February was as busy as January for me, or maybe even more so. Before coming back to Tokyo, I was busy meeting friends, spending time with my family and doing some last minute orders for my label.
I'm still not done writing about January and it's already March tomorrow. I have some things planned out for March already and I'm pretty excited but I'm not excited about Spring approaching. At all. Last year, I had a really bad case of hay fever and I'm sure I'll be suffering again. I've already got my allergy medicine all stocked up at home, just in case.
I spent almost two weeks in Nagoya in February. I didn't intend to be there for such a long period of time and initially planned to spend my Valentine's Day in Tokyo but my love couldn't finish his work on time, so I made my way to Nagoya. I came back to Tokyo and went over almost immediately again because there was a death in his circle of friends and I just wanted to be there for him.
Even though I was really busy, I still managed to fit in some time to watch some films. It's my way of relaxing and taking my mind off things. I'll probably write about my new obsessions if I find the time ( I doubt so). Achievement Unlocked!
I was really stressed up towards the opening of my website and was lacking on sleep but I feel so accomplished that it's finally up and running. I just want to thank my friends who modelled for me and supported me all this time. I'll be blogging about my work and photoshoots there from now on and I plan to keep this blog personal, I still don't plan to give out this blog address but for everyone that has been reading, thank you.
I have new shirts printing right now and can't wait to go on photo shoots and meeting new people again. New designs and other plans are also on the way, I really plan to work hard on my label this year and hopefully find time to write more often.
It was a Saturday after the day I got back from Melbourne. Little sis and I went out for lunch before heading to Art Stage Singapore. I haven't really spoken to my sister in months because of her new job, so there was a lot of catching up to do. I was glad we both were able to come into agreement with some things and that the both of us are actually in the same boat now, working hard to achieve our goals.
Little sis is so busy with work now that she only has Saturdays off, I didn't mind at all because I have my own things to do during the week. The only thing that makes this difficult is when I go back to Tokyo because we will barely have time to talk to each other again. We'll figure something out, I'm sure.
Art Stage is an Asian contemporary art fair that is held every year over here, in tiny Singapore. I wanted to go to this year's one because I saw the lineup of artists online and there were a couple of artwork I wanted to check out. Ironic because the art I wanted to view were from Japan.
Little sis and I spent over an hour there, taking our time looking at everything. I probably took too many photos so I chose my favourite ones for this post and because I was lazy, I didn't take down the names of all the artists.
I've seen Shintaro Ohata's work floating around Tumblr a lot. It was much better in real life, the interesting thing about his work is that no matter what angle you take photos from, you'll get a different view of his work.
He is best known for placing sculptures in front of his paintings. More of this work here.
Yoshitomo Nara, I don't have to explain his work, do I?
Goto Atsuko. I have been following Goto Atsuko for a long time on Instgram, so I was really happy to see his work in person. What I love the most about his work is how the girls are always submerged in a dream like setting. Also how he meticulously paints. Details, details, details.
Dreams are like strange stories, landscapes, our memory builds unconsciously.
Takato Yamamoto. One of my favourite illustrators of all time. I was really glad to finally see his work in person. I don't think he has held any exhibitions in the last couple of years, so I was really lucky.
To think that I already loved his work by just looking at prints and his work online. You definitely "feel" so much more when you see his work in person. Serene yet dark.
Akio Ohmori.
Found out about his work here, at Art Stage. I love how he places the animals on the mirrors in this series of work. He normally does sculpture but his creatures are really something out of my daydreams.
I was really glad to have come back in time for Art Stage this year. I've been missing it for the last couple and am always so bummed when I see my friends posting photos on social media. I hope to continue to go to more art events this year.
January 12th, 2017 Even though I was in Melbourne for two whole days, I was dead tired on the first day after my flight, I just crashed when I checked into the Airbnb apartment. All I did that day was eat dim sum, go to the show and went back to the apartment and crashed again.
