Travel Diary: Tokyo || Episode 1: Timeless

Hi all, it’s been a long time since I posted my travel diary. Currently, I have some spare time and I finally got some time to finally edit my travel videos so, here I am posting the detailed story of my trip to Tokyo back in 2019. I will divide it into a few episodes here. Watch the video version here and please help to give it a like and share!

The first day to explore Tokyo! My cousin and I decided to walk around Tokyo on foot and by train. We started the day pretty early and we took the regular MRT to the Asakusa area since our JR Pass is not activated yet at that time. With minimal Japanese vocabulary and insufficient maps application, my cousin and I bravely took the MRT train to the Asakusa area. We finally entered the MRT but we got off at the wrong stop. We hurriedly get off the train then my phone slipped and landed at the tactile paving. A few seconds later, I saw my phone’s LCD cracked badly. In less than 24 hours since I arrived in Japan, I had an incident already. I wanted to cry, but it’s too absurd until I can’t express my feelings.

After that incident, we finally arrived at Asakusa, the heart of Tokyo’s past unfolds. I was intrigued by the authentic tendon shop that I saw on Instagram and it was located right behind Sensoji Temple. So, I decided to visit the Asakusa area on our first full day in Tokyo. Not only because of the culinary that I would like to try, but I think for a first-time visitor, visiting Japanese temples is a necessity.

Kaminarimon, the Thunder Gate

As soon as we arrived at Asakusa station, the big red lantern greeted us. At that time many people from all over the world visited Sensoji Temple, one of the oldest temples in Japan. As soon as I arrived in Asakusa, I totally forgot about my cracked phone. I feel excited and the feeling that I am in Japan was getting more real. We passed through the big lantern at the front gate of Sensoji Temple, known as Kaminarimon or Thunder Gate and we took the left side street. 

Daikokuya Tempura

Instagenic front face

A few meters from there, I finally found the tendon shop I wanted to visit, Daikokuya Tempura. I don’t usually like tiger prawn tempura and rarely eat tendon. But, after I saw a post of this shop’s front face on Instagram, I decided to visit here. The shop is relatively medium-sized and it is two-story. They actually have expanded their original shop and have an annex building right next to it. And I got to eat at the annex building. 

Small-sized stools and tables fill in the shop and I can feel the traditional Japanese vibes. I arrived at around brunch time (they opened at 11AM) and almost half of the guests were the locals. Thankfully, they had the English menu, even though they only sell like two or three menus. Also, they have pictures!

I ordered Tendon A which consists of prawn, kisu fish (Japanese whiting), and mixed tempura. The regular tendon or tempura, in general, has a crunchy texture and is light-colored. But, the tendon that Daikokuya serves is quite different. It has dark-colored and moist. The batter is mixed with some kind of soy sauce and sesame oil for Edomae tempura which make the color darker and taste salty-sweet. It also has a hint of spiciness, which makes the food more flavorful and less boring. I really love Japanese rice and choosing tendon as an opening was a really good choice.

After a hearty meal, my cousin and I took some pictures before heading to Sensoji Temple. I really love the pictures I took in front of the shop and the nearby area. That day, the weather was so good and there were big and fluffy clouds. I guess that’s what makes all of my photos look good.

I & My Omikuji captured with a disposable camera

Before we really entered the shrine, we tried to get our Omikuji or written fortune. I don’t really believe in fortune, but we took this just for fun. It was written on how to take Omikuji that if we got a good fortune, we should not be arrogant and careless. They both wrote what to do if we get bad or good fortune. I think that is a very important thing.

Thankfully, I got a pretty good fortune even though I just dropped my phone earlier. The Chinese believe that bad lucks may disguise good fortune. So, I’ll take my phone breaks as an incoming good fortune in disguise. Fast forward to November 2019, I finally received good luck! So, I guess my first day in Tokyo is to take away my bad omen for the upcoming day ahead.

There is a water fountain on the right side corner of Sensoji Temple, called Chozuya / Temizuya. Just like any other worship place, purifying is symbolized by water, so cleaning yourself before entering the worship place is necessary. 

