Its hard to describe in words just how bizzare Ishii Katsuhito's Cha no Aji ( The Taste of Tea ) is but its delightful combination of queer plot elements and even queerer characters makes for one very arresting viewing experience. I can't quite remember the last time I was so zonked out after watching a film. Kanarazu mitekudasai.

Film school enters the 2nd week as lesson proper starts, trial classes are expected for another week before we decide on the modules we want to take. I would have personally preferred more lesson time on the ARRI 16mm film camera but with so many students in the film module I doubt that can be helped. On a much more exciting note I am without a doubt the most linguistically challenged student on campus, but gratifyingly enough that also means there's no other place to go but up.

Dokorode today on film appreciation class our lecturer shares with us his conversation with a friend who was working as film crew for director Iwai Shunji. *quote* "(Iwai) Madness !!! 3 days on set without sleep ! We start eating our meals without the foggiest idea if its breakfast, lunch or dinner. "

Hou Hsiao Hsien's Kohi Jikou ( Cafe Lumiere ) is an extremely quiet and halcyon film ( in fact bordering on extremes, especially to those whose tastes are not attuned to the arthouse ) that however speaks volumes in emotional resonance beneath it seemingly mundane scenes and locked camera shots. Tsai Ming Liang's What Time Is It There comes to mind. Lee Ping Bing's photography is remarkably unostentatious and austere, much more akin to his work in Spring Time in a Small Town than In The Mood For Love.



On a more personal level many of the scenes take on a very intimate and immediate feel, the locations been places I am familiar with while I'm here in Japan like Shinjuku train station ( the chime for a leaving train is especially nostalgic ), Yurakucho, and the short trams to Waseda, passing through Sangenjaya where my friend Berni used to live.

A new start calls for a fresh look, here in Japan as the seasons finally come full circle the blooming of the Cherry Blossoms symbolizes new beginnings, as with the commencement of my film school. Today folks from the various Borderless Tokyo houses got together for a Hanami party in Koganei Park, a cosmopolitan mix from Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, France, Germany, Korea, Australia, China and Sweden, and despite the dusty gails in the park sweeping in every now and then peppering our food with cherry blossom petals spirits were high as everyone got acquainted quickly, certainly the photo speaks just as much. These crazy blokes !

I'm absolutely getting spoilt by my new Japanese friends. Check out the Takoyaki !



Anyway, here's the hilarious introduction written on me at the Borderless Tokyo website by Yoshi-san, our fantastic manager :

Mar. 23 Welcome! Yonghow! (Tanashi-house)

The star of Singapore Yonghow is moving in Tanashi-house!
He's been to Japan for 1 year. so his Japanese is quite good!
He loves Shunji Iwai's film and is learning this kind of thing in Japan.
Your website is really cool, Yonghow!!
Be friendly with him, everybody!!

The "Jerry Bruckheimer films" indent screened before the commencement of the film National Treasure served as the best caveat of what laid ahead ( read : explosions, car chases, more explosions; basically your usual taosiao capers ). Extraordinarily we registered only one single explosion in the early part of the film, but this Davinci Code + Indiana Jones mishmash of plot still fails to take off as it lumbered on languorously, bogged down by some stiff acting and even stiffer lines. ( another example of great actors' performances suffering at the expense of lousy writing. ) Trevor Rabin's music is woefully misused, incessant perhaps in an attempt to mask the film's other shortcomings. To add to the insult the filmmakers usual undermining of the audiences' intelligence quoto by means of a clown sidekick that tries desperately to insert trite humour makes all but see red. Why can't for even once the supporting partner of the protaganist be given a little more intellectual credence ?

On my way home yesterday evening after a short bicycle recky around the new neighbourhood 2 uniformed high school girls, also on bikes pedalled past me, engaged in mundane school talk. As I trailed behind them the setting sun right in front of us spilled a dazzling golden halo around the 2 girls, the light catching every strand of their billowing hair, illuminating it like stokes of white flame. Had that moment been caught on film it would have made a very fitting, Iwai-ish number.



Anyway, the folks at Tanashi treated me to a sumptous Nabe welcome dinner, Kimchi style. L to R here we have Masako, Maiko, Youngjae and Ryoko. After dinner we embarked on the arduous task of clearing up the fridge ( we have 2 here ), for one of the setbacks of communal fridge usage is that you often find food stashed since the last century, forgotten realms hidden in the dark corners, severed and half decomposed fingers, etc. Thank goodness there were none today other than a mini mushroom farmbed in a tub of yogurt, dating back to Byzantine period.

Below : A shot of my room. Moody eh ?