On the 12th, I managed to get enough sleep or maybe too much sleep because I woke up after noon. I initially planned to go for brunch but I guess my exhaustion got the best of me. In the end, I went to one of my favourite cafes for lunch and coffee and just decided to walk around the CBD before the show.
There was nothing new obviously because I was just in Melbourne 6 months before this trip. I didn't bother taking many photos except for the graffiti since I've been to Melbourne so many times.
This time, though, there was way more graffiti. Instead of just using one alleyway, all the alleyways in this area was covered in graffiti. A picture perfect spot for those people who do OOTDs for Instagram. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people.
I spent my afternoon in the CBD walking around, visiting some of my favourite stores and when I was done, I decided to visit St. Patrick's Cathedral. I never fail to visit this church whenever I am back in Melbourne. Even if a nun did scold me off last time for no good reason.
My favourite spot in the world is actually behind this church, I think little sis and I have spent an hour or two there just talking away.
I remember visiting church close to evening, after that, I went to grab dinner at a Greek restaurant that I always go to when I'm back. Cabbage rolls! and slowly walked down to the show venue. Honestly, I didn't do much at all but I was just glad to be back home even just for a little bit.
My flight was the next day at noon, I didn't do anything in the morning because it was raining heavily. I left the apartment and went straight to the airport.
I don't know when the next time I will be back in Melbourne but it'll probably be for another show. Hopefully the next time when I'm here again, I'll have enough money and time to get a tattoo as well.
I decided to go back home to Melbourne to catch one of my favourite bands, letlive. I bought the tickets to the show just a month before while I was still in Tokyo, I just felt like I needed to go to this show for a change of scenery and going back home helped me in so many ways. I'm thankful I made that decision.
letlive. isn't that famous in Asia, so I figured if I really wanted to see them, I would have to travel. It's such a shame that they aren't that known over here. I only started listening to them last year when If I'm The Devil... was released. There was something in Jason's voice that moved me. It's hard for me to feel like that about bands, so when I do, I tend to fall in love completely with the band.
Since then, their music has been on loop. I love that whenever I find a band on a later album, I'd always try to listen to their previous albums and fall in love with them even more. letlive. did that for me.
I arrived back in Melbourne on January 11th and was dead tired because I just got back to Singapore for less than 24 hours, rushed errands in the day and was off to the airport by night. I didn't get a wink of sleep on the flight, so I took a nap before heading out to the show.
Underoath tour in February ;__;
The show was at 170 Russell, formerly known as Billboard. It's my favourite live venue in Melbourne. It was pretty packed when I arrived. I got there in time to catch Counterparts. I bought some merch and tried to find a good spot somewhere in the crowd and I didn't even stand still for 5 minutes when Counterparts took the stage.
I listened to them for just a little bit before the show so I wasn't too familiar with their music. They put on a pretty good 30 minutes set.
It didn't take too long forletlive. to take the stage. I was probably too excited to see them because I could feel my heart race and get goosebumps when they were on stage. I miss that feeling. They opened to Renegade 86' and they BLEW. MY. FUCKING. MIND.
Their energy on stage was amazing, I would say most of the credit is given to their vocalist, Jason. The way he loses himself in the music is just something. Unpredictable. letlive.has definitely stolen the top spot for best bands I have seen live.
Their setlist was sooooooo good as well. All of my favourites were played and I think my favourite performance of the night was The Fear Fever. Jason totally lost himself to the music, especially on that song and was throwing the microphone stand and shit everywhere. I live for moments like this. Their setlist had a good mix of old and new songs and some slower songs. Foreign Cab Rides was another song that was really good live.
He jumped into the crowd during one of the songs as well, I can't remember anymore because I was just in awe of how good they were live. I really love the message Jason left about respecting women before performing Muther which was also spectacular to watch the crowd singing the entire first verse of the song back to Jason. I realised how much I have missed going to shows in Melbourne. The enthusiasm of the crowd and just flat out - the band talking in between songs without worrying if people were going to understand them. It's the language barrier in Japan sometimes that makes shows less fun for international bands.