Even though I’m not a Buddhist, temples, and shrines fascinate me. I was expecting a serene and quiet temple, just like the temple I saw in Korea. I was quite surprised at the time I entered the main hall of Sensoji Temple because it was quite crowded with people and it wasn’t as quiet as I expected. But after all, it was an amazing experience.

After some walk-around the temple, we came across a matcha or green tea specialized shop nearby. I am not a fan of Japanese green tea, but Ossuloc (a Korean green tea specialized shop) and this shop in Tokyo changed my thoughts about matcha. The shop we visited is called Yanagi-Chaya. The store was opened in 2018 and they use premium-quality green tea from Uji, Kyoto. 

We ordered the best seller mochi (glutinous rice cake) with matcha ice cream and roasted green tea boba drink. For refreshment, the menu we chose was perfect. It wasn’t too sweet nor too bitter. Just right. Also, it was good to cool down our body because we walk around outside for more than 2 hours, and this green tea ice cream, and boba drink flush all of the heat.

Candid Nakamise Street captured by my cousin

We passed by the Nakamise Shopping street as we walked our way out from the Asakusa area. The shopping street is about 250 meters long and it connects the first gate to the second one, called Hozomon. There were many souvenir shops and snack stalls along the Nakamise shopping street. I didn’t buy anything there and I regret it now.

The view while waiting for the traffic lights

Sumida River

Tokyo Skytree captured at 1 PM

Our next destination is the Ginza area. But, to reach there we need to go to Asakusa Station, and on our way there, we passed by the Sumida River, also we saw the Asahi Beer Museum from across the road, and Tokyo Sky Tree as the background. We walked at 1PM and it was really hot. But, it was worth the miles and I’ll count it to burn some calories.

I don’t have a special reason to visit the Ginza area, but my cousin does. She wanted to buy some things there because Ginza is one of Japan’s shopping heaven. There were lots of branded flagship stores. When I stepped out of the Ginza station, the vibes were totally different from the Asakusa area. I feel transported to the modern days right away. There were tall buildings and cars passing by along the main street.

The first thing that welcomed us when we exit the train station is The Nissan Crossing. I never saw Nissan’s sports cars before and I know it’s lame, but I was stunned. There is also Wako Department Store with Seiko clock on it, across the street that I saw while we were waiting for the traffic lights. This reminds me of the H&M Flagship store in Melbourne, where they repurposed an old building giving it a new life. The Wako Department Store was rebuilt in 1932 and ever since then, it became the icon of Ginza. My cousin didn’t really get what she wanted, so we head back to Shinjuku.

Arrived in Shinjuku, we headed for our early dinner. I just realized it was our second meal yet. We went to Gyu-katsu Motomura to try out the original Gyu-katsu. I have tried a few Gyu-katsu in Indonesia, but surely the meat quality is different and it makes the whole meal taste differently. Also, Japanese rice is my favorite type of rice, and thanks to it all of my meals in Japan taste very good. By the time we arrived there weren’t many guests yet, even though it was a famous restaurant and I heard that guests should line up to get their Gyu-katsu. Thankfully, we didn’t have to line up and could get our hands on their Gyu-katsu easily.

We ordered the smallest set one set each. Each set consists of Gyu-katsu, rice, soup, and cabbage salad. It was such a hearty meal to end the day.

My first full day in Tokyo was like living as a transporter. In the morning, I was taken back to the past and in the evening I was transported to the present day. I got to experience the best of both worlds. If I happened to visit Tokyo again, I would definitely cruise over the Sumida River and explore the other part of the Asakusa area.

References:

https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-tokyo_train_station/article-a0002059/

Daikokuya Tempura full English menu: http://www.tempura.co.jp/english/

http://www.meetrip.to/asakusa_2.html

https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/restaurants/yanagi-chaya

https://www.gotokyo.org/en/spot/73/index.html

https://www.japanistry.com/wako/

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14504618

Hello 2022, Please Be Nice!

Hi everyone, it’s finally a new year. I hope all of you had a great start to enter this new year. I’ve said this many times before, “damn, time flies so fast!”. Whether it’s pandemic or not, time always ticking and without we realize, it flies just like that. But, obviously the pandemic makes it feel much faster than we expected, right?

