High fashion and magazines

My second day in Tokyo has already passed. It is a rainy Friday evening and I've been eating crunch granola out of a box and watching Gossip Girl for the last few hours.
Today I had three castings - Burberry Blue label, something I can't remember for something cute and Fudge magazine. I believe I did well.
There are some differences between the two cities - while in Osaka I had castings mostly for weddings, underwear and department stores, then here we have castings for everything. Tokyo is where the big stuff is - the expencive brands, the fashion shows, the magazines. And furthermore - in Osaka we would've done around 2-3 castings within five hours, here we managed to attend five (including a 45-minute break at home). But really - there's no point of comparing Tokyo and Osaka - I love them both.

Right now I am staying with the two other girls from our agency - Ruxanda and Alicja - in the same apartment I was in last year. It is a bit weird to be living with somebody else after being all alone for almost two months. I don't mean it's bad - but just different. I guess I have to consider others more and well, can't be walking around in my underwear anymore. Too bad.
Next week I'll be moving to another apartment in the nightlife area, Roppongi. Not only are the clubs and stores nearby, but also there's a Tipness only a 5-minute walk away. It should be perfect for me.

And if anybody dares to wonder: Yes, I did go to the Thursday-dinner in Feria last night. This time a litte bit of dancing was included as well.

Shinkansen

A view from the train

What's new?

Some small and precious Japanese restaurants have been replaced with Family Marts and Starbuckses.
And now they even sell some edible (and maybe even healthy) food in Ministop. I managed to buy some cooked vegetables and chicken from there. They didn't seem to be covered with preservatives either..
The streets are a bit darker at the night time, because there's still a need to save the energy after the big earthquake.
A driver/manager from Zucca, called Yui, got married to his girlfriend 2 months ago and he is working with Donna models now. Good for him.
There are two other Estonian girls in town at the moment.
Many widgets and apps on my htc. Thanks to the WiFi in the apartment. Finally!!

And certainly a lot more. But I haven't had the time to check out yet.

Back in the city of sky-scrapers

Yes, I am once again back in Tokyo. This time with all my stuff.

Since I didn't have any jobs coming in Osaka, they decided to let me go. I ended my contract earlier so I could start doing castings in T-town. I came this morning with a Shinkansen. I still have to go back to Osaka next week, because my flight to Korea is from Kansai Airport. I will stay in Seoul from the first until the third of September to get my visa for Tokyo. Until then I can't work here. Or at least legally.

So here I am, one week earlier. All the same and everything different.

Tokyo is such a city comparing to Osaka. I hope I will manage all the rush.

Lovely Rainy Sunday

On the 24th of February are all Estonians busy celebrating our Independence Day from the year 1918. Yesterday, on the 20th of August, it was our second time of the year to feel proud of our little country's strenght - 20 years from regaining its independence. The fact, that I wasn't there for the Song of Freedom (our Song Festival), is sad. But it doesn't mean that I support or love my country any less.
Happy Birthday, Estonia! I will always come back to you!



Sunday. I woke up, and it was still (or once again) raining. And chilly. I even turned my AC up to 24 degrees from my usual 18. I felt like cleaning again. My room is really neat now. Just the way I like it. Fresh.

At noon I took the bike for going to the fruit market. It was raining only a bit then, it was OK without an umberella..I bought some peaches, an apple, canned fish and tomatoes. Then I made a big bowl of spaghetti for lunch.

At 4 pm I took the bike to Tipness. By that time it was raining more heavily. I took the ballet class, that I enjoyed so much again. When I left, it was really raining. But I had no umberella, so I was drenched when I got back home. Still - just rain. Felt refreshing after all.

Then me and Saule went for a walk. By then it had stopped raining at last. A jacket was completely needed.
We went to my favourite (import) food store called Kaldi coffee farm. By the name of it, you can guess, that they specialise in coffee. So every time I go there, they offer some ice coffee to taste. And nuts, and wines, and crackers with cream cheese.. I love the place! It is a really small store, but they play good music there, and feed you, and they sell the best food ever. I spend quite a lot of money there every time I go. This time, me and Saule spent about 30 minutes just circling around the shelves. It was past closing time, when we realised we should leave. So I payed for my muesly, mixed nuts and mango pudding, and we left.

