I hope that this ultimate guide to Japanese dramas will be helpful for you all! ☺️
Take care,
Mata ne!
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! 👭
Take care,
Mata ne!
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. 😜
This is a decent organic orange juice. Not the best but it's also not that worst.
My favorite Japanese dish — Omelet rice! 3 stars for this one!
If you happen to drop by 7/11, this choco chip cookie is a must buy pastry. It tastes so divine like the homemade ones!
Random Pictorial
Drinkable spring water 💖
Bringing dab to JPN!!!
Thanks for dropping by!
Take care,
Mata ne! 😘
Hey there! I'm back with another video in YT that you may want to check out! In this video, I talked about the products that I think are totes snatched! ❤️ I've been back from school after my summer vacay, so I'm adjusting again with all my sched. I'm proud to say that so far, I've been successful in balancing everything in life. Hope yours will go well, too!
Mata ne!
Hey! This is my second time posting a blogpost that's in relation to my memory lane. This time around, I decided to share my precious childhood photos that I love.
Growing up, I used to be very shy and timid around strangers. I still am tho, but I'd like to say that I'm a little bit more confident now. I remember being 'makulit, maldita and pagaga' (pesky, bratty, and a cry baby) when I was very young. I can't blame my younger self haha but I made sure to change for the better.
Enjoy these photos!
Kyuu-kun and I have been friends for 14 years or so. He might get mad at me for posting this here but he won't read it anyway haha
We were sticking stickers btw!
On the left picture is where me and my brother are posing in front of our school. We had an opening ceremony on our hometown's elementary school. In Japan, schools don't require children to wear a school uniform during elementary years (in public schools), unless if the children are studying in a private school, they require it.
The picture on the right is our field trip during preschool. We had this vibrant red blazer and a cute checkered shorts (for boys) and skirts (for girls) as our uniform in winter. PS, we also have our summer school uniform but sadly, I can't find those pictures :(
Yuma and I looked so happy with our Christmas stuffed toys! I remember being so excited over little things when I was younger. How I miss those days!
This is my 1st visit in the Philippines for my 2006 summer vacation. Here, I am posing with my 2nd cousins. They all have a special place in my heart. We're very much like besties and siblings!
2003 Yurika, who's still 3 years old (about to turn 4 yrs old on Aug)
his is a shot from NAIA. I often go to the airports and travel very often. I guess, the main reason why I love traveling even now is that I used to travel countless times even when I was younger.
QT shot of me and Yuma smiling for the camera. Can't get enough of this jim jams haha!
Can we let this pose go on trend?
My fave pose till now :)
Thanks for tuning in! See you on my next blogpost!
Take care,
Mate ne!
Hi guys! For this week's video, I decided to film a collaboration with my twin brother, Yuma. I actually had a stomachache after eating this horribly spicy noodles. I swear, I won't eat this noodles again unless I'd want to go crazy. Anyway, feel free to watch the video linked above. Make sure to give it a like and subscribe to my channel!
Take care,
Mata ne!
My brother recently went to Osaka to drop my grandmother off going to the airport. As a souvenir, he was very generous enough to treat me with one of my favorite pastries, macarons.
To tell you the truth, I am not familiar with this brand at all until Yuma told me that this is a renowned macaron souvenir in Osaka. It's called Sacucci Horocci. It is crispy on the outside and has a subtle flavor inside. It's not on-your-face-sweet but has a natural flavor instead. The only point I don't like is that the flavors are exclusively limited to three. It contains the following: milk (tho it tastes more like a vanilla to me), chocolate, and strawberry.
If you were to ask me on what brand is THE BEST for macarons, I will surely go for La Maison Du Chocolat (It's the first authentic macaron that I had in France).
Each macarons are individually packaged inside!
* PS, I wanted to take a picture of the chocolate flavor but :( before I knew it, I had eaten all the chocolate ones.
This cutie snack is called TOKYO BANANA. It's only available in Japan, making it one of the best selling food souvenirs. It's filled with cream that will melt inside your mouth the moment you bite it. I got to be honest though, it sucks that the price is sooo expensive. You pay for the quality, I believe so at the end, it's totes worth the splurge!
See ya on my next post ;)
Take care,
Mata ne!