[My Weekender] with Yumi Mizuyama

Yumi Mizuyama is the organizer of Prana party that invites various active artists in Shanghai as guests. She hosts them all over Shanghai, but look for them most frequently at Node Lounge.

At all time there is music in my life. I look for and listen to it without distinction of genre because there are moments of various feeling in life. So my weekend starts with the tune that fit the best my mood. That moment is good if I'm dancing in my room just after woken up.

On Saturday morning, I run on a treadmill at the gym while listening to an artist mix. The length of a set lasts about one hour. Usually, the feeling of tiredness and the occasion to release it happen at the same time than a flow of well-organized sounds. At that time, I’m thinking about the content of my next party which makes me feel high. Maybe my head is full of adrenaline at this moment.

When my stomach becomes empty, I go to have lunch at Amokka. I need to replenish vitamins from fresh juice!!! My recommendation is the one that mixes carrot + apple + ginger. I go to buy a “campagne” bread in Baker & Spice after lunch. I love the good quality stuffs there. My life in Shanghai became so comfortable after quality shops increased during the last two years.

Saturday night starts slowly. My friends often come to my place to drink an “aperitif”, and then we go to Yin Par Le Garcon Chinois for dinner. The Japanese owner provides an original Chinese cuisine with little oil. I like this kind of healthy food. We drink an espresso or a “digestif” sitting on the big cozy couch after a delicious dinner. It makes me feel so good...

My night life is selected by the sound of my taste and the event concept. Lola and Node Lounge, which are equipped with a superior sound system, are two valuable places in Shanghai for music lovers. It was an unforeseen happy thing that I could listen to a powerful groovy sound from Funktion-One speaker!!! Sometimes I go to enjoy the mixed culture between local people and foreigners at Dada or The Shelter, when I'm not in the mood for dance I go to drink a mojito at the roof terrace of JZ Club (the mojito there is excellent!!)

Sunday is the day of recovery. I go to take a yoga lesson at my friend Shihoko's Studio Lotus. Her voice has a wave motion of something and meditation is visited deeply. On the way back, I make a stop to drink Chinese tea in the garden of Urban Tribe if I'm thirsty. This place is the best for a serenity feeling after meditation.

My body relaxed, I go on a cycling to open my mind too with Diana. It's a toy camera like Lomo (I found it at Lomography). My favorite area is an old city around the fabric market. There are people who are simple and warmly heal me every time. When I look at crumbling houses there, I have the feeling that I’m in a movie world. I shoot them and the colorful laundry, and it continues while I’m doing a cycling in the town freely.

On Sunday night, I open the bottle of wine and spend my time peacefully at my home (as an Otaku). I check new artists and new sound sources on the web. They are compiled in my list. I can't help to dance and can’t manage adrenalines in my head when founding something to excite me. So I'm just looking forward going back to the gym the next morning with some newly prepared music, and to the next Prana party too...

With love, all the time XXX

Yumi