Wandering Kimono and Other Things

I went strolling around the city on New Year's Eve and Day. This is one of the few days the streets gets cleared of people returning to their hometowns for the holidays. A great chance to photograph my outfit at. Few days before this, I received a package in the mail and it was these beautiful handcrafted pair of shoes I bought off a second hand store. They are generally known in Japan as "Jika Tabi" (Tabi boots). They are traditional shoes in Japan but you might have heard about them from these Maison Margiela boots. Just that these pair that I got where made from leather. I've never seen anything like this living in Japan. 

Tabi Boots

So much easier to take photos when theres no one looking at you like you're breaking the law. 

I also hung out in Shibuya on Jan 1st, and was amazed by the crowd. There tends to be larger crowds on holiday in this part of the city, but the place seemed to be visited mainly by tourists, and not a single Japanese soul was to be witnessed. (Except for the workers.) It was a weird atmosphere. You would eavesdrop the couple sitting next to you, the group that passes you by, and no one seems to be speaking Japanese. 

Empty Stations

So excited for the New Year. I have a lot of things in mind I want to accomplish, but first, finals!


Maria

A Mixture of Everything

Greetings, Internet.

I haven't updated in a year. But I'm back with a few photos to throw out here so here we go! 

  I recently (7 months ago) got myself a new lens for my DSLR. It's the AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G DX from Nikon. The first photo I took with it is of my pet hedgehog which can be seen above. Probably one of my best investments in a while. A little too bright sometimes but it works wonderfully under low light condition so I really love it. I love to go to aquariums to take photos so it the best lens I could get at a low price. All photos on this post are taken with this lens so I hope it interests you into looking into this lens! 

Photo taken at Enoshima Aquarium. One of the best aquariums in Japan. Follows the model of Montrey Aquarium in California. 

Cats love my coat. Love the blur. 

Some photos to remind myself that I meant to run a fashion blog... Photo was taken on my trip to Kamakura in October (I think). It's so much colder in Japan at the moment. I wore all Zara except for my shoes from Cole Haan and my backpack from Yoshida & Co., Ltd.

This year, I made Osechi with my mom like last year. Except this year, we used these authentic lacquer box given by our grandmother. 

Outfit on my birthday! Photo taken at Setagaya Art Museum.  

I'm wearing 

Black leather down jacket - Max&Co.

Green Ultralight down jacket - Uniqlo

Olive Skinny faux leather pants - Zara

Flower print shirt - Zara

Black leather combat boots - Staccato

Backpack - Yoshida & Co., Ltd

A little over exposed in the back ground but I wanted to share this. I found this stone lantern in the garden of Nezu Museum in Tokyo. A beautiful mixture of nature made and man made. Nezu Museum is a great place to be if you're interested in Japanese traditional art. The Garden there alone is beautiful and they have a cute cafe right beside it!

This was a brief overview/photo diary of my life in Tokyo the past few months. More posts to come in the next few months because I'm having my spring break. Trying to make more time for updating and getting my life straight! I hope you enjoyed this post (:

Maria

New Year and OOTD

HAPPY NEW YEAR

   I hope you enjoyed NYE and the actual day. This year I got to experience a Japanese style new years celebration with my family. It's only my second new year after moving to Tokyo and I never had a proper homemade Osechi (お節), a traditional Japanese cuisine eaten after New Years day for celebration, so I begged my mom for these pretty things. Usually Osechi is served in these layered boxes but we never owned these and its a pain to buy something you would only use once a year so we had to compromise with moms favourite plates with asian vibes. 

   These were considered delicacies in the past and people only got to eat them once a year. Nowadays we have more than enough types of food available at any time of the year so it's not really considered a delicacy. To tell the truth, Japanese food is often more on the healthy side so eating it as a celebration feels a bit different from eating roasted turkey for Thanks Giving. It's not as luxurious or filling. Even from a Japanese point of view, Osechi feels a little simple taste wise although it's time consuming to make. (and theres almost no meat involved) I like that simplicity but I'm not too sure if it's a taste everyone would enjoy. 

   And here's my lazy outfit of that day. If you're extra lazy to wear makeup, just wear sunglasses. 

My friends and I call this the gorilla jacket. I love it so much. It's super warm and cozy. 

Jacket - Diesel SALE (I dont know if its still available)

Croptop - Zara

Overalls - Some Japanese brand

Shoes - Zara

Bag - Zara

I'm 70% composed of Zara, I swear. 

I hope you have a wonderful year ahead of you (: