It is past 23:00, 10/Sep/96 in Japan and Bossa Nova Girls and Kenji are now resting quietly in Yokohama. They said they had no comment on the trip back.
They checked out from the hotel at Seven Dials, London at 10:00, 9/Sep/96, and took a south bound Piccadilly Line underground train from Leicester Square to Heathrow Terminal 4 to take flight BA005 back to Japan, which took off at 13:25. The films shown on board were "Arrival," "Broken Arrow" and one starring Jeff Bridges but they were asleep by the time it was shown. The TV comedies shown include the one with the psychiatrist from "Cheers," "Friends" and "Mad About You." It was when "Mad About You" was almost finished that the plane was ready to land at Narita. It landed at 9:25, 10/Sep/96. They took 10:13 Narita Express train from the airport back to Yokohama.
This journey ended without finding a right spot, but I, Vraifaux, hereby take the liberty of asking you to take your own journey in search for an ideal picnic location. Please drop us a line if you could find a right spot. I will include it in Found a right spot.
If you could not mail us with the above form, please send the equivalent contents with "RightSpot" in the subject line to the following mail address:
On this first and the last day in London, Bossa Nova Girls and Kenji's activities today were distributed throughout this big city: Monica enjoyed bicycling around, Marina went to see several films and took a walk in St. James's Park, Valeria, Angela and Kenji visited MOMI (Museum of the Moving Image) and wandered in the City where this word to signify an urban space is originated.
- Did you find anything interesting?
Angela Well, I brought my DAT recorder with me, and I could record some environmental sound. Like the sound at the book market under Waterloo bridge. I think Kenji experienced a revelation there.
Kenji It is about ISBN (Internet Sumo for BitNiks). I was browsing the books in the market, and found some books with strong ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) according to the game's interpretation. I took a note of them using my Wiz, and realized that an off-line evaluator which works on PDAs would be nice. My thought didn't stop there, but I will have a chance to explain it later.
Monica Where did you say the book market was?
Angela Under Waterloo bridge. It was just next to the café at MOMI.
Monica I think I saw it while I was bicycling. When were you there?
Angela About one in the afternoon, wasn't it?
Monica I was there much later then.
- Did you do anything all together at all?
Monica We saw a comedy show in the evening. Kenji recommended it.
Kenji It was an improvisation by Comedy Store Players. Comedy Store is my favourite comedy club in London. It's situated near Piccadilly Circus. We enjoyed the show, didn't we?
Marina It was hilarious. Although unfortunately none of us is a native English speaker and couldn't understand all of the gags.
Kenji There was something I noticed in Piccadilly Circus. The
covering around the statue of Eros is now removed, but it was
surrounded by the characters from Sega's games. Here is a picture I
took (but don't show this to Psyché. She'd be jealous).
It seems that today was the grand opening of Sega's inside theme park
in Piccadilly Circus. I had an impression like the company bought the
whole town.
- Did you find a right spot on the eigth day?
Angela No. But we gave it a try (believe it or not) and should be happy about it.
Having failed to find a right spot in Macclesfield, Cheshire, Bossa Nova Girls and Kenji decided to move on to the next destination - London.
- How was your flight?
Kenji We didn't fly. We canceled our flight from Manchester to Heathrow and took an inter-city train instead. Originally, our plan is to fly to Heathrow and take an evening flight tonight from there back to Narita. But since we decided to postpone our return and stay in London for a couple of nights, we had to change our flight schedule. In the course, we figured it was more effective to take a train than plane to get to the centre of London.
- How was the first night at London?
Kenji I think most of us didn't do anything.
Monica I made a couple of phone calls to my friends here.
Angela We took an evening train from Macclesfield. When we
arrived at London Euston, it was already past nine at night. We
picked a taxi, told the driver the name of the hotel, got there,
checked in and we were already tired because of the jet lag. I saw
a film on Channel 4 and went to bed at midnight.
