Shiseido Forever...

We are just back from our Christmas holidays in Ballina. Actually, we came back on Tuesday the 27th. Unfortunately, I got (another) cold there and was quite bad since then. I did not come to the office this week, i.e., from Wednesday until today and stayed in bed most of this time. I have been having lots of colds lately, and this time it was quite bad. The worse for me is the cough. Besides that I managed to burn my tummy once again while preparing for the injections! It looks horrible and I need to change the dressing every so often. It doesn't seem to be healing very well this time and, if it's still bad next week, I will probably need to go to Dr. Kavanagh again.

Christmas, apart from the cold, was fine, and relaxing. I had the chance of starting my new Murakami book, "Wind-up Bird Chronicles" and, once again, it's a book that I cannot put down. What I love about him (Murakami and, of course, his translator) is the way he describes things so well. You can easily picture locations, characters, smells, everything. Sometimes when you are reading other books it is not so easy, but with his work it just flows and everything is pictured so vividly and perfectly. He doesn't cease to amaze me in this regard. I love this book now because it is funny, poetic and very surreal.

Mark gave me some wonderful gifts, as always. He is just great to get the right things for me! I got a fantastic Canon scanner that virtually does everything: scans negatives, can be used as a copier, is super-fast and comes with a great little software package. The model, in case you are interested is CanoScan Lide 500F. Perfect! I don't know how I survived for all these without a scanner, really...

And he also gave me the new Shiseido perfume, available in Japan only. Rose Rouge. It is pure parfum and comes in a very exquisite box and a lovely iridescent red bottle (32ml to be precise). Mark also got from the sales person a beautiful enameled purse atomiser, black metal with tiny roses, same design as the box. It came with a pipette to make decanting easier. The bottle as you may have guessed is not a spray one - which I prefer when it comes to pure parfum anyway.

The perfume itself is a joy: it's got great staying power and the main note (or should I say "theme") is the red Bulgarian rose. It is sparkly and comfortable, starting up with that lovely rose note and some other fruity accords, like blackberries and raspberries as far as I can tell. Then it settles into a subtly powdery heart of Moroccan rose, heliotropin and irises. In the end, I am left with the evanescent, faint aroma of a million roses, laying on a persistent base of velvety musk and sandalwood. It reminds me of the delectable Bulgarian rose jams, that I used to buy in Rio some years ago (and cannot find anymore). It had a lovely, very deep rose colour and you could see the transparent tiny petals of delicate roses floating on it. The Fauchon jam is quite good, but doesn't compare to that Bulgarian delicacy! Pity I cannot remember the brand now. Here is a picture of my Rose Rouge:

Christmas Time...

This is how Christmas in Rio looks like. The huge laser Christmas tree floating in the Lagoon, changing lights and patterns at every minute. I love it, and miss it so much!
We are heading to Ballina today, where we'll stay until Tuesday. Then back to Dun Laoghaire. I have lots of things to blog about, but not much time right now. So, I wish you a super lovely Christmas, full of light just like the tree on the Lagoon! And see you next week!
XXXX,
a.

Mark is back from Japan!

Last night Mark arrived from Japan! He was looking great, wearing his suit with a casual blue t-shirt. He was hoping to look like a young Yakuza fella, he said, but I'm afraid not... And he wasn't missing a little finger anyways.

He didn't seem too tired either, because he was up watching a gore Clive Barker film until past midnight.

He brought me lots of things. Lots of Minamoto Kitchoan sweets (my all-time favourites), a Kitty stash that he managed to get at Narita Airport and some wonderful perfumes, that can only be found in Asia, unfortunately.

Here's my boxes of sweets:


I could not resist to show the original package. The boxes come wrapped in that gorgeous green paper, tied with natural fiber cords instead of ribbons. The way the paper is folded is almost like origami. I couldn't possible work in that shop, since I am a disaster when it comes to gift-wrapping! Now the box itself (after unwrapped) is the one at the top. Sturdy carboard, and again, enveloped in white paper displaying a Japanese print and more fiber cords...

Now, these are the sweets...


