I’m back in Singapore and if anyone is in need of a kimono dresser…=D please let me know! Thanks..contact by email will be great kailin98@hotmail.com. Just remember to title the email something kimono related or i might accidentally delete it due to my highly efficient email filters..

Cheers

shd have known they are not too fussy about the 4pm dateline..apparently when i handed it in at 4pm i was the fourth out of six or seven to hand in. wld have done my blib a bit better if i wasn’t in such a mad rush..like doing 8 pages of blib in 1.5hrs..

JT concert was really nice..the lighting was supurb n kept me occupied while everyone else tower over me n i can’t see anything…i get to see a few glimpse of JT when i’m lucky, so the rest of the time it was just looking at the crowd and the laser show. kinda got dizzy towards the end of the concert becoz of the stuffiness and dehydration so i had to move to the back to get some air. i regret not buying the tour shirt, but cash is kinda low now after buying the plane ticket

plenty of time on hand to update facebook and the applications.. i made cornbread muffin with honey butter last night n it was great..i’ll finally have time for videogames now!!

Time left: 12 days and counting down

Shigeko-san first demonstrated putting everything on me, and then she took some pictures which is the ones I’ll show here, before I took them off and tried to do it myself. I didn’t tie the cords as tightly as she did and it resulted in the kimono and juban not staying in place very well, so it needs to be really tight. Also difficult was tying the otaiko on my own because I couldn’t remember the steps perfectly, or how to tie the obiage (and damn I felt so stupid not capable of tying one stupid knot), and the sleeves just get in the way generally. So far I’ve managed to refer back to my kimono magazines and run through the steps in my head, since I don’t have all the accessories but they will be coming mid this week. Shigeko-san is very kind in her encouragement and for agreeing to another lesson when I’m ready. =D

Please pardon the messy background. Not a lot of space in my room so the kurotomesode is just spread out on the bed. Next one is a more closeup look at the obi from the back. I believe it is more of a mature age lady, not a young married/unmarried lady, since it is more rectangular than squarish and it’s not very high up also. Or perhaps it just so happen that the obi is shorter? Not too sure. Anyway it was funny to Shigeko-san that I had the kurotomesode which is the most formal for married women but not the furisode for unmarried girls. I explained that the cost of the furisode is much more expensive than a normal short sleeve kimono because of the ornate pattern and the extra cloth and i’m a poor student!

The obijime is knotted in the front and tucked into the side, with the obi makura concealed by the obiage which is also blue so it blends into the kimono nicely. The obi makura explains the added volume to give the otaiko a pop-up effect. Also important it the distance the collar is set back from the neck, and the center line of the juban and kimono. Only the kimono, the obi and the obiage (which is just a normal scarf) is mine, the rest is thanks to Shigeko-san who kindly lend me whatever accessory that I lack. It look so simple from the outside, but these are the long steps to get the look!

1) Wear the Naga-juban. Usually the hada-juban will be the first layer closest to skin but I just wore shorts and a spaghetti top.

2) Tie the Naga-juban shut with one cord (koshi-himo). Apparently there is a specific way of tying which i still mess up.

3) Tie a datejime over the koshi-jimo which is yet another specific sash with another way of tying. Naga-juban done!

4) Wear the kimono. Hang the kimono off the shoulders to make sure the line of juban is still correct and gingerly slide into the sleeves.

5) Align the kimono with juban, both at the collar and the sleeves.

6) Get the correct height of kimono which should just cover the feet. Wrap the kimono around and tie shut with 2nd koshi-himo. The most important himo according to Shigeko-san.

7) Straighten the collar area and the overlapping cloth from the excess height around the waist, and tie the 3rd koshi-himo. This gives the folding overlap area of excess cloth below the obi.

8 ) Another date-jime over the 3rd koshi-himo to flatten the waist area for the obi.

9) Tie the obi, which is too long to explain in detail. Uses lots of accessories.

10) Tie the obijime to hold the whole obi together.

11) Knot the obiage in the specific pattern and stuff it into the obi, showing just slightly.

I think that’s about it! Viola!

Spare Ribs for Rick, Cornbread and Minty Cous Cous. I ordered a pecan mushroom quiche thingy. Rick took a picture of the food but i had some in my mouth so my expression was kinda wierd.

That’s dessert, sweet potato pie. It’s a bit like cheesecake, but not as heavy and quite pleasant.

Guess we’ll be heading back to the place soon. The cornbread was quite yummy at $5.50 for two big slices. Dinner came to about $60 but we were stuffed and very happy.

A lot more photos but it’s taking too much time resizing them. I like the kite picture as it shows in relative to a small boy how big those kites are. The man in the picture made the kites himself, and was kind enough to let a few others try flying it. The first response was usually at how light the kites look but how much force was needed to hold it.  Was an interesting day and relaxing, apart from Jacob’s ladder and the usual i’m-going-to-die feeling following it. The tea ceremony teacher has been doing it for about 30 years and will be starting classes soon, so if i’m still in Perth hopefully i get to go to her classes. Turn the tea bowl twice clockwise, drink from it, and turn it anti-clockwise twice again. If in doubt, ask.

