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The May 9 Journey
A new journey is set to start on May 9 in a community located down southeast. People will choose who will drive the jeepney. To be the driver is the most coveted position in the community. Driver 1,2,3,4&5: I am a good driver. I can take you to a better place. Choose me. Most of…
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Annual Events in Japan
Whether you want to maximize your travel experience or you just want to stock some knowledge in the pocket of your head, it is good to know the annual events of a country we want to visit. Annual events in Japan is called Nenchuu Gyooji 年中行事. Below is a list of holidays and events celebrated…
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How to distinguish Japanese from Korean and Chinese
Can you tell if a person comes from a specific country? Before coming to Japan, I had no idea how to distinguish Japanese, Korean and Chinese from one another. I had quite a few experience (when I was in the university as an international student) of trying to speak Japanese to a fellow student who I thought is Japanese, but after all, turned out…
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Discover Fukuoka, The Queen City of Kyushu
You heard about Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima for sure, but what about Fukuoka? Where is it located in Japan? Is it as nice as the other big cities I mentioned? Fukuoka City in Fukuoka Prefecture is located in Kyushu, one of the four main islands in Japan. The other three main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu and Shikoku. Most of the…
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Gone
When someone very close to us, someone we love,someone we consider a family is taken by an illness and is forever gone… We look back to old memories, recollect the happy times we spent together, recall how healthy and happy that person was back then. Those memories make us smile and as well make us…
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Rose Festival in Huis Ten Bosch
Rose and festival – two completely different words but are both related to love, happiness and celebration. Just imagine these two words being used together. It is indisputably pleasurable experience. The Location Huis Ten Bosch is a Dutch-inspired theme park in Nagasaki. It is a huge park where the buildings and surroundings would make you feel you are in Europe, but in fact you are in the island…
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Mask, a Must?
When I first came to Japan as a visiting relative, I was surprised to see a lot of people wearing masks. “What’s going on? Is there an epidemic?”, I curiously asked my sister who is married to a Japanese and has been living in Japan for many years. She explained that in Japan, it is…
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Sakura and Other Flowers That Bloom in Spring
Sakura Sakura is undebatably the most famous seasonal flower in Japan. It is the symbol of spring. People from all over Japan look forward to this season, when they can roll open their picnic mats and gather over a neatly-packed bento and cans of beer while viewing the pretty cherry blossoms. It is…
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A Love Story Made in Japan
“Life is like a box of chocolates, you will never know what you’ll get”. “Love comes from the most unexpected places.” These two sayings remind me of the love story of my friend who thought will never find someone to love and to love her, but when she came to Japan, her black and white…
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Earthquake in Kyushu: That Shaky Experience
(a snapshot from our TV) April 14, 2016, Thursday evening, I was on our living room sitting on the floor playing with my laptop on the low center table. I was all alone that night since my husband was at his part-time work. I was updating my iPhone, surfing the net and chatting with some friends and my…