Saturday 20 June 2009

4/6/2009 Japan Trip Day 1 (Blue Note Tokyo)


Located right next to Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel, the hotel I stayed (which name I have already forgotten) at was built last year. It had a comfortable lobby with a very smart metal stand for you to put your bag on while you do your check in and check out at the reception.


First meal in Tokyo was a combination of sashimi combo and Shabu Shabu. There were altogether 5 hungry adults, so I could not take the risk of leisurely taking photos of the beef.

Blue Note Tokyo, it originated in Harlem, New York. However, this is a much cleaner, smoke free, less mystified and reserved Japanese version of the jazz club. Being a total outsider with regards to serious jazz. I only know that the main act was a famous jazz drummer who was turning 84. And he sure blew our minds off with his energy and creativity.


People talk about cultural shock in Japan, what comes to mind is the lack of English skills and different customs.Used to being in places where I cannot speak the local dialect, language difference did not pose a big threat to my system. My first feeling of culture shock struck me when I walked into the shower of my hotel room. What better (or worse) culture shock can there be when the most intimate and private act of the day had to be altered from a standing position in shower into a sitting position in showering. It actually makes sense to sit down when one showers, but it took some time to adjust to this culture.


And the all too famous toilet seat that washes your bottom after you finish your business.

My second culture shock hit me when I had to change into the Yukata (Japanese sleeping gown / summer dress). Again, culture shock infiltrating into the most intimate part of a person's daily habits.


Pseudo Zen garden outside Imperial Hotel. Do we have time to think about thinking within the setting of a metropolis?

Saturday 13 June 2009

情緒是不等人的

哥,我活很好。

生命是美麗的。
為什麼要選擇死亡?

酩酊天使 
唱:張敬軒 
曲:Vincent Chow/蔡志浩 
詞:林若寧 編:Gary Tong 
監: Alvin leung

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG9wBRwqafw

長時間給一堆工作壓碎   
讓細水將哀愁也沖去  
別要擔心我氣餒 
發掘閒來情趣  漸漸地淡化苦水   

難忘你我也要生活下來  
近況好如常地拼搏進取  
一開心可以喝醉 倦了一覺睡  
情緒便困進身體裡   

朋友你悄悄遠去化作遠方的天使  
仍間歇聽見你舊名字  
翻開這相簿至少哭一次  
你笑臉印滿相紙   

朋友再與你說說笑笑已經不可以  
而我要奮鬥每日如是  
一天的奔波也許不止  
活在你路過的小都市   

隨時間過去固執亦下調  
但有點無聊事叫我困擾  
初相識 跟你拍照  
但我黑了面  
還記住你說應該笑   

朋友你過去去過那個故居都空置  
人氣店永遠滿座無異  
將一些輕鬆笑話講一次  
帶有你每個影子   

難過 每一天都走過 生命是如此   

朋友你悄悄遠去化作遠方的天使  
仍間歇聽見你舊名字  
翻開這相簿至少哭一次  
你笑臉印滿相紙   

朋友再與你說說笑笑已經不可以  
而我要奮鬥每日如是  
珍惜的呼吸也許休止  
活著已是最好的心意   

I miss you I Miss you 

Saturday 6 June 2009

'What is art?'

I asked a Japanese villager, what was her favourite art piece in Echigo Tsumari 2006. And she asked me in return, 'What is art?'

She then took up two glass cup filled with water and said in Japanese, 'If you place these two cups on the table without interfering them. It is a normal ordinary object, but an artist might tilt it 45 degrees so they sit on the table on a weird angle, and you would call it art. Is this art? I don't know.'

It made me think about what art is.

'What is art?'
...is like asking, 'What is a good meal?'
A meal can be delicious in its own right, but it needs people to admire and enjoy the food. To me, art is what is meaningful and enjoyed by people at the time and will continue to be delicious to generations in the future.