Paolo Coelho's The Winner Stands Alone

The tone of Paolo Coelho's novel, The Winner Stands Alone, is not much different from his other hit, The Alchemist. The novel follows the story of Igor as he goes to the Cannes Film Festival to reclaim the love of his life, Ewa, and the fortunes and misfortunes of several characters like Maureen, a filmmaker who thought she would finally get her big break; Jasmine a new model; and Gabriella who just got her first major role in a potential blockbuster movie.

Though the characters are interesting and the setting offers a lot of potential for exciting action, the narrative is monotonous and boring. Coelho narrates what the world of glits and glamor is like and blabber about all the evil there is in such a world. Though finding more about "this evil" would be very interesting for the readers, he failed to translate this interest from his own to the page. It sounded like a report of how people get their big breaks and what kind of difficulties they face in this world. 

Again, this novel is full of Christian metaphors and allusions that are not necessarily a turn off, but can make you feel bored, when hammered to you repeatedly. And yes, it's full of cliches. Instead of making us sympathize with the characters, it tires me to hear about all the rants that we already know. The main character, Igor, is a russian millionnaire who used to work as a soldier for the Russian cause and he knows several ways of killing someone using Russian martial arts, he knows where to get Curare a deadly poison from South America, and he knows the anatomy of  person and knows exactly where to hit someone with a knife to kill her and he is capable of acquiring a deadly powdery poison that is sealed in a special envelope... What else do I need to say? 

If you want an easy, quick read on a plane or in a coffee shop, this book is good for one sitting. But there's nothing in it that would make you feel excited either. 

Takashi Murakami's The 500 Arhats Exhbit

The exhibit runs from October 31, 2015 to March 6, 2016 at the Mori Art Museum, Roppongi Hills.

The 500 Arhats

The exhibit runs from October 31, 2015 to March 6, 2016 at the Mori Art Museum, Roppongi Hills.

The exhibit runs from October 31, 2015 to March 6, 2016 at the Mori Art Museum, Roppongi Hills.

The exhibit runs from October 31, 2015 to March 6, 2016 at the Mori Art Museum, Roppongi Hills.

A Homey Capsule Hotel: Nagoya Wasabi Guesthouse

I stayed in this capsule hotel for three nights this February. As I've already read a lot of horror reviews about capsule hotels, I was surprised to find out that this guest house is opposite all of those stories. Nagoya Wasabi Guesthouse is not only very clean and quiet, it is also very homey. 

The lobby of the hotel is very welcoming. There are card games and board games on display that you can play with friends. There are also free post cards that you can get or you send to your friends or family back home. You can also purchase a stamp from the concierge to send your postcards. How convenient! The guest house is also renting out yukatas for Y1000 per night. 

And because my first night in their hotel is on Valentine's day, my friends and I were given Valentine's Day cookies as a welcome gift.

Hotel lobby

Free Valentine's Day treat

The guest house has five floors. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th are mixed dormitories while the 5th one is exclusively for female. We chose the exclusive floor. The room is surprisingly very quiet. I am happy that I got to stay there with really decent and quiet travelers who didn't make any kind of noise to disturb the others. The shared toilet and shower room are also very clean. There is a personnel assigned to clean it everyday. I bumped into the cleaning lady one morning. Your "room" which is the capsule might be small but don't estimate its convenience. It has all the amenities you need: safe box to put your belongings, a TV which can be converted to a PC (ahuh!), and a warm futon to comfort me during the night.

This capsule hotel is only 7 minutes away from Nagoya station. The location is not only very convenient , it also very cheap. One night costs around Y2,200.

Yoko Ono: From my Window Exhibit

The works of Yoko One were exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo from November 8, 2015 to February 14, 2015. The exhibit was curated by Naoko Seki.

Entrance to the exhibit

Excerpt from the exhibit information kit:

For sixty years, Yoko Ono (1933-) has freely worked across numerous fields, connecting disparate nodes and producing new creative circuits among people and media. Although Ono has usually been discussed in the context of post-war American art, this exhibition will place her art in the context of her native Tokyo. Through materials documenting her early pieces, artworks she created in Tokyo in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, and recent works and installations, it show will reveal how Ono’s activities link the modern and contemporary; Europe, Japan, and the United States; art, music and literature; avant-garde and popular culture; society and the individual. As a pioneer of conceptual art that took her distinctive approach to words and language as its nucleus, Ono at times turned people's attention to serious issues using humor and other strategies. This exhibition will offer an excellent opportunity to look back from our perspective today at Yoko Ono’s development in a remarkably international environment in Tokyo.

