HOME <3

I just spent the last two+ weeks at home in socal and my heart is feeling so full and so blessed. I was able to spent time with childhood friends, high school besties, college roommates (and their babies!), and of course - my amazing family!! One of the biggest blessing of living abroad is gaining a deeper appreciation for the time I have with loved ones. Distance from your family and friends really does make the heart grow fonder. 

As you all know, I love my life in Japan, but I have to admit that being home these last two weeks has made me excited to return stateside when my contract finishes this year. I didn't anticipate feeling this at all (I mean come on, Tokyo is pure magic!!) but over these last few weeks, I could sense God filling me with purpose and vision for when I move back to CA. He is so gracious. 

Well, today I head back to Japan ready to embrace all that's ahead in 2018! My prayer is that I can finish off my teaching job strong and continue to deepen the relationships the Lord has given me in Kashiwa and Tokyo. I want to walk in God's presence daily and be guided by His word and wisdom in every aspect of my life!

I am so thankful for the holidays at home with my family...both my mom's side and my dad's side! God is so good and His love is greater than I will ever be able to comprehend. 

back to the motherland I go...!!!! 

2017 : 17

17 of my favorite photos from 2017 and the stories behind them.
(check out my fav photos from 2016)

OBAASAN
HAMARIKYU GARDENS - CHUO, TOKYO.
I took this pic at the beginning of spring, when the yellow "nanohana" were in full bloom. I went to the gardens on my day off and wandered around for a few hours. There were a lot of people there snapping their pic of the massive bloom, but I got lucky when this obaachan stepped into my frame. This pic symoolizes a lot for me...mostly the incredible enthusiasm and activeness of the elderly generation here in Japan. Everywhere you go you will see groups of Ojiisans and Obaasans (Grandpas and Grandmas) taking photos and enjoying life just like the rest of us. Maybe it's the memories I grew up making with my own grandparents that makes a photo like this all the more special. My grandpa Ryo would always take 2 or 3 photos at our holiday parties with his old film camera...and my grandpa Sumio even had an iphone and used the computer every day. I miss them. I love them. They inspire me.

LIL FISHIES
HANAUMA BAY - OAHU, HAWAII.
The time i've spent living abroad becomes obvious when I reunite with my nieces and nephews and see how much they've grown. In May I was able to spend a week in Hawaii with my family and it was something i'll treasure forever. We all stayed at a big house with a huge wooden staircase that wrapped around to the front door. We went to Hanauma bay twice, both times at 7am, and the kiddos loved the sand and sea. This was a shot my mom conjured up and it worked out well with the adults standing out of frame holding tic tacs as motivation to walk in a straight line! haha. This is my OHANA.

NATIONS BEST
ICHIKASHI- KASHIWA, CHIBA.
The high school I work at has the best brass band in the nation. Every morning when I walk into school at 7:30am, they are already hard at work. In this pic, they were performing at our school's Bunkasai (cultural festival) and I happened to peek out the 3rd floor window and snap this shot. I wish everyone could hear them perform. I aspire to have even an ounce of their dedication, dilligence and focus. 

HISTORY REPEATS
OMOTESANDO, TOKYO
Snapped this shot on the corner between Omotesando and Harajuku. A man was selling hundreds of old Kimonos and tourists were eating them up. I took a closer look at these beauties and saw that most of them were clearly vintage pieces, having been worn decades ago by beautiful Japanese women...and now here they are booming back into style. The Kimono is the quintessential Japanese fashion pieces and paradoxically one that many American teenagers wear over their summer tank tops or to music festivals. It speaks a lot about the messages that get passed down through the generations and how often times the images of history repeat themselves, while the stories behind them get lost. 
 

ASIA
HARAJUKU STATION- HARAJUKU, TOKYO.
This is one of my students Asia, or Ajia as he sometimes spells it. I took this photo when I led a group of about 20 kids around Tokyo for our English Club Scavenger Hunt. Asia is a cool kid with intelligence and humor far beyond his years. He rocks our school uniform (blue shirt, blue striped tie, grey pants) with ease and is always telling me detailed facts about biology, dinosaurs, physics, etc.  This pic reminds me of the incredible students I get the honor to work with...these kids who are teaching me more about life than I could ever teach them. 

MAMA MONKEY
JIGOKUDANI, NAGANO
An iconic place to visit is this monkey onsen in Nagano. I'm sure most of us have seen photos of it in national geographic or some travel website. Seeing it in person was a treat. Growing up in CA, I never got used to the snow, so throw some monkeys bathing in a bath into that frame and I was just in awe the whole time. It's almost as if the monkeys are Japanese themselves, adopting this lifestyle of public bathing with friends and family...haha. 

OLD MAN AND THE SEA
ENOSHIMA- ENOSHIMA, KANAGAWA.
I went to Enoshima with my two good friends, Steph and Ayaka, and as soon as my eyes met the ocean I felt at home. I love the water. Always have, always will. We were walking to the main shrine and I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this man. He was sitting there, the most peaceful I have ever seen anyone, and he was simply gazing out into the sea. I imagined he was a fisherman in his youth, or grew up on the coast of Japan, so his memories are soaked in salt water and sea breeze. This is one of those pics that will forever be my favorite...the timing, the framing, the colors...nothing in which I did on my own...everything which was meant to be. 

OFIE RAINBOW
HOME- TORRANCE, CA.
I was home in August for a few days and spent as much of it as I could with my nieces and nephews. I had just woken Eden up from her nap, with the help of Hunter. As we were walking down the stairs, Eden stopped and stared at the wall. I wondered what she was doing, until I saw a tiny rainbow shining there. She sat down and the rainbow fell on her shirt...her eyes widened with amazement at where it was coming from (the glass on our front door) and she kept trying to grab it. She even lifted up her shirt in attempt to find the sources of the color...and I was lucky enough to freeze that moment in a frame. Little Eden Ophelia, or as I call her - "Ofie", showed me the beauty of childlike innocence and curiosity. 

KOCHO SENSEI
ICHIKASHI- KASHIWA, CHIBA.
The principal at my school is a tall, jolly fellow. He sits on the train for an hour every morning and tells me he listens to English radio to help him improve his speaking skills. Here he is at our schools Taiikusai, Sports Festival, giving the opening greetings. There is a proper way to do just about everything here in Japan...and we couldn't start our full day of sporting events without an encouraging word from our Kocho sensei. 

DREAMLAND
MAIDREAMIN- AKIHABARA, TOKYO.
If I was ever given the chance to write an article for the Japan Times, I would choose this photo as the cover. The moment the shutter went off, I knew I would like this pic. This is my coworker, the head of the International department, who has helped me with so many things at school. He is often times the most serious out of everyone in the office, so detailed, hardworking, and a true perfectionist.  A group of 10 of us went to the maid cafe in Akiba and he was laughing out of embarrassment and entertainment the entire time. That spoke something to me, that what often times is given off on the exterior... is just a fraction of a person. There's so much more behind the scenes, so much joy wanting to come out, and this pic reminds me of that. 

SAKURA BABY
MEGURO RIVER - NAKAMEGURO, TOKYO.
Nakameguro, the first week of April, is the most magical place. It's hard to describe. You just have to come see it. I went on the most crowded day of the year when the sakura trees were in full bloom and I squeezed in along packs of people all aiming to get the same pic. So I took a step back, to the other side of the road, and noticed this tiny cute kid sticking out amongst the crowd. His chubby cheeks turned in my direction and I got this photo. I love it. This place, during this season, will always carry a sense of magic unlike anywhere else. 

CLOUD HILL
HITACHI SEASIDE PARK, IBARAKI
The nemophelia bloom at Hitachi seaside park might be one of the most insane things I have ever seen. The color of blue is just unbelievable. There was this one hill where a bunch of people were gathered to take a pic of the sea of blue below and as I was rushing up there to see what their view was...I realized that they made a good photo themselves. It looked like the blue hill was lifting them up to the clouds...and it turned out to be one of my favorite photos of the day. 

HOMEROOM
ICHIKASHI - KASHIWA, TOKYO.
Every year, for the school festival, students are in charge of designing their class t-shirt. This class chose to draw a picture of their homeroom teacher and blow it up huge on the back of their pink T's. When I first saw it...I could not stop laughing. The picture looks exactly like their homeroom teacher HAHA!! Incredible. Here in Japan, homeroom teachers are more like parent's than anything. They walk the kids through all three years of high school and help them through emotional problems, financial crisis, job application, and college entrance exams. I thought it was so cute that they made an ode to their father figure, their homeroom teacher. 

FOREST OF COLOR
NATIONAL ART CENTER - ROPPONGI, TOKYO.
What Tokyo has given me is a chance to experience art and culture in a way I never could have in the states. Museums and exhibits are so accessible here...and there is something going on every single weekend. On this day, I went to the National Art Center (one of the coolest buildings in Tokyo) to check out this paper exhibit...WOW. Mind blown. I couldn't believe the colors. The precision in how they were displayed and the time it must have took to set this up was really inspiring. I am grateful to this city for all it teaches me!

