year one | year two | year three
wauwie zamboomafoos, we made it to one year!
not exactly in the way i expected.. i was so looking forward to coming home to celebrate one year and share all of these things with you in person. i even had a full canada tour planned for august (as its the birth month of my siblings, cousins and some of my closest friends) but alas, しょうがないね..
sooo let’s celebrate one year with the top 12 memorable japan moments:
- turning a 48yo spider-ridden tatami hut (tbt to when i criied, vomited n called my mom cleaning the toilet the first time) into a clean, safe, cozy living space complete with mini home theatre
- successfully getting a library card on my own a week after arriving in japan and realizing that language barrier aint got shit on me
- standing in front of the tokyo tower again and remembering how i fell in love with this country 10 years ago
- joining the gym, buying a pricey bodysuit swimsuit and letting myself look like a loser in swimcap just so i could hit the pool. and that feeling of being in water after months apart ^_^ happi fish
- the first time i found strawberry sandos and the journey of their acquisition
- every time i see takeno’s thailand/maldives lookin ass beach n remembering i live 20mins from beauty
- waking up after being sick one night to find that the tree right in front of me had secretly been a cherry blossom tree the whole time. blessings are really in disguise
- the best friday ever and every moment that makes me appreciate the thoughtfulness and intricacy of japan
- when i stopped to admire sakura while taking photos of cotton candy clouds and all of a sudden, the wind blew the petals all around me like a cherry blossom blizzard, then the 6pm inaka song came on over the loud speaker while my beloved red train passed by and as the breeze died down, a majestic hawk flew over me. (not even making this shit up.. i have vid proof of this IRL anime experience)
- discovering hobbies and things that spark joy everytime like a new loaf of bread or another flower arrangement and being able to let myself be myself
- despite hard moments and parking lot breakdowns, feeling really blessed for this city that i can now call home. home is really a feeling, not a place.
- making a list of goals before corona went wild, looking back at that list now and realizing that i really did it. i saw a million in the bank. i remember the moments i realized that my japanese has improved enough to survive on my own. and last but not least, i bought my dream car
here are the happiest photos of the year. [story time: when i first got to my lil hut, i felt v depressed n alone after a month of sending out my address to people but never receiving any mail- freal why ask for my address? so i sent myself a card and a photo book with a note to fill it with happy memories. and that i did. smtms while taking the photo, i already knew it would be my favourite photo of the month but i would wait and see if there were more. looking forward to even better moments kept me going but more often than not, i would completely forget about this lil deal i made with myself. on the last day of each of the past 12 months, i would eat lunch on the rooftop of the grocery store beside my work, scroll through my phone and choose one photo to print at the instant photo kiosk on the first floor.]
here’s to another year?
A
anntanya 
I am so glad you are achieving your goals, although I wish you were here in Vancouver. When you come back I would love to have a cake baking lessons with you. Many things have changed in the year you have been gone, we moved to deer lake as our old house is about to be demolished. I miss you lots but love your free spirit, your love for life is endless and I’m so glad our path crossed.