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HELLO 28 💖!

In my 28th year of life I hope to…

*Become a V4 climber.

*Improve my Japanese skillz (頑張ります).

*Travel to a few new place and a few old ones (Japan of course)

*Create more.

*Be less afraid of difficult things (extra hard for an enneagram 7).

*Practice cooking more meals and expanding my vegetarian vocabulary.

*Read at least one new book a month.

*Live with daily confidence and trust in Jesus!

BYE BYE 27 👋🏼

In my 27th year of life I…

*Traveled to Seattle, San Fransisco, Napa, Dallas, Phoenix, New York, Palm Springs, Yosemite, Las Vegas and San Diego.

* Used my passport to go to Banff, Canada and Tokyo, Japan.

*Became a vegetarian.

*Started rock climbing (and never stopped).

*Welcomed two more nephews into the fam!!

*Applied to a bunch of companies, interviewed for 4, worked at 2.

*Learned about self-confidence, patience, grace and assurance in the Lord

"It's the most beautiful place in all Japan"

PSA : there are many amazing places to explore in Japan that exist outside of Tokyo

Now, I say that as someone who LOVES LOVEEESSSS Tokyo with an eternal adoration. So this is no hate on the greatest city in the world, just a mere announcement that there are so many places to explore in Japan that most people don’t know about!

Case and point : KURASHIKI.

I first heard of this place when I asked my mom’s hairdresser (who is from Japan) what her favorite place to visit was and she said without hesitation, “Kurashiki. It’s the most beautiful place in all Japan!” Prior to this conversation, I had never heard of Kurashiki before. So I did a quick google search and discovered it was in Okayama prefecture, 3.5 hours south of Tokyo… and within 1 minute of my search I decided - Ok. I’m gunna go there.

I convinced two of my good friends who live in Japan, Steph and Miri, to join me for a short trip to Okayama prefecture. We boarded the Shinkansen early one morning and we were off!

And let me just say, one of the best things about Japan is the Shinkansen (新幹線) aka Bullet Train. This may be debatable considering ticket prices are NOT CHEAP (17000 yen, $150 one way)…but I when it comes to convenience, comfort and efficiency the shinkansen is unparalleled. We bought our ticket a few days before, chose our seats, and easily got on and off the train from Tokyo station —> Okayama station which took 3.5 hours.

And quite possibly the best part of the Shinkansen is the EKIBEN 駅弁 (station lunchbox) that you can pick up at any Shinkansen station and eat on your trip. They are always so cute, well designed and fun to eat! I also opted to bring some pastries from BURDIGALA which is a really yummy bakery at the basement of Tokyo station.

After a smooth and effortless ride, we arrived in Okayama, dropped our bags off at our hotel and hopped on the local train line to take the 20minute ride to KURASHIKI!!! It was a beautiful day and I was so stoked to finally see this magical place in real life.

We got to KURASHIKI STATION and picked up a few maps to help us get around. The main river and shopping area is just a 10 minute walk from the station. So convenient and easy to get to.

How quaint and cozy are these little streets?

This little street reminded me of BUKCHON HANOK VILLAGE in Seoul, South Korea, that I visited last summer. This style of architecture always makes me feel like I stepped back in time.

And after a 10 minute walk through the shops we turned a corner and…

B O O M….

This is the famous Kurahsiki canal area that dates back to the Edo period (1603-1867)!! All the shops were tiny and cozy, it was quiet around every corner, the boats along the canal were so peaceful, and the wisteria falling over the water was simply magical.

A crew of older Japanese men were the boat guides and I caught them chillen in between rides.

One thing Okayama prefecture is famous for is DENIM. You can notice it everywhere you go and Kurashiki was no exception. We passed by the famous “Denim street” and found some very unique things…

Now, leave it to the Japanese to make a souvenir or trendy food item of just about anything…and here on Denim street you could buy DENIM ICECREAM, DENIM PORK BUNS, DENIM BURGERS and DENIM DRINKS. WHAT!??!?!! HAHAHAHHA

I really cracked up when I saw “デニムまん” denim pork buns that were actually BLUE AHHAHAHAH. OH my gosh…how funny.

We stumbled upon this really cool coffee shop that was in the attic of an antique store.

