How I Spent the New Year (in Tokyo)

I hail from the Philippines and new year celebrations there are full of fireworks, reunions, and lots of food and booze- always almost a blast (pun intended lol). Migrating to Japan, I was quite disappointed with how holidays are being celebrated cos of how quiet it can be, especially if you're not fond of new year countdown parties in hotels and clubs (cos that's mostly how it goes in my part of Tokyo, though it doesn't apply to all). But having stayed here for so long made me learn more of the country's new year traditions whether I intend to or not and I couldn't be more appreciative towards these things. Now, I appreciate the calmness and the quietness every 31st of December, so much, that going to loud countdown parties and blasting fireworks wouldn't ever compare. I still love fireworks and firework festivals (hanabi taikai), don't get me wrong. It's just that  I'd rather be somewhere calm and quiet every new year. Or maybe it's just my age to blame, eh? 笑笑

To help you picture what I'm babbling nonstop above, here's what I did during the first few days of 2020~  

✱ Gotokuji Temple/ "Lucky Cat" Temple Visit ✱

Right in front of Gotokuji Station, you'll see this manekineko/beckoning cat/good luck cat statue! This made me more excited of what was coming ahhhh~

The beau and I had to walk for a few minutes towards Yamashita Station (Tokyu Setagaya Line) because we opted to ride the tram to Miyanosaka Station, the station nearest our destination. You can also walk from Gotokuji if you like.

We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the neko tram ahhhh! Sadly, we weren't able to ride it but yeah, it's soooo kawaii!!!

From Miyanosaka Station, we walked for a few minutes and reached Gotokuji Temple.

This is the entrance. There were quite a number of people in the area as it was Hatsumode season (first temple/shrine visit of the year) when we came. 

First things first, we lined up, threw some coins, and prayed.

I do not practice Buddhism nor Shintoism but I like going to temples and shrines, respectively. I think there is no harm in giving respect  to religions other than mine and I welcome all good and kind prayers, no matter where they come from. I welcome all the luck and good things these prayers and wishes bring with open arms~

If you look closely, there are cat structures (white ones) under each layer of this wooden pagoda.

We found wooden ema plaques that visitors can purchase and write their hopes and prayers on.

The ema plaques can then be hung on the wall in the hope that the wishes written on them will come true.

Beside the ema wall, you'll see another entrance. And yup, this is THE entrance.

Walking a little, these manekineko figurines will greet you. 

And when you look to the left, these huuuuuuge collection of manekineko figurines will make you squeal in delight! This was what I came for ahhhhh~~~

Of course I had to document this. I've been wanting to visit this temple for so long and I attempted many times already but it's just this time that I actually did. Setagaya is quite far from where I live so I really had to take that into consideration when I decided to visit.

There are lots of manekineko figurines around Japan and you can see them easily anywhere but Gotokuji Temple is known for the right-pawed version of this good luck charm.

Gotokuji Temple is said to have been filled with lucky cat figurines donated by worshippers who knew about the legend of Naotaka (from the Ii Clan) and the temple cat. 

I have only read it from articles all over the www and according to the said articles, Naotaka survived a thunderstorm after a temple cat invited him in. As a sign of gratitude, Naotaka dedicated the temple to the Ii clan and when Naotaka passed away, the temple was named after his posthumous Buddhist name "Kyushoin-den Gotokuten ei-daikoji).

It was such a quiet escape from the noisy city. It felt as if I was not in Tokyo even for a bit!

Exiting the temple from where I entered it, I was amazed by the intertwined trees lol~

Going back to Miyanosaka Station and found some interesting things~

Love this brick wall! I just can't fathom why there's so little space after this pedestrian lane 😝 

✱ Hatsumode at Tokyo Daijingu plus omamori-buying ✱

So after a temple, we then decided to visit a shrine 30 minutes train ride away- Tokyo Daijingu Shrine, a few minutes walk from Iidabashi Station.

 We were shocked with the long queue! It was the longest line I've ever seen during hatsumode period! I was ready to give up and call it a day, good thing the beau pushed us to just go on with it cos we were already there.

After two hours of waiting, we were finally able to get in ~wew~

Tokyo Daijingu is connected to Ise Jingu in Mie Prefecture a.k.a. the holiest shrine in Japan. No wonder the lines were looooong!

This shrine is a place to pray for good marriage and good matches so many couples and girls come here- the exact reason I wanted to go here. I wanted to pray for Kenji and I's good marriage in the near future. Kenji and I lined up to say our prayers regarding our upcoming marriage and afterwards went on to get what I wanted to get...

