some kind of amazing

Before I start telling stories about our Hiroshima City and Miyajima Island adventure, I would just like to mention that THIS IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF OUR WHOLE TRIP. These historical and cultural places were the reason why we bought the JR passes, why we woke up at such ungodly hours and why we basically just travelled for a total of ~10 hours to and from Tokyo to reach these destinations. DEFINITELY WORTH IT, THOUGH. Without a doubt. 

Alright.

DAY 3 (March 11, 2016) | Hiroshima City

Our 3rd day in Japan started by waking up at 3am (!!! yes, 2am in the Philippines!) and leaving the hotel before 5am to catch the 5:06am train to Higashi-Kanagawa Station. From Higashi-Kanagawa Station, we took a 9min train ride to Shin Yokohama Station and from there, we rode the Hikari 493 Shinkansen to Hiroshima Station. The Shinkansen ride lasted for around 4 hours so that meant ~sleep time~ for us. It was also a good thing that we reserved seats beforehand, thus, getting seats beside each other and ultimately, being able to sleep freely and with #noshame. Yes, that was supposed to be a run-on sentence.

I used Hyperdia to "review" the actual route we took on our way to Hiroshima Station. There was no way I would have remembered those details. Besides, Hyperdia is awesome. It saved our butts from getting lost when we were in Japan.

Nica and I's sleep deprived faces! I didn't even bother fixing my shawl-turned-weirdishlylongscarf! Also, look at the station sign behind us. We rode that 5:06 train ride and we were already in the station at around 4:50AM. Early birds! 

A little over 12 hours in Japan and we found ourselves awake at 6:00AM to go to our next destination: Gala Yuzawa Snow Resort!

This was a must-visit place for us because 1.) it does not snow in the Philippines and we wanted to see and experience snow and 2.) it was just a 75-min bullet train ride from Tokyo Station! Making the most of the winter season in Japan AND making the most of our JR passes... how timely and convenient!

We reserved our 8AM Shinkansen seats to Gala Yuzawa Station the night before (when we arrived in Tokyo Station). We got to the station a few minutes before the arrival of the bullet train so we had the chance to grab some convenience store snacks for our breakfast "meal".

Off to Gala Yuzawa Station via the Max Tanigawa Shinkansen~

Our train just arrived! We just had to take a photo before boarding it, and with it as the background because...

I love documenting my travel stories. Not only do these keep me motivated to save up for my next trip, my stories also remind me of all the amazing things that have continuously been happening in my life. 

That is why even though it has been more than 2 months since my Japan trip, I will still blog about what happened. For the record, I have been blogging about Japan since weeks ago so that is 2 consecutive posts of ~actual blogging~. Small progress is progress! I apologize for the delay still. 

DAY 1 (March 9, 2016) | Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kyobashi and Shibuya

We arrived in Narita International Airport at around 2:45pm, Japan time. First plan of action after immigration and baggage claim was to get our 7-day Japan rail pass. We then proceeded to the Narita Express train which would be our ride to Tokyo Station.


The duration of the ride from the Narita International Airport to Tokyo Station using the Narita Express was around an hour. When we reached Tokyo Station, we looked for the exit nearest Sotetsu Fresa Inn - Kyobashi, our hotel for our first 2 nights in Japan. We got lost while we were looking for the exit because Tokyo station is one big place. It also did not help that Tokyo Station is one of the busiest railway stations in Japan and the continuous influx of people was more than a wee bit overwhelming.

Of course, the most logical thing to do when one is lost is either to find a map or ask around. We decided to go with the latter and asking a local did lead us to the exit of Tokyo Station. (Can I reiterate how kind the Japanese are!!) When we got out of the station, man, it was freezing! We only had 2 layers of clothing on and some scarf to shield us from the wind and rain. We found out later on that it was 6 degrees Celsius that time but the RealFeel weather is at -4 degrees Celsius! Good thing there was an underground mall near Tokyo Station so we passed through that. We also had a heater appreciation moment because hey! heaters aren't really things you value in tropical Philippines (lol).

Last March 9 - 15, 2016, I went to the Land of the Rising Sun! It was my first time to go to Japan and I’ve been anticipating for this trip since the start of the year. As a fan of East Asian/Southeast Asian culture, Japan was definitely one of the must-go to places in my list! 

It was still winter in Japan when I went there and since I’m from a tropical country (what’s up Philippines!), I needed to prepare the clothes I’d be wearing for my 7-day trip. Spring was approaching and we would not experience the worst of the winter season BUT I’ve always had low tolerance for coldness (literally and figuratively LOL) so I had to pack lots of thermals, sweaters, and coats. Better be safe than sorry! 

{not the actual weather during my stay there, i took this screenshot just now lol}

I added Tokyo, Niigata, Hiroshima and Itsukushima in my weather app places because these were the places I was planning to go to. My excitement made me check the weather of these places almost every day! I managed to predict what the weather would be like during our stay there because of this. The temperature actually got colder during my stay because of the wind and rain as compared to the days before my trip. I wouldn’t have known there would be chances of rain/snow showers if I didn’t religiously check the weather. 

2.) Prepare my OOTDs for the rest of the trip and write these down on my notebook. 

Cold weather = more clothes = heavier luggage! Bringing a heavy luggage would not be a problem if you have a big baggage allowance. My baggage allowance was more than enough but I would use public transportation (Narita express train!) from the airport to the hotel. The hotel I would stay in was a 5-8 min. walk from Tokyo station so lugging heavy baggages was not an appealing idea… AT ALL. I also always tend to overpack so I HAD TO DO THIS. Doing this was genius because there was never a day where in I got anxious over what I would wear when I was in Japan. It also lessened the anxiety of thinking I forgot something to pack because the notebook served as my guide/checklist. Awesome possum! 

