Yesterday I went to Omotesando Hills to see MEDIA SKIN for the first time. Actually, I knew that I would like it a lot, so I've already pre-ordered an orange MEDIA SKIN even without seeing a mock-up. It was just as I had imagined it, and it looked good! The asisstants kept telling me that 'the orange and the white models feature paint made with silicon particles, like those used in cosmetic foundations, for smooth comfort, while the black is made with a soft-feel paint that includes special urethane particles to provide a relaxed comfort.' To be honest, I couldn't tell the difference clearly but anyway both felt much better than usual mobiles. I got a pack of skin Oil Control Sheets (to remove excess oil and shine from face), they came in the same size as MEDIA SKIN. I guess I put this in my bag until I get a phone call from the mobile shop telling me that my MEDIA SKIN has arrived.

PASMO was finally launched yesterday. I liked the Suica I've been using because of the nice penguin character, but I decided to use PASMO from now on, not Suica. Actually the commemorative PASMO cards were also available yesterday. I wanted this sweet PASMO card with the penguin character, but 110,000 cards were super quickly sold out everywhere. I forgot that there are many many train lovers, probably including a lot of station employees. Sigh!

I've been shopping on internet auction sites, but I've decided to sell some stuff. I can't keep everything in our flat anymore! From now on I will upload some products, bit by bit, on Yahoo! Japan Auction. At the moment I recommend ARABIA Ego Espresso cups & saucers on my auction page. Now the Ego series are produced by Iittala, but this pair is produced by ARABIA. I guess some kitchen item maniacs will be happy to see this old crown logo. I have two sets, so I'm selling one set, which I've never used. The plates called Bersa are on auction too. They are very sweet. The biscotti on the plate was sweet too, they were made by C. I took this photo about a year ago, and C was cooking a lot at that time, but not these days...

I'm sorry that Yahoo! Japan Auction is Japanese only. You need to make an account in Japanese to use the auction system.

I finally got wii today! There were 400 wiis available at Bic Camera store in Shinjuku West. I tried a little bit, and I realised that I need to move the TV. I'm going to arrange our living room furniture right now!

I've been looking for lacquered Kaiseki-zen trays with legs. This kind of tray is only used in traditional Japanese-style restaurants nowadays. I was happy to find a good antique set on an internet auction. Usually the mass-produced lacquer products I can afford are made of plastic or molded woodchip, but the base of these trays is natural wood. It needs more care but it's nice to have real wooden lacquerware.

I had my annual physical examination. This time they suggested that I take the Ningen Dock (human dry dock), which has more tests compared to my usual examination. I'm getting OLD! So I had to drink barium for the first time to check my stomach. It was awful. The technician told me to drink the barium more quickly, but it didn't go down my throat and the foaming agent (for inflating the stomach) started to fizz in my mouth! After I managed to finish the cup of barium, I had to lie on a platform and was told to rotate my body twice to distribute the barium evenly. I didn't expect this, so I almost had to laugh and burp! If I burped, I would have had to drink another cup of barium. I was tilted left and right, up and down on the moving platform and it made me smile because I felt like an astronaut. When I went to rinse my mouth, I was surprised to see my face, it looked like kind of like this...