The ones at the left are tsuya, adzuki bean paste inside mikasa yaki (pound cake)...
These at the right side, are a wonderful selection of their delicacies: a box containing a big yokan (solid bean jelly), 3 soft bean jellies with a chestnut inside, 3 soft white bean jellies with yuzu and green tea flavour and 4 fukuwatashi-senbei - crispy waffles stuffed with milky cream...

He also bought me some Pocky! These are very addictive... Mousse and White Chocolate:


And my Hello Kitty stuff...



As for the perfumes, they are simply gorgeous. But I will write about it in a separate post.

Today's CD: Composer Meets Director...

I got a new CD yesterday: Joe Hisaishi Meets Kitano Films. It is a selection of great music composed by Joe Hisaishi for some of the most memorable Takeshi Kitano's films.

It is a must-have for Kitano's fans, truly capturing the mood and atmosphere of those films. This is my very first Hisaishi's CD, whose work I really love: his soundtracks for Hayao Miyazaki's films are equally magnificent, real gems, and that's how I actually got acquainted to his work. Then, watching Kitano's films I thought: "Who is this composer, this music is so gorgeous..." And I saw it was Joe Hisaishi again. Not surprised though, he is just brilliant.

The music is perfect. If you see these films, you may feel how beautifully it flows through the story, and the sceneries, acting, everything. It can be jazzy in parts, traditional in others, sentimental, and violent when required. Just perfectly synchronised with the plot - be it a Kitano or a Miyazaki production.

Piano, Japanese drums, synthesizers and haunting vocals are sure to please not only die-hard Kitano's fans, but even people who are not familiar with his films. The tracks on this CD come from several films such as Hana-Bi (definitely one of my favourites, including the mesmerizing track "Thanks For Everything" ), Kikujiro, Sonatine, Brother and A Scene at the Sea.

Follows the CD cover... In case you are interested, it can be purchased at Amazon:

Portugal Pics Uploaded (Finally)

Hello:

We have organised the pictures we took in Portugal last September, in case you wish to take a look. Unfortunately we did not write any captions for them, but there are some nice pictures. All the people appearing in the pics, in case you wonder, are my relatives, brother and sisters, nephews, grand-nephews, in-laws and so on. The dogs and cat are Honey the Yorkshire , Rita the Whippet, Xaninho the Cat, Boy the Labrador, and one dog that I had the pleasure to make acquaintance in Sintra. Don't know his name though, but he was a very polite dog that much liked soft cheese, but no toasts!
:)

Here's the link:
http://www.irlbrl.com/images/2005-09_Lisbon/

Enjoy!

Latest News

I should have blogged as soon as I arrived from Lisbon, but things have been quite hectic since then.

We departed on the September 13th and came back on the 27th. It was wonderful, we took lots of pictures and I finally met my sisters, brother and nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, in-laws etc... And even the "latest addition" to the family, a super-cute great-grand-nephew! Yes, amazing! It was cool... We stayed with Betinha, my sister and godmother, and were out with her and Jana, her daughter (and my niece, of course). Betinha has 2 lovely pets: Honey (or "Hunny"), the little yorkshire terrier, and Xaninho, a lovely gray cat with big yellow eyes and a chronic allergy - which makes him sneeze quite a lot! I fell in love with Xaninho! Aw, so cute...

I will tell more in the next few days and hopefully organise the photos. We came back as I said on the 27th. However... The day after my arrival to Lisbon I woke up with a very, very bad cold. To shorten the story a bit, I still have this cold - which has actually been upgraded to a chest infection, naturally accompanied by all those nasty symptoms: sore throat, fevers, awful coughs, headaches, runny nose etc etc... You name it. Meaning I was at home for almost 3 weeks, unable to go to the office (or anywhere else, needless to say).

I gave some of this lovely cold of mine to my Mother and Mark, of course, but they are more resistant, gladly. In my case, everything gets worse due to my MS, which sort of "amplifies" all symptoms, it seems. But that's boring. I mean, I don't want to talk about it, since I already need to live with it. Somedays I do want to talk, some other days, I just want to forget. And today, I want to forget!

During this time, what I mostly did was reading: manga and serious books, as well as watching great DVD's. But that's stuff for another post, since now I am way too tired!
Good Night!

Digressing...

Long time no blogging, it seems! Today I am back. First of all, a report of the weather here: just the way I like it. Rainy and fresh now. Lovely breeze coming through the windows... Relaxing...

