Tokyo may not leap out as the best place in Japan to view the autumn leaves. However, there are a few really extraordinary places right in the heart of the city where you can see the famous red, yellow and orange autumn foliage. Here are three of my favorite places right in the center of Tokyo to do just this.
Just like almost everywhere else in the world, Japan is obsessed with pizza. However, Pizza in Japan isn’t like the pizza you would get back home in your own country and in my case, Australia. Add about a can of corn kernels and a tube of mayonnaise and ta-dah you have a Japanese pizza! Although, Japanese fast food pizza chains love corn and mayonnaise they also like to experiment with different flavours and combinations.
This week started off on a rather unpleasant note. At some time during the day I started feeling really really really angry with everything and everyone.. I’m not sure why but maybe I was tired.. So I decided to sleep it off. The next day I woke up feeling refreshed and motivated. I decided to get back into running because it was such a lovely day. So after school I hit up my favorite running spot the beach. Wednesday I was having those monthly cravings and went nuts for all things sweet… I ate everything sweet in my house but that wasn’t enough so I went out for a sneaky late night coffee with Anelia. Thursday was a public holiday in Japan. I headed to Ikitsuki with Amelia and had a lovely lunch overlooking the water. After that we headed into Sasebo to check out the Kyushu 99 islands tour. Friday I went to Shamisen for the second last time here in Hirado..can’t believe my moving is coming up so quickly.. I had a lot of fun playing the Shamisen but it had been so long between when I last went that Ive forgotten a lot 😦 Saturday I spent editing videos and cleaning. I met up with Amelia for all you could eat Sashimi.. So good followed by a 2 hour live periscope Karaoke edition. Sunday was Valentine’s Day and I spent it filming and having dinner with a fellow colleague it was fun.
This week started with a night in at home where I ate some really delicious left over spaghetti from the night before and drank this really delicious wine that I’ve been loving recently but for some reason it makes me really really tired. The next day I met up with Daniel for a short trip to Sasebo to carve the Indian curry craving that I’d been having all day that day.. It was worth it. The following day I met up with Daniel again before he had his night English class for coffee. Thursday I met up with Amelia for some shopping and of course coffee. I also discovered this really cool product that I’m looking forward to testing out called Baby Foot. Friday I came home from school feeling a bit under the weather and slept for over 12 hours! I never do that so I must have been tired. Crazy. Saturday I had a lot of time at home to catch up on YouTube stuff.. I have made a 3 month video plan!! Yay! Also I had fun playing around with my makeup. Sunday I woke up early to head out and see the annual burning of the fields at Kawachi Toge Pass in Hirado. I nearly passed out from the smoke.. But I got some awesome pictures.
This week started with a SNOW DAY!! Oh yeah. I woke up in the morning and looked outside it was pretty piled up and living in a place where snow is not usually around meant that no one had prepared for it. So we were unable to go anywhere in our cars thus i couldn’t make it to school. Tuesday most of the snow had melted and i made it to school and it was really sad to come home and see my snowman all melted. RIP snowy i’ll always love and miss you. Wednesday was a very very big day.. I headed in to the board of education to hand in my resignation letter. It went well. Thursday i met amelia and we headed in to Sasebo for a sneaky coffee and sushi run. Friday was Amelia’s birthday so we met up for coffee and talked for a bit. I spent Friday at home drinking wine and got a little tipsy…lol Saturday was Amelia s birthday party and we headed to Sasebo for Mexican and Karaoke.. It was good night. Sunday i watched my students perform plays at school in the morning and visited a colleagues house for dinner. Her mother made me a bento for school the next day. So cute!
This week started off quite chilly there was definitely a change in the air… On Tuesday evening i headed up to Tokyo in preparation for a job interview the following day . It was one of the most scariest drives from Hirado to Fukuoka. The roads were dark and windy. Snow was coming from all directions and starting to stick to the ground. But i made it. The next day i was super nervous as i was having my final interview at the workplace where i want to work from April. I spent all day preparing and going over all of my documents.It also happened to be Daisuke and i’s 3rd year anniversary so i was really happy that i could see hime. The next day i took it easy and headed back to Hirado and in the evening met up with some friends for dinner.Friday i found out that i got the job that really wanted! So i will be moving to Tokyo in April. Saturday we had an Australian day party at a friends house which was super fun. Sunday marked the start of the Hirado Snowpocolypse and i built my first ever snowman which was really fun!
This week i started back at school and it was real struggle i was still in holiday mode. I had no classes on Monday so i spent the day planning and working on some future blog posts which was good. Tuesday i went back to Yoga after the winter break which was really good and refreshing for my body and i can’t wait to go back next week. On Wednesday i received my christmas present from my mum and i got a really cool christmas CD which i will have to listen to later this year lol. Thursday i had a really difficult time uploading all of my videos as my internet recently has become really bad. Friday i caught up with some friends and we went snack bar hopping which was a lot of fun. Saturday i had another job interview for a place in Tokyo and Sunday i met Amelia for coffee.
Fukubukuro（福袋）or Lucky Bags is a Japanese New Year custom where stores from all over Japan sell mystery bags with unknown contents for discounted prices. You usually end up getting at least double or triple the amount you spend on them in products. For example if you spent 10,000 yen ($89US) you would get at least 20,000 yen – 30,000 yen ($190USD – $280USD) worth of goods, if not a lot more. It’s a great deal. So naturally of course i had to participate in this tradition again this year. I decided to pick up some makeup lucky bags like i have done so the past two years as i was really impressed with the contents. This year i picked up the Revlon, the Canmake and the Loreal lucky bags. And boy oh boy did I get some great items!
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With the release of the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie, Nippon Television held a really unique exhibition at their Television Tower in Shinbashi, Tokyo. The exhibition was unique in the fact that it had a variety of artworks that mixed traditional Japanese items with the theme of Star Wars. One of the best parts about the exhibition was that it was free to enter and you could also film and take as many photos as you wanted. The exhibition only ran from the 18th of December to the 29th of December, so unfortunately for all of you who were hoping to attend, you’ll just have to relive it from the photos and explanation in this post.
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