One of my shots on EalingToday.co.uk

One of shots that I took at the public meeting for Ealing Arts Centre on 25th Jan was published on Ealing Today.co.uk.
You can read the article on the meeting more from here.

People's power

I went to a public meeting a few days ago to take shots for the next edition of the Neighbors' paper.  Ealing residents have already been trying for 2 years to get the Council to agree to set up an Arts Centre in the underused Ealing town hall. The purpose of the public meeting was to debate this plan between the Ealing residents, the councillors, and the Regeneration Officer. 

The meeting took more than 2 hours and lots of questions, opinions, and queries remained unfinished.   

While taking photos, I really felt the residents' burst of energy.  If people have something that they really want to convey to other people, no matter what kind of words they use, the real feeling will be conveyed to us. 

There are lots of things to be solved, but I can't wait for the day when this proposal becomes real.

What is this baby dreaming about?

Things around us

Do you know Penhaligon's?  I received the above presents a few days ago and didn't know much about this brand before, so I searched for it a bit.  Penhaligon's is an English-born brand established in 1870 by William Henry Penhaligon, a Cornish barber who moved to London and who became court barber and perfumer to Queen Victoria.  They mainly sell perfume, but also body products like those in the above photo.

The interesting point is that the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II) and the Prince of Wales (Prince Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II *in that connection, his wife, Camilla uses the title Duchess of Cornwall) officially admitted using their products as their toilet requisites.  Penhaligon's shopping bag with gold embossing marks shows this prestigious fact.  
In the same way as Penhaligon's, Gilchrist & Soames is also an original UK brand.  The smell of their soap products is really nice and your hands will soften after using them.  It's worth trying them.

By the way, my point today is not about introducing how these brands are wonderful (of course, there is no doubt that these brands are amazing), but rather about how we choose the things around us in our daily life and how we are concerned about them.  I realized to extent our minds and way of living are influenced by things around us.  

Objects from dishes to body soaps, friends, and even jobs around us are what we chose more or less.  Although we can't choose everything, having our obsessions will make our life more enjoyable.  I just want to say that we should be aware of the things around us and be proud of them, as they lead to the fact that we should take care of ourselves.  For example, Gauguin's lifestyle looks too extreme in some ways, but I understand that choosing his truly favorite things is sure to result in his way of living in Tahiti and creating himself.   

お金をかけるかどうかの問題ではない。自分の周りにあるものに拘りをもつこと。全てでなくても1個でも、、そうすると人生がもっと楽しく、濃く、豊かになれるかも、と思う。もしかしたらそれは自分の人生に拘りをもつことに繋がっているのかもしれない、とも。

昔、友人と旅行に行く話をしていて、友達が海外のコスメブランドの話に夢中になっているのを見て、「何でブランドにそんなに興味があるんやろ、もっと面白いことが沢山あるのに。。。」と思っていたけれど、例えば広告に影響されてではなく、もしそのものの価値を理解していて、自分の気に入ったものを毎日身につけていたいという思いからきているのなら何と素敵なんだろう、、と今になって思う。

自分がいいなと思う人、いいなと思うものに囲まれて（若しくは想像しながら）暮らすのはどんなに贅沢なことか、、、自分の周りにいる大切な人、ものを長く、ゆっくり時間をかけて大事にしていくことは、しいては自分を大切にすることに繋がる気がする。自分の人生に少なからず影響するから。一生は一日の積み重なりと考えると、どういう環境で過ごすか、誰と一緒に過ごすかは重要なことのような気がする。ま、あまり深刻にならず、自分の好き、直感を忘れず、大切にしていけたらなぁと思っているだけです。

大空に羽根を広げてゆっくり今いる場所を俯瞰できるような、鳥のような人になりたい。

I like chocolate, but...

I sometimes prefer sweet red-bean soup with rice cake to chocolate.
I feel I'm Japanese in those moments...

What I like about London is...

Music is everywhere in London.  I often come across a lot of types of music from the traditional acoustic guitar to didjeridoo everywhere; on the street, inside the tube, in front of shops etc.  This fact lets us understand that London is a melting pot of not only races but also diverse cultures. 

The following photos were taken when I went out to central London near Oxford Cirsus last Sunday.  When I was walking down the street, suddenly a drum and fife band was coming towards me.   

