Zara

Eiko says...

Right next to Starbucks to the left of the station is the awesome, way-too-expensive Zara that I frequent for wishful window shopping. Rows of clothing too expensive to randomly buy simultaneously temp and depress me whenever I take the time to drop by and lust. The beauty temps me. The prices depress me. I lust in vain.

To be honest, Zara can be a bit too vibrant and loud with their colors, and tend to have a very distinct, loose-fitting 'look' and cut that can become a bit cliche after a while. But I love their class and the quality they offer. Zara's style is also a welcomed change from this summer's look in Japan which is starting to become an eye-sore for me.

Anyway, I was heading for my daily Starbucks before work when I noticed that Zara was quite crowded for a week day. I decided to drop by and see what everyone was gathering for. And that's when I noticed that the black, anorexic manikins that faithfully greet everyone at the entrance were clad in white T's with a single word in black italic that would make any girl's heart race--'sale'!

I was ecstatic! I could hardly believe all those goodies were actually within arms reach--literally! I made an on-the-spot decision to splurge. A fantastic decision, really. You'll NEVER get Zara at these amazing prices! Most of the items were 50% off. A perfect opportunity to get my wardrobe together for 2011's cool-bizzing! Wee-hoo!

The Kinshicho Zara

The creepy, face-less, black, Zara manikins wearing the 'sale' T's.


Check out the shirt I got! Love the 'I miss you' going on with the picture of the red phones.


And I got these super aaawesome pants that I wanted for the longest time!
Love the fact that you can adjust the length of the pants, their loose, the material is very comfortable and totally ventilation-savy!
Also, check out the cream-colored pumps I bought a while back. I think they look pretty good and summery. They also hurt my feet like ****!! The longest I'm willing to stand in them are 2 hours! Stupid pumps.


I'm wrapping all that together with a leather-y, light jacket I got at Uniqlo. Way too hot for now, but if it's ever cool in the evenings, it's my first choice to throw on.

torn

Eiko says...

My boobs are getting fat! It's time to panic and to put them on a diet! Of course, as much as I'd like to I know I can't just selectively put my boobs on a diet. I would have to go on a diet for my boobs to size down, and I'm not sure if I want to go on a diet right now. Sure, it's summer, and I can't hide behind layers of clothes to hide the layers of fat, but summer's the time for ice cream and cold beer! I'm torn.

And it seems like I've got another cold! I had just recovered from a month long, throat/nose/head cold 2 weeks ago, and the symptoms are back! Argh! I sound like a she-man, my nose is running, I feel dizzy and weak. I haven't seen a doctor yet, but unless the doctor is super-eye-candy I don't think it's worth my time and energy for a stupid cold. Or is it just a stupid cold? I'm torn.

Stupid post.

life pics

Eiko says...

I find myself religiously dropping by Starbucks for a coffee, (these days ice, no milk, no sugar) and a macadamia cookie before work. The newly opened Starbucks right around the corner from my work place has a nice atmosphere, is pretty big, and is convenient to stop by as it is situated just to the left after getting out of the station. It's also a good place to get some reading, writing, and studying done as there's a big table where you can spread all your papers and stationary out on, with surprisingly comfortable, un-cushioned chairs.

I've got the perfect view of the Skytree from my office. I don't know what all the fuss is about concerning the Skytree to be honest, and I'm definitely not one of those Skytree worshipers. But heck! I've got the view, and I'm not gunna complain!


The summer of 2011 is now upon Japan and consequently me. That with the whole March 11th disaster, I am face to face with possibly the most unbearable of summers in all my 20 years. With all the energy conserving going on, and with people still struggling to get back on their feet since the Earthquake, I believe surviving this summer is going to be nothing short of memorable! So memorable that I see myself telling my grandchildren about how I made it through the summer of 2011 in Japan with minimal air conditioning, as if I were some kind of hero. ..
How the hell did I start talking about grandchildren and heroes? It's got to be the heat getting to my head. I actually wanted to talk about how I believe focusing on fashion and how to look good and stay cool despite the humidity and heat would help me stay all around more upbeat, positive and happy this summer.
So acting on that thought, I went out and bought this beige, net throw-over thingie. Since I'm not so comfortable showing shoulders all the time, I thought it would be awesome to have something full of ventilation to throw over when I wanna wear something a bit skimpy like spaghetti strap or less. I think I found what I was looking for. I like it!



