shibiru no wakusei

always nice to spend time with friends at the Rhein river in my hometown Basel

2007-05-21T02:16:00.001-07:00

Ljupka and me, funny face.....uiuiui...

so so so - sorry long time no blogging, but don't worry, i don't forget to....... ! ! !

2007-05-21T02:15:00.001-07:00

Easter break - end of winter season in the eastern Swiss Alps

2007-04-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

me and hammocks - so difficult! again i fell out, but this time i didn't break the hammock, hahahhhha :-D

but it's really so cool, my friend Andrea and me were so happily surprised to find great colorful hammocks in the snowy ski area!!!!!! seems like paradise ^_^

and they are like ships, a wooden structure to hold the confortable tissue. wonderful feeling :-D

hitchhiking trip

2007-03-09T01:43:00.000-08:00

in okinawa, the cherry blossoms bloom early. so i went up north with my hitchhiking driver. he said he is a dog. as a present i gave him one chopstick. the other one i kept. it's about sharing.
first we went to the Manza cliffs. wow! nice!
then reached Nago and Yaedake mountain. I fulfilled my "pilgrimage" and went up to watch the cherry blossoms. so beautiful. and at the same place: jungle.
orion is the beer of okinawa. they even have sakura beer (cherry blossom beer).

the story of the hammock

2007-03-09T01:37:00.000-08:00

for me the image of okinawa is sandbeach, ocean, palmtree and - hammock. but where is the hammock? everything always there, but no hammock. always searching for it. suddenly, in a garden of a guesthouse, we found one. so excited!! i entered, and tried to find the right position. moving a little, trying to feel confortable, and, crash! hammock and me: on the floor. no pain.

in the swiss alps

2007-03-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

beautiful moon
the bus riding away in the idyllic mountain village Sent
my parents enjoyin' skiing

ibex/capricorn is the official animal of the Kanton Graubünden, eastern part of Switzerland
my friend Raphaela

surfing

2007-02-28T02:16:00.000-08:00

i found some good people in itoman. from the famous surfshop. only one time i went surfing, first but not last time. took off 3 times, unfortunately the instructor's cam went diving in the ocean, so no pix of that :-(

a mysterious place

2007-02-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

with eriko and ryota

2007-02-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

just drive

2007-02-26T09:18:00.000-08:00

BonBon Café

2007-02-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

With Daisetsu (his name means "large snow") and Tomoe (her name means "painting knowledge") I spent a great time in the Bon Bon Café, and also in other places. They both speak German pretty well.

strange things happen

2007-02-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

in summer 2006, anna banana and didi (my oldest nickname) met in a train near zurich in switzerland. we talked for about one minute and exchanged addresses. we wrote each other quite often, and that's how it all went on. in january 2007 we finally had the chance to meet again. she came back to japan to nagoya, her hometown, and visited me in kyoto. (her break from chinese medicine school in beijing, where she studies now).
we spent 2 amazing days together in kyoto. felt like being such good friends even though we only met for the second time. can't wait to see her next time!!!

Basler Fasnacht 2007

2007-02-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

またね　! !☆♪

2007-02-22T14:48:00.001-08:00

OK now i go back to switzerland, but i will be back here soon. maybe already this summer.

(eating sugarplant in okinawa)

calming down....just so glad...finally back in kyoto.

2007-02-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

I am not dreaming anymore

2007-01-21T04:07:00.000-08:00

purikura

2007-01-15T03:41:00.000-08:00

Chihiro my friend

2007-01-14T04:08:00.000-08:00

we first met in kansas 8 years ago. 3 years ago i was her guest in osaka. now we met again in osaka. i am so glad she's doing fine.

2007-01-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

the gift of the olivetree

2007-01-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

mecha umai

2007-01-12T02:20:00.000-08:00

laughing a lot with Mai and Masa

2007-01-10T05:53:00.000-08:00

first little success

2007-01-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

step by step i'm being indulged in design life. and i never want to let go of it. here one of my projects was printed in the SMART HOMES magazine, the issue of this January 2007.

