Mesmerized by Fujisan, Part 1: Shibazakura

Night view of Kawaguchiko (河口湖)

OK, Fuji-goko (富士五湖)is not on my travel wish list… It all starting with reading this post from a blog that I frequent in the middle of last week. WOW, I thought, I would like to see Mt. Fuji from this paradise too. OK, I can occasionally spot Mt. Fuji from the office… but this is certainly different… where you feel like you’re just right under the mountain, and it’s decorated by a carpet of Shibazakura(Mos Phlox, 芝桜). And the Shibazakura Festival event lasted until May 27th… which meant, either I went last weekend or I would forever miss the chance to see such a beautiful sight. However, I did not plan the trip until Friday night… because I was caught up with work, and I was uncertain about the weather during the weekend. People say there is no point going if you can’t see Mt. Fuji- because even on a clear and sunny day, Fuji-san may still be blocked by clouds, due to its altitude. The best season to visit would be in winter, while summer (June/July) is the worst because it’s a stormy season. One of my colleagues said she visited twice, but she missed Fuji both times. What a pity!

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Dinner Disasters and etc.

Failed attempt (visually) to make Omu-rice last week. Eggs got burnt, even the ❤ looked ugly =(

This post is just a photolog of some of my disastersdinners last week. Plus I said I would try out Natto Miso Risotto. So read on to find out what it tastes like.

Eclipse, Skytree and Risotto

People dressed in funky Skytree Costumes (Photo courtesy of DailyMail.co.uk)

Yesterday, everybody was talking about the Solar Eclipse. Today, the talking point became the Tokyo Skytree, now the world’s tallest broadcasting tower. Obviously, I couldn’t go because of work. But I probably wouldn’t go up on a weekend either…

The Weekend: BBQ and Harajuku

Setting up our area…

Yesterday (Sat), we had a team BBQ at  上郷・森の家 , located in Yokohama. The place is a family resort, with hot springs, spa, sports facilities and BBQ grounds. This event was organized by Y-san, and she prepared everything (food, drinks, tools) for us. I thank her for that!

On Sunday, I went to Harajuku (原宿)- and bought quite a lot of things =D

Foreigner’s life in Japan – Part III: What it’s REALLY like

Walking in the streets of Japan, I am just another Japanese in the eyes of locals.

I still haven’t fully experienced what it’s like being a REAL foreigner here (I mean, a visible one… Because of my Asian background, Japanese people think I’m Japanese.. until I speak of course). So Azam (the only Canadian student at my workplace besides me) has always complained about being treated differently, though he is fluent in Japanese… He is taking the N1 Language test this year.

Time is running out…

It just feels like the train is about to depart, and I haven’t purchased my ticket. Actually- worse, not even done packing my belongings yet.

On the first day that I arrived at Japan, I installed an app on my phone called “Days Since”- it is, obviously, a day counter and reminds me (whenever I look at my homescreen), the number of days I’ve been here.

And today, it’s time to celebrate the 110th day Anniversary. Don’t ask me why not celebrate the 100th instead… I did not even realize it. The point is- I only have about 3 months left… how do I live the rest of my life (in Japan) to the fullest? Now, if I’m the protagonist in some Korean drama, I should be writing my wishlist (already did)with teary eyes as the background plays the saddest song ever.

Kyushu: A Series of Unfortunate Events

On the last Shinkansen train of the night, heading home.

Lots had happened during our Golden Week trip to Kyushu: Good and Bad. I won’t write too much details of the trip here, because I have to first write about Kyoto. However, this post will be an summary of the ‘memorable’ bits and pieces, lessons learnt and etc.

Warning: This post won’t have any photos because as you may know already, I lost nearly half of my pictures (more about it later)!! And after some recovery efforts, photos of the first 2 days were still missing! As for the rest, I’ve got too many photos to sort through, so it’ll take a while. Read on if you don’t mind super wordy posts. XD

Thanks Mom

Mom waving goodbye at the airport.

Wow, I pretty much did nothing productive, but slept for the entire day ^^” Yet my muscles are still sore, definitely need more exercise.

So my mom left one day after our trip to Kyushu, on last Sunday. We spent the Saturday helping her pack, doing some grocery and last minute souvenir shopping at Yokosuka.

Heart Warming Encounters: Kamakura, Part II

The symbol of Kamakura- Daibutsu (the great buddha)

Hm, so where was I? Read Part I, if you haven’t.

The Past Week…

 

Went indoor rock climbing (bouldering) today after work with a bunch of colleagues.

I’m back! Actually, was back from Kyushu a week ago. Just didn’t have the time or mood to blog about anything (many things happened in the Kyushu trip, one of them is losing half of my precious photos! So I’ve been trying to recover them these days after work). I know I have tons to catch up on… so hopefully I can get some posts out of the way this weekend.