We hope to be join by a guest however illness prevented him from travel so could not come. If you are reading this, get better soon!
So my day started earlier, 6.45am. Well early for me because I have been getting up around 8.00 for the past few weeks as I don't go to bed well past midnight. This time I was determine nit to miss my train and arrive 20 mins earlier. To aid my speedy kitsuke I wore my black tsuki obi although I'm not sure if I got the front the right way up?? Nevermind. I teamed this obi with a nice dark green wool kimono and the accessories with red since my obi has red on it. It is a safe option really but unless my hair is tied and pinned in an interesting manner then I find it hard to dress flamboyant. The obi-jime is interesting as it is braided strands of stiff leather. I won it as a lot and been dying to coordinate it but it is quite dark. However it appears to stand out against the black obi so I had to wear it. There was a little kitsuke malfunction, one of the strings that holds the belt closed came off so not only the obi-jime is holding the otaiko part but also keeping the belt closed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything stays together.
Coach A the quiet coach, why does it never live up to it's name? The passengers were not overly rowdy but they were not quiet. Especially if you can hear a conversation from the other side. At least I should be great full that it wasn't like my last journey when I had football supporters swearing and shouting for an hour before someone told them to keep quiet.
There is nothing to report on the train journey. We twist and turned through the Yorkshire countryside which isn't too bad. Seeing the occasional sheep which is very important, you can't have a countryside without sheep!
For once I turned up time 11.00 at London Liverpool street, Lyuba and Hong arrived shortly after me and we made our way to Barbican Centre.
Between trains and tube Tegan was going to be late and Mio (a new person to our group) was going to arrive around 13.00. The three of us waited until 12.00 before we decided to get our ticket and have a look at the clothes. No sooner we wandered round the first corner Tegan appeared. Once we were all together we peruse the exhibition. Then 13.00 came and Mio showed up, we stayed until 13.45 before we decided to find some food.
To summaries the exhibition in a few words the fashion was highly conceptual with some clothes just plain weird. No pictures I'm afraid as it was an exhibition but to put it simply the clothes on show are not really wearable. Once we were outside we took some photos. Hong got most of those so here are some of my ones.
It was so cold and wet that even the seagulls felt at home in London.
Since we failed to see any restaurants open around the gallery we headed towards Carluccio were Hong's boyfriend worked to have some lunch. Yummy, chicken pate and then a panni washed down with a nice cup of earl grey.
By the time we finished lunch it was 15.30 and it was time for Lyuba to take photos. I must get hold of those and included them in a posting. It was freezing whoever predicted the weather to be mild was wrong!
Hong wanted pictures of her coat so here you are!
By now it was time for me to get my train back to Sheffield. Hong was feeling tired so decided to go home, leaving the rest to invade Oxford circus and Haagen Daz. Oxford circus/Road was fine however Haagen Daz was closed for refurbishment. I hope they managed to find somewhere nice to have a treat.
So the 4th kdj is over, our next meeting will be 19th February at Cadbury's World. Until then goodnight.
