Life, Lately: August, Art, and Allies

Another month down into 2019 ahhhhh! How time flies! For the past months I feel like I'm stuck but this time around, I'm *happily* stuck lol. See the difference? Ha! Probably because this month, since I had more free time, I decided to make a conscious effort to not sulk, have a break on the things that I have no control of at the moment (but I will get back to head- and heart-strong) and instead feel happier- yes, you've read that right, I chose to be happy which  meant surrounding myself with people I'm happy to be with, things that excite me, experiences that I know would lift my spirits up.

With that said, welcome to my August.

Summer in Nagoya with the beau.

Meet-up with friends who are in and around Tokyo  but I don't see often because of our schedules. I'm glad to have caught-up with you all! Super thank you for the time and the company~

Went to two art exhibits this month and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Here is a separate post about those exhibits plus one more. *wink* 

 https://alyssashimode.blogspot.com/2019/08/art-lately-boltanski-shiota-tanaami.html

LANY concert in Tokyo. Fun, fuuuuun night!

Kiyose Sunflower Festival 2019. I have loved sunflowers since day 1 and I'm so glad to have visited a nearby sunflower festival! So many yellows that lifted my mood in an instant! Check out my post on this, here.

Summer Sonic 2019 aka my third one since 2017. As always, it was so much fun! Highlight would be BLACKPINK and CHVRCHES!!!

Riverside BBQ at Jurigiland in Akiruno and Japanese Tourism Workshop on the last day of August c/o Valiant Japanese and Japan Lover Me. It was a fun day of travel journaling, photography, stationery, and talking with some old and a lot of new faces! Super thank you to Kaila/@Rainbowholic for inviting me and giving me first dibs on the newly-launched #MyValiantJapanese book. You can check the website below to get your copy!

https://valiantjapanese.com/

Weeeewwww what an August! Pretty hectic but a loooooot of fun! Ya girl is very happy! Hope you had an awesome August!♡ September will be ending soon so please look forward to another Life, Lately post from me! 😘

Previous Life, Lately post (July): https://alyssashimode.blogspot.com/2019/08/life-lately-crossroads.html

xx, 

Alyssa

 

Life, Lately: Crossroads

July. 

Halfway through the year. 

Funnily enough, I'm stuck in the narrow hollow of decisions, if there's a physical space associated with it. I probably was stuck earlier but I was too preoccuppied to notice. I mean, this life? It's great. Who would not want to stay where they seem to have things going on for them? But eventually, no matter how glittery and pretty things are going, me being stuck won't go unnoticed, unless I purposely do it and then it's just going to be this viscious cycle of ons and offs and then I'll blame myself for not addressing it earlier when I had better chances of making my stand better. But then, isn't that human nature? Or I'm just too quirky for this world lol.

Enough of the vague introductions which I think I failed at doing- preparing you for my dilemma this month, I'm just gonna spill it. I don't want you to think that you're required to help me nor give me a sound advice (but if you want to, please, thank you). You listening rather reading, is enough.

I graduated as a Biology major though I ended up in the education field. I found teaching tiring but very rewarding. My current work is near my house and gives me paid leaves that allows me to go for long vacations if I want to and salary that lets me afford going on a few trips throughout the year, on top of all the bills I have to pay while living here in Japan. So you'd probably ask, what the hell is your problem even?

Quite a lot and tricky, I may say. You see, the scenario above is my current comfort zone. And I feel like I'm stuck here though I know I can just go out of it. But I'm scared to actually go out of it  and I don't really know... I've been weighing my options for a couple of times already. I've been talking to other people, especially those older than me just to get their insights. In spite of those, I'm still lost. And scared. I have come to a conclusion (for now) that I have a lot of things on my plate- a lot of things interest me, it's in my nature, but I thought of those being hindrances to knowing what I really want. And maybe, just maybe, letting go some of those would help me. But will I be happy letting those things go even if they make me happy and sane? Quite like a double-edged sword lol. Anyway, for now, I'm thinking of doing these things:

- finally studying Japanese in an actual school (to help with more career choices in the future but how long will it take me to  actually know enough to shift careers? )

- delving deeper into education by earning a TESOL or a Master's degree in Education (but then this will narrow my career options into education and related ones)

- diving into a completely different field, like I actually thought of studying International Business Communications offered in one of the schools here in Tokyo 

Ahhh this whole career thing is driving me insane which makes me not to want to do anything and just stay right where I am now. But where's the growth in that? I owe this to myself, at least to try, I think.