They closed to Good Mourning, America off their latest album. Jason jumped onto the drum set while finishing off the show and everything got dismantled. The crowd went "WOAH", which I thought was pretty funny. They played for exactly an hour. I was so happy I chose to fly back home to see them. I thought I love their music already but now I love them even more.
Their setlist (not in order) :
Renegade 86'
Another Offensive Song
A Weak Ago
Younger
The Dope Beat
27 Club
Le Prologue
The Sick, Sick, 6.8 Billion
Foreign Cab Rides
The Fear Fever
Reluctantly Dead
Banshee (Ghost Fame)
Muther
Good Mourning, America
Next up was Every Time I Die and they opened to Glitches. I wasn't feeling their set too much because even though I have been listening to them since I was 17, I was never a big fan. Though - I do admit, they did put on a solid set and killed it. My happy, higher mood from letlive., died off because I had to endure another hour in the crowd for a band I didn't really care about.
I was just glad I got to see letlive. again next day, I decided to skip Every Time I Die at the next show.
January 12th was my last day in Melbourne. I literally only came back for these shows. I made my way to Arrow on Swanston really close to the show time again, it was a 20-minute walk from the Airbnb apartment I was staying in. The venue was much smaller than 170 Russell, maybe just a quarter of it and had a really small stage. No barriers, though. That can only mean that it'll be an intimate show.
It was almost like a floor show, I got used to going to small shows ever since living in Japan so I didn't mind at all. The only thing I minded was being the only Asian there because I just stood out and whenever I walked past people at the venue, they would just stare at me. It did bother me at the beginning but once letlive. took the stage, I just didn't care and squeezed my way to the front.
It's been a long time since I've stood in front for a show. I only do that for bands I really love. Today's show had the same lineup, Counterparts, letlive. and Every Time I Die. I watched Counterparts's set again and just waited around for letlive. to take the stage.
They played exactly at 8:20pm and had the same set list. I really liked that they decided to perform the chorus of Linkin Park's Crawling during 27 Club because they kinda have a long interlude in that song. I was glad to be in the front since I don't know when I can ever see letlive. again, I just wanted to enjoy their performance and lose myself in their music.
When they closed to Good Mourning, America, Jason ran into the crowd and did a backflip while the fans attacked him, in less than a minute, you couldn't see Jason but just people running towards his direction and jumping on him. Don't worry, he didn't get hurt. I just miss seeing things like that because that doesn't happen in Japan.
They put on a good show again but honestly, the night before was better. I think it's just because the stage was bigger and they could utilise the area. I also personally think a band like letlive. just does better on a bigger stage. Also the fact that the show for the day before was Above 18, makes it better because kids are annoying. The second show was an All Ages one. They played for an hour as well.
I didn't bother staying for Every Time I Die and just grabbed dinner on the way back to the apartment. I felt really happy when I got back to the apartment, even though I came on my own to see a band I really like, I felt really accomplished. I wanted to prove to myself that travelling alone is not that bad, because of things that happened years ago, I always get paranoid and anxious when I'm in Australia. I'm glad that now, I have overcome that fear and better yet, got to see one of my favourite bands. This trip was definitely worth it.
Nothing beats seeing your favourite band for the first time. I haven't felt this way about a band in a long long time. The last time I felt this way, this excited for a show was for lynch. almost 4 years ago, and AFI which was 7 years ago. It's really rare that a band can amaze and move me this much.
letlive. also reminded me of how much I love music. I feel like I have been losing my way with music because of living in Japan and getting "too close" to the scene that I started losing interest in music. It has been really hard for me to listen to music in the recent months but I can't not listen to music so whenever I listened, there would be an emptiness that would fill me, which made me feel really uncomfortable. Thanks to letlive., I am reminded that I love music for bands like this. So really, thank you.
