La Vie En Rose

If I could be blessed with any super power, I would baldly choose being able to travel anywhere within seconds. From as long as I can remember, I have been traveling ever since I was a baby. Being a biracial, I had to go back and forth from Japan to the Philippines. (How stressful and handful it must be for my mom to handle me and my twin brother hehe 😅 Shoutout to my mom up there 👆 with papa God for being so patient and very loving). In fact, because of traveling countless times, I remember owning a mileage JAL membership card as young as I am. And I am so grateful because I know that not everyone gets to travel around the world. In fact, it's a privilege to be able to have the time and money to explore and wander to places that I've been meaning to visit in the longest time. Now before this intro gets any longer, I'd like to introduce my personal useful tips when it comes to traveling!

Let's start!

Tip #1: Blend in with the locals by trying their traditional foods. (Or foods that they totes recommend!) 😋 PS, don't be afraid to try the bizarre ones!

England, UK

Fujian, China

It's always been such a great pleasure to try foods and drinks that I usually don't get to eat/drink back in the Philippines or here in Japan. But living here in Japan makes me miss the authentic foods in the PH! 😢 OK! Back to the topic! As you can see from the pictures above, I've attempted to order a food and a drink that I don't normally (within reach) have in the country that I'm currently living in. It's always nice and exciting to try and explore foods from different countries, so make sure to give it a go!

Fujian, China

During our exchange student experience in China, me, my classmates, and my friends had a chance to make dumplings all from scratch. It was such a refreshing experience, because I never had the opportunity to cook dumplings back in the PH (let alone make it from scratch). There came a small issue on which we ran out of dumpling wrappers, but this was quickly solved because I volunteered to make them even if I have never made one. I honestly don't know on why I even dared myself, but one things for sure, my friends even preferred the dumplings that's covered with the wrapper that I made myself. What a surprise and a relief at the same time lol. 😂

Also, don't be afraid to cook outside your homeland because you'll be surprised on how it'll taste the moment that you take a bite of the food that you've cooked. From my experience, I personally like the fresh asparagus and sweet cherry tomatoes in the UK than in Japan. I was also astonished by the fact that I can cook only if I try to.

Fujian, China

England, UK

Whitby, UK

England, UK

Edinburgh, Scotland

#2 Opt to walk or bike (if you won't be going to places that are distant)

I know that it might be bothersome for some of you to walk or even to bike during travels, but girl, I assure you that you'll get to appreciate the place you're visiting, especially if you take a moment to look at it with your eyes wide open, feel the nature, listen to it, and realize the beauty of that place.

For visiting Japan, if you happen to be traveling somewhere far, I totally recommend riding a shinkansen or a bullet train rather than riding a plane. It will cost you a lot more to ride a train, but you won't regret it, I promise! You'll get to have more leg room and it's just overall chill! Plus, train stations are less hectic than cramped airports. 😜

#3 Stay away from overhyped tourist spots and explore the places where locals usually flock!

This is an area where my dad regularly goes to back in his junior hs days. It was compelling to see places that my dad treasured for years, filled with plenty treasured memories. I, sometimes, find it enigmatic on why tourists come to areas that are so jam-packed.

Always ask your friends or acquaintances who are locals in the place that you're visiting, so as you can make use of your time wisely. And for sure, they know it best! 😁

ps, miss you my girls! If you're reading this, I just want you to know that ilysm! ❤️

Take care,

Mata ne!

No (mga) komento

Hey there! I'm back with another video that I've uploaded in my YT channel. Feel free to watch it if you're interested! Make sure to subscribe to my channel and like my video. 😉

I hope that this ultimate guide to Japanese dramas will be helpful for you all! ☺️

Take care,

Mata ne!

No (mga) komento

This October, I have challenged myself to go outside of my house and celebrate with my friends in this festival located in Nyuugawa. As many of my friends are quite aware of, I am proud to be a home person. I don't go outside as often and sometimes, I prefer being alone than mingling with people. #introvertprobs. Leaving that excuse aside, I finally got enough nerve to go on a street that's super jam packed with people, coming from different towns.

This was actually my first time attending an omatsuri where people carry danjiri guruma along the road. Danjiri guruma is a cart made up of woods that's in a shape of a temple or a shrine. More often than not, it comes in an epic size. They also include taiko drums under it! 🥁

Here are my tips when it comes to attending a festival or an omatsuri anywhere in Japan.

