Golden Week is over and we’re back to our regular schedules. I thought I’d finish this entry before things got too busy again.
This month Yehlen celebrated her 3rd birthday. Ate Elaine held a unicorn themed party at their house. She and Barret did a great job with the decorations. I loved all the details.
Barret designed the cake
Ate Elaine found these cute unicorn plates
And these adorable napkins
They even made a photobooth for the guests
Ray and I tried to take a photo with a birthday girl but she wasn’t in the mood to pose. There were too many kids there at the party and she just wanted to play with them.
In the end the ladies and I enjoyed the photobooth on our own
Kuya Ryan visited Kyoto this month. He brought back some ingredients for Filipino dishes and invited us to enjoy them with him at at Pastor Joseph’s house. It’s been a while since I had munggo and tuyo. I didn’t realize how much I missed it.
February 11 was a holiday so my friends and I took a little day trip to Shirakawa-go. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site popular for its traditional farm houses. Some people call it the Christmas Village because it’s especially beautiful during the winter months. It looks like the inside of a snow globe.
This architecture style is called gassho-zukuri. This region gets a lot of heavy snowfall in the winter so the houses are designed in such a way that the snow will slide off easily from the roof. The houses are aligned so that it provides shelter from the cold winter winds and shade from the harsh summer sun.
I’ve been wanting to see this place for a while so naturally I took lots of pictures. (Well, I asked Ray to take lots of pictures of me XD)
Yay snow!
The following weekend I went to Kobe to meet up with some UPLB friends who were in Japan for a short research visit. I was so excited to see everyone again š
Sir Taps did his PhD in Kobe so he acted as our tour guide. We walked around the shopping streets.
We also went to Harborland see the fountain, the ferris wheel and Kobe Port Tower
We didn’t realize how late it was and that most of the shops were closed already. Fortunately there were still a couple restaurants open and we managed to grab dinner there.
Amie went with me to Kyoto that night so we can have more time to catch up. I also invited her to our church because it just so happened that our Filipino Service was holding it’s 9th anniversary, and I was part of the worship team. As my bible study leader, I really wanted Amie to be there. It was such a blessing that their trip coincided with this event.
I didn’t post this on my Instagram, but here’s a group photo from the event
While Amie was in Kyoto, I showed her around my campus.
We only had a few minutes to walk around until we had to go to church but I was very excited and happy that she got to see my campus. I showed her my department, the clock tower and even mundane things like where I park my bike and where I cross the street XD
After Sunday service we met up with the Kobe/UPLB friends at Arashiyama.
I showed them the Bamboo Forest
and the Kimono Forest
Emo shot at the Kimono Forest
I tried to take more emo self portraits by the river
But Amie had other plans
For our Filipino service anniversary, Ate Kathy requested that we wear blue and white stripes. I wanted to wear a dress but I couldn’t find one with the correct fabric, so I decided to make my own š Here are some progress photos:
I’ve had a lot of experience altering clothes before due to my height, but I’ve never actually made an entire dress by myself, so this was a challenge for me.
It took me about 1 and 1/2 weeks because I could only sew for about 30 minutes to 1 hour every couple of nights. I didn’t have a lot of free time and I was also worried the neighbors would complain about the noise from the sewing machine if I worked too late.
There were a lot of trial and error (and seam ripping) involved.
The end results. It’s not perfect but for my first attempt I’m quite happy š I want to try to make more dresses, but fabric here in Japan is a little expensive.
For the last weekend of February my friends and I went to Keihanna Park to enjoy the sun.
Winter was almost over and it felt good to be able to walk around without feeling like a popsicle.
There were even a few plum blossoms already sprouting, excited for spring.
We mainly hung around the pond to feed the koi fish
Big fish!
That concludes my posts for the shortest month of the year. February was great, mostly because I got to travel a bit and even meet up with old friends. I also went snowboarding with Ray for the second time this month, but I wasn’t able to post it on IG. I did upload a lot on my IG stories though, so you can check out the video below if you’re interested š
What I have shown you is reality ... 