) and Mushakojisenke (武者小路千家), together they are called the San-Senke (三千家). If you learn Chanoyu, the chance is you will be following one of these houses.

The Urasenke House and school is located in a quiet neighbourhood (sorry, I totally forgot where it is. Cloudnine?)

We were led to this huge tatami room. Since nobody was there, I just happily charged in to claim the first spot! Then cloudnine warned me that the student in the first spot is usually asked to perform certain tasks! Yikes, too late to back out!

Of course, there's the stove, otherwise they'll be serving ice tea :)

Every tea room has an alcove which is used for displaying 3 things - scroll, flower arrangement and incense. The scroll defines the theme of the chakai (茶会) and is different every time. Remember the Ichie Ichigo - once in a lifetime - motto of Yong Joon? The theme of this tea gathering is : It's still not too late to pursue what you want to do in life. I gasped that it is so appropriate in my current situation here in Japan! In this chakai, we were observers, not guests. Apparently, the hostess and guests both have different etiquettes they have to follow. So next time if you are lucky enough to be invited to a chakai, please don't just jump into the car and head over, better study the rules before you say 'Yes' :)
There are a few items a guest has to prepare for a chikai : linen cloth, kaishi paper, fan and more .... I'll tell you the proper terms and details when I attend my course next week, ok?

See how small these fans are (next to my handkerchief)? Cloudnine is so nice and gave me hers. The one on the right, isn't it precious?

Guests are usually dressed in kimono for specific reasons. Even the way they enter the room and move around have rules. See, this guest was kneeling and sliding her way across the room, not walking! (haha, I know what you are thinking, "she looks more like being punished than coming to enjoy her tea time" :)

She slid all the way to the tea prep area. No no, it's not self-serve tea. She was admiring the tea-ware @@

Then, the hostess came out and started boiling water and making tea.You see, that was very little interaction between the hostess and the guests, even the topics are carefully chosen.

I think guests are supposed to observe and appreciate the ritual instead of chatting their hearts out, so different from a western teatime with girlfriends :)

The hostess offered the guests some wagashi (Japanese sweets) The guests can also take time now to admire the tea-ware, usually antique or of artistic value Returned the tea bowl (with front facing out) to the hostess and arigato gozaimasu. A closer look at the wagashi, it's yummy with azuki (red beans) inside.
and matcha (green powdered tea). Told you it's not ice tea!
We had group discussion afterwards. Hehe, I was not in the pic, but my future sensei was :)

I remember one of the participants shared his experience about Chanoyu that got me interested : it brings him inner peace and calm where he can leave all the problems of life behind the paper-screened door and enters into a world of harmony and purity. I am looking forward to my Chanoyu lessons already :)