By now, I've gotten used to openly admitting that I'm definitely not the hardest worker in any room. My work ethic is like a roller coaster, mostly since my attention span's tendencies mimic that of a squirrel.
The first time I came to Tokyo, one of the imagery that stuck out the most to me was a school of businessmen stuffing one another into packed train carts early in the morning. Of course, people go to work every day, but Tokyo's is quite unique. From the outside, Tokyo is pretty much a magical land of perfectionism and uniformness that once you witness it, it will only exceed all your expectations.
From varying shades of black and blues (and sometimes grey) the only thing that I can spot within my range of vision that differentiates these men from one another was probably how full their head of hair was.
Coming from a place like New York, such affinity sparked my interest in people's identity here and possibly everywhere else in the world...
In all realness, what I really wanted to get to was how much studies have been done on the way of life of the Japanese people here. How "hard" everyone seems to work is a point of idolization and criticizing at the same time, for the rest of us. Yet, in some way, the standard validation of how we should be living.
Some people work to have a purpose, while some people's purpose is fulfilled by the work that they do. Some also work for money, while others are privileged with working for fun. As I'm taking a step back from the reality of life these past few weeks - I'm starting to realize that maybe I just need to redefine the word 'work' completely.
In that sense, I'm trying to put myself more in other people's shoes and channeling the typical salarymen look in Japan which I obviously took way too literally with my boyfriend's suit jacket. I did consider using an oversized slashed boyfriend blazer as it's something that's been trending for the past 6 months or so - but most of them seemed quite overpriced for something that you can easily grab from your grandpa, your dad, brother, and/or boyfriend's closet.
Probably the girliest you have seen me in months - but it's pretty hard to resist Spring blossoms in Tokyo and a dress that blends me right in (thanks Keepsake).
Excited to start something new in Tokyo and to be closer to Australia (which means the Aussie brands are so much closer to me now). Hope these images make you want to come to Tokyo for these cherry blossoms next year (because I definitely need to catch them more properly the second time around).
Dress: Keepsake The Label / FSHNBNKR (c/o) Shoes: Acne Studios Jensen Boots (25% off on Shopbop) Bag: J.W Anderson Velvet Pierce Mini (new season) Earrings: Faeber Studios
A lot happened in March - now that I look back and review it all. I finally said 'see you later, New York' after the past few years losing sight of what I was meant to do there. Don't get me wrong, New York will always be home - but for now, I needed a new space to grow.
I don't know how it all came together within two weeks, but as you know from the previous post, everything that took place during NYFW was the final trigger for me to move on.
Looking for an apartment in Tokyo was quite stressful for a foreigner, but luckily I had a Japanese boyfriend and that made the whole process so much easier than I imagined. Moving into my very own place felt surreal, to say the least - and I was that much more excited to be in the same place with my longtime boyfriend again after 2 and a half years of long distance. We'll see how it goes-- (he's neater and I'm a mess).
Making the decision to drop everything and moving to a new country sounds thrilling for some people, it did too, for me - until I was about to hop on the plane. After seeing and speaking to some friends who encouraged me that this was an exciting time in my life - I still couldn't help but feel like it wasn't okay for me to be anxious despite literally not sleeping and packing until the very last minute. Speaking of packing - I'm usually pretty good at stuffing a bunch of things into my suitcases, but this time - I struggled so hard.
Either way - I'm here now and I'm excited for all there is to come.
It’s thrilling to be young.
To be stuck and free all at once.
To be surrounded by friends to cheer you on and to find
parts of yourself you never knew existed when on your own.
To hold on and let go of people and places that provoke your emotions.
To miss things only when it’s gone.
To afford the luxury of making mistakes. And to have, really,
nothing to lose.
— Some thoughts I jotted down while itching to sit still on the flight to Tokyo.
Outfit
March 19, 2018
Second day in Japan, and we went to get the keys to our temporary apartment for the next 3 months or so! I was stoked, but also wore the same thing I wore on the plane since I was too lazy to unpack... But even throughout the month, this is an outfit that I wore at least 10 other times, typical.
