Day Trip to Atami, a Retro Seaside City just Southwest of Tokyo!

"Retro color over salt water"

When: August 5th, 2018

Yep, that was sort of my mantra slash mental state when I went to a seaside city yet didn't feel like bathing in the sea. 

And this had happened two times in a row. Just right a day before I went to Atami, I also went to an area called Kujukuri, another seaside town located in Chiba Prefecture for a 2 days & 1 night seminar camp along with my academic advisor and seminar friends. Some friends proceeded going to the beach after we were done with our research presentations on the last day and yours truly, with no doubt, chose to go back to Tokyo and leaving behind one of the most wanted summer activities; bathed in (flaming hot) summer sunshine and getting soaked in saltwater. Don't get me wrong. It's not that I hate beach/sea... I love playing at the beach, but apparently the longing for a "vitamin sea" mood isn't there this time around or to say it precisely, summer this year.

Alright my friends, moving on to Atami.... *sorry, for the lengthy intro, but I always love having it as a background story, so...*

Even though I'm not in the mood for a day at the beach, I can never say no to a good slow stroll in a city neighboring the beach. And this time, I got to travel with my best friend Hitomi!

Love you, Hitomi! ❤️ Here's to more traveling together. Thank you for always being a good sport, if not the best.

Upon my visit to Atami with  Hitomi, I came to a conclusion that Atami is truly such a heaven for those who are into: 

♨️ hot springs (onsen): This one goes without saying actually. Most online contents will tell you about this anyway. Ahem, calling out all fellow thermalists out there 🗣 who loves dipping in public hot baths as much as I do? But unfortunately Hitomi and I didn't make even a single stop to any onsen in Atami. We started our journey quite late on that day, so we got no enough time for that.

🏛 Museum hopping: If you're the one who loves to spend hours in museums and wander around one exhibition room to another, immersing in the exhibits or the museum architecture itself, then you better include MOA Museum of Art to your Atami itinerary! I plan to write a lil bit more about MOA  on a separate blog post just because I need more room to express my takes and thoughts on this majestic looking museum with a very fascinating ocean view. So my friends, stay tuned! 😉

A vast view of Sagami-nada Sea

I'm so keen to talk about this captivating hall inside the building, on the said separate post of course.

📺 Showa period aesthetics: mostly appeared in cafes along the shopping arcade. But the whole townscape basically shows a strong atmosphere of Showa aesthetics though. Those Showa retro color schemes, my friends, they're everywhere on every corner, oh my God!! If you have no idea what I'm writing about, you can probably go to pinterest and enter the key word "showa aesthetics". If you happen to get into it right away, then we probably speak the same lingo! If that's not your cup of tea, it's totally fineee, let's talk about something else 😉

I guess it's so easy to spot this kind of situation all over Japan, without having to go to Atami.

But for me, the fact that every corner in Atami is bathed in color-blocking aesthetics is something that I can't help but feeling so happy when I was at this place! Anyway, I'm curious to know, what kind of visuals you love seeing on daily basis or when you're on a trip?

🎇🎆 Firework: Atami hosts a  regular firework festival throughout the year ! As some of you might have known, firework festivals are commonly held during summer in Japan with July to August serving as the peak season for the event. But not for Atami, the festival is held regardless of the season. I found a page explaining quite well and briefly about the event that you could check it out here if you're interested. I'm sorry for I didn't take a single pic of the firework, but this picture below shows you the place of the event.

🍮 puddings: yep. Any serious pudding aficionados here? "Atami Pudding" or in Japanese it is pronounced as "Atami Purin" might sound a decent reason to visit this seaside city and grab yourself some of their signature puddings. This sounds silly, but... Atami Pudding seemed like one of the real deals or better-to-put-it-in-your-itinerary kind of thing when visiting this city, especially if you're a sweet tooth or just one that simply appreciate local delicacies. We saw so many people were lining for this Atami Pudding but we didn't give it a try just because... we're not into puddings that much. Unfortunately I don't have any pic showing you the real situation above. Oh, and I just found this page that gives a quite elaborate explanation about the pudding and now I kind of regretting why I didn't try this smooth and creamy dessert!

Onsen symbol inspired Atami Purin brand logo is just so cuteee!

Well, the shop's theme itself is a sento or Japanese communal bath house inspired. They really went into legit detail that every ornament and knickknacks inside the shop are so 'sento'-like. Will definitely be a super cute stop for your Atami stroll.

So, yeah! That was my version of Atami sum-up! I hope you can get even if it's only the slightest hint of what Atami is about from a short getaway of ours. Hitomi and I were actually at the city for maybe not more than 6 hours. I know that was a super short one but was certainly a good time. But still, I crave some more that I already promised myself to go back and explore deeper and farther of the area and on top of everything, to give more time for the onsens ♨️ and their authentic Showa period cafes!  Ahh, I cannot wait to realize it!

