February 2016 - Generalist Blog

Japan 2016 – Day 7 and 8; Shizuoka and Nagoya

By Hoera
on Feb 26, 2016
in Food, Japan, Travel

I like trains

On day 7 we went to a ryokan in Shizuoka! It took a train ride of about… 3 hours to get there. We traveled to the middle of nowhere with a lot of different trains.

Including:

After we took one of the trains, we climbed a mountain and we enjoyed the scenery.

Ryokan

After riding 4 trains and a bus trip we arrived at the village of the ryokan. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese hotel. I really liked our room:

In the ryokan, we had a very nice traditional Japanese dinner:

Onsen

After dinner, we got ready to go to the onsen. An onsen is a hotspring bath. It was said that this onsen was beneficial for beautiful skin. We also wore a Korean facial mask and it was totally relaxing. You could sit either inside or outside at the onsen. This is a pic of the onsen inside:

Afterwards we drank some tea in our room and went to sleep.

A brisk walk

The next day we got up early and had a traditional breakfast. After that, we went for a brisk walk in the mountains. I went to sit on a ridge and I drew a picture of what I saw. We met a friendly couple who were from Britain and Japan and we walked along together with them. We saw a wild bore and we crossed a hanging bridge over an azure blue river.

After a short relaxing trip to Shizuka, we took our 3 to 4 trains back again to Nagoya where we stayed for another night. The next morning I would go back by Shikansen to Tokyo and leave Azusa and her family, who had given me such a warm welcome and such a nice time in Nagoya.

Muse

By Hoera
on Feb 24, 2016
in Electric Guitar, Guitar, Music, Uncategorized

Muse is a band that I really like. I like the combination of sounds that I often hear when listening to a Muse song. There usually are a lot of layers in their songs that cause their distinctive sound. If I had only one word to describe Muse with, it would be “epic”

Short biography

Muse consists of three members: singer Matt Bellamy, bass guitar and backing vocalist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer and percussionist Dominic Howard. Since the early 90s they have been active. In 2001 their album Origin of Symmetry came out. It got very good critics, because it was a unusually original and catchy record. They had recorded all kinds of sounds to create music. Matt Bellamy showed that he had a very wide vocal range on songs like Bliss and New Born.

me playing New Born by Muse

On their third album Absolution Muse recorded a versatile record with lyrical songs and hard rock. One of my favourite songs is Hysteria. I also like the video, in which actor Justin Theroux stars in a story that is based on the hotel-trashing scene from the movie Pink Floyd – The Wall.

In other songs of this album, complete orchestras can be heard. Muse remains a band that combines melodic music with electronic.

Over the years, other albums by Muse came out. Like Black Holes and Revelations with the hit single Super Massive Black Hole and Knights of Cydonia. In 2009, their album The Resistance came out and it was the first album they had produced by themselves. Uprising is a song of The Resistance that was inspired by the protests against the G20 (source: http://www.mtv.co.uk/muse/news/muse-uprising-was-inspired-by-g20-protests). It embodies the yearning for being free and to be no longer controlled.

Muse on stage, img src: http://metropolitanafm.uol.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Muse2.jpg

Drones came out in 2014. This album contains the song Psycho, which contains very heavy, raw guitar riffs. I hope Muse will be making new albums in the future, because their music is always interesting and often contains deeper meaning.

Blue eyeshadow – Spring 2016 Make-up Trends

By Hoera
on Feb 14, 2016
in Beauty, Beauty&Brains, Blue, Eye shadow, Eyes, Eyes, Fashion, Fashion&Beauty

Blue to green eyeshadow

Spring 2016 make-up trends

What I noticed lately is that a lot of fashion houses are using blue, turqouise, greenish and green eyeshadow to create fresh looks on their models. The colours vary from deep ultramarine, sky blue, turqouise, green and sweet pastel green. The eyeshadow can be applied on the top eyelid, at the bottom, but we also see fun shapes, like cat-eye shaped blue eyeshadow. I think it’s a very versatile and refreshing trend. This trend has actually allready been relevant since 2013/2014 and it’s a throwback to over the top 80s eyeshadow trends.

A few examples:

Of my own magazine Beauty&Brains (2014 edition 1)

Kendall Jenner for Diane Furstenberg, img src: http://mac.h-cdn.co/assets/15/38/480x602/gettyimages-488135984_master.jpg — Kendall Jenner for Diane Furstenberg, img src:
http://mac.h-cdn.co/assets/15/38/480×602/gettyimages-488135984_master.jpg

Me; blue eyeshadow on Instagram account: nataspichigen

Dior Spring 2016 from Peter Philips’s account https://www.instagram.com/peterphilipsmakeup/ , Creative and image director of Christian Dior make-up.

IMG_20160211_142312 — Natasja (me) again, on Instagram-account nataspichigen

Marc Jacobs Spring 2016 img src http://www.glamour.com/images/beauty/2015/09/nars-marc-jacobs-blue-lids-main.jpg — Marc Jacobs Spring 2016
img src
http://www.glamour.com/images/beauty/2015/09/nars-marc-jacobs-blue-lids-main.jpg

-Marc Jacobs Spring Look 2016

Man’s Search for Meaning – by Viktor E. Frankl

By Hoera
on Feb 10, 2016
in Books, Motivation

Since I’ve been back from Japan – almost a ten days ago – I decided to that I wanted to read a book every week.

Man’s Search for Meaning – by Viktor E. Frankl

This week, I was reading “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl. This book was written in the year 1946, just after the war. It is one of the most impressive books I ever read in my entire life. It’s an educational book, an insightful book with a lot of psychology involved. But most of all, it’s the autobiographical story of how Frankl managed to stay alive in 4 concentration camps in World War II. The most fascinating thing is that he tries to explain the moods, the events and the actions of his fellow prisoners and the SS officers from a (logo-)psychological point of view (What is logotherapy? Click here for the wiki). This is why I find “Man’s Search for Meaning”; a very important book. In this blogpost, I will write a summary and a review of his book.

