Happy Golden Week everyone! A new era is upon us. Heisei has ended and Reiwa has begun. I have a few days off from school so I can spare a bit of time to update my blog again. I’m treating this blogging time as a reward to myself for surviving my presentation and the two weeks of anxiety it gave me. I’ve attended so many conferences and have done numerous presentations over the years, but somehow it just doesn’t get easier for me. If anything I get more and more nervous to give presentations as the years go by. But I’ve long accepted that it’s part of the career and I suppose in some teeny tiny way, I do enjoy it. Especially that rush of excitement I get after a talk/presentation is over.
Let’s get going with these IG posts then. Surprisingly there’s not a lot for January. My first few days were packed with activities since I was still in the Philippines back then, but I guess I didn’t post that much. In fact, most of these were uploaded just a few weeks ago when I realized that I was going to start writing this entry soon and I still had a lot of photos I haven’t shared. Some of these pictures are also from my FB page. I guess I posted them there but forgot to upload them to Instagram.
My flight back to Japan was on January 5, so I was pretty busy meeting friends and spending time with family as soon as the new year kicked in. Sir Taps, Dustin and I scheduled a trip to Tagaytay to eat bulalo because it had been raining nonstop for the past week and hot bulalo sounded perfect. Funnily enough, the day we went to the Tagaytay was the day it finally stopped raining.
They took me to Leslie’s, which is famous for bulalo. It was my first time there.
Their bulalo was amazing! I can’t wait to go back there and have some again.
Afterwards Sir Taps took us to Starbucks Domicillo. Usually when people invite me to go to Starbucks in Tagaytay, we go to the one in Twin Lakes, or the one along the highway. This was my first time at this branch. I guess it’s pretty new and not a lot of people go there yet because it’s a little hidden.
Chai tea with a view
On our way back to LB, we stopped by Nuvali so I could get a haircut and a much needed treatment. Hair salons in Japan are quite expensive so I’ve only gone a few times these last couple of months.
That evening we had dinner at our house with my parents and friends.
My parents really missed having these dinner parties with my friends so I’m glad we were able to squeeze one in during my visit.
The following day my parents and I visited Doc Beth at her clinic (Ocean of Youth) for a facial. This was a real treat for me because I haven’t had one since I left the Philippines. They’re expensive here in Japan so I’ve mostly been relying on myself to get rid of my blackheads and whiteheads. #oilygirlproblems
The morning of my flight I was able to have breakfast with Jason, Amie and Rona. We ate at IRRI cafeteria which I really missed.
When I got back to Japan, Ray was worried I would feel homesick again so he planned a snowboarding trip with me and Ate Pinky to distract me. On our way to the resort we stopped by the Metasequoia Lane in Makino (Shiga).
I’ve been wanting to see this so I’m glad it wasn’t too far out of the way
I’m told this place looks great during autumn too
As we were driving we spotted this snow covered field. I was pretty excited to see snow so Ray stopped the car so we could take some photos.
After driving for a little more we reached the resort. This was my first time going snowboarding. Ray warned me that beginners usually have a hard time standing up at first, but I didn’t realize how difficult it was until I finally tried it for myself. It took me about 30 minutes of struggling before I was able to stand for the first time. I almost gave up out of frustration, but thankfully I stuck with it long enough.
I think my problem was I was too scared of falling, which made me scared to get up. (Hey, you can’t fall if you’re already on the ground right?). But once I conquered that and got comfortable with crashing on the ground, I was able to stand up pretty quickly.
Eventually I was confident enough to go on the ski lift 🙂
I’m glad Ate Pinky was able to join us. She had a hard time standing up too, but she still enjoyed herself 🙂
This month I was part of the worship team at church for one Filipino service. Ate Kathy requested that we wear denim.
Around the end of January it snowed in Kyoto. This doesn’t happen very often. And usually when it snows here it melts very quickly. I’m told it’s not common for snow to accumulate on the ground here.
It’s not a lot compared to some other places, but it still made me very happy 🙂
Gil, Ate Kathy, Ray and I were all together on this day so we played around for a bit in the snow.
Thanks Kuya Joel for the photo!
My January was a great way to start 2019. I reconnected with old friends, visited places I’ve dearly missed for the past 8 months, and had new adventures. It made me appreciate my old life in the Philippines as well as my new life here in Japan. It also made me see the connection between these two chapters in my life and how blessed I am to be able to call both of these places home (at least for now :p)
For more pictures and videos from January, you can watch my IG stories in the video below :
What I have shown you is reality ... 