Happy-ness

Picture story #5: Japan Day 3 (part 2)

2012-06-15T09:59:00.003+08:00

Again, from my camera's perspective...

Walking through the Shimogamo neighborhood. This was one of the buildings there with a nice design!

We had our morning walk around the area and ended up by the river

Look at that nice view!

It's pretty cool and cold under the bridge

Kamogawa it says :) Yay I can still read Hiragana!

We decided to walk back home for breakfast. :)

And this is what's for breakfast! I think this is typical for Japanese because when I was an exchange student, I have bread and butter everyday for breakfast. Plus fruits and milk. We loaded ourselves with carbs to give us enough energy for the day!

That's us again, walking to the train station.

Some of the few vending machines scattered everywhere. And when I say everywhere I do mean EVERYWHERE. It's all over! You can find it in the least places you'd expect :))

See, these ones even sell cigs! How weird is that? I wonder if they ask for IDs haha

And then I took random photos in the subway

Train interior...sorry it's a bit blurry

I forgot the name of this Shrine :((

Sakura petals that have fallen to the ground...

The last ones of the flowers that are still remaining. Strongly holding on

So we're back again at the train station. This platform looks quite different, this has glass doors and windows at the edge of the platform. The train's doors will be aligned to the fixed doors on the platform. This prevents "accidents" such as people falling into the railway (or intentionally?)

not too jam-packed :)

I told you these were everywhere... and this one's for ice cream! Cool!

Yukatassss :((

Want to buy one for myself. But I won't have any use for it back in the Philippines

Some amazing fake food art (typical of Japanese)

My lunch!!! I think this meal costs 350 pesos. It's worth it. Filled me up really good!

Looks so modern

So this is the Catholic Church

ENOUGH SAID :)

Hey look! Another familiar establishment to a foreigner's eye hahaha

This is at Kyoto Museum. This is a hologram of their geography and it looks so much mora amazing in person. The mountains look like they're floating in the air (as if you could touch it) But this hologram gave me headaches afterwards. haah!

A diorama with a cool projection...inside

See that? Those people inside there are animated!

and we headed to McDo for a quick snack! We were curious how McDo tastes like in Japan. =P

This is what I love about Japan-their humongous sidewalks!

Toire with the typical japanese buttons...

I wasn't "that" adventurous enough to try them! haha!

At Kyoto International Manga Museum

I love the buildings!

This building is being built....look at that neat scaffolding and (debris protector?)

more cool buildings!

Yukatas worn on the streets of Kyoto...very typical Japanese (especially in very tradtional and modern Kyoto)

It's shopping time!!

Look at these goodies!!

Nightlife!

And then we got lost....

We're lost but we still enjoyed the bright lights of Kyoto at night

Familiar LOGOS!!

Hey we found our way to the pack!

Waiting for seats to be emptied...

Kaiten sushi!

This is as authentic as it can get!!

What I shopped for!!! It was a pain to carry!!

Preparing our futons for bedtime...step 1

2...

3...almost done!!

finished!! ain't that beautiful?

my bills turned to coins :((

goodies!

Make Up is my PASSION

2012-06-14T14:07:00.003+08:00

Lipstick is really magical. It holds more than a waxy bit of color - it holds the promise of a brilliant smile, a brilliant day, both literally and figuratively.”

― Roberta Gately

One of my passions is Makeup... I may have been blessed to have finished a bachelor's degree in the Science field...But my love for art keeps pushing its way back to me. I just have this burning passion for colors, and creating art. Makeup for me is not just beauty, it's basically art with the face as the canvass and makeup brushes as the art tools. I think I suck at the traditional painting or drawing, but painting on a live canvass is my thing. Soon, I want to try getting formally trained...and see if makeup loves me too (hopefully yes?)...after all it's ARTISTRY...and with proper spacing, you get, ART is TRY. And when I bought these babies, it fueled up the embers of my passion and suddenly kept it roaring with flames. Now all I have to do is get used to holding these tools like a magic wand and create looks more than basic. I am almost ready...Makeup school wait for me. :)

Interested in Charm PRO brushes? You can buy them here or here
It's sold at Php3,400 (more or less)

Picture story #4: Japan Day 3

2012-06-14T13:41:00.002+08:00

These are the pictures for my Kyoto Adventure day 3... I'll let the pictures do the talking ;)

Cute house and a nice car. :)

Walking to the train station

What I love about Japan, their rivers!

