JVlog #26: Last Week In Japan - Shinjuku & Yokohama

Good Day Everyone,

This blog post is a continuation from the previous one (you can read that here) of our last week in Japan. By the time it came to our final week, hubby and I were absolutely exhausted, both physically and mentally. Moving homes is no easy feat and when you add a change of country into the mix then you're definitely taking it up a level. Our bodies and minds craved complete bed rest, but we found that we couldn't just take it easy and chill out at our hotel. We felt the need to be out and about, making the most of the limited time we had left in this amazing country, because otherwise we may regret doing nothing during our last few days. We had to make the most of the time we had left. 

Hanazono Shrine

Hanazono Shrine

On this particular day though, I did leave hubby to rest up in the hotel, as I wandered out. We were staying in a part of Shinjuku that was quite different to where we normally visit and so I took my vlogging camera and went exploring. I came across the Hanazono Shrine which I'd walked past the previous day but didn't have time to walk around then. The shrine is situated on a main road and used to form part of the Imperial Gardens. The buildings at the shrine have been redeveloped over the years to what's currently on the site today as some of them were damaged during World War II. You can see more in the vlog below, as well as the rest of our final week in Japan.

By the time I'd finished wandering around the shrine, hubby had joined me and we spent the rest of the day in the main shopping district of Shinjuku before heading back to Yokohama the next morning. 

Cruise ship at Osanbashi Pier in Yokohama

Back in Yokohama, we had to finish packing up our shipping boxes as they were being collected soon. We did, however, take a break from the packing and head down to the bay one last time. It was such a glorious day that we couldn't spend all of it indoors, especially as it was forecasted to rain on our last day in Yokohama, so you know... we had to make the most of it ;o). We headed to Rinko Park, our local park, and walked along the waterfront where we spotted a huge cruise ship at Osanbashi Pier. Naturally, we had to go take a closer look. We then went to Nihon Odori back to the Turkish restaurant that we'd been to numerous times to say goodbye to the family that run it and grab a bite to eat. 

Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama

MM21 all lit up at night

We ended the day with heavy hearts as we walked back from Nihon Odori, taking in the sights that we'd become so accustomed to, one last time. That night we'd be moving our suitcases into our final hotel near Yokohama station, and we knew that we would not be coming back to Minato Mirai 21, the place that had been our home for the past nine months, again. So we lingered around just a bit longer, taking in the sunset and watching MM21 light up at night, for the last time (and wiping a few tears as we did).

Cosmo World amusement park, Yokohama

Whilst leaving Japan was very sad, hubby and I were immensely grateful for having had the opportunity to live in one of the most unique countries we'd ever visited. It also made me glad that I'd taken the somewhat bold step (bold for me anyway) of vlogging as now we had captured memories that we could relive via my videos :o).

Once we'd boarded our flight to Singapore the next morning, the excitement of arriving to our previous home was starting to take over from the sadness of leaving our current one. I did do some vlogging whilst in Singapore and I hope to share that with you in the coming weeks.

Although this is my last Japan vlog, it is by no means the end of my Japan blog posts (or videos about Japan) for I have many things that I still want to share with you, including all the things that we bought before leaving Japan. However, all that may take a little time as we wait for our shipping boxes to arrive and try to progress with our house renovations, but I will get there :o).

Love Sheen xxx

JVlog #3: Nissan Car Gallery & Night Out In Shinjuku

Good Day Everyone,

Last weekend we went out for a Turkish meal in Shinjuku, which is one of the 23 wards (districts) of Tokyo. Shinjuku is exactly what I imagined Tokyo to be like, before ever visiting Japan. It is crazy busy with bright neon lights and lots of noise. It is a great place to hang out on the weekends and people watch. It is also home to the famous Robot Restaurant. Shinjuku station is the world's busiest train station with 36 platforms, and apparently over 200 different exits. No wonder it took us over half an hour to find our friend, Mike, who we met there.