Well, at some point I need to figure this out, ね? For now, here are some July snippets, minus the heavy dilemma above. And as always, thanks to the people around me who help me with serious thingamajigs and also help me breathe when things get too tight. I appreciate you all.♡

Tanabata Festival at work~

Bar Zingaro aka Takashi Murakami's bar/cafe in Nakano

Cafe-hopping and catch-up with Kaila

Visited the beau and I's favorite Korean chicken place, Shinchan and did some roaming around K-town.

Washi Tape Museum with stationery lover friends! We had so much fun shopping around for tapes and stickers that we were the last customers to leave- the store shutters were already closed so we had to wait for the store staff to open it lol! 楽しかったです〜

 

Friday on a Monday with these girls from work. I love how we roll- from venting out stressful things to purikura real quick haha!

Anyway, half of the year already passed by. Let's hope for more happiness and blessings to come our way but let's not forget that we can make our happiness and work for more blessings, too! *wink*

xx, 

Alyssa

A Winter Weekend in Karuizawa

Almost a year ago, I first found my way to this little but pretty town in Nagano, Karuizawa, due to my persistent search for cabins with private baths. I was obsessed with cabins and camping that time. Off the beau and I went and stayed at one and that's the only major thing we did. Read it here. We missed exploring Karuizawa, though. I was fine with it because we went there for a staycation in the first place.

Fast forward early this January, my friends and I were planning for a ski/snowboard trip. After loooong discussions and considerations, we decided to go to Karuizawa. And yup, that's where we went last weekend~

DAY ONE

We rode the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Karuizawa Station. Costed us a fortune but yeah, you can always ride a highway bus for a cheaper price but longer hours. We intended to do that but there were no bus seats available the time we tried booking. TIP: Foreign tourists and non-Japanese passport holders can opt to purchase the JR Tokyo Wide Pass, a 3-day discounted pass for unlimited rides (includes Shinkansen and limited express trains) to and from areas in Tokyo and the surrounding Kanto area.

After an hour, we finally arrived at Karuizawa Station. We ate lunch somewhere in the nearby Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza and off we went to the ski resort ten minutes walk away.

This was where it got soooo expensive. We went to the ski resort operated by Prince Hotel and we had to rent snowboarding stuff and lift passes. A snowboard set (boots and board) will set you back ¥5000, snow wear set for another ¥5000, while additional helmets can be rented for ¥500 each. Luckily for me, I bought my own snowsuit way way back so I didn't have to rent one. The lift pass was overpriced in my opinion,  ¥4500 for four hours or ¥5000 for a 1-day pass. (Niigata had a more reasonable price, ¥500 for a one-time lift or less than ¥5000 for a 1-day pass).

Anyway, we had heaps of fun playing, rolling (lol) with snow so everything was fine.

After getting our snowboarding fix, we went back to the shopping plaza to fill our hungry tummies some dinner, bought drinks, and then rode a taxi to our hotel, Hotel Karuizawa Elegance, which was old (no elevators) but pretty, with really accommodating and kind staff~

+ DAY TWO +

Woke up early for the breakfast buffet and I was very delighted~ I love breakfast food! Moreover, I love yummy breakfast food in a pretty cafe all for ¥1500 ahhhh what a steal!

Around 10AM, we checked out and rode another taxi for some quick sightseeing. First stop was the Stone Church. It's a pretty little chapel made of stones set up in an unusual way. It was small but the details inside were amazing. Good for intimate weddings, I'd say. When we were there, we had to wait for a wedding to finish before we can get in the chapel. Taking pictures inside  weren't allowed so lust over these outdoor photos ha~

We walked towards Harunire Terrace, another pretty place with cafes and restaurants, an onsen, and some shops. Good ambiance ahhhh! We saw an ad for the KERA-IKE Ice Rink (it's a pond in the middle of the forest and freezes in winter, hence the name) and of course, we went! The ¥1800/adult fee did not disappoint! I later learned from my friend that it was the same skating rink shown in the Netflix series Terrace House where Shion and Tsubasa went for a date!

Coffee break cos it was freaking cold~  Look at this kawaii latte art!♥
@Picchio

We ate some late curry lunch at Sajilo Cafe before calling it a day and going back to Tokyo~

Ahhhhh, fun times! It's true what they say, it's lovelier the second time around, especially if you are with good company! See ya next time, Karuizawa!♥