Souvenir postcard of Yoko Ono's work

The exhibit is divided in four parts as described below:

One. In the 1990s, Ono resumed her activities in art with violence and the memories it creates as her new themes. She drew inspiration from her personal life as well as in wars and conflicts that were prevailing in the world that time. Her work Crickets, she created insect cages with names of cities and the dates when a violent incident happened in that place.

Two. It was not until 1969 that Ono returned her attention to Tokyo after concentrating her activities in New York and London. In collaboration with John Lennon, whom she married that year, she organized a billboard campaign called War is Over! in 12 cities worldwide including Tokyo. A group of people gathered at the Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall and marched to Tokyo Station holding posters with the slogan. During this period, she not only focused on anti-war protests but also campaigned for women's issues. She composed songs to promote women's rights. She also performed with the Plastic Ono Band at the One-Step Concert, an event advocating for the environment.

Three. Ono returned to Japan in 1962 long after she began her concerts and exhibits in New York. She held Works of Ono at the Sogetsu Art Center where Instructions for Painting was exhibited in its lobby and several events where conducted at the center's hall. These instructions are also exhibited in the current installation.

Four. Born in 1933, Yoko Ono crossed the Pacific Ocean twice as a young child due to her father's work. Her family returned to Tokyo shortly before Japan declared war against the Allied nations. She spent the following ten years in Tokyo and departed for the US in 1952. She received music education at Jiyu Gakuen where she learned to appreciate everyday sounds as much as those of musical instruments.

*Source: Yoko One: From my Window information kit

Mga Kwentong Katatakutan sa Japan

***Published in the November Issue of Pinoy Gazette

              Naniniwala ang mga Hapon na sa loob ng mga tao ay mayroong reikon, isang makapangyarihang espirito na napapakawalan pagkatapos mamatay. Kung namatay ang isang tao sa di inaasahang dahilan tulad ng pagpatay o pagpapakamatay, sinasabing nanantili ang reikon sa mundo ng mga tao bilang yurei o multo. Kailangan nilang matapos ang kanilang mga naiwang responsibilidad o kaya naman ay mabigyan ng maayos na ritwal o libing upang matahimik.

              Sinasabing ang Golden Age ng mga Yurei ay noong Edo Period (1604-1868). Nagpapalitan ng mga nakakatakot na mga kwento ang mga tao noon sa isang storytelling game na tinatawag na hyakumonogatari kaidankai. Ilang sa mga kilalang nakakatakot na kwento sa Japan na nagpasalin-salin na sa paglipas ng panahon ay ang mga sumusunod:

              Ang Multo ni Oyuki. Mayroong isang kilalang larawan na iginuhit ni Maruyama Okyo na kung tawagin sa Ingles ay “Ghost of Oyuki”. Ayon sa kwento, nagising mula sa pagkakahimbing isang gabi si Maruyama at nakita ang isang magandang babae sa paanan ng kanyang tulugan. Maputla siya, walang kulay ang mukha, nakasuot ng kanyang panlibing na kimono at wala siyang paa. Nang sumunod na umaga, iginuhit ni Maruyama ang eksaktong itsura ng babaeng kanyang nakita. Ayon sa kwento ni Shimizu, minsang nagmayari sa larawan, nagkaroon ng relasyon si Maruyama sa isang geisha na ang pangalan ay Oyuki ngunit maaga siyang namatay. Labis na dinamdam ni Maruyama ang pagkamatay nito. (Hango sa Ghost of Oyuki ni Zack Davisson).  

