It's already the last day of the first month of 2016. It feels strange as I'm slowing getting back into the pace of things. It was a good and very busy month. Last week I was so busy, almost heading somewhere after class. One of my friends, David, left back to England. It made me quite sad since he and I would talk about hardcore music a lot in class. Mostly Parkway Drive and Thy Art is Murder, haha.
But anyways, some snippets from January :
It snowed heavily on the 18th, my first time seeing so much snow.
H decided to build a snowman on the same night, haha.
The next day was spent with Laura at a nice cafe in Harajuku with her film camera.
The same week, I went to cut and color my hair! I'm going to attempt (again) on keeping it long because I love this color so much, I want more of it. Watch me fail miserably and cut it once my hair touches my shoulders.
Last Sunday, was pastel day with Laura. I met up with her in the early afternoon (a first for us) in Nakano Broadway to go to her favorite artist, Kira Imai's, exhibition. Not really my style but I like the color she uses in her work. In the end, I bought some merchandise.
favorite pieces from the exhibit
Laura recommended I try this soft cream at the basement of Nakano Broadway. This is the medium size, the Large size comes with 8 flavors! I'm in love with the colors of the soft cream, I had coffee, grape, caramel and fizz flavor. It was pretty good.
I always love seeing all the vintage manga in Broadway.
After that, we decided to go to Koenji since it's just a stop away from Nakano. It was my first time there as well. I'm always too lazy to explore new places on my own nowadays. Koenji has a lot of cute second-hand and vintage shops. Again, not really my style but I enjoyed going in and out of the shops and seeing Laura is distress deciding whether to get this checked shirt, that red dress or that cute apple printed skirt. Sorry, Laura! It was funny.
In the end, she bought the cute apple printed skirt.
This store was cute too, but not my style again :
My sis said I look like a black blob hahaha.
We walked around some more and it was getting cold so we went to Hattifnatt Cafe to hide from the cold. It was a cute little cafe with a small door and with a very Moomin feel to it since it got it's inspiration from The Moomins. The cafe is named after The Hattifatteners (the white socks looking thing).
There were also lofts in the cafe where you felt like you were in a tree house which I thought was cute until WE HAD TO CLIMB THE STEEP LADDER TO GET TO OUR TABLE.
Other than that, the taco rice and matcha latte were good.
We stayed there till it was 9 pm chatting away and went home not long after.
I have a lot things I want to write about, some films I discovered, a music post that is meant for H but I've been keeping it in my drafts section for the last couple of months. There's too many things going on in my life right now for me to sit at home and pen everything down. Hopefully once my life calms down a little, I will post those up.
January was a nice month for me and February is going to be even more busy. I have a lot of things to look forward to in February. I can't for it to be here!
Day 5 : January 14th, Thursday. Little sis had a little bit of time left before heading to the airport so we headed to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Dad really wanted to go because it is a Taiwanese national monument. It took about an hour to get there by train.
There was nothing much to do there, it's the usual tourist spot where you just go there to take photos and that's it. I don't like doing touristy things but my dad, on the other hand, loves it. When I travel with little sis, all the national monuments or typical touristy places are always last on our list (unless it's really really worth going).
Day 4 : January 13th, Wednesday. It was yet another cloudy day in Taipei, it was little sis's last day here, so we decided to go to the places she wanted first. As always, little sis's number 1 love is coffee. I don't know how but she found this pretty popular and picturesque cafe called Cafe Chamber located near Gu Ting Station.
We headed straight towards there and had a little trouble finding the cafe, luckily it was just drizzling so it wasn't too bad. We finally found the cafe after about half an hour of walking but the cafe was busy and closed. There was a shoot or filming going in the cafe so we decided to just explore the area since White Wabbit Records is just nearby.
Lucky for us, we stumbled upon a street aligned with cute cafes and we decided to try the one that had a ton of Yoshitomo Nara artwork. I was impressed with the amount of his work they had in Dot dot Cafe, even the menu had a small biography of Yoshitomo Nara. It made me not want to go to A to Z Cafe in Aoyama anymore. I like it there but after going to this one in Taipei, I don't think I could ever look at it the same way. Dot dot Cafe wins, hands down.
Day 3 : January 12th, Tuesday. It was a cloudy Tuesday morning. We were heading to Jiu Fen today, it was little sis's and my number 1 place on the list to visit when we were in Taiwan because it's the "Spirited Away Town" that Hayao Miyazaki got his inspiration from. Knowing me, Spirited Away is my most favorite animation film of all time so I had to go.
We made our way down to Zhong Xiao Fu Xing Station by train to wait for the bus to take us to Jiu Fen but ended up taking a taxi because my dad is an impatient man. It started to rain when we were on our way to Jiu Fen. It rained almost everyday when I was in Taiwan.
I loved the scenery while we were driving up to Jiu Fen, you could see temples, old houses, the sea and the mountains. It was so cloudy and misty that really felt like we were on the road the somewhere out of this world.
I can officially put a tiny tick next to my number 1 resolution this year and that is to travel.
