Embassy of Japan + Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park

(November 24th, Monday. In my Room.)

• On Thursday 20th, I had to take a Black Cab to attend the seminar. It was my first experience. That day, I had been preparing for the class in my room until 5pm. I had thought that I could get to the college by 6pm if I left the dorm at 5pm, because it usually takes about 30 to 40 minutes to go there. But I was overoptimistic in such view as mine. It was not until the bus I took was caught in a terrible traffic jam in Edgware Road that I found that I had failed to consider the rush hour congestion in the evening. As the bus didn't move at all for a while, I ran down the stairs to ask the bus driver to let me get off. At first he declined my request, but when a woman also made the same demand, he allowed us to leave the bus by opening the doors. Then, I hailed a Black Cab in another narrow street and told the driver my destination before getting on. But on the way to the campus, I realized I had another big problem; I had only 8 pounds in cash at that time. So first I asked him if I could pay in credit card or not, and he answered negative. Therefore, I told him that I would get off when the fare meter showed 8 pounds. After leaving the taxi near Tottenham Court Road, I made a mad dash for the classroom. Although I arrived a few minutes late, the discussion itself hadn't started yet. So anyway I didn't miss any part of the seminar.
• In the morning on Friday 21st, I went to the Embassy of Japan to have my passport issued. In order to enter the building, I had to show my Japanese driver's license. After getting in, the security guard gave me full body and luggage checks. In addition, I had to pass through a metal detector. The procedure for getting a new passport was easier than I expected. I had only to fill in the several forms properly and hand in them together with the required documents at the reception. It didn't take one hour longer to finish applying, I suppose. A new passport is going to be issued a week later, which means after 28th on Friday.
• To the Embassy, I walked through Hyde Park. On the way I saw a big white Ferris wheel and many attractions were prepared along the main street to Hyde Park Corner. When I got a free newspaper on my way home from the hairdressing salon in the evening, I read the article that the winter fair called Winter Wonderland would be held in Hyde Park from the following day, and found that what I had seen in the morning was that fair. So today I went to the Park to take pictures while taking a constitutional walk.
• After leaving the Embassy, I went to the hairdressing salon to which I have been before. It was the salon I went for the first time in London, where a few Japanese staffs cut your hair in the very Japanese way. Of course, I went to the local hair salon a few weeks ago, but I wanted to have my hair shorter than the barber did. So this time, I would like to be satisfied with my hair style by telling a Japanese hairdresser my request very well, even if I knew it cost more. I had another reason why I went there. Actually this time, the money didn't so matter because Japanese Yen was becoming strong against British Pound again. I had only to pay 24 pounds this time, which means, if converted, less than 3500yen. I had my hair cut very short. But I feel really comfortable now.

(http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/)

Christmas Illuminations

(Sunday, 16th. In my room.)

• On Saturday 8th, I hung around Picadilly Circus with my friend from Hong Kong. First of all, I had a rendezvous with him in Shaftesbury Statue or Eros Statue at 7pm. Then, we went to the Japanese restaurant called Toku next to Japan Centre. (http://www.toku-restaurant.co.uk/) I ordered a Sushi set, and he had a beef bowl. The taste of Sushi was exactly the same as the one that I used to have in my country. So it was really delicious, though it was a bit expensive for a dish of Sushi. While having our dinner, we talked a lot with each other about ourselves. Although he is younger than I by 7 years, our situations are very similar; we are studying to take a MA degree in the hope of getting a full time job in our own countries. Furthermore, it was found that both of us were interested in music very much. He said he could play the electric guitar, and actually he has brought his guitar to this country with the amplifier. He likes any kind of music ranging from classical music to Japanese popular songs. As for me, I can also play the piano, and my taste for music also covers most of his.
  
• After leaving the restaurant, he showed me around Soho area, teaching me especially where other Japanese restaurants and stores are in the neighbourhood. According to him, he found them when he walked around there the other day. I thanked him a lot for telling me very useful information. In the Brewer Street, there are several Japanese restaurants, particularly Sushi Bars, and a few stores which specialize in Japanese goods. As I didn't know any shops for Japanese except Japan Centre, these were really good to know. After walking around the area for a while, we dropped in Starbucks Coffee. And we took out our iPods and talked about the songs we had in them. I was really surprised at his knowledge of classical music. He told me that he liked Bach's tunes, and his favorite pianist was Glenn Gould. He also knows one of my favorite pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy. Of course, we talked about Japanese singers, too. Anyway, I had a really good time with him that evening.
• A few weeks ago, the decorative illumination for Christmas started lighting Oxford and Regent streets. As I was really fascinated by the brilliant spectacles, I took the pictures and a video of them, which were uploaded here.