Dynaland in Gifu Prefecture

2007-01-07T17:49:00.000-08:00

wow. i cannot believe it. wonderful experience. snowboarding in japan. and in the skigelende (yes, the japanese do use the german word) eating sushi for lunch.
japanese people touch me so deeply. they are so strong in mind. they keep going on even when it is so hard. this is one of so many things i can learn from them.

röschti und züri gschnätzlets with office members Shuu and Keiko

2007-01-06T01:30:00.000-08:00

traditional new year's eve

2007-01-06T01:17:00.000-08:00

eating toshi koshi soba with Mai

at Chion-ji temple

Tokushima

2007-01-04T16:53:00.000-08:00

Takamatsu

2007-01-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

Naoshima 10: ferry boat to Takamatsu

2007-01-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

Naoshima 09

2007-01-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

Naoshima 08: Ando Tadao

2007-01-04T16:36:00.000-08:00

Tadao Ando, famous Japanese architect, created an unbelievable atmosphere over this island. inside no pictures can be taken. if you can go there someday, you are so lucky and you will come back as a different person.

Naoshima 07: views

2007-01-04T16:33:00.000-08:00

Naoshima 06: huge trash bin

2007-01-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

Naoshima 05: octopus hung out to dry

2007-01-04T16:23:00.000-08:00

Naoshima 04: children playing in and around pumpkins

2007-01-04T16:19:00.000-08:00

Naoshima 03: civilization

2007-01-04T16:12:00.000-08:00

Naoshima 02: Go'o Shrine

2007-01-04T16:01:00.000-08:00

this is one of the 4 art house projects. it's very special, first you can see the glass stairs overground, and as you walk into the tunnel, you can see how they raise from underground.

Naoshima 01: wonderful island in shikoku

2007-01-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

on this island noone spoke english, which was so peaceful. everybody was so kind to me and we had great conversations, even if my japanese isn't splendid yet.

KARAOKE

2006-12-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

end of the year party

2006-12-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

of course my boss is smiling, too: the one in the white fine striped shirt.

snow falling in kyoto

2006-12-29T02:30:00.000-08:00

x-mas 2006

2006-12-27T17:55:00.000-08:00

as you can see, mitsuko and i enjoyed a good sushi dinner.

delicious dinner

2006-12-23T17:04:00.000-08:00

Ryota invited Eriko and me for dinner at a traditional 100-year old Kyoto restaurant owned by his family. They really spoiled us, so many good dishes, it seemed never ending.......on the way home we saw a maiko girl, which you meet quite often on the streets.

2006-12-23T16:50:00.000-08:00

I spent a great day with Eriko and her boyfriend Ryota, who is also designer. we visited Sanjusangendo, where you can see 1001 golden sculptures, it's amazing! the architecture in the garden is painted in the shuiro color, which you can see so often in japan, and which is my favourite color ;-D. and we visited Byodoin temple in Uji, one hour south of Kyoto, which is the temple displayed on the 10 Yen coin. On the rooftop there are 2 phoenix firebirds, which protect the temple. its architecture is itself in the shape of a phoenix. inside there is a huge golden buddha.

Hamamatsu

2006-12-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

After visiting YAMAHA, we had a fun night in hamamatsu. with my work colleagues (the YAMAHA designers) Iekura-san and Shuu I visited the YAMAHA showroom and the act tower, a building full of classical music elements. from above you have a nice view over the city, on the pic you can see the art and design university (wave-shaped building) and so on. and on one pic you can see the shinkansen from above. we also saw the street signs and information boards designed by my office. afterwards we ate unagi, which is eel, and especially a traditional dish of hamamatsu. Mmmmmmmm.

visiting YAMAHA

2006-12-23T16:24:00.000-08:00

I had the great chance to visit the YAMAHA design department in Hamamatsu, a city 1 1/2 hours by Shinkansen east from Kyoto. i saw the prototypes of the outboards and could try to do clay modelling, which is pretty difficult.

YURAKUSO

2006-12-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

That is where I live. if i want to take a shower or to cook something, i have to go outside and walk around the house; kitchen and shower are in a room which is half outside. sometimes it's pretty cold ;-D but i don't mind. life is great here, and so are my flatmates and my room and the price.

delicious sushi for 5 swiss francs

2006-12-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

to osaka with keiko

2006-12-16T20:37:00.000-08:00

saturday is day off at our office, so keiko and me went to osaka. we looked at the expo '70 park, where you can see taiyo no to, a huge statue of the sun. we got there by the monorail train. keiko also showed me a lot of cool design shops in the shinsaibashi area. dinner we ate at an umeshu restaurant - that is a place where they have 100 different kinds of umeshu, which is delicious japanese plum liqueur.

with my former hostmother

2006-12-16T18:44:00.000-08:00

2 years ago when studying japanese in kanazawa, i lived at yoshikawa-san's house. she is a 76-year-old woman, so energetic and talkative you couldn't imagine. she is so cool, laughing and talking all the time, mainly in japanese.
so last sunday, we went together to kodaiji and san boin. a huge buddha in the nature, and nice temples. a wedding was taking place that day.
and we also went on top of kyoto tower - great view over the city.