House moving is slated for the 23rd, a rainy day has been forecasted. I hope the powers that be cut me a break because I've never fancied sleeping on a waterbed. Anyway, a glimpse of my home at Borderless Tokyo for the next 2 years, Kokusaikouryuukyoukai, or International Exchange Society. ( above : a view from my room, Below : Banner at main entrance ) Think a Japanese version of the Spanish Apartment, but with alot less sex. I think. Well they did say they're going to party every month...

I knew the first day when I moved into Domire-Meguro as an avid fan of Iwai Shunji's films that I have found some very special, kindred souls. ( see comparison picture below ). Any self respecting Iwai Shunji fan will no doubt remember the hallmark library window/curtain scene in Love Letter, and Takeshi+Kojima did so much as to install that exact mise en scene in our very own kitchen. What a bunch of Romantics !! :]



As I prepare to move on to my new home come next week at Borderless Tokyo, I shall however remember my memorable and unforgettable days in Domire-Meguro, so lucid they were it seemed just like yesterday.

Believe me when I say that its a once in a lifetime fortitude to have been able to catch the Mucha Exhibition on at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, quite simply because 1) 100 pieces from the exhibition have never been allowed abroad till now, 2) its Mucha, champion of the Art Nouveau movement and 3)I'm his absolute, complete acolyte, right up there with Waterhouse. His advant garde illustration style was light years ahead during his era and even in recent times as countless artists feverishly copied, imitated, duplicated none ever reproduced anything as stunning as did Mucha himself. Even if anyone came close, Mucha would have beaten them a full hundred years ahead. At the end of my visit that day as I was hurried out by the curators my eyes were painfully strained having pored over every single piece of his amazing works.

My first home vacation since I left for Japan 10 months ago to pursue my film studies has just ended with 20 days and 11 films. That meant one film watched every other day but cramped in between catching up with good friends and equally good food I wished I could have squeezed in time for a couple more. Hitherto Mike Nichols superbly crafted Closer wraps up the trip and as much as I would say the highlight of the film was seeing Natalie Portman dressed ( hardly I mean ) in a sexy thong much appeal is also attributed to the exceptional screenplay by Patrick Marber ( who also wrote the original play that this film was based on ) Indeed the 10 month hiatus has left my already subpar english language even more diminished so I was neither intellectually nor linguistically capable of appreciating the nuances in the delivered lines as much as I wished I could, so owning the dvd would be a plus. ( nonono, its not about Natalie Portman and her thong, mostly no. )



With that, till next year and see you guys back in Tokyo.

Movie/comic comparisons aside, Francis Lawrence's directorial debut Constantine is a tastily shot film topped with superlative visual and creature effects, crisp, moody photography and a host of radical, interesting characters. In this fashion-savvy universe Gabriel the Archangel dresses like a spokesmodel for Versace while Lucifer does Armani endorsements in bleached white designer suits. Such a stark contrast in the portrayal of the ultimate evil is a clear departure from past films where Satan is often depicted as a savage demon king bent on inflicting human suffering whereas here he's a well dorned CEO with an eterprise to manage, however hellish it is. In this sense inhabiting such a world where the supernatural forces heed attention to "the balance" of good and evil seems almost desirable. Evil never once looked so good.

Takeshi+Kojima

Bound for a year long travel trip to Montreal come next week, Kojima+Takeshi had only moved out a couple of days ago, but the absence of my 2 extremely likeable japanese friends are immediately palpable; gone are the familiar Bossanova tracks playing off Takeshi's amps in the evenings; ( remembering vividly his incredulous disbelief when I first admitted I had never come across the term Bossanova music ), Kojima's plants lined outside the house, including a durian seedling I swore would never grow due to Japan's cold weather but did, now all gone, a barren slab of concrete floor; amongst other memorable incidents we shared.



Both accomplished photographers themselves, Takeshi+kojima also travelled widely and shared a true sense of spirit that embodied the love for new experiences rather than material pursuits; indeed, they had very little posessions beyond what was necessary for a decent and comfortable living. They were also great cooks; most of my culinary procurement since I came to Japan ( of which I had zilch before ) I had stole from them in between their dinner preparations. It takes little to surmise I'll be missing their company significantly, and see you guys next year, Takeshi+Kojima. ( and hello to my new roommate, Hirobe-san. :] )

Denizens of Domiru Meguro : ( L to R ) Takeshi, Shige, Bernie, Kojima. Yappari minna mechamecha yopparakunatta.