Oh, why do I love hanging out in stores so much? Maybe because I don't have anything smarter to do here? Or do I? Of course I could think up something, but hey! It's still summer, so I shouldn't worry about stuff like that.
And yes, I am still obsessed with food. Will it ever pass? I don't think so.

Klaudia's wedding

For the third time in Osaka, I worked for Klaudia today. The clients were nice, just as last time, and the job was pleasant. It took 2 hours longer than expected though, but it was bareable thanks to the fact that me and Saule were working together. We started at 10 am, and finished after 7 pm. The studio was up in the mountains, outside of Osaka. The second floor window had a really beautiful view to the area. I felt rather sleepy the whole time. And there was a lot of waiting, so I tended to doze off all the time.

Bento-box full of tempura, rice and pickled vegetables

Klaudia is a big client for us, they have many jobs and they pay very well. They tend to have really colorful and more like Shibuya-girl dresses, but they do have very elegant white wedding gowns as well. I've just happened to do those 'genki pose' lines. Like today - the line I worked for was called "Sweet glitter".

The firs setting was like this. So you can use your imagination and fit some wedding dresses in the middle of that.

Seems like the rain from Tokyo finally got here. It was cooler than usually already in the morning, and when we finished our job, it was quite chilly. I hope this weather lasts longer, so that I can go hiking in Mino mountain (or so called 'monkey mountain') without having a heat stroke on the way.

All so familiar

I've had really long past 42 hours. I've just taken a shower, cleaned my room and before that been to the gym. I arrived back from Tokyo at 8.30 pm.
On the way to the apartment, a strange Japanese guy came up to me and wanted to give me a present. Well, that would've been really nice after a day working, but I started feeling sad for that guy. He confused me with somebody else - he said he was sorry to come here again, but that he had something to give me (I noticed a nicely wrapped box in his shopping bag). I did my best to explain him, I wasn't the only white girl living in our hotel, and that he was probably waiting for someone else.
He seemed so sad, he'd been waiting on the corner of the street for a while, I guess. Even when I got back from the gym after 11 pm, I saw him leaving by bike - he must have a teensy-weensy crush.


My travel to Tokyo and back was surely more than I expected. I left Osaka with the 7.47 pm Shinkansen (the Japanese bullet train) straight after my castings on Thursday (for what I woke up at 8 am!!) and got to Tokyo Shinagawa station two and a half hours later. I hurried to the subway and to my hotel, because the manager and some of the girls from Zucca (my agency in Tokyo) were already waiting for me. We got together and went to one of those notorious Feria dinners. Many of the girls had their last weekend in Tokyo.
I was thrilled from that spontaneous idea of going out before my job, so I am sure I said more than I should've had and in a more hyper way than would've been appropriate. But who cares - I was glad to be back in a place I missed so much and meet some wonderful people. I saw the two Estonians, who are both sadly leaving before I go to Tokyo for good, as well as I had the chance to freshen up my relations with the PR's, to be sure they greet me well the next time I visit Feria.

The only picture from going to Feria. No wonder..ice-cream.

Although I really enjoyed the company, I followed the common sense, and took the last subway to Omote-Sando, where from I walked back to my Hotel - Sakura Fleur Aoyama - that was close to Shibuya (one more metro stop, but by another line). I got to sleep at 2 am, after I had showered, packed my bag again and teared out the battery from the hotel's alarm clock (because of the 'tic-toc' sound it made). My sleep did'nt last long though - my alarm was set on 5.45, to meet the client for the underwear job downstairs at 6.20 am.

