Japan – Page 4 – Creative Meanderings

Spring Break 2014: Day 7

General, Meanderings Abroad No Responses »

Apr 042014

Back in Tokyo and brought rain with me….WHAT?!

So, I had the morning to myself and managed to actually do some work. I know, shocking! 😉 After a couple of hours of that, I went for a visit to the drugstore. Oh my gosh have I missed them?! I can spend so much time there wandering the aisles looking at what is possible. However, I must admit that going all natural and organic sort of takes away some of the joy….

Despite the rain, I did stop to enjoy the cherry blossoms, briefly.

03-Apr-2014 10:23, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 32

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In the afternoon, I meet up with J and we did some shopping after a lovely lunch. We went to pick up E at school and hit the grocery store. I saw these amazingly humongo breads!

03-Apr-2014 16:56, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 50

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03-Apr-2014 16:56, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 40

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Dinner was oden, which I haven’t had in ages, so it was all delish! Followed up by a gab session over a bottle of wine. Ahhhh, life is goood. 😀

03-Apr-2014 19:34, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.059 sec, ISO 320

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03-Apr-2014 19:35, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.059 sec, ISO 320

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-T 😀

Spring Break 2014: Day 3

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Mar 312014

Today was a day of relaxation and eating! 😀

The morning kicked off with some Ethan-time looking at his programs created using Scratch – game software. It looked pretty cool.

30-Mar-2014 08:40, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 125

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After relaxing and actually doing some work, we headed out to lunch – ramen!!

30-Mar-2014 12:20, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.03 sec, ISO 64

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It was delish!

30-Mar-2014 12:37, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.03 sec, ISO 80

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Then, J and I ventured into Tokyo for our massage and relaxation. It was a beautiful place that completely put me out! Afterwards, we did some shopping in the Ginza area and then headed back toward ‘home’ for dinner with the gents. I hit a second favorite of my Japanese food list – tonkatsu & kaki-fry (oyster fry)! YUM!

30-Mar-2014 19:48, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.03 sec, ISO 64

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30-Mar-2014 19:49, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.03 sec, ISO 125

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30-Mar-2014 20:07, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 80

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All in all, it was a wonderful day and even the rainy weather couldn’t spoil my mood. Tomorrow, I’m off to Seoul!

-T 😀

Spring Break 2014: Days 1 & 2

General, Meanderings Abroad No Responses »

Mar 302014

Spring break has begun! Without wasting any time, I was on a plane to Japan to catch up with my BFF. 😉

P joined me for the flight over as she is on her own tour of Japan and we had the first night to hang out. J had everything prepared for me to relax and settle in before we whirled out to Roppongi for dinner and some night-time cherry blossom viewing.

Pre departure at AD airport27-Mar-2014 20:31, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.4, 2.15mm, 0.042 sec, ISO 400

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Arrived!!

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28-Mar-2014 21:39, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 2500

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Yesterday, we had a mini Willamette/TIUA reunion BBQ, which was a lot of fun. We hadn’t seen each other in years!

WUReunion_Springbreak2014

What's wrong with this picture?29-Mar-2014 17:39, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 32

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Although it’s been a busy two days; it has been like being ‘home’ again. My heart is full!

-T 😀

Summing up Summer 2011

Photo Journeys No Responses »

Aug 262011

These are all the photos from my summer travels. Enjoy! 😀

Major BFF time!

Going Mental No Responses »

Jul 122011

It has been too long since I last saw my BFF and so when I found out that my flight allowed for a layover in Japan and then we could head to Oregon together, there was no question about what I would do.

The past few weeks have been filled with fun!

Time in Japan:

Seattle Road Trip:

Happy hour was a must and major pampering at Gene Juarez!

On the way home, we revisited a Korean restaurant (Shilla) that we had gone to when we were just in college.

Shopping:

So much fun! Let’s hope it isn’t as long until next time. ♥

😀

Pottery

Creative Meanderings, Hobbies No Responses »

Jun 202011

It just came to my realization that I have not made a single posting about my pottery hobby on this blog. It seems hardly possible considering how much of my life is spent on pottery and what it means to me to be able to do it regularly here in Abu Dhabi.

I first started pottery back in Japan when I lived in Kyoto. I needed to find something creative to do with my life that took me out of the house since I was living a very reclusive ‘housewife’ lifestyle back then. When I moved to New York, I tried to continue it but sadly the potters there were quite clique-ish and far to snobby for me to waste my time with them. After moving back to Japan, I found a lovely place called Art Factory where I went with a colleague for about a year. So, upon arriving in Abu Dhabi, I began to look for a place to continue doing pottery here. Luck would have it that Abu Dhabi Pottery is established here!

Homa Farley is the owner and teacher of classes. She also has a studio out of her home in Dubai, but AD is where it all began. So, for the past (almost) three years I have been going fairly regularly on Sunday nights to have a bit of creative release. 🙂 I thoroughly enjoy it and miss getting my hands in the clay if I am away too long. Who would have thought a girl who hates to get her hands dirty would love pottery?!

Here are some photos (including works from Art Factory):

Until next time,

-T

On the plane again…Stop 1 Part 2

General, Meanderings Abroad 1 Response »

Jan 112010

A visit to Japan is never complete unless I have seen my BFF, godson and friend (same family). Since my godson, Ethan, just had a birthday last week turning the ripe ol’ age of 4, I wanted to be sure to celebrate and give him a present. Also, I’m not sure when I’m going to see all of them again (hopefully back home in the summer…).

Since Ethan had a free meal and dessert coming to him at Outback Steakhouse, we met there to catch up. Though a quiet meal, we still had fun.

The Suzuki family

The birthday boy spacing off….

A look of disappointment when waiting for his birthday ice cream…(they sang for someone else first…)

At last, it has arrived!!

“Not gonna let a single bite go…even if it makes me sick!!”

The whole gang – Happy Birthday, Ethan!

On the plane again…Stop 1 Part 1

General, Meanderings Abroad No Responses »

Jan 102010

Holidays are here again. It seems like I’m always on holiday, but one must always remind others that my last trip to Japan was indeed a business trip and not all business can be labeled as “holiday”… okay maybe it can!!! 😀

In any case, real holidays are here and I’m on the planes again to see what I can see.

First up – a stopover in Japan on my way to meet my family in Hawaii. Since I was a bit late in getting my tickets to Hawaii (sorry family…), I couldn’t get there until the 11th anyway. The flight route brought me to Japan anyway, so since my friend was getting married and having his wedding party on the 9th, I thought it was a great opportunity to squeeze it in!

Though I had hoped to stay in warmer climates for this trip, I figured I could endure the cold for a couple of days. So far, it’s been okay, but I’m definitely a warm-weather girl now.

Last night was the party – here’s a photo of the whole gang –

Ah, how I miss the crew. This is the end of everyone being in the same place as people have finished their contracts and are moving on to new ones down south or elsewhere. It’s a great bunch and I miss them all dearly. Still, I know we’ll keep in touch and I will always have a reason to come back for a visit!!!

More to come…

-T

Good-bye for now Japan, Hello at the moment Abu Dhabi!

Going Mental, Meanderings Abroad 2 Responses »

Feb 012009

January 31, 2009 at 10:40am, I left Japan with this as my view from the airplane.

February 1, 2009 at 7:45am, I awoke with a view of this:

A new chapter of my life is beginning. It is bittersweet as I have left my heart in Japan, but I am also eager to try a new adventure. Today was an interesting day. More details on that to come soon as I will eventually write my posts on my Creative Meanderings blog since this will become my daily life.

For now, pictures of my soon-to-be-new apartment can be found here.

More to come…

-T

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