Marina I saw the film too. Situated in Hong Kong, I think. Really offbeat. It had two parts: a story about a detective man who was born on the first of May and a drug smuggler woman wearing a blond wig and sunglasses, and a story about a cop and a young girl. I don't remember the title of the film.
Monica The fun part of this trip happened at a shop near Macclesfield station. We went there to buy fish and chips. It was strange, but none of us had bought fish and chips before, and didn't know how to order. There wasn't any fish and chips on the menu.
Kenji I said, "Um... Cod?"
Monica Then the girl at the counter asked if it was with chips. It was really easy come to think of it. The man at the counter, noticing our luggage, asked "Just arrived?" I told him, "Just leaving actually." "Ah, you have a long journey." He said. When everything was done, the girl at the counter said, "Thank you, and wish you have a pleasant journey." They were nice people.
- Did you find a right spot on the seventh day?
Valeria No. We haven't even started looking for it here yet.
Following the suggestion made by the cook at Robin Hood, the pub, Bossa Nova Girls and Kenji waited in the pub for the bus to arrive.
- Did you get to see the bus?
Valeria You mean the bus filled with knowledge.
- Yes. That was what you were waiting for at the pub, wasn't it?
Monica Let's talk about what we talked about in the pub first. Um... What did we talk?
Angela "A Little Man Tate."
Monica "A Little Man Tate." That's right. It's a film by Jodie Foster and about a prodigy son of a mother acted by herself.
Marina We all happened to see it last night on Channel 4, didn't we? I told Monica that's the film we should talk about, instead of "Serial Mom."
Kenji "A Little Man Tate" was on cable when I was living in Ithaca, NY, but I didn't know it was about prodigy and I didn't choose to see it. But the title and the picture of the three people - the mother, son and teacher - has been stuck in my mind. I'm glad I finally saw it. I've got an idea of the next month's special exhibition at Musée Psyché from the film.
Angela What is it?
Kenji In the film, there was an event called "Odyssey of the Mind." The October 1996 Special Exhibtion can be called "MoMO (Museum of Mind Odyssey)."
Monica Does it steal time?
Kenji I don't know. It's just a title. The subsections can be something to do with brainchild.
Valeria How about "Mind Cowboy ?"
Monica "Mind Cowgirl."
Marina It's nice, I think. After agitating digital people to review their relationships with the physical surroundings, Musée Psyché is now back to our mind. I presume Bossa Nova Girls will be assigned to compose and perform the theme music.
Kenji Yes.
Marina What will the music be like? Give me a name for it.
Angela "Mind Odyssey?"
Kenji That can be confused with "Mind Circus1." The cookie for MoMO would be "Mind being here?" So I am thinking something along the line of "Being here."
Marina "Being here." Impressionistic.
- Excuse me, what happened to the bus?
Monica The bus... The pub was crowded, wasn't it?
Angela Yes, and we all wondered if everyone was waiting for the bus. It must have been a rare opportunity for anyone to be on such a bus if he or she could find answers to just about anything.
Marina The bus with a key to solve all mysteries.
Valeria The bus of a miracle.
Monica However, when the cook came and told people that the bus arrived at the parking space, nobody was really interested in it except us. The cook urged us to see the bus outside.
Angela So we went out.
Monica We went out, and found there was indeed a bus waiting
for us. It was a white micro bus. On the side of the bus was a
painting to explain what it was: "Mobile Library."
Valeria I said, "That cook really has a twisted sense of humor, doesn't she?"
Angela I thought, "The bus filled with knowledge equals the bus filled with books. This can be a huge mobile sumo team according to ISBN (Internet Sumo for BitNiks)."
- What did you do?
Monica We got on the bus. We thought it could be fun. It was, in an unexpected way. To our surprises, the cook was right about her suggestion after all. When all of us got inside the bus, this strange thing happened around us.
- What happened?
Monica Colours appeared. Blue, green, red, orange, yellow...
