This year

Taking a break from the Tokyo saga for a year-end recap! Since I felt compelled to do one for the hell that was 2021, I thought 2022 would be more than deserving of some appreciation, for being the year of rejuvenation that it was.

Gotta say that 2022 felt like it contained two distinctly different eras. The great divide started during the reopenings and return to dorscon yellow in May/Jun-ish, so will just use 1H and 2H for simplicity. 

Unfortunately, we have to start with 1H which basically felt like an extension of 2021 which was itself an extension of 2020. One neverending covid year. Work-wise, I entered 2022 on some sort of tense standby due to omicron, the newest bully in the playground.

Then in Jan, I lost a grandparent (to old age). I'd never have known it to be real if I didn't experience it myself, but it's possible to be too busy and tired to grieve. Since we were very much still in covid days and the VTL was booked out for weeks, my mission was to get my mum safely to the funeral in Msia and back on the emergency lane (yes, no chance of the rest of us going). It took 3 full days of work, leveraging every email warrior skill at my disposal. The sadness sluiced in only at the end. So now it's suddenly Dec and I was caught by surprise to hear that the death anniversary is coming up. I think grandma should be having fun wherever she is, as she did while she was alive!

By the time we hit the worst CNY ever (omg we actually regressed from 2021: 8 pax --> 5 pax) I was extremely annoyed at the whole covid situation. Looking back, it was partially coz I was so done with "caution" at the time that I decided to leave no regrets and commit to the Seoul trip I'd been wanting to go for. That said, I was aware of how embarrassing it would be for me to catch covid overseas. So again, minion skills came in very handy as I planned the hardest I'd ever planned for a personal trip, covering all rules, requirements and potential untoward scenarios. It was well worth the effort! In those 7 days of freedom, I was the most contented person in the world. 

Who knew how much better things would get from there! If you told 1H-me that I'd travel 4 more times in 2H, she would've been incredulous. More on that later but from Jul onwards, I found myself getting very busy xD 

I'm an introvert who doesn't usually reject opportunities to hang out. Especially after spending so much of 2021 doing my own thing, it was such a joy to finally meet people in large groups again! My treasured Saturday extended family gatherings were back in full-scale. No more rostering families, welcome back the chatter and being squished shoulder-to-shoulder at the dining table! One of the in-your-face lessons from covid was not to take even the most regular of happy occurrences for granted. This is why, as far as possible, I try not to slot other activities on Sat nights. 

Meeting friends was a thing again, from naturally joyous, significant occasions like weddings (without seating restrictions) to the more simple after work hangouts and trying to climb regularly again (sometimes derailed by other plans oops). Whenever I go back to office on extra days, it's more likely due to a meetup in town rather than needing a conducive work environment haha.

Speaking of office, there was also something else that I obviously took for granted previously - being physically in office with colleagues. Having no interaction beyond faceless online meetings is a detriment to working relationships. I know this because of how much I enjoy going in on Mondays to meet people that I was once unsure of how to talk to, when everyone was just a disembodied voice trying to get things done in the long dark of 2021. I feel like I've spent many good times with my team, like when we packed into our small meeting room or trooped together to macs for lunch (and always managed to land space together for 9!) or hung around our desks to chat. Recency effect notwithstanding, I'd list our team lunch from the final week of Dec (both a welcome and a farewell) as one of the happiest times of the year. It's really my great fortune to have my colleagues, especially considering the nature of our work.

And so in 2H, the amount of time I spent with others skyrocketed. But then I still wanted to do my own things hahaha. Just like writing this post in fact... So how? Sleep (very) late lor. So many things I want to play, watch, read and yet there's only so much time after work and hanging out heh. In the end I had no choice but to put in the backseat some of the quiet hobbies and personal projects picked up during covid, like self-learning Korean.

Because, another unexpected time-sink in 2H was the travel xD I was only in SG for the entire month in Sep (wow at myself). After the first Seoul trip in Mar, it went like this - Jul: Seoul (yes, again haha), Aug: Thailand, Oct-Nov: Tokyo, Dec: Manila. Only the Thailand trip was foreseen in 1H. The rest were the result of grabbing opportunities coming right in my direction, i.e. centering trips around overseas concerts. I wouldn't have imagined doing this sort of thing as recently as Apr 2022, but here we are haha. Times and values change! 

