Hello festive month!

Hello festive month!

Dear December,

I've levelled up on the last day of November. It was a simple night in with my final research papers. B managed to surprise me with a birthday present and a cake! I was so engrossed with getting through this semester that I wasn't even in the mood for celebrations. So I was really happy that B still made an effort to get me this fluffy room wear from gelato pique. (Thank you B!) I've received my grades for my papers, and my grades were better than expected! With that out of the way, I am pretty confident that I am on the graduate lists. Yay! 

Since last week, I have been starting my mornings with a cuppa peppermint tea. A good way to remove water retention and warm my up my body during winter. On stay-in days, I just start off my morning with my one week old PS4! Yes, I have just bought a PS4 last week, on the last day of my papers. I have been waiting for this day for quite a long time. Now, I can finally indulge in games I've been wanting to play for a while. I am currently trying to get through Persona 5 while playing other online games on my PC and mobile. If you have any other games to recommend, please do!

Before I head off to indulge in my games a little more, I have a little announcement to make. I will be visiting Singapore next year in February! Looking forward to indulge in delicious Singapore food! x 

Just letting you know I am well.

Skyline of Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture. 5th Nov 2017.

Hello. I realised that writing in the mid-week of the month has become a thing for this little space. 

Fall semester is coming to an end in about three to four weeks. That is crazy. (I can't believe 2017 is also coming to an end in less than two months too.) That also means I have less than 3 weeks to finish up three research papers. I'm not sure how I am going to do that but I am going to break a new personal record and do my best to write decently enough to secure my graduation.

I would love to write more this time but I have to concentrate on getting my assignments done. I just want let people who cares for me and still reads this blog to know that I am well. See you in a couple of weeks. x

Short update

Awesome sushi I had at Kensennuma, Miyagi.

Hello. It has been months since my last update. So many things happened, I'm not sure where to begin. 

I decided to take a break from social media as much as I can because I wanted to focus on real life and make sure it's going the well. I'll be graduating from university (finally!), and also to be going back into the working society so this year is an important year for me.

This summer was really mentally strenuous. I tried to focus on both school and job-hunting but was really difficult. I was mostly worried about my job interviews to keep up my motivation for school. I was failing almost every job interview so I was really bumped out over it. Japan's job hunting is a really unique process and it takes a while to get used to it. Not to mention, I'm trying to do it in a whole different language! Nonetheless, I did not give up and I did it! I managed to find a job! So, I will continue to stay in Japan for a while longer! With job-hunting out of the way, I have to focus 100% on university and make sure I can graduate after this semester! 

I sincerely thank those who have been supporting me all these while, and been hoping the best for me. You know who you are. This will be another huge hurdle for me but I'll try my hardest to overcome it! To those who have been secretly wishing that I fail, eat slugs! 

I've been in the best of moods recently because I've not only managed to triumph over the hell-ish Japanese job hunting process, I've also managed to clinch a part time job. I wasn't expecting to find a part time job, especially during this period. Because of this part time job, I got a chance to do a lot more translation work and producing contents for social media. It is definitely a good experience! I wish I could put more days for my part time job but graduating from university comes first right now.

I'll write again soon. x

Golden Week Digest

Hot spring at Hakone

I went on a short trip to Hakone with my best friend, Crystal, who as in town for a short get away. We wanted to get away from the bustling city for some nature and hot spring; somewhere with a slower pace of life. In our Japanese inn, Kisenzo, breakfast and dinner was provided in our Japanese inn which was perfect. I haven't had such a scrumptious Japanese styled meal in a while so it was just an amazing experience. The hot spring bath was also really helpful with relaxing my body after months of toiling under the stressful reality.  

We met up on the final night before her flight the next day for some A5 grade wagyu beef. It was always the final nights where the catching up session gets really sentimental. It was really difficult to say goodbye but I know we'll meet again really soon. I'm really happy and thankful she made this trip down despite her crazy schedule for work. Kudos to her for planning this trip to Hakone while during my busiest period! <3 p="">

Super Comic City 26

I helped out at my friend's @saaiiro doujin booth at the Super Comic City 26 event earlier this month. I'm not a fan of either of the anime but it was definitely an experience for me. My friend's artwork was amazing and I'm really happy that some of her work sold really well! :)
I got a chance to catch up with her after 2 years too, which was great. I hope she had a wonderful time during the rest of her trip in Japan.