Prinz

2006-12-16T18:40:00.001-08:00

another design café from Shin Nishibori

japanese love cheese!!!

2006-12-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

so we cooked a swiss cheese fondue at my place. and they have a splendid imagination: they did not only dump bread and pears in the cheese, but also all kinds of other fruits, and pickles, chips and even ice cream and jelly! not bad! and you can see the real size of a sake bottle, here shown on the picture standing next to a regular 75 ml wine bottle. the sake bottle contains 1800 ml. quite big, eh?!

heeeeeeeeeelp!!!!!

2006-12-03T03:09:00.000-08:00

i cannot post any pictures anymore!!!!

what the heck happened to my blog programme?!
anyway i try to fix it as soon as possible.

cheers!

e-fish

2006-12-01T04:03:00.000-08:00

a designer's café of the famous japanese designer shin nishibori. though he now lives in san francisco and is working for apple.

private party at the bakery

2006-12-01T03:46:00.000-08:00

view from outside to the inside
joyful atmosphere
tastes good
mitsuko (in white)
finally a typical japanese picture ^_^
crab meat
more than enough
olivier and the baker mitsutake
and of course also children shouldn't be missing

there is a good bakery nearby our house. my frenchcanadian flatmate goes there everyday, and also my japanese flatmate mitsuko goes there from time to time, and so do i. we made friends with the bakery people and they invited us to a nabe-pot-dinner, which they cooked for us inside the bakery. the whole sales-team, the baker guys and the 2 boss brothers spoiled us with food and drinks.

basashi = raw horse meat, in osaka

2006-11-27T03:56:00.000-08:00

when i went to osaka to meet my tandem language partner, who studied with me in switzerland and was now in japan on business trip for 3 weeks, we ate basashi together. that's fresh raw horse meat. one of my former flatmates, who is chinese, told me i'd be crazy, when he heard it. not even in his country they would eat it. so i am really bad, so sorry........but it really does taste good!!! later someone told me it'd be very expensive - lucky me, i was invited ;-D

autumn colors

2006-11-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

kamigamo shrine

2006-11-24T18:45:00.000-08:00

Super Jankara

2006-11-23T05:55:00.000-08:00

first company dinner where we ate chanko nabe, which is the sumo wrestler's daily meal, then move on to an izakaya (= typical japanese drinking place), and then to Super Jankara Karaoke "paradise" till 4 in the morning. it's the blast! definitely one of my deepest passions ^_^ unfortunately the pix didn't turn out good at all, so here no pix, but surely next time, 'cause this wasn't the last time for sure! and back in switzerland we'll have a karaoke party, ok?!

contrast between modernity and tradition

2006-11-19T02:39:00.000-08:00

what is most fascinating to me here in japan, is this again and again appearing contrast between traditional and modern life. this pic just an example....

party at tanimoto-san's flat

2006-11-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

after being invited from my work colleague eriko-san to a good french dinner in a nice restaurant, we went to tanimoto-san's flat, who's also working with us. with some office people we had a pleasant night, until 5 in the morning.......we had very interesting chats and laughed a lot. tanimoto and shimizu even wrote my name in a special way, they translated it from katakana to kanji, and it means something very special......haha.

café indepéndants

2006-11-18T18:11:00.000-08:00

a very nice café, created by a famous japanese artist, is the café indepéndants in the center of kyoto. i went there with kazuma, one of my tandem language exchange partners.

my cousin's visit

2006-11-18T18:06:00.000-08:00

my cousin 2nd degree and her mother, who is cambodian, came to visit me. they made a 2-week trip through japan and stopped by in kyoto. we enjoyed the evening together and ate okonomiyaki in a traditional restaurant.

hichi go san

2006-11-17T20:58:00.000-08:00

the 7, 5 and 3-year-olds dressed in kimono gathering at the heian jingu shrine.

i'm getting asianized.

2006-11-16T17:12:00.000-08:00

eating rice everyday, drinking japanese tea, sleeping on futon, trying to talk japanese as much as possible, eating raw fish, drinking japanese beer, going to onsen bath, working asian style, listening to j-pop, writing kanji, , , , , , , i just can't help it, i'm really getting asianized. you can see the proof when looking at this pic, where you see me having blonde curls some years ago, and comparing it with all the other current pix..!

studying kanji

2006-11-15T05:48:00.000-08:00

now i am studying japanese language and the writing systems everyday. kanji is quite interesting, because almost everything makes sense in a way. my flatmates and me cheer each other on, it's really motivating, and also the japanese people help me a lot.