Oh, and before I end this blog post, here are a few pictures (well, only two actually) showing what we ate at Atami! Well, we didn't eat that much that day, but lucky enough that later we found out, what we had were among the top of the Atami delicacy list! Yumm!

This cheese filled fish cake is definitely my favorite! Atami is famous for its marine products hence I'm sure that the fish used for this yummy street food is fresh and of good quality! I guess it was 400 yen as I tried to recall.

The Studio Ghibli-ish bakery where I had my lunch and Hitomi had this yummy hojicha shaved ice below.

I forgot the name of this bakery but it is so noticeable once you walk down the Atami Nakamise shopping arcade 😉

Also, it was right in the middle of scorching hot summer in August, and shaved ice was no joke, a season staple. 

Well well, I guess I'm going to end this post here. Thank you for taking your time to read it and I hope you enjoy the pics and find the trip inspiring for your upcoming travel! I'll surely be back for more stories of places or events I went to. See ya! 👋

xx,


Shabrina.

Some Pictures from Harajuku Stroll and A Little Bit of Despondency

Sunday, July 16th, 2017

While waiting for my bathtub to get filled up

(19:30)

One word to describe myself this Sunday: freakin' exhausted.

I don't know, but I'm not getting excited about things this whole day. No, not just today, prolly some days within this week, I've felt this way. I usually felt so excessively happy and high, even for something that some people might find them boring. Maybe I'm just too tired, too sleep-deprived.

Oops, guess the hot water in my oh-sooo-mini-bathtub has filled up. Alright, I'll continue writing in a couple of minutes. I need to go to the bathroom now and I'll be right back once I'm done dipping. Anyway, I'm using MUJI's lavender-scented bath salt this time, it smells nice, and I'm genuinely happy right now. Omg, I guess I just got excited over something, right in this very moment!! lol.

(20:05)

Hi, done with the bathing business. Felt so good, the lavender bath salt has successfully shed away the weariness. Face is still a little bit red by the time I'm typing this, especially the bridge of my nose.  But I just sprayed tea tree water onto the face just now. So, despite the redness, my face is actually feeling so refreshed. Whoop, perfectness. Now this girl is feeling better, both mentally and physically. 

I'm not sure if the thing that I've just experienced can be classified as a mood swing, but my mental condition changed exceptionally fast. It only took a nice dip in a hot bath for 20 minute-ish. To me, that was relatively fast.

Well, I guess I need to take a break again. Be right back after dinner! 🥘 

🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

Saturday, July 29th, 2017

While waiting for my laundry in the dryer

(16:50)

Oh my God, time is scary. Don't you think? 

Two weeks ago I wrote that I'd be back after dinner. But then I didn't. I was too sleepy after dinner, then I decided to have a doze before going back to the blog. Turned out, the doze became a deep, deep sleep. I got busy on the next day, as well as the next next day, until I neglected this post and let it sit in the draft, until I realized that it has been two weeks long. Phew! 

Hella talented procrastinator when it comes to blogging lately. This definitely needs to be stopped. But how? Let me contemplate and figure a way out.

Alright, there's just too much despondency going on in this post. Shall we just jump right into the real deal on the photos I have here? *O come on Shabrina, you can even do it from the beginning of the post if you want to! 😛*

So, long story short I went to Harajuku on July 12th to meet my best friend, the one who's always been so ever-tempered in dealing with my never ending babbles, lol. We finally managed to try out Luke's Lobster, that infamous lobster roll originally from NYC, after failing to get one in our last meet-up.

 The lobster roll (below); The shrimp & crab roll (top)

They tasted... okay 👌 

I don't know if it's just me, but I didn't find it amazingly wow as compared to all the crazy hypes about this lobster roll in the world wide web. But yeah, being okay is still acceptable for someone like me who's not so hard to please when it comes to food. 

Have you ever tried the Luke's lobster? What's your take on it?

Right across the Luke's shack, we found this vines-covered wall with cute little lilac flowers thriving mostly at the upper part. "You must be wanting to take photos there, aren't you?" my friend asked. Of course the whole universe could easily know the answer even without me necessarily saying "yes". 

Done with the photo session in front of the vines, yeah, we had to stop taking photos because another tourist was lining up behind us while mumbling in a language that I didn't understand. But from her tone, I could decipher that she was complaining about us being too long 😌 oh, come on...