...omamori! Ever since I started going to shrines, I always get omamori/lucky amulets. It's a must for me. I feel like if I work hard and also have luck with me on the side, I can be successful with what I put my mind into. Well, that's just me being superstitious but there's no harm in harnessing all the good luck I can get right? This time Kenji and I got each other work and enmusubi omamori. My mother said omamori works best if it's gifted to you so yeah...

I stay away from omikuji/fortune paper in shrines because I'm scared of drawing out bad fortune. But this day I was feeling very lucky and confident haha so I drew one. Also, it's in English so I might as well get one. Usually omkuji is written in Japanese and it's hard to understand even if you use Google Translate lol.

I got a Good Fortune slip yeyyyyyy! See, I was lucky! I kept it and tucked it away in my Hobonichi planner to remind me of the good things written inside. If you happen to get a bad fortune, the paper slip should be tied on the omikuji ropes available in the shrine to ward off the bad luck.

Also, I found this interesting thing here and I'm quite unsure how it works so I didn't try it (but took photos of so I can translate/research on it). 

From my research, it's kind of like an ema plaque but in stick form. You buy two wooden sticks and on the stick with the white string, you write your name and leave in the shrine so that the gods can be reminded of your wish, whereas you keep the stick with the red string in order "to attract love towards yourself".

Ahhhh busy day filled with prayers, wishes, and luck! I hope everything works out! Oh yeah, before these shrine and temple visits, I stuffed myself with NYE dinner complete with Osechi Ryori a.k.a. traditional Japanese New Year food courtesy of my mama! 👌🏻

Hope the above-mentioned activities brought justice to my point in the beginning of this post lol. I still miss the fun and noise of the New Year celebrations back in my home country from time to time and I really think if I'm still younger I'd probably pick it 100% but ya girl is turning into a tita (aunt in Filipino language) so you know the drill~ *wink*

How was your New Year? Do you have things you did that are specifically done just in your country when you welcome the new year? I'd appreciate if you'd tell me in the comment box below~ 

Happy 2020, everyone! Hope you had a great start!

Life, Lately: Autumnblings and November

Hello and welcome back to my little space on the www! ♡ I have been quite active (I think) here recently and I felt so accomplished putting up two posts in a month! That's already a feat for me since I kinda struggle with scheduling (even though I have lots of planners lol). But yeah, thanks for sparing  this virtual humble abode of mine some time, I really appreciate it. *hugs*

Autumn colors, Mitsugi Park 

So yup, November! One of my Instagram posts' caption reads, "my favorite color is November". And it truly is. I never thought I'd love autumn this much cos there's no autumn in my home country. I don't know why, probably the gorgeous reds, yellows, oranges, browns are to blame. 

At Itchiku Kubota Museum, Yamanashi

Also, as weird as it may sound, I love the "gloominess" that the autumn season brings, if there's such thing. Who here feels the same way? Or is it just me? 

Somewhere in Omotesando

Gloominess aside, November this year was quite nice but too fast, at least for me. I had a lot planned though I wasn't able to really tick all of them off my list but that's okay. Sometimes we can't do the things that we wanna do due to a myriad of reasons and that's alright. I only went to two major places which I wrote about: Anata no Warehouse and Yamanashi, in contrast to a lot of places I wrote on my planner.  In return, however,  I felt ~rested~ unlike the previous months and I was able to take care of the Christmas postcards I was thinking of sending to friends. Sometimes we really need to stop and rest so we can recharge, come back stronger, and do *other* things that make us happy/good even if those weren't on the list. 

Yamanashi trip: https://alyssashimode.blogspot.com/2019/11/yamanashi-2019-momijigari-x-kimono-days.html

Anata no Warehouse visit: https://alyssashimode.blogspot.com/2019/11/hello-bye-anata-no-warehouse_17.html

November proved to be a month of great impulses, too. I know I'm an impulsive person to begin with but I was too impulsive this time that I even surprised myself. Like one minute I thought of watching Frozen II and the next minute I'm on my way to the cinema... or I was just chilling at home and the beau asked if I wanted to go to the Philippine Festival in Yoyogi and off I took a bath and went. I'm a planner person and I ditch my planner and do unplanned things? I mean, who is she? Lol. Guess people change, and it's just that mine was abrupt and the level was unexpected. But hey, I had fun so I think it's alright, right?