Last week was spent in Taipei and it was a much-needed break for me. I was getting sick of Tokyo and thought I was starting to hate it, but that is all untrue. I just needed to get out of Japan for a little bit to spend some time with my family. I was getting homesick (though I wouldn't call it homesick because I don't miss Singapore one bit), and was craving for all sorts of Chinese food. I really just wanted to see my little sister honestly. It felt like forever since I last saw her. Day 1 : January 10th, Sunday.
I couldn't get any sleep the night before so I just left my apartment early and headed to Narita airport. I still fucking hate how far Narita is by the way. I arrived in Taipei at 3-ish in the afternoon and my sister was the first one to hug me once I was out of customs. Mom and dad hugged me later on and our family vacation began.
We checked into our Airbnb apartment in Neihu district and went to a small restaurant that the host recommended. It was just a 10 minutes walk away. Our Airbnb host, Summer was really nice and she recommended so many restaurants.
My first impression of Taipei was... it's not what I expected it to be. For all these years, I always thought it'll be a kinda glamourous city and somewhat like Tokyo but it's far from it. There were many small food stalls just outside our apartment and I could smell Chou doufu (smelly beancurd) on the way to dinner. It reminded me of the wet markets in Singapore. Also, much dirtier than I expected it to be. It's not disgustingly dirty but when you live in a country like Japan known for cleanliness, almost everywhere else in the world is dirty.
We had dinner at Hei Mei Lin Xiao Chi (omg it feels weird writing hanyu pinyin on my blog). It was one of those restaurants where you order dishes and rice. Man, I really do miss it. Chinese food in your neighborhood at some run-down building, those places normally serve better food than expensive (overpriced) restaurants in shopping malls.
This was when little sis and I were wracking our brains on ordering and reading the menu, haha.
After dinner, we walked around the neighborhood but got back to the apartment early since we were all tired. I really loved our Airbnb apartment! Little sis and I found it and immediately knew that my dad would love it because of the break walls! AND there was cable television, exactly the same as Singapore's. Also, there was Takashi Murakami's work in the room little sis and I shared. There was a Kaws Simpson print in my parents' room. I picked the right apartment. :)
Day 2 : January 11th, Monday.
We all got up really early and decided to get a local breakfast at a small place that Summer also recommended. It was also near the apartment, 15 minutes walk. My dad ordered too much, as usual. We had Xiao Long Bao, You Tiao (omg I've missed it so much!!! and the one in Taiwan is nicer), some wraps which were pretty good as well, Tao Ling and something that tasted like fried carrot cake (No, not the western carrot cake but Singapore's carrot cake). I can't even remember now. But it was just 11am on the first day and most of my cravings were satisfied.
After breakfast, we headed to Zhong Xiao Dun Hua to go to Eslite bookstore, we spent quite some time there because my dad was doing some research for work. It was raining quite heavily that day but we decided to walk to get lunch anyways. We went to get some Taiwan-style beef noodles. Lin Dong Fang beef noodles are supposedly one of the most famous beef noodles in Taipei. You can smell the beef about 5 minutes away from the store.
It was almost 3pm but there was still a line. I actually miss going to places like this to eat because I don't do that in Tokyo at all. It's always cafes and I'm getting sick of cafe food. This place is located next to the roadside in a run down building as well. Maybe that should be the new trend, going to places where they actually sell good food instead of all these "I'm a foodie" people who only go to cafes.
We didn't wait too long to get seats and I ordered 4 small bowls of beef and tendon noodle soup for the family. If you know me well enough, I LOVE LOVE LOVE beef noodles soup. My favorite one is the one back home in Melbourne. But this one comes in a close second now. The beef is so tender, not flaky or too firm at all. It was also bursting with flavor. The soup was soooo smooth, it was not too beefy and you can taste the Chinese herbs, it was a nice clear broth. Never had anything like it and the next time I am in Taipei, I will get a big bowl of this. I know it's good when my dad finishes every single drop of soup in that bowl, hahaha. There's even a Youtube video for this!
After lunch, it was raining even harder so we decided to take a cab down to Huashan 1914 Creative Park. I immediately fell in love with this place. The first store I stepped into was filled with so many things that I like. It was honestly such a nice change for me, discovering new artists again and getting so excited over the smallest of things.
In the end, I bought a sticker set from this egg character called Shock Mama, it's a parody of things. Since Gudetama is too famous for me now. Also, got a really weird shaped ruler. I wanted to get so many things but it would probably be a pain to carry it back here since they're fragile so I decided to give it a miss.
There were several shops and exhibitions going on the park, so we took our time exploring the place and taking photos. I didn't go to any of the exhibitions because none of them were to my liking.
Huashan 1914 Creative Park is actually an old winery opened in 1916 located in the Zhong Zheng district, which explains the old rustic, abandoned feel to it. I personally liked it a lot, it felt like you went back in time. So it's like a old meets modern thing. Also, it's very good for OOTD shots if you're into that.
