Irasshaimase

Silencio

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:42:26 GMT

Te fuiste,

como se van otros,

como nos vamos todos.

Casi sin decir nada, dejándote llevar.

Como cuando te arrastran las olas mar adentro.

A mí me dejaste en tierra,

llamándote a gritos.

Me quedé con las ganas de darte más vida,

toda la que tú me has ido regalando.

Y no sé si fueron bastantes

los besos que te di,

las veces que nos abrazamos.

Aquí me quedo, entre pañuelos,

como cuando a él

también se lo llevó la marea.

Yo te admiraba,

creo que nunca te lo dije,

lo nuestro nunca fueron las palabras.

Sé que la vida pesaba,

me lo decían tus ojos.

Y desde mi ausencia,

yo jugaba a arrancarte sonrisas.

Me esperaste,

como yo te pedía tan egoístamente.

Me esperaste,

y ahora te has ido.

Dime adónde,

y allí te mando mis besos.

ちょっと日本語が話せる

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 23:14:05 GMT

" JPLT Level 3 : The examinee has mastered grammar to a limited level, knows around 300 kanji and 1500 words, and has the ability to take part in everyday conversation and to read and write simple sentences"

THAT'S ME !!!! :

Sayonara Tokyo - Välkommen Stockholm

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:10:22 GMT

Who turned the lights off?

Who shut the noise down?

Who let the wind blow?

No surprise, it was me.

I keep blooming in colours,

for others there's no hint of the dark.

Sometimes when I feel it,

lurking around,

trying to scare me,

I smile.

For others there will be no hint of the dark.

Dreams can be tricky.

Mine turned my world around.

Besitos desde "la capital de Escandinavia". O eso dicen.. ;)

F1 Japan 2007 - Fuji Ring

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:10:09 GMT

Un poco tarde para subir las fotos ya que ha terminado el mundial... Pero mas vale tarde que nunca!

Fuji Ring... alli estaba yo! Animando a Alonso a grito pelao en medio de una horda de finlandeses enloquecidos. Las clasificatorias, pasadas por agua pero manteniendo el tipo, como tiene que ser. A mi lado un peloton de finlandeses con sus banderitas, y uno que llego que parecia que habia pintado la sabana de casa. Que ostentacion!! Pero nada me perturbaba. Mis mini-banderitas confeccionadas la noche de antes a hurtadillas en la oficina se alzaban al compas de mis saltos en las gradas mojadas.. Ni ese capullo mimado ingles, ni tanto Finlandes con cerveza enlatada podian amedrentarme... Alli estaba yo aullando A-LON-SO! A-LON-SO!!

Hasta que en mitad de tanta lluvia y neblina tonta, pantallazo en la cara, y me veo a mi ninyo saliendose del coche.. cabrooooonnnnneeeess!!!! gggrrrrrr!!!

Ya a estas alturas en que Raikkonen se ha llevado el mundial, solo me queda el consuelo de que al menos no se lo quito el capulli del "rookie del anyo". Ninyato...

:-)

He subido un par de videos a http://shufla.vox.com/

Bzotz!!

Swallows vs. Hanshin Tigers_Tokyo_23Aug07

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 03:37:22 GMT

Sumo is the world-wide known traditional japanese national sport, BUT baseball has become as "national" as the elder mate.

Following the rule "If you are in Japan, you have to see this!", plus the other one: "At least once in a lifetime", I ended up enthusiastically clapping with my Tigers plastic bats!!.. when my friends indicated me it was our time to be noisy.. :-S Have I already mentioned that I had no idea about baseball, that it was the first time that I saw a match, and that all those guys dress in similar colours and it's complicated to know who the good ones and who the bad ones are?!?? :-) :-) :-)

After 3 hours, and priceless patience from my friends, I managed to get a few ideas : three strikes, one out ; home round is when 'batman' hits so strong that the ball flies away and all the guys with one big hand cannot catch it ; if you have one of your good guys in each of the three bases when you get a home round, you may get a 'grand slam'. 'Boul' doesn't exist, it is 'foul' (that was a hard one). An inning is the part of the game in one of the columns of the score panel. AND you must only cheer when you are 'attacking'! But if you don't know what 'attacking' means and you can't recognize your good boys with those confusing costumes, ask your baseball expert friends to guide you, or just "follow the crowd" :-)

Videos in http://shufla.vox.com/

Hanabi : Futagotamagawa (18/08/07)

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:38:03 GMT

HANABI （花火） = flowers　（花） of fire　（火） >> Fireworks or fuegos artificiales (for videos > link below)