For now i still need to plan out the venue to meet my Kitsuke teacher!

I didn’t quite get into Miss Maud’s on monday which was disappointing, esp when they say it’s fully book but the restaurant is only half-filled. They didn’t give a time when any tables will be available too, so we walked to Fast Eddy’s instead. Got a steak n seafood combo, and the person taking our order asked if i would like mushroom or BBQ sauce so i said mushroom sauce, and it turned out crap. Only when we were at the cashier did we realize the sauce was an extra $1.50. >_< i thought it came with the steak. Not too happy about it.

Tonigth we went to Jaws Sushi for All You Can Eat and had our fill of sushi. Enough to make us stay away from sushi for a fortnight or so. Rick had 18.5 plates and I had 13.5, and each plate had 2 pieces, so in a span of 45 mins that’s pretty good accomplishment. We were waiting for the flying fish roe but that came out quite late, so by then we ate one piece each hence the .5. I know that it’s really unhealthy to stuff down that much food, but we only go for that all you can eat sushi perhaps once in two months or so, so hopefully it’s not that bad. On the other hand, because we were stuffed to the max, i dropped the idea of making butterscotch pudding tonight.

My kimono teacher has agreed to meet me sometime in October to tutor me in the ways of kimono kitsuke (wearing kimono). I can’t wait but I’m also nervous at the outcome since we have quite a language barrier to overcome. Hopefully I can take some pictures as well.

Fasting is going well, just the reluctance to wake up at 4.30am to eat. Unfortunately a workplace bully has spoil the last few days of fasting by making me seething mad inside and outrightly pissed off at her, which leads to badmouthing her very much. I tried not too but she drew first blood, so I don’t think it’s my fault for being defensive in an aggressive manner. She expects me to be at the lab full time when she’s only paying me 12 hours of work, and hinted that I wasn’t working hard enough to complete the project. She even mentioned her disapproval at my other part time job openly at the lab meeting. What a bitch. I will swear my loyalty to the library i’m at because they are such great people and I never felt worse leaving the place than when i got in, quite the contrary to the lab. There’s a great team leader who always show her appreciation for the things I do, and is such a boss from heaven. In comparison the one in the lab is from hell, always putting me down, unappreciative of my work and playing down my commitment. And since that’s the way she sees it, I don’t see why I should work my ass off at her lab anymore. I guess not everyone are born leaders. Having a doctorate title coupled with old age don’t exactly mean wisdom, especially when no one could find any evidence of her past research papers.

Yes I’m ranting at how annoyed I am and has been. It’s great to have a blog for airing grievances I believe.

Apart from physical discomfort, I try my best to bite my tongue when my co-workers are bitching about office politics. As much as I try, I still add in the conversation because this one lady annoys me very much as she annoys everyone else around. I know I’m not suppose to, but i just felt so angry and pissed off that holding in will only make me angry and resentful so i had to let it out. apart from that, i try to be good. Good prayer room facilities that i can go to when i’m sick of being stuck in the lab, just nice and quiet time i guess (unfortunately because not a lot of people go there).

Can’t wait for Monday. Rick and I will be heading to Miss Maud’s for their buffet dinner to pig in. It’s slightly expensive but when we walked by on friday it looked soooo good. Yummy yum yum!

New phone ringtone: Cuppy Cake song. It’s so cute

Wikipedia explanation of Jacob’s ladder: Jacob’s Ladder refers to a ladder to heaven described in the Book of Genesis (28:11-19) which the biblical patriarch Jacob envisioned during his flight from his brother Esau.

The damn Jacob’s ladder leading up to King’s park was bad enough…i was huffing and puffing and all giddy by the time i got up. But for the Japanese cultural programmes going on I had to..if climbing this jacob’s ladder was already killing me, then i hope the one to heaven might have a teleport option….

Anyway, I got up there and walked about 10 mins on before reaching the Wildflower pavilion, and they had a kimono catwalk demonstration and this Jap lady was dressing two people up, one in adult kimono with the otaiko obi style, and another in bright pink furisode in the sparrow obi style. And there as the translator as well in kimono already. The jap lady makes the kimonos from raw fabric and explains as best as she could the fundamentals of a kimono during the presentation and how to put the whole ensemble of fabric together. So the first thought in my head was ‘She must be brought in from Japan just for this presentation’ but i went ahead and asked if she was based in perth through another translator from the prefecture office. And she said yes! and I asked if she gives classes but she said no…then I tried to push my luck and said i would really like to learn kitsuke (kimono wearing) and I’ve got books but i need someone to demonstrate it to me since it’s in japanese. and she said she don’t mind teaching me, but her english is very limited. So yar! I got the name card of the lady from the prefecture office who said she’ll forward my contact the the teacher. YAY!!!!!! I know i’m pushing it, but maybe I can also learn about making kimonos…=D such luck…=D =D =D

It was drizzling after that and getting cold but it was a good day. In the evening I went to Sri’s place and had dinner there..also met her brother for the first time and the four of us had a good time. Good to see Jerry still alive and well…i think it likes people because when it’s all quiet around he just floats around, but when we’re having a conversation it will be swimming up and down looking very excited…Good that he was good company to small Sri and big Sri.