My Mother is arriving to Dublin on Tuesday, so, I managed to clean the house to perfection today. And by myself, because Mark has a back ache. He normally helps me out. Actually he still did: since the kitchen is his territory, he scrubbed it so clean that it would make Aggie and Kim very proud! (Yeah, the ladies from the TV series "How Clean is Your House").

While I write this, I am listening to a wonderful Japanese singer. Her name is Shiina Ringo. She has a wonderful voice and sings not only in Japanese, but also French, English and even Portuguese, to my surprise! Her choice of a Brazilian song is "Manhã de Carnaval", an old Vinicius de Moraes' song from the classic Brazilian movie "Orfeu Negro". I love her singing in French, the accent is just perfect. She sings "Feuilles Mortes", alternating between French and English, and it is such an original, almost funky version. Just beautiful. Well, that lady simply rocks. The arrangements are superb, needless to say, and the album presentation is amazing, as only in Japan we can find. Check that out:


CD Title: Utaite Myouri, 2CD, Toshiba- EMI.

Finally, Mark has been to Washington DC some days ago and came back last weekend. He took lots of pictures, which are quite good. I hope he will be posting them soon. Anyway, he took one that I especially loved. It's from a shop that sells Japanese goods, called "Ginza" (what else???) He told me he could not go in because it was closed by the time he passed by, but look at that!



As you can see, all things I love are there (just click on the pic to see it bigger): Manekineko, Hello Kitty, nice ceramics and who knows what else! I really wish I was there, can you imagine? That would be paradise!

Now I need to go, we are starting to watch "Violent Cop" by the ever-so-wonderful Takeshi Kitano. Just love his films... They are, I know, very violent, and it's strange to see someone who so much loves "cute" things to appreciate this kind of films, but there we go. I love them. From soundtrack to acting, Kitano's films are something everybody should watch at least once. Meaning, you should not die before you do it! Ditto.

See you later then!

Bornéo 1834: Falling in Love...

Today, I have received a card from Les Salons Shiseido, in Paris. The usual lovely message from Amélie, directrice, and the announcement of their new fragrance, being released this coming September for their Eaux Anciennes series. The 1st, to be precise.

As usual, it included a card with the wax sample: Bornéo 1834. The wax smells gorgeous, I cannot wait to get the juice! Bornéo is pure magic, conjuring old memories of distant places - imaginary places, fairy tales, all dreamy and beautiful things under an autumnal, dusky light. A blast of camphor in the head notes, then patchouly, sweet cocoa accords and something mildly spicy - which I cannot quite identify. I detect dark woods starting to make an appearance in the middle notes and becoming quite prominent in the almost smoky, chocolate-ish drydown. But that chocolate, cocoa powder, whatever... It gives the composition smoothness and douceur. Bornéo 1834 is a forest out of a good dream, dark and comforting.

The initial camphor notes remind me of our ancient Chinese carved blanket boxes back home in Rio - which still nowadays let that delicious scent waft all over the place when we open them. I am wondering how it might smell like once layered with some Vétiver Oriental, which also contains patchouly and dark chocolate notes. But that experiment, only when I have the real concoction here!

Finally, here is what the card says about it:

"Bornéo 1834: on patchouly leaves, a dry and soothing perfume. The smoothness of a waltz, in a long forgotten Paris."

Nahéma, Guerlain (pure parfum)

Creamy, almost edible dark red roses enveloped by sheer, delicate lace, on a base of soft vanilla and precious sandalwood.
Use it sparingly. Light-handedly. Never too loud.
Just a whisper.

The Glasses...

I am posting a photo of myself wearing those glasses! I do look older!

Gail, this is for you! And the little dog is called Shiro (aka "Lucky", from Crayon Shin-Chan)...

New Kitty Item: Kawaii!!!!

Long time without posting, very lazy indeed! And it's getting really hot here in Ireland these days. A real Summer, which, by the way, I don't appreciate very much, favouring a bit of cold, breezy weather instead.

I have ordered a beautiful Kitty doll from JBox! It took some time to arrive (it was actually out of stock but I just needed to have it, thus the delay - otherwise it's all very fast!), but man! Was it worth it! Look at her here, graciously holding a "sensu" (traditional folding fan)!

