tokyo x more

Gravity Mini Carve 42’ Got it yesterday from a dude on...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:08:36 +0900

Gravity Mini Carve 42’

Got it yesterday from a dude on Craigslist for 4000 Yen, a freaking steal, pure luck. Been riding for two days now and I am afraid this board is starting to grow on me (Sorry Apex37, Mommy still misses you ._. )

Hopefully I can get used to it soon, it’s slightly longer and stiffer than the old one… But a lot more stability (hellooooo downhills :D)

Ultimate goal: longboard through Shikoku Hachijiuhakkashyo. がんばろうーー！

"I beg young people to travel. If you don’t have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack..."

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 04:53:07 +0900

“I beg young people to travel. If you don’t have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Saigon, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown. Eat interesting food. Dig some interesting people. Have an adventure. Be careful. Come back and you’re going to see your country differently, you’re going to see your president differently, no matter who it is. Music, culture, food, water. Your showers will become shorter. You’re going to get a sense of what globalization looks like. It’s not what Tom Friedman writes about; I’m sorry. You’re going to see that global climate change is very real. And that for some people, their day consists of walking 12 miles for four buckets of water. And so there are lessons that you can’t get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that flight. A lot of people—Americans and Europeans—come back and go, Ohhhhh. And the light bulb goes on.”

- Henry Rollins (via runouttheguns)

lugw0rth: Mountain High- by Leichenwagen on Flickr. Soraksan,...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 03:36:01 +0900

lugw0rth:

Mountain High- by Leichenwagen on Flickr.

Soraksan, two more weeks!

Taiwan - Green Island Much belated post about Taiwan… Man...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 03:20:00 +0900

Taiwan - Green Island

Much belated post about Taiwan… Man it’s been two weeks and already feels like forever. Seems like all the memories are half gone, only proof are just some snapshots left on Facebook. *Sigh*

Most importantly though, a great spot I visited in Taiwan was Green Island - a tiny, off the beaten path kind of place, one hour away from mainland. Everything on the island is well preserved - that includes plants, wildlife (underwater especially, the variety of species passing in front of your eyes were… simply incredible), and most importantly, the locals. The island has been inhabited by five big families (Li, Zhu, the rest I don’t remember), and they all somehow chose to remain on the island while pursuing a simple villager’s life… Either fishing, or some sort of small family business.

I was lucky enough to have met Mr. Li while touring the island on my Vespa, who warmly welcomed me to his family’s home for a night. Though I knew he had business intentions, since he was tour guide, I was still amazed at how approachable and trusting people are on Green Island.

The most memorable moment has to be biking through a thunderstorm on the deserted roads on the coastline. With raindrops splashing on my face at 60km/hour, felt like I was getting slapped… by 20 little hands at a time… The freedom I felt was incredible though. And I am sure at some point I started shouting incomprehensible, improvised songs, not giving a fuck really.

Also GI is where I first tried snorkling, which I am definitely hoping to continue. The world underwater is just so different from what’s above… I didn’t want to get out… Let’s hope I can get my diving license this summer in Koh Tao.

Boss Kite - You So Bad (by Rugiagialia)

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:36:56 +0900

Boss Kite - You So Bad (by Rugiagialia)

ruineshumaines: (by Sid Black)

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:18:27 +0900

ruineshumaines:

(by Sid Black)

Flight Facilities - Feeling (by flightfacilities)

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:08:38 +0900

Flight Facilities - Feeling (by flightfacilities)

Wallet...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 05:35:00 +0900

is robbed by my impulsive travel urges again… It was a good deal though, 27000 yen for 5 days in Korea during Golden Week. Spam ads FTW!!! However I am starting to worry whether I could squeeze my seemingly growing to-do list to these five days…

1. Spa Land and stay overnight (saw in some Korean drama when I was little, apparently you could spend the night sleeping on the floor in a Sauna with food and drinks… and gossip with neighboring Ajummas about Bae Yong Joon…)

2. Surfing in Gwanganli

3. Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (it’s a temple built on a cliff right beside the ocean, the views are fantastic)

4. Drink Soju and eat cheap Korean food in a tent vendor

5. Hike Sorak Mountain

Still thinking… two weeks left to decide… What would really complete my trip though is to see Jang Geun Suk :D

springwise: In Canada, contest seeks designs for homes sourced...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 02:50:15 +0900

springwise:

In Canada, contest seeks designs for homes sourced within 100 miles

Locavores may be familiar with the concept of the “100-Mile Diet,” but it seems a fairly safe guess that most haven’t yet heard of a related concept being applied to the architectural world. Sure enough, also based in Canada, the 100 Mile House competition now solicits designs for a house for four that uses only materials and systems made, manufactured or recycled within 100 miles of the city of Vancouver, B.C. READ MORE…

Discovered Bon Iver. Damn he is so good. There is apparently a...

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:27:15 +0900

Discovered Bon Iver. Damn he is so good.

There is apparently a whole controversy about how he didn’t deserve the two Grammies (against Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, those…) I think he deserved every gram of it. Good to see some underrated artists getting some fame… shame it’s not always in good light though.

Photo

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:27:59 +0900

Elton Versus Pnau - Good Morning To The Night (by...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:37:37 +0900

Elton Versus Pnau - Good Morning To The Night (by eltonversuspnau)

Taipei Sightseeing!

