A cup of Chai anyone?

Friday and Saturday were absolutely freezing and it even snowed lightly too! I couldn't believe how cold it was. (Wearing leggings underneath jeans and still feeling the cold!)

Saturday I was out apartment hunting with good friend N. Looked at quite a number of "one room" places. It never ceases to surprise me at how well the Japanese manage to pack in so much so neatly and conveniently in such a minimal space. It is most inspiring to think you can have a unit kitchen (two gas elements), a decent sized fridge, separate toilet and bathroom and also room for the washing machine inside by the shoe cupboard. All with plenty amount of space for your belongings in a decent-sized wardrobe. (Size of the apartment, around 21sqm.) Brand new and around 110,000yen in Hiroo (quite a good area in Tokyo = to the likes of Merivale in Chch). However, that wasn't the choice made as it was a bit far from the station - 12 minutes.

After the search of apartments, I attended a writing event with N - another good friend. Donald Richie was giving a lecture on short stories and his new book "A view from the Chuo Line". Donald is a very well known author based in Japan for more than 60 years! Had some interesting tips on short story writing as well as life in general. I really liked what he said about being more aware of things that surround you that you may just take for granted and taking a note of them. To set aside at least an hour of your day for writing. So I guess this blog is part of my new side of writing. Just wonder how long I can keep it up...

Interestingly enough, after the lecture, I did start noticing things that I would normally would have just shrugged off. For instance, N and I went and had a drink after the event and we were served a cup of Chai tea at the local family restuarant. Well, normally you would have expected to be served a cup and a saucer as well as a spoon as what is expected, however, to our surprise, we were served just a cup of Chai with a cinnamon stick in it. There was nothing for the cup to be placed upon the bare naked table. Just the cup and table. N and I found it slightly odd since usually you would have something in between the table and the cup. Perhaps it was the colourful pattern at the bottom of the cup that meant that it didn't need the presence of a saucer or are times changing or is it just cutting down the cost? Hopefully I will load a photo of "the cup" so you can check out just what I mean. So from Donald Richie's lecture, I have decided to try and recall the slightly unusual happenings that I take for granted over here, but are actually indeed a bit different.

Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of hou much you like yourself.
Lululemon