We were surrounded by colourful shade, as if we were inside a
rainbow - we had a vision. We could visualize a beautiful field in the
air where people opened their lunch boxes full of sandwiches. That
was an ideal view of a picnic.
- Did you find a right spot on the sixth day?
Monica No. It was just a hallucination... Actually, I was just kidding about the vision.
Kenji In reality, we just picked up some books and returned to the pub. We decided to leave Macclesfield tomorrow.
- Where are you heading tomorrow?
Kenji London. I have come to think that an ideal picnic spot for bitniks can be found in an urban area, not in a rural area like this. Besides, Bossa Nova Girls want to meet their friends in London.
Valeria Let's talk about the country and western night.
Kenji Right. We enjoyed the final night in Macclesfied
watching the country and western night show at the hotel. It was a
sing-along show featuring a country singer from USA.
Valeria I liked it so much I was about to take over the drums... although it was played by a machine.
Angela He was playing the guitar and some chimes, and everything else was played by a MIDI instrument. It was a complete one-man band.
- Did Bossa Nova Girls sing along?
Angela We did actually. We sang "Peggy Sue" together with the singer. We danced too. We showed the dance performance routine we've been practicing. People seemed to like it.
1 A song by Miki Nakatani, written by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Bossa Nova Girls and Kenji's attempt to find a right spot in the hiking course which people at the chapel recommended failed. They are now back to square one.
- Any progress?
Angela There was an unexpected suggestion from the cook (one
who was picky on Valeria's not finishing her food) of "Robin Hood,"
the pub in which we have been taking our lunch. As we were discussing
what to do next, she came to serve our meals. Trying to be friendly,
I suppose, she asked us why we were visiting Macclesfield. We told
her we were looking for a place to picnic without mentioning it was
for bitniks. Then she told us about the bus.
- The bus?
Angela The bus. She told us that there is a bus filled with knowledge by which anybody can find answers to just about anything. The thing is, nobody knows when the bus comes and where it goes.
Kenji It could be an urban myth, although Macclesfield is by no means urban.
Angela The cook claimed she had seen the bus a number of times, and according to her experience, it will appear at the parking space of the pub in a couple of days.
Valeria The funny part is that we believed her.
Kenji We are going to wait at the pub tomorrow to see if the bus appears. If it appears, my position will be ambivalent because I can easily get motion sickness.
- Did you find a right spot on the fifth day?
Angela No. We'll see if this bus thing is really going to work out.
Bossa Nova Girls and Kenji took a taxi to the entrance for the hiking course which workers at the chapel recommended.
- How was the hiking course?
Angela It was a sort of disappointment. You see the two poles
in the picture, right? Between them is the hiking course. It's really
a narrow path. When we went through the path, which went up and down,
we reached an open space full of cows. It smelled. I understand it
is a good trekking course, but it isn't suitable for a picnic.
Monica There were too many flies too.
Marina But as Angela mentioned, it is a good trekking course. Personally, I had a fun walking through the path.
Valeria It was just tiring to me.
Marina That's because you don't eat very much.
Angela She's now famous at the pub.
- What pub, and what happened to Valeria there?
Kenji We've been having our lunch at a pub named "Robin Hood" near the hotel. On Monday, Valeria ordered a home-made prawn curry, which she didn't finish.
Valeria It was too hot for my taste.
Kenji Today (note that this is Wednesday), as we were sitting at the table in the pub, the cook came to serve our meal and said to Valeria, "You didn't finish the curry the other day, did you?" Because, I think, I ordered a curry today and she was wondering which one ordered which.
Valeria Vraifaux, ask the question.
- Did you find a right spot on the fourth day?
Marina No, but I think we were close.
On the third day of their trip Bossa Nova Girls and Kenji at last started to look for a right spot seriously.
- What was your activity today?
Kenji We took a walk to a village called Rainow to have a look at the backyard of a chapel there.
Marina The backyard? It was a cemetery!
Valeria Kenji was just joking, Marina.