Now, as it is over, I can say my job was superb. But I am sure, if you'd asked me around 9 am, I would've answered differently. It is funny, how some things that annoy you so much, can be so easily ignored, so that you could concentrate on the pleasant things instead and simply enjoy every moment. Well, I did that after a short while. There was no reason why not to - the client, make-up artist and stylist were the sweetest ever. For the shooting, there were three kinds of settings: first one was (as usually) 'kawaii', the second one was a bit pin-up and 60's, and the third - well, those were simply waist down shots for pants- nothing special. I decided to keep my puffy hair and the Twiggy-style eye make-up. I got the fake eyelashes as a present too (with the box and glue and everything!)

The second idea was something like this

I finished the job earlier than supposed to, so I got back to Shibuya before 4pm, where I had decided to spend some time. Unfortunately it was raining hard, so I just inhaled the famous Shibuya-crossing-sight to myself again. Which was even greater, being filled with hundreds of umberellas. The crossing itself has changed a lot with the year - many new stores and billboards in the view.





Already at 5 I was again at Shinagawa station, to take the Shinkansen back. As a surprise though, there had been an earthquake and also some heavy rain, so all the trains were delayed. I decided to wait 30 minutes on the platform (and pass 3 earlier trains), to be sure to get a seat on the long way back. First I did have to stand up, but already in Yokohama (about 10-15 from Tokyo by Shinkansen) I got to sit down and enjoy the view over the fields and mountains of Japan.

Hmmm, and 'special attentio' for tomorrow's job: "Make Happy Genki Pose!"

Sightseeing for decore products

I love simply walking around in the stores in Japan, especially where they sell accessories for home..they just have the nicest things:)

This is actually at the local food store..

Past midnight, still Sunday

I was just thinking..and wondering..
 yes, my Book is honestly 90% crap. Hate it.

And I can't sleep. Life is just too fragile. Weird and unexpected things happen. You can never be prepared for any of it. And you never know, what's possible or what's real. Anything can happen.
Wish there was another world to escape to once in a while..

In silence

The heat continues

Thursday was a funny day. By the end of it I was booked for a underwear job by a client from Tokyo (who, I think, has never seen me in real life). The job will be on the 19th. So ohh yeah, I am going to Tokyo already next week!!
The story, how I got booked for that job, is kind of amusing. And long. Long story short - I had to take many snapshots for the clients, so that they could be sure I fit their underwear (and you can guess yourself what kind of snapshots they were)

Yesterday we didn't have any castings, because of the holidays that started today and will last until Tuesday. Our agency took us out for lunch (or breakfast for many of us) - to Pizza Salvatore - buffet style. We all enjoyed the soup, salad, vegetables, pastas and pizzas a lot. We ate so much, it was enough for the whole day.




Next to the restaurant, there was a small shrine for the Japanese Romeo and Juliet (true story!). It is pretty common here, that there are these small temples and shrines just in the middle of the citylife.



After the lunch I had a short rest (the right expression for that would be the Estonian "leiba luusse laskma") and then I went to the gym again, where I ran for 10 minutes, did my usual exercises and then about 25 minutes of stretching. Later in the evening me and Saule went out, to have the last party with Yulia, who is leaving to Taipei tomorrow.

I woke up at lunch time, made myself a delicious banana-strawberry-soymilk shake, and now I'm trying to figure out what to do with the four more days off we have. (Because so far there aren't any castings on Wednesday either). Luckily I haven't done any sightseeing so far, so there should be at least something to do. And there is always Tipness and shopping, if nothing else comes to mind.
It is still really hot outside. No intension to leave the apartment before 6 pm today..

It's around 37 degrees outside. And humid.
You will be covered with sweat the second you step out from the door. Or open the window.

Getter has it!

Today Getter woke up at 5.30 to go to her job. It was close by - only 4 stops by subway to Shinsaibashi station and then 5 minutes walking. Getter met the client in a hotel lobby at 7.20 am, then the make-up artist arrived as well. Make-up and hair was done in the same hotel. The room was really hot, because it was already about 30 degrees outside (and really humit) in the morning. The client was a really nice lady, who had lived in Sidney for a while, so she spoke really good English (for a Japanese). During getting ready at the hotel room (on the 10th floor), there was a small earthquake too. Cute!

