Hey there!
How was (or is) your summer vacation?

I came back from mine less than a week ago and it was AWESOME!!
There were a lot of ups and downs, but compared to the majority of my previous HORROR trips, this one was actually quite good!

( The downside(s) of my vacation.Collapse )


Apart from that I had a REALLY great vacation and here's why:




I finally got to see the beautiful turquoise color of the ocean in Okinawa! Something I wanted to see and experience so badly!
I went swimming in the crystal clear water (even at the beach where they shot the final of Hana Yori Dango - the second movie)!!!
I went snorkeling a few times, even saw a giant sea turtle (which is rather rare where we were snorkeling - at least that's what others told me). So lucky! ^^

( Read more...Collapse )



I already mentioned that it was raining most of the time, so I decided to go diving because underwater the weather doesn't matter!
It was my first time ever and it was not planned at all! I spent a lot of extra money (I think this was my most expensive vacation ever), but it was totally worth it!

I'm the one on the very right in this photo, in the foreground!

I took a beginners' course and apart from me there was another young Japanese man (roughly 10 years younger than me) who had ZERO experience (as in: he has never even snorkeled before).
The air tank (or whatever it is called) was REALLY heavy, but as soon as you're in the water it doesn't matter anymore.
I was told that my breathing technique was already excellent (it's pretty much the same as for snorkeling), we just had to test if my ears can handle the depth of the ocean.
I can't remember exactly, but I think if your ears can survive 5m, you'll be fine.
My ears hurt, but I managed to "open" them again and again, so I was ready to go for the "real thing".

( Read more...Collapse )


I already miss Okinawa.
The people there (especially on the small islands) are all so laid-back and the mix of things I know from back home (cows, goats, horses) with the beautiful ocean views is just beyond imagination!
I think I became a fan of snorkeling and diving as well.
I know that I will be back in Okinawa at some point. Can't wait to go again!
I won't forget the time where I rode my bicycle on one of the small islands with the greatest view of the ocean and fresh green all around me, accompanied by beautiful butterflies flying right next to me! ^____^

Hey! How's everyone doing?

I'm sorry that I've been silent in the past few days / weeks. I think some didn't even notice that I was gone for 9 days and was traveling around during Golden Week?
After all I didn't write about it on LJ, simply because I didn't have enough time.

People who follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram might already know where I've been and might have seen some photos, but here's a short review of my vacation! ^^


As I was so busy and so many other things were going on, I didn't have much time for planning. And most of you probably know that during Golden Week it can be quite crazy in Japan as almost EVERYONE is traveling.
Thus prices for transportation and accommodation or more expensive and you usually have to book far in advance.
Because I couldn't do that this time, I decided to go to Tokyo!!!

I haven't been to Tokyo ... meaning actually INSIDE of Tokyo ever since 2008, I think.
I've only changed trains and stuff, but never actually got off to spend some time there.
While I was such a huge Tokyo fan in 2007 and 2008 - and visited many times - I just had no reason to go back there.

My hope was that Tokyo would be rather empty during Golden Week, because everybody would get out of Tokyo to travel somewhere else, but I was wrong!
I guess all the people who live in the countryside decided to visit Tokyo! (T____T)

Tokyo is always crowded and it's one of the reasons why I hate big cities, but during Golden Week it's even worse!


Tokyo doesn't have so much to offer for a sightseeing geek like me, but my plan was to do several day trips and get out of Tokyo!
I had a great time and another reason to go to Tokyo was to FINALLY meet hinoai!!!!! (^______^)b
( Read more...Collapse )



( I swam with dolphins on Mikura Island!Collapse )




One of my highlights was certainly THIS!!! I swear it felt like paradise!
I had this on my list for such a long time now and I was so worried because you know my bad luck with Mt. Fuji, right?
The weather that day wasn't perfect. People were complaining about the few clouds that were covering Mt. Fuji, but that's MUCH better than what I'm used to, so I was sooooooooooooooooo happy!!!!

( Read more...Collapse )


What did you do during Golden Week? :) (And yes, I realize that GW doesn't exist outside of Japan XD ...)
Bye~chuu~

Hey!

