hibernation

faced with a cumulus of responsibilities, the bear ends up in its den charging its batteries, and consuming inhumane levels of TV

lil day trip to Yokohama

Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan, 1 hour away from Tokyo. It’s a harbour city, known for the largest Chinatown in Japan, many food places and a more friendly and chill vibe than Tokyo. When I was talking to my friend I kept calling the city Rotterdam. My mind was confusing them for some reason.

When I actually arrived there, I could tell why. It absolutely gives European port city vibes. The city was beautiful, modern and relaxed. People were definitely friendlier. It was a sunny day and everyone was out on a walk. The fashion game was so creative and cool to see. From older people to teenagers to the hundreds of dogs I saw, they all were wearing well-crafted outfits. Yes, the dogs. too. Instead of babies in the stroller, they were dogs with hats. It was hilarious.

Coincidentally, there was a strawberry festival that day. In Yokohama they do so many food festivals. I have seen nabe, bread, bento boxes, etc. I hadn’t seen the strawberry one so it was just luck that I went that day. It was quite cool. I absolutely see myself living in such a cool, relaxed area and going every other weekend to whatever food festival they have. This is the image of a perfect life.

We walked slowly through all the parks and the harbours and then went to Chinatown. Sadly, I was super full from the hundred strawberries I ate. Don’t get me wrong, I still ate 2-3 snacks from chinatown but it just wasn’t the same.

The reason I went to Yokohama was because they still had Chinese new year illumination, which resulted to be a disappointment. However, the Chinatown in itself was still very cool.

The other reason I went that day was because my friend was invited to dinner by a restaurant in return of some instagram content. So I was the plus 1 (actually 2 because another friend joined first). It was a very interesting experience. The owner came to us, gave us slides about the restaurants with explanations of how they get their food, the goal, how they prepare their dishes… We tried a huge variety of dishes and of course, took many, many pics.

exam season

After Yokohama, I accidentally ended up in a party in my share house because someone was leaving, and then of course, I had to watch my Saturday drama as I have an unhealthy obsession with it. I went to sleep late and woke up tired.

On Sunday, I had to study but I had a headache. I went to have lunch outside because I had no tupperwares or food left. And I wanted to do a quick walk after lunch to get som energy. It was great weather, and the flowers were blooming. I accidentally found some friends around and went to see the cherry blossoms. When I got home, I was tired again and didn’t study.

This Monday and Tuesday, we had the biggest exams of this term. I started studying for the exam 5 minutes before we got into our class, it actually went very well. My procrastination streak continued and I didn’t study on Monday either. On Tuesday, it was a level exam so nothing really one can study. But still.

The Tuesday exam was like a slap in the face. Every sentence and exercise was making my head throb. It was such a tragedy that I even considered just walking up and leaving the room. Our teacher told us it was normal because they gave us the same test as all the advanced students, aka, 1-2 levels above us. So, of course, I couldn’t keep up the listenings of the level I am hoping to reach in 3-6 months.

accidental hidden gems

After my intelligence was completely violated, I wandered around like a lost soul looking for meaning. Lie, I actually had plans in the evening to see the blood moon eclipse. The eclipse was quite late and the exam ended early so I had a lot of time to kill. I ended up going to a cafe on my macro list. This cafe was a very popular one where I met the owner in the coffee festival I went recently.

I am completely in love with this place. The cafe was quite small and it didn’t really have tables, more like stools everywhere. This was not ideal for my initial idea of just getting a coffee and chill, but what I encountered was gold.

The moment I walked in, the waiters were asking me about myself, my life, complimenting me… With my limited Japanese it was quite hard, even though they were all patient. There were 2 waiters and maybe 4 people in the cafe. Everyone was talking with everyone. Anyone who joined through the door was now part of the conversation. Two girls that just met were talking about their lives, sometimes the waiter asked things, others the girls talked to the waiters, an older man after work comes around, and just talks to everyone like normal. He even tried to talk with me with my Japanese. No one spoke English, but everyone was very, very nice and friendly. When I wanted to leave, another foreigner came in and she spoke better Japanese (and actually speaks English and Spanish) so I could join the conversation better. We were all laughing and having fun trying to understand each other and it was such a vibe.

I always imagine cafes to places where you go to relax and read a book. Of course, that is also nice. But the thought that you can go to a cafe to mingle in a relaxed way like this was eye-opening. Relaxing is how I would still describe it, just not in silence.

I would love to find this sort of cafe in Amsterdam, where one goes after work and just talks to people over coffee in this unorganised way. Not sure if this concept would triumph, as my friend said: “I am too dutch for this”

After way too long, I went to my next appointment: the observatory in Sunshine City. The name feels like a random place in a cyberpunk novel. The actual Sunshine city is exactly that. I arrived to a huge building. It was raining so I couldn’t even see the top.

I arrived and there was a map of all the +60 floors of offices, shopping mall and restaurants.

I had to look at the map to know which elevator would reach the upper floors. When I made it, there were guides to press on the elevator and wish me a good journey. I went on the elevator alone. The guy outside bowed and the doors closed. The moment they closed, the whole elevator went dark. I went speeding through the top with a music and a voiceover about stars. A speed of 300 m/min, when I got to the top my ears felt pressure. I needed like 5-10 seconds to feel okay again.

It was raining and cloudy so the views weren’t that great, and sadly the moon was not visible. Still I could see the views okay with my eyes (not my camera) and the place was such an incredible view. It felt quite cyberpunk with the clouds and I was so high up and the city is so immense that I was in awe. My younger self from a small town was fascinated. Even though, the moon was not visible. I met with some friends there so we also ate in the cafe in the observatory and we just had fun.

The next picture is from another observatory I saw on Sunday, but it was a similar vibe. Night views of Tokyo are just so cool.

However, what I found amazing about sunshine city observatory was the entire ambience. It was already evening/night so the lights were mostly turned off and there was relaxing lofi music. The observatory was like a park with hills and decorated trees. You could even grab picnic blanket and just lay there. I will come here again for sure and just sit in one of these hills and relax. The price is very low and it wasn’t that busy (of course, it was raining so low visibility day also means less people). There were definitely a lot of couples, so if I ever need a date idea, I am copying them.

crash out

This week I barely did nothing. I went to sleep way too late, watched an insane amount of dramas, tiktok, etc. Besides the Tuesday stuff, I had no events planned and with the pass of days, I didn’t have the energy to decide on others.

I had prepared to do a reset since I had the exams on Monday and Tuesday. I wanted to catch up with all the videos I have to do, finish some paperwork, general tasks and decide where I am travelling in my next +10 days holiday. So many stuff that I ended up procrastinating most of the time.

The weather was not as good this week, so maybe that had an impact. But probably it was the new show I am hooked on now.

I did end up unexpectedly going out after class on Friday. My friends forced me to go for the taco place they love, and then we just went for some drinks to Shibuya. The Dogenzaka neighbourhood was quite nice, and weird. We went to a vinyl bar and it was a comfy night. On the way, I saw the church club nearby and I do want to go clubbing soon, but that day I had my laptop and the weirdest combinations of clothes because I needed to do my laundry so next time. Still I literally took the last train to my house. I almost lost it and that would have been a tragedy. I needed to watch my Friday drama still.

Talking to a wall

Dear readers, the concept of a newsletter is that you can send emails back. I am here the only one writing about my updates and I am not getting any mails back. I know, I know, it takes a big chunk of time to do an email like this, but just a little update every once in a while should be doable. Writing like this is quite fun, so I recommend you all to try it some time. I will provide you with a simple prompt: “What has given you energy to survive this cold winter?”