Before we get into the discussion of beautiful kimonos, Lance L. posted a comment asking me how my religious encounters with Ate Vi and viral encounters with Gloria Arroya happened and if they were TRUE! Tsk tsk tsk..How little faith you have in me, Lance L. (speaking of Lancel, I was at their press preview yesterday and they are planning to revitalize the line but that's another story...) --hahahaha!!
I got the job of carrying Ate Vi's clothes and shoes and collecting her sampaguita and Santo Ninos from fans as an internship in my last year at university. It was a great job and I also worked for Dolphy. But the best was with Tito, Vic and Joey and Redford White the albino who never could remember his lines even if he was reading them!!
When I interviewed Gloria Arroyo at Malacanang, she served us (me, another female reporter from the Toronto Star and some sipsip Pinoy-American radio announcer) Tang and tuna snadwiches which REALLY gave me the runs!!
I don't know if that happened because the tuna was bad or I was nervous because I had gone to see Erap the day before at Veterans and I was feeling REALLY guilty! (FYI: FPJ and Kuya Germs were ahead of me in the queue).
I can talk about it now because obviously, I wasn't arrested and Erap is now out of jail. It was the first interview Erap gave in jail and he gave it to moi (in Diane von Furstenberg, of course) for the Financial Times Weekend.
I have to say, Erap had 1000x better food than Malacanang. We had something like a paella sent by a fan in Nueva Ecija and loads of other food from Chinese takeout to cup of noodles. He asked me if I wanted a Coke so I said yes and Erap goes, "Hindi diet ha kasi ang payat payat mo na!"
And now more on the beauty of Japan. There happened to be a kimono fair at the Okura (
http://www.okura.com/) where I was staying. It is an old hotel, probably the first luxury hotel in Tokyo and, although not hip and happening, is highly recommended by fashion types like Yohji. I hate hip hotels because the staff always look better than you and they never have good service.
ANYWAY--Being curious about everything except Vegas, darts and camping, I had to walk into this fair even if I wasn't a customer. WOW!! May GAWD--first, none of the salepeople there were under 100 yrs old and there was probably nothing there under 5000USD--for an obi.
Luckily, I saw the sole customer, a 20 yr old girl, in a fair inside a ballroom. So you can imagine how quiet it was because already, if the Japanese subways are as quiet as some libraries, this was like a tomb with no one to talk to, not even the dead.
This kid was trying on a 20,000 USD kimono. That's just for the kimono without obi, underwear, socks, shoes and tiny handbag. The starting cost of an haute couture dress is about 30,000 euros so a kimono is a VERY close second. 20,000 was an 'average' price because I saw some that were 100s of 1000s. So you see, this is another case of many zeroes not even in yen!
The kid told me she was buying it for her 'coming out party' but she 'will also be able to use it for graduation, other people's weddings and maybe her own and Japanese formal affairs 'outside the country." So you see, she is actuially getting a lot of use out of this kimono!!
I mentioned to the mother that the kimono was 'very expensive." Clutching her forest green Kelly, she rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, but have to buy..." Ah--of course!!!
Being Japan, one MUST close with quaint Japanese English. These are signs I saw at Tsutaya music and video store. There was a sign for 'Black Music" featuring Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson and Beyonce but I didn't take it.
Still, here you have the newest genres, "Movies with the surprising last" and 'Girls only." So what happens if you are watching with a guy or a ghey??? You ask them leave and go shopping??
Wonder where would those be categorized in Tower records or HMV?? And "Black Music"--how will that go in downtown LA?