Kenji Actually, we went there to interview the workers there about their favourite picnic spots. Some of them informed us about a hiking course which we will try tomorrow.
Angela Is it true that you used to work at the chapel, Kenji?
Kenji Yes, it is true.
- We didn't know you were a Christian.
Kenji I'm not. Some firm bought the chapel and made it their office building. It looks like a hundred-year-old building from the outside, but it is full of high-tech equipments inside. Workers there are bitniks enjoying the natural surroundings so that they are ideal people to make contact with.
Angela You didn't ride your bicycle today, Monica.
Monica The roads were too steep and you know that. I wasn't expecting Rainow to be such a mountainous area. My bicycle wouldn't do here.
Kenji I told you.
Monica Well, you didn't try enough. Besides, I haven't had much sleep and am feeling very tired.
Angela She saw "Serial Mom."
Monica I did indeed. It was on Sky Movie channel from the midnight. It was awesome. I liked it a lot.
Marina It's your business if you liked it or not, but could you please stop talking about it during our meals? I don't want to hear words like "When she pulled the spear out of his body, some internal organ was stuck to it" when I'm eating a kidney pie.
Angela Talking about a meal, wasn't it funny when Kenji made the mistake at the breakfast this morning?
Kenji I usually order a full English breakfast, but I don't like the black circle thing which comes with it. I disliked it so much that I didn't remember its name correctly. I said, "Full English breakfast without a blood sausage." The waiter said, after a pause, "It's a black pudding, sir, I'm afraid." After a while, a waitress came to serve the dishes. "Here is your breakfast, sir," she said, "without a black pudding." as if to educate me with the name.
- Did you find a right spot on the third day?
Kenji Not yet. We are getting there.
The first report from Bossa Nova Girls and Kenji was received in the evening of September 2. They said that the delay was due to their "fatigue."
- Exactly what kind of fatigue are you talking about?
Kenji Our plane arrived at Manchester airport at half past nine at night, and when we got all our luggage back, it was already past ten. We took a taxi to Macclesfield, Cheshire, which took about thirty minutes, and every time it passed a roundabout, I felt like I was going to throw up. I'm easy to get motion sickness. Then after we arrived at the hotel, I had to fix the bug in the forum CGI program before I went to bed.
- So, wasn't it a pleasant journey?
Angela (vocal, programming) Well, there was a fun part.
Monica (strings) insisted to bring her bicycle with her.
Monica What's a picnic without bicycling?
Angela You could rent a bicycle here. Anyway, I don't remember seeing a bicycle in an international airport before. Obviously, lots of people didn't either. It was fun to see their reactions.
Kenji It reminded me of Ninzaburo Furuhata1.
Valeria (drums, percussions) That TV character again.
Angela Another fun part was BA's entertainment program. The bad part was it didn't give us much time to sleep.
Marina (piano, keyboards) I liked "Sense and Sensibility" a lot. The other two films were just commercial.
- Did you find a right spot on the first day?
Valeria Obviously not.
- Have you been to England before? It is known that Kenji used to live there, but how about others?
Angela Bossa Nova Girls lived in London for a while after we left our home country.
Monica That's actually where I met Kenji. I was playing the violin with my friend on a street in Leicester square.
Kenji It was in front of a Warner Bros. cinema complex. You were playing a really weird stuff there.
Monica It was between performances and I was improvising. Usually I would play Mozart because it attracts people's attention.
- Have you all been to Cheshire then?
Angela Kenji lived there, but this is the first time for Bossa Nova Girls to visit Cheshire.
- How do you find Cheshire?
Marina The first impression I had when I looked out from the
hotel room window this morning was "Did we come to the right place to
look for a right spot?" because it was rather wet. But the impression
is improving, especially after we found a field with lots of sheep
this afternoon.
Kenji You don't really need to look for sheep around here. They are everywhere.
- Did you find a right spot on the second day?
Valeria No, we don't think so. We are not permitted to picnic in the field.
1 A detective character in a Japanese drama who always appears riding a bicycle.