Add caption

Interesting buildings along the way

Subway :)

waiting for the train

First stop for the day!

Shopping mall for lunch!

Restaurant where we ate

Catholic Church

Kyoto Museum

McDonald's Ice Cream

A very nice building!

Kyoto International Manga Museum!

This is the official website of the Manga Museum (in english!)

Dinner at a Kaiten Sushi Restaurant!

Enjoying the conveyor belt feature!

While waiting for our food.

1970's biscayne

2012-06-14T11:01:00.002+08:00

I don't buy fur coats or jewelry. I have old cars.

~Peta Wilson

Meet my granddad's 1970's Chevrolet Biscayne. It's been gathering dust (and maybe some spiders and also creatures who found it as their home) in our ancestral house for years now. People just pass by it... and it's only now that someone took interest in it. I have always been interested in my grandpa's car but never had the courage (or time? I was just lazy maybe) to take a closer look at it. I finally had the courage to get inside it (amid all the dust and cobwebs) and teleport back to the 70s! Sitting inside it was so amazing for me. (Told you guys, I am a sucker for vintage!) Then, I finally was able to take a closer look at the front part of the car. It was my first time actually to see it. (Yes, after 21 years!) I was awe-struck! It was a pretty sight! The CHEVROLET lettering on it, the amazing grills and the nice headlights! Gosh, it brings me back to the old days! It was just awesome!

-VIE

"Cest La Vie"

Picture story #3: Japan Day 2 (part 2)

2012-06-14T10:37:00.002+08:00

So these are the pictures that came from my camera... I take random photos of anything.... forgive me

This is the view from our room

What a very nice neighborhood!

Our futons all rolled up! We'll just have to unroll everything once when we're ready for bed. It'll save us time and effort especially that we're always very exhausted after every trip.

Typical japanese squat toilet

Powder room :)

Yay!!

The entrance...

Ready for this day's adventure!

The Shimogamo Academy gate :)

Hello Eri-san! She's my host sister. She came to visit me all the way from Hyogo...

Our train passes for the day!

By the bus stop

Here comes the bus!!!

Sister and I

One of the many beautiful bridges in Kyoto

Walking through the streets of Kyoto!

Kyoto University!

Look at thoooooose bikes!

My favorite car!

The Kyoto University Sciences building as my awesome background!

The oldest dormitory in Kyoto

Look at how majestic it is!!

Something familiar to a foreigner like me :)

Amazed at the bus stop mechanism thingy. It shows if the bus is already on it's way to this bus stop... cool right?

Philosopher's walk

The beautiful nature surroundings!

There was something about this rock formation. It was about the moon shining on it, etc...

Maiko! They have really beautiful Kimonos!

All the souvenirs I wished I could buy!

What's for lunch?

We ended up having a picnic

Sakuras falling :(

Some of the many many many stuffs in Kyoto Handicraft center.

Those are very very very very cute Kokeshi dolls!

Tired, so we just sat...

I'm a sucker for Japanese shampoo haha!

Bye Eri, I will miss you :(

Yummy cake as dessert for dinner!

Computer room/internet room to connect to our families back in the Philippines

Japanese medicine for my sore throat...Works wonders!

Why do you guys looks so serious?!

Get together with the student residents...

Presentations

I just had to take a picture of my money before it's gone! haha

Picture story #2: Japan Day 2

2012-06-14T09:40:00.004+08:00

I am so sorry this took me so long to post. :( I've been really busy with a lot of stuff. But now I have time for a lot of things! And I will blog about them every now and then.

Anyway, here's picture story #2!

