Beside my new apartment is a mountain which sloping side has a fancy Italian restaurant. Normally it’s beyond my price range but I had an opportunity to eat there at 30% off. The website said it took 15 minutes from the foot of the mountain and I started to walk up a steep slope. At first I enjoyed a fine view of flowers on the roadside and the town stretching below, but 20 minutes later, I was sweating all over without any sign of the restaurant. The steep road quietly continued to twist back and forth up the side of the mountain. When my feet became close to the end of their strength and I sweated for three saunas, I finally arrived at the restaurant. Sweat spoiled my dress, makeup and hairdo and I entered the place looking like I had been caught in a downpour. The restaurant was perfect with an exquisite atmosphere and delicious meals, except for the whacking prices. By the time I came down the mountain from there and reached my apartment, I was totally exhausted and even began to have a headache. It was so strong that a painkiller couldn’t ease. Since I moved in, I’ve been walking so much wherever I go, but I feel I’ve weakened rather than strengthened. Because my walking destinations are mostly restaurants, I haven’t thinned either…
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no such thing as 100% satisfaction 6/27
A month has passed since I moved in my new apartment. Although I’ve been vigorously unpacking, cardboard boxes have still occupied more than half the living room. My handmade soundproof wall has been completed only on one side of the walls in my bedroom/studio that borders on the next door. The positions of my furniture and instruments have been roughly decided for my studio. My old apartment was built on a light steel framework and had very thin walls. I was disturbed by all kinds of noise – rain, wind, cars, kids, neighbors, crows, helicopters – you name it. As my new apartment is built with reinforced concrete, it was supposed to be a lot quieter. It actually was, but wasn’t as much as I had expected. Unknown clanging noise coming from some pipe woke me up for several times, or I heard footsteps form the room above or below. I had probably overestimated reinforced concrete. I know I should be content with much quieter surroundings here, but thinking about having gone through that hard and long process of the move, I want the kind of silence that I had imagined as a reward. I’ve been telling myself that it may get better when the whole soundproofing is done. Also, I shouldn’t forget that there’s no such thing as 100% satisfaction in this world after all…
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mountain road 6/26
There is a lake a few miles away from my new apartment and I decided to go there for the first time. The local bus to the lake was surprisingly old-fashioned and worn-out. It jolted along a mountain road, ascending higher and higher. The lake lay at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by the fresh green woods. Although I had expected it to be a popular recreation place for locals, it was quite lonely and quiet with only a couple of small spots to eat and shop. One of them was an Italian restaurant and I had an expensive lunch there as a sole customer. The directory showed that there was a walk around the lake and I tried it. It got steeper and rougher as I walked on, as if I was climbing a mountain. The walk looked exactly like the one in my recurring nightmare in which I walked along an ever-steepening path and ended up tumbling down the slope every time. I crawled along the walk on all fours so as not to tumble down. Fighting off a fear of heights, I finally got to a suspension bridge over the lake, and the view of the lake from there was breathtaking. On my way home, I mistook the road for the bus stop, and walked all the way home. It took 90 minutes and I was dead on my feet…
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take a long, long time 6/25
I’d like to get down to working on our next song soon, but before that, I need to set up my studio all over again in my new apartment. So far, piles of cardboard boxes have occupied my new place. To make space for a studio, I should unpack those cardboard boxes and sort out their contents. Then, I’ll take measures to soundproof by myself. As I did to the walls of my old apartment, I’ll fix folded cardboard boxes to all over the wall, cover them with soundproof polyurethane, put more cardboard boxes on it as a sandwich, and add soundproof sheets over it. Done with only one side of the wall. I should repeat this for other sides of the wall and the ceiling. I’m a little frustrated at this cumbersome process to start arranging our new song. The melody and the words of the new song have been completed, so that makes me want to start working on the arrangement soon all the more. I know it will only take a long, long time to finish the song once I get down to it after all…
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rusty and shabby 6/24
A new restaurant opened one train station away from my new place according to the Internet. It seemed an American cuisine restaurant which specialty were a cheeseburger and a waffle, which is rare in this area. There are many other restaurants on the street where the new restaurant opened and I’d wanted to stroll along it sometime. Most restaurants there were introduced with the pictures on the Internet and looked neat enough. I was pretty sure that they wouldn’t disappoint me this time around, and went there for lunch. But, sadly, my jaw dropped yet again. It was as if the pictures I’d seen on the Internet had been taken 30 years before or something. All the restaurants were rusty and shabby. The street looked deserted with nobody strolling along. I spotted the new American restaurant among them and a man dressed in a white cook uniform was sitting in a chair in front of the place looking at his cell phone. The door was left open and I glanced at the inside. There was no customer in a cramped restaurant. The online photo of the place was far better than the actual one. Whoever took the online photos of the restaurants on this street must have a genius for making dreadful sights look beautiful. As I was starving, I entered the least unsightly restaurant where some customers had just come out. They served the meal twice as much as an ordinary restaurant and it was so delicious. Unexpectedly, It was a pleasant eating experience. I went home feeling like trying other restaurants on that street as well. As for the American restaurant, I’m still not sure if I have the courage to go in…