I also got myself new shoes. I love them for the fact that they give me an additional 13 or so centimeters to my height and that I can actually stay in them for long hours without feeling the need to chop my legs off! I actually went clubbing all night in them and my feet were fine!

suicidal *uckers!

Eiko says...

It has been a very long week for me and I just wanted to go home. After teaching 7 classes with a bad cough, a runny nose, and a migraine, the only thing on my mind was to rush home, take a shower, and watch an episode of Desperate Housewives over a bite to eat and a glass of chardonnay.

I stretched and twisted my achy feet--which I have been torturing in my new, way-too-high heels--as I glanced around to see if there was any eye-candy in the form of men to rest my eyes on, while I waited for my train. To my left, a nerdy looking group of businessmen were chatting about i-don't-wanna-know-what. To my right, a posh group of ladies in their late 40's were gossiping about this and that. Neither were eye-candy. Highly disappointing.

My train was a few minutes late, and by the time it finally arrived I had scored the platform through, and instead of eye-pleasure I ended up with just an eye-sore! The worst part about it was, I was one of those eye-sores as well. I sighed. This just wasn't cool. I couldn't stop coughing, my nose was out of control, my head was throbbing, and there wasn't anyone pleasant-looking to offer me at least a visual pick-me-up. I climbed into the train with a humph and a sigh.

To make matters a notch or two worse, an announcement is being made about a 人身事故 (they really should just call a spade a spade and say 'suicide') which occured 5:00ish, and that we would be doing some waiting until they've completed the safety check! So that's why my train was late! Brilliant! Fucker!

This morning, on my way to my first English class, the Yamanote Line was late as well, thanks to yet another fuck who probably thought, 'Train, don't wanna live. Jump!!' Geeez!

Patience is one of those virtues--among many others--that I just don't have a lot of. I hate being told to, or made to wait for anything or anybody. I hate tardy people, and I hate myself when I'm tardy too. Being made to wait when I'm sick and really wanting to go home, not to mention hungry, is a VERY bad combination. But I wasn't so worried. According to the announcement, the accident happened more than two hours ago, so I wasn't expecting a long wait. I pulled out the latest issue of Metropolis and got comfortable.

10 minutes went by, and I kept smiling and reading. But as soon as 12 minutes passed, I had had enough!! A searing anger towards the nameless fucker who decided to jump in front of that particular train at this particular time began to build up inside me and I really needed to vent! And vent I did! I pulled out my mobile and began angrily texting Boris about how much I hate suicidal people who lack creativity and/or are too lazy to think out of the box! I've been depressed before and I know how lethargic one's mind becomes when depressed, but seriously! Jumping in front of a train is so cliche and more importantly, it puts hundreds of people7s lives on hold! Can't you suicidal people tie a big stone to your self and jump off a bridge, or hang yourself in your apartment, or gas yourself? (Harakiri is a bit out-dated, to be honest.)

I looked up from my texting and heaved a long sigh. Everybody else seemed a bit restless as well. At this point, 30 minutes went by and we still had no clue as to when our train will start. The train conductor faithfully reminded us that they had no clue either. Great! Fantastic!

I mean, seriously. If you want to end it all, keep it private! I'm not encouraging suicide by any means. But if you're going to do it regardless, than for beans sake DO NOT jump in front of a train! Or any moving vehicle for that matter! It's over done, boring, cliche, annoying, pathetic, loserish, rude, thoughtless, selfish and a hellofalot mrore! Suicide in itself is all of those things already, but the badness is doubled when you make a lot of other people's lives suffer for the already selfish act of taking your own life. I hate you!!

I ended up waiting for 10 minutes at on station and 50 freakin minutes at the next!

I'm finished...

golden week

Eiko says...

My only plan for the Golden Week was to sleep, relax over good food and films, and try to detox my life from alcohol, smokes, and bad sleeping habits. Unfortunately, I think I did everything but what I planned. I didn't watch any films, I definitely drank and smoked, and I also went without sleep for two full days, due to an eventful night out in Roppongi with friends.

All in all, Golden Week was everything I didn't expect it to be, but I love the fact that I had a great time anyway. I met old friends, I had new experiences, I drank too much, I laughed, and made new connections. I basically insured that my first day of work after the mini vaca would be a real drag.

Good job!

useless

Eiko says...

Most things take time to change. I needed a change NOW. I headed off to the barber for a quick fix. I came back looking the SAME! I HATE my barber and his bowl-haircut and buckteeth! Gimme my money back!

cute student/earthquake

Eiko says...