When Getter was all made up and pretty, she went to a restaurant called Sakaisuji Club, that was in a  (about) 70-year-old western style building. Fancy and everything.

At first Getter was told, that she will have 22 dresses to shoot. First three of them outside. It wasn't that bad to work outside at all - just by the entrance to the restaurant. It went amazingly quickly.
The other pictures were taken on the 3rd and 4th floor, in private rooms. Everything went fast at the beginning, as always. After 10 dresses were finished, the whole shooting group had a really nice lunch at the same restaurant - first a handful of salad with a few tomatoes, 5 olives and 4 slices of salami poured over with olive oil. Next to it some bruchetta with olive oil and a glass of ice-cold water. As the main dish they had some spaghetti with zucchini and shrimps that was followed with some hot coffee.

The break went fast though, and Getter had to shoot 12 more dresses - or that's what she thought. Finally there were surely more than 24 dresses all together, not 22. And some of them were done twice.

Getter had 2 hours overtime, which means she was working 10 hours and finished at 5.35 pm and that she didn't make it to the Panasonic camera casting.

After the job Getter's legs were almost burning from all the standing and posing. Still, gym was waiting for a visit - as on Thursday's it is closed, on Tuesday Getter didn't do any exercise at all and on Monday she just went swimming in the morning.
So Getter went at 9.20 pm and worked out until 10.45 pm. Left the gym as the last person.

Now Getter is pretty tired, but happy as well. She can't remember much what was going on the previous days. Only that on Tuesday all the girls from Cosmopolitan had to go on castings without Mitsu, who took a day off. And that on Monday she had gone swimming in the morning and then castings later. Also the same day she tried Macadamian nut Häagen-Dazs as promised. Also Getter got a blender! from the agency, so she (and the other girls who live in the hotel) are making healthy smoothies for breakfast, lunch and dinner from now on.

Getter has been dealing a lot with her paperwork for going to Tokyo. The contract is signed, the plane tickets should be already bought by now and the hotel in Seoul will be booked asap. Everything has been working smoothly, thanks to the managers involved, who just do their job well!

Thank you!

Osaka. Made from a casting on Tuesday morning

And Getter will stop talking about herself in third person, as she gets some sleep.

The ice-cream girl

Since I tried all the frappuccinos in Starbucks already last year, I'm going to set a new challenge - try all Häaegen-Dazs ice-creams. Now, as Donki Hotte has all tastes, it won't be that expensive either. And oh yeah, Donki Hotte is just next to Tipness;)

Today I woke up, had a cafe au lait and a cookie, read my book, had some normal breakfast as well (containing buckwheat porridge with some tomato and red pepper) and went for shopping, then to Pilates and gym in Tipness, then some shopping again (bought a gorgeous dress), grabbed a caesar salad wrap from Subway, got back home, ate the wrap plus some watermelon and a mango jelly..and now I am bored. So yeah, I am so going to do the Häaegen-Dazs thing. Starting tomorrow.
Right now I'm going to read my book again - Haruki Murakami's "Kafka on the shore"

For notice - so far I have only tried Strawberry tiramisu, cookie&cream and caramel crispy sandwich Häagen-Dazs. So there's a lot more to go!

Turning so japanese

Today I tried to do some shopping. The only thing I adventually got for myself is Shiseido's eye color trio. It's the first thing I've bought from them. It is totally worth buying cosmetics from Kanebo and Shiseido here, since they are Japanese and it's so much cheaper.

In the evening me and Saule took bikes to the riverside. There was a fireworks festival. Once again the Japanese affection for cute things hit out - even the fireworks turned into the shapes of Hello Kittys, bunnies and hearts. Kawaii!


These were made last year in Tokyo for a knitwear magazine. Supercute, I know. Wouldn't believe that this is what I do here. But it is, and it's kind of cool actually.
And yes, it is my hair.