...party in my room continues

2006-11-13T03:56:00.000-08:00

we really enjoyed freaking out after tough working days.

back in kyoto: party in my room...

2006-11-13T03:50:00.000-08:00

we don't have a common room in the house we live, so we usually party in our rooms. here we are having the blast in my room. and you see, even at parties, japanese girls are eager to study. so these are my 2 great japanese flatmates, and then there is some crazy frenchcanadian and an amerika-gin. it's awesome to live with them!!!

tokyo 15: meeting saryako

2006-11-13T03:47:00.000-08:00

after not seeing her for almost 2 years, i met sarah ayako alias sista saryako in tokyo. she went with me to highschool in basel, and is now working as a make-up artist in tokyo. we spent a nice day together, talking and laughing a lot.

tokyo 14: sake experience with my boss

2006-11-13T03:42:00.000-08:00

after helping my boss knocking down and cleaning up the exhibition of our company, he invited me and another work colleague to eat good sushi and to drink sake, japanese rice wine. as generous as the japanese always are (i really enjoy gettin' spoiled so much ;-D), they not only give you a glass of sake, but also fill a wooden box around it with sake, so you surely get enough. and we also drank some warm sake; well i prefer the cold one. was a fun evening, and i was kinda shaking in the end.......

tokyo 13: J-Pop Café

2006-11-13T03:40:00.000-08:00

japanese pop music is a lot of fun, just so cool. and so is the J-Pop Café in the 7th floor of a building in shibuya.

tokyo 12: capsule hotel

2006-11-13T03:31:00.000-08:00

after staying 4 nights in a cheap traditional ryokan, i felt like trying an other option, actually about the cheapest in japan: a capsule hotel. at the entrance you take off your shoes and put them into a locker ("rocker", as japanese say ^_^ ), buy the ticket at a machine and as a woman, take the elevator to the 8th floor. there you can lock your luggage in a locker, and then wear the nice goan they provide you. then take an "o furo" in the 9th floor, a japanese bath, and enjoy the view from the balcony. if you want, you can do it like i did: walk by accident into the men's bath and shock some halfnaked man 'cause i couldn't read the kanji signs ;-! and then go down to the 8th floor and hop into the capsule. you even got a tv in there, a radio, an alarm clock and a mirror. not bad, huh?!

tokyo 11: asakusa

2006-11-13T03:30:00.000-08:00

temple in asakusa area where i lived.

tokyo 10: nightlife in roppongi

2006-11-13T03:26:00.000-08:00

roppongi is the true area to go out.

tokyo 09: more kids in harajuku

2006-11-13T03:24:00.000-08:00

tokyo 08: crazy kids in harajuku

2006-11-13T03:22:00.000-08:00

tokyo 07: 100% Design Tokyo and Tokyo Designer's Week

2006-11-13T03:18:00.000-08:00

of course i couldn't miss it. great chance to see some modern japanese and other countries' young designers works.

tokyo 06: louis vuitton

2006-11-13T03:17:00.000-08:00

tokyo 05: omotesando

2006-11-13T03:14:00.000-08:00

in omotesando, the other luxurious area. the prada building from the swiss architects herzog & de meuron, and the cartier building.

tokyo 04: ginza

2006-11-13T03:11:00.000-08:00

ginza, the luxurious area.

tokyo 03: beer

2006-11-13T01:47:00.000-08:00

yeah, there's definitely enough beer in japan. on the first pic you can see philippe starck's asahi beer brewery in asakusa. i took that pic from the 9th floor balcony of the capsule hotel i stayed at.

tokyo 02: streetlights in shibuya

2006-11-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

Q-Front, and the busiest crossing in the world in shibuya quarter.

tokyo 01: NOZOMI and me

2006-11-12T15:16:00.000-08:00

tokyo is always an experience. it was a kind of business trip. business trip, 'cause my boss paid me the ticket for NOZOMI Shinkansen, the fastest train ever - wow! for me it turned out to be a fun trip, of course ;-DDD
i also visited some important design exhibitions and i had the chance to visit the tokyo industrial design branch of the company i work at in kyoto. and i helped my boss taking down his exhibition. see later pix.

osaka

2006-11-12T15:09:00.000-08:00

with my frenchcanadian flatmate i went to osaka - finally ocean!!!!!! and we went to visit the exhibition of ingo maurer, the light designer, which was fascinating, especially the LED table.