Auschwitz

Frankl was taken on a train to Auschwitch. Together with 1500 other people he had been traveling by train in overcrowded carriage (page 9, 10). After their arrival to Auschwitz, the 1500 people were “cooped up in a shed built to accomodate probably two hundred at the most.”

Matteo Carcassi

By Hoera
on Feb 07, 2016
in Accoustic Guitar, Classical Music

Matteo Carcassi

Carcassi was born in 1792 in Italy in the city of Florence. He studied the piano and the guitar, but he quickly became a concert guitarist. In his life, he has lived in Italy, Germany and in France and Great Britain. He was known for his solid technique and arranging piano music in such a manner that it could be played on guitar.

Japan 2016 – Day 5 Ise Jingu and sushi restaurant

By Hoera
on Feb 07, 2016
in Food, Ise, Japan, Nagoya, Religious, Shinto

Road trip to Ise Jingu

On Day 5 of my journey, me and Azusa’s family went on a trip to the biggest, most important Shinto shrine complex in Japan, called Ise Jingu. It was a fun trip in the car with a lot of nice views of mountanis and a themepark near the river of Nagoya with the steepest rollercoaster in the world. On our way to the temple complex and back, we ate all kinds of delicious snacks, such as green tea ice cream and takoyaki.

Ise Jingu

When we arrive at Ise Jingu, the first thing we did was walking through the gate (torii). This torii was made of rough wood. I find that in Shinto, the use of natural materials is quite important. In Ise Jingu, there is a beautiful forest full of ancient sky high trees. These trees were seen as sacred in earlier times.

Kotajingu and Toyoukedaijingu

Ise Jingu has a totally of 125 jinja (shrines).

Jinja at Ise Jingu with banners of the flowery symbol of the current Emperor of Japan.

The two most important shrines are called jingu. Ise Jingu has two important jingu: Kotaijingu and Toyoukefaijingu. Kotajingu is dedicated to Amaterasu-Omikami, who is the great great …. great grandmother of the Emperor of Japan. A divine palace is built in her honour. Japan knows 3 Holy Symbols which approve and strengthen the power of the Emperor. One of them is a mirror. And this mirror is enshrined in Kotajingu.
Toyoukedaijingu is dedicated to Toyouke-no-Okami.Amaterasu-Okami predicted that this kami would be summoned about 1500 years ago and it was enshrined in Toyoukedaijingu. Toyoukedaijingu provides companionship and sacred foods to Amaterasu-Okami and she is also worshipped to get an abundant harvest.

The shopping street near Ise Jingu

After visiting the shrines, we went to the large shopping street near Ise Jingu. It looked really old fashioned and pretty. It had a very Japanese and ancient atmosphere. We tried some candy and local specialities. I was lucky, because I was treated to Ise Udon (a thick noodle local speciality and delicacy) and hot cocoa afterwards! We watched taiko drummers play, which was awesome.
Underneath, you will find pictures of the shopping street.

4oshougatsukazari — A Shimekazari, an ornament which keeps the bad spirits out of the house. This ornament is attached to people’s doors at o-Shougatsu, or New Year’s Day (January the 1st).

Sushi restaurant

For some reason, I can’t find the picture I took in this restaurant right now! But anyways, it was a conveyor belt sushi restaurant in Nagoya and we could order specific sushi with the use of an iPad. It was delicious and abundant and afterwards I felt like I had to buy new pants, because I ate so much.

Day 6 Nagoya – Kimono, Atsuta Jingu, hot pot and dango

By Hoera
on Feb 03, 2016
in Fashion, Japan, Nagoya, Religious, Uncategorized

About Kimono, Atsuta Jingu and other Jingus and nabe (hot pot)

In Japan you can find Buddhist temples, called o’tera(お寺). And often, at the same terrain, you can find jinja (神社), or Shinto shrines. The three largest Shinto shrines of Japan are called jingu (神宮 ). Jingu are the most important Shinto shrines of Japan (What is Shinto? I will write a blog about that later on) and are connected to the Japanese Imperial Family. During this trip to Japan, I visited 3 of them, namely Meiji Jingu, Atsuta Jingu and Ise Jingu.

On day 6 of my trip, Azusa’s aunt dressed us up in kimono. I wore a pink one and Azusa wore a purple one. I am fond of the esthetics of kimono and I really liked those kimono. We wore spring kimono with a warm scarf. We also had kimono coats, but you can’t see them in the pictures. With the right hairdo, we were ready to go to Atsuta Jingu. This Shinto shrine is located in the same place where Azusa lives (Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture).

Azusa’s sister and her children went along with us. We walked around in kimono and we took a lot of pictures.

Browse Month: February 2016

Japan 2016 – Day 7 and 8; Shizuoka and Nagoya

I like trains

Ryokan

Onsen

A brisk walk

Muse

Short biography

Blue eyeshadow – Spring 2016 Make-up Trends

Blue to green eyeshadow

Spring 2016 make-up trends

Man’s Search for Meaning – by Viktor E. Frankl

Man’s Search for Meaning – by Viktor E. Frankl

Auschwitz

Matteo Carcassi

Matteo Carcassi

Japan 2016 – Day 5 Ise Jingu and sushi restaurant

Road trip to Ise Jingu

Ise Jingu

Kotajingu and Toyoukedaijingu

The shopping street near Ise Jingu

Sushi restaurant

Day 6 Nagoya – Kimono, Atsuta Jingu, hot pot and dango

About Kimono, Atsuta Jingu and other Jingus and nabe (hot pot)

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