Chasing Winter Lights

I have been fond of city lights and lights per se for heaven knows how long. That's why I couldn't help but feel giddy whenever December comes for it means lots of winter illuminations in and around Tokyo! Ahhhh definitely one of the reasons why I don't mind the winter cold!

This year, I challenged myself to visit more illuminations than my usual one per year haha talk about being lazy and I'm just glad I was able to visit five! Yes, five! Hence, this post! :)) 
So without further ado, here are some photos I took as I chase them winter lights! 

Enjoooy! ♡

 1. Tokyo Midtown Starlight Garden

Before transforming into an outdoor ice skating rink, Tokyo Midtown Garden houses an enormous Christmas illumination. This year's theme Midtown Cruise, boasted of approximately 280,000 LED lights, a vision dome, and scheduled audiovisual mini shows. This illumination made me feel like I'm an intergalactic queen even for just a few minutes! :)) 

So blueeee~

Here's a clip I managed to record when we went there. It's a little shaky though. >_<

Access
Toei Oedo Line, Roppongi Station Exit 8 (direct link)
JR Chiyoda Line, Nogizaka Station Exit 3 (3 minutes)
Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, Roppongi-itchome Station (10 minutes)

2. Meguro-gawa Minna No Illumi

I went here with a few workmates on a weekday so the time I spent here was relatively short. This illumination stretches from Gotanda Station to Osaki Station, lighting up the Meguro River in shades of pink mimicking cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms in winter? Awesome!

You can opt to get off at Gotanda Station and eat some legit curry and nan at Thali-ya, a few minutes walk from the station before heading to see the illumination. They have gorgonzola naan which goes perfectly well with butter chicken curry! Then you can just walk until the end of the illumination, which will bring you to Osaki Station. We did just that!

3. Tokyo Dome City Illumination

Get off at Korakuen Station, cross the street towards Tokyo Dome (it's too huge for you to miss) and voila, you got yourself into a wonderland of lights and sounds! With towering Christmas trees and colourful lights, plus a water symphony show, going here would surely boost your Christmas spirits up!

LaQua Water Symphony

This tunnel plays Exile's Kiminimuchu on loop! My friends and I crazied our way through the tunnel dancing to it haha!

Ultramaaaaan~

And look who came to town! Santaaaa~

Access
Tokyo Metro Namboku Line /  Marunouchi Line, Korakuen Station
Mita Line, Suidobashi Station

4. Showa Kinen Koen Winter Vista Illumination

I have been to Showa Kinen a couple of times before but this is the first time that I went here on Christmas Day. And it was a good decision that I did! Not only did I witness the beautiful parade of lights but also a good five-minute fireworks display! It also had a themed light display entitled "Attaka-Warmth" in and around the field! Merry Christmas, indeed! ♡

A Christmas tree made of champagne glasses

Access
Akebono Gate: JR Chuo Line, Tachikawa Station (10 minutes) / JR Tama Urban Monorail, Tachikawa Kita Station (8 minutes)
Nishitachikawa Gate: JR Ome Line, Nishi-Tachikawa Station (2 minutes)

Fees
Adult (over 15 years) - 400 yen / Child (6 to 14 years)  - 80 yen / Over 65 - 210 yen

5. Tokyo Tower Winter Fantasy Orange Illumination

Whenever I'm in Roppongi, I always see Tokyo Tower from afar and it has always been magnificent in my eyes. Yesterday was not an exception, especially when it's strikingly orange and everything around it were adorned with lights! The main observatory was also lit up with blue and pink LED lights to match the official event ambassadors, Sanrio characters Kiki and Lala! What a sight to behold! ♡

Oraaaange~

Tokyo Tower replica

Chiizu~

Access

Metropolitan Subway Oedo Line, Akabanebashi Station  (5 minutes walk to Akabanebashi Gate)

Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line, Kamiyacho Station Exit 1 ( 7 minutes)

I hope your December was as shiny, shimmery, and splendid just like the lights I've chased! 
Happy  winter! 
Happy New Year, too! ♡

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! ♡

Thank You

Yesterday, I lost my pair of eyeglasses on my ride to work. 

But I am grateful.

For the person on the train who could opt to care less on a pair of old eyeglasses on the floor but he/she did and surrendered it to the lost and found section of Mukaigawara station;

For all my fellow commuters who could actually stomp on and crush it into pieces but did not;

For the workmates who offered words of assurance that I will be able to get my eyeglasses back;

For the mother who replied to her worried daughter's messages while on her work break instead of getting coffee (which she usually does) and go far as making inquiries to the station officer in Tachikawa about the lost pair of eyeglasses after work;

For the station officer in Tachikawa station who gave utmost assistance- making calls to numerous stations to locate the missing pair of eyeglasses,  consequently finding out that it might  possibly be in Mukaigawara station;

For the boyfriend who could just shrug it off and go home after a long day at work but accompanied his Japanese girlfriend (who could not speak Japanese) to Mukaigawara station to take a look;

For the station officer in Mukaigawara section who handed the eyeglasses back and assisted with the forms needed to be filled out; and

For the heavens, for showering my path with good people.

It may just be a pair of eyelasses, but still, I am grateful.

Thank you for making me see the world in a new  and brighter light.

A note written by a station officer in Tachikawa re: my lost eyeglasses.