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Tuesday, May 02, 2006

The Exquisite Kimono

I just finished reading Memoirs of a Geisha. And i must say that the book is absolutely wonderful. I love the story line, I love the way the author tells the story as a person -Sayuri.
I was totally entrigued by the story i thought it was real and i imagined a real person (old aunty) telling me her real life story....much like how Rose telling her story of the titanic.

Frankly speaking I thought it was a true story, untill i read the acknowledgement page. :P
The way the author tells the story made me feel as if im watching a movie, plus i've never been so intrigue by the way japanese dressed untill now. I must say that after reading the book, i've learnt to appreciate the kimono more than ever. The exquisite designs and the way its all put together, the effort just to look beautiful. My my, the way the geisha had to sleep in such a way that their neck is held-up so that it does not ruin their hairstyle.
Somehow it reminded me of the lengths that we women go to make ourselves pretty.

Similarly, I used to be a dancer back in the good ol days. And I remember 1 of the dances i was involved in was the chinese fan dance. During our performances, we would have our hair done in the saloon to braid our hair from top down. Even when the performance was scheduled at 8pm, we would have our butt at the saloon at 10am in the morning. It was totally a gruesome whole hour or two having your hair pulled and tuck and held in place with probably a whole jar of gel. What pain we had to endure just to have the perfect hair without a single strand of hair out of place. And that was the easy part. To survive another 8 hour or so without ruining the hair, phew that takes some skills too. Especially when you need your beauty sleep, how to sleep without touching the hair?? well, i've probably learnt to master sleeping headsdown without suffocating myself throughout those years. But you know what, when you're on stage and the performance went on well, and having people telling you how much they enjoyed watching you perform. The satisfaction is indescribable.





(Image from http://msatminidolls.minilists.com)


4 comments:

caffeinated said...

ahh, but now you've found your danna, i guess the ways of the geisha are over for u, eh?
:)

Fashionasia said...

teeheee....isnt it the goal in life for a geisha to find a danna?? :>

hey friend YOU READ THE BOOK ALSO HAR????
kekkekeke....

chong y l said...

I once saw a Japanese movie called "SAKURA" -- it was so sad that though I can't remember the details, I still felt haunted by the depth and beauty of a thorn bird in deep despair. I I know now is Sakura is that country's national flower -- like Hibiscus is to us -- but I hope one day to meet a "fan dancer" called Sakura -- wonder she can wear a kimono for the performance. Sute it would win an encore -- that would be beyond "indescribable"!
FashionAsia - up to this challenge?

Fashionasia said...

desi: You want sakura? !! tell me which teahouse and when :>