Another weekend almost over. The countdown is beginning. It seems we have little more than two months left in Tokyo. I'm beginning to get panicky. I don't want to leave this place. We've had so much fun here, met some very nice people. It will be difficult to say goodbye. Brad and I feel we must begin to make a list of things we want to be sure to do before we leave. Places we want to be sure to go to. Mementos we want to be sure to bring back with us.
Also beginning to look ahead to our new home, North Yorkshire, England. From all reports it is beautiful there. The weather will be dreadful, though -- frequent rain, often cold, not much snow but plenty of fog.
Today Heather and Graham invited us to join them in a drive to Nishi Ogikubo to go shopping in the antique stores there. We've been to Nishiogi before by train -- a totally different experience going by car, as Heather and Graham prefer to travel. Personally, I found the drive a bit annoying. We were constantly losing our way, scurrying down narrow streets, searching for parking spaces, getting stuck in traffic and then looking for alternate routes. I would so much have preferred to have just caught the train and not worry about all those hassles that go with driving. Nonetheless, we enjoy Heather and Graham's company. It was fun poking in and out of the antique shops. Most of them were carrying items that were far to expensive for our budget. We saw some beautiful lamps, porcelain, lacquerware, kimono and furniture. We also saw a lot of gaudy kitsch. Had fun ordering lunch in a Chinese restaurant where there was not a word of English on the menu. We "landed on our feet" as H & G would put it (they're filling us in on many Britishisms) and had a delicious meal.
As for shopping, we ended up empty handed. Better luck next time, I hope. But the scary part is, there won't be that many more next times! Heather and I have plans to scope out woodblock prints in Kanda on Wednesday. Brad and I would like to take home one or two nice prints. We came across a whole box of prints in one of the shops today. The asking price was ¥45,000 ($380). We thought we might be able to bargain him down to ¥30,000-35,000 ($250-$300), but will compare what we saw today to what we come across on Wednesday. I'm not convinced of the quality of the prints we saw today. It was so odd to see a whole box of woodblock prints like that. Several were the same scene but with different colors. I have a theory they are practice prints by up an coming artists who were copying master works. Just a hunch on my part. I have nothing whatsoever to back up my suspicions.
Also beginning to look ahead to our new home, North Yorkshire, England. From all reports it is beautiful there. The weather will be dreadful, though -- frequent rain, often cold, not much snow but plenty of fog.
Today Heather and Graham invited us to join them in a drive to Nishi Ogikubo to go shopping in the antique stores there. We've been to Nishiogi before by train -- a totally different experience going by car, as Heather and Graham prefer to travel. Personally, I found the drive a bit annoying. We were constantly losing our way, scurrying down narrow streets, searching for parking spaces, getting stuck in traffic and then looking for alternate routes. I would so much have preferred to have just caught the train and not worry about all those hassles that go with driving. Nonetheless, we enjoy Heather and Graham's company. It was fun poking in and out of the antique shops. Most of them were carrying items that were far to expensive for our budget. We saw some beautiful lamps, porcelain, lacquerware, kimono and furniture. We also saw a lot of gaudy kitsch. Had fun ordering lunch in a Chinese restaurant where there was not a word of English on the menu. We "landed on our feet" as H & G would put it (they're filling us in on many Britishisms) and had a delicious meal.
As for shopping, we ended up empty handed. Better luck next time, I hope. But the scary part is, there won't be that many more next times! Heather and I have plans to scope out woodblock prints in Kanda on Wednesday. Brad and I would like to take home one or two nice prints. We came across a whole box of prints in one of the shops today. The asking price was ¥45,000 ($380). We thought we might be able to bargain him down to ¥30,000-35,000 ($250-$300), but will compare what we saw today to what we come across on Wednesday. I'm not convinced of the quality of the prints we saw today. It was so odd to see a whole box of woodblock prints like that. Several were the same scene but with different colors. I have a theory they are practice prints by up an coming artists who were copying master works. Just a hunch on my part. I have nothing whatsoever to back up my suspicions.
posted by lenora at 7:27 AM
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