She is wearing a beautiful brocade silk kimono, and comes in a neat box, like those traditional Ningyo dolls. She's a beauty, made of delicate porcelain, its texture like an egg's shell. I highly recommend JBox for all your Japanese needs, it's a cool website and I love buying aromatic oils, Kitty goods and those fantastic tatami slippers that they sell up there... Just love it! My other Kitties (the ones from the Kabuki collection) are also from them:


Apart from my Kitty, not much news here, I'm afraid. I am reading Osamu Tezuka's Buddha series at the moment, but I must write more about it in the next few days.

(Now, I need to go because my head is pounding again, it's been like that lately, don't know why... Ouch... And it just started raining here! I love Summer rains, they smell so nice! Will rest my head a bit and open the window just to feel that wonderful rainy smell...)

News: Wearing Glasses!

OK, let's face it. If you have more than one pair of glasses in your handbag, you are:

(a) a fashion victim?
(b) getting old?

In my case, check (b). I am getting old! Well, SITA sent us for some eye tests in order to check if we need to use glasses for VDU (fancy acronym for monitors, or "video display unit") and my results were... "positive"! I am near-sighted - as I already suspected.

And I have more than one pair in my handbag because I need to use sunglasses as well. I just cannot stand the sun on my eyes, thus I need sunglasses. I hate bright, blinding lights, thus I need sunglasses, and so on... Shades, whatever you want to call them. And, yes, I must admit these are a bit of a fashion statement. Utilitary, but glamourous.

As for the serious glasses, things got worse after I had the optic neuritis, almost 3 years ago, when I lost part of the vision in my right eye. Moreover, I turned 40, 41, 42... And started realising that my vision was not as sharp as before. In short, I needed glasses (or so I thought, having suspicions confirmed thanks to my employer). I need them for VDU use, reading, drawing (whenever I decide to come back to it, that is) and "close" stuff. For watching TV it turns out to be quite handy as well.

I have now a lovely pair of DG's (yeah, babe! Dolce & Gabbana alright! For that asphyxiated fashion-victim portion of me!) and I am quite glad because they not only look good (a bit of a retro vibe and so on) but I am also getting used to it! So used to it, that two nights ago I tried to go to bed wearing them and then, while switching off the bedside lamp, noticed: "what the hell am I doing with these here?".

Well, they seem to be helping me, though it was not easy when I started some 2 or 3 weeks ago. Everything looked a bit floaty, out of balance, with a strange, surrealistic "depth", blah-blah... Probably because my right side is much stronger than the left, but hey, it was not comfortable, oh no! But now I am happy to say I am adusting. As with (mostly) anything in life, I am adjusting. That makes me kinda happy!

My Latest Manga Reading

Last night I read the 7th and last volume of Tokyo Babylon, by Clamp. I have followed this series for almost one year and was really loving it. It follows the story of Seishiro-san and Subaru-kun, two onmiyoji (mediums) whose lives have been misteriously linked some years before, under the cherry trees. Subaru-kun has a lovely twin sister, Hokuto-chan, who has no psychic, paranormal abilities, but lots of common sense. A really "down-to-earth" girl.

The series were fun, with lots of amusing situations and sweet, loving moments. Artwork is just fantastic, as it always happens with Clamp, the characters looking gorgeous, with their wide-eyes, wonderful hair, impeccable costumes, and always inside the most exquisite scenarios.

However, the closing was perhaps a bit disappointing. And disturbing, I should add. I so much wanted a happy ending! And those guys deserved it (or seemed to, at least). And it's not what you get, unfortunately. It is tragic, to say the least. But at the same time it is great to see how Subaru changes, and turns into a man so suddenly. He becomes stronger, harder, taller, and even prettier. Well, he also starts smoking, which is not a good thing by all means, but somehow shows how his life is turned upside down by all the events. Tokyo Babylon is a beautiful and short story, but also makes you feel at a loss in the end.

I am not sure, but it seems it is a bit of an introduction to Clamp's X/1999, with pretty much the same kind of characters and more of a dark, violent plot. I should re-read X and see if either Subaru or Seishiro reappear...

My Kitty-chan's Kabuki Display!

I bought this display from a lovely EBay seller in Japan, have a look at that...