Every summer, mainly during the month of August, you can find a lot of japanese people gaping at the artificially coloured sky. Every weekend the fireworks take place in a different location in Tokyo. The 18th of August, it was Futagotamagawa hanabi taikai, that is, the firework festival in the green scenery of the Tamagawa river. There I was :) Well, me, my friends and more than a million Japanese people!! :-S

Good point :) = Fireworks in Japan are awesome. The fireworks themselves may not be spectacular, but they last longer than I've ever seen before (about 1h, around 10.000 fireworks), and they are accompanied by music, which makes it quite pleasant to watch. And the whole event is interesting from a 'japanese culture' point of view: women are dressed up in their beautiful yukatas and men do the same in their summer yukatas (not everybody though!); picnics may be held all day long in order to enjoy a most probably pretty hot summer day but also to keep a good spot to see the hanabi before the crowd invades the place; it's funny hearing the reactions of most of the people during the fireworks :) all screaming in unison 'oooooooooooooh!', or girls shouting 'ookiiiiii!!' ("biiiig!!"), or 'suugoooiiiii!' ("great/amazing/wow!!"). In summary, nice.

Bad point :( = Crowded. Incredibly crowded. Frightfully crowded! If the place where the hanabi is done has more than one station to get to, you'll suffer BUT, if the place only has one nearby station (like this Futagotamagawa)...then...you will likely experience the highest level of urban-suffering. Promised. I'm from Andalucia but now I am not exaggerating at all! Just check the first pictures. And the train station..the train station...indescribable. Nonetheless, if you are willing to pay that price (I was. Although not more for this year, not until I forget this time..), I recommend to go. At least, once in a lifetime ;)

Don't miss the videos in http://shufla.vox.com/ !!

またね！

Awa odori matsuri in Kagurazaka_27Jul07

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 16:41:21 GMT

Too much movement for my little digital camera, but I managed to freeze a bit of the essence of this summer festival in Tokyo.

Don't miss the videos in http://shufla.vox.com/ !!

Demasiado movimiento para mi pequeña camara digital, pero al menos consegui retratar un poco de la esencia de este festival de verano en Tokyo.

No os perdais los videos en http://shufla.vox.com/ !!

Summer Holiday'07 : Caaaadiz!!

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 11:30:51 GMT

Despues de un año sin pisar la madre patria, unas merecidas vacaciones en mi tierra!! Yuuuuuuuujuuuuuuu!!! :-D Toda la emoción del principio se me volvió fiebre y tiritones al segundo dia..manda huevos... :-S Pero eso si, antes me dio tiempo de una mini puesta al dia familiar, una vuelta al piojito, preparar casi todo el conjunto para una boda, un par de horitas de playa, merienda, cubatitas y risas con mis niñas (ese chaval del bar iba enseñando los calzoncillos, qué barbaridad!! :-D) y disfrutar de mi cama y una casa normal. Todo esto en dos dias! El amanecer del domingo acabó conmigo.. aaichh...

Pero no hay nada como el paracetamol, unos efectivos antibioticos, las ganas de aprovechar las vacaciones y... mi sueco del amoooool! :-D :-D jejejeje Remontada la fiebre (bueno, quizá, más bien caritativamente traspasada a mi apiguita Mammen y a una mamá sufridora...) no había quien me parara! Ni a mi, ni al sueco! ;-)

Cádiz, Puerto Real, y las playas de alrededores (con levante y poniente como no podía ser menos), Málaga por un dia y bodorrio en Rute!

Bueno, ahí están las fotos que dan constancia de que no he/hemos parado ni un momento.

Bechitos a todos los que pude ver (ya pudisteis ver la alegría que me dió!), más bechitos a los que esta vez no pudieron estar, y un mayúsculo bezote hasta la próxima!

Since it was a spanish holiday, it deserved some spanish words :-) Nonetheless, as it is widely known, an image says thousand words, so just have a look at the pictures and you'll learn spanish impressively quickly! :-P

In summary, it was greeeeat fun! When is holiday again?!?? ;-)

Going nuts / Se me fue la olla : Tokyo Marathon

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:46:36 GMT

Don't ask me why, I just did it... caught by a momentary state of elation I applied to it...I'm already regretting it... Nonetheless, I still have to wait for the lottery results.. People say gaijins have no so many problems though... Ganbarimashou!!!!

No me pregunteis por que, simplemente se me fue.. llevada por un repentino impulso motivador, me registre...ya me estoy arrepintiendo.. De todos modos, todavia tengo que esperar los resutados de la loteria de participantes.. Aunque por aqui se dice que los guiris suelen entrar... Habra que echarle un par de ovarios!!! (como veis, automotivarse es mucho mas corto en japones :-P)

>> By the way/ por cierto.. I'm talking about this : http://www.tokyo42195.org/index_en.html

30/05/07 : Feliz cumpleaños (Tokyo)

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:05:28 GMT

... y casi no me he dado cuenta. 28...

