Wow, more than one month already passed since my last post! This time I couldn’t post because I had to stay without a laptop for about one month… but now I got a new laptop and I’m finally back on track! Happy to be able to write here on the blog again 🙂 I have…
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Watching fireworks ( 花火 hanabi) during summer is a national favorite pastime in Japan. Throughout July and August, fireworks are displayed at least once every week in different parts of Japan. Many people outside of Japan asked me what was the occasion for the fireworks, but there was no occasion such as a national day…
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It’s June which means the month of 梅雨 tsuyu (rainy season) in Japan. Although the rainy season can be quite depressing, with weeks of endless rain and rarely a sunny day, one thing to look forward to is the 紫陽花 ajisai (hydrangea) season. I used to have white hydrangeas in my garden back home but…
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This blog post is all about summer and summer’s early flowers: poppies! Les Coquelicots is the name of my favorite painting by Claude Monet, coquelicots in French meaning poppies. You know summer has arrived with the first poppies that start to appear here and there in June. Fields of poppies can usually be found in…
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It’s not a secret anymore, I must admit it, I might be a little bit addicted to Instagram. Are you looking for a nice restaurant to go to with friends? Check on Google Maps and then look at more photos on Instagram (sometimes I even decide what to order based on Instagram photos, haha)—looking for…
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The warmer weather is perfect for little day trips, not far from central Tokyo. When my friend, Flavia, visited me over the weekend, I was thinking what we could visit together in Tokyo, as she loves museums and we both wanted to discover a new one. I have heard about Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum…
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Europe is covered in March snow but in Japan (or at least in Tokyo…) spring has sprung! Now, besides the early bloomers, the ume (plum) flowers, you can admire early sakura (cherry) blossoms in several places in Tokyo. One of those places is Shinjuku Gyoen, a beautiful park located in the busy Shinjuku, a perfect…
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Let’s continue the story about 梅 ume and spring in Tokyo. Over the last weekend, Tokyo was blessed with wonderful weather that couldn’t keep me inside. So, Saturday, I headed to this shrine I have heard of as being famous for its beautiful plum flowers (ume) and for Tenjin, the kami (god, spirit in Shinto)…
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Since now, at the end of yet another year, most of us look back and try to see what we did good or what we did bad throughout the year that is just about to pass, I decided to write a last blog post for 2017 about how this year went for me, especially in…
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Long time no post! And long time no hike for that matter (maybe since hiking around Santorini?) … Lately, my Grad school has been keeping me busy with all kinds of presentations, papers and so on, but I still managed to keep my goal of visiting a new place in Japan at least once a…
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