Hello Everyone~ I'm Jane ^^

Hi~ My name is Jane. I love drawing. Let’s draw together!

Birthday Fragrance →

The limited edition birthday fragrance I pre-ordered since August finally arrived around a week ago! After taking it out of the box, I could not resist to have a photoshoot on the perfume since the packaging designs are so wonderful. The outer box texture is paper, with some shiny parts on the name and numbers. There is also a part of he box colored with a gradient of purple and orange, resulting in an emotional atmosphere. The fragrance container itself has the color of a beautiful jade, perfect for the theme. As for the smell, it has a strong citrus essence when you first sprayed it, but after leaving it for sometime, the smell becomes soft and sweet - very refreshing and relaxing. Overall, I am really satisfied with this product!

Gingko Tree

The Gingko Tree symbolizes longevity because it can live for thousands of years and it is also known for its profound endurance. I hope that most trees are like the gingkos so that future generation can see all of its beauty.

Last November was my first ever fall foliage experience at Yahiko Mountain in Niigata. I definitely felt ecstatic looking at the various trees with different colors. Looking at them, I realized that some endings can be beautiful, too.

Study Trip to Nobeyama

I visited Nobeyama Radio Observatory of Japan during my study trip last month.

I was amazed when I witnessed the powerful, advanced radio telescopes there especially, the 45-m Radio Telescope and the Nobeyama Radio Polarimeter. Scientists and students from around the world visit Nobeyama for high-quality astronomical research and state-of-the-art instrumental development.

Besides that, the scenery was astonishing and breathtaking. I learned a lot from this visit.

Autumn

Traveling makes me happy. I feel an excitement, enthusiasm and happiness whenever I am about to indulge myself with another experience. I get to see different places. Hopefully, a time will come that language barrier won’t be a hindrance anymore so that I will also get to meet new people and learn from their experiences.

For Autumn, I decided to go to Aizuwakamatsu-Fukushima, a 2-hour bus ride away from Niigata. My friends and I went to see the Tadami Line Bridge that is really a sight to behold. It was a great view, with the brown, green, and yellowing leaves.

The Outskirts of Japan

After being to a few places around Japan, I believe that the countryside are more than what they are given credit for. For example is Niigata. After being here for almost a year now, there are still so much more to see and do, making me feel the excitement of every trip.

For this weekend’s outing, I visited the famous Tunnel of Light- “Drawing on the ‘five elements’ of nature (wood, earth, metal, fire, water), MAD’s scheme transforms points along the historic tunnel through the realization of several architectural spaces and artistic atmospheres.”

Demon Slayer Movie →

On Wednesday, I went to watch Demon Slayer The Movie: Infinite Train (鬼滅の刃：無限列車編）at the cinema! Despite the COVID-19 situation, the cinema was unexpectedly full. There was literally no seat left empty. However, I do think the movie was really worth it. The animation, music, and voice acting complements each other in creating this masterpiece! The story was also magnificent, but audiences have to know about the first season of Demon Slayer before watching this movie. There were several emotional parts, especially the ending. I have lost count on how many times I cried, haha. Anyways, I recommend watching this movie at the cinema, especially for those who love anime, since it gives a whole new experience compared to watching it from your laptop screen!

Hello!

Hello everyone! My name is Mawi. I am excited to meet everyone, become your friend and be your teacher as well. :)

Tastes Like Heaven on Earth →

Last week was my best friend’s birthday. We celebrated by going to a cake shop located in Ebisu after school. The place is really small, only max for 5 people, but the interior design and menu is very engaging, despite its simplicity. My favorite was the chocolate cake. The bittersweet taste that melts in my mouth as soon as I took a bite left me speechless. The flavor mixes really well, and the texture is closer to a high quality chocolate rather than cake. This was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten in my life.

Transparent Toilet?! →

If you’ve been on social media in the past few weeks, I’m sure you’ve seen the viral transparent public restrooms in Japan! In normal condition, the insides are completely seen from outside. However, when you turn the lock from the inside, the walls no longer becomes transparent, as seen at the left side of the photo. These toilets are located in several areas in Tokyo. I went to the one beside Yoyogi Park, it was a 15-minute walk from Shibuya Station. I heard that this project of displaying transparent restrooms has the purpose of promoting cleanliness. Who would’ve thought that it became a viral tourism spot!

Café Hopping

I like visiting the café. When I was in high school, I used to study at the café shop in my hometown with my friends. Although I don’t drink coffee, I love its scent lingers in the air. Nowadays, there is a lot of café offering tasty desserts and snacks to go along with a cup of coffee. Above all, the café provides a comfortable environment and photogenic interior designs to attract customers.

I visited this café in my hometown with my friend last week. I was amazed by how surprisingly matched it is to mingle vintage design with the green plants.

One Day Trip to Hakone

I visited Hakone with my friend last year. Hakone is a wide area. Thus, one day is never enough to explore its beauty and enjoy the nature. Hakone shrine is a must-visit-tourist-spot. We queued up for an hour to take a photo with the iconic gate.

How I wish I have more time to spend touring around Hakone. I hope I could to revisit here sometime in the future.

Back in Tokyo →

Hey everyone, long time no see! I hope you are doing great. I am finally back in Tokyo right now. Also, I no longer live in Nakano area, I’ve moved to another dorm located at a place called Tanashi. Life has been wonderful so far! I went to Shibuya to meet my friend last week. After almost six months in Indonesia, I just realized how I’ve missed Shibuya so much! The place is amazing as usual: beautiful buildings, cheerful atmosphere, pretty shopping malls, and delicious food. In contrast to Tokyo, almost everything in Indonesia was still closed due to COVID-19. Therefore, I’m really glad I could be back and enjoy life here. Although, we all still have to follow the new normal protocol so that the COVID-19 cases can decrease! Wear your mask! Wash your hands!! Stay safe!!!

