Au revoir, autumn!

Boots.

Comfy  sweaters.
Long socks.
Knit scarves.

Coffee and cocoa.

Clear skies.
Crisp air.

Pretty leaves. 

Scarlet, saffron, and russet.

Blankets and cuddles.

Pumpkins.

Flushed cheeks.

♡♡♡

Ahhhh~ I could rave about autumn on and on for hours and I still would not even have touched the tip of the iceberg! 

I have lived in the Philippines almost my entire life so I am used to summer all year round. But since I moved to Japan two years ago, I came to appreciate the autumn season... oh scratch that, I fell in love with it! Don't get me wrong, I love summer, too- I love ice cream, the salty air, the sun, the beach! But autumn has this magic that I could not deny. Everywhere I look, I see beauty. Who would have thought that "glorious" and "beautiful" could be used alongside "death" and "fall" in a sentence? Oh, autumn! ♡

Now that the Ginkgo and Momiji trees (and technically other deciduous trees) are shedding their final leaves, I'm starting to feel some sort of autumn separation anxiety, if there is such a thing haha! 

Here are some photos I took here and there; an attempt to vividly remember my autumn affair by.

*photodump alert*

Enjoy! :-)

Mt. Takao Beer Garden

Monkey Park, Mt. Takao

(Photo taken by my beau, Kenji)

 When you see it...♡

Shinjuku Gyoen

 Docomo Tower as seen from the confines of Shinjuku Gyoen

Green or red? Even plants seem to get "confused", too haha!

Shinjuku Gyoen

Ombre~

Shinjuku Gyoen

Lovely window view, Tengachaya

Ahhhh~

Musashino Place Library, Musashino City

Ginkgo trees, Kyonan Fureai Hiroba Park

One gloomy Monday morning, Sakurashinmachi Park

The same tree as that in the photo above. This was what has become of it a few days later. 

Walking along the streets of Wakaba Cho resulted to a shoefie haha! Gorgeous leaves, everywhere~

A random Wakaba Cho street

 Autumn bed ahhh~

Such a gem in our neighbourhood!

 Some momijis, still somewhere in Wakaba Cho

And moooore~

I have so so soooo much love for this season! But if there is one thing I really love about autumn, that  is the very moment when the leaves fall on the ground with the cool breeze as the background, as if telling me, "Oh, just fall and float freely like the leaves. Let the wind take you to where you should be. No worries, child."

Ending this photodump with a clip I recorded during one of my autumn travels in the countryside for more autumn feels~

I hope you all enjoyed autumn as much as I did! 

'Til we meet again, autumn! ♡

Winter Vista Illumination 2013

I've been living in Tokyo for seven months now and ever since I set foot here, I'm looking forward to going to a lot of places I've never been to before whenever I come here for vacations. However, there's one in my list of to-go-to places that I've already been to but I still want to visit: Showa Kinen National Park. Why? It's because I want to witness one of the main events held in the city of Tachikawa during December, the Winter Vista Illumination. And I'm glad I was able to see it for the first time this year! Here are a some snapshots I took before my camera's battery got drained out. :-)

Park entrance

Christmas tree made of glasses

Look! In the glasses were written notes, probably by Japanese children

Breathtakingggg

Live band

Ramenya

More pop-up food stores

Light Maze

Illuminator Tree

Fantasia Train
300 yen per ride

I really enjoyed this night despite the numbing of my fingers and toes due to the cold December breeze. I'll definitely go back next year. ♥

Hello Goodbye, Spring!

Cos I had some minutes to spare before my Nihongo class at the third floor of Shibasaki Gakusyuukan, I decided to drop by the exhibit at the lobby. And tadaaa, beautiful works of art!

What a perfect way to end my most favorite season! Summer's just around the corner! :-)

What A Wonderful World

♪ I see trees of green, red roses, too. I see them bloom for me and you. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. ♫ 

Can't help but sing Louis Armstrong's song while roaming around Showa Kinen Park. Good thing I ditched my usual routine of staying in front of my laptop for hours and went here instead. Truly worth it. :-)

One of the numerous park entrances. This was the Nishi-Tachikawa entrance, just a few walks from the eki station.

Ticket. Entrance fee costs ¥400 for adults.

Numerous stores are scattered inside the park where snacks, hats, and souvenirs can be bought. This soft cream cone costs ¥250.

Park map. 

Paddle boats can be also rented for ¥700 for 30 minutes. 

This duck really gave me a hard time taking photos of it. Haha.

This is a carp, I think? 

With Mama after our paddle boat ride. 

Showa Kinen Park also has swimming pools inside. Perfect for the sunny Saturday afternoon.

Haha! Sorry for this. I looked like shit. But yeah, I wanted to do this when I saw those cylinder stones. :>

The bridge between the pool area and the Cherry Blossom Lane.

Cherry Blossom Lane without cherry blossoms. :| I should've gone here in April or early May to see cherry blossoms in full bloom.  Next year, maybe.

Crows in the BBQ area.

For those who can't stand roaming around the park by foot, you can ride trains like these inside. :)

The park also has fields for baseball, disc golf, basketball, etc.

I wanted to go to Showa Kinen because of this.

Whoaaaaaa.

Met this cute and sweet dog. Hi. :>

I don't know this little guy but he still smiled when I aimed to take a picture of him. Kawaii desu ne! :>

Playground for kids and kids at heart.

I really wanted to try this. However my shyness won over. Hahaha.

One of the trains roaming around the park.

This is where the Winter Vista Illumination takes place during December. 

Breathtaking, ain't it?

At the park exit-Tachikawa.

Hello brother! He wasn't able to come with us because of his part-time job and he really didn't want to because he had been there several times already. So he just fetched us there after his shift.

I'll definitely go back here and see with my own eyes the Winter Vista Illumination! Looking forward to that!  How's your weekend, btw? Hope it was great! :)