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:20:00 +0900

Tea Shop on top of Mao Kong

Mao Kong Ropeway

Taipei 101

Surfing in Yilan

Green Island Lanscape

Vespa to Yushan!

Alishan

Taipei Sightseeing!

Taiwan Afterthought

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:41:00 +0900

Came back from Taipei two days ago and it’s fair to say that I am stuck in a state of Taiwan withdraw, or maybe just the thrill of being constantly on the go. It’s indeed the weirdest feeling to come back to a foreign country from another foreign country. I am home, but not really “home”. So… what am I doing here again?!

Right… school. Fuck.

It’s sad to say but I really feel that I am starting to grow dull of Tokyo. As crazy as that sound, I still remember how badly I wanted to come here in the first place. I just miss the ocean, mountains, locals, and the Vespa drives.

Though it’s time to return to academia once again, memories of Taiwan are still alive as ever. I arrived Taiwan on the 10th around night time, wasn’t entirely enthusiastic due to exhaustion from previous travels, but still managed to find Andy, my host at Taipei. Andy really is an inspirational person who, despite being way mature for his age, still great fun to be with.

The first couple of days in Taipei consisted mainly of casual sightseeing. It was beautiful really, foods were great too, but by day three I was ready to leave the city and do some exploring on my own. So I hopped on a morning train to Taitung with no reservations, itinerary, or specific plans in mind… just hoped I won’t get into any trouble…

Day 1 - Taitung

Arrived at the station that was in middle of nowhere. I was expecting some form of civilization but there were only fields and fields of grass. I decided might as well do some sightseeing on my own, so I spent about two hours trying to convince three different bike rental shops to lend me a motorbike with my “international license” (which was actually my health card), with no luck. Apparently Taitung is the only city where they don’t accept international license in Taiwan. Ended up having to walk for thirty minutes and randomly found a 民宿, local’s house where you can pay around 20$ for a night stay. Luckily, my hosts were great and decided to show me around the city as well as driving me to the port the next day.

Uji!

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:41:00 +0900

Uji!

The XX - Heart skipped a beat (by carlosrodrigueztorre)

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:36:08 +0900

The XX - Heart skipped a beat (by carlosrodrigueztorre)

Uji, Tadaimaaaa

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:31:48 +0900

I was awaken this morning by Kawamura baachan’s yelling, reminding me that sugar was on sale today at Al Plaza (probably the only department store in the 10 km radius of this town) for 99 Yen, and that I have to go with her because one customer can only buy one pack. As much as I hate waking up at 8 am, this morning was somewhat different. Kinda like time went back by 10 years, and I am still this girl who used to tag along Baachan all day. We hopped on our bike and went to buy sugar. On the way to the store, my memory was struck by so many familiar houses, roads, and even the smell of sewer at that one particular cross walk was still the same. Everything except they all seems so much tinier, probably because I have grown.

Tadaima Uji!!

Bon Iver - Calgary (Azedia Remix) (by SuicideSheeep)

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:42:09 +0900

Bon Iver - Calgary (Azedia Remix) (by SuicideSheeep)

Long awaited wine and cheese. Portions were tiny as per usual,...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:07:00 +0900

Long awaited wine and cheese. Portions were tiny as per usual, the taste was Okay too. But the wine was… ahhhhhmazhing.

This Kyoto trip turned into a jumbo whale

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 20:56:00 +0900

I have been wanting to go to Kansai ever since I came to Japan, the moment has finally come! This is it!!! I am so excited it’s hard to contain my excitement on the keyboard, my finger are flying.

It was originally going to be a short, sweet 4 day trip, but through jumbling through some websites and most amazingly CouchSurf, my Kansai adventure is now 15 days long. The itinerary seems a bit tight, but I don’t want to get bored so it should be exciting.

February 26 - Overnight bus to Niigata

Feb 27 ~ Feb 29 - Sado Island (2 nights) (5000yen boat)

Feb 29 ~ March 2- Various Niigata cities (TBD, 2 nights)

March 2 - Overnight bus to Kyoto

March 3 ~ March 5 - Kyoto city (2 nights)

March 5 - Kobe city (day trip, back to Kyoto for 1 night) (1400yen bus)

March 6 ~ March 9- Uji city (3 nights)

March 9- Return to Kyoto city by 11am, take bus to Hiroshima

March 9 - Arrive Hiroshima at 620pm, visit Miyajima, take 10pm bus back to Tokyo

March 10 - Arrive back in Tokyo

Afterwards on March 16, I’ll be heading to Taiwan for another 2 weeks with Camryn, Destiny, and maybe Timo, if the Chinese Embassy is nice this time. My main goal there is to hike and do lots lots lots of outdoor things, which I am deprived of in Tokyo. So I’ve been looking into trekking trails for Yushan (one of the highest peaks in Asia, all 9 peaks are in the World’s top 100 Peak list). Should be lots of sweats, cramps, and complaining. BUT FUCKING AMAZING YEAH!!! Oh, and of course, eating.

March 14 ~ March 17 - Taipei (3 nights)

March 17 ~ Tainan daytrip

March 17 ~ March 20 - Peng Hu (3 nights)

March 20 ~ March 25 - Yushan

March 25 ~ March 26 - Kaosiung

Haven’t quite decided what to do for the last 4 days, we will see.

Anyways there goes all my savings I got from slaving myself talking to creepy old men. Well deserved.