It is a lovely Kabuki display, containing Kitty-chan dressed up as 9 different characters of renowned Kabuki plays: Fuji Musume, Shizuka Gozen, the Hanagasa dancer from the Dohjohji play, Shiokumi etc... I still could not identify all of them, since I don't know much about Kabuki, unfortunately. I think I should perhaps buy a book about it next!

In the pictures below you can see it with more details...




(I am intrigued by the lady at the upper left corner, top tier, holding an umbrella, wearing a kimono and with her head partially covered... If anyone knows who that is, and from which play, please let me know...)

New Perfume Today!

Today I received a beautiful perfume, from Les Salons Shiseido, in Paris. It's Un Bois Sépia, and it was already in my Wish List for some time. Bought it unsniffed, because I knew I would love it, since I had a wax sample from Les Salons and was quite impressed by the scent. It's been conceived by the genial Serge Lutens (the above website includes a mini-biography) and contains some of my favourite notes:

• Precious woods - cypress, oakmoss, a hint of cedarwood perhaps, and sandalwood for sure...
• Earthy tones - vétiver and patchouli roots...
• Resinous, dark opoponax...
  

It is an almost masculine fragrance, which doesn't bother me at all, since I am not a "flowery" girl when it comes to perfume, favouring oriental or woody, earthy scents instead. Besides, the fragrance I use the most these days is Guerlain's Vétiver, which is a classic man's fragrance (with my beloved vétiver and again some patchouli alright!), so, not surprising...

I think this scent is pretty much related to Shiseido's Feminité du Bois, whose dominant note is cedarwood. This has a delicious, and almost nostalgic smell of colour pencils, a big box of colour pencils, pencil shaves everywhere! However, Un Bois Sépia would be a more discrete, and almost shy version perhaps, not nearly as pungent or strong as Feminité. It doesn't seem to have a very long lasting power by comparison, it simply melts onto your skin, slowly, graciously, a "solitaire" kind of scent, a scent for oneself - almost like an olfactory secret. Adagio.

There is another thing I love about it, which is the name. Un Bois Sépia. Like an old photograph, a distant memory, or something out of a Mishima's book. A tad bit melancholy perhaps, and I like to think it was probably raining on those woods. But I am digressing... It is a wonderful fragrance, subtle, and comfortable. There is also something sweet in the remnant, base notes, probably tonka beans? I am not quite sure, but it looks - or rather smells - like it to me. The tonka beans work as a "fixative" in a perfume, and are quite often found at the base notes. It also provides an almost sweet, nutty and sometimes "smokey" note, that we can sometimes detect in a number of fragrances.

Here is the new acquisition then!



(I received that today but... before you say anything... no, no, no, I did not use that much! Those missing 20ml I have decanted into a spray bottle, for the original one - as you may be able to see here - is a splash, traditional bottle, and I don't want to "harm" the fragrance with the constant skin contact, or even the air of course!)

These are the news for tonight. Need to go now! Good Night!

The Most Beautiful Short Animation Film Ever...

... must be "Overtime". I watched that on TV last weekend, in TV3's "Wonderscreen" and was simpy amazed. If you are a bit blue though, get a box of tissues because you will definitely have the tears flowing.

Basically, "Overtime" is a tribute to the Muppet Show creator, Jim Henson (1936-1990), and is a wonderful black and white, 3D animated short film of more or less 4 minutes. The music is very beautiful, and the story is simple, and very touching.

The film shows how a pupeteer, who creates kermit-like cute rag dolls, is found dead on his bed by his little creatures. It seems they quite do not understand (or do not accept) what has happened to their Master. Nonetheless they strive to keep living "as normal" and try to cheer up their creator, as they would normally do while he was alive: playing, cooking, eating, and having fun together. Until they finally realise that he will not wake up anymore.

The film has been created and executed by Oury Atlan, Thibaut Berland and Damien Ferrié as a graduation project, from what I could find in the web. It also seems it has received several prizes in competitions all over the world. Very well deserved, I just hope they will release a DVD one day!

Oury Atlan's website is noteworthy, and you can see some of his work (and CV) there: http://oury.3dvf.net/wip.htm

Directed, Written, Animated, Filmed & Edited by: Oury Atlan/Thibaut Berland/Damien Ferrié
Music: Sielberman Ochestra/Ornadel and the Starlight Symphony
Producer: Supinfocom

Slightly Disfunctional but Funny, Very Funny...