PINK CARPET
CHICHIBU, SAITAMA
To add to the list of incredible flowers to see in Japan: the shibazakura flowers in Chichibu! These flowers are grown in patterns that form a swirly, beautiful, carpet-like design. I went with my good friend Mina and her mom to meet up with Mina's friend Haruka and her mom as well. Haruka's family is from Chichibu so they really shared with us the hometown experience...which was the best part! I am thankful for the friends here and the memories i've been able to make with them. 

LANIKAI D
PILLBOX HIKE, LANIKAI, OAHU
On our first day in Hawaii, my brother, cousins and I decided to go on a sunrise hike in Lanikai. The pillboxes are super popular, so the best time to go and beat the crowds is bright and early. My bro and cousins are super athletic so I was panting trying to keep up with them haha...so we reached the top quickly and got to take in this view...dang. The best part was being up there with them. I've always been so lucky to have siblings and cousins that are not only family, but my friends as well. 

CRYING CASTLE
ODAWARA CASTLE, KANAGAWA
Earlier this year, my good friend Kelcie came to Japan with her friend Shimmy (who is now my friend!) and we went on an adventure. The night before we went we literally pulled out our laptops and googled a place to visit. Within 20 minutes we decided on odawara and booked our airbnb right then. It was the type of spontaneity I love! We had a blast touring a new place and staying at a cute hostel. We went to Odawara castle in the pouring rain which felt like a bummer, but then I looked through my umbrella and realized the castle looked amazing in the rain. After looking at this photo...it might be one of my favorite photos I have ever taken. 

2017..what a year of  flower fields, family time, old friends, new friends, museums, city street, school moments...and memories I will treasure forever. This year was epic...on to the next!!!

WELCOME HOME

How lucky am I to call Japan home and to also come "home" to LA for the holidays!!! Double blessing from the Lord- that's forsure. Now that i've done a good number of international flights, i'm quite used to it and I don't mind the 10hrs in the air. I've found a good pattern on how I go about flying like: what clothes are the comfiest (nice pants, no big coat), when to sleep (after 1 movie and 1st meal), what to bring in my bag (chewy candy, eye drops)...etc.

My goal this time around was to look as much like a Korean Pop star as possible...did I succeed?? HAHA just kidding...but I really did aim to be as comfy as possible while also wearing a mask to protect me from the dry airplane. I flew on JAL and the Lord had such grace on me because I was randomly selected to get booted UP to PREMIUM ECONOMY!! How good is that?? People usually pay $500 extra to get premium seats which are between Economy and business class...and I got it for free. Thank you Lord. Because of that, I had the easiest flight of my life and landed in sunny SOCAL in 8.5hrs...

First thing on the list...meet my niece TAYAH! As you know, Tayah made her grand entrance to the world in August this year, the exact moment I was on the plane back to Japan! I finally got to squeeze her cheeks at the airport. Love her. I chilled at home all day and hugged all my loved one...and mom even let me choose what was for dinner - Komae chicken and broccoli - my fav!

So far, i've been able to meet up with some of my high school besties! On Friday I went to Manhattan Beach to have lunch with Camryn and Kristen...both of whom live and work full time in NYC!!! It was so fun to catch up with them and chat all about big city life. We had lunch at MBpost and cruised the pier after. So blessed by my time with them *p.s 1 thing I will NEVER miss about CA is trying to find parking. It was a nightmare in MB and made me realize how much I love taking the train in Japan.*

Two amazing meals so far were...the PHANNYs burrito my good friend Naomi delivered to my house with really good, strong coffee! And also...when I ate brunch at GOOD STUFF with more of my high school besties, Kacy, Taryn and Yoko. I seriously miss breakfast food...like good greasy bacon and potatoes...and hot sauce on everything!!

I also spent some time in Abbot Kinney with my Russ, Jen, Hunty and Eden (Cam and Len were at preschool) and we ate really yummy food at GJUSTA (super trendy place) and looked at all the super hip shops around. I loved the murals on the walls and the sunshine shining down on us. 

I thought this mailbox in Venice was cute! And another highlight so far has been seeing my cousins Karah and Caleb who live in CO. They're high schoolers and on Friday night we hung out and they helped me buy some things are the super market. Since I work with high schoolers every day in Japan, hanging out with them was a breeze and it felt like I was back with my Ichikashi kiddos! 

