Sakura Days

The past few weeks have been devoted to sakura- or cherry blossom-chasing. Having been living in Tokyo for almost four years now, I came to learn that those beauties don't last very long, usually two weeks max. A Japanese conversation student of mine taught me the Japanese word hakanai (はかない), which can be used to describe sakura/cherry blossoms for it means fleeting. 

Weird as it may sound but since I'm such a fan of cherry blossoms, whenever it rains, I literally utter a little prayer to the flower gods if there really are any haha to not take the cherry blossoms away, not just yet. With that said, I took every chance I get to visit a park or just even go outside our house for some sakura fix.  

And everything is historyyyyyy~ 

Here's a sakura photo dump for ya and well, some sakura wisdom sprinkles I've picked up along the way, which I think might be helpful for your soul! Enjoy! ♥

{ UENO PARK }

Don't let the thought of a moment being short hinder you from enjoying it. Instead, try to make the most out of it. 

{ YOYOGI PARK }

Let loose. Play with the fallen petals. Indulge in that hanafubuki happening right in your very eyes. Even if others find it ridiculous, go for it. 

{ MEGUROGAWA }

You are beautiful when you are whole, you are still beautiful even when you are broken. The cherry blossoms are proof. You are beautiful in your own way.

{ SAKURASHINMACHI, SETAGAYA }

It's okay to be a late bloomer, sometimes. 

 { TACHIKAWA }

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Weeeew, that's a lot! And as if it's not enough, I'm gonna end this post with a compilation of sakura clips I was able to take this spring to remember the fleeting yet wonderful sakura days! ♥

MIND FART #15: A Strawberry Shortcake Realization

I don't really eat cakes unless it's my or someone's birthday... or if I go to a cafe and the only options I have to ease my grumbling tummy are cakes and the like. Last Monday, I've had strawberry shortcake for breakfast, sakura cheesecake for afternoon snack, and strawberry shortcake with pistachio cream filling for dessert after dinner. Am I turning into a cake monster? Ha.

But I didn't just write this entry to let you guys know what cakes I ate some days prior to this post or what my recent favorite cake is which obviously is strawberry shortcake haha. It's just that while I was gloriously enjoying every bite of my third cake (of the day) while contemplating on random things happening in my life lately, there was a sudden snap and a thought came to me:

Destruction is beautiful.

Destruction is beautiful, too. How odd it was to think that way while eating strawberry shortcake? A little odd? Very odd? 

As for someone like me who likes taking photos of almost every thing intact and perfect before I literally put my hands on it (or maybe "terrorize" is a more apt term), food, trinkets, and whatnot, I was caught off-guard. Maybe it was the sugar rush from the cakes I ate or something, but it was a relatively new idea for my system that I am willing to accept.

It was this point that abovementioned realization came to me. Good thing I took a photo of the cake before I "terrorize" it haha

Do you see what I mean now?

No? Oh well, even if you don't, please do yourself a favour and bear in mind that destruction isn't always synonymous to ugly or something lesser than beautiful. It can also mean beautiful... like the strawberry shortcake... like the almost-empty plate above. 

So, no matter how broken or devastated you feel right now, it doesn't and it won't make you less beautiful. You are "beautiful in your own broken way", as the cliche saying goes. 

And you know what? There's more. If ever you decide to be whole again, if ever you want to be whole again, you can, too. Do so, be so, by all means ー just like the kintsukuroi /きんつくろい pieces that were once broken but are still or better yet more beautiful when reconstructed, regardless of the presence of the marks they previously had.

Remember, you are and you will still be beautiful, with or without battle scars, darling. ♡

Summer in September Day1 ♥

A few weekends ago, my beau and I caught an early train ride to Enoshima. Yayyyyy!!!  But yeah, before laziness gets into my system again, I'll write about it now regardless of the trips I've had prior to this, which I should've written but haven't. Blame it all on the alcohol. *kidding I don't drink much now haha*

Soooo.... Enoshima. What about it? A few years back when my beau and I were still friends (we still are now, btw haha), we went on an Enoshima-Kamakura day trip with a few of his friends. Now that we're a we, we had a B1-B2 moment (hello, Pinoy childhood!) and decided to go back to Enoshima -- visit spots that we haven't been to and re-visit old favorites in a span of two days. Enoshima is a tiny bit of heaven with some Hawaiian touch and us being from a tropical country, this might be our safest and nearest bet, time- and budget-wise.*wink*

Now, I'll just let the gazillion photos we took on our first day in the touristy offshore island help me with the talking! :))

Arrived at a gloomy Katase-Enoshima Station (via Odakyu Enoshima Line) a little before nine o'clock. Don't you love the exteriors? It's not everyday you get to see a train station somewhere in or near Tokyo like this, well, except if you pass by Asakusa Station all the time. ☺

From Katase-Enoshima Station, we decided to go straight to the nearby Enoshima Beach, a good 15-minute walk from where we were. Good thing we packed light for this trip so our luggage wasn't a problem. However, lockers can be found inside Katase-Enoshima station and in most stations in Japan, so if you want to tour luggage-free, you can opt for that in exchange for some coins.

Looking back, I hated long walks.  But being in a country where everyone walks, who am I to complain? And besides, I get to see minute yet interesting details of life in and around the city during those walks. If only I'd have all the time in the world to walk and stop at every little sugoi thing I'd find aahhh that would really be great~

♫♫ I can almost see it
That dream I'm dreaming~ ♪

Finally, beachhhhhhh! 

 Happiness is where the beach is! ♥

Yeheyyyy!

I thought I won't be able to use the swimsuit I bought for some summer soaking but guess I'm wrong! Who said summer in Japan is already over? Not yet! Not for me! Summer in late September it is! ♥

QT with this cutie hihi ♥

The gloomy skies won't bring me down 'cos I have a fluffy ball of sunshine beside me! ♥ Behind us is Enoshima Island! Yay! And yeah, whoever invented the tripod, a big fat thanks to you haha!

After spending some time at the beach, we headed to Shichirigahama, a few stations away from Enoshima Station via the Enoshima Dentetsu / 江ノ島電鉄 / Enoden line, to check-in to our airbnb home. This is seriously the cutest train I've ever set my foot on! What makes this train unusual besides the cute design? Its wooden floors and ceiling fans! I'm sure you'll notice those when you happen to ride one! ☺

Vendo ice cream!


Somewhere near Shichirigahama Station.

  Finally arrived at our airbnb house, which was a few minutes bus ride from Shichirigahama Station yey! The house, I thought, was a good spend; spacey room, free wi-fi, nice bathroom, free hair dryer (a must for me haha) plus a very kind host, for less than 7,000yen a night. Many thanks to our host, Ayano! ☺ Settled and rested for a few hours then rode the Enoden again to Enoshima Station to go for some sightseeing. 

Got really excited and got off at Kamakura Koukou Mae Station, which is a station away from our destined stop haha!  But yeah, everything was fine.

 I don't mind waiting for a couple of minutes if the view is like this! Ahhhh love!♥

 So yeah, our stop, Enoshima Station!

We initially wanted to go to Enoshima Aquarium and Iwaya Caves but we lost track of time and those places close at 5PM! ☹

We then decided to walk around and wander the streets near the station, instead. It was pretty interesting but eerily quiet. Countryside feels~

Hello, high schoolers haha~

Afterwards, we walked a few minutes to Katase-Enoshima Station (again) and then a few minutes more to Enoshima Island.

 Chanced upon a photography exhibit in the island about the island itself! Lucky!

Window-shopped for a bit. Not really a good time 'cos most stores are already closed at around 8PM.
 Shirasu Pan! Afraid to try it at first cos shirasu...pan...fish...bread...hmm. But lo and behold, it was delicious! A little pricey for ¥250 for three pieces, though.

'Cos as I've said most of the shops were already closed, so impromptu Pokemon GO sesh it was! Didn't really expect a lot of players in the island but hell yeah there were so many lures and people playing so we joined in!☺

Capped off our first night in Enoshima with a sumptuous curry dinner over a few drinks at Moana Makai! If you get the chance, go there! I liked their Coconut Ice Cream! It's a nice place to dine, drink, and have heart-to-heart talks! We didn't notice the time passing that we even missed the last bus to our airbnb house so we needed to walk for less than 20 minutes in the middle of nowhere haha! Adventure right there, homies~

Our first day was full of glitches, yeah, yeah. We had an itinerary (which, by looking at the photos above, we failed to follow haha) but unplanned things happen which makes the trip all the more wonderful! Wouldn't change a thing! ♥

Thanks for reading and yeah, do watch out for the second day of our Enoshima trip some time this week!