Was it this morning? It doesn't matter. I was woken up, AGAIN, by one of those big earthquakes. The creaking walls, the windows shaking, falling books thudding, and picture frames banging against the walls of my rooms is enough noise to wake anybody out of deep slumber, and I am no exception! No worries. It was time to roll out of bed anyway, so I didn't mind being woken up so much. Never mind the fact that the time I actually got out of bed was 2 hours after that.
This one was a real biggie. A level 4 in Tokyo. Man, do they keep coming or what?

Just the day before at work, an earthquake hit, and despite the fact that it was only a level 3 in Tokyo, train lines were suspended, and two of my colleagues had to do a bit of walking to get back home. Unfortunately for them, it was pouring rain and there was a cold wing blowing--not the weather of choice to make a long night walk in, if you'd ask me. But at least they made it home, right? There's really no complaining when you think about all the people who are still stuck up North in bad-living conditions at the Evacuation centers, separated from loved-ones, homes, and stability.

Now, continuing on the subject of train lines, if there's an earthquake, and there are train line issues, there is no question at all that the Nippori-Toneri Line is out. I really wouldn't care less about this crappy, far-too-expensive-train-line if it wasn't the key to my getting home without having to walk for hours, or wait for an unreliable bus ride. Luckily, this time around, the line was only suspended for a few hours, and I was able to make it back home before midnight.

Why am I blogging about Earthquakes again?

I've got a crazy English student I wanna tell you about!

So, I have this English student that comes for classes every Monday. She's a cute 9 year old that has the memory of a senile grandma!! A.K.A, she doesn't have much for a memory! I'm not just talking about her not remembering what we learned in our previous week's English lesson. I'm talking about...

Me: Okay, sweetie. What did you have for lunch today?
Student:　アレ、何食べたんだっけ。ご飯と納豆だったと思う。
Me: Cool. So, you had rice and natto for lunch.
Student: うん。ライス・アンド・ナットウ
Me: Great. In English, we say, "I had rice and natto for lunch." Can you repeat that?
Student: アイ・ハッド...あれ？何食べたんだっけ？忘れた。
Me: Huh? You forgot what you ate for lunch? You just told me what you had for lunch 30 seconds ago!!
Student: ハッ？先生が言っていること全然わからない。
Me: Sorry. さっきお昼何食べたか先生に言わなかった？
Student:　うん。思い出せない。
Me: Natto and rice by any chance?
Student:　ソーダッタ！
Me: Yeah. Okay. Breakfast. What did you eat for breakfast?
Student: ”Breakfast"　何だったっけ？
Me:　朝ご飯何食べた？
Student:　何だったっけー。何食べたか思い出せない！お姉さんに電話しようかな。
Me： Are you serious? (I raise both eyebrows.)
Student：ハッ？
Me: Never mind. Okay, so...remember I taught you how to say 地震 in English? We just did that a minute ago. 覚えてる？
Student：　ノー。
Me: Why am I not surprised by that answer?
Student: ハッ？

*I hear a chuckle coming from the other side of the partition. A colleague finds my frustration highly amusing.*

Me: Yeah, shut up. You wanna teach her?
Colleague: Aren't you happy she doesn't know what you just said? Heh, heh.
Me: Yes! No! ARGggghhh!

And this is about EVERYTHING! I tell her how to say a phrase, and she forgets after she repeats it to you fine once. She tells me about something that she learned at school and she forgets what that was when you ask her about a minute later. She is seriously a big question mark to me. She also doesn't care for the word 'punctuality'. We're making progress on that one though. One day, she accidentally showed up 10 minutes early. She showed up at 5:20. Apparently, she thought that class was suppose to start from 5:00 instead of 5:30 which means, if class really was from 5:00, she would have been 20min late. It didn't matter! I was so shocked and pleased at her being early for class that we celebrated this with a few rounds of card games. She liked that. She's always been on the dot since! Unfortunately, her memory is hopeless. I gave up many classes ago when she had difficulty remember what her sister looked like. No joke.

The thing that I love about her though, is that she has the most disarming, guilty face! Each time she forgets something--a frequent occurrence--she has this 'guilty' look face that I simply can't hate! I still have disbelief and annoyance written all over my face when this happens but it's just SO DAMN CUTE! Annoying though. I teach her something which she forgets moments after, and she makes me smile with that 'look' of hers. It's a mixture of disbelief and adoration. I'm left with sheer frustration. Her smile wins out each time. I'll make a horrible mother!!