Gudetama Cafe

「いいね！」がほしだけでしょ？
You just wanted a 'like' right?

I visited the Gudetama collaboration Cafe at Yokohama during this time with my lovely friend Sandy. I had been a while since we met up so I really looked forward to this outing. The menu was really cute, and this was one of the items we ordered from the menu.  We were allowed to order one drink and a main dish, alongside with an all you can eat buffet, which usually were a selection of desserts, pasta, salad and soft drinks for about ¥2000 yen each person. For the amount of food we had, the price was definitely worth the trip down from Tokyo.

After the trip to the cafe, we spent some time hanging around Yokohama and doing a little window shopping around the malls. I had a great time hanging out with Sandy and catching up with her. I won't be seeing her for a the whole summer because she took the summer semester off from uni. I'll definitely miss her and I look forward to her return. Let's hang out again!!


Hitachinaka Seaside Park

I went on a trip with B back to his hometown in ibaraki prefecture and visited the famous Hitachinaka Seaside Park which was famous for the nemophila flowers during spring. I had a great time there viewing the beautiful flowers and having some food from the pop-up stalls there. It was a rather warm day so we decided to have some shaved ice to cool our body temperature under the heat. These custard bears tasted amazing! It was so much better than the shaved ice, in my opinion! lol.

After having a quick meal, went deeper into the park where most of the rides were for the bike rental service. Since I still can't ride a bike, we sat on the double seater bikes and off we went on our bike ride date. It totally feels like some high school style date! I feel young again doing all these simple stuff. the best part is since we're adults, the worry about not having enough cash is off the list of our worries! This was definitely one of the best dates I had in a while. :)


New Music

Harry Styles just released his new album not too long ago and I must say, I am in love. I'm not a One Direction fan but Harry was definitely one of my favourite members. I'm saying this as a person who listens to them casually and as someone who stumble on celebrity gossips once in a while.

His songs just screams David Bowie and old British music. I'm not an expert on British music but my impression of British music is something like this (pardon my ignorance). Whatever it is, I just love his new album. Speaking as someone who isn't a 1D fan, I'm glad Harry went solo and released his own music. I am definitely a Harry Styles fan right now. Please keep making good music like this and I'll love you and your music forever.

I've compiled my favourites from his album into this playlist. I love his whole album but these 5 songs would be the ones that I'd loop it over and over again for the whole week or even months. I can finally bring my earphones out and listen to some music during my travels again. It has been so long since I've did that but yes, I would love to listen to these songs over and over again for the whole day.

***

That sums up my short but fulfilling golden week holiday straight after finals. This has been me for the past weeks. Take care.

Last day of credit internship

Lunch time with Allyson (PRO) and the interns present on that day

After a few months of interning at the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Embassy in Tokyo, I have successfully completed my credit internship! I can't believe time just flew by so fast. It feels like yesterday that I started my internship at the embassy feeling a little nervous and unsure of what is to come and BAM(!), It's the almost end of my spring semester at university and the end of my credit internship at the embassy.

If it wasn't for this internship, I wouldn't have got to meet so many talented new people!  I am very thankful for all the opportunities given to me at the embassy. I've learnt so much about Afghanistan and its culture, it has indeed  changed my perceptions about Afghanistan. I really wish the best for Afghanistan and would love to visit there one day and have more Afghanistan's local food! The ones I had during my time interning at the embassy were wicked delicious!

Even though my credit internship with the embassy has ended, I've decided to continue my internship and continuing to volunteer at the embassy until.. well, for as long as I am able to without sacrificing my other responsibilities. 

With Love,

Charis

AnimeJapan 2017

I love Anime conventions! There will always be experience zones, new exciting news and lovely merchandises from my favourite animes. Despite being in Japan, I hardly have a chance to attend those because of my busy schedules. I should really find time to immerse myself in those events whenever possible.

Fortunately, I had the honour of working for Sozo once again, this time helping them with their WOWJAPAN channel's coverage of AnimeJapan 2017. It was great meeting and working with new and familiar faces again! I also got a chance to see anime booths showcasing upcoming and current animes titles. Since I was there, I took the chance to visit booths and shops that sold Sword Art Online's merchandises and got myself a set of Kirito and Asuna's sword mark logo ball point pen!