This is Shimogamo Academy. It's a residence center run by Opus Dei. This is where we stayed for 6 days. We stayed in a beautiful cozy traditional tatami room.

On a bus ride headed to Kyoto University

That's my Japanese host sister right there. She is staying in Hyogo and I told her about my Kyoto trip and was more than excited to visit me and tour with us. She was able to find Shimogamo using the cab. Convenient!

Walking through the streets going to Kyoto University.

Just one of the many Toriis you'll find in Kyoto.

Just one of the many amazing architectural buildings in Kyoto

Facade of the University. Oh, that famous clock tower!

Look at those Japanese bikes. On the background you see a typical Japanese apartment.

This is my host sister posing in front of the very intricate architectural building of Kyoto University's Health Sciences.

This bulletin reminds me of Japanese dramas with school settings (of course)

On our way to Kyoto's oldest dormitory.

Look at that! It looks super traditional and old but still beautiful! I'm a sucker for old historical places!

Now headed to the famous Philosopher's walk!

Philosopher's walk!! This place looks amazing during the cherry blossom season... Too bad we were just a few weeks late. :( Still, this walkway looks very nice even without the cherry blossoms.

On our way to Ginkaku-ji!!

A better view of the Philosopher's walk... Imagine those cherry blossoms! It surely will bring out the Philosopher in you!

The streets were lined with restaurants...

shops...

and more shops!

That's me and my host sister posing along the walkway in the surroundings of Ginkaku-ji.

Look at the number of people! It was quite crowded... Well, it's Golden Week after all!

Ginkaku-ji surroundings =) very nature-y!

Pretty leaves!

A stamp to stamp (of course!) your entrance ticket for a souvenir. We just had to try it! Entrance tickets in Japan would always have to be pretty. In that way, they also serve as a souvenir of your trip!

And look at who we bumped into!! Maikos!

Up Close! Dream come true for me!!!

A Japanese rickshaw perfect for photos..

Back in the bus again...It's so packed!

Torii again! I think this is in Heian shrine.

A picture against a beautiful building!

Look at those flowers! Pretty!

Takoyaki! Authentic of course! We had to try it! I never really like Takoyaki from the Philippines so I generalized that I hated Takoyaki. But THIS made me "taste" otherwise! I love it! It's super soft and rich and just pure awesome!

At Heian Shrine. It makes me think about China or Korea. =P

Standing by the wishing tree. :)

And we also visited the Kyoto Handicraft center. There were a lot of things to see there but we had so little energy left that we weren't able to browse through the wild array of stuffs offered here...I managed to take some pics though.

Surprisingly...when my host sister whipped out her own camera, we came to realize how coincidental it was to have the same exact camera. Only with different colors...We're really sister must I say :))

Second day was so Jam-packed with places and activities. I am so glad that my sister toured with us. :) Up next, pictures of Day 2 taken from my camera ;)

Picture story #1: Japan Day 1

2011-06-20T16:07:00.000+08:00

What better way to tell a story than with pictures!! So here's my picture story entry number one during my first day in Japan!

I went to Japan last May 1-6, 2011 by the way.

Below is a picture of ate yelle, me and karen inside Naia terminal 2 waiting for our check in counter to open.

That's me below wandering around the boarding lounge as we await the opening of the boarding gates :)

That's us about to board!!

In-flight food courtesy of Philippine Airlines. I think this is for lunch.

Oops, blurry pic. But that's me and Karen excited to land at Kansai!!

Another blurry pic...but hey, we're at Kansai already!!

We're all sooooo happy and excited to be in Japan... Tired? nah!

Here's some view of Kansai International Airport from the transport train within the airport.

The picture says it all! =P

Just one of the many vendo machines we're about to see in Japan!

We're about to ride our mini van that'll take us to our residence "hotel". Good thing the driver speaks English!

Inside the van...

Some of the few temples we saw during our trip to our hotel.

And I took a picture of something that looked really familiar!!

Welcome drinks and snacks!!!

Yep, that's our room!! and our bed!!

Futon!!! OYASUMI!