Y al otro lado del mundo...

Y tan lejos de tanta gente...

Pero cuando más lejos te piensas que estás, más cerca te los encuentras :-)

Sorprendente sorpresa la de casi todos los amigos que tengo aquí, reunidos para cenar conmigo (gracias,Abe-chan!Qué regalo!!). Y ese calorcito dentro al leer las lineas de los que quedan más lejos, o escucharlos de nuevo por unos minutos.

Si paro el mundo un momento, me encuentro mirando al cielo y pensando en lo que he hecho, en qué estoy haciendo. Estoy más sola que nunca, pero nunca me sentí tan acompañada.

Felices 28! :-)

Besitos a todos.

Stockholm

Sat, 12 May 2007 17:59:06 GMT

What happens when the world seems to turn from a walnut to a huge, massive ball?

Is the distance what makes us stronger? Or is the weakness what ends up strenghened?

Feels like endless miles from your lips to my ears,

Every word echoes in the emptiness of your absence

I haven’t found the way to smile back to my life

Since I gave away my tears last time we shared a look

Are you making me stronger? Or is it me becoming weaker?

How long does it take a trip to nowhere together?

Will you come with me? will you wait I’m ready?

Give me the time, and I’ll live up every single second by your side

This blindness will turn me dumb unless your voice keeps hugging me.

If it's worth it, hold on tightly,

fill up this distance with written kisses ,

until we sleep, together, in our cozy nutshell.

Visita del Frente Boqueron - on going

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:08:18 GMT

Espacio en construccion :)

Skiing with Nokians (3Mar) - Sugadaira

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 03:30:18 GMT

Not so much to explain about it, everything is in the pics... funny as always, buuuuuuut just one comment :

I was doing it on purpose!!! If I want my skis to be split up when I'm sliding backwards, I do it!

And I let that guy help me because men always love to rescue a woman when they think she's in trouble...but I tell you, everything was under control ;)

Y para que no quepa duda y el lenguaje no se malinterprete, en cualquier caso...., iba deslizandome hacia atras a la vez que se me abrian las piernas y se separaban esos skis.. porque queria!! Una experta esquiadora como yo no sufre esos momentos, los causa a drede :)

Mochitsuki : Jan'07

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 06:29:06 GMT

What is mochi? :

Mochi (Japanese: 餅; Chinese: (麻糬)) is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. While eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and commonly sold and eaten at that time.

And, before anyone complains... :

Mochi (Idioma japonés: 餅; Idioma chino: (麻糬)) es un pastelito de arroz Japones hecho de arroz glutinoso molido en una pasta y despues moldeado. Tradicionalmente, en Japón se hace en una ceremonia llamada mochitsuki. Aunque se come todo el año, el mochi es comida tradicional para el Año Nuevo japonés, cuando es mas común su consumo.

(I love Wikipedia! :-) )

A friend invited me to join the "mochitsuki experience" and, although I'm not very keen on mochi, I though it might be an interesting experience indeed. Waking up at 7.30am on Saturday didn't motivate me so much either, but I encourage myself "it's going to be fun...". Luckily I was right :) The host was a very nice japanese family that taught us how to make the mochi. I've to admit that it's not easy at all!! But after a few tries..I almost became an expert!! :-P

Just one more thing: I've already eaten all the mochi that I'll eat this year! In all the possible different shapes and colours! :-)

>>> I've uploaded a few videos in my VOX blog. Have a look at them at: http://shufla.vox.com/

>>> He subido unos cuantos videos a mi blog VOX. Para echarles un vistazo : http://shufla.vox.com/

Far away

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 15:35:14 GMT

This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late
Who was I to make you wait
Just one chance
Just one breath
Just in case there's just one left
'Cause you know,
you know, you know

[CHORUS]
That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me
and you'll never go
Stop breathing if
I don't see you anymore

On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance
'Cause with you, I'd withstand
All of hell to hold your hand
I'd give it all
I'd give for us
Give anything but I won't give up
'Cause you know,
you know, you know

[CHORUS]

So far away
Been far away for far too long
So far away
Been far away for far too long
But you know, you know, you know

I wanted
I wanted you to stay
'Cause I needed
I need to hear you say
That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I forgive you
For being away for far too long
So keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
Hold on to me and, never let me go

It's this tricky life that makes us so damn complicated. You were not supposed to show up. I was not supposed to keep up. Now it's too late to look for excuses or any kind of justifications. Somehow life prepared us a trap, I'm caught now, jailed into your blue prison, pleading guilty for drowning myself into this ocean of uncertainties. Will I forgive you? For being too far so long? Will you keep breathing? Held on to me and not letting me go?... so far away..

Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand (Dec06) : From Ho Chi Minh city to Bangkok

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:12:40 GMT

Who wants an overestimated 'white Christmas' when you can be filthy so that you don't distinguish whether it's the tan or the dust which dyes you darker, sweating so that you forget that people are eating polvorones at home and wearing warm coats and scarves, and sleeping in some lost dumps so that you cannot conceive that those people are also decorating the Xmas tree while you're struggling to touch as less as possible that suspicious Mickey Mouse cover?

Exchanging the villancicos by the roar of the motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and devouring some spicy Thai soup instead of the mom's carne mechá, I decided to face a 30 degrees Christmas with my home inside my small backpack (I'm so proud about my ability to reduce the baggage to the minimum even being a woman!) and a permanently chilled englishman to take care of :)

Hope the bunch of pictures I have selected can somewhat reflect how terrific those 11 days travelling through the southeast Asia have been.

Chill !!

Building a team... Dec'06

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 11:03:55 GMT

Connecting people.... right? So let's start with us!

Japanese are great when it's time to get together out of the office but job related.

This time we had a two days short trip : visiting the Panasonic centre and the Mirai kan (exhibition centre) in Odaiba, japanese style hotel in Chiba (next to the beach, beautiful!), cross-cultural dinner (people prepared presentations about their own countries. We wanted to do something different.... and where do people show more about themselves than in a bar?? :) So my nenes and me prepared a short play to present the different behaviours of the french, swedes, english and spaniards when they are in such places that I've never visited.... Obviously, any similarity with the reality, was pure coincidence :-P ), ni-jikai party (that basically means more drinking and karaoke :) ) and san-, yon-,... and countless parties until our heads hit the futon. Next day we had to behave after too many shocchus, nama birus, uisukis, ramus.. pool, onsen, and even some bath in the beach!! The reward was a nice barbacue-meal at a mother farm and some shots on a deserted amusement park (the weather was terrible!).

I love this job !!!!!! :) :)

Nokia Xmas party'06

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:10:47 GMT

Yeeeeah! Here we go! One year more, one more party :) Again, the Christmas party was decided to be a costume party. After too many changes, my peoples and me decided to perform as a group of mariachis. That, obviously, lasted only the first minute, just for the very first moment of showing up... Afterwards, we were a weird group of strange people walking around with extremely huge hats :)

A picture says 1000 words... so I hope that the selection of photos tells enough about the whole night (so that I don't have to write so much! :-P) ;) Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!! :)

楽しかった！！！

Ironic - O la venganza de la luna nueva

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:40:41 GMT

Llegaste con la luna en cuarto menguante

y te fuiste llevandote lo que quedaba de ella.

Lo ironico es que solo es nitido el recuerdo de tu sonrisa,

y sin embargo,

no he encontrado aun la mañana

en que no me despierte acurrucada

al calor de esos abrazos que no llegaron a ver el dia.

Halloween'06

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:46:54 GMT

Hi there!! Yes, we did it !! And it was sooo funny! :-)

Saturday 28th Oct, it wasn't Halloween yet, but who cares when there is already a Halloween party?! :-) It started at 21.07 - exactly - in the Yamanote platform of the Shinjuku station. I was a bit reluctant to join that "gaijin party" but finally I was (easily) convinced by my Power Rangers buddies and followed them there (also, the idea of leaving my apartment alone and dressed up like that didn't seduce me at all). And that was so great! :) Suddenly, the wagon was full with hundred noisy crazy people (and not only gaijin....) in so many different costumes that you could hardly recognize the quiet Yamanote line. One crazy round through Tokyo and ready to keep on partying wherever the party was!

In our case, the "nijikai" party - although it was supposed to be the main party - was in Ageha. A huge macrodiscoteque somewhere in Tokyo. But before the Power Rangers got on the Power Bus to go to the Power Disco, there was an unexpected stop in Shibuya, Hachiko, one of the key points in Tokyo.... Suddenly, a crowd was surronding us and aiming us with their mobile phones! In fact we were five Power Rangers in the middle of Tokyo, what else could we expect?? :-) Fortunately the mask was on and Tokyo is a big city... There were two options: escape or pose. There is no point to mention what we chose... :-) Our moment of glory.... Japan, Tokyo, and 20 minutes posing for our fans :-) :-) I was only thinking "God, I will never take this mask off!" :-)

The disco was cool (but everybody knows that I'm not so enthusiastic about discos..). So the night was perfectly loco-crazy!! :) I couldn't go to my Carnavales but this has been a pretty good compensation ;-)

Photo Album: The Netherlands (Holanda)_June08

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:26:23 GMT

The Netherlands (Holanda)_June08

Rotterdam

Walking by myself in Rotterdam

Nice park and museum nearby

Peculiar statues in Rotterdam...

