MIND-FART#19

I was sorting my socks, contemplating on which to keep and which to throw. I have a hundred and seven pairs.

And I told you I have a hundred and seven pairs. Too many for a pair of feet, eh?

"Well,  I think I have lots of everything than necessary. I should save up instead of buying duplicates." I said.

You agreed and asked why did I buy lots before.

Instant happiness, maybe? Thinking about it, how sad was I before to acquire these myriad of thingamajigs and whatnot?

"I'm glad you are happy now", you said.

"Me, too."

Artworks from unknown artist/s at the Tokyo International Art Fair 2017 (Photo by me)

Bliss (Photo by Kenji)

Summer flowers (Photo by me)

P.S. What makes you happy? Ask yourself this everyday. Make a conscious effort to seek for it, for no one can truly do it for you except you.

Kimono Day in Asakusa ❀

It's getting colder again... most people wanna go out but at the same time they wanna be warm, too. Which means... cafes and restaurants in Tokyo will be almost always full. So if ever you find yourself in Tokyo whether you're a tourist making the most out of your stay or a resident just lurking 'round the city that we all love, why not immerse in the rich Japanese culture by wearing a kimono? Its many layers will get you covered from the cold plus you'll get to roam in the city in (Edo-) style! 

Last May, my friends and I decided to cross one out of our bucket list/s! 

Yeah, you guessed that right...

*drumroll*

walking along the streets of Asakusa wearing a kimono

*drumroll* lol

There are a handful of kimono rental shops in Tokyo but we opted for Kyoto Kimono Rental Wargo because it has a branch in Asakusa (just nearby Senso-ji) and it has various packages, one of which is the very affordable couple kimono package that my beau and I have chosen. In addition, you can swiftly book through their English website as long as you have a working credit card. Easy peasy!

So yeah, check out our fun-filled kimono day in the streets of Asakusa below! Enjoy! ♥

 Kimono selection... ahhhh so hard to choose if everything's pretty!

Picked a red flowery kimono and this traditional hand bag <3

 Being in a kimono is kinda difficult; it has lots of layers, the belts are put tightly to secure the layers, and it'll be hard for you to use the toilet (so they advise to go to the toilet first before putting it on) but for a once in a blue moon experience, I'd gladly do it!

The staff at Kyoto Kimono Rental Wargo is very skilled at putting kimonos so just sit back and relax, or maybe I should say stand back and relax heh~ In the package that I've chosen, hair setting is also included so they asked me to pick one hair accessory in their vast collection and did my hair! Included in the package were the slippers and the socks, which you can take home as a gift. Just the socks, okay haha!

Tsaraaaannnnn~
Dou? What do you think?

   After less than an hour getting dressed and glammed up, off we went to the streets of Asakusa to... well... walk around in our kimonos, trying our best-est (heh) to play tourists, taking photos and yeah make memories, ofc *tears*

 We picked a bad day to stroll in our kimonos- it was raining that Saturday. But you gotta do well with what you've been given so yeah...

 Anyway, I love how the obi was tied! I cannot do the tying myself, I'm not skilled at it and I don't think I'll ever be hahaha

That face hahahaha luv u

We roamed around the streets leading to Senso-ji. In my four years of stay in Tokyo, would you believe that this was my first time setting foot in that temple? Haha yeah, shinjirarenai~ But it really was my first time *grin*

Lookie! Gorg hair setting!♡

Passed by a manju shop in Nakamise Street

This is how manjus are made~

 Bought these cute manjus that are shaped like traditional Japanese thingies; too cute to eat but we ate them anyway because we're hungryyyy haha!

Also bought ice lollies! How hungry can we get hahaha

 We finally reached Senso-ji yay

Nice to meet youuuuuu

We waited for our couple friend Allie and Lando somewhere in Senso-ji; they wore kimonos, too! Roamed around the temple's confines and took pictures, of course! Haha!

Lando and Kenji

Allie and I

Group photo ♡

Miss you guyssss

Nakamise Street and nearby streets have lots of shops and come dusk, as those shops close, you can see lots of artsy window shutters like the one above~

Haiiii chiizuuuu

We looked for an arcade place for purikura, and took some photo inside, too! I love how juxtaposed this photo is: traditional versus modern~

Afterwards, we headed out on the streets once again for ice cream! Got a vanilla one, of course! The beau was feeling adventurous so he opted for a yokkan-flavoured one. I got to try that too and it was delish!!! 