Shinjuku with it's neon lights

Robot Restaurant

Before getting the train to Shinjuku, we take you through the Nissan Car Gallery that we referred to in our previous vlog. In the current rotation there is a display of some of the old Nissan cars, such as the Bluebird and the Skyline, as well as a life size model of the Nissan Sport Sedan Concept Car which is absolutely stunning (and I'm not even a petrolhead!).

Nissan Sport Sedan Concept Car

To travel around on the subway, trains and buses we use a Suica card which is a bit like the London Underground Oyster card / the Singapore EZ-Link card. On the train, we caught a good glimpse of Mount Fuji in the distance. I cannot tell you how happy I was to get that on camera for you all to see :o).

Trying to find a specific place in Japan is very difficult for us as we cannot read any of the signs and Google maps does not work in Japan. The Japanese address system doesn't seem to be compatible with Google maps. This means that we have to try and remember places that we may want to go back to by landmarks and key buildings. We were planning to go to a specific Turkish restaurant that we had been to before. However, after walking around for 20 minutes in the area where it is but still failing to find it, we gave up and went to a different Turkish restaurant. As you will see from the video, the portion sizes are on the small size, and we've noticed this to be the case at a few other restaurants but nevertheless the food was delicious.

I hope you enjoyed this night out with us :o)

Love Sheen xxx

Konnichiwa! Greetings From Japan

Good Day Everyone,

My oh my, it has been a while hasn't it?! Typing this does feel a little strange, I'll admit. I am very sorry for the long absence. Life can be pretty unpredictable and our lives have changed a lot recently, plus I've not been in the best of health. Even though I've been absent from my blog, I do tend to be active on Instagram and Facebook on almost a daily basis so that's the place to find me when I'm not on here :o)

Bay Bridge (Yokohama) in the distant

If you follow me on Instagram and/or the Glistening Sheen Facebook page then you will know this already but if not, here goes.... We've left Singapore and we moved to Japan! O.M.G! Never in a million years did I imagine that I would end up living in Japan. In fact, when my hubby and I visited earlier this year, we had no idea that in just a few months we'd end up moving here. It all happened rather quickly. The move itself has been driven by my husband's job and to be honest we've no idea how long we will be here for.

Love British summers

As you may know, I've been very sick this summer and was diagnosed as being dangerously anaemic. After a couple of stays in hospital, some surgery and a blood transfusion later, I finally started to get better. Towards the end of July, as my haemoglobin levels started to rise, the doctors gave me the all clear to travel and that's when all the wheels were put into motion for our move. End of July we went back to England to visit our families and friends before our move to Japan.

Onions from my parent's garden

Love picking blueberries from my parent's garden

As usual, it was a whirlwind of a trip but it was wonderful to be back home when there was actually some sun. I loved spending time with my mum in my parent's garden as they're big advocates of growing their own food, and had planted some fruit trees since I was last there. Sadly the cherries were all gone and the apples weren't ripe enough, but I did get to pick fresh blueberries, green beans, onions and herbs from the garden. My hubby and I also had a great time catching up with friends over afternoon tea (our favourite meal of the day), as well as indulging in some good old fashioned British fish 'n' chips ;o)

Afternoon Tea at Tea 42 in Manchester

Piano garden in Manchester city centre

I'd started to sell our Singapore furniture before we went home and upon our return we spent a good few weeks packing up our belongings and lives. We moved out of our apartment a couple of weeks before we left Singapore, and then stayed at a friend's place whilst they were back in England, before moving into a hotel for our last few nights. We left Singapore with mixed feelings. Singapore is a great country and an easy stepping stone into Asia. It has been our home for 3.5 years and we've made some good friends there so we left with a bit of a heavy heart. However, at the same time we were super excited about Japan. After sweating constantly for over three years (I'm referring to myself only as my hubby copes with heat and humidity freakishly well, better than most Singaporeans!), I was looking forward to experiencing seasons again, and being able to wear makeup without it melting off my face ;o)