A video proof of my exchange student experience

2011-06-20T15:14:00.000+08:00

I miss Japan so much and I wanna go back to where my passion for Japan all started: when I was an exchange student there myself. This video had been posted a loooong time ago. I just want to share it with you here :)

I went to Japan as a YFU exchange student for 27 days and this video gives an overview of my stay there. It doesn't give justice to the fun I had last time though!! Will try to make more videos and put up pictures of my stay there soon!!

Song is by Tackey and Tsubasa "One Day One Dream"

The "fireworks" that leave us all in awe!

2011-06-02T01:45:00.000+08:00

I've always been a fan on fireworks! Well, who's not mesmerized by those amazing pyrotechnics that paint and light the dark sky? These fireworks shows always leave me smiling and fixated to the sky where the last sparks faded... I'm in love! haha!

I've been to a lot of fireworks displays and The World pyromusical had always been my favorite! Below this entry are pictures that I've taken after the last fireworks show I've ever been to. It's the last day of the World pyromusical at Moa and I went to appreciate the art armed with my trusty Canon point and shoot camera and a small tripod, I placed myself in where i consider the best "seat in the house" which was at the rooftop parking space of Mall of Asia. Just look at the pics and tell me that that''s not the best spot!

The pictures are taken thanks to the timer function of my camera with 10 continuous firing shots. This enabled me to view the display in peace. LOL. I had to re-click the shutter button after the 10 shots were taken though. Still, I was able to enjoy the fireworks without having to look through my camera lens/lcd all the time!

Here are the shots I'm really proud of! It's nice how the camera captures the beauty of the fireworks at a different perspective!

Japan, japan…see, I told you I’d come back!

2010-06-14T04:25:00.007+08:00

There was a day four years ago wherein I was in Fukuoka, Japan feeling all happy and thankful for the wonderful and very memorable experience my host family brought me… I was also feeling sad as I bade my goodbyes to the people I considered family for three weeks. I rode a plane that brought me to Haneda then rode the limo bus to Narita International Airport for me and my fellow exchange students’ flight going back to the Philippines. The cold Japan breeze hugged me goodbye as I entered the plane and, 5 hours after, I got greeted by the warm Philippine temperature. I was back home.

February 14, 2006…that was four years ago. I was in three places, was in two countries, rode two planes, experienced all the emotions, felt two extreme temperatures, and all that happened on the same day.

May 1, 2010, this familiar scent greeted my sense of smell…and it brought me back to a place where I once had been four years ago. There were times wherein I chance upon that familiar smell as I go through my day to day life and, for a few seconds, I close my eyes, and I was back in Japan. Last May 1, however, as I filled my lungs with this scent to my heart’s content, I open my eyes, and I was in Japan, I blinked…and now, it was for real.

from L-R (Me, Yelle, Ms. Mitzie) this was outside Kansai Int'l airport already.

We were about to ride the MK shuttle that would take us to Shimogamo Academy.

The sweet floral scent of Japan filled the air…how I wished I could take that scent with me back home so that each time I get a whiff, it’d bring me back to Japan. As I walked through the floors of Kansai, International airport, I still can’t believe that I’m back in Japan. But as we stepped out of the airport, the cold but surprisingly soothing air that welcomed us and the still lingering “Japan” scent were enough to tell me that I was really in Japan. It’s a dream come true! Thank you Ms. Mitzie for making this dream a reality. And I’m happy to spend this dream turned reality with the best Japan travel buddies, Karen and Yelle, and Ms. Mitzie of course! The drive going to our place was rather long but very interesting nonetheless. I kept my eyes open and savored the city lights, and the change of scenery as we pass city after city before finally arriving at Kyoto.

“Shimogamo Academy”… the engraving in the marble in front of the gate read. Of course it’s in Kanji and Katakana…I just guessed that’s what’s put there. Being greeted by very warm Japanese ladies and a very charming Spanish lady all bowing to us and house slippers all prepared for us was so Japanese! The staff of Shimogamo academy was so nice and warm. With all the friendliness they showed, the exhaustion from all that happened in one day, and the very soft futon, we all dozed off to sleep with excitement on what will come tomorrow and the days after.