So, my short spring vacation of 6 days started as of today.
And I'm quite sure I don't have to explain this to you, but usually I'm out of here ASAP!

So far I left with pretty much the first / earliest train on my first day off on EVERY SINGLE VACATION I can think of in the past 5+ years here in Japan!
Sometimes I even extended my vacation so that I came back on the day where I had to be back at work (in the afternoon).

I always tried to use every single second, every single day - to the fullest!

There are / were several reasons for that:

1. I knew that I'm not going to stay in Japan forever, so I wanted to see as much as possible in my limited time.



2. In my first 4 years in Japan I only had 3 weeks of vacation per year (1 week in April, 1 in August, 1 in December / Jan), so my travel time was very limited. On top of that I lived so isolated that day trips were almost impossible. Thus I was always very happy to get OUT OF THERE as soon as I could. That's one reason why I eventually decided to move.



3. I just came to love traveling in Japan. When I first came here that was not my priority .... it just happened! ;)

But this time it's different. It's already my first day of vacation today and as you can see I'm home!
(Well, it was supposed to rain today anyways. In fact it's only cloudy and very windy, but whatever...)

You might have noticed that I was traveling a LOT this past year. It was really crazy! First of all I had much more vacation than before - almost 3 more weeks per year! And then I also have public holidays off, so that I sometimes am blessed with a 3-days' weekend - giving me a great chance to do some minor trips - and I did! A lot!
Because of moving to Kansai, I'm now very central and day trips (even to Kyoto, Osaka or Nara) are not a problem! And I've done a few of those day trips already.


On top of that I got sick before ALL of my previous vacations last year (I'm sure some of you remember). And I was also extremely unlucky with the weather every freaking single time!
Last April I was hit by a typhoon, in May again - followed by horrible weather for many days. And the top of it all was my vacation in Okinawa this winter! TWO WEEKS OF BAD WEATHER!!!!
I was really frustrated.
Of course I still enjoyed traveling, but now that I have achieved one of my goals (visiting all 47 prefectures), maybe it's time to calm down a bit.



This photo is from last week when I met amvn in Himeji, but that's a story for another time! ;)


I've not started planning my short vacation until a few days ago. ( Read more...Collapse )


Sorry, I guess I just had to get this off of my soul! :/ ....

Hi!



So yeah, I'm back!
And first of all we need to celebrate because now I've officially been to
ALL 47 JAPANESE PREFECTURES!!!!!!!!




Unfortunately I was EXTREMELY unlucky with the weather (again).
Almost all 16 days were quite bad. My first days in Saga Prefecture I spent out in the cold snowstorm and from there it was strong winds and rain the whole time.


Remember how much I was hoping to get at least 1 or 2 sunny days on Okinawa?? :( ...
Well, I didn't.
( Read more...Collapse )






Yet Okinawa was GREAT!!!!!!!
I really fell in love with Okinawa although I've only been to three islands. I definitely want to go again and explore some more (hopefully next time with better weather!).

( more photos!! ^-^Collapse )



Well, that's it for now!
Actually there's so much more to tell you, but I really have TONS of other things to do.
My blog is almost dying. I haven't had time to post anything in ages. I have millions and millions of photos to look through since last summer vacation. I need to renew my work visa this month.
I just bought a car navi, so hopefully I can explore the prefecture I'm living in now a bit more by car (after my "travel hiatus" until March).

It was really a crazy, busy year. Can't remember that I've ever been so busy before!
Especially since November when my family came to visit, I barely had any breaks at all. I need to make sure my body gets some good rest, but I also need to get back into blogging!

Hope you're all doing fine out there!
Bye~chuu!~

Hi everybody!

Hope you're all fine?
It surely has gotten cold recently - even here in Kansai.

I'm sorry that I haven't been around much, but as I told you in one of my previous entries it's the busiest time for me right now - until the middle of January.
It's mainly all good things, but I'm still insanely busy because of them!

My family came to Japan for (only) one week.
It was the second time for my brother (as some of you might remember).
I was busy creating a good travel plan for them. My brother mainly wanted to see Kyoto and Osaka as he didn't see anything of Kansai last time he came.

