An Expat's Christmas in Japan

I think one of the sure signs of the holiday seasons rolling around is Christmas Lights.

Christmas in Japan is a bit of a novelty. It's less about the Christian undertones and more about pretty lights and spending time with your significant other.

I fulfilled the first part about pretty lights by going with my usual group to Tokyo Dome. I was pushing for Shiodome because that was rumored to have some of the best lights, but the group decided for Tokyo Dome in the end.

I'm not sure if it was Tokyo Dome, but the lights were mediocre in person but came out rather nicely in photos. Talk about deceptive, haha.

Tokyo Dome also had a tunnel of lights. It was pretty and you would think that being surrounded by lights would provide you with the best photo opp ever, but the lights, being colored, made my photos sometimes look washed out and instagramed.

I wish I had a few more hours to sit there and experiment, but oh well :| Guess I'll just have to wait till next Christmas!

I also stumbled across a lights display in Shinjuku, which I felt were much more festive and impressive. I think that was because there was less space between the lights so it didn't feel like we had to walk a couple meters before actually spotting another display.

All in all, I think Japan does a better job at making Christmas lights, but for some reason they still felt so...Japanese. The subtleties in design and the way things are set up made me think that this was much better than things I had seen in the States, but still so cute.

The holiday season is also party season! And, more so than presents and enjoying the company of friends, food comes first!

The big food highlight of this month involved Marumi. So basically, I've come to the conclusion that where Marumi様 is involved, there will be good food.

The event was a Lion's Club end of the year dinner, which was hosted at Disney Resort Hotel.

I've been wanting to go to Disneyland for ages, especially since I can take one train straight there without transferring, so I was pretty excited for this dinner.

The decor inside of the hotel was beautiful. The attention to detail to the lighting and the Disney princess' theme was everywhere.

Japan also has a particular obsession with Alice in Wonderland. There are so many spin off stories and themes in any given situation that it's given that there was a Wonderland-themed garden at the hotel.

The party had delicious foods, and I almost felt like I was in a Disney movie by being served with the cutlery they used.

Andddd, to wrap up, here are more pictures of food!

Next up is New Years!! Till next time!

Thanksgiving as an Expat

I like Thanksgiving because there's a lot of food.

But, after living away from home in college and now living in Japan, I think the charm to Thanksgiving (for me, at least) is the improvised Thanksgiving feasts.

Let's face it--it's perfectly reasonable for a family of 4 living in an American home with a ton of guests coming over to get a turkey as big as your torso. They have the means to cook it and finish eating it.

But in Japan, with ovens being smaller than most American turkeys (assuming you can actually find a whole turkey), Thanksgiving is where it gets interesting--you'd think.

While the amount of food was definitely less than what I've seen at Thanksgiving dinners in the States, it was more or less the same.

That's right, it was a Thanksgiving complete with a roasted bird, corn, delicious stuffing, ham, gravy, mashed potatoes and pies. *Note how pies was plural* ;)

I should also mention that the dinner rolls actually had butter in them--literally. When you pulled the deliciously steaming bundles of carbs open, melted butter would gush out if you weren't careful.

The party was hosted at Ryan's place. It was certainly cozy and comfy, but I couldn't help but feel like a jerk for crashing in especially since Megumi was sick and asleep when I arrived. Nonetheless, she was definitely a gracious host, so thank you Ryan and Megumi!

In my belated Thanksgiving fashion, I should also mention what I am grateful for this year.

I am definitely grateful for my family and for the things they have done for me (forever and always, even if I don't say it, haha).

I'm also very grateful to be in Japan, experiencing a lifestyle very different from home, but I'm even more grateful for the people I've met since coming here. Being surrounded by such wonderful coworkers and friends and experiencing the same joys and, more importantly maybe, the mishaps (think Nikko Trip) leaves me with a lot of thanks to give.

And, of course, I'm grateful for all the delicious and beautiful things I get to see every day, but that's more or less anywhere.

See you on Christmas!

November and Middle School Friends

Matt kindly reminded that there haven't been much updates on the blog, so here I am!