I fully intended to use my 27 days of 2020+2021 leave well anyway and the only way was to actively clear it throughout the year (or risk burning everything at the end). What better way to do this than to go see the world again once borders started to creak open! But the thing is, travel is more than just the going on the trip. Pre-covid, I'd have been content to fly into a city with a vague idea of visitable areas and wing my way around. Now, I plan in detail. And then when I'm back, I write here in this space, so that I get to go on each holiday at least twice. As a result, I've probably been doing 2-3am nights for about half of 2H xD. I want to write about every trip in 2022 because they were all immensely enjoyable in their own ways, and it will take some time into 2023 to finish it all. 

Seems like 2022, especially 2H, was quite the whirlwind haha. It's a good thing I realised early enough how much of a blessing it was to have a coincidence of freedom and funds and wasted no opportunity available to me. So all in all, good days really came along after all (as Mr. Simple promised)! As with last year, I shall end off with a line from a song as I head into what I suspect will be a year of change (ah, except for tonight's online Mayday concert and tomorrow's SMTOWN one xD):

"It's your life, your story, your way" [from the English version of 祝福 by Yoasobi, with lyrics faithfully translated from the original Japanese] 

To 2023-me, just a few words: continue to chase dreams, grab opportunities that are yours to take, and don't forget to 知足. Oh and exercise, it'll help in the travels. Happy New Year!

A collection of enjoyable events, mostly accessed through travel! All Suju-related, the only class act that I've found consistently worthwhile xD More about all these in the dedicated posts :)

Tokyo 2022 (Part 5~Asakusa + Akihabara~)

This Part covers the agenda for 31 Oct after I left the Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens - something of a disjointed temple-anime run. This was a result of how the trip was planned: reading up on nice places to visit, starring them all on google maps, and then figuring out how to craft an actual itinerary out of them. Most things were easy enough to cluster, but this day's area of coverage was unusually large coz of some offshoots that I thought were worth visiting (one of which was the Gardens). It helped that I had a fair idea of my own pace and interests, so one day was good enough for covering this odd mish-mash!

Snapshot of 31 Oct's trail (with some changes), going clockwise from KK Gardens. I skipped Tokyo Skytree since I already got my desired views from Shibuya Sky.

The other "out of the way" place I wanted to visit was the Nezu Shrine. Since a future visit to Kyoto is contingent on other people and I have no idea when that's gonna happen, I thought it'd be worthwhile to visit this shrine for its torii gate tunnel. It was a lucky thing that there were only a few locals around when I got there so I had a pretty unobstructed view. 

Was interested to see that each torii had markings on them, some of which I could read like "家内安全" and err... "Soglasie Insurance". Found out later that these were donors to the shrine and I guess they received their blessings in return!

Since there was still some time to lunch, I decided to add to my step count and walk to Ueno Park. It was just a park, but the real goal was to hunt down Ichiran Ramen since there was a branch near there. Though I had to do some searching since it was hidden in a transit mall.

I generally have no issues eating alone but that meal was alone on another level. No people-watching to do during the ultimate introvert's meal hahaha. Great lengths were taken to make the experience as such in meticulous Japanese fashion, from the low serving window for no eye contact (was quite bemused to hear the service staff talking to me and yet only see her hands gesturing and dishing out the bowls) to the wooden feedback/request blocks. The ramen was good and I was definitely full from it, but this was a lunch that deserved to be followed by dessert! And my heart was already pinned on a quaint little dessert cafe I spotted on the way to Ichiran so I went back for it. Solo trips are meant for doing whatever I want anyway ^^

This meal cost about $12 including the soft-boiled egg. The exchange rate definitely helped, but in general I didn't find food costs expensive when comparing back to SG.

Must emphasise that I don't have a sweet tooth. But I enjoy those plain shiratamas and there's something very attractive about a simple Japanese dessert. The red bean was indeed rather sweet but the green tea helped, enthusiastically refilled by the staff that were always on standby, watching keenly for emptying cups.