To top it off, it's always Melbourne that helps me get on my feet again. What a way to kickoff 2017, I'm just so thankful I decided to follow my gut and flew back home to catch this band. They were really the push I needed after the crazy rollercoaster of emotions I felt in the last 3 months of 2016.
Thank you, letlive. I hope to see you somewhere else in the world again.
The last day in Kyoto proved to be much better than the first and the both of us were so relieved. We checked out of the Airbnb apartment, had breakfast at Komeda's and left our luggage in the lockers at the station and made our way to Fushimi Inari Taisha.
It was crowded by the time we got to Fushimi Inari but the weather was so nice that day. Clear blue skies. The last time I visited Fushimi Inari was also in 2014 but I was alone, definitely much better visiting with company.
The one thing I really love about Fushimi Inari are the many fox statues. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, that's why there are so many fox statues around.
It was crowded while we were walking through the torii gates but it didn't bother us that much. We walked quite far up and there were fox shrines. The clear blue skies definitely did help in making pretty photos.
After we were done exploring Fushimi Inari, we took the train to Shijo Station again.
We made our way to the Bengal Cat Cafe. I know I was just there the month before but CATS? CATS. CATS?! Anytime I can hang out with cats makes me a very happy person. We were lucky because many cats came to us. I ended up having two cats sitting on me again.
We also decided to visit the Owl Cafe because it was just above the cat cafe. This owl cafe was much better than the one I visited in Kichijoji, it didn't smell and there were more owls of different kinds. The lighting of the cafe also was perfect for photos.
This guy looks like he is high.
I did photograph more owls but I'm too lazy to edit all of them and post it up here. We spent about half an hour at the owl cafe. After that, we went to a restaurant nearby for dinner before getting on the train back to Tokyo.
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I've been to Kyoto probably too many times to enjoy it as much, so I don't think I will be visiting Kyoto again soon unless there is a show. I still want to check out some cafes and places in Kyoto but that can wait.
Even though I really do enjoy travelling on my own, lately I'm starting to not like it as much. I have been travelling a lot on my own over the last couple of years, sometimes it gets so tiring to do things alone. I miss exploring with my little sis a lot because she's always the person I have the most fun with. Even though she is busy with work now, I hope we can find time to travel together again.
I think it is pretty normal to feel this way. I do like being on my own a lot but like anyone else, not for too long. I'm pretty excited about my upcoming road trip around Aichi and Shiga in March. I can't wait to travel more this year.
We got up early the next day to explore Kyoto. I wasn't too excited to go to Kyoto again as well because I was also just there the month before. The only difference was that I didn't get to do much sightseeing the last time, so I was glad to have Yuri with me this time.
We started our day with heading to Kinkakuji, the last time I visited The Golden Pavillion was in the summer of 2014 with little sis. It was really cloudy this time, so our pictures didn't turn out as nice as we wanted it to. It also didn't help that there was a chokehold of tourists here, no surprise, though. What was nice was the soft serve with golden flakes sold nearby.
After Kinkakuji, we made our way to Arashiyama. Arashiyama is my favourite tourist spot in Kyoto. This was my third time visiting Arashiyama and I was glad to be there again. We had a quick lunch at a little udon restaurant and made our way to the bamboo forest, it was about already 3 in the afternoon at this time and the sun was already setting.
I always liked these little statues.
For some reason, the bamboo forest was not as pretty as I remembered it to be. I don't know if it's because it is winter or the number of bamboos has decreased? But it wasn't as impressive as it was a couple of years ago. There was also a little Kitsune shrine I really liked in the forest but this time, all the little kitsune statues have disappeared which left me disappointed.
To cheer ourselves up, we got yet another soft serve with 4 flavours. We slowly walked over to Togetsukyo bridge. This part of Arashiyama didn't disappoint me. I still like it and now when I look at the river, all I can think about is how little sis was trying to row the boat and we got stuck in the middle of it. Ah, memories.