In the end, I brought a medium-size luggage and a cabin-size luggage. Inside the cabin-size luggage was a backpack I would use for the Miyajima Island overnight leg of my trip. I had also planned to store my Japan goodies/shopping haul in my cabin-size luggage and backpack because based on my friends’ advice, you would not resist shopping in Japan! (Please take this advice seriously. I seriously filled my cabin-size luggage and backpack to the brim with Japan stuff to bring back home.) 

Also, if you’re curious, my everyday OOTD consisted of a thermal/heattech sweater, thermal leggings, sweater, coat, pants/leggings, scarf, beanie and rubber shoes/boots! 

3.) Purchase a Japan Rail pass (if necessary) 

If you’re planning to venture out of Tokyo, getting a JR pass is very cost effective. I availed of this because I was going to Hiroshima, which was a 5hr ride away from Tokyo (a combination of bullet train and subway/local train rides). Since going to Hiroshima would involve a couple of bullet train rides, getting the Japan-wide JR pass was worth it. If you are not going out of Tokyo or would just stay in areas such as Osaka and Kyoto, the JR pass is not recommended and would come off as expensive. 

You can read several blogs on whether or not you’ll be needing a JR pass. Here’s a link to one of the blogs I read before! 

P.S. The JR Pass is for tourists and is NOT available in Japan. You need to purchase it before leaving for Japan! 

4.) Prepare necessary documents 

Passport (valid for at least 6 months before departure)? Check! 

Japan visa? Check! 

I also photocopied my passport bio page and Japan visa and placed it on different locations (one in my handbag, one in my luggage) for security purposes. 

5.) Research on the must-buys in Japan 

I did this so as not to buy unnecessary things. Some of the must-buy things in Japan (because of the affordable price or because you wouldn’t easily find these anywhere) are rubber shoes (Asics, Onitsuka), cosmetics and skin care products (!!!), kawaii clothes, gadgets, G-Shock watches and chocolates (!! matcha-flavored and ROYCE!!). 

Now that those are settled, it’s time to go to Japan! I hope this blog post somehow helped you prepare for your trip. Actual Japan trip posts to follow! 

 I MISS JAPAN!

I’m a goal-oriented person. As a kid, I would often picture my future self – may it be my future profession, home, family, etc. Growing older, I can say I have been exposed to books, audio books and documentaries related to being successful, achieving your dreams… basically living the life you want to live, more than the average person. 

The Secret is the first documentary (related to this topic) that I have watched and one of the ideas mentioned there is to create a vision board. A vision board is well, a board, containing all the things your heart desires. Since The Secret is all about positive thinking and how what you often think about manifests itself in your lives, seeing your vision board reminds you to think about your goals, passion, dreams. Instead of dwelling on negative things, you should focus on what you want – that’s the main belief of The Secret. 

Though I have always been a goal-oriented and optimistic person, I actually just made my vision board last weekend. Yes, I have a lot of goals and I have a vision of my future but until last year, I have not really done anything about these goals. 2015 was a turning point for me because that was when I actually started doing something for my goals, passions and dreams. A lot of factors contributed to this “turning point” (like the feeling of discontent and disappointment with myself), but one of the greatest factors is this:

And this is why I will forever stan GOT7. If before I was just an ordinary Kpop fangirl, now I found that connection between my fangirl life and my normal life. What better way to connect these two than to have the things I fangirl about as my inspiration, right? :) I’m very thankful for GOT7. As an AhGaSe, I feel really grateful and lucky and just blessed to know these 7 amazing boys. #2YearswithGOT7

So yes, because of GOT7, I already started on some of my goals last year. I wanted to learn a foreign language so I enrolled in a Korean language class. I wanted to travel abroad with my family so I booked us airfare tickets to Taiwan. 2015 was like a single step towards my goals. I created progress in some of my goals, yes, but others remain untouched. 2016 will be a LEAP towards my goals. I WILL do greater, bigger things! Just like how Junior (my ultimate bias!!!) did great things for his actor dreams!! And for me, the first thing I should do to get a clearer grasp of what I want is to finally create my own vision board.

Obviously, the vision board isn’t done yet. I still have to add more stuff related to my goals. Having this is really helpful, though. Seeing this first thing in the morning just makes you want to start your day right, stay motivated and get things done! I will be blogging about my goals in detail for my upcoming entries as well.

It still amazes me how GOT7/Kpop/Korean anything inspired me to ACTUALLY do something about the dreams I have since I was a kid. This just proves the truth behind the description of my blog…

To be able to live a life full of passion, positivity and love is... some kind of amazing.

Leana Tiu is a 24 year old girl from Manila. She's been blogging since 2005 but only had the guts to open a public blog 11 years later. 

Learning foreign languages and immersing herself in history and culture (more specifically East/Southeast Asian) are the things she is passionate about. She also has "life coach" tendencies (blame it on the number of motivational books she's been reading!) and is your typical Korean anything fangirl.

A perfectionist and an overthinker, ironically, she often finds herself stuck in a rut. She aims to always create, be inspired and have that peaceful mind/heart...

...and she hopes that blogging about all the things that inspire her and make her happy can help her with that (and maybe can help YOU too!). 

{Thanks for dropping by my little happy home, by the way! I LOVE YOU.}