One thing that is REALLY REALLY famous in Okayama prefecture is the story of 桃太郎 - ももたろう- momotarou- peach boy! ….wait that is a prime example of how complicated Japanese it. I just wrote that name out in Kanji (桃太郎), hiragana (ももたろう), romaji (momotarou), and the English translation (peach boy). Yikes HAHA.

Anyway, momotarou is a famous Japanese folk tale about a little boy born in a peach who goes on an epic journey with his animal friends to defeat these monsters. The little coin purses are Momotarou and his friends. On his journey, he famously eats “kibidango” to give him energy and basically every store in Okayama prefecture sells these dango which are really yummy mochi balls usually covered in きな粉 (soybean powder.)

Coffee break pt.2 to experience the best matcha soy latte of my life at YAMAU COFFEE STAND wowowowow

More cozy little shops all along the canal.

This was late October and the leaves were just beginning to change color!

Becasue Kurashiki is such a historical site, there were A LOT of school groups there. Mostly Junior Highers, but I also saw a few Elementary groups, who were easy to spot because they were all wearing yellow caps. So cute.

On our walk back to the station we stumbled upon something very interesting … a DASHI VENDING MACHINE. For those of you who don’t know, dashi is a soup stock made from fish. As a good Japanese girl, I enjoy the taste of dashi (mostly bc it’s in a few important dishes aka miso soup and udon) but seeing it in a bottle with a real fish soaking it in was NOT COOL!!! hahahah. 700 yen for one bottle…only in Japan would you find this.

We stayed in Kurashiki from about 1pm to 4pm and then headed back to our hotel next to Okayama station to have dinner and rest for the rest of our trip. Thankfully from our hotel room we had this cool city view!!

Kurashiki was such an awesome little place to visit! I love seeing the more calm, historical sides of Japan. Tokyo will always have it’s magic, but the countryside of Japan has a different type of magic just as special.

more to come.

"Please get married here"

The main reason for my trip to Japan was to attend my dear friend, Ayaka’s, wedding.

I met Ayaka 4 years ago when I first moved to Kashiwa through our mutual friend, Steph. Ayaka was just about to leave for a year abroad in Canada and I had just moved into town so I assumed we wouldn’t get a chance to become good friends. But as fate would have it, she would return after a year and we would pick back up as if no time had passed! We would meet up every month or so, enjoying a homemade dinner at her parent’s house, experiencing the spiciest ramen in Tokyo (NAKAMOTO) , talking about our favorite fashion brands, or in search of new good beer spots!

FUN FACT: we were on TV once together…HAHAAA!! Ayaka is one of those people that walks around with a certain vibrancy and friendliness that attracts random people- tv show recruiters, restaurant people, etc…so this moment did not even surprise me HAHA. We were at her favorite beer spot HITCH X KAKERU when a TV program was filming and it just so happed that they actually used the clip of us saying “かんぱ〜い” Cheers! and we got on air. How random and funny is that!??

As you can see, we grew close over the years and one day when we took a trip to Enoshima, Ayaka let Steph and I know that she had met someone very special!! We freaked out and knew this guy must be the real deal. Sure enough - he was legit. Not only was he a researcher at Tokyo University (the Harvard of Japan), but he also spent 6 years living in California so was therefore fluent in English. WOW! We were like, “where’d you find this guy!??” (through mutual friends, of course)

Lucky for us, we got to hang out with Ayaka and her then boyfriend/now husband, Daichi, quite a few times. We soon learned that they were a powercouple…one a pharmasist, one a researcher, both bilingual, both so kind, cool, curious and hilarious.

Fast forward another year or so…and BOOM! I had the honor of attending their wedding at the stunning PALACE HOTEL TOKYO.

UHMMM…HELLO GORGEOUS BRIDE, GORGEOUS DAY, GORGEOUS VENUE…!!!!

Now let me just mention how incredible Japanese weddings are. I have been to a lot of wedding in my short 27 years of life…and nothing can compare to the organization, execution and formality of a Japanese wedding. Which is a direct reflection of Japanese culture. So thorough. So well planned. And so modest!!