I can't recall exactly as to why I missed Darren Aronofsky's Requiem For A Dream when it hit theatres back in 2000, but I'm more than glad that I finally watched it after putting it off everytime I hit the rental stores, having remembered lucidly my friends' caveats that it's extremely detrimental to one's healthy mental state. Nontheless, watching Requiem is an excellent exercise in filmmaking, ( the film had 2000 plus cuts, as compared to a regular movie's 600/700 ), and the sophorific visuals are so compelling its like been hypnotised.

A flower shop in Daikayama, close to Shibuya about 10 minutes cycle from home. Fans of Luc Besson's Leon have got to be smitten with this shop, watashi hajimete mita toki mo bikkuri. :]

It will no doubt take several more repeat viewings to even barely grasp and appreciate the full masterly range of Krzysztof Kieslowski trilogy Trois Couleurs ( Three Colours : Blue, White and Red ), but Rouge ( Red ) immediately springs up as my favourite of the three. Maybe because it was the easiest to comprehend and relate to, but simply put Red is so richly imbued in a mix of fantastic visual and narrative symbolism, utilizing austere but stunning photography to enhance the intensity of every scene the experience of viewing leaves one breathless; I can only imagine the impact it would have had viewed in a theatre. Sadly the depth and meaning of the trilogy is way beyond what my inept writing can express, but you've been so informed.



( Note however, this trilogy's narrative treatment is everything an archetypal Hollywood outing is not, so some may find it completely senseless and boring. )

Although I would had very much preferred a sloshed out, frenetic PVD treatment to celebrate the new year things turned out fairly different as we ended up in Meiji Jingu ( a famous Shrine in Harajuku where the Emperor chills out ) for a more traditional proceeding. Packed to the brim on New Year's Eve every year everyone thronged to toss coins before the altar wishing for happiness and long life.

SNOW@DOMIRU-MEGURO.

Having hogged my brother's Notionwerks website for years now I've finally gotten my bones together to set up my own domain. After much deliberation I've finally settled on www.playwithlight.com. ( tying into the cinematography, chiaroscuro thing ) One has to realize that with the word "light" within the name its only too easy to end up sacrosant sounding ie "stepintolight.com", nor did I wanted something too corporate, not running a business here. Right now its all but an empty shell, but go to www.playwithlight.com for a peek.

Isao Yukisada's tearjerker Sekai no Chushin de, Ai wo Sakebu ( Crying out love at the centre of the world ), though employing an egregiously cliched, age old melodramatic narrative that is sure to have teenage girls swooning for the lead actor's undying love in the film, is redeemably executed with accomplished skill and beauty ( no small part due to Shinoda's photography ). As unabashedly sentimental as the film is, the superbly timed use of Ken Hirai's moving ballad can really get one reaching for their hankies.



Regrettably, this marked the final film shot by DP Noboru Shinoda, a long time collaborator with Iwai Shunji, whose cinematography work included Love Letter, Swallowtail Butterfly and April Story.

Tokyo Tower, in all its night glory. Merry Christmas folks. :]

To celebrate Takeshi's last day of work ( Takeshi+Kojima are bound for Montreal come late January. *sniff* ) and my film school admission, we had a nice dinner at a restaurant in Nakameguro, where as we were making our way there I was told a scene in Lost In Translation was shot just a street away, outside a Pachinko Parlour. Hmm. Back home we were then treated to Kojima's exquisite Mandarin cheesecake, honto ni umagatta. With some free time on my hands finally, a few events are in order, not least some decent photo trips, Takeshi dittos that.

Perhaps the Japanese were once again exercising their usual diffidence and propriety but me and my friends just could not for cat's sake control our uproarious laughter yesterday while watching Pixar's latest outing The Incredibles. Coupled with Pixar's now reliably excellent plot and visual delivery is Brad Bird's unique direction, a style ringing close to the underrated Iron Giant. There's a hint of mischievious nature seemingly missing from Pixar's past works that is beautifully integrated here, the Warner Bro's animation touch if you will.

Highlight today however must go to the receipt of Toho Gakuen's letter of acceptance, my film school starting next April. Kojima-chan was noticably more estatic than me when told the news, chotto bikkurishita. *laughs*

Its uncomfortably cold this time of the year in Tokyo, but it can only get colder. There is a palpable change in the air, the seasons in gradual transition. Everyday as I cycle to school I witness the maple leaves cover more and more of the walkways and pavements but still the trees seem reluctant to lose their yellow skin for the scarlet reds. If only I wasn't so caught up with school work I could have spent an entire afternoon photographing this beautiful sight, imbued with nature's rich colours and textures. Let's hope there's time yet.