Our super comfy futons!!

The following days came surprisingly fast but paradoxically long… This needs explanation. Time flew in Japan. Before we knew it, we were packing our luggage (all worried with the baggage limit with all the stuff we got to buy) for the flight the morning after. Yes, time flew…but we all agreed to feeling that the days felt longer than the one-day-is-twenty-four-hours fact. With all the places we’ve gone, all the things that we did, we still can’t believe that our trip was only six days. It felt like we’ve been in Japan longer than that.

I got surprised realizing that in those six days, I found myself in six temples, five shopping areas, two museums, one university, one palace, having early morning walks, getting lost twice (one was a night out in central Kyoto and the other one was during a morning walk), learning the tea ceremony, biking for three hours around Kyoto, laughing a lot, enjoying the ofuro, and enjoying every minute of my stay in Japan.

I loved being in Japan! The whole experience was definitely the highlight of my summer vacation!

And if you’d ask me, if I would want to go back to Japan again, I’m sure you already know my answer.

L-R Karen, Ms. Mitzie, Seiko-san, Me

Quick Update

2010-05-19T08:36:00.002+08:00

New Lay-out

I was in high school when I was introduced to the html world. Unfortunately, I only got to learn the basics. I'm a no-brainer when it comes to html stuff so thank you for pre-made layouts!! Thanks to yummylolly.com for the free template! I was in search for a japanese-looking template and this one is perfect for me...Simple, pink (my next favorite color) and has flowers :)

Update

I'll be adding more stuff soon! I'll be posting more blog entries about my recent trip to Japan and I think I'll do a little introduction about the Kyoto tour in this post. ^_^

Kyoto Study Tour '10: an Introduction

This tour got conceptualized a year ago by Ms. Mitzie Icasiano. She lives with my aunt in Tahilan (a study and residence center near DLSU-Manila) and they both are members of Opus dei. Now, after a year, my aunt told me that the study tour is finally pushing through. There were limited slots available and me and my three sisters got the three slots. Our family friend Karen got the one slot too. A lot of things happened, my sisters won't be able to make it, some backed out, leaving me, Karen, Ms. Mitzie and ate Yelle (a Tahilan resident and also an Opus dei member).

So, we had to prepare for the visa. The requirements I prepared were: affidavit of support, the bank certificate of the one supporting me financially... I think those were just the ones. The other tour details were taken care of by Ms. Mitzie.

Board and Lodging: Ms. Mitzie coordinated with Shimogamo Academy (an Opus dei residence center in Japan) and the staff were very glad to accommodate us.

Food: 2 meals/day were also part of the generous accommodation of Shimogamo Academy.

So, instead of paying for an expensive hotel, Shimogamo Academy was really generous for taking us all in with a very affordable fee.

Guided tours were courtesy of the "Good Samaritan Club." I'm not sure about this but I heard that the tour guides are actually students who volunteer to tour foreigners around Kyoto for free (or a small fee)

PAL was also the one responsible for flying us to Japan and back to Manila :)

This study tour was sort-of a "field trip" to Japan

Kyoto Study Tour Day 1 post coming up...

Back to the Philippines!

2010-05-10T05:00:00.003+08:00

Yes! I'm finally back to the Philippines! And I feel both sad and happy about it and excited too!! I feel sad because I miss Japan oh-so-much!! (My luggage still smells like Japan) I don't know if it's just me but Japan has this certain scent. Somewhat floral and clean... I feel happy and excited because there is so much to blog about!! The six-day trip was a fun experience! And even if it was only six days, it felt like we were there for two weeks or more!! That is because we visited a lot of temples and places that we felt that each day was really long!!

The upcoming blog entries would all include the places I got to see, the things that I bought (and hopefully some reviews), everything that happened!! I'm still not sure how I'd do it, but maybe I'd make six blog entries for each day then make separate detailed entries of the places, and other things worth digging into. =) And of course, these are with pictures.

