OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

Today I went to Kochi city (where I used to live) and saw this movie, The Harimaya Bridge. Yes, the one that I was an extra in a year ago. Was I in the movie? No, I couldn't find myself today. But if I rent a DVD and play it slow over and over, there might be a surprise, so I still have a hope.

To me it was a lovely movie like a handmade gift made with lots of love. Nothing gorgeous, but warm, touching and personal. Frankly, this film appealed more to my right brain rather than left. The serene beauty of Japanese countryside so sensitively captured. Lush emotional, lush green, and the bright red color of the Harimaya bridge... Many movies and TV dramas/documentaries have been filmed in Kochi, but none showed the beauty of Kochi as stunningly as this film did, I think. I loved the camera work, especially the use of the mirror and glass. And it had to be Ben Guillory and Saki Takaoka to fit in this serene tone of the scenes.

More than anything -- the paintings used in this film! They HAD TO be those paintings -- nothing else -- to perfectly match this story. I'm not just talking about the paintings by Mickey but including those painted by the little girl. They were just right. To me they looked far more convincing and persuasive than any of the lines in the story.

I have to admit that I felt something in this movie made it look like an "educational movie." Maybe the storytelling? Editing? Dialogue? It's not that the Japanese lines were strange or grammatically wrong. And they were wonderfully translated into local dialect, not like the poor work by some Japanese TV dramas. But ... I don't know how to explain this... I felt those lines were meant to explain the message or the theme of this film (and possibly written in English first?) rather than to be real and be touching by being real. Am I making any sense? So I had this slight strange feeling that those Japanese people I saw in the film were "Japanese as seen through non-Japanese eyes," which made my empathy as a Japanese fade a little, to be perfectly honest.

That said, I was and still am charmed with the warmth and sensitivity of this movie. And I can proudly say that this is a handmade gift from our beautiful countryside, Kochi, Japan to all the people who find themselves being between two different worlds and making their own choices step by step.
:)

Yes, I moved back into my hometown on the last day of April, 2009 and now I live with my parents. My life here is full of challenges, and I don't know if I can ever "settle down" someday. I've been posting about the challenges on my new foodblog:
http://kokonuggetyum2.blogspot.com/
so please come and take a look if you haven't.
:)

On that foodblog, I've been posting some photos that I took on my morning walk on the beach. I bring my compact digital camera with me, and it has been doing a pretty good job.
See?

And it never occured to me that heavy use on the beach could damage digital camera.

But one day, I took a walk on the beach when the ocean was rough, and took several photos of the waves because they were so photogenic. See?

Then back in my room, I noticed that the camera felt sticky and the monitor was dirty. The salty wind!

I ordered a soft waterproof camera case right away. Right now photo-taking is such an important part of my everyday life, so I've got to take good care of my camera(s). I would die without them... and this laptop.

I'm in the middle of major cleaning now, because I've got to throw away most of my large nonburnable garbage tomorrow morning, between 6 am and 8 am. Since this morning, I have been sorting out the garbage looking at the list on our city government's official website on my laptop. It's hard to concentrate on the task I truly hate. Really. Guess how many times I started reading my old books/notebooks or old letters and forgot about cleaning. Escape behavior. Yeah, I know.

It is actually a bit depressing to recall how I was when I first moved into this apartment. I was fresh, full of hope, and the apartment was really clean. It was like a miracle that I was able to find a bright, spacious apartment with decent storage space and south-facing balcony for such a low rent in the middle of Kochi city. It was almost like a dream apartment to me, except that it was old and not air-conditioned, the room light in the kitchen was broke (and the landlord refused to fix it) and the storage underneath the kitchen sink smelled terrible. (It still does.) What's more, most important offices and shopping areas are within bicycling distance!

Now, how much did I enjoy my life in the dream apartment? Did I make the best out of the living environment and the freedom I had while I lived there? I cannot say "Yes," unfortunately. I just let the room turn into a messy, dusty dungeon until I couldn't find any meaning in living there all by myself. That was it. And as I clean this place and the room becomes less messy and dusty, I hear an inner voice blaming me, "See? It's not that difficult. Why have you been THIS lazy? You could have lived much better life here if you really tried, but you gave it up so easily, didn't you?" What this inner voice says really gets on my nerve because it's true. Hey, I believe in the importance of self-reflection, but I hate to do it while I vacuum one-inch thick cotton dust.

But right now, there's someone else I want to blame much more. Some cardboard boxes for my upcoming move were supposed to be delivered to me yesterday. But the guy from the moving service called me and said that there was a mistake and they would be delivered today instead. Well, I've been waiting all day today and it's past 7 pm, and they are still not here yet! Gee. If I don't get the boxes and decent apologies from them tomorrow, I'm gonna cancel this moving service and choose another one.

AHHHHHHH !!! I'm getting sick of this boring, depressing and unpleasant task. Even with my favorite 80s hit songs. And in the kitchen, there are still some bottles of liquid seasonings to empty... This is endless!

March 21, 2009

* Click photos to enlarge.




These wild cherry blossoms are my favorite. They bloom earlier than most cherry trees in the park or popular "cherry viewing spots." The smaller blossoms with reddish young leaves look more delicate than gorgeous... Maybe that's why I like them so much.


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March 24, 2009

I wonder how many readers of my foodblog have noticed the change in the photos there. Those who click on the photos to see the enlarged versions may know that I have a new camera now, because they can see the filenames of the photos briefly.

Yes, I bought a new compact digital camera the other day as part of the preparation for my moving to my hometown. I plan to continue blogging there and will be taking loads of photos both inside and outside the house in order to share the life in the real Japanese countryside with readers worldwide. But I don't want to bring my big camera everywhere I go, especially when I take some shots of what we do on the beach or in the orchard.

So I had been doing a little research on a compact digital camera that can take photos of decent quality and has good macro function. I'm so crazy about blurring the background, so a good macro is "the must" for me. (I know that compact digital cameras are not good at blurring background, but I want the best they can do.) Finally I found the one I like and bought it online, then sold my old digital cameras yesterday. Now I'm learning the functions of my new camera beyond the AUTO mode. LOL

Today is a national holiday here in Japan and I have the whole day off. I had plenty of time to do the dishes, do the laundry, cook/bake AND practice photo-taking almost all day. Great. Here's some photos I took today.



Pretty good macro for a compact digital camera, isn't it?