When we first entered 2021, we thought and hope that the situation will get better. But, the reality chose the other way. The situation was getting much more out of control and we experienced far worse than 2020. But, if you are reading this now, you have done well and congratulations you’ve survived the worst! Even though 2021 wasn’t as good as we expected, but there’s always a good thing in everything.

If I have to describe my 2021 in one word, it will be novelty. I had few new experiences that I’ve never had before. And I can say that those experiences were the highlight of my 2021. The first thing is I experienced a burned out. I think I just hit the lowest point of my life, where I don’t feel happy at all. I feel negative and I hate it so much. I never knew that I growing up was this hard. When I was there, I was thinking if I am actually not as strong as I thought or it is something that everyone will get eventually. When I was in that state, I feel very emotional and sensitive. It was very irritating and hurt. I really don’t know the root cause, but the trigger might be my workplace environment. I don’t want to blame the situation or what, but everything happens for a reason. So, there might be a reason behind this burn out, even though I don’t know for sure what it is. Well, anyways I’m already get back to my cheerful and bubbly self. Thankfully, it doesn’t take that much time to recover.

The second thing is there are many of my friends that got married and suddenly I became an aunt to their baby! I have some niece and nephew, but being an aunt to my friend’s children is novel to me. It wasn’t in my life vision plan. I remember that when I was small, I was treated nicely with my mom’s friend. As if I am their children. My childhood memories made me wanted to be a nice and fun aunt to them.

The third new thing is I finally tried paragliding! I’ve been always wanted to do paragliding (way before Yoon Seri make it a trend). There is no word to explain my feelings up in the air. It was thrilling, joyful, amusement, and peaceful. I think I know why people wants to fly like a bird. It was a very awesome experience ever in 2021. Also, I flew with my best friends, which doubled up the fun.

Also, I would like to say that I survived 2021 most of the time because of K-dramas. From Vincenzo, Hospital Playlist 2, Police University, Hometown Cha Cha Cha, to Lovers of the Red Sky. Thank you for all of the related drama’s teams, you’ve made my 2021 bright and livable. I think I could express my emotions thanks to the shows I watched during 2021. I couldn’t imagine what my life will be without them.

There are few things that left unchanged even in 2021 that makes me feel good. The fact that my favorite idol groups like 2PM and Super Junior still going strong and they still hang out like when they are younger and at their peak popularity made me realize that they take their members seriously. I thank God that I got to know them and thankful for them. Please keep this friendship going on.

I also started a new routine last year and hopefully, it continues. I started to do a reflection journal. As I’ve entered the “life-quarter crisis”, I started to read and watch contents regarding self-improvement. I’ve always been a very cheerful and positive-minded person, but I really hit the lowest point of my life in 2021. Thanks to the contents I read and saw, I started to gain my strength and started a positive routine. Well, actually since I was a kid I’ve been trained to write a self-reflection journal at school, but doing it voluntarily and not has a huge gap. After I did the reflection journal, I started to sort myself out. I made a reflection journal based on the movies or shows that I watched and make notes of the lessons I got from it. Well, there isn’t a fixed way how to do the reflection journal, but I this way suits me the best. I watched one of the older video of Dulce Candy, and she also recommended to do this kind of journaling. It really helps me to grow as a better person. You can see the snippets of my journal below.

2021 wasn’t an easy year for all of us, but we finally get through it well. Let’s hope that 2022 is better than the previous years. Most of all, to be sane and joyful throughout the process. 2021 taught me a lot and the most important lesson is to trust God’s timing no matter what. Good things will definitely come, we just need to be prepared for it and do our best. 

Happy New Year!! 

God bless your days in 2022!

Epilogue

In 2021, there was an incident regarding Kim Seonho. He was getting much more attention thanks to 2 Days 1 Night and the most recent drama of him, ‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha’. Then an incident broke and his popularity was scratched. Long story short, the truth revealed and Kim Seonho was “accepted” again by the society. He canceled the “cancel culture”. His incident really broke my heart, but as his fans for some time, I know that he is truly a good person that just simply make mistake. This incident once again reminds me that entertainer, celebrity, or whatever you call your favorite artist, is also a human being that also make mistakes. I was really afraid if this incident broke his mental harshly and he choose an extreme option. Thank goodness, he is stronger than I thought and there are many good fans out there that still stand by his side. He also shows that the good deeds you do will get back to you eventually. 