eating okonomiyaki with naoki

2006-11-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

here you can see my friend naoki, whom i met in kyoto 2 years ago, and who visited me in switzerland last winter. we ate okonomiyaki, a kind of omelett dinner made of rice or noodles, maybe eggs, vegetable, squid and so on, which you fry on a hot plate right in front of you. i drew a face on it with mayonnaise, and he thought it was a portrait of him; well actually not my intention, but maybe not too far away, just the nose would be a little too big ;---)

lunchbreaks

2006-11-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

with the young people from my company we often eat in the park at the point, where the 2 rivers meet, or at a shrine, or in the imperial palace garden. on one pic you can see me next to eriko-san, my great work colleague. you also see another one playing sanshin, an instrument from okinawa, the tropical islands in the south of japan.

my room

2006-11-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

i have the great chance to live in a traditional japanese style tatami room with futon, which you can roll away during the day to have more space in the room. very convenient. you can also see my improvised clothes hanging line made of dental floss. it lasts and lasts and lasts. try it, it's unbelievably strong! well to be honest, it's not my idea, actually it's from lonely planet ^_^
and i got a fridge, which is great, and of course the tea and coffee set can't be missing.

william tell goes japan

2006-11-12T14:23:00.000-08:00

first sunday i was here, my flatmates and me went to see a special ceremony at the kamigamo shrine near our house. horseriders shot with crossbows to wooden objects, and it reminded us of the swiss national hero william tell, even japanese people say this!

losing weight, but how......

2006-11-12T14:18:00.000-08:00

when there is a vending machine with sweet drinks right next to it?!???

environment

2006-11-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

some pix of the region i live in. cute little children, the kamogawa river......there is a lot of beautiful nature in japan, and then the dense cities, it's an amazing contrast.

JPN welcome to kyoto!!!

2006-11-12T05:59:00.000-08:00

kyoto, japan. this is my new home. a real dream coming true. it is just amazing here. i cannot explain, it just feels so good.......i wish i could share all my impressions with you. i try my best on this blog. don't hesitate to ask me about more, and i'm always happy about feedback. oh yes, and please excuse me: my blog is kinda messy, but that's just how i am: a chaotic wild lil girl, can't help it ;-DDD
by the way here you can see the kyoto tower. it's right next to kyoto station.

in my dreams i'm a real sushi-chef

2006-11-12T05:56:00.000-08:00

i like to cook sushi. especially with friends. it's fun and quite easy, and it tastes soooo good. well we always make too much, until we cannot get up anymore from eating too much....next time please join us and help us eat 'em.........!

some impressions of my life......

2006-11-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

i used to play a lot of pool, in my relatives' house in the ticino, the italian speaking part of switzerland. now i'm kinda out of practice, but i still like to do it from time to time to relax and enjoy time with friends.

presenting my friends design project....an air moisturizer

2006-11-12T05:48:00.000-08:00

here you see something which is very important to me and makes my life so interesting: my studies. industrial design fascinates me so much and i wanna improve my skills and gain a lot of experience. communication and helpful feedback among students is very important.

2006-11-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

i really like to party. but that's not all in life. there is much more. i never want to stop studying, learning about design, improving my skills, learning japanese, get wiser, and learn about life. oh yeah, and it's fun to dress up! at the moment the color pink is really cracking me up!!!

what i do in winter, besides studying

2006-11-11T21:12:00.000-08:00

i love snow, and sports, and so wintersports and mostly snowboarding. if you have the chance, let's meet in the mountains and go for a ride together. by the way, i used to be a snowboard instructor. but now i'm gettin' kinda old and my bones weak, so i can only sledge down on my ass.......too bad. well as you might guess, i'm JFK: Just Fucking Kidding. (*'v'*)
and i also like to party. here some pix of new year's eve 2005 in sent, the engadine, in the eastern part of switzerland where we were 11 friends celebrating together.

how i appeared......

2006-11-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

for some reason i was put out to live, and now i'm jumping in the air, i'm breathing, laughing, crying, trembling, but most of all dreaming. here some impressions of my great family, which support me so much: these pix were taken at the 30th anniversary of my parents' marriage, we ate in a good restaurant in my hometown basel and my brother and i gave them a 30 year old good wine bottle. we ate hotate (Jakobsmuscheln, coquilles St.Jaques, scallops).

welcome to my planet!!

2006-11-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

welcome! you made it! you found my blogpage, the entrance to my world....dive in!