Hungry from roaming around in our kimonos for hours, we changed into our normal clothes and looked for a Jingisukan (ジンギスカン) place in the vicinity for some grilled mutton! Tummies filled, yay!

Went to a karaoke place for some drunk singing in costumes before calling it a day!

'Twas all sorts of fun! I suggest you go now while the weather is great and don those beautiful kimonos! And oh, don't forget to bring friends with you for some added fun!♡

Love,

Alyssa

MIND-FART#18: Mid-week Irony

Coming to Japan, I'd say I ~gradually~ became more courageous in terms of letting my feelings out. I'm not talking about my daily rants on Twitter but you know, the real deal. Maybe the lack of Japanese speaking abilities from my side was and still is the reason for it; I tend to express what I feel right then and there because they can't understand me- my facial expressions well maybe yeah, but the curses I'm sending their way, not really. 

How ironic, taking comfort from the fact that they won't be able to nor try to understand me when all I ever wanted was to be understood. 

Well, maybe I really don't.

Happy mid-week! Hope you're hangin' in there just fine!♡

Life, Lately: Rainy Days and Fridays

I totally suck at blogging and having a fixed blogging schedule, ha. Well, my schedule is like a haystack. But hey, I'm trying. Sometimes I feel like abandoning things I've started but there's always a second thought— what if they work? What if I can juggle them along with more important responsibilities if I only try hard enough?

And so I retract. Thoughts of just concentrating on one thing is just lurking around the corner, though. But if there's one thing I'd come to know about myself these past few years, I'm a jill-of-all-trades and of course as the saying goes, I'm a master of none. Maybe the culprit is me wanting lots of things and so I aways end up weathered and withered after numerous tries of everything. But can you blame me? The world is beautiful and magical and awesome most of the time that I wanted/still wanting every piece and slice it has to offer. Do you have those thoughts, too? Tell me something about it. Help me, haha.

Anyway, I think all that I'm doing now is an attempt to try everything I can in the span of time I'm given; I'm doing lots of things because I don't wanna miss out on vital opportunities and experiences that would eventually and *hopefully* enhance, if not change me into a person of maximum capacity. Also, they make me happy. Don't you do things in an attempt to find happiness? 

As I've said earlier, the world is beautiful buuuuut sometimes it can be harsh. There are days when I feel like the world is trying to pick a fight with me heh~ But I realized, it's all about how I react to those things that'll count. And so I am battling those with happiness- happiness I have in myself and happiness around me waiting to be discovered. 

I hope you can find it in your heart to seek for and welcome happiness whatever form it comes to you. And if you do, share them with people who matter and maybe to people who you think might be of need. A little help won't hurt but it will brighten up the load of many. ♡

P. S. Thinking about it, maybe it's okay to be a jill-of-all-trades master of none than to be a master of one. *wink*

Happy rainy Friday from Tokyo!

Alyssa ❁

MIND-FART#17: Perpetually Curious

Earlier today, I had a brief chance of showing my colleague a book I just started to read. I was reminded of a conversation we had before about novels. And out of nowhere, my colleague blurted "I think you're a deep person. You like art, poetry, and this type of novel (pertaining to the novel I just showed her). Aren't those things deep?" 

I was caught off-guard. It was a question I haven't been asked before, let alone have had the chance to ask myself.

Am I a deep person?

As far as I'm concerned, I'm pretty shallow. In a sense that little things make me happy; a half-assed compliment, a free drink, a postcard, or even a seat in a packed train to work would make me happy. I would even tweet it heh~

I'm not deep in that sense, I guess.

What I'm sure of, though, is that I am in a continuous search of learnings, whatever those are, whatever their forms are... a novel, an artwork... ahhhh I'd receive them with arms wide open.

Don't call me deep. Call me perpetually curious. 

And yeah, curiosity may have killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back. *wink*

Stay curious,

Alyssa

♡

Life Lately: Pikachu Outbreak + Yokohama Triennale 2017 + Summer Sonic 2017

Hello!!! August was a  busy month for me- too much work (daily full-time and part-time) and too many events! Not complaining, though. I love being busy as long as I have time for myself and people I value, too. 