We arrived in Japan early September and stayed in a serviced apartment for the first few weeks whilst we looked for our own place. Within our first month, we experienced an earthquake and two typhoons! There's actually been more than one earthquake but I've only physically felt one and it was noticeable. It was around lunchtime, when all of a sudden it felt like the sofa I was sat on was swaying. I looked up and saw that the balcony doors were starting to rattle and the whole room was swaying side to side. Even though it felt like it lasted a really long time, in reality it was only about 10 seconds. Things didn't fall of shelves/tables, the tea on the coffee table didn't spill and neither my hubby nor I ran to get under a desk or something equivalent. We just stared at each other with a, "Is this really happening?" kind of expression on our faces. Luckily the typhoons were not full on, we just caught the fringes of them but the rain and wind was so severe that we couldn't go outside. Umbrellas offer no protection against the rain whatsoever, so we were stuck indoors for two days!

Shinjuku (Tokyo) at night

We are living in Yokohama, which is Japan's second largest city after Tokyo. Its just south of Tokyo, 30mins on the train. When we first moved here we did contemplate living in Tokyo and my hubby commuting into Yokohama for work, but we quickly realised that that was not going to work. The trains here are really expensive (as is everything) plus they're very crowded too and with colder weather just round the corner, we knew it wasn't going to be practical. Whilst there is a significant expat community in Tokyo, the expat community is much smaller in Yokohama. Now, in Singapore I wasn't too bothered about living near an expat community because everyone speaks English (in fact it's one of the four national languages), but Japan is not like that. Whilst the Japanese are incredibly friendly and polite, English is not commonly spoken so day to day life can be somewhat challenging with the language barrier. I've learnt a fair few basic words and phrases so far and with a bit of hand gesturing I can get by ;o), but it is nice to have met a couple of fellow expats where conversing is just that bit easier. Plus its always nice to share any learnings or tips from each others experiences.

Landmark tower, the tallest building in Yokohama

We were lucky enough to arrive towards the end of summer and have had some beautiful weather. Now we are in the middle of autumn and the weather is still reasonably warm most days but the nights are starting to get cold. I'm really excited about spending our first Christmas since 2010, in the cold. Even though the Christmas decorations were incredibly amazing in Singapore, it just never felt Christmas-sy in the heat. I'm also looking forward to staying put for a while. The last few months of our lives have been so hectic that I just do not want to pack another suitcase for at least six months! I calculated that over the last few months I've actually gone to bed in at least seven different places, from hospital beds, to my parent's house to a friend's place and hotels and serviced apartments. Now, I just want to stay at home.

Loving our new home in the land of the rising sun

On the health front, my arthritis has been flaring up and even my psoriasis has started to get active again over the past few months. I feel like my body and mind are craving routine, just the normality of everyday life. Packing up lives and moving countries is not easy, and when you suffer from chronic illness, all that stress and change can really take a toll.

I still have sooo much more that I want to share with you from our first few months but I fear that this blog post is going to become ridiculously long! So I will break it down over the next few weeks, from the twinkly train station music, to interesting shopping trips and not to mention all the colourful things I've seen :o)

I still intend on completing my Japan Journals blog posts as I have Kyoto and Tokyo to write about. However, I'm going to start mixing things up a bit on here. My arthritis has spread to my right wrist and most of my fingers so typing is proving to be extremely challenging (and very painful). Plus I'll be the first to admit that I am not a concise writer by any means. Consequently, I am going to have intermittent posts that are more photos and less words. They say a picture paints a thousand words and so I'll just let my photos do the talking (aka writing).

I hope life has treated all of you Gorgeous Glisteners well over the past few months. Hopefully, we can now pick up where we left off and I look forward to interacting with you all, once again :o)

Have a great weekend all!

Love Sheen xxx

P.S. As I completed writing this I ended up having to fly back home to England for a few weeks... So much for staying put?! Life never really goes as planned ;o)