So, be good!

E-Epilogue

I would like to say congratulations to all athletes and committees that participate in the Olympics this year. Finally, your hard work was paid off. Despite of the pro and cons, it was a great event. Indonesia got a gold medal for Badminton Women’s Double, which is very cool! Indonesia was well-known for the badminton skills and this time the gold medalists were women! Well done. I watched some of the competitions (though mostly were where the South Korean team participates, since I watched through the Korean channel), and very thrilled with the event. The excitement was real, but it would be better to watch it live! Hopefully the next summer Olympics it could be filled with audiences. Amen, everyone?

Further Reading:

https://sea.mashable.com/life/18633/44-things-you-forgot-happened-in-2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/special-series/2021-year-in-review.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/29/entertainment/best-pop-culture-moments-2021-cec/index.html

JCP FEATURES: MAGIC LAMP

“Like so many things, it is not what's on the outside, but inside that counts”

- Merchant, Aladdin

“Wait. I want to post this on my insta-story.”

“I saw this on Instagram and let’s go here too.”

“This was viral on TikTok, let’s make it too.”

Those sentences are some clips of our daily life nowadays. Especially after the soaring high use of Instagram and TikTok. Many are “busy” making content for their profile. Due to the popularity of social media, anyone can be a full-time “content creator”. Compared to 10 years ago, life as a blogger was not much appreciated because it doesn’t seem to be a profitable job and it couldn’t be described as a job. But here we are now, where childhood dream job is no longer to be an astronaut, or a teacher, but to be a YouTuber or an influencer. Well basically, all job is equally good, but we need to aware that what we see is not the whole thing about that job, especially content creator.

Well, actually the content creator is not a new job description since the magazine we used to read, TV programs we watch, or even the flyers you received are created by a content creator. It’s just the form of content that is new and we don’t have the specific job description for it yet. We can call a magazine article creator a magazine editor. For TV shows, we can call the creator as the producer or advertiser for flyers makers. We started to call people who create content on the internet as a blogger around 8 years ago and people who posted a video on YouTube are called YouTuber. All these job naming is just a name for a person who creates content for other people to read, hear, or watch with a more holistic perspective. The distinctive difference between the new content creator and the previous one is the working hours and independence. As for editors, producers, etc they are dependent on a company or brand and have specific working hours. While the new type of content creator is usually self-employed, more on freestyle, and has no specific working hours.

Many think that being a content creator is just the happiest and easiest job on earth. All it takes is to make your content viral and voila! You can get instant popularity. But, there is no way in this world that success can happen in the snap of your hand. All needs hard work and few times of trial and error. (Well, sometimes lucks played some part in someone’s career, but not everyone got the same luck) I was once helped my friend’s brother in running his studio and content creation business. Our client at that time is e-commerce for outdoor activities. So, we went to the mountain to create content. I enjoyed outdoor activities and moreover, this is my first-time experience hiking plus spend the night at the mountain, so I’m very excited about this content making. But, on the way up, I realized this content creation is not easy as what I usually see on social media. To make a 15-second video I had to hike up for more than 3 hours, not taking any bath, get wet due to rain, and most of all I can’t go to the toilet as there was none. In sum, there is no such easy thing in this world, you’ve to work for it.

Besides work hard, time also plays a part in your success. Who would know that YouTubers that started their channel 12 years ago would gain the spotlight like they received now? If you look at it carefully, many of them have started their career 10 years ago and just got the time to shine. More about time and timing, you can read it here. I’ve made a post about it on my previous JCP Features, so you can check it out there.

Actually, being a content creator is not just making any content. They have to carefully think about what they should make because there are thousands, even millions type of people that will look at their content and make a judgment of it. Their reputation is at stake. As you know, there were many issues with public figures or content creators regarding hateful comments. Many of them got hurt badly and many of them chose to end their precious life.