Anyway, I've been to three events (as you can see from this post's title haha) that I had been very giddy about the past months. Without further ado, here they are~

✧Pikachu Outbreak 2017, Yokohama Day 1✧

Been meaning to go to this annual event last year with the beau but due to some forgotten reason, we weren't able to go. So this time, the beau being a Pokemon addict, insisted we go this year. And so we did! We were very lucky we were able to see the dancing Pikachus at Queen's Square, the marching Pikachus near MARK IS, and lotsa tiny Pikachus with Mimikyu in front of Sakuragicho Station. We were also able to bring home some paper Pikachu hats and stamps given at Minatomirai Station yay! Of course, we played Pokemon Go until nine in the evening and I got lotsa Mimes and other 2nd gen Pokemons!!!

Dancing Pikachus at Queen's Square

Free Pikachu hat given out at Minatomirai Station

Ate at an Italian restaurant near Dockside Garden! Their pasta and pizza were goood! Forgot the name of the resto, though~

Cosmo World as shot near the port. 

Lovely cotton candy skies~

Availed of one of the many purikura services inside Cosmo World ♡

There was a Pokemon Go Park near Pacifico Yokohama and there were lotsa Mimes up for grabs! For this particular event, they scattered Mimes in Yokohama- it was a limited Pokemon only found in Europe, as Kangaskhan can only be caught in Australia.

Roamed around Isezakicho and found this pretty alley~

Our second day in Yokohama was reserved for the next event but the beau and I weren't able to resist the cute Pikachu balloons in front of Sakuragicho Station. Plus, there was a mini Pikachu parade of sorts featuring Mimikyu (I don't have a photo, though)!

Chanced upon a marching parade in between Yokohama MOA and MARK IS!!! So cute!!!

If you are in Japan during summer and if you happen to love Pokemon, I suggest you go! You'll get your Pokemon/Pikachu fix and you'll also get to see Yokohama's beauty. Whenever friends ask me for travel recos near Tokyo, I always include Yokohama in the list. Think, Cosmo World, Yokohama MOA, Yokohama Chinatown, Red Brick Warehouse, Pacifico Yokohama, Cup Noodles Museum, and lots more!!!

✧Yokohama Triennale 2017, Yokohama Day 2✧

The timing was really perfect for me because the Pikachu Outbreak 2017 was held simultaneously with this triennale, an art event which is only held every three years. For this triennale, we checked out three different venues for lotsa art- Yokohama Museum of Art, Red Brick Warehouse 1, and Yokohama Port Memorial Hall. I'm gonna craft out another detailed post for this (I hope I really can haha) soon. This cost me 1,500 JPY when I bought early bird tickets online, which I think is a good deal rather than spending a few hundreds more if I buy on the day of the event. Here are a few of my fave snaps!

Yasss, finally~

Will include details of this and the rest of the photos of the triennale in another post heh~

Fluffyyyyyy~

✧Summer Sonic Tokyo 2017✧

Ahhh this one is my most fave. Been wanting to go to this annual music festival ever since I came across a flyer of it at a convenience store four years ago. Being new to Tokyo, I didn't have any free money to spare for such, let alone a proper job hahaha so yeah you know what happened. Fast forward to this month, I was able to go ~hurrah~!!! However, I got sick by dusk because I was under the heat for a looonggg time (the festivities started before 11AM) and come 5ish in the aft, it suddenly rained!!! It was unfortunate to not be able to watch Black Eyed Peas and Calvin Harris but I was having little chills already so I went home. Anyway, there's still next time. I'd surely go again! For now, here are some snippets I've managed to save~

Centerpiece at Makuhari Messe

Huhu yeyyyy~

The beau bugged me so much to see Pikotaro hahaha! Surpisingly, I enjoyed myself! This was the time that I was so amazed by Japanese concert-goers because they actually follow the instructions of the playing artist/band. If the artist tells them to wave their hands in a certain direction or jump even, they'd do so, in unison!!!

Ahhhhh my fave!!! 

Of course, kakigori ❁

Beach stage entrance

Super chill~

Matchy matchy docs♡

Our only decent photo haha!

Thanks to the stranger who took this! Arigatou~

Bradio

Honne yayyyy ♡

One of the rest areas scattered around~

"Where must we go?"

Kinda lengthy but thanks for reading! But hey, how was your August? Any exciting things you were up to? Don't hesitate to share them below! ♡