I could only spend 4 full days with them because of work. I even took one day off to have 4 consecutive days, but I also did day trips on my working days where I had to leave them in the early afternoon. Extremely busy and exhausting I tell you!
I was the first one to get up in the morning to make them breakfast, then guided them around, then had lunch with them, then rushed to work, worked for 8h, came back home to make sure they had everything they needed, made a list with train and bus times for the next day for the time I wouldn't be around so that they knew how they could come back to my apartment .... and was thus the last to go to bed. PHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

( Read more...Collapse )

It was dangerous to pass Togetsukyo (the famous bridge) as there were so many people and cars ..... once across the bridge you could observe people taking boat tours, though! ^^



( moar photos!~Collapse )





All in all I hope they enjoyed Japan and the autumn leaves!



My printer stopped working and I was about to buy a new one, but my brother managed to fix it.
I miss having people around me who can do things I can't and can help me out when needed! ;____; .....


(......................................)



There's still some cleaning up, laundry and stuff to do now that they're gone, but I decided to take a break this weekend!
Before they came I was in a rush to finish booking all the flights for Okinawa ... and the hotels .... and I barely finished. It was 2am by that time and I had to get up at 4:30am to catch an early train to Kyoto and meet my family.

In 3 weeks I'm already off to Okinawa and right after that is a wedding of a former co-worker.

On top of that I also need to renew my ARC (alien registration card) - or rather get the new residence card ... and renew my visa ASAP!!!!!!!

I really hope I can relax in February for a bit. This year has been crazy!!!!


And how are you all doing?

Kisses~

Hello everybody!

How have you been??
First of all: HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!!
I hope the year of the dragon will be an awesome one!

I came back from my 11 days winter vacation trip on Sunday and have been busy ever since then which is why I couldn't post earlier.

I guess it's time for a brief update, huh?
Ok, here we go. I have a new job and due to that I'll have to move in 6 weeks!
That is not much time! I'm so busy getting things done, getting packed, sending things, trying to figure out what I have to do etc.
Although it's gonna be my 5th(!! omg!) year in Japan, it's my first time MOVING in Japan!!

If anybody has any experience with moving in Japan, I'd really appreciate some advice.
Currently I'm trying to figure out what the best option to send my stuff is. Kuroneko looks promising.
I also need to get rid of quite a lot of stuff at Hard Off and House Off or whatever they're called.

Shifting money to another bank account that will work outside of my current prefecture.
Doing some last-minute traveling within my prefecture (you know the "oh, I live here I can always go, so I never went there yet" thingie, right? -___-;; ...)

As you can imagine all that leaves me even busier than I usually already am!

I will update you with more details some other time.
I think it's enough if I say that I'll move to Kansai in 6 weeks.


Because I'm so busy, I won't have time to post much in the next few weeks or months. I might even be without internet for a month or two once March comes!

That's why I wanted to give you at least a short review of my awesome winter vacation now!
I hope you'll enjoy it!~



Aoshima in Miyazaki.

( Read more...Collapse )

MUCH MORE over at ZOOMING JAPAN!
(sorry I can't post things twice all the time ...)

Thanks for staying with me!~

Uhm .... yes, I'm still alive. Sort of.

I am aware of the fact that I TOTALLY neglect LJ lately, but I'm just far too busy for an actual life! *sigh*

Good news: My website is almost set and good to go. And it "only" took 4 months ... YAY! Go me!
The layout finally works in all new browser versions.
It doesn't work that well in Internet Explorer 7 and older.

That's why I want to ask you guys one more time:




I won't be uploading my photos to my webhost, but an image host instead. I'm thinking about going with Flickr and getting a premium account (which I will definitely need - just look at all the photos I've already posted here!).
Do you think that is a good idea? Any other / better options you know of? Please share! :)


( Read more...Collapse )



Here is a quick "newsticker" as to what has happened in the past (few) months:

( AmanohashidateCollapse )



There are also a few interesting temples and shrines on the way and on top of the observing platform.