A few months ago, there are many content creators out there that reminds their followers that what they share is just a surface of their life and just like you and me they are not perfect. Like an iceberg, what we see on the internet is just the tip of their life. They choose the best part of their life or what they do and share it on the internet. Everyone has their own problem and mistakes, so they don’t need to add more of them. Mostly, the aim to create content is to give entertainment, hope, or information. As a semi-content creator, I also just wanted to share the good things here, since life is not easy for everyone. Personally, my aim is to encourage others and share the good stuff with all. We are all the same human beings and we are given the same abilities. It’s just you need to take action to make it happened. I watched one of the TEDx Talks videos titled “Stop Looking for Your Passion”. She said that it’s okay that you don’t have passion but do something. She encouraged us to work and take some action whatever it is.

Everyone already has their own problems and crazy life, so why sharing the negativity or discouraging content? We always see other’s grass is greener, but we don’t know how the others make that grass green. So, comparing your life with others is not really a bad thing to do, but you must know that great things don't happen instantly. Everyone has their own pace and there is an endless way how people achieved what they aim for.

2021 is on the way to the end of the first half, yet I’m still doing my 2020 monthly project (surely my time management didn’t get any improvement). It might have heard like an excuse, but being a part-time content creator is damn hard! See, being a content creator need persistence and consistency, which not everyone can have. In the last month of 2020, I learned how to live a content life. Not about being online all the time and sharing content, but how to fully enjoy life. Obviously, 2020 is not the best year ever, but there is always joy in everything. I started to post my daily activities during the Advent weeks in 2018. At first, I wanted to show how great it was spending Christmas in a winter country, but then I got to reflect that there is always a grateful thing every day, especially during the year-end. Then I continued the ritual up until now.

As I enter my 20s, I started to reflect back on my life more. I started to read self-improvement books or contents (like TEDx), or I started to analyze the main idea of the movie or drama that I watched (should I become a movie columnist?). Basically, I started to pay more attention to little details around my surroundings and fill in my mind and heart with positivity. After I got some insights, I have the urge to share them. Both offline and online. I started simple, by sharing it with my friends. Sometimes I shared it on my blog, but mainly on my Instagram, where I can reach more people I know personally but cannot be reached offline.

Just like what ‘The Aladdin’ movie (the older version) portrayed, he once didn’t want to buy the lamp because of its appearance. But the merchant said, “like so many things, it is not what's on the outside, but inside that counts”. And that lamp turns out to be a magic lamp! So, appearance is not everything, but what’s inside that counts.

This is my last post for JCP Features. I’ll prepare more thorough content in the future and share positivity with all of you. In the second half of my 20s, I’ve decided to restructure my life and I will take that as a chance to share more good stuff. It took me a long time to brainstorm and deliberate for this post. Even though I know that there aren’t many people who read my blog, but I had to finish what I started. Anyways, thank you to everyone who read this post and I’m signing out for now.

XOXO,

Further reading:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQaBpe7Fxuz/

(currently the most relatable account on my timeline)

TEDx Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MBaFL7sCb8

https://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1137037/things-about-aladdin-you-notice-as-an-adult/

JCP FEATURES: GROW UP

"I want to get through these hardships 

and hold your hand"

- Future by Red Velvet (Start Up OST)

The drama “Start-Up” was trending in November 2020. The drama not only watched by K-drama fans but non-K-drama fans as well. This drama inspired me to make this JCP Features since the drama not only portrayed romance, friendship & family, but also mentorship. Have you watched the drama? If so, what do you learn from the drama?

As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, lately I felt burnout and the root cause would probably because of my workplace culture. Even though I just realized about it a few months ago, but I think it’s connected with the main topic I wanted to share in the first place.

The first time I encounter the word ‘mentor’ was when I entered university. On the first day of orientation, newcomers were accompanied by a mentor. My mentor was not really made a big impact on me, but she introduced me to the fun part of being a university student. Well, back then I have few mentors that actively participated in my life-changing journey. Even though the harsh reality separated us now, but once a mentor will be a forever mentor. Anyways, what I wanted to underline here is the importance of a mentor in our lives. After I came out to the real world, I finally realize that having a good mentor is as hard as finding your soulmate. The Oxford Languages defined “mentor” as “an experienced and trusted adviser”. And this definition has summed up all the criteria of being a mentor. Mentors themselves not always need to be older, but they might have more experience than us. Also, most of all are trustworthy. Being trustworthy means they could frankly speak about the harsh fact that we might experience or tell us the ugly truth they’ve experienced. For the past few years, there were many motivational speakers and people we looked up for that seems like a mentor to us. But, unless you know them personally, I don’t think they could be called to be a mentor. As mentioned before, a mentor should be the one we trusted. We could trust someone if we know that person personally right?