Thereafter, it was straight to the next set of temples/shrines at Asakusa. Along the way there, I went up a side street full of quirky shops selling crafts, snacks and knick knacks. Unfortunately, I was really too full to be able to enjoy any more food at that point, so I had to give all those interesting looking snacks and desserts a miss. Ohwells, at least I could still buy some non-edible stuff that caught my fancy! One thing I thought might happen in Japan was that it would be very easy to spend money... and I was right xD From cute cat stickers to little tofu dishes to what my sister called an "algae cat", I picked up quite a number of small <$10 stuff while roaming around. Hey, frivolous purchasing while on holiday is an easy way to find happiness xD

The little pedestrian street near the metro station, very considerately sheltered from the elements. 

My algae cat <3 I bought it coz it looked like a Japanese Pusheen hahaha.

Back to the shrines, starting with the grand Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple. I wasn't fully prepared for how crowded and touristy it would be on that day (a Monday). Could tell that the world had been dying to visit Japan again. At time of writing, China seems to be gearing up for a big bang reopening, so my experience here is nothing compared to what's to come. Then again, I should reign in my complaints since it's a sign that the world is finally returning to normal!

Got swept up in the crowd approaching the Hozomon. Looking at my daytime shots, I was truly blessed with great weather and lighting to showcase the vividness of the temple infra. Next time, I really should try visiting some of these attractions at night for a different feel. 

In all my trips in 2022, this was one of the most crowded tourist attractions I'd visited (it got denser towards the main hall). It made me think of the days where I almost had an entire palace grounds to myself in Seoul, which also happened in the same year. Oh the great contrast.

Research told me that there were 2 other temples nearby the Senso-ji that were just as worth visiting. In fact, they were all linked. This was the Asakusa Shrine, just off a path east of Senso-ji and much more serene by comparison.

This last shrine, the Hikan Inari Shrine, was a small, unassuming one literally in the backyard of Senso-ji, behind the Asakusa Shrine.

The real reason for visiting this shrine was to view its collection of kitsune dolls. Some had whiskers and some did not and (reading up afterwards) I assumed that those were male and female pairs.

Spotted many locals and tourists in kimonos on the Nakamise street! I wasn't paying too much attention to the people in real life since I was more interested in the stalls, but looking at the pictures now, it wasn't just the attire that was special - the ladies' clearly had their hair done up for the occasion as well.

Since I moved on quite quickly from the temples, there was ample time or Akihabara where, in contrast, I spent much more time (and money) than expected haha. My plan was really just to take a look around Mandarake Complex and Radio Kaikan since I didn't really know what to expect at an otaku haven. But I ended up combing all the floors of both buildings.

Thinking about it, anime and manga were a more significant part of my life only around pri and sec school. So it was mainly nostalgia that kept me at Akihabara. Almost everyone was following some series in those school days, whether it was Fullmetal Alchemist, D.Gray-man, Bleach, Death Note etc. I remember scurrying home after school to catch Gundam Seed on Kids Central at 6-6.30pm. Most of those series have ended and I don't really follow modern ones. One Piece is the special last one standing (except for opportunistic Gundam series) and I must've been following it for about 20 years now and still counting. The K-wave hit sometime around my JC days, so I'm not sure if kids nowadays are still into anime/manga like I was, or K-dramas and the lot instead. 

I thought it'd be interesting to visit Mandarake - a chain dealing with used goods and a natural attraction for collectors sourcing older, rarer stuff. Think classic Ultraman kinda stuff. Their 8-storey Akihabara branch was divided by genres and I climbed the stairs level by level to explore. Definitely got a bit of a culture shock at the 2 adult levels (1 each for guys and girls)... A few of the other levels were dedicated to toys and figurines. I spent a while at the DVD level, contemplating whether to impulse-purchase whole box sets, such as the Gundam Seed Remaster Blurays, before deciding against it. Region lock aside, Japanese products don't tend to cater to international audiences and there's no point without English subtitles.

"Tamagotchis! The digivice from Digimon Tamers!" was what ran through my head when I saw these. Felt like this was the place for adults to search for toys they wanted as kids and buy them if they wished. I left without picking up anything though, the pull wasn't strong enough.

