Nagano Quick Shopping and Food Trip

On my trip to Japan last November 2015, I was lucky enough to squeeze in a 4-day trip to Nagano, where my relatives live. It is actually where I usually stay whenever I'm in Japan. But since I was only there for 4 days, I wasn't able to do much. In fact, I opted to stay home and prepare FIlipino dishes for my family because I knew they really missed them. But as a reward, I got treated like a real guest.

From Shinjuku, Tokyo, I had to take a 2.5-hour bus ride to Suwa Interchange in Nagano, where my family picked me up. They immediately brought me to my favorite kaiten sushi place, Sushiro for lunch. Of course, I had the grandest time eating all of the sushi I could.

The next day, we drove to Karuizawa to go outlet shopping at Prince Shopping Plaza, where the biggest brands of apparel are available at really cheap rates. I got to score a Levi's dress that only cost Php 500 (if converted into Php) and a Nike FlyKnit at only Y10,000 or around Php 3,700 (because exchange rate at that time was really low).

Before shopping, we had soba for lunch. It's located 30 mins away from the outlet shops. There, I was able to see how soba noodles were being made and I was able to taste the best soba I've had in my life. For dinner, we had "yakiniku" near our home in Suwa City. In Japan, the things I love to do are: shopping, taking photos, and of course, EATING! They have the best food in the world (at least for me).

the craft of soba making :) #soba #sobanoodles #lunch #foodporn #japanesefood #Japan2015 #NaganoDay2 #citygirltravels #citygirldiaries

A video posted by Roycie S. (@royciepoisie) on Nov 7, 2015 at 7:20pm PST

The next day, my cousin and I visited one of my favorite and most authentic ramen places in our city. I had miso ramen and I was truly satisfied.

I spent my last day in Nagano at home, cooking Filipino food for the family and packing for my trip to Osaka. I didn't spend anything while at Nagano, thanks to my family! Can't wait to be back! :)

Japanese New Year: Oshogatsu Festival 2014

The New Year celebration in Japan is called the Oshogatsu Festival. It's more solemn and traditional as compared to that of the Philippines, and other Western countries.

For the New Year's eve, we travelled to Tokyo to celebrate it with my Japanese uncle and his mother. But before heading to their house in Tokyo, we stopped by Hachioji to shop for food at Costco. There were so many shoppers getting ready for the NYE.

When we arrived at my uncle's house, we cleaned it up a bit then we headed to the onsen (public bath). There were actually a lot of customers that night. After that, we picked up my cousin and aunt's bestfriend at the bus station and we went to Don Quijote to go shopping. Imagine, it's around 10pm and we're still shopping on NYE.

We all went back to the house and got ready for the NYE dinner (Media Noche in Pinoy culture). We had a very simple NYE dinner. The staple food for NYE dinner in Japan is the soba. After dinner, we headed to the Jindaiji Temple. It's a tradition in Japan to visit shrines/temples on NYE. There were a lot of people lining up to throw coins and pray or make a wish. Surprisingly, I saw a lot of groups of young people at the temple. While some were at the New Year countdown at Shibuya crossing and in some clubs/bars, there were still a long of youngsters who still celebrate the NYE traditionally. 

year of the horse

wine

food!

small temple

main temple (while we were in line)

that's a small fountain

while waiting for our turn

where people get their omikuji

The next day, we had brunch. We shared the "osechi", a set of traditional Japanese New Year food in a special box called, "jubako". Each food symbolizes something, such as health, wealth, and good fortune. After brunch, we hit Harajuku area for shopping. New Year's Day shopping is probably the craziest shopping day of the year in Japan. I'll be making a different post about it, as this post focuses on Japanese New Year.

Anyway, the next day, my aunt's friend gave me an "otoshidama" or New Year money, along with an "omikuji", a piece of paper that talks about my fortune. Unfortunately, I got bad fortune, or "kyo". I must get at least a "kichi" or blessing. To reverse the bad fortune, we went to Suwataisha Temple and tied the piece of paper containing bad fortune at the temple. Then I picked a new number. When I got the piece of paper, it read "kichi", or blessing. Finally! Well, you can check Wikipedia on their meanings.

really bad fortune (1st omikuji)

Suwataisha Temple

me and my aunt

Onbashira

big Japanese drum

people waiting for their turns to pray

must let go of the bad luck by my first omikuji

getting a number (it's written on a stick)

then there's a corresponding omikuji for the number that I got

it's their version of holy water

the main entrance

tried it for the first time

traditional Japanese house

So that's the traditional Japanese New Year. Far from how I usually celebrate it in the Philippines, but this experience has been really worth it.


xoxo,

city girl

My First Winter Experience: Snow Lovin'

It's my first time to experience winter because I always go to Japan during spring time, and I have once visited Korea during autumn. However, I've already seen snow because two years ago, I was able to catch the last snow fall before spring and I have visited a ski resort before the snow melted. 

I came back to Japan on November 28, 2013. The temperature at that time was around 7 degrees Celsius. Then as days passed, the weather became colder and colder. The first snow fall happened on December 11. I realized it isn't that cold when it snows. It's much colder when it doesn't snow. As of now, January 31, the coldest weather I have probably experienced was at -13 degrees Celsius. This happened one day at around 6 to 7am.

the view from our balcony

the view from our apartment's lobby (2nd floor)

the woods somewhere beside the main road

I love it when it snows. I like it most especially at night when the surroundings is super white and bright, reflecting the light coming from the moon. It also feels magical seeing snow falling from the sky. I also love the challenge of putting away the snow that piled up on our car's windshield. 

trees covered with snow

silent night

was wearing the wrong boots 'coz I didn't know it would snow

the street covered with snow

safe and sound :)

my cousin's Suzuki Swift covered with snow

I enjoyed doing this haha

In terms of clothing, well I love winter fashion. haha! I normally dress up with 3 layers of top. One fiber heat inner blouse, then a knitted longsleeves, and my outer cover is either a thermal jacket or a thick coat. For the bottom, I either wear jeans or thick stockings/tights under my shorts or skirt. It wasn't really as cold as I have imagined. Probably, it helped that I arrive here during the transition from autumn to winter, that my body was still able to adjust to the weather. I guess it would be a lot harder if I arrived here at around mid-January because it would be hard to adjust instantly from the hot weather of the Philippines to that super cold one of Japan. 

like a Japanese school girl :))

ready with my pink thermal hoodie

it's so fun playing in the snow :))

this was at J-Mart, a shop that sells a lot of house stuff, including garden stuff

The winter halo, even before it was experienced in the Philippines, I first witnessed it here in Japan. It was so nice and magical!:)

Now that I have experienced four seasons, I can't really choose which one is my favorite. Each of the four seasons has its own character. Winter for me seems magical because of the snow flakes falling from the sky and having a pretty view at night as the snow on the ground, with the help of the moon, illuminates the surroundings. Spring is romantic, seeing cherry blossoms in full bloom, with petals falling off the branches as the wind blows. Autumn reflects adventure and drama. Adventure because of its bright colors that make trees so beautiful; but drama as trees go bald, and autumn leaves start covering the grounds. Summer means fun. The beach, sand, and waves are just irresistible.

Winter feels too cold; but I have yet to experience the coldest of winter because they say, February is the coldest month of winter. 

the neighborhood

the white mountains :)

the snow-capped Mt. Fuji (view from the highway)

xoxo,

city girl :)