              Ang Bulag na Mangaawit. Papunta sa Edo ang samurai na si Hotsumi Kanji para sa kanyang taunang pagbisita sa kabisera. Isang gabi, habang siya ay nagpapahinga sa tinutuluyan ay nakarinig siya ng isang magandang umaawit na boses. Nagmumula ito sa isa sa mga kwarto sa kanyang tinutuluyan. Napagalaman niyang ang nagmamay-ari ng magandnag tinig ay isang goze – isang bulag na naglalakbay sa iba’t-ibang bahagi ng bansa at nagtatanghal gamit ang kanyang shamisen. Inisip ng samurai na kasing ganda rin ng mukha ng babae ang kanyang boses kaya isang gabi ay pinagsamantalahan niya ito. Nang sumunod na araw, nagulat si Hotsumi nang makita niya ang napakapangit na mukha ng goze. Upang ayusin ang sitwasyon, niyaya ni Hotsumi ang babae na sumama sa kanya sa Edo. Inisip ng babae na nakatagpo na siya ng pag-ibig sa katauhan ng samurai kaya pumayag ito. Pero sa gitna ng paglalakbay, itinulak ni Hotsumi ang babae sa gilid ng bundok. Nang sumunod na taon, muling pupunta si Hotsumi sa Edo para sa kanyang taunang pagbisita. Sa pagkakataong ito, nanuluyan siya sa isang templo sa gilid ng bundok. Habang natutulog siya, nagpakita sa kanya ang multo ng goze at hindi na nakita pa ang samurai nang sumunod na umaga. Sa ibang kwento, sinasabing pagkatapos magpakita ng goze ay hinila niya si Hotsumi at inihulog sa isang hukay sa labas ng templo kung saan nakalibing ang goze. Dito pala inilagak ang kanyang labi matapos siyang matagpuang patay sa gilid ng bundok (Hango sa Mujyara ni Mizuki Shigeru).

              Ang mga Hidarugami: Kamatayan sa Pagkagutom.   Nagdadala raw ng matinding pagkagutom ang mga hidarugumi sa mga naglalakbay sa kabundukan at kagubatan na nagiging sanhi ng kanilang pagkamatay. Dahil mag-isa silang namamatay, walang nakakakita ng kanilang mg bangkay at hindi man lang nalalagyan ng tanda ang lugar ng kanilang mga kinamatayan kaya nagiging masama at mapaghiganti ang kanilang mga espirito at nagiging mga hidarugami na rin sila na nambibiktima ng iba. Upang labanan ang mga hidarugami, maiging magbaon ng pagkain sa paglalakbay. Kung makaramdam daw ng gutom ay agad kumain kahit paonti-onti.  May iba’t-iba ring bersyon ng kwento sa iba’t-ibang prefecture. Sa Shiga, sinasabing lumulobo ang tiyan ng biktima kung sila ay nagugutom. Kung may makitang tao ay manghihingi sila ng pagkain sa kanila. Kung sinabi ng kausap na mayroon silang dala ngunit nakain na nila ito, aatakihin sila ng taong gutom at bubuksan ang kanilang tiyan upang maghanap ng hindi pa natutunaw na pagkain sa kanilang tiyan. Sa Mie naman, sinasabing inaatake ng mga hidarugami kahit ang mga hayop na dumadaan sa kagubatan dito. (Hango sa “Mujyara” ni Mizuki Shigeru).

              Ang mga Naghihiganting Multo ng Angkan ng Heike. Si Morimoto no Yoshitsune ay isang kilalang heneral sa kasaysayan ng Japan. Nabuhay siya noong 1159-1189. Noong 1185, pumalaot si Yoshitsune kasama ang kanyang grupo sa Daimotsu Bay sa Hyogo upang tumakas sa kanyang kapatid na si Yorimoto. Inisip ni Yorimoto na isang banta sa kanyang kapangyarihan bilang shogun si Yoshitsune kaya gusto niya itong patayin. Masama ang panahon nang pumalaot sina Yoshitsune – malakas ang mga alon at nabalot ng makapal na hamog ang paligid. Mayamaya pa ay umahon mula sa tubig ang kalansay ng mga taong mula sa angkan ng Heike na nakalaban at pinaslang ni Yoshitsune. Habang sinusubukang labanan ni Yoshitsune at ng kanyang mga alagad ang mga kalansay, nananalangin si Musashibo Benkei, kanang kamay ni Yoshitsune at isang debotong monghe sa isang sulok ng barko. Matapos ang ilang sandali, naglaho ang mga kalansay, tumigil ang malalakas na alon at nawala ng tuluyan ang unos. (Hango sa “Mujyara” ni Mizuki Shigeru).