It's already 2016. I can't help but to feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
On New Years Eve, I went to Meiji Jingu Shrine but it ended up being too crowded so we decided to just pig out at the food stalls along the street in front of Harajuku Station. Everything he picked was really good, especially quail egg in takoyaki! Warm sake was pretty good as well, we didn't do anything much but wait for the countdown and went back home.
It's the earliest I went home in the last couple of years on New Years Day. Shibuya was too infested with drunk tourists and locals which were quite a horrid sight. We watched the sunrise from my balcony and went to bed not long after.
I'm really happy that 2016 is finally here. Like I already said in a few posts before, there's a lot of things to look forward to this year. I'll be leaving for Taiwan in just a week and I'm really excited. There's a couple of shows to go to already and I'll be going to Fukuoka in early February. I plan to do a lot more traveling this year. Last year, I was only able to visit Osaka.
For the first time in years, I'm going to write down my resolutions for 2016.
1. Travel
I want to explore parts of Japan I haven't been to. I really want to go to Naoshima because of all the art there, Kobe, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama and Nagano again. I also would want to visit Kyoto, Osaka and Nagoya again if I have time and money left. I would say also go to a new country but that is already going to happen next week.
2. Draw more
I realized that it's harder to pick up drawing once you stop. I want to draw every day if I'm not too tired or busy. Also, I feel like I lost some confidence in drawing because I haven't been practicing enough. A lot of new and exciting things I've been working on and I can't wait to finish them all.
3. Tattoos and piercings
I still haven't got my orbital piercing even though I keep telling myself to go to the piercing studio. But, this year I really want to get an orbital and hopefully my industrial piercing back. Lately, I've been thinking of getting another tattoo from a tattoo artist in Kyoto. I've decided to get one tattoo each year from now on. I already have a list of tattoo artists I like, so I already know what I want.
4. Practice Japanese more
Even though I am studying Japanese now, writing and texting is not a problem but speaking it is really difficult for me. So I hope to practice it more this year, starting with writing even more so I can remember words.
5. Pick up new art styles/experimenting
Lately, I have been only drawing too much and I feel that I am not growing as an artist. So, I want to start to do collages again, paint and draw more loosely and new things and learn how to do hand embroidery.
6. Learn new recipes
Since I'm living alone, I have been looking for recipes online more. I like cooking a nice healthy breakfast and sometimes, when I really do miss my mom's cooking, I'll call her and ask her for recipes. Yes, it's funny I don't call my dad because he's a chef but his recipes are often complicated and too difficult to manage for a noob like me.
I think that is about it for now. Please, please, please, 2016 be good to me.
Last Wednesday, after the third attempt of waking up early, Jaz and I finally met up in Harajuku. We were actually planning to go to an illumination in Tochigi on Monday but couldn't wake up, so we moved it to Tuesday and still couldn't get up. So we finally got our asses up and went on Wednesday.
I met her in Harajuku to get some coffee since we were both zombified, and checked the train routes to go to Ashikaga Flower Park but most of the trains were delayed so we decided to get something to eat while waiting. We went to get pancakes in Daikanyama which was pretty good. I'm still not a big fan of pancakes, though. We wasted some more time till it was about 5 and finally took the train to Tochigi.
It took over 2 hours to get to Tochigi, so we were both pretty bored on the train. After arriving at Tomita Station, we still had to walk for another good 15 minutes before getting to the illumination.
Ashikaga Flower Park was bigger than I expected it to be. There were a lot of flowers for sale at the entrance, luckily I brought my mask along because I am deadly allergic to flowers.
This illumination wasn't that impressive though I give them points for photo opportunities they built in but the lines were too long. I would say that the designs here were made to attract children. Jaz and I felt a little out of place but it was still fun. The nice part about Ashikaga Flower Park's lights is that some of them are animated, so it was pretty fun to watch but still, aimed towards children. I still prefer Sagamiko's illumination, and compared to that, Nabano No Sato is still the best one.
The flower garden was probably the best part of this illumination, they had some lights that created glass stain art which reminded me of Beauty and the Beast. The lights of these flowers also change color every 5 seconds, so you can watch from red to pink to blue to yellow to green.
We didn't spend too long there, it took us only an hour to complete the whole park because even though it was big, there were not many interesting things to take photos of. The designs were simple and I was pretty bored actually. If you're in Tokyo, I recommend going to Sagamiko's illumination, it's more worthwhile. Also, it wasn't worth the two hours train ride to get to. I think it's much better as a flower park which I don't think I'll go to because Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki looks more impressive.
We couldn't do much after leaving the park since it takes us 2 hours to get back to Shibuya and another hour for me to get back home. Also, by the time I got home, I was starving. I was glad to be out of Tokyo for a little while though, I love this crazy city but I need a break from it as well. Jaz also agreed.
Talking about illuminations, I found an illumination that might give Nabano No Sato competition. Maybe this year I'll head out to Kobe for Kobe Luminarie. I want to start exploring Japan again this year, it'll be nice to see other parts of Japan again.
