As mentioned in the last week's blog, an announcement of state of emergency for Tokyo and 3 surrounding prefectures was announced earlier last week. The word was that the announcement will happen on Thursday January 7th (my birthday 🥳) and the state of emergency was to become effective the following day. Technically, 7th wasn't during … Continue reading Sneak in a snow escape before the second state of emergency
Last Thursday January 7th, the second state of emergency has been announced for Tokyo and its surrounding 3 prefectures of Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba (happy birthday to me!). As mentioned in the previous blog, Japanese constitution cannot enforce a strict rule to its citizen. For that reason, unlike many other countries that penalise citizens for … Continue reading Kyoto Highlights🪁 & the 2nd State of Emergency🚨
あけましておめでとう(Akemashite omedeto) or happy new year to 2021! Let’s hope that 2021 will bring some light at the end of the long tunnel called covid-19 🤞🤞. New Years is the biggest event for Japanese. We have a lot of traditions at this time of the year (previously mentioned in my blog posts about the big … Continue reading Holy cow: Japanese New Year celebration
Coronavirus has been spreading again in Japan and due to that, as a last minute decision, Go To Travel has been suspended from Dec 28th - Jan 11 since the start of December. This has caused many cancellations during one of the busiest travel period. According to a couple of surveys, over 80% of people … Continue reading White Corona Christmas in Niseko, Hokkaido
For my husband's birthday last weekend, we visited Nas region to enjoy the many things he loves - onsen♨️, nature🏔, good food🍽 and cows🐄! Here are what we did while we stayed a night in Nasu. Where is 那須塩原(Nasushiobara) Nasu is in Tochigi prefecture. Easily accessible by shinkansen from Tokyo station, an 1 hour and … Continue reading Natural Nasu with the tale of Nine tailed fox
My husband, our friend and I decided to visit one of top Japanese tourist destinations in autumn, 日光 (Nikko) in Tochigi prefecture to enjoy 紅葉 (Koyo or autumn leaves). Koyo is basically the autumn version of 花見 🌸 (hanami or cherry blossom viewing) in spring and is one of the seasonal nature activities that Japanese … Continue reading 🍁Let’s go, koyo! Enjoying autumn leaves in Nikko🍁
We travelled in the northern part of Japan in Akita, Aomori and Hokkaido during the recent 4 days long weekend in September. The first part of the travel post was about our visit to: Japan's deepest lake, Lake Tazawathe hidden onsen village called Nyutou onsenLake Towada in between Akita and Aomori, andthe stunning 14km long … Continue reading Aomori and Hakodate – Silver Week 2020 Part 2
Colloquially called Silver Week, last weekend through to Tuesday was a 4 day long weekend due to Respect for the Aged Day and Autumnal Equinox Day. My husband and I took Friday off so that we can return to 東北 (Tohoku), the northern part of Japan. Previously, we have visited 山形 (Yamagata), 福島(Fukushima) and 宮城 … Continue reading Akita and Aomori road trip- Silver Week 2020 Part 1
At the start of the year, my husband's brother who loves to travel discovered a new hotel from the Hoshino Resort chain was opening in mid March 2020 called BEB5 in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki prefecture. It's a casual cycling hotel located very close to the train station; so close it's actually inside it. They had an … Continue reading A quick weekend getaway from Tokyo to the city of cycle: Tsuchiura, Ibaraki
We entered autumn since September 🍁 but the heat is very much present🥵. While the summer air remains, we headed out of Tokyo for some barbecuing, lake swimming and exploring art in the open. Friday: head to Yamanashi Saiko 🏕 We snuck out of work early and escaped Tokyo before 6pm as the storm started … Continue reading A weekend of lounging by the lakes and appreciating art 🎨
Native Expat 