作る "TO MAKE" : 09 HAPPY ME

Part 09 of my series “TO MAKE” where I share some of my procreate ipad creations and reflect on some of my favorite memories of living in Japan :)


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One thing i’ll always know forsure is that I am a happy girl when I am in Tokyo. Especially when I have a free day to roam the city, grab some good coffee, check out a few art exhibits or shops, and take my camera around for the fun.

On this particular day (that I took this self portrait), I headed into Tokyo to meet up with my good friend Yukiko. We had burgers at Omotesando Hills, did some window shopping at Longchamp, I gave her a small gift for her baby and she then gifted me my most favorite cosmetic gift from SHIRO (leave it to the Japanese to be SO KIND!) ! After hanging out for the afternoon Yukiko had to head home to rest since she was 8 months pregnant!

When I think back to this day, I remember being so happy to be in Tokyo but moreso, being so happy to be there with one of my good friends. Yukiko and I had this routine where, once a month or so we would meet up to try out a new burger spot in the city (haha! we both craved them and I wasn’t a vegetarian yet) and our meeting spot was always in front of the Apple store in Omotesando. This became our go-to location to hang out and now whenever I walk the streets near the Apple store in Omotesando I always think of Yukiko and our many adventures. This is what I call… CITY MAGIC <3

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作る "TO MAKE" 08 : KOFFE

Part 08 of my creative endeavor “to make'“ …where I reflect back on some of my favorite places and spaces in Japan and use my apple pencil to bring them to a new light.


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What makes Japan so charming is that you can find amazing things basically ANYWHERE. No matter what city you go to, I guarantee there will be a cute local mascot, an amazing ramen shop, a museum that will blow your socks off, and without a doubt - a coffee shop cooler than you deserve to be in.

Take Toyama for example. A city (and prefecture) a short 3 hour Shinkansen ride from Tokyo where nature and city life meet for a pretty epic place to visit. While staying there a few days, Steph (my senpai) and I did a quick coffee google search and sure enough found a hidden gem that sat along side a river a 15 minute walk from Toyama station. We rounded the corner to a road of small businesses and run down buildings and I remember thinking, “where are we? it cant be here. are we sure it’s here?” and then…sitting across the road I saw this boxy white building, KOFFE .

It looked like a converted house of sorts with a sleek design and simple sign. We walked in unsure of what would be inside…and were of course greeted by two COOL people who seemed like a husband and wife team. They were packaging little cakes and selling coffee beans roasted on site…did we just transport to the most amazing coffee shop ever? It was so cool. They were SO cool. Steph ordered the peach roll cake and I got their chocolate mousse cake which was DIVINE especially paired with an iced latte of my dreams and we sat there in complete disbelief that we stumbled upon this gem. Next to a river. In Toyama. Of all places. What?!

But that is what makes Japan so charming and so endlessly amazing. In every city you visit you are guaranteed to find people doing whatever thing they are doing extremely well. It’s a country that pride’s itself on quality, work ethic and honing your craft.. and those are things I deeply admire and respect.

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Koffe…I’ll be back for you one day!!!!!

作る "TO MAKE" : 07 HOROYOI

Part 07 of my “to make” series

I am the kind of person that is always dreaming of new ideas, projects to work on, places to travel and things I want to accomplish. The downside to ALWAYS dreaming is that I never actually stick to finishing something I start because before you know it…a new idea pops in my head and the old one fizzles out.

So the fact that I am on PART 07 of this project feels like a big personal accomplishment. I guess there are really good things that come out of being stuck at home all day due to a global pandemic. Here’s one of them.


When I moved to Japan at the ripe ol’ age of 23 I had taken maybe THREE sips of alcohol in my whole life. Call me straightedge, conservative, or crazy but I simply did not like the taste nor the after effects of consuming alcohol. I would have easily lived my entire life in this manner had I not moved to Japan - where sake is just as embedded in the culture as Kimonos and knowing how to pour beer for your boss is just as important as knowing how to bow to them.

I was thrown head first into the world of '“Nomikais” (aka drinking parties) with coworkers and soon established personal opinions on Japanese beers (so easy to drink), umeshu (plum wine - MY FAVORITE!!), nohonshu (rice wine), cocktails, regular wine and all the other jazzy drinks offered. Although my education in alcohol consumption expanded, I still felt like that 23 year old girl who would much rather have a glass of apple juice or sparkling cider over red wine.

In walks…HOROYOI.

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”ほろよい” Horoyoi is a brand of popular fruity flavored alcohol drinks that come in cute and colorful cans that you can find at any convenience store. The best part of all is that “Horoyoi” means “tipsy” in Japanese- properly named for the fact that these drinks contain just enough alcohol to give you a tiny little buzz. They taste like juice and there always seems to be a new seasonal flavor to try - green apple, fruit punch, peach, melon - you name it they have tried creating it!