In the drama “Start-up” there is a character called Han Ji-pyeong. He is a manager of an investment company and a successful young career man with lots of hardship while he is young. Long story short he happened to become a mentor for the start-ups CEO in Sandbox, the Korean Silicon Valley. There are 3 other mentors and each mentor have different characteristics and personalities, but one thing for sure that a trust is shouldn’t be separated from mentor characteristic. A character named Alex Kwon is the most wanted mentor because he is surely an expert in the world of start-up, but he couldn’t gain the trust of the participants. Another mentor called Won Doo-jung is the CEO of a big firm in Korea. He surely has a personality that people would love to look for, but also he failed to be truthful and even make the mentees uncomfortable and lose respect for him. Han Ji-pyeong himself also not a good mentor at first, but he truly cares about his mentees. At first, he always disagrees and says the bad things only. His mentees feel discouraged and spoke up about their uncomfortableness. After some point in the story, he changed and he truly helped his mentees to be better each day. On the other side, the most senior mentor of four is Yoon Sun-hak. She is the CEO of SH Venture Capital (where Han Ji-pyeong worked) and also the head of Sandbox. She has the experience and also trustworthy, but she also had a painful past. Well, everyone has their own past and goals. Not everyone is perfect, but to be transparent and truthful is what it takes to be a mentor. Life is not always full of rainbows and tastes sweet, but there are some rain or even storm and it can bitter. Having a mentor helps you to be prepared for those bad days and have someone that can support you since they can understand your feelings because they might have experienced the same thing as you.

As I watched the drama, I learned how wonderful it was to be a mentor. I was kind of regretted that I didn’t apply as a mentor like some of my friends back in the university. But after a second thought, actually being my lecturer’s assistant for around a year also considered being a mentor. I became the person my juniors trusted and I could share some experience with them. I feel so grateful for them as they came to congratulate me on my graduation day and I’m also proud that they have successfully graduated on time. I realized that have a mentor title is not always proof that you are a good mentor, but your action is what it takes.

Even though I didn’t closely keep in touch with them, but seeing them to doing well ensure me enough that they’ve become a decent person in this wild society. Thank God I didn’t hear any bad news from them. I never thought that being able to share what you know will be this valuable experience. Actually, I, myself haven’t keep in touch with my mentor for a long time. As I’ve said before, everyone has their own goals and to-do list, which might have them to be focused on their checklist. It’s not that mentee is not important, but in reality, we have to face our own problems too. I think becoming a long-life mentor is not for everyone. It needs dedication. As long as your mentee is doing well on their own or even they became a mentor themselves is a sign that your duty as a mentor has finished. I think it’s okay to finally let off their hands so that they can grab someone else’s hand and guide them.

Currently, I’ve got no one to look up to whenever I had a hard time at work since my current workplace doesn’t have a mentoring system. I never thought working will be this mentally exhausting, but surely having someone you can look up to at work is really important. This job is my first long-term work experience and I finally learned that fully responsible for your job only is not enough. You have to be happy and enjoy your job. No wonder many quit their 9-to-5 job even though they get paid a lot.

Relying solely on other people is not good, but having someone to rely on is pretty important, especially in this vast changing phase. Unfortunately, I had to face this harsh truth myself, but learning from a real-life experience is not so bad. I hope you have a mentor that you can always look up to whenever you face a hard time. Also, you can be the figure others look up for whenever they have a hard time.

Further Readings:

https://hbr.org/2020/08/what-efficient-mentorship-looks-like

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marvinkrislov/2020/01/09/mentorship-good-for-the-mentored-and-good-for-those-mentoring-too/?sh=491e399142b7

https://sheleadsafrica.org/power-of-mentorship/

https://dandavidamazona.medium.com/sandbox-fulfilling-your-life-purpose-start-up-k-drama-analysis-cc1b57f7ea86