I can't believe that it is already the end of the year. C gave me a GR DIGITAL for Christmas, but I've been too busy to check it out properly. I sent my three year old IXY400 to be repaired and I don't like C's IXY55 because of the colour tone. So it is actually perfect timing to get a GR DIGITAL, but I need more time to learn. I hope I get used to use it in a week or so. Thank you for visiting LDK. I wish you all a happy new year!

I finally bought some antique glasses designed by Kaj Franck for Nuutajarvi in 1958. An updated version is still sold as the iittala Kartio line, but it looks quite different from the original design. The old glasses are hand blown, so they are much thinner and each glass is slightly different. They are elegant and beautiful, especially when they are stacked. The winter sky in Tokyo is usually very clear and blue, but I imagine these beautiful smoky colours are the colours of winter in Finland. I just hope that they won't break soon.

I went to buy some rice at the rice shop near the station, and there was a prize draw to win a shopping voucher (there are many prize draw promotions in the end of the year in Japan). I was told to pick three tickets and I opened them one by one. The tickets said ¥100, ¥500 and ¥100. I spent ¥1000 for rice and I won ¥700! The owner was as surprised as I was, and she told me that I probably spent all my luck! I got a kilo of agricultural chemical free genmai brown rice with the vouchers, and I paid only ¥50 extra. I'm going to cook this rice with black soybeans.

Our friend brought us nice chocolate from Finland. It is called Geisha! What a name for chocolate! The big sweets brand Fazer make this chocolate (they also make Tyrkisi Peber) and it seems very popular in many countries. I wonder if everyone knows the meaning of Geisha. I was looking at their site and I noticed that the package design changed. Unfortunately the Japanese-looking lady disappeared from the new package. I'm glad that our friend brought us the one with an old design.

When I visited Germany this September, I was looking forward to get a nutcracker in the shape of a Buckingham Palace guard, but we were too busy. I saw some nutcrackers at a souvenir shop in Cologne, and I thought that I saw the one I had been looking for. But I didn't even have time for checking. After I came back to Japan, C's sister kindly bought one for me and sent it to Japan! I was soo happy to get this, I thought I had missed my chance. I don't feel anything about Japanese kokeshi dolls, so C and his sister are probably not excited about nutcrackers.

We had a very warm autumn in Tokyo, I was wearing only a t-shirt until a month ago. But it's December now and it's cold. I should try the winter look Nike trainers I bought in London this September. These are called Blazer Mid but they have a different look from the original.

Today I went to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store Shibuya to get some advice on my PowerBook (I strongly recommend to make a reservation online before you go to the Genius Bar). A genius told me that I have too many photos in my iPhoto library. That's what I had suspected, actually I haven't even made a backup for years... I didn't spend any money at the store, but I saw lots of stuff I want to get. And I think I saw Japanese actress Emiri Henmi with her MacBook at the Genius Bar.