Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve had time to write one of these. And if you’re attentive, you might realize that I started my previous blog entry with this exact same sentence. However, I’d like to point out that I did have a disclaimer there that said I will be busy again once the new semester starts, and I was right. After finishing that entry, I haven’t had time to update this blog again until now. Currently, it’s spring break here in Japan, so I have a little bit of free time. I still have to go to the lab everyday, but we don’t have weekly progress reports and seminars until April. I figured it’s a good chance to log on here and post a quick update.
It’s been almost 6 months since I updated this blog. For a while I sort of gave up and figured I should just stop posting here, but I really started to miss it. And to say that I have no time to blog is not completely true. I do get some free time every now and then, it’s just that I’ve been doing a lot of other things during my free time lately. I don’t want to bore you by giving you an update on every aspect of my life, so here’s a quick list:
- I am still alive, but PhD life is really starting to take a toll on me. There are days when I don’t even want to get out of bed because I feel like nothing makes sense, and I have zero motivation. I’m told this is normal, so there’s that. It’s not all bad though, I have had a few small victories here and there. Like how I managed to publish my first paper (which you can see here : LINK TO MY PAPER )
- I’ve picked up the hobby of going to the arcade. It’s been a huge stress reliever for me. During the work week I motivate myself by visualizing the arcade games I would play that weekend. I love it, but it’s expensive hobby and I’ve been trying to cut back a little. I don’t want to stop going completely, but I’ve been trying to control myself since I’m not sure how long my stipend can support this newfound interest of mine. If you’re interested, I started an arcade instagram account (@Arcade.Wonderland), as well as an arcade youtube channel (click HERE to see it).
- I started a new blog! It’s probably not the best idea since I can barely keep this one alive, but I wanted a separate one for all about my travels and adventures. Please check it out at www.carmijourneys.com. There’s not much on there yet, but hopefully I’ll find time to get some posts up. I debated on posting this Instabits entry there, but I decided I’d like to keep these posts on this blog since this is where I started doing these.
And I suppose that’s it? I realize that those are just basically some shameless self promotion links, but it really is what has been eating up a lot of my free time lately (mostly the arcade stuff XD). Most of my other life updates will be included in my Instabits entries.
I forgot how I used to start these posts, so I guess I’ll just jump right into it then 🙂
First photo for April was this group shot from the KAPS welcome party. This picnic marks the end of my first year here in Kyoto. I remember my own welcome party very clearly. I can’t believe how fast time flew by.
Check out those beautiful sakura trees. Our KAPS president had to arrive extra early that day so she could grab a good spot. Normally we have our picnics further up the river, but she said the place was packed. We were lucky to find this location.
This year’s hanami was extra special because these were the last sakura blooms for the Heisei era. In about a month Japan would have a new emperor and the Reiwa period would begin.
During the picnic I was telling Anna how stressed I was about my studies. A few days before this picnic, my professor told me that I had to redo almost all my experiments because there was something wrong with my set up. Anna comforted me and suggested that we make the most of this day by going to USJ. Our year passes were about to expire and we agreed that we should make the most of them. So after the introduction of new members, Ray, Anna, Mandy and I escaped from the party and headed off to Osaka.
Unfortunately, due to traffic we made it to the park just one hour before closing. We managed to get on our favorite ride (Hollywood Dream), but by the time we were done all the other attractions were closed.
To make the most of our visit, we ended up just running to different places in the park that is normally packed with people to take some photos
Like Hogsmeade
Here’s a rare sight of Hogwarts Castle without the usual crowd of people
We also took some photos with Jaws because there’s usually a long line at this place
After our welcome party and USJ adventure, I didn’t really post anything on my Instagram. Like I mentioned, I had to redo all of my experiments and I was scheduled to give a presentation by the end of the month, so I had to really focus. My memories of April 2019 consisted mostly of early morning experiments, weekends at the lab and lots of stress. Fortunately, my presentation went well, and I was rewarded with a long break at the end of the month because of Golden Week 🙂
This year, my friends and I decided to go to Toyama for a few days. On our first day, we were supposed to see the famous Snow Wall, but despite arriving at the venue at around 8:30am, tickets for the day were already sold out. We had to quickly modify our plans and we ended up going to the Tonami Tulip Fair instead.
We were planning on going here anyway, and we already bought our tickets before leaving Kyoto, so it was fine. We were just lucky that tickets were valid for a certain period and not just a single day.
Hiding in a sea of yellow tulips
I forgot what this carpet of pink grass is called. Sakura something, I think?
Toyama is more north than Kyoto, so they still had some sakura left around this time
We had lunch inside the park. We didn’t pack any food with us, so I ended up getting this beautiful bento box
Afterwards we went to see Toyama Castle. It was smaller than I expected, but still beautiful and worth a visit.
There was an art museum and a beautiful lake in front of the castle, which we also visited
Afterwards we decided to go to this Starbucks location
We’re told that this particular Starbucks is popular because of the beautiful view
It’s located at Fugan Canal Kansui Park
Ray and I tried the two versions of their strawberry fraps, which were their seasonal drinks during this time
The Starbucks itself was packed, so we took our drinks outside to relax on the grass while enjoying the view of the canal. Ray also grabbed this chance to take a short nap because he’s been driving for several hours.
Originally we planned on staying at the canal until evening, because we heard that it looks spectacular at night. However, we decided to just grab an early dinner and rest at our hotel since we had to get up early the following day to make sure we can buy tickets for the snow wall.
For dinner we tried the famous Toyama black ramen
It was made from a soy sauce broth base with lots of pepper. It was a little too salty for my liking, and since I’ve never really been a fan of black pepper I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked. But still worth a try since it’s a local delicacy.
After dinner we headed to our hotel to rest. We woke up around 4am the following day to make sure we were in line for the Snow Wall tickets by 6am. This time we managed to get in, phew~
Check out that view! This place is also called the Snow Corridor. This road is inaccessible during winter due to the heavy snow. They only open the snow wall around April when winter has ended and they can carve a path through the mountain of snow left behind. The wall was 16m high when we went to see it.
It was raining a bit when we got there, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying ourselves
Anna hates the cold, but she braved it to get some good photos, lol
They dug little holes in the wall where people can pose for photos
Winter wonderland~
The rain started to get stronger, so decided to head back down and start making our way back to Kyoto. We had a long drive ahead of us.
And that concludes my IG posts for April. If it weren’t for Golden Week this entry would have been very empty. I think writing this post was very timely. Lately I’ve been feeling extremely stressed about my research, and this entry made me realize that I felt pretty much the same a year ago. But despite all the stress, pressure, and tears, everything turned out ok. I pray that this year will also end on a high note, with another publication under my belt 🙂
As for my stories, I have compiled them into a video as usual, which you can watch below:
What I have shown you is reality ... 