Sushi Dating potential

Tomorrow night I have yet another first date.  I am going to have sushi at a new building in Akasaka (Sacas) and she upgraded from a drink to dinner, which is nice.  Not sure what style of restaurant or how expensive, it could be a disaster, but hopefully there will be nihonshu so if we get that happy sake buzz that I know so well, then we could have a great night.  I just want a relaxed and fun evening and expand my network a bit.  If something romantic develops, then that is a bonus, of course.

I am not sure if Y is my friend again yet, or not, but she is the one who changed, not me.  So, for her I have coined a new phrase: “frenemy“, because she is both my friend and my enemy but I do not yet know which one.  Difficult because I see her every day and hear her voice and wonder why it ended so abruptly…

Kitanomaru secret spot

I found a nice spot for a Sunday picnic or afternoon reading a book. In fact, that is what I did on Sunday afternoon, with Sakura petals falling all around me and the moat on one side, hidden from most people’s casual gaze, up high…. so relaxing and peaceful with the birds chirpring and playing in the branches of the Sakura.  

This spot is elevated (there are very old stone steps leading up, quite steep) because it is the old wall of the Imperial Palace and the white building would have been a guard post or entrance.   This side of the old Palace would have been a special spot as it faces towards where many of the samurai families lived (outside the Palace) and in the same direction is Ochanomizu, which means “Water of Tea” because that is where they used to get the water (from the Sumida River) to make the tea for the Shogun Tokugawa.  Ochanomizu is now a centre for guitars and art supplies….

I think I will try to go back again and meditate or listen to music and take a coffee pot or something.  It would be nice to have someone to go with!! I wish I had taken my camera, but I had my mobile phone with me so here are some not very good snaps….   You can see my apartment building in the background of the second one… Just over the railing on the right is the Imperial moat.  Over the railing in the front is the Budokan and lots of sakura… 

Anyway, although this is a public park, I am claiming this as my spot!! 

     

Sakura Snow

 

 

It is now time for the cherry blossoms to fall – Suddenly they disappear, colouring the footpath and the canals with pink-white dots that float in the water just as they previously floated in the breeze, only to make the ground slippery and dangerous in the rain and then to make the canals and Imperial moat a cover of green algae…. the same pattern every year but different in its intensities and its timings.

(FYI, this is my first painting attempt using ArtRage 2.5 and my Tablet PC.  I think I might change the background to be a blue sky, less depressing…. also, if you click on the image to get the full size image you will see the brush strokes and the canvas… Cool!!!  Anyway, I only do these sorts of paintings on my Tablet as a means of working out what I want to paint on real canvas, and this one has given me an idea for an abstract painting focussing on the falling leaves.  Even the one above is kinda abstract in a way, but essentially referential, which is the opposite of abstract of course.  However, it has to be said, my desired style is a sort of mix between abstract and referential, the expressionistic element being the source of reference for the abstract form.  I know that sounds wanky but actually I mean it…. Okay, now I am going to play Half Life 2 on Xbox 360 )