Thursday, January 4, 2018

Life, Lately: 2017's Last Hurrahs

I can't believe how fast 2017 went! It seems like yesterday when I was panicking because my luggage was stuck in one of the lockers at Kyoto Station a few minutes before my bus to Tokyo departs on the first day of 2017... and now, that year just finished? Howwwwww~

Lots happened in 2017, well, I tried to write them all down here in my blog, but uhm heh, so much for trying~ But now I'm gonna try again, for all the months I've missed so bear with me, yeah?

~OCTOBER~

Cosmos Festival at Showa Kinen Park
Underwhelming sight but we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of biking, napping under a tree, singing along to a ukulele... such a perfect day~


Cambridge Sports Day and Halloween Party
Too much preps needed but I kinda enjoyed seeing my students do the activities we've prepared for them. Plus, it has become a habit of mine to observe how they act with their parents around. It surprises me everytime! They're like different beings and the ones with me in my classes are doppelgangers hah~
Photo from the school's Facebook page

In our Halloween party get-ups!
This year, I was tasked to do face painting (ahhhh feels so nice to do some artsy stuff for work)

Shibuya Halloween Street Party
The much-awaited event of the quarter yay! Planned and prepared for our costumes a few months ahead, unlike last year haha! The beau and I went as Team Rocket's Jessie and James! And oh, our costumes are DIY!!! Woohoo, did it!!! Also, meeting up on Halloween in Shibuya has sort of become a tradition for the beau, Kuya Ikki, and I. Happy night for dinner and some drinks after work!
Jessie of Team Rocket~

 The trio

Love how strangers in Shibuya were so game for a photo that night! Ahhh that community feels~

~NOVEMBER~

Autumn in Nikko
A shotgun trip. New faces, no itinerary but a fun trip, I may say. I hope I can make a detailed blog post about this soon! Thanks to these fun people for a day full of laughter and nature!


Nikko crew
Photo grabbed from Ben

The Doraemon Tokyo Exhibition 2017
My childhood friend Dhana came to Tokyo for a vacation so I tapped another childhood friend Tomo who's currently living here in Japan, too, for an ultimate Tokyo meet-up! Originally planned on checking out an exhibit in Mori Art Museum but it wasn't available when we went so we checked out the Doraemon exhibit at the same venue. Also went up the Skydeck and had our photo taken with all of Tokyo's skyscrapers and lights! Of course, lots of catch-ups happened! Plus  a side-trip to Shibuya before calling it a day!
My childhood friends, Tomo and Dhana ♥︎
Our moms are amigas til now and we literally grew up side-by-side while we were in the Philippines. Now, Tomo and I reside in Saitama and Tokyo, respectively.

Doraemon x Takashi Murakami

The Sun and the Moon cafe had a matching theme~
Yay for Doraemon-inspired dishes! 

View from the SkyDeck
Paid for a print plus a downloadable copy of this shot haha

Onsen Day in Shimura-sakaue
Since that impromptu onsen trip in Yamanashi earlier this year, I new-found love for onsens blossomed and so we researched for onsens in Tokyo and found one in an unknown area that is Shimura-sakaue haha. But in all fairness, our experience was really good and relaxing. The lola inside me is very happy heh~




~DECEMBER~

Dates with workmates and friends coming over to Tokyo for a visit
Random ones on rare occassions that I'm free after work haha! These times, I really treasure. ♥︎

Pizza x karaoke with Tori and Saki

*Fancy* dinner with workmates on a Monday night

Buffet night for Kuya Ikki's birthday! Unli everything, and yassss unli crabs omggg I live for crabs haha

Okonomiyaki night with Kuya Rey (na ginagawanh probinsiya ang Japan sa ilang beses niyang pagpunta in a year haha not complaining, though)

Roasted quail experience with the beau and Ryo

Roppongi Day 2 with my childhood friends (again)
Too many things happened this day, the steps I took according to my Mi Band 2 were 16,000ish haha! Went to Zojoji Temple, had late lunch at Cafe Mugiwara, checked out Tokyo One Piece Tower, then went up Tokyo Tower's Observation Deck for the sunset. Sulit day~
Zojoji Temple feat. Tokyo Tower

Cafe Mugiwara's One Piece-themed dishes

One Piece Amusement Park, Tokyo One Piece Tower

View from the Observation Deck of Tokyo Tower ahhh! For some reason, I always, always take a shot of this view whenever I visit Tokyo Tower hah~

Caretta Illumination 2017
Side-tripped to Shiodome after the happenings above (haha omg walang kapaguran) for the illumination, ate a gigantic burrito at Frijoles for dinner, had ice cream and coffee at Tiki Taka x Sarutahiko!



Kimono Roboto Exhibit at Omotesando Hills
Saw an ad of this randomly and thought it's pretty cool so I went! Ended up getting heart eyes as I look at the kimonos on display and *yay* free prints as well~


Ended the day with some coffee and...


some nice city views~

Cambridge Christmas Party 
My last Christmas party in this school *ahhh mixed emotions* It was fun teaching my students how to make the crafts alongside their parents!

Photos from Pearl

Christmas dinner at the Fujimotos
Glad to be present that night. The Christmas spirit in that household was kickin', not to mention the digital fireplace heh~ Thanks for having me po!

Christmas Eve with family
Simple dinner at home, I think better than last year's "3AM Christmas Eve dinner" at Royal Host haha!

Christmas Dinner with the beau
Second Christmas together at our favourite Italian restaurant yayyyy *heart eyes*

Media Noche with family
The 31st of December and we're all warming up around the kotatsu eating home-cooked meals ahhh~ I loved this night, I'm gonna keep this memory in my heart forever! We also got to video chat my lola who is living in the PH, as well as other family relatives currently in our house celebrating the coming of the new year as well!♥︎


Wewwww what a year 2017 was! It was all sorts of fun but I had down times, too! But if there's one takeaway I got from 2017, it is breathing and trying one more time~

How did your 2017 go? Any learnings you might want to share? Comment down below freely!

P.S. To you who's reading this now and to you who has been reading my blog for the past years, thank you for reading and sparing my blog some time! I appreciate you and I'd like you to know that readers like you make me go on writing here even if sometimes I feel like doing so is a waste of time. Thank you!♥︎

Cheers to a better 2018,
Alyssa