Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Days of Simplicity
That summer in Yokohama is dearly missed.When everything in life just seemed so much more simple. Waking up at 8 am, I'd munch on a piece Japanese pastry purchased on the way home the night before while trying to jot down key words from the morning news report - an assignment should've been done the night even though on a really rushed day, a peak at the news headline brightly flashed in front of the JR Sakuragi-cho station would work just fine.
Before the 15-min NHK morning drama came to a close, I'd gulp down a glass of cold milk and then dash out of the apartment, joining the crowd of salary-class with a fresh start of day, anticipating the new and the exciting. Classes may not always be the most fun, but on a slow day seeing U-san across from me sipping his second can of Georgia Coffee in order to stay awake or L-san struggling to hide his big yawn over a slow discussion on a piece of boring article was entertaining itself. The art of gossiping, cross-lingual miscommunication, and house-wife-like chit-chats were practiced daily at lunch. After all, who can avoid not comparing the delicacies in each other's obento-box when there is more than cold sandwiches and iceberg lettuce salad to offer?
If I decided to take a break from Tokyo or museum gallery rooms, YC and I would get together in the late afternoon, at that usual meeting spot, a few steps away from the starbucks at west exit. Sometimes a small udon-shop tugged in the corner of restaurant alley in the basement of the station would satisfy our appetite, and sometimes a little heavier drinking was explored. Out of the blue one time YC and I walked into the arcade center and blew away 2000-yen right there. "Don't bother with the Curry Museum upstairs, it wasn't as good as the Ramen one," YC told me as we rode on the escalator downstairs at the end of the night. "L-san and I are going to visit the Kanagawa-ken Museum of History tomorrow, wanna come?" She also invited.
If spent in solitude, the afternoon would either be an adventurous stroll down an area never visited before or a nostalgic reminiscence near a station once frequented everyday or a cafe where a certain memories were always kept intact.
And I love the scenery past by before the train arrives in Shinagawa on Keihin-Tohoku line. Stunningly beautiful, even if the sun rays are too dazzling for my eyes to open wide.
Wish life could be like that summer, each and everyday. Not that life wasn't all rosy and merry or if void of worries, stresses, or aches. But life was simple, and each day was filled with anticipation of learning about something new, something never seen or tasted or touched or experienced before.
That summer is going to return. Soon, very very soon.
梅ちゃん at 10:19:00 AM
1 Comments
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at 2/22/07, 10:44 PM
se7en9 said... nice entry mys... that simple life sounds appealing... hope you are well