Moving On

Good Day Everyone,

I hope you’re all keeping well. It certainly has been a while since I sat down to write a blog post! Life has been all sorts of craziness these past couple of months but things have finally settled down, albeit only for a short while ;o).

As you may know, our Japan adventure came to an end in May. Japan was always going to be a short term thing, and I know some people may question whether it was actually worth it for just nine months. Moving to a new country requires a significant investment of time, energy and money but for us it was totally worth it. Japan is sooo unique and different to anywhere else in the world that we just couldn’t pass it up when the opportunity arose. Having visited Japan a few months prior to moving there, I can tell you that living in a country is a completely different experience to visiting the country as a tourist.

Mount Fuji

Once we found out that our Japan adventure was coming to an end, there was one trip that we just had to make, and that was to go see Mount Fuji. This famous sacred mountain is visible from Yokohama, where we lived, on a clear day but we just had to go see it closer up. Fuji-San (as it’s known locally) is surrounded by five lakes to its northern side, and so hubby and