In Radio Kaikan though, it was a different story haha. It had modern selections and a larger proportion of things were very much my generation e.g. 1990s-2010s series and Studio Ghibli merch. After spending a great deal of time being choosy, I came away with a few keychains and small figurines (some for gifting). The crowd here was also quite young, with many students clearly more familiar with recent animes that I am.

You could get these in SG actually, out of a gacha machine for $4 a try with about 6 possibilities of which one was a really ugly "logo" plushie. So of course I picked up the baicai and the packet katsu to bring home xD

I stayed my hand for these but I was actually very impressed to find authentic Digimon Adventure plushies! Looked so much better than the ripoff versions we'd get at pasar malams.

It was gloaming by the time I finished with Radio Kaikan.

That night I wasn't up for a fancy meal after a whirlwind of a day, so I dabao-ed a simple cheese curry rice and added on a randomly bought half-boiled egg... and surprised myself by finishing all the rice. Gotta keep the stomach happy and the legs strong while on holiday xD

Part 6 will come in the new year, and we're approaching the things I've been wanting to write about the most! I hope I still remember them well enough haha.

Tokyo 2022 (Part 4~Chasing Colours~)

Since I complained about greenery in the last post, thought it would be best to follow up and describe the successful chase for autumn colours in this one. It took a few days, but I finally saw them from about the halfway point of the trip and got very excited over trees and leaves haha. Since my trip dates were anchored, it seems like I was just fortunate to be in Tokyo at the cusp of change!

💛💓💚💙

I didn't venture much out of urban Tokyo so there was no better way to see the colours than visit some of its many many gardens and parks. The gardens were curated and the parks were happening so both types of green areas were nice in their own way. Looking through my photos, I was reminded once again how great the weather was throughout my week there! The bright blue skies over really accentuated what were essentially plant photos from over a few days haha.

Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens (31 Oct)

There really were many gardens in Tokyo so I had to be selective. This was one of the obvious choices to visit because it's one of the oldest traditional Japanese gardens in Tokyo and also coz I was sold on the vibrantly coloured online photos. Unfortunately, it was still very green when I visited on the last day of Oct. I knew immediately that I was too early for its autumn show. But ok, that's not the garden's fault haha. 

This was a small garden situated smack in the middle of the city so most views around the lakes came with a building or two in the background. However, its tranquility was unmatched by any other place I visited on this trip.

The ducks seemed to prefer chilling in the shade and that's the massive Tokyo Dome peeking out over the trees.

No grand showcase here like in other gardens but there was a sense of neatness and care, sort of like someone's beloved backyard. (Description lifted from a sign) these pavements were called "Nobedan" - a simple Chinese-style stone pavement of skillfully arranging hewn stones and cobblestones.

Shot-from-under-the tree. The maple leaves were always eye-catching, whatever their colour (even though green really made them look like a certain other type of leaf hahaha seriously can't unsee it after coming back from Thailand).

Can almost imagine an ancient royal person sitting underneath that bonsai and reading a book.

Even though I didn't get see the colours, I rather enjoyed the morning spent here. Will people understand when I say this is sort of a quintessential location for a solo trip? Maybe it's just my taste. None of my solos are anti-social in nature, but in this place it was perfect to be alone. Just a peaceful pocket in the busy city, suited for personal wandering and reflecting. Also, it probably helped that it was a Monday morning.

Koganei Park (2 Nov)

Strictly speaking, I was just passing through this park to visit the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum since I didn't have a lot of time to spare. However, this location is significant coz it was where I saw my first red maple leaves :D It was on my way out that I spotted a single, fiery red tree and totally zoomed over the grass to get to it. 

Never thought I'd ever feel such excitement over a tree hahaha. And no idea why this tree, alone, decided to change colours earlier than all its peers.

The mandatory shot-from-under-the-tree, finally with colours other than green and blue! This trip actually gave me quite a few lock screen/phone background-worthy photos to choose from and this one was a strong contender.

The lucky first few red leaves! While I was so happy to finally find some of them, I still hadn't gotten over the unexpected smallness. Hence this photo was taken with scale to send excitedly to people back home. 