( Kobe and Awaji-shimaCollapse )



( Himeji and The Last SamuraiCollapse )



Alright, that's all for now.
I'm going back to get the server move done and then I'll be busy with travel planning, travelling, winter vacation travel planning etc.
I'm really trying hard here, but I stop promising things I cannot keep. The blog is almost done. All that's left is filling it with content after the server move is done.
Let's hope that you guys won't have to wait so much longer anymore.

P.S.: Thanks so much to all of the awesome people out there who took part in the last poll!

P.P.S.: Is even anybody still out there or did you all run away by now? XD I'd run away, so I can understand. I've been absent for so long anyways.

Until hopefully very soon! CU~chuu

Hello again!

See? I'm really trying hard to keep the entries coming
Nothing to be proud of as it's almost September and I still haven't finished even half of my spring vacation travel entries (^-^') ....

As this is my newest trip and I still remember it clearly, I thought I'd post about it first.
As some of you know I went sightseeing before my flight as I had to go to Osaka anyways. My flight was at midnight and so I had almost one whole day to spend.
Also, because I've been to almost everywhere in Kansai, I decided to try Wakayama this time. It's only a short train ride from Osaka: 1.5h by local train (and around 1200yen). There's also a limited express which takes you there in an hour, but it costs twice as much!

Wakayama (Wakayama/Kansai) (July 28th 2011):

( Read more...Collapse )



( Kishi Station where you can meet the only cat station master in the world!Collapse )



( Read more...Collapse )

That's it. Hope you enjoyed my very short day in Wakayama.
Next up: I'm going to continue with my spring vacation trip.
Actually I want to take some random short trips from now on as my time in Japan is soon over and I wanna get as much done as possible, but it's been raining every single day since I came back to Japan. No good travel weather ... *sigh*

Thanks for reading.

UWAAAH!!!~
Has it really been OVER 1 (O.N.E.!) month since my last travel entry???

I'm really sorry about that, but most of you know why!
I'm still working on my new blog project and it's finally going into a good direction and I'm slowly getting there (still lots of work involved from now on, though!)
Also, in less than 2 weeks (HOMG!) I'm off to Germany!
Anyways, doing all that coding, changing/improving my LJ design seems like a piece of cake now (but I'm too lazy and still quite content with the layout anways XD)...

Enough of my blabbering let's get started, there's a lot to show and explain, so get ready!~

Bitchu Takahashi (Okayama) (April 3rd 2011):

( From Okayama to Takahashi: Raikyuji Temple and Hina Matsuri ExhibitionCollapse )



And everything is so colorful!

( Bitchu Matsuyama Castle: the highest castle above sea level in Japan!Collapse )



As you can see, the main tower isn't really big at all.

( Read more...Collapse )

I hope you enjoyed this post.
Next up: Tsuyama (and then back to Okayama because I suck! )
I don't know when I'll be able to write the next travel post. I'm pretty sure that I won't have time before I leave for Germany where I'll stay for 2 weeks, so you might have to wait another month, but after that I'll be properly back, I swear! ;o; .....

I couldn't even finish this entry in one day! That's how busy I am.
Thanks for reading and being patient!

Hello!~

It's finally time for another travel entry!! Yay!~
So, after visiting Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku for only 2 days, I was back on the main island (Honshu) in Okayama.
Because I've already been to the main attractions in Okayama city years ago, I went for some other sites this time.
First destination was: Kurashiki

Kurashiki is especially well-known for its various museums, but is also worth a visit because of the canal area and all the nice and old buildings around it!!
Welcome to the Venice of Japan?!

Kurashiki (Okayama) (April 2nd 2011):

( Read more...Collapse )



ZOOOOM! And sooo adorable, too!! I've rarely seen such a cute monkey!! (^-^)b

( Off to Canal City! XDCollapse )



Somehow you just can't get enough of this awesome atmosphere!

( Swan eggs, insects in hospitals and cherry blossom trees in side streets!!Collapse )

Next up is: Bitchu Takashashi (with Matsuyama Castle) and Kojima


As this is related to today's travel entry, let me have a short poll because I'm just curious: Chinese Zodiac

( You know you want to take part in the poll! XDCollapse )


That's all for today.
Thanks so much for reading!

P.S.: If anybody ever wondered, it took me over 2.5h to write this entry!!!!!! (x___X)