Cherry Blossoms, Hanami!!

As some of you may very well know I am in love with hanami (the cherry blossom season) I timed it in Taiwan so I could come back and celebrate this joyous occasion. Not only do I get to spend time with friends and family I happily get to soak in all the lovely spring feeling. The flowers aren't just a reminder of my time in Japan but much more than that, it holds a very calming feeling of freedom. 

I took some time this year and went to Hie Shrine to get my omikugi (written oracle, or a fortune) which gives you little tid-bits of advice and what the year will entail. I got a recommendations from one of my students to visit this shrine so I made a little video here. Don't mind the cheesy music. :P

The best part of this year's hanami is the fact that I got to spend it with some lovely friends. New and old together talking freely about whatever we like with open minds and happy faces surrounding us. I really felt like I was truly on vacation. Plus all the alcohol helps :) 

Return to Tokyo, Japan

You might be tired of reading this post again and again but here landed at Narita airport for the 5th time. Though I am fairly sure that this will be my last. 


Either way, I am always really excited to fly back in to Japan from wherever I am coming from. This was the only time where immigration was honestly cold and threatening. There is a possibility that I was a bit more apprehensive while standing at the gate. Seriously, come on! I've been here this many times and this is the time you decide to grill me about every detail I've written on my card? 

Anyways I wanted to try my hand at the airport limousine which is suppose to get you to Shinjuku station in 90 minutes which I found impressive. Or I have been miscalculating the distance this whole time, well it was ¥3100 for a ticket (¥2000 if you're under 25). Off to the trains, looks like I'm just in time to pop on the last rapid train out and hopefully still have time to transfer to the correct local line. 
I was quite pleased to find that my pasmo still works, actually I don't see any reason why not. After a delay on the Narita line towards Tokyo we were metropolitan bound again :)

Here I am again awaiting for the upcoming days where I can revisit all my favourite places and most of all catch up with my friends. 

The Castle in the Sky

Currently I have been wracking my brain to figure out how to accomplish this dream that I has found me. Most of all quiet down the fear within me so that I can push forward and reach this castle in the sky.

A lot of the time I sit back in my seat and I am overcome with a sense of certainty that I have been walking this unknown path to find out that this is my destiny. This is what I wanted out of life. It was never to chase money, love or work towards a pre-ordained design of what a 'perfect' life needs to be.

The past makes the present and most of all sets the intent for the future. I am going to finish this crowd funding project to travel around the world and help as many people I can along the way.

Do all the good you can.
By all the means you can.
In all the ways you can.
In all the places that you can.
At all the times that you can.
To all the people you can.
As long as you can. 

Taichung, Taiwan

Wait did I even write a post about my arrival? I guess should catch everyone up!  After my stint in Taipei I became tired but not because of the city, it was due to my stubbornness to chase money and other factors. I needed a break. What's a better reason than to explore another city!Next thing I knew it was decided and I was moving to Taichung. 

Two of my lovely friends which I met in the hostel were kind enough to pick me up. An impromptu arrival lead me to want to relax briefly, going out clubbing and just spending time catching up on my neglected to do list. 

Next thing I knew I was back to Taipei for work Monday evening, after only one short week I had returned. It was brisk and rainy the whole time but as I wandered around the city running errands, the best part was that it had the essence of home. Maybe it was the refreshing rain, the mini 'reunions'. It was easier this time for me to approach people and use my Chinese, find unique foods, travel around and visit with my group of friends I had built there... I didn't realize that it was going to be a place that I would become so comfortable with. Maybe one day I will come back and live in Taiwan and improve my Mandarin. 

I returned the following Friday to Taichung to mainly see the lantern festival but the whole thing wasn't like the one in Pingxi. Which had a Mecca of people setting off sky lanterns, this was an arty array to of lights which decorated everything from animals to giant boats. The celebrations runs March 5-March 15 in three different locations within the city presumably with the same effect. 

This was literally the first time I had gone out, wandered around, sat on the grass, soaked in the differences of Taichung compared to Taipei. There was an area near the main station which the Vietnamese and Thai people were more predominate. Taichung was a more widely diverse than I had imagined. I'm going to be happy to explore more of this wonderful Taiwanese city when I make my way back around. (That's right I'm coming back, no country can get rid of me)