We didn't know what else to do because it was still early, so I went to find Arabica, probably the best coffee in Kyoto. The queue was really long but we decided to just wait in line. It took much longer than expected to get coffee. It took about an hour in the cold. It was worth it because the latte I ordered was really good but the next time I get the chance to drink Arabica again, I'll make sure to head to the other branch and at a time where there I know there won't be a line.
We walked back to Arashiyama Station to check out the kimono forest that I stumbled upon on Instagram. Honestly, it wasn't that impressive in real life. The person who designed this probably knows how to arrange things to look really pretty in photos. It does look way better in photos.
We spent quite some time taking photos and once we were done, we took a bus to Shijo Station. The bus ride was more than 30 minutes which gave us enough time to recharge, we both fell asleep on the bus. We got off nearby Shijo Station and went for dinner. We ended up going to a small, a little pricey izakaya in the same alley way I went for yakisoba with Yamako the month before.
The food at this izakaya was really yummy and both Yuri and I agreed that the duck was our favourite. We spent a little over an hour there and explored around the area before heading back to the apartment.
It was a pretty half disappointed, half fulfilled day.
We got up early to catch the bus from Nagoya to Nara. Nara isn't too far away from Nagoya but it took longer than expected to get to Nara because it was snowing on the way there, which slowed us down quite a bit.
We finally arrived in Nara at 11 am and met up with Yoshi at Nara Station. We went to get an early lunch and made our way to the deer park. I was glad to see Yoshi again even though I had just met him the month before. He took us to a nice cafe for lunch but I couldn't finish my meal even though it was good because it had too much cream.
I was really surprised at the number of deer there were at the park. Most people were feeding them but we didn't buy the deer senbei because the deer will come up to you anyway.
Sweet potato!
Yoshi always seems to be so happy, haha.
After the deer park, Yoshi suggested that we check out the temple nearby because there was a giant Buddha in there that was bigger than the one in Kamakura. I used to think the one in Kamakura was huge until I visited Nara.
Even though the temple was crowded with tourists, it wasn't too bad. At least, not as bad as Tokyo. We moved around quite easily and had enough time to check out everything without getting annoyed. We went to another smaller temple after that and the view of Nara was really pretty from there.
Cutest baby deer and protective mama deer.
It was still early when we were done visiting the temples so Yoshi took us to his favourite shrine which was less than an hour's drive away. It started to snow again once we got out of his van. I wanted to appreciate the shrine more but it was freezing in there more than outside, I just couldn't. The pillars had really pretty old Japanese paintings on them and even though the paint have eroded with time, you can still see some of the details.
Yoshi went to meet up with some of his friends who had a furniture workshop less than 5 minutes away after that. Workshops of any kind always remind me of my days in art college. I'm always scared of the machines because of the horror stories my lecturers and friends would tell me. (Yes, I have a small heart -__-)
We went to chill at a cafe after driving back to Nara Station. I was so tired by this time because I couldn't get enough sleep for the past two nights before getting to Nara I felt bad for keeping quiet. My brain just shuts off but I was glad to talk to Yoshi about some art related stuff. It was hard to explain in Japanese but I think I tried my best.
The cafes in Nara all had a little deer next to their logos, how cute!
We got on the train to Kyoto at almost 7 pm and went to get dinner before heading to our Airbnb apartment. It was a really fun but tiring day. I have never seen that many deer in my life. I don't think I will be visiting Nara again anytime soon because the one place I wanted to go to the most, Nara Dreamland, has been torn down.
At least, I can tick off another place in Japan. I'm still pretty unsure about my travel plans this year in the land of the rising sun but I think I will be visiting places near Nagoya. I really want to go to Lake Biwa because of how pretty it is and hopefully I'll get the chance to when the weather gets warmer.