Gardening

While spending time at home for the summer school holiday, I found planting a good way to release stress.

If something is weighing heavily in your mind, try getting rid of it by planting something! When you search online, there is plenty of benefits brought by gardening.

Gardening is a fun and relaxing way to get in touch with nature besides health benefits.

Start planting today!

Summer in Japan

Summer in Japan is hotter than in Malaysia. However, there are many worth-vising-places during summer. I visited one of the sunflower fields in Japan last summer. The sunflowers shine particularly beautifully in the morning sunshine.

Getting close to mother nature makes me feel recharged and refreshed.

Sunflower farm colors my summer in Japan.

Hobbies in Japan

As someone coming from the Philippines, I’ve always wondered what Japanese people did in their free time and I wanted to know if I would be interested in doing the same thing as they are.

I’ve talked to many people in Japan and have found out that the most common hobby is reading, followed by listening to music and watching dramas, especially those recorded on the weekdays to be binge-watched on the weekends.

There are also those who enjoy music such as playing the piano, violin, cello, guitar, and the not so common instruments like saxophones and clarinets. I believe that there is a niche for classical music in Japan. In addition, there are also those who enjoy dancing classical ones, Latin dances, hip-hop, and even Hawaiian hula. Other prefer sports like soccer, baseball, and even fishing.

These are in contrast to people who love collecting different things, from stamps to figures, to clothing, etc. The wide variety of interest always amazes me.

I’ve finally decided that I want to pick up photography and craft-making once this virus outbreak is over. How about you? What new hobby are you interested in?

A sea of people at a Japanese fireworks event

How's Everyone Doing? →

Hey, it’s been really long since I wrote an entry here! I hope everyone’s doing fine. The pandemic is still not over yet, but it seems like quite a lot of places have finished the quarantine period and people are able go to certain places. Though, my school is still conducted online and I still spend most of my time at home. I watch a lot of movies with my family, and there is one that I am very much addicted to (in a good way). If you've ever heard of Broadway musicals, of course you might know about Hamilton! Hamilton is recently brought to the internet through Disney+, where before, Broadway musicals are almost impossible to watch unless you visit the States yourself. But now, to cheer people up from boredom of staying at home, many streaming sites brought various videos that were previously unable to be obtained. I really love Hamilton for its music, story, acting, dance choreography, and many more. It is a really great experience watching Hamilton in the middle of this quarantine. So if you have the chance, please watch it too!

A Short Getaway to Odaiba

Odaiba city is one of the popular attractions in Tokyo, especially for teenagers and young adults. There are numerous activities that you could include in your itinerary.

One of them is hot springs theme park, Oedo Onsen Monogatari. A memorable experience to enjoy “onsen” in that beautiful place.

Besides that, shop till you drop at Diver City Tokyo Plaza, which is a large shopping mall with a lot of shops and restaurants. Outside the mall, you can find the iconic statue in Odaiba — Unicorn Gundam. Tourists are excited to find the best spot for photo-shooting.

Stay until the sky turns dark. Colorful rainbow bridge, illumination, and lightning will be showing up slowly. You would never want to miss this magnificent night view in Odaiba.

There are plenty of activities to do and places to explore in Odaiba city. I would say one day is never enough!

Japanese Technology

Before coming to Japan, my first impression was that it is the land of the latest technology—mainly with Akihabara in mind. I always see the high-tech Toto toilets and the robot staff from Hen na Hotel videos so I was excited to see these in person.

I personally love the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo with its planetarium and many gadgets and attractions which I got to see firsthand. I felt like a kid again and was amazed by the projections and mechanisms behind equipment.

For day-to-day, usually Akihabara’s Denki Town (Electric Town) is a nice place to get cheap gadgets both brand new and pre-loved. I love being around laptops, phones, and even trying out the roomba vacuums. In comparison to Japan’s automated toilets and self-checkout registers, my country has a lot of catching up to do.

Surprisingly, most Japanese people still live a fairly simple lifestyle balancing the indoor and outdoor activities to avoid being too reliant on technology. This is something I aspire to do in the future.

Akihabara Electronic Town

Japanese Wagashi

Does your country have its own famous traditional sweets? Do you also love eating rice cake? Or are you more of a western sweets kind of person?

Ever since I came to Japan, I’ve wanted to try Japanese sweets called “wagashi” like dango, daifuku, dorayaki, taiyaki and many more. They have their own unique flavor and are usually stuffed with “anko” which is red bean. They aren’t too sweet and you can feel the work put into making them.

I’ve first seen these in anime like Doraemon as he enjoys his dorayaki or Naruto which often features dango as a popular snack. Coming to Japan and having access to all these sweets and flavors makes my heart full and my childhood dreams fulfilled.

Perhaps my favorite among all these is the “daifuku” soft rice cake wrapped around a filling or sometimes ice cream. It’s one of my comfort food whenever I feel down or stressed.

Another memorable one is “oshiruko” which is mochi in red bean soup which was prepared by a friend’s mother for me on New Year’s which was a very warm experience.

If you are ever in Japan or if you are ever in a bad mood, please give them a try and you might feel a lot better.

Sakura Mochi