Typical Holland, eller hur?

Weird combination

Who designed Rotterdam??

Still walking around alone...

Really. Who the h### designed Rotterdam?!

Mini-Carranza!

More Photos...

Photo Album: Vårruset_2008 (Stockholm)

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:50:01 GMT

Vårruset_2008 (Stockholm)

03_Vårruset = Carrera de la Primavera = Spring Race

07_Picnic

08_Tjejerna

10_BB_girls

11_Epsilon

13_Who_said_promotion

15_Who_said_promotion

17_Ballons

Photo Album: Sweden goes crazy when you become 30-years-old: Bday parties June08

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:46:21 GMT

Sweden goes crazy when you become 30-years-old: Bday parties June08

Ken, Daniel, and Fredrik. The "30-years-olders"

I always liked mature men...

Active mature men!

(Back-up if David does not work)

No idea what I was saying

Suecos and one Spaniard

No dancing partner :)

Who cares?! :)

Reluctant to leave?....

30 years old??

More Photos...

Photo Album: Spring08: Cadiz- PUNTA CANA -Madrid

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:35:19 GMT

Spring08: Cadiz- PUNTA CANA -Madrid

On our way to Cadiz. Barajas.

Too many photos already... :)

Pelota..

El sueco doing the sueco

El piojito

La bahia de Cadiz

David going nuts

Puertas de Tierra

Urusaiiii !!!

Waiting to board

More Photos...

Photo Album: Skiing trip (April08): Sälen

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:29:23 GMT

Skiing trip (April08): Sälen

Sälen

Our cabin

Little snowed cottage

The road

The other side

First morning.Checking the weather..

Hectic moments..getting ready to leave!

That little thing is me!

The massive snowman!

Again :)

More Photos...

Photo Album: Påsk Road Trip : Stockholm - Goteborg

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:34:37 GMT

Påsk Road Trip : Stockholm - Goteborg

Oficially Swedish!

The map of the trip

The driver

On the road again..!

Sigtuna, the smallest City Hall

Stor gatan in Sigtuna

Colourful wooden houses

Right there and already cheating on me..

Another beautiful colourful wooden house

I'm with a dork :-s

More Photos...

Photo Album: Mini-road trip to Uppsala (Feb08)

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:12:56 GMT

Mini-road trip to Uppsala (Feb08)

Road to Uppsala

First step:going for the car!

Maybe next time..

Landscape

Yep! Uppsala

Swedish houses

Entrance to the old viking kings burial place

Like the pyramids.. but viking style :-s

Not so cold..

...but bit too windy

More Photos...

Photo Album: Stockholm and Tekniska Museet

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 23:17:16 GMT

Stockholm and Tekniska Museet

Cemetery in the park nearby

I can't understand Swedes :-S

City walk

Statue

My tulips

Beeeeeeeeeeeed!!!!

Semla :) (only once a year! "Fat Tuesday". Guess why...))

Tekniska Museet

Hottie

Another hottie :)

More Photos...

Photo Album: Sayonara Tokyo - Välkommen Stockholm

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 19:32:27 GMT

Sayonara Tokyo - Välkommen Stockholm

Asakusa

After party

Shinjuku

My last day in Nokia

Shinjuku Xmas

Bo :)

Metropolitan Goverment Office

I miss you, Abe-chan

Tokyo

Ole!

More Photos...

Photo Album: Jose&Raquel in Tokyo_Nov07

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:13:35 GMT

Jose&Raquel in Tokyo_Nov07

Arrival at my station

Teaching the pose

At my friend's wedding party

Yoshie, Raquel et moi

Introducing Jose&Raquel to nama biru and ume shu

In jail?

With Mr. Sollund

Yep, my line

Home :)

Getting ready for the day

More Photos...

Photo Album: F1 Japan 2007 - Fuji Ring

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:59:33 GMT

F1 Japan 2007 - Fuji Ring

Nothing could bring me down!

Alonso-dressed up

Not so cozy..

But Finns always manage to warm up :)

Our curve :)

The view

Before the race. Still friends..

People..

..and more people

Start

More Photos...