Autumn afternoons in the city~

I feel like this blog post's coherence is meh. Like how my thoughts are scattered everywhere on the floor likespilt milk. But heyyyy, it's done and I'm excited for what lies ahead for me in December aka the last hurrah of 2019! I hope that it'll all be fun fun fun (and that I could write coherently by then) lol! Do you have any plans for the rest of December? Mind sharing them with me below?♡

'Til my next post! Keep warm, friends!♡

Yamanashi 2019: Momijigari x Kimono Days

Yup, you've read the title right. I was in Yamanashi again (even though I was just there last spring and I have been there more than a handful of times lol). This year's autumn foliage according to released forecasts are quite late, especially in Tokyo (where I'm from) so I decided to chase 'em... in Yamanashi!

In front of Kawaguchiko Station, you’d see an old train and this red torii.

Yamanashi is a famous choice for tourists and residents alike to go all year round because there are lots of things to do and see. One of which is to hunt for  the beautiful red leaves/koyo (hence the term momijigari; momiji= red leaves, maple and gari = hunt) and yellow ginkgo (or ichou in Japanese) of autumn. And that's what the beau and I did during our 2-day stay in Yamanashi this time! *wink*

Below is our detailed 2-day itinerary. Please feel free to use this as a reference if ever you plan on going to Yamanashi in autumn!

Day 1

• From our home station, we caught a train to Takao Station where you can find a giant Tengu statue. From there, we rode another train towards Otsuki Station and from there we rode the Fujikyu Line train to Kawaguchiko Station in Yamanashi. By train it took us about 2hrs. 

• Think of Kawaguchiko Station as the center point as Retro Sightseeing buses that let you roam around the Fuji-Kawaguchiko area (Red, Green, Blue lines) can be found there. TIP: You can buy one- or two-day bus passes that will let you hop on and off the above-mentioned buses to make sightseeing easier. All you have to do is show the pass to the driver/s when you get off the bus. I purchased that before during one of my first trips to the Fuji-Kawaguchiko area but I did not this time cos I knew I'm not going all out- I'm just going to a few pre-selected spots plus I have a functioning Suica card already so I figured the bus pass would not work in my advantage. 

Kawaguchiko Station with Mt. Fuji as background~

Always on the hunt for beautiful manhole covers♡

• We arrived at Kawaguchiko Station 10:30ish and we left our luggage at our guesthouse. This time we picked Orange Cabin since it's 2min from Kawaguchiko Station and the facilities were great! They even let us leave our luggage before and after check-in. You might want to consider this when you have a lot of belongings cos the coin lockers at and near Kawaguchiko Station usually fill up quickly. There are luggage lockers around operated by private establishments but they're pricier than usual depending on your luggage size.

• We were hungry famished lol so we decided to have an early lunch at one of the restaurants right across Kawaguchiko Station. You can easily see it cos it has a big sign that reads "Japanese Restaurant with Mt. Fuji View". The grandmas working there are very kind!

Brought my travel journal (from Travelers Notebook) with me~

Sooo after all these hullabaloos up there, we finally went to Destination#1: Itchiku Kubota Art Museum. This place houses master tie-dyer Itchiku Kubota's kimono collection (the ones that he did using the Itchiku Tsujigahana technique), an antique beads gallery, and a beautiful garden~ It's a lovely place to bask in art and nature at the same time!

The amazing entrance. Felt like I was in Bali! lol

This is the main building housing Kubota's kimono collection. It's a pretty small collection but it's worth the visit! You can watch a documentary (in JP/EN) all about Kubota and how he made his works.

While taking pictures and videos are prohibited at the main gallery, Itchiku-an, the tea house inside the main  gallery where Kubota used to accept guests and drink tea with them, is a photo-friendly area.

You can order tea and sweets here.

Momiji!

There's a cafe in the vicinity and once you order something, you'll be granted access to the antique beads collection~

You can order coffee, tea, tiramisu and these kimono dorayaki. 

You can opt to sit cozily inside or al fresco! We chose the latter and the view was just perfect!

I ordered the classic tiramisu and around the cup was a bracelet/elastic (?) with some beads. The cafe cashier said it's a gift and I can bring it home with me. Of course I did!♡

Ya girl was already so happy during this point of the trip ha~

Went to check out the antique beads collection before leaving~

Also, Mt. Fuji decided to not be shy and actually show up. We got lucky!