Anyway, I'll be voting in a while =) so this would be my blog entry for now.

I pray that those who will win this election would be worthy of their positions. Let's all pray for a better Philippines.

Here are a few sneak preview photos from my Japan trip! The first one was taken at the international manga museum and the second one was taken at the Philosopher's walk going to the Ginkakuji-temple. *You can click on the pictures for a larger view :)

Dream come true: Japan I’m coming back to youuuuuu!!

2010-04-13T21:23:00.002+08:00

I got my Japanese VISA!! jumps and dances (I really don't know how to dance but this thing made me dance!)

It's been so long since I dreamed of going back to Japan. I went there last Jan 2006...It's been four years! And now, I finally had my dream come true (well, almost! Not till I get there yet!)

I got a Japanese Visa for a study tour I'll be joining this coming May. Four of us would tour Kyoto and get to have Japanese lessons there too! Ms. Mitzie, a friend of my aunt, is the one who organized the tour. This is her first time to organize such tour and I think it's going to be a success. She's planning on organizing another one again next year so those who are interested, tell me! =)

If you look at my pictures in my two visas, you'll see the year difference with how I look. I looked so young back then!

This was my old visa. I got this for an exchange student program.
(Sorry for the messy editing. I used only paint since it's the only
available photo editing program I have here in my laptop.)

This is a close-up of the visa's hologram thing.

And now, my new visa got me so excited! I loved the way it looks!

Again, sorry for the messy editing... Shame shame!
Look at the cute hologram though! I hope you can see the cute fan in the middle.

The whole thing is actually "hologramized" haha...

Another look. More holograms, see?

Here's a close up of the cute sakura hologram =)

Now I see the "kawaii" culture of Japan in this VISA. Why does the visa have to be this cute? I'm not complaining. Who would anyway? They're just too cute! One would love to get them without the intention of going to Japan! Kidding! Again, sorry for erasing certain information in my visa (you didn't get to appreciate the "whole" thing). Something in my mind tells me it's not safe to share those info to the world wiiiiide web. wink

So, here's how I got my Japanese Visa:
I printed out an application form from the Japanese embassy, filled it out and pasted a 2x2 picture
Attached a notarized affidavit of support from my aunt (She'll be the one sponsoring my trip)
Attached a bank certificate of my aunt
A birth certificate will be needed too but in my case, since I already had a previous visa, I need not provide them one.

I then submitted my documents to Ms. Mitzie, the tour organizer. She took care of all the other documents such as the iteneraries, the other details of the tour, etc. She filed the applications last march 24 and they granted it last march 25! Fast processing! We had to submit our applications to an accredited agency and they were the ones who filed it at the Japanese embassy since the embassy doesn't accept direct applications except for special people like (exchange students, diplomats, etc.) We didn't have to show up for an interview (I showed up for an interview for my exchange student visa) and the application in the embassy was free but we had to pay the agency 2,500 each applicant.

Anyhow, I'm all set for the trip! I got my visa and ticket, I just need to pack and gather energy and I'm all set to go! I'm soooo excited!

First post!

2010-04-07T17:08:00.004+08:00

Yay! Yay! I finally got into the blogging bandwagon (what?!)

After years of thinking of starting a blog, I finally made one (all because of boredom). And I know I'll be bumming this summer. All my other friends are out jobhunting...and I'll be here bumming.

So, to start off, my blog's url says ureshiidesu which is japanese for "I'm happy."

and my blog's name is "happy-ness"

Happy. I had an interesting chat with a friend one time and we both were got ourselves into talking about genuine happiness... and so, I got into thinking what happiness means for me...and this blog is an answer to it =P

This blog will contain if not all, some (or most) things that make me happy :)

For sure this will include japan-related posts ( like 90% of the time? haha)...
...Travel posts
...About my friends posts
...Makeup posts
...Dog posts
...er random posts!!
...anything that pops into my mind post

There!

have a happy vacation everyone!!

here's how I look now: (proud and pleased with finally starting a blog)