And last but not least...my church homies!! I have been blessed to call GVBC my home church for my whole life and returning there is always so much fun. At church this morning I was able to see Traci, Grace and Tommy...all of whom I've known most of my life and also have worked, or are working at ESL institute (the tutoring center I worked at)! It was really cool passing the torch to them 2 years ago when I left that job to move to Japan, and it's a blessing seeing them still ministering to that place. These ppl are so special to me and I am blessed to call them sisters and brothers in Christ. 

Well folks...i've only been home 4 days and a lot has happened thus far!! Life is good and God is so faithful. Merry Christmas!!! 

MAIDREAMIN

December 11th is a day that I will never forget, because it is the day I went to MAIDREAMIN...a maid cafe in Akihabara with 10 of my coworkers. Yep, you heard me right...a maid cafe! what. 

Monday was right in the middle of Final exams, so the students had to leave school by noon. Thus, freeing up the teachers to correct the test, plan for the next day, and also...go out to play!! HOORAY!! Mami sensei, the lady in the beanie, is a self-proclaimed (and others affirmed) Akihabara professional so she conjured up the idea for all of us to go on a fun tour there. 

For those who don't know, Akihabara, better known as AKIBA, is a part of Tokyo famous for two things : technology and anime. It is the hub of otaku (nerd) things and where all the serious gamers hang out. So let's just say, it's not my neck of the woods! 

We took the Tsukuba express line from Kashiwa Tanaka station directly to Akihabara (easy route) and arrived around 1:30pm. I really loved traveling with all my coworkers. They are all so lively and curious about anything and everything so we chatted the whole train ride. 

Alison also happens to be a Akihabara professional so here she is explaining a phone game to our coworkers. 

We arrived in AKIBA and immediately I felt the sense of...otakuland! haha. 

There are "gachas" all over Akihabara where people pay around 300yen to get a little toy. What do we even call these in the states? I forget!! haha. 

It was a beautiful day and I was surprised to see the Gingko trees in full bloom still! 

We stumbled upon some super old nintendo games which brought back a lot of memories. 

I saw this dude walking in front of us and (admittedly) chased after him a little bit to get this photo. I mean come on...that simple clean style with that dope Adidas backpack!!! SWAG. I love Tokyo for all the cool people I get to see and the styles they evoke.

Ok...time for MAIDREAMING, the most popular maid cafe in the area! Thanks to Mamis expertise, we went to the OG cafe and got a nice big table to fit all 11 of us.

Right after I snapped this, the lady looked at me and in a high pitched voice said, "oh! no photo of me in this dream land or else we will start melting." uhhh...what?? lol

The best part was experiencing it with my coworkers, especially Kuwabara and Mashiko who are like dads to me here. It was so funny seeing them reading the menu and choosing what super cutesy food to eat! hahahaaaa. 

The worker gave us all headbands to wear, all various animals, and Ikeda sensei really embraced his bunny ears!

I told Alison she looked like Arthur...doesnt she!??

Group photo!!! I love this so much!!!! Everyone was so down to try new things and embrace the weirdness of the cafe hahaa. We have to say "nyan" after every sentence to sound like a cat and it was hilarious. Like you literally have to say, "excuse me, can I have more water...nyan!?" Like a meow sound. HAHAHA and everyone did it with great enthusiasm. 

If you bought the set lunch, you get a keychain as a souvenir. Also, they had a "DREAM JOURNAL" there that served as the guest book. A lot of people said they visited from the states and I thought that was funny! 

For a lot of my coworkers, it was their first time to a maid cafe too! The funniest moment was when I asked Ebisawa sensei (in the white shirt) what she thought about it and she said..."this was my first and last time to a maid cafe" and that made me laugh so hard!! HAHAHA. 

We ordered their ridiculously cute (and overpriced) food for the fun of it. The two pictures on the left are of OMURICE (rice omelet) with special designs written in ketchup. Pretty cute. And the top right pic is the curry Alison and I got...which comes in the shape of a bear! hahaa. And the bottom right pic is the Hamburg one of my coworkers got which is, in my opinion, the cutest of them all!!

This might be my favorite photo from the day. I could see it on a journal article titled, "New leisure activities for overworked businessmen in Japan" ...right!? 

My coworkers were kind enough to order me this cute plate!! Pretty impressive design. The funny part is it says "Amile" instead of Amie...which doesn't surprise me since here in Japan most people think my name is "Ami" or "Emily" so here they have just combined the two...AMILE! hahaha. 

If you pay extra, you get this cute decorated Polaroid! I love this picture so much and I will absolutely treasure it forever. 

After our crazy experience in Maid dreamland...we stepped back into reality and spent some more time on our Akiba tour.  

I took this pic looking out the back window of the maid cafe. It's funny how just one street off the main road, Akiba looks pretty bland and normal. But then...you step back into the madness and see...