The Local Hair Salon + Nike+iPod

(Monday, Nov. 10th. 10am, in the room)

• Two months have passed since I arrived in London. I went to the local hair salon to get a hair cut on Sunday, November 2nd. This was my first experience. Even when I stayed in Cambridge 10 years ago for 2 months, I have never been to barber's shops in the city. So I was a bit nervous. My chief concern was how I should tell a hairdresser my request of hairstyle. Before going out, I searched on the Internet, as usual, for any useful English phrases which I need in my case. Then, I've learned that I have only to tell him/her "I'd like to have the back and sides tapered, and trim others a bit". Leaving the dormitory, first I walked around the neighbor in search of hair salons. I could find a few by just 20 minutes walking. The first one I entered was very crowded, so the man at the cashier said to me, "Could you come in half an hour?" Replying to it, I headed back to the students' hall. On the way to it, I found another shop where nobody was there except a middle-aged man. The shop looked very tidy and the price list also hung on the wall, so I thought of it as a creditable one, and took the courage to get in there. The man was the barber, who welcomed me kindly. When I said, "I'd like to get a hair cut." he answered, "OK" and led me to the seat. Putting me on the cape, he looked at me in the mirror and tried to ask my request. As I was seeing his actions carefully, I readily spoke out that phrase I had practiced before going out. When I tried to finish the first half of the sentence, namely, "I'd like to have the back and sides tapered...", the man cut in me to say "with the machine?". So I had only to answer, "Yes." He asked then the second question to me. "Which number? 2? or 3?" I had already known that these numbers referred to the length to taper, and that no.1 meant the shortest and no. 4 was the longest prepared for the crew cut, which we call "Sports Cut" in Japanese. Therefore, I immediately responded to it, "No.4, please." "Then, not too short?" was his third question, and I repeated his words to confirm it. These had been the conversation between us before he started to cut my hair. When he finished the task with the machine, he continued to deal with other parts. First he inquired about my request for them. So I told him that I wanted to have them trimmed a bit. It took him about 20 minutes to finish all of his tasks. After wiping hair dusts off the cape, he just said, "Thank you." I stood up and paid £10 to him.
• On Monday 3rd and Friday 7th, I went running to Hyde Park. A few weeks ago, when Japanese Yen was very strong against GBP, I bought a new iPod nano released a few days before and "Nike + iPod" at the official apple store in Oxford Street with my Visa card, because I had always wanted to know especially how much distance and how long I've run everytime I finished working out. When I first used them on Monday, I found these systems wonderful and fantastic. Not only can you listen to your favorite music while you're jogging, but also it let you know the running distance and duration, and pace. Furthermore, you can also learn how much calorie you have consumed in the training. Thanks to these systems, I felt like keeping the exercise. Here I uploaded the latest running log.
  

A Big Blunder.

(02/11/08, at 6pm, in the room)

• I made a big blunder on Thursday 30th; I had been terribly tired from exercising too much since the previous day. So my brain didn't work well in the morning that day. I was feeling very sleepy while I was on the bus to the college. I think I fell into a lapse of attention. When I got off the bus, I found that I didn't have my passport in my pocket! So I immediately went back to the bus, which had still stopped there because it was the one which terminates there, and ask the driver to let me in again. When I said to him, "I'm sorry, but I think I left my passport inside", he opened the doors with readiness. Then, I ran up the stairs to look around the front row seat, which I usually take. But I couldn't find it, so I gave up and exit the bus with the hope that I left it in my room that day. When I went to the toilet in the library after that, I remembered that I had had a seat in the middle row that morning. But when I recalled it, it was too late. Still I couldn't give up the hope, I returned to the bus stop again, and took another bus to the dormitory. Eventually, however, I couldn't find it on the desk in my room. So I got upset for a while about the fact that I absolutely lost my passport. I searched for any information on the Internet about what I should do in such a case. I collected it as much as I could, so it took a few hours to know exactly what I must do. At 12:30pm, I was supposed to attend the welcome lunch for the international students of the course, but when I remembered it to look at my watch, it showed it was 2pm. So I missed another chance to get to know other classmates though I had made a positive reply to the invitation. In spite of that shocking happening, I prepared anyway for the seminar of the day and attended it in the evening. After the seminar, the library induction was held, where I could learn how to make the most use of the library catalogue with the terminals.
• On Friday morning, I went on foot to the Paddington Green Police Station, which is, I had learned before that, the nearest police station from my accommodation. At the station, it didn't take longer than I expected to report that I had lost my passport. I had only to say a few words at the reception. The officer wrote some documents, which I should bring to the Japanese embassy with my family register. As for the latter, I had called my father to ask him to get and send it to me before going there. He told me that it would take several days for the municipal government to issue it. So I knew that I had to wait for it patiently. Leaving the police station, I headed to the Oxford Street to buy some sweaters. I had brought 2 black ones from Japan, but they were not enough. So at first I looked around several shops. But at last I found and went into the UniQlo and get two sweaters. When I got home, I prepared for the following day's class in the evening, and went to bed.
• It was raining all day long on Saturday November 1st. I attended the language class in the morning, and took a nap in the afternoon. For my dinner that day, I went to buy the Doner Kebab, which I had already eaten a few times before and I liked very much. The picture I added on left shows the small size of the Doner Kebab which I bought that day, and the one on the right side is its full large set with chips & drink, which I had bought several weeks before. I attached to this entry the general information of Doner Kebab on Wikipedia. That's all for these three days.
• Döner kebab (Turkish döner kebap, literally "turning roast"), is a Turkish national dish made of meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off to order. The meat may be lamb, mutton, beef, goat, or chicken. Alternative names include kebab, donair, döner, ντονερ, doner or donner. Döner Kebab is the origin of other similar Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes such as shawarma and gyros. A version developed to suit German tastes by Turkish immigrants in Berlin has become one of Germany's most popular fast food dishes, and Turkish emigrants export German döners back into their home country. [Wikipedia "Doner Kebab"]