Showing posts with label Things I Will Miss About Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Things I Will Miss About Japan. Show all posts

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Happy 5th Birthday Kent!


Today is one of the days where the word "diet" does not exist in my vocabulary, not again :).  We just had a children's party in our Pinoy community here in Rokko Island for Kent's 5th birthday celebration. As expected, food was overflowing. I over indulged with Filipino food and ate maybe more than 3500 calories, never mind the diet, haha!.  During celebrations like this, we usually help the celebrant's mom in cooking food for the handa,  and we usually cook a lot.  Oh well, Filipinos love food and after the party, we still have "pabalot" :).

Happy 5th birthday Kent!
With the cute birthday celebrant
Baked goodies prepared by the celebrant's mom Helen

candies for the kids while playing
Kids busy playing with the games prepared by the game masters Bimbo and Olga.

Here we are with our face painting, supposed to be for the kids, but the adults enjoyed it too!

Face painting



Monday, December 3, 2012

It's December!


It's already December, the last month of 2012.  In a few weeks time, we will soon be bidding goodbye to 2012.  Time flies really fast. The time to pack and leave Japan for good is coming closer and closer.  Thinking about this makes me feel sad :(.

But of course I am so thankful to the Lord for giving me this opportunity to work on an international assignment here in Japan. I prayed hard for this international assignment when I was still based in our Manila office and I am really thankful to God because He answered my prayers.

Now, I am making the most of my remaining stay here in Japan. That's why I didn't let the month of November pass by without going to Kyoto to view those wonderful and colorful Autumn trees. As expected, Kyoto was so jam-packed with tourists and Japanese.

So nice to take pictures of the colorful trees.  I really really love Kyoto! I will come back to this place again in February and April.
















Sunday, November 18, 2012

The Beauty of Autumn



Why do I love Autumn? The answer is simple. The beauty and wonder of Autumn never ceases to amaze me. There is nothing more beautiful than the colorful trees of Autumn.


Rokko Island is just so beautiful again with all the changing color of the Autumn leaves.  I will really miss this place, my second home since 2007,  and  most especially the Autumn season, my favorite season of the year.  If my stay in Japan will not be extended to December next year, then this will be my last Autumn season in Japan, sigh :((. 

I went jogging around Greenbelt this morning and I got the chance to take these beautiful pictures of colorful Autumn trees using my phone camera :).  












Friday, September 7, 2012

Will Miss #5 - Autumn in Rokko Island



"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower". - Albert Camus.

I so love autumn and I am going to miss this season when I move out of Japan. I love the different colors of autumn leaves. The changing color of the leaves never fail to delight me.

Beautiful Autumn in Rokko Island
This is my jogging place - the Greenbelt jogging trail, so beautiful during autumn.

The colorful leaves (koyo in Japanese) are to the autumn what cherry blossoms are to spring.










Why do Fall leaves change color?
As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter.  This is how the trees "know" when to begin getting ready for winter.

During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis.  The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during summer.  They begin to shut down their food-making factories.  The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves.  As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors.  Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along.  We just can't see them in the summer because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll.

The bright reds and purples we see in the leaves are made mostly in the fall.  In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into red color.  The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves.  It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful fall foliage colors we enjoy each year.

(Source: www.sciencemadesimple.com)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Will Miss #4 - Greenbelt Jogging Trail

Photo source: Pinterest
There is no place like Greenbelt.  I love running and this is my favorite running place in Rokko Island. I hope I can find a good jogging place in Singapore, though may not be as good as this.






Thursday, August 9, 2012

Will Miss #3 - Japanese Ramen


I will surely miss my favorite ramen, the Japanese miso ramen that goes with special kimchi.  Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish, served in a meat-based broth and uses toppings such as sliced pork, dried seaweeds, and green onions. Every locality in Japan has its own variation of ramen.


Miso ramen
Tomato ramen
Kimchi 
My ramen will not be complete without the appetizing gyoza (this is ordered separately).


This is our favorite Ramen house in Sannomiya. 


And this is me enjoying Japanese ramen one winter evening :).