Gacha game central!!! This particular store is quite well known and has hundreds of these machines with all different characters to get. 

Mami showed us a very interesting vending machine in Akiba which sells two strange things.... 1) fruit juice in weird flavors. They have DURIAN!!! ahhh!!! and 2) ODEN, a type of Japanese hot pot. Pretty weird that the oden comes warm and in a can...crazy!  

More of the anime/comic craziness!

I love how the streets in Japan are tiny, cozy and jam packed with so much character. I feel this way in every area of Tokyo and it really creates a magical, adventerous atmosphere everywhere you go. 

I loved this DVD shop with paper flyers all on the outside making it look super old school! 

We toured a few of the major shops where most of us were overwhelmed with the amount of merchandise they had. Alison and Mami were totally in their element though...they knew exactly where all the products were and what things were newly released. I also thought it was weird/funny to see my name on one of the displays! 

And that, folks, wraps up our AKIBA tour and one of my favorite days ever!! I mean, if you would have told me a few years ago.."hey, one day you're going to go to a maid cafe in Akibahara with 10 of your Japanese coworkers" I would have laughed and thought you were crazy. And yet, here I am. And It happened. And it was a day I will never forget. 

SHIRO: COLOR

I spent yet another Saturday exploring Tokyo...this day unintentionally themed around color, mostly for the fact that I went to my favorite shop SHIRO (shiro means white in Japanese) and to a color art exhibit! 

To start off, I met up with my two friends Kumi and Nathalie at Jiyugaoka station to go to Shiro Cafe, one of my favorite places in ALL OF TOKYO.

Jiyugaoka is a short train ride outside the heart of Shibuya and it's a lesser known part of town that has a lot of charm. My good friend Yukiko brought me here earlier this year and since then i've been wanting to come back!!

The best place in this part of town is BY FAR Shiro Cafe!! Shiro is my favorite Japanese cosmetics company due to their incredible aesthetic and beautiful, natural, Japan made products...so the fact that they combined their product store with a cafe that sells coffee and amazing food is just THE BEST!!! 

The design is perfection. 

We ordered hot coffee that came in beautiful blue cups... and Kumi and I got the onigiris! How cute are they? 

We also ordered the seasonal pancake that was topped with the fluffiest cream cheese and tangy berry sauce. SO GOOD. 

ITADAKIMASSSUUUUUU.

After we ate, it was time to shop!! The building is two stories with the cafe and a few products on the first floor, and a lot more products downstairs. 

The way they designed this place is just...LIFE GOALS. Kumi and I kept saying , "I WANT TO LIVE HERE!" 

Shiro specializes in their Japan made fragrances and facial products. They also have laundry detergent, candles, fabric spray, soaps, etc. 

They make incredible face wash, soap, and cream out of natural Japanese sourced material such as Sake, Konbu and Seasame. And how beautiful are the bottles??

I never thought i'd ever want/need "hair mist" but SHIRO sold me on this one. It smells incredible!! 

I want it all. 

THANK YOU SHIRO FOR BEING AN AMAZING-BEAUTIFUL-WONDERFUL SMELLING PLACE!!!

OK, after dreamland, we headed back into the heart of Tokyo to check out an art exhibit in Aoyama. 

We went to see an the exhibit by EMMANUELLE MOUREAUX titled "1000 colors recipe" at the Spiral building in Aoyama. 

The store in the front of the SPIRAL building always had the cutest little stationary and gifts. On this particular day, a fashionable guy was making the most beautiful little potpourri bags with dried flowers. So Tokyo. 

They always have various art installations in this particular building and for only 3 days or so, the 1000 COLORS RECIPE was up!! 

WOW. SO COOL, RIGHT?!

I was amazed at how perfectly aligned all the letters and numbers were. At every angle, the alignment was perfect. wow. 

The show was in combination with a famous towel brand called  IMABARI which has the softest and cutest designs. If you filled out a survey after, you got a free hand towel! yay! 

Last stop of the evening was at COUTUME, a fabulous cafe in Aoyama. Aoyama is the area right next to Omotesando. It's known for it's fancy cafes, luxury sports car headquarters (home to Tesla, Ferrari, Porsche just to name a few) and trendy people like this dude in an epic long coat! gosh...Tokyo ppl are just the coolest. 

We had the most amazing pastries there which were are cute as they were delicious. It was a good energy boost for what was coming next for me and Nathalie...the 2017 TOKYO SANTA RUN!! Which I will have to dedicate another post to.

Yet another good day in the heart of Tokyo. I love this place so much!