Thanks to the Digital TV, yesterday for the very first time, I watched an episode of Kureyon Shin Chan ( クレヨンしんちゃん ). To say it's wacky would be less than adequate. Possibly the funniest (and yes, wackiest) thing I've seen lately. I love the animation style, which looks like something I would have attempted to draw myself when I was a kid, possibly. And those bright, basic colours, funny expressions, and hilarious plots - some of it quite plausible from what I could see!

Pity the cartoon is dubbed. The actors' voices are quite good, but I would sell my soul to listen to it in Japanese (and English subtitles, of course!).

The kid is such an uncontrolable brat, with a big, funny head, and a language and quick-tongue that would humiliate the likes of a Bart Simpson. I love it. A bit insane? Maybe it is, but who doesn' want that once in a while? Do not expect any "politically-correctness" from that, oh no! Just relax and enjoy the pure, subtle wackiness of the show. I am not sure if we can compare it to the Simpsons, but Shin Chan's type of humour works better for me, because it sounds more "realistic". The characters are quite likeable as well. For example, with the Simpsons I not only grew tired of the overdose of episodes everyday on several different channels, as I cannot stand Lisa anymore, or Marge. They are just too plain boring. But that's my opinion anyways... I used to love it to bits years ago, but suddenly could not stand it anymore! Aw, that's life I s'pose...

Anyway, Shin-Chan seems so addictive I have immediately ordered two DVD's, which I could only find on EBay (where else!):



Here are some of the episode titles, so you can have an idea of the stuff...

• Me Want Cookie
• Mom Runs Away From Home
• We're Getting A Divorce
• I Get Recycled
• Mom’s Getting Fat
• Dad’s Lost his Eyebrows
• Dopes at the Slopes
  

Sounds like fun, huh? Well, I ordered this from a Seller in Sydney, AU. It may take up to 2 weeks to arrive. Meantime, I will watch that on TV, of course! I'll keep you posted...

A New TV

This Bank Holoday weekend we have decided to treat us to a new TV. I became a bit jealous of that SONY Trinitron my Mum has got for our house in Rio. You know: great looks, perfect image, cool size (32 inches - that's good enough, right?). It is not a flat screen, LCD, but it is one of those new Trinitrons anyway. And it's great. I was wanting something like that for us here, we had an old Philips and the image was not as high-res and with all the cool DVD's we have been colectiong, well...

OK, to shorten it a bit, we went to Harvey Norman's and, in the end, Mark fell in love with a Sharp AQUOS 32 inches. Beautiful indeed. We were not quite planning on buying an LCD right now, but we would have a very good discount on that, then, why not? Thinking about it, if we didn't, we would have missed a great opportunity.

Here is some pictures we took of it:



And here's another one, this time with a scene from Love Hina Again!



Well, after that I decided to go digital too! I called NTL and they promptly came here on Tuesday, brought the box and plugged everything. This has improved the reception even more. Not to mention that now we do have Cartoon Network, Animal Planet, Nickelodeon and several other channels - instead of the shabby 16 channels we had with the standard cable plan.

My Hello Kitty Display!

After a long, long time, here I am. Back again. I have been very, very lazy lately (and sick too). But I will tell about this "absence" in a separate post (I am not in the mood now!).

Today, I need to show you the pictures of my new Kitty Display Board! Mark made it for me, he is indeed quite talented (lucky me!).

I am super-happy with the results. Actually, I do have almost 300 netsuke and mascots, and the board does accommodate only 56. However, the fun of it is that I can always change the Kitties - and make different "exhibitions" by theme etc...

To start with today I only put some of my favourites, from my wonderful Sellers in EBay, and the themes are: Kabuki, lucky charms, Summer, Hina Matsuri, Azumi etc...

Well, here we have Mark working on the board last Sunday, after having bought all necessary material (MDF board, frames, paint, sandpapers etc...):



The colour is a nice burgundy that we thought could make it look like lacquer (Mark's idea). And it does indeed! Below you can see the board, ready and drying:



And finally, here is the board already displaying some of my favourites!



Thank you Mark!
(Where would I be without you???)
:)