The food was insane. Fanciest i’ve ever experienced. And the service was top notch. When they delivered the plate of Foie gras (definitely had to look up the spelling on that) to me, it tipped over and the server immediately retracted the plate and said she would get me a new one. HAHA. What? It’s fine! But nope…they had to do everything perfectly or not at all.

Maybe the most memorable part of the whole day was the dress change that happened during the reception. Ayaka was escorted out by her brothers and returned in a stunning grey-blue number. This dress change situation is common in Japan and yet something i’ve never really seen in an American wedding. At least not to this cinderella level!

Moral of the story…Japanese weddings are incredible. And I felt lucky to attend a dear friend’s wedding right in the heart of Tokyo. Which leads me to the title of this post. I sent a photo to my good friend Karin and she said, “Please get married here” to which I replied…” dude right?!”

One can dream!!!!

"WHAT?! You don't get jetlag?"

Over the past four years, I think i’ve taken the 10+ hour flight from LAX to Tokyo about 10 times. Mind you, Tokyo is a casual +17 hours ahead of LA…yes, SEVENTEEN!!! Having taken this flight so many times I started to realize that I don’t actually get jetlag too bad. Hmm…weird. I soon discovered that I fall into a small percentage of people who can survive the massive time difference with ease. People on both sides of the pacific always say to me, “What? You don’t get jetlag??”

Knock on wood. One big reason why I don’t get jetlag is because i’ve developed an in flight routine. This routine helps me feel a sense of familiarity on a plane which in turn brings me comfort and ease by the time I land. It goes as follows: always sit window side, always order apple juice, always watch two movies and always go pee only once.

HAHA. Sounds silly and simple but going into a 10+ hour flight knowing how the hours will pass makes it much MUCH easier.

Now, the second part to combatting jet lag is landing with a plan. For me, that means knowing how I will get to where I need to get to and knowing what food I have to look forward to. This time around, I landed at 2pm (Haneda) and took the 45 minute highway bus to IKEBUKURO station. Once there, I knew I needed coffee and what better place to go to than COFFEE VALLEY aka the trendiest spot in Ikebukuro. The next best thing to do after pipping hot black coffee is food. And lucky for me, I planned to meet up with my three amazing friends (Steph, Alison, Miri) in Tokyo for my favorite Japanese food ever - TONKATSU (and specifically TONKATSU MAISEN).

Knowing I had dinner plans kept me afloat and I cruised on through the afternoon with ease. By 6pm or so I was feeling a bit tired…but I always try to stay up until AT LEAST 9pm on a flight day so what better solution for those last few hours than…

NICE VIEWS AND BEER. Two things I love about Tokyo. Interestingly enough, this view on the left photo is from the women’s bathroom on the 12th floor of DAIMARU shopping mall located at TOKYO station. Yes, you heard me right. That is a view from a bathroom. OH, Tokyo, you magical place. And right next to DAIMARU shopping mall is HITACHINO BREWING LAB where they sell some pretty amazing stuff. AHHH….*幸せ…happiness :)

Ater a nice cold beer…I took the train to Steph’s place (where I was staying) and crashed out at 10pm for the deepest most necessary sleep of my life and then I woke up Saturday morning right on track ready for the day as if I had been living in Tokyo the whole time.

AAAANd….that’s how you beat jetlag :)

...BACK

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self portrait 2019 - GYRE. Omotesando. Tokyo

And just like that..I’m back from a whirlwind 2.5 week trip to Japan. The main purpose of the trip was to attend my dear friend’s wedding, but alongside that purpose was to see all my friends who I grew to love over the three years I lived there! So I did my best to plan ahead (I am not the best plan-ahead-er but I am getting better with age) and ended up seeing someone for lunch and dinner every day I was there. Quality time is my love language, so being able to spend time with so many people over many delicious shared meals, hearing so many updates and big life events just about made my heart explode!!!

Anyway, I am back now processing through my time in Japan and what lies ahead for me. Right now I am in the beginning stages of sorting through and editing my photos from my trip with the hopes of rolling out some posts this week. The reason I blog isn’t because anyone is reading or watching in particular…but moreso because I need an outlet for my own writing and photography. Even if no one sees it or reads it, for me to get my photos out feels necessary. To create. To share. To remember. To process.

So I am back in the states and back to this little corner of the internet. <3 hello!