SAO Sword Mark Ball Point Pen ¥500 each @ AnimeJapan 2017

I'm just so obsessed with this anime at the moment. I remember 'dropping' the anime after several episodes of it in season one, but I had to go back and finish the series after watching the new movie, Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale. I went as far as introducing it to B (He really liked the series!), and watching the movie twice; the second time on IMAX 4D at Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku. I personally recommend watching it in 4D because it offered a better immersion into the battle scenes of the movie. I was blown away after watching it a second time, no doubt, if I could I would watch it a third time in 4D.

Once again, I would want to express my thanks to wowjapan team for entrusting me with hosting some parts of the coverage of AnimeJapan 2017. It was a great experience and I learnt a lot from this. I wish all of you the best in the future and I look forward to seeing everyone again!

いつもお世話になったSozoと WOWJapanチームの皆さん本当にありがとうございました。この二日間に沢山勉強になったので、本当に感謝の気持ちがいっぱいです。これからもよろしくお願いします！

Charis C. x

チャリス より

Internship

This internship has been one of the best thing ever happened to me since the start of the new year. It feels great to be doing something else other than school. I also got a chance to meet new people and fair bit of translation from Japanese to English, vice-versa. I'm looking forward to the next couple of months with this amazing team of people while I juggle everything else so I can adjust smoothly from a college student back into a working adult after graduation (which is still months away but then again time files. Yes, no?).

December Digest

Hello 2017 and Happy New Year! I hope it's still alright to do a 2016 December Digest without being too 'last year'.

Bossa Nova/Elevator/Cafe Music

I have been in love with this genre for a long time and only got to know what the genre is called after googling and finding this awesome youtube channel that uploads three to five hours worth of tracks. (yes, talk about ignorance. laughs) I know this is going to be my 'to-go' music when I need to sit down and get some work done without getting distracted. This is their most recent upload for the new year and I'm loving it. I'm listening to this as I am doing this post! Do yourself a favour and check it out. :)

Persona 20th Anniversary Festival

I went to Akihabara for the Persona 20th Anniversary Festival with Wendy; thank you for joining with me! The event was pretty alright for someone who isn't super crazy over the series. I had fun looking through the art work and reminiscing over familiar music soundtracks and game characters. The highlight had to be seeing Kuma from persona 5 and the new cat, I believe is called Morgana from Persona 5. They were so cute, but I guess Kuma stole the show since everyone was perhaps more familiar with it. I know I was trying to get through the crowd so I can have a photo with it. Kuma was too cute. That was my little dose of  otaku moment.

Me with クマ！ (kuma)

Machida

After keeping myself at home trying to cut down on my spending, it's always nice to explore Tokyo once in a while. I went down to Machida to meet up with Mai and had a great time hanging out and discussing about our plans for the future. We went to this awesome cafe that served fantastic food, had wifi and an awesome atmosphere. Haven't been to cafes like such for a long time so this was definitely something refreshing.

Chicken Parmasan

Taiwan, Taipei

Spent a week in Taiwan just before the new years. I was dying to visit Taiwan and have some Taiwanese style street food and a getaway from Japan. I visited Jiufen, Shi fen, the usual must-visit spots in the city such as Xi men ding and Shilin night market. My Taiwanese friend was kind enough to drive us to Shifen and Jiufen which made the trip there so much more convenient. (Thank you Ani!) Best way to end the year! A little getaway trip with great company and great food!

Job-hunting & Career fairs
I'm in my final year of uni so it's also time for job-hunting. Job-hunting is a huge part of the Japanese work culture. It's scary venturing in a completely different environment. But since several of my friends are also job-hunting I think it would be fun. One thing I realised about career fairs was that it wasn't as scary as how it was commonly advertised. It can be rather nerve-wrecking but I think it was a good experience. I got to know so many companies and finding out what industries I am interested in. It was also like attending uni lectures in Japanese. lol

*** ***

This was how I ended 2016. Fulfilling month with a bit of chance to do a little of everything. I had productive days/weeks and unproductive stay-in days for me to catch up on gaming. 

Stay warm.