# 1 MAKE SURE TO WEAR SOMETHING COMFY AND AVOID WEARING HEELS (as much as possible, stay away from light-colored clothes and wear a practical shoe!)

Part of the reason for why people attending the omatsuri should stay away from light-colored clothes is because foods and drinks can easily get spilled on your clothes, especially when you're in an area that's pretty crowded. There are a lot of people jugging beer, as if it's a water. It's a festival after all, so seeing drunk people is quite common. Not to mention that they might get really high and unconsciously pour the sauce in their foods over you. It's possible. Because my brother, even if he's not drunk, has poured the sauce over my dress accidentally. What a luck, right? 🙄

# 2 GO TO THE FESTIVAL WITH AN EMPTY STOMACH

Compared to the last Tanabata Matsuri that I've been to, there are more yatai (food stands) in this festival. I can assure you that most festivals offer different festival dishes that you'll surely love. It's best to taste a bit of everything because matsuri foods are lit. 🔥

Here are two of what I ate yesterday!

CANDY APPLE STICKS 🍎

PS, I take my words back lol. I did mention in my IG story that this candy apple stick is too sweet and too hard, but before I knew it, I finished the whole thing. Which only leads to one conclusion, I actually like it haha pardon my kaartihan/choosiness last night. ✌️

GRILLED SQUID IN A STICK 🦑

# 3 IF THERE ARE PARADES, MAKE SURE TO WATCH IT!

It would be such a waste to go home without watching the parades. As you can see from the pictures above, people work hand in hand in carrying the danjiri guruma; you'll see their impressive team work. I vividly remember gazing at the beautiful chouchin. Make sure to take lots of pictures too, just because they're really beguiling.

#4 MY LAST TIP! : AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, DON'T GO TO FESTIVALS ALONE. TAG YOUR BESTIES AND HAVE FUN! 👭

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care,
Mata ne!

No (mga) komento

Japan's Cultural Festival

I was invited by my teacher to attend the zennichiseis' cultural festival in our school and so I figured out that I'd rather tag 2 other people along to make our experience more fun. Just in case you don't know, me and my brother started going to school this April in Japan as a teijisei student. *aka students who attend classes at night.* (I won't mention the school's name for privacy). Teijisei students usually have their own difficult circumstances in life. Thus, they don't have any choice but to attend classes at night. Because more often than not, parents would of course want their children to study 8 hours a day from the morning 'till the afternoon. Unlike teijisei students, they only get to attend classes for 4 hours in the evening. What do they do in the morning, you say? Most of them have part time jobs to make use of their time efficiently. Others opt to stay at home or in a learning center to study more. Since being a teijisei student doesn't require a uniform, we stood the heck out of the crowd. We didn't look like one of their parents or their uncles and aunts, so it's pretty much given that we're teijisei students. But tbh, who cares, really. Some of zennichisei students *full time course students* are very friendly and approachable. In fact, we made couple of friends these past few months! I'll talk more about this in my succeeding blogpost. 😊

I swear, my brother watches too much wrestling game. Hence, this iconic pose. 😂

Everything that you see here is actually a massive collection of wrestling stuff from my teacher. I can't emphasize enough on how much he is obsessed with them lol.

I don't want to sound oblivious about why I came to this cultural fest, but I honestly went here just to eat a good food. You know how certain kids seek to have more toys than they already have? That's how I am, when it comes to my relationship with foods. I didn't go there to watch any dance and calligraphy performances or even go to a haunted house. Only to my surprise, I never knew that we needed this specific tickets to buy foods in the food stalls. The students were not allowed to handle cash because dealing with money is a hot mess. So, it made sense that the visitors need tickets to buy the food that they want. It was indeed a pie in the sky that I'll get to eat every food that they have served there. 😢 #disappointed

Conbini Food Haul

We were lucky enough that there's a convenience store nearby our school. We, Japanese, call it conbini. We certainly have the knack for abbreviating lol!

Since I was soooo hungry, I grabbed anything that looked good and filling for my grumpy stomach. To start off, I chose this milk tea that absolutely looks like a water. I do not kid, this is like a magic. A PURE MAGIC. IT'S A MILK TEA GUYS! Try it yourself. 😜