Something to write about

It's Friday and I am sitting at home, doing nothing smart. But this is my own decision - not to go out this weekend. I already am surviving Friday so there will be no problem with tomorrow - parties on Saturdays are just too boring.
I went to the gym today as well, so I feel especcially good about myself. Still working out my abs and legs. In the weekend I will go dancing and swimming too, haven't done that for a while.
I've had a bad mood for the last few days. Now I am out of that - I asked for my balance yesterday, to see how far I am from covering expenses and earning money. And it came out, that with only the 6 jobs I've done and the 2 I have coming (atm), I have already earned some money. Which is possible thanks to the fact, that Osaka is just so AWESOME. The expences here are half of what they were in Tokyo and all the job's have had really high guarantees too.
I would be so happy to stay in Osaka for September as well, but unfortunately there are more girls coming to Cosmopolitan who would be a big competition for me because of their look. There's no point of having 4-5 girls with the same image in one agency - there wouldn't be enough jobs for us (as there aren't right now either). Soo..

..Tokyo it will be!! Around 3 of September probably. My contract here ends on the first, but because of the new law, I can't go to Tokyo with the same working visa which I have here. To make a new one, I must leave the country, and then I can re-enter. So I will be flying to Seoul for two days, until they do my visa.

But ooohh, I still LOVE it here so much. I will definetly be coming back! And not in the summer anymore! Next time will hopefully be soonsoon!!

It's a pitty, that it's so difficult to get to see the result of what we do as models. Unless the photos come out the time you are in town, it needs quite a lot of pushing to get the agency send you something..
Yesterday I got some new-old pictures from Tokyo. They were made on last year for a wedding magazine on Bali, Indonesia. I got to spend three nights and four days on that lovely-amazing island! (talk about modeling being a good oportunity!!)
The pictures are pretty sweet too:)

630 minutes

Castings started from 10 am and ended at 8.30 pm for me today. In that time we made 6 castings, of which two were in Kyoto, three in Osaka and one in Kobe. Me and Saule (Lithuanian girl also with Cosmopolitan) got booked from the second casting (wedding dresses).

Sometimes I don't have any castings where they look for my type of girls, so it seems hopeless to get any jobs at all. Other days again, there are only castings that search models with my look. This is why there's no point of giving up - something will come at last!


A new girl arrived to our agency today - Liza from Russia.

I feel so well and proud of myself at the moment, because I went to the gym with Thomas at 10 pm and worked out until closing time.


Now I will attack the sweet watermelon in my fridge and go to sleep soon after that. Tomorrow we will start castings from 9.45 am!

Oh yeah, Polina left today :(
The main subject of my last posts...

Tuesday to Wednesday

So we went to karaoke. Nobody actually sang anything. We just spent the evening together. Danced a lot.

Can't beleive Polina is leaving already in less than 3 hours. She was my family here.
Who will go to the Tipness with me now? Dancing? Moon Soon? Show me around in Osaka?

Oh, dear Polina! I hope you have a nice flight! It was so great to spend time with you! Thanks for the last night as well, it was fun!:)




Good night now, have to wake up in 4 hours.

Black bread and cockroaches

Yesterday I was working for a brand called TuTuanna. They sell underwear, socks, stockings, housewear, etc. It was my first real underwear job. Kind of funny but surely the easiest job I've ever had. We laughed a lot, Alina and me. (Alina is the youngest and the most talkative girl from our agency) Clients were supernice and for the first time I had a translator at the job! She was a 24-year-old sweet Japanese girl. Still, I didn't feel I needed a translate, I understood the client myself anyways. But she was nice to talk to during the breaks.

Also for the first time I modelled for socks!! First of all, they were the cutest socks ever! Secondly, it was most amusing to pose only with feet. I had only 4 cuts of underwear and 3 cuts of socks. I finished an hour and a half earlier. I waited Alina to finish as well, we took a taxi back to Umeda and then the subway to Shinsaibashi, where we met the other girls and Mitsu. We all had a casting for Yumi Katsura wedding dress show.