We continued walking casually. Getting in and out bunches of stores, touched many products, bought nothing, and ended up getting some shaved ice 🍧 in "Ice Monster" to close our meet-up session. We talked about tons of stuffs, as per usual. But this time was mainly about sexual preferences. Definitely my favorite topic to talk about.

That's that! I miss having another casual stroll already.

Anyway, July ends in two days. I did various stuffs this month. I'll try to write some recaps about this. Not to be cocky, but I'm satisfied with my performance this month. Hope August is going to be a great month too! Despite the crazy summer heat we're having here in Tokyo 🔥

Well well, hope you're all having heaps of joy in this very month too! I'll see you on the next post ;)

In the meantime, go explore your neighborhood, dance to your favorite songs and eat lots of yummy desserts. Or just do whatever that will make you happy and love yourself even more! 💟

xx,

Shabrina.

Summer Photo Roll En Route from Odaiba to Shinbashi Station

Not being able to zoom is such a pain in the ass (well, at first!). That's exactly what I felt when taking my 50mm lens out for a 31st August stroll. Here's some shots that I manage to take from the Yurikamome train window, en route from Odaiba to Shinbashi Station. This was on the way back from the starry and dreamy DMM.Planets exhibition. Promise, I'm gonna share about this exhibition later, but first please enjoy this photo roll! ;)

Bought this 50mm lens three years ago in Indonesia, but I barely got the chance to really shoot with it. The main reason is because it went crazily uncontrollable sometimes. I mean, for a person who relies too much to zoom ring like me, working with this gear isn't easy at all. I had always gone bananas every time I shot with this dude. I always felt irritated whenever the object always looked so damn big, no matter how far I had moved backward!

But this time, after stuck with tons of trials and errors, I started to get accustomed to it. Quite surprised to my perseverance this time, despite the fact that I actually brought the 18-55mm lens kit along as well. But I just didn't run to it at all! :D 

Whoop, what a major leap in shooting with 50mm! I promise, I'll try to take you on a stroll more often from now on, buddy! xx

Fuji Terebi / Fuji Television Building! One of the recommended place to check out if you're visiting Odaiba and especially if you're into television broadcasting industry!

Unintentional close-up look of rainbow bridge and I kinda loving it. Thanks to the 50mm lens for doing the job without having me to configure the zooming, lol.

Rainbow brigde again

Spot Tokyo Tower back there?

Oh, and talking about my biggest craving lately... I need a smaller camera. I already set my eye on Canon G7x Mark II! I can't fall in love more with this small but powerful camera after got the chance to touch and shoot with it when I called on Bic Camera, one of Japan's biggest electronic malls. I was a bit confused back then, whether to give it a go to another brand such as Fuji (XE series) or Sony (RX100 series). 

But, after comparing all those brands based on my hands-on experience in the store, Canon won my very attention! Not to mention that my current gear is Canon as well, so that it's not gonna be too hard for me to get familiar with it. And most importantly, it got all the quality that I wanted, either for shooting pictures or videos.

So excited to be back to the store and bring it home! xD

The famous Studio Ghibli Steam Punk Clock designed by Hayao Miyazaki, located just outside the Nippon Television Tower! They said that it will chime four times a day. Kinda curious to see/enjoy it chiming with a glockenspiel show! Oh, how cool is that? :D 

Gomennasai for this mischievous shot, Sir!

What a fun day with the 50mm buddy!

Now I just realized that the pictures above are my last day of Summer 2016. Well, Japanese do mark August 31st as the last day of Summer and 1st of September as the beginning of Autumn. Even though actually the temperature hasn't changed at all. That now is still hot. But, I just  realized that the humidity change is quite significant! Lately, I'm getting to get rid of the stickiness on the skin that we used to experience every day during summer.  And I'm very happy for this! No more beta-beta skin! (beta-beta means sticky or gooey in Japanese).

Oh and another significant difference lies on the sky! As I'm writing this post now, I look up back and forth to the sky and feel like, "ah, Autumn sky it is!". Do you realize this change too?

Anyway, I'm so excited for this month as I'll travel to India for a youth conference on the end of the month! Just so you know, I've been dying to visit India and the urge got stronger and stronger earlier this year. And voila! God opened the way for me to visit this country on this very month! Hopefully everything goes smoothly and well in terms of preparations. So relieved that I got the conference visa in my hand already. All I got to do now are of course to study the topics that will be discussed in the conference and prepare for packing things up! 

Ah, I'm so excited! I can't help no to smiling every day :D

Meanwhile waiting for my journey abroad, I got to work hard for my research plan. And also studying for the master entrance exam that's approaching as well! Guess September is a month full with piles of works. But I gotta be happy and ready! 

Hope you'll have a blast on this very month and enjoy every single day! 

See you on the next post ;)

xx,

Shabrina