Hey you, a lot of things happened in January (good stuff) so I’ve been a little behind with blogging. But basically, a few groups of friends visited Japan and therefore we hung out quite a bit. My closest friends came over too, and seriously, meeting up with them did make me a little homesick. It has been almost one year, after all. When I started this year in Kamakura, I never thought that I’d be having …
76 articles Tag japan
A glance forward to 2017: Let’s plan and get these resolutions started, shall we?
Resolutions, so easy to make yet so hard to keep for the next 12 months. But if there’s anything I’m consistent at, it is in making these New Year’s resolutions year after year after year… Yep, ever since this blog started, I’ve been posting my resolutions here. But even before then, in my older blogs or in my head or on a piece of paper somewhere, I was very adamant in making resolutions. I guess failure doesn’t impact …
{Japan} Hidden gem (Part 2): Yanaka’s old town feels with cemetery & cats
Living in Tokyo allows me to explore areas that tourists may not have the time to leisurely do so, like Sugamo or Koenji. Hopefully this will in turn entice you to take a different route when you’re travelling around Tokyo to see things that are off-the-beaten-path. This time, I visited a neighbourhood that’s easily walkable from Ueno, however still tucked away enough from all the hustle bustle of the busy city: Yanaka. How can I describe Yanaka? …
{Japan} Hidden gem (Part 1): Sugamo’s Michelin star ramen & red granny underwears
I’m starting a new series called the “Hidden gem” which will take you through a number of lesser known suburbs in Tokyo that’s worth visiting once you’re done with visiting the popular areas of Tokyo. First off, Sugamo. It’s located on the Yamanote Line just a few stops north of Ikebukuro, so it’s really to get to if you just want to check it out for a few hours. Our visit was mainly for Tsuta the only ramen restaurant …
{Japan} Koenji (Part 2): A perfect evening exploring the hipster neighbourhood, Tokyo
Koenji is a hipster neighbourhood only 15 minutes or so away from Shinjuku, and yet it’s still not too touristy, making it a perfect place to walk and explore on a lazy evening. I highlighted some shops in Koenji part 1 post, so for this second part, expect street view and shop fronts and just random awesomeness. Let’s start… This post will be photo heavy, so be prepared. It’s pretty though, if you like photographs of shop …
{Japan} Koenji (Part 1): Finding random shops in this hipster neighbourhood, Tokyo
I read somewhere that many young people would choose to live in Koenji. It is much quieter than its neighbour Nakano, which is the next stop on the train or you can even walk it. It is also less popular with the tourists than Kichijoji, the other hipster town on the same JR Chuo Line. In some ways, this makes Koenji a much better option for an afternoon / evening stroll… I took so many photos of …
{Japan} The magical Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studio Japan, Osaka
Okay, I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. I’ve read the books, queued for half of them on the first day of release with other Potter geeks, watched the movies, re-watched them with my then-boyfriend now-hubby so that he could catch up with my obsession, did many random quizzes to find out where the sorting hat would sort me, and quoted the books on daily conversations. Not a crazy fan, but definitely worthy of being a …
{Japan Life} Reflection: Living the dream in Tokyo
It has been one week since I arrived back in Tokyo after a 2-week “home” trip to Melbourne. In that time, I have reflected heaps (I mean, having 2x 10 hours flights do give you a whole lot of time to reflect on things). So please bear with me as I rainbow-barf all my thoughts out in this blog… Okay no rainbows, but there’s this pretty pastel-coloured sky I saw the other day in Enoshima. So, …
{Japan} Queueing for the magic at Universal Studio Japan, Osaka
Universal Studio Japan is one of the biggest theme parks in the land of the rising sun. Many tourists will make a trip to Disney Sea and/or Disneyland in Tokyo and then to the USJ in Osaka. So how was my experience at the USJ? Let’s take a look… We visited Universal Studio Japan in March this year. We arrived as early as we could (to be honest, we really wanted to be there when the park …
{Japan} Hoot! Fukurou no Sato (Owl Village) Cafe in Harajuku, Tokyo
We visited Owl Village / Fukurou no Sato (武蔵野カフェ＆バー ふくろうの里) in Harajuku, Tokyo in March 2016. I’m sure many of you have heard of the popular cat cafes in Japan. But the new craze seems to be these owl cafes that are popping up everywhere around the big cities. Owl Village is literally a stone’s throw away from the iconic Harajuku Station. If you take the Takeshita exit from the station, just cross the road and turn …