Friday, September 29, 2006

Precious Previous weekend

It was really great to see Haruko after all these years. We got on as though we had never been apart. We are both only children and share surprisingly similar tastes and views about life.


Saturday we went shopping on Regents and Oxford Streets, ate dim sum in Chinatown, and had tea and dessert at Yauatcha in Soho. She had brought a class photo and we tried to remember the names of all the girls...who had saggy socks or side ponytails, the names of our teachers, and how Miss Roberts ruled with an iron fist.

Sunday, neither of us felt well - she with a dodgy tum, and me with the usual pounding headache. We both took naps and she came over to see me at home around 3pm where we looked at photos and smelled perfumes and girlie things like that. Then we went for a walk in Regent's Park and even made it as far as the Queen Mary Rose Garden where we took lots of photos of roses.

Monday and Tuesday she went to Edinburgh to see her old university chums.

On Wednesday evening she came to the City, where she had wanted to hear evensong at St Paul's because she likes organ music. Then I took her to le Coq d'Argent at Poultry where we had rooftop views over the City, and enjoyed a cocktail. After that we went up to Finchley Road where we had Indian food at a restaurant I know, and the manager told me he hadn't seen me in months.

She thanked me for being her friend and being so kind all those years ago. When I visit her in Tokyo one day, she will take me to Kyoto.

On Wednesday evening, she wished she could stay another week. Two and a half days were totally not enough to catch up on 18 years!

**********

I promise there will be better pictures when she sends the ones she took :)



St Paul's Cathedral - 4.21pm, Monday 25th September





A very old top (gift from Lydia) paired with a skirt I bought when Haruko and I went clothes shopping!





Haruko after Dim Sum in Chinatown (her choice)




She gave me a pretty little phone charm...




...and a green tea canister with pretty sweets, including a sugar rabbit, in a gift basket...




...and really good incense. Check out all the rabbits here too...

I'd love to say more, but am yawning my head off and haven't even packed for the weekend. I had to blog about last weekend before experiencing this weekend!

Kali nichta

13 comments:

The Moody Minstrel said...

とても楽しい週末だったらしい。教えてくれて有難う御座います。

(Translation: I can tell it was an enjoyable weekend. Thanks for telling me about it.)

I always enjoy visiting Kyoto. I hope you will, too.

Word verification (English) tanka:

Verily I say:
Vicious though the years may be,
Here you are again!
May the bond twixt you and me,
Continue for eternity.

michelle said...

sounds like u had a lovely time!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you had a lovely time with Haruko. When true friends meet again after years apart, it's like you've never parted.

Yes, be sure to insist on a trip to Kyoto! Tokyo is fun, glamorous, and exciting, but Kyoto is a little piece of heaven on earth, especially the hidden places that aren't in the guidebooks.

Um Naief said...

sounds like a wonderful few days w/ your friend. the shirt and skirt look nice together. i love incense... what is it about the rabbits?

you're packing?? where are you going?

Olivia said...

Minstrel - you're an expert at this tanka business - even got it to fit the occasion. Gosh.

Um, did you really just type a string of question marks???

****

Jia Li - yes, and now she misses me again!

****

Mers - spot on about the friends. I love discovering pieces of heaven on earth, so I very much look forward to one day going to Kyoto

****

Tooners - thanks!
The rabbits are the theme at the shop she bought them in. At the time she didn't know I love bunnies.

I went away to see friends this weekend, so yet another blog coming up!

The Moody Minstrel said...

Question marks????

Uh, oh...I guess your browser doesn't have multi-lingual support. Sorry about that. I typed a line in Japanese.

And today's word verificaton limerick:
The line that you see on the screen,
Zipped into question marks...oh, how mean!
Xenophobic text system
Leaving out what I've written.
MS, is your boss Palpatine?

ChrisinMB said...

I see the characters.
That's funny, I guess I have multi-lingual support & didn't even know it!

moody, how the heck did you type that out? Special keyboard?

Um Naief said...

moody, i see the text... but i also have a multi-lingual system. it just amazes me that you know japanese... and the limericks... great ones!

Anonymous said...

Minstrel - yes, I figured it was Japanese, but it came out as ???. BTW, I use Firefox at home. Aren't I geeky?

Here at work on IE, it looks like boxes.

Oh i am in such a bad mood today, i will have to blog about it before i can bother you lot with my weekend. can you believe i meant to say "bother to blog about my weekend"?

Gah!

P.S. Minstrel - How do you always come up with those apt limericks? you are so clever!

***

Chris - hellew stranger!
Well, as Minstrel lives in Japan, he no doubt has a Jp keyboard. Tell you what, those things are crammed with characters AND letters!

***

Tooners - I need a hug *pout*

If I'm still in this (ahem, pms) mood when I get home I shall have to vent a bit, sorry y'all...

Leilouta said...

I love the skirt and the little detail on the waist.

The Moody Minstrel said...

I use Firefox at home and Internet Exploder at work. The computers I use in both places are all Japanese models, so Japanese language support is built in, and they have Japanese keyboards. (That's how I'm able to type them out.)

Yes, they use Japanese-language Windows...except the one that is a Japanese-language Mac G5. Yes, that does pose a problem to me from time to time...

One of the reasons I'm going nuts with these word verification poems and lyrical postings is that I want to keep my mental muscles from getting too soft. Believe m, it has been giving me a serious headache, but I'm lovin' it.

Alfanan, I'd be more than happy to have you come and visit sometime (though I'd be embarrassed to pain if you saw the littly hobbyist's setup that constitutes my home "studio"...).

Another one of these:
I cannot seem to soothe my aching mind.
Quiescence never seems to be my way.
For if another comment thread I find,
Zap...again my muse comes into play.
Remember, "Minstrel" is my name,
Word verification is my game.

ML said...

Sounds like a rip roaring weekend. I love that outfit...skirt and top. Nice style!

panda_eyed said...

I missed this post! I love the skirt - esp the little buckle - cute! The gifts - bunnies! Hehe, you're renowned for bunny snogging worldwide!