Ruby /// Love, like or hate

Tuesday 12 midnight Japan time - 2.36pm nottingham

What a day and night. I've just got in after dinner (which I ate kogu (delicious poisenous blow fish))and am settling into my home stay, which comprises of my own little flat, which is exactly what I wanted. It's much bigger than I imagined as Tokyo space is at a premium.

short cut to Muse Company, Minami Aoyam 5-chome

I've had no sleep and I'm at that can't get my words our properly, everything looks a bit shiny, I should really be in bed but I can't remember how to sleep, jetlag feeling.

Today has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous.

It started with the 'ever so helpful' virgin air stewards who weighed my hand luggage - containing all computer and camera equipment needed for the project, I'd gone over the weight allowance and was then told I could leave dome stuff behind - to be thrown away or pay excess baggage costs of £148. No matter how much they told me 'I know, tokyo is our most expensive route', 'you now I could be charging you £448' I didn't really feel that much consolation as they wrenched my visa card out of my hand as I cried like a baby. I'm bringing everything home again so may incur the same cost on the way back, fanatstic - will look into shipping stuff...

Sulked on the flight until the drink came round percked up and watched loads of stuff:

Possession - Gwyneth Paltrow does english, again. Do we not have any actresses? Still, quite romantic...
The Banger Sisters - just silly, goldie hawn tries out boobs.
Road to perdition.
Elysian Fields - Mick Jagger runs an escort agency for men, andy garcia down on his luck writer gets hired and gets entangled. mick jagger is great and kind of posh. it has to be seen...
the office, black books, big train

Each time I've been to Japan I'm always stunned by people's kindness. I caught the limousine bus from the airport to, the hotel I was meant to meet Naoko in central tokyo. When we came to the end of the line and no sign of Hotel mayoku, the bus driver explained I must have got on the wrong bus and started to show me where to get a taxi from, he then offered to take me there himself, and drove the bus 5 km out of his way. It was so kind of him. totemo shinzentsu deshta.

So I made it to my flat, had an hour for shower then back on the bus to Muse Company for what I thought was just a coffee and chat with Francois (Matarasso, from Nottingham speaking at British Council Conference) which turned into a pretty big meeting with hara-san from the British Council, all of Muse Company, writer, earpieces and simultaneous translation - about the place of engaged practice and community practice in relation to Japan and Muse's work, how my pieces work in relation to this and how we can ensure that the exhibition and further projects are a success. It was really good, but I was just about coping with keeping my eyes open at that stage.

Francois leaves tomorrow so I took him to do some essential gift buying in Kiddy land - 5 floors of kawai (cute characters) and anime. He did very well...

(François and Yuko)

Then lovely meal with all of Muse Company and Francois. The thing I really like about Japanese food is you get loads of courses and get to try a little bit of everything, the food just keeps coming until you've had enough. We had tofu (green tea flavoured), fish gelatine, breem, noodles, tuna sashimi and blow fish. If it's not prepared properly it can be poisenous so there was that moment of hesitation before you eat it, (is a taste worth it? ) but it does taste fantastic - like monk fish with a peppery kick. Yuko told me that some people really like a bit of poison, that it's like mustard to them.

(delicious blow fish)

I do need to try and sleep so I don't go loopy.

(Nao-chan and some of Muse Company)

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