In the evening I went to the gym too. Still, I didn't feel quite satisfied. Next time I will go with Thomas again, so he can check if I'm doing everything right or not.

As Polina went to Tokyo in the weekend, she visited a Russian restaurant there, and brought me a whole black bread (not as black as in Estonia, but still much better than white bread).
Still thrilled by the bread, I opened the cupboard under the sink...and a cockroach !! tried to run out from there (probably got there through the hole in the wall). I closed the door fast to smash it, but I didn't succeed..so it is still somewhere there. I emptied the cupboard of course, but I don't think I will be keeping my food there anymore.

Today we were both working for the same client again. This time I had only one cut for underwear..the rest was mostly for stockings and socks (but full body pictures). The pictures came out really cool, I hope to get them soon, so I could make my book even more Japanese than it is right now..
The job was much more tireing than yesterday. But again - it was so much easier than wedding dresses and we finished earlier: No castings. Straight back home by taxi. Eat-eat. "How I met your mother", and now going to karaoke for Polinas last day/night.

Hope to be back early - castings are tomorrow from 10 am.

Today, getting hair done

Alina and me. Curly-curly hair

Peaches

 
Friday wasn't that special. In the morning I went to Tipness again - gym and swimming. Then I had one casting for a TVC ( TV commercial). That was pretty funny. In the evening we had dinner with the agency in a Japanese restaurant behind our apartment. It was great! I got to try all these really good Japanese dishes once again: cold soup with vegetables and mushrooms, grilled salmon and tuna sushi, seaweed, different salads, fried fish, eggplant, and my favourite of them all was fried tofu! I never really liked tofu, but the one we had was truly yummy. And of course - the plum wine was exellent!

The start of our dinner

Later we sat on the roof with Polina, Thomas, Kolja and Marta..just listening to music and chatting until the guys and Polina went out.

Saturday I had a testshoot. I said to myself already last year: No more testshoots in Japan. But I agreed this time, because a stylist was from the job I had on Monday..and they promised not to do any cute Japanese style photos. Once again I was disappointed - we did do really Japanese stuff. I had only two cuts luckily. Otherwise I would've died there. The shooting was outside. Must mention, that there is around 35 degrees every day. For the first cut we went to a park and within the 15 minutes we where there and the 5 minutes we were actually shooting, I got 20 mosquito bites on my legs. They were really ichy and red. I looked like I had a skin infection. The second outfit was much better, although, still nothing I had imagined or wanted. A bit hippie-style.
When we had finished, the photographer took some natural head shots as well. For my book. But I am not sure they are what I need. I got all the pictures on the CD, but I can't really check them, because my computer doesn't have a CD-drive. I also got a present from the stylist. The tanktop from the second outfit. That was nice of her, and I quite like the top.
In the evening I did my fruit shopping. Got some blueberries, peaches, watermelon, kiwi..all I need to survive. Soymilk too, of course. Around 7 pm I went swimming. I was too tired to work out.

Today I decided to go check out Yodobashi Umeda - a big electronics store. I got a case for my computer and finally a screen protection for my htc (there already are like 3 scratches on it)..I also bought a new book to read in the car and during the jobs, when I have to wait. I got Haruki Murakami's "Kafka on the shore". I've really enjoyed his books so far, I hope I like this one too.

Haruki Murakami

Now I've spent all my evening inside. Few hours ago I went to Savoy to get some water and for dinner. It started to rain a bit as I was leaving and when I left the store it was truly raining cats and dogs. I had an umberella, but still got soaking wet. I guess it feels a bit like in Estonia right now. I heard it is flooding everywhere..

I am sure I will be finished with "Kafka on the shore" quite soon, so I will need something else to read. Recommendations are welcome!

And I will post some pics from the testshoot soon. I attempted to buy a CD-reader today, but they didn't have the kind I liked. But I will get those pictures off that disk for sure!

Oh, I got these earrings too..