This part of the museum reminded me of Barcelona's Park Güell!

• Next in line was the famous Momiji Corridor. I've been to this place a couple of times before but since it's autumn, might as well check it out again right? However, the maple leaves weren't red yet when we went  so we just passed by it quickly. There were food stalls next to it where I got Hiroshima-style yakisoba and karaage. We walked further along the street and checked out the Craft Market for some uhm crafts heh~ Headed back to our guesthouse at around 6PM cos it was soooo cold! 

Half and half~

*nyan nyan*

Found a couple of maple/momiji stencils on the ground~

We were starving and good thing there were a few food stalls near the Maple Corridor~

Hiroshima-style yakisoba

Random street food~

Old school heater. It was freezing cold~

Some snaps from the craft market~

Called it a day and left the Maple Corridor area for our home for the night, Orange Cabin~

Day 2:

• Second day started with a breakfast in the guesthouse's common kitchen/dining. We went to the nearby 7-11 the night before to buy breakfast food to save on our travel money. I loved that all the necessary eating utensils and kitchen equipment were provided in the guesthouse. There's also free coffee and free sake if you want lol~

• Checked-out at 10:00 and then headed to Shimoyoshida Station, a 30-min train ride from Kawaguchiko Station via Fujikyu Line. From there we walked for about 15min to go to Arakurayama Sengen Park and Arakurayama Sengen Shrine, home of Chureito Pagoda where that famous Mt. Fuji x pagoda postcard was shot! Second time going there but I still found it breathtaking! Well, it will really take you breath away even before seeing the view as you need to walk up some 400 steps to reach the pagoda itself lol! TIP: Pack light and wear comfortable shoes! Bring a bottle of water or beverage of choice since there are no restaurants nor vending machines on top. There are food stalls right after the big torii gate before climbing the stairs to the pagoda and that's it. 

Spotted an Honesty store on our way to Arakurayama Sengen Park~

Almost there...

Since we arrived later than we intended (cos I overslept lol), there were lots of tourists already.

TIP: Go early so the skies are clear and the paths are clear of tourists, too~

Arakurayama Sengen Shrine~

The houses looked like miniature doll houses!

Oh yup, you need to CLIMB.

Chureito Pagoda!

Thanks to a fellow tourist who offered to take our picture. We didn't have much photos of the two of us during this trip lol

The postcard view!!!

• From Shimoyoshida Station, we went back to Kawaguchiko Station for a quick lunch and then headed to the Mt. Fuji Activity Booking Center to rent kimono! I looove wearing kimono and taking strolls so I decided to book it before this trip. Kimono rental for 2hrs for women is ¥3500 and ¥3000 for men. Hair ornament set is ¥500 and simple hair styling is ¥1500. 

Rode this Gaspard et Lisa train back to Kawaguchiko Station!

• Since we were in our kimono and our walking strides were limited lol, we decided to take a taxi to the nearest sightseeing spot (with autumn leaves) that we could find. And that was Yagisaki Park, just 10min by taxi/car from the station. We paid a little over ¥1000 and the taxi driver dropped us off right by the park entrance. Of course we took photos! We got too cold with just our kimonos, good thing the nearby Kawaguchiko Muse Museum/ Yuki Atae has a cafe that we can enter without paying for the museum fee. The cafe has glass walls enabling us to savor and clamor the perfect view as we fill our tummies with hot coffee and yummy cake: Lake Kawaguchiko and autumn leaves!

First time in this park!

One of the few decent photos I got of me wearing this lovely yellow kimono!♡

Lake Kawaguchiko, always enchanting~

Ichou overload~

We got so cold good thing there was a nearby museum and it has a cafe! They got cake sets and delicious ones at that!

• Going back to Kawaguchiko Station was quite difficult because we only had the Retro bus as the option. It was late due to a large number of tourists in the area and it was a Saturday. We were close to commissioning a taxi but when we tried calling, the line was busy so we had to wait for quite a long time, chilling, literally lol! 

• Upon arrival at Kawaguchiko Station, we headed back to the kimono rental place to return the kimonos and get our stuff. We had dinner at the restaurant we had breakfast at the other day and then went to Fujiyama Cafe right inside Kawaguchiko Station for my favorite: Shingen Mochi soft serve before heading back to reality aka Tokyo~

Yamanashi was truly an autumn dream! Have you been to Yamanashi? Tell me your favorite spots in the comments below, yeah? ♡

xx, 

Alyssa