A nice cold can of Horoyoi always tasted the best on hot summer nights, when the humidity would be pounding down, my whole being would feel sticky and the only thing I wanted was something refreshing to break through the heat. I have yet to find a place that sells Horoyoi in the states, which I was initially sad about but then I realized that I can appreciate them more for their speciality and the fact that i’ll have to wait until the next time I am in Japan to enjoy one :)

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as you can tell, I had a habit of taking photos of me holding a can of Horoyoi in my left hand HAHA!

作る "TO MAKE" : 06 KITSUNE

Part 06 of my series “TO MAKE” …where I doodle with my apple pencil as I watch K-dramas. True life.

Back in October, I traveled to Okayama with my two dear friends Miri and Steph. We woke up on the last day of our mini-vacay to go grab coffee. The one shop we knew we HAD to see was Café Kitsune.

kitsune. apple pencil. ipad. procreate.

kitsune. apple pencil. ipad. procreate.

“Kitsune” means “fox” in Japanese, and Maison Kitsune is a French/Japanese fashion brand that has opened up a chain of some of the coolest cafes in the world. They have shops in Paris, Seoul, New York, Shanghai and Tokyo. Interestingly enough, they recently opened up a cafe in Okayama prefecture of all places. Why Okayama? good question. People wondered why my friends and I took a trip there as well.

The main reason we booked a trip to this lesser-known-but-equally-amazing prefecture of Japan was to visit a magical little land called KURASHIKI which took my breath away! On top of that, Okayama city is a good place to stay when visiting TESHIMA - an art island that basically is the dopest place I have ever been in my entire life. So, long story short, we found ourselves in Okayama city and couldn’t leave without a visit to Café Kitsune.

This cafe is beautiful. And I mean B E A U T I F U L. If you walk 10 minutes from Okayama Castle you will cross a wide bridge and then find a chill suburban road that looks very…unassuming. If not for google I would have absolutely passed this road in a second and never guessed the worlds coolest coffee shop would reside there. So you’re on this road, tiny cars zooming by and you pass this one tall stark white building that is some architecture firm and tucked right next to it is CAFÉ KITSUNE in all it’s glory. It looks like a super old Japanese style house that they converted to a coffee shop. It’s that mix of traditional and modern that makes it magical. There are no seats inside, just hip baristas serving strong coffee in their parisian style outifts - classic Japan, always throwing me a curveball in the middle of nowhere. We ordered our coffee, debated buying a sweatshirt but then realized it was 150USD (ha! jokes on us), and sipped our hot drinks in the sunshine on a tiny road, grateful for the moment.

Café Kitsune Okayama, thank you for the inspiration.

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作る "TO MAKE" 05: DOTCOM SPACE

Part 05 of my creative project “to make” …oh look at that - more coffee :)


When we think of planning a trip to Japan, most of us think of one place in particular - SHIBUYA. The “Time square” of Tokyo, the home of the world’s trendiest fashion, instagrammable food and one of the busiest crosswalks in the world - “THE BOOYAH” (as I call it) packs a powerful punch.

The funny thing is, after living in Japan for a few years, I started to notice that I wouldn’t go to Shibuya unless I had to. It is such a crowded tourist spot that the excitement wore off after a few visits and I began to feel far too overwhelmed going there. I much preferred the calmer, sophisticated neighborhoods of Daikanyama, Nakameguro and Ebisu.

But when I went back to Japan last year for a friend’s wedding, I landed on Friday and woke up Saturday morning and found myself headed directly to… Shibuya. of all places. What was it for?

Coffee.

of course.

On top of being home to some of the dopest stores in all the land (PALACE, SUPREME, NOAH, UNDEFEATED, HUMANMADE, VISVIM, CDG)…Shibuya is also home to some of Tokyo’s best coffee shops (Very amazing and extensive list at GOODCOFFEEME).

This time around I had to check on a newly opened spot that was everything I love about Tokyo and more…

DOTCOM SPACE TOKYO.

DOTCOM SPACE TOKYO.

DOTCOM SPACE TOKYO.
Exit the newly remodeled Harajuku station (sad about this, I loved the old one!) and walk a few steps down the side streets parallel to the iconic TAKESHITA-DORI and you will find one of Shibuya’s newest genius creations - DOTCOM SPACE TOKYO.

Part architecture, part coffee shop, part art gallery - this spot lived up to every photo I had seen of it before visiting. IGNANT took some amazing photos of the space HERE that you have to see to get a full idea of how nice it is.

The aesthetic reminded me a lot of the coffee shops I went to in South Korea - minimalist, sophisticated, sleek - so of course I had to order the fruit toast that came on a little speckled plate with grapes cut to perfection creating the worlds most beautiful breakfast item.

Oh Tokyo, you never cease to amaze me.

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