November was actually a very busy month, and one of my closest friends, Megan, from when I was 12 actually came to Japan for a vacation with her boyfriend Ivan (maybe you can try to spot his ninja self in the wallpaper of the photo below!).

Because of Megan, I had one of the busiest long weekends ever. Unfortunately, most of the weekend was spent without Ivan, who was busy with work, but it might have been better for him that way since Megan and I ended up getting nostalgic about our tween years without Twilight and a lot of manga and Dragonball, haha.

We were originally supposed to meet in Kawagoe, but due to some mistakes in logistics, I actually ended up being a tourist in Kawagoe by myself.

The last time I went to Kawagoe was actually for the Kawagoe festival in October. The atmosphere was very different though, without thousands of people pouring into Kawagoe to see "float battles."

Kawagoe was much more relaxed this time, and I took a leisurely trip while following the tourist map. While there were certainly many pretty and quaint temples and shrines, my favorite--by far--was the 500 Statues of Rakan.

The sculptures, despite being worn down by time and the weather, were clearly unique. There was not a single statue that was the same as another.

And, of course, you can't go to see the 500 Rakan without seeing the two men in conversation.

There was also a little quest amongst the 500 Rakan for visitors. Amongst the 500 statues, 12 statues were holding animals from the Chinese zodiac. Legend had it if you found the rakan that held your zodiac animal and rubbed its head, you would have good luck.

Needless to say, I set out to find my statue and, after carefully inspecting each and every statue, I finally found the one holding a snake.

The day I visited the 500 Rakan, I was also lucky to stumble upon the annual Chrysanthemum festival that was being held at the same temple.

I've always loved chrysanthemums (as long as they weren't in the herbal teas that my dad would occasionally force us to drink, haha), but I think Japan is the first time I've seen competitive chrysanthemum growing.

I noticed that many of the chrysanthemums were grown with three chrysanthemums per plant and didn't think much of it until I found out it was apparently about representations of the balance of the universe.

The chrysanthemums are apparently a representation of the universe with one flower representing humans, the earth and the heavens respectively (don't quote me on this!). Regardless of what they represented though, the chrysanthemums of Japan are definitely painstakingly cared for.

There were also several different types of chrysanthemums, and I think I must have taken hundreds of photos after switching between lens and going in at different angles just to try and get a picture that would do these flowers justice.

After Kawagoe, the next big touristy stop was Yokohama.

I had visited Yokohama before in 2007 when I first came to Japan, but this trip to Yokohama was much more in depth.

We went from the infamous Chinatown to the diplomats homes in Minatomirai.

The diplomats' houses, to be honest, weren't the most exciting architectural works ever, but I definitely appreciated the luxuries of older buildings with the old dark wooden finishes and wicker furniture.

I also hung out with Megan late enough that the sun started to go down (believe me, it's really early here--think 5pm). Luckily, this meant we got to see a bit of Yokohama's twilight skyline which was definitely beautiful at all stages of the night.

After Yokohama, we took on the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo next. The main goal of the visit was for me to get some photos of fall foliage and not actually any specific desire of the actual tourist (Megan). After over half a year here, I'm still more of a tourist than the friend who has only been in town for less than 4 days....

But, since we met at Tokyo Station, it was a chance for me to see the newly renovated interior and exterior of the still most confusing an annoying train station known to mankind classy brick structure.

While we got some photos of autumn foliage, I was still rather disappointed by the lack of reds and golds at the Imperial Gardens, but there were still several beautiful nature shots that let me break in the new tiny lens.

Now, I've gone this far without mentioning anything about food (I know, right?! A Christmas miracle!), but here it is--THE FOOD.

For this, I must extend my heartfelt and stomach-felt thanks to Ivan, who generously covered our meals. Delicious and free? Tabia is a happy camper.

I think he saw why Megan and I were friends for so long after hanging out a few times, haha.

There's actually still some other November events to cover, but I'll leave that for another time (hopefully this week, before December bites my butt, haha).

Stay warm, stay safe, and till next time!