I was actually pretty excited to be in Tokyo during cherry blossoms season this year - but instead, Shun and I made a trip to Hoi An, Vietnam during the week of full blooms. I could say I was bummed about it but honestly, I've also waited forever to visit this place and cherry blossoms will bloom again next year!
To be quite frank, I was pretty nervous about taking Shun to Vietnam as he's always been the one leading me along in Japan and showing me around, so I felt like I was pressured to know a lot of things in case he had questions (like how I always have a million of them, haha).
But, with all my worries aside, it was such a good trip because it was our first trip with 2 cameras. It was really fun to go back on each of our film rolls and see what we each took photos of (see them on my photo diary).
Outfit
March 25, 2018
The weekend after we got back to Vietnam, both Shun and I came down with some pretty annoying health related issues (him, food poisining - mine, wisdom teeth infection). Because of that, we couldn't do anything but lay in bed all weekend and ultimately missed out on seeing the beautiful cherry blossoms that were holding on just for us.
If you got to this point somehow, thank you so much for staying in touch with me and keeping up. I know this format is quite a heavy one and a lot of your time and attention has to commit to it. But just know that I really appreciate having this space to share my thoughts with whoever that's reading out there...
I hope that April will come with a lot more stories as I get even more settled into Tokyo.
Ps. If you got the title reference to Lost In Translation - thank you.
It's taken me ages to visit Hoi An. As a Vietnamese native, I've always wanted to stop by this little lantern town in the city of Da Nang on all of my previous trips to Vietnam with my family. Yet somehow never managed because none of my relatives thought it was worthy of a trip. I mean, who can blame them? Vietnam is insanely diverse from North to South, and everyone has their own opinions which part is best.
As a sucker for colorful and cultural places, Hoi An was not just a check off my bucket list of UNESCO sites to see.
Vietnam's history is quite complicated and long- but what made me really interested in visiting this ancient town was its rich influences from the Chinese and Japanese. From the temples to the traditional pagoda bridge, there were tons of obvious little details of Chinese and Japanese that this place is composed of to this day. Being here for a good three days with my boyfriend was quite pleasant and it's the number of days that I'll recommend you give this place if you're thinking about seeing it yourself.
Hoi An during the day versus night is two completely different atmospheres. Heck, I woke up at 6 am on one of the days to check out the market and when we got to town at 11 am, I could already felt the vibe and scenery change. It's this reason that I'm really glad I gave this spot a few days to fully soak it in.
The canal that runs through Hoi An is quite small and shallow, so I honestly didn't expect it to be anything spectacular at night - but once I got on the wooden boat and started drifting away, the view from the water with the paper lanterns made it felt super rustic - as if I traveled back in time.
Below is a mixture of photographs that Shun and I took during the trip (since we had our own cameras this time). We really loved capturing the colors of this place and the people. If you're looking to experience a bit of an old-world-charm Tangled, I highly recommend visiting Hoi An.
Since this place is a major tourist destination, you'll find that most shops, restaurants and even food stalls will be able to communicate with you in basic English. However, for the most part, knowing Vietnamese or traveling with someone who does speak the language will give you an advantage as many vendors are known for taking a little advantage of foreigners and tourists.
The main dish of the area is called "Cao Lau" which is basically a dry version of a Mi Quang. I definitely recommend trying both of these dishes to compare which one you prefer - but do not pay more than 35k Dong for a bowl!
As a Southern Vietnamese, the dish "Com Ga" is very different for me. So, to try the central version was really interesting. I was able to stop by Madam Buoi's spot and it did not disappoint!
When in Vietnam, make sure you have as much Vietnamese coffee as you can. Hoi An has so many good and photogenic cafes on every corner. Some of my favorites are Cong Cafe, Faifo, Hoi An Roastery and The Hill Station.
If time allows, make a visit to Reaching Out Tea House. Go for the tea sample set or coffee set and make sure you get their butter passionfruit cookies!
Don't be afraid to try the street food and stop by the night market to eat on the side of the streets. They were some of mine and Shun's best meals.