Over the next few days, I'd go on to amass a collection of colourful leaves, scavenged from the ground at various locations and tucked carefully between the printed documents in my folder xD

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (3&4 Nov)

Due to timing issues, I actually visited twice over two days (and paid the 500 yen entry fee twice erps). Definitely wouldn't have done this if I hadn't found anything special on the first visit. To think that I intended to just make a "quick round" of the entire gardens within the hour-ish that I had haha.

These round, Japanese-style shrubs/bushes were very cute and looked like giant mochis.

A little hard to see, but here's some ducks in the shade again, sitting on a low branch in the water.

So the reason I made the effort and carved out the time to come back was because I found (what I thought was) maple again! This time, there were entire rows of coloured trees and the leaves were HUGE. So very different from the lone tree at Koganei Park. It's a good thing I entered from the Okido gate on my first visit, coz it was close enough for me to stumble into the sunlit avenue of trees where I ended up spending almost all my time and decided that it was a must to go back. 

This was what I first saw. It felt almost like like wandered into a magical golden forest~

OMG A LARGE RED LEAF.

So... those trees weren't actually maple hahaha. I only found out later, after re-examining the gardens brochure and checking with my good friend Google, that the trees were London Planes - a form of sycamore. As a layperson from a sunny island in SEA I wouldn't have been able to tell honestly. The leaves were maple-shaped and coloured, and that was all I needed xD Sorz to the people who received some fake news in my excitement over finding large coloured leaves haha.

Another type of scaled photo to emphasise the size of these non-maple leaves!

I crunched up and down the avenue multiple times thinking "I've found Autumn" :D

I really went around searching for the perfectest leaves to attempt to bring back. Unfortunately it was very difficult to keep larger-than-A4 leaves undamaged, so I had to discard these and find smaller ones.

That London Plane avenue was truly a beautiful place. There were a couple of families there since it was a public holiday on one of those days and I witnessed a small girl tucking two of those huge yellow leaves into her pigtails. It was the cutest thing when she ran around and the leaves flapped like giant ears xD

So that was just one part of Shinjuku Gyoen haha. Even on my second visit I was on a tight schedule, so I had to fast march around to capture as much of the gardens as possible. It was definitely worth the visit since one fee essentially bought entry into a few themed zones with different views. There were the regal western gardens and more traditional Japanese ones where I found the red Japanese (small-leafed) maple once again. 

The immaculate rose garden near the London Plane avenues.

Can't remember exactly, but this could've been from inside a "Taiwan-style" rest house. I really liked this view even though the sunshine made it quite hard to get a shot that was not too over-exposed. 

It's not a Japanese garden without water bodies!

And of course, I hoarded more fallen leaves and photos from the bright red trees in the Japanese garden.

Imperial Palace East Gardens (5 Nov)

Parking this garden here as well even though the main draw of this place was not really the colours. There were a bunch of other interesting things and this was one of the final locations visited, as originally scheduled on my last full day of the trip. 

It's the usual greenery and water, but I wanted to point out the patches of algae-ish plants on the left-side pond. In any other place it'd probably have been some kind of unwelcome occurrence, but not in Japan. These were a legit type of plant on display though I couldn't read the Japanese sign.

While halfway along the bridge, I realised how gorgeous the koi in the pond was and literally stopped in my tracks to watch them. Compared to the duller-looking kois in SG (that tend to get eaten by otters), these seemed to have some kind of pearly sheen to them, especially the gold and white ones, and silky, flowy fins. Really one level up.

This used to be the site of the Edo Castle after all and the fortresses were well-preserved.

Fortified hiding place for the emperor and his family which totally looked like a scary barrow with wights in it.

It took me a while before I realised people weren't clustering and taking photos of dead branches. These little blooms were indeed a surprise since I didn't expect to see anything resembling sakura at this time of year. Googling around, it's possible that this was some kind of winter-blooming cherry tree, or else it's got its seasons way confused haha. In any case, it was quality over quantity here!

Ahh, it's December. Maple trees in some parts of Japan are still in the midst of changing colour right now haha. Not sure how much more I can cover within this year, but I'll definitely still be reliving my Tokyo trip into 2023 xD 

Part 5 I think will be another geographical one, covering a mix of things that I did on the same day I visited Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens. That was one packed day!

Ending off with the winner of the lock screen pageant, hailing from Shinjuku Gyoen!