Even people who were rushing down the street until a few minutes ago, suddenly stopped and started to listen to the music or clap their hands.  I really like this kind of moment that stimulates us and makes us feel relaxed and joyful in our normal daily life.  London makes us feel free.  

This is my new companion from today...

I bought this NIKE 'LUNARGLIDE 2' (which means moon glider... OMG, these shoes make me feel I'm flying on the moon?!) as my new companion when jogging!  I can't wait until tomorrow...

New Year's trip 2011 -其の弐-

★Day 2 (31st Dec.) in Bath with a mixture of history and modern young culture.

After picking up Mami-san at Swindon, as she just got back from Milan, we went to a spa rich with 42 different minerals called Thermae Bath Spa for 2 hours (I'm sure 2 hours is more than enough to enjoy a spa session) to get rid of all of our dirt accumulated in 2010.  Even on New Years Eve, lots of people visited here.  We enjoyed 4 types of sauna and an open-air rooftop pool, where we enjoyed views over the city of Bath and surrounding hills. 

We saw the following person's performance near the Roman Baths after the spa.

Her fire made my heart quite warm and soft.   Fire sometimes looks strong and scary, but I felt something different this time.

Afterwards, we went to the English pub to have dinner.

These dishes were our very last dinner in 2010.  They are really English, aren't they?!  We were really hungry after going to the spa, so we ate these meals plus desserts so quickly;;

We each wrote one representative word for 2010 and one for 2011.  I wrote "戦” for 2010 and "進” for 2011.  Aiko-san and Mami-san who came here to study wrote quite similar words.

In the end on New Years Eve, we went to the historical local club called Moles.

In fact, Moles is a long-established club and popular British bands such as Radiohead and Oasis also performed here.  We could see who played here and when from the wall.

The live act on New Years Eve was Johnny Foreigner (an indie rock trio from Birmingham, the main performer was Maximo Park).  I found the Japanese word 'ミーハー魂' on Kelly's bass.
I'm not sure if she knows the meaning of this word or not, but anyway she was so cute.

After leaving the club, the clock turned 1:30am.  2011 already started!

2011 New Year's trip -其の壱-

I want to write something about my New Year's trip.  

This was the 3rd time for me to welcome the New Year since I moved to London from Japan in 2008.  We were in London to see the fireworks along the Thames river for New Year in 2009, and in 2010 we spent it in my hometown of Ehime in Japan.  After much thinking, we finally decided on a short trip called "escaping from London trip for New Year 2011!"  In order to know more about real England (not London!), we planned to visit the World heritage site in Bath etc to get a breath of fresh air for 2011!!  Aiko-san and Mami-san (from the 31st) also joined us for this trip.

★Day 1 (30th Dec.) at old Wiltshire cottage in Hilmarton near Swindon (1 hour from London by train)

We rented an old 17th century Wiltshire cottage as our base for this trip.

The ceiling was low, and both inside and outside of the cottage were so lovely like an old British dollhouse!  In olden times, English people used to hang their mugs on the ceiling.

This cottage was the present owner's grandparents' house and we found out that her grandfather was an airforce officer from objects on the staircase wall.

We went to an Indian restaurant for dinner on the first night because all English pubs near our cottage were already closed before 9pm;;;  After that, we slept like a log.

When night has come...

I started to jog since yesterday.  On New Year's Day my friends and I decided to complete a run of 5km next month to celebrate our birthdays.  Compared to a few months ago, it's getting warmer in London and it's good time to start jogging. I just run around the house, Ealing and Hanwell etc for 30 mins everyday.  It's important to continue running everyday, so I don't want to run for a long time once.

Jogging while watching the scenery is much more fun for me than running in the gym, maybe because I grew up in the countryside?  To my surprise, running changes my body's condition completely.  I love chocolates normally, but after jogging, I felt like eating fresh fruits rather than them.  I'm sure moving our body is good for our body and soul.
 
The above photo was taken before leaving my house for a jog.

Happy New Year 2011!! （卯年）

Happy New Year 2011!  This photo was taken on the way to the Stonehenge on Jan 1st. 

今年はさらにOpen-mindedで、基盤をしっかり固めながらも、色々な人と係わり合い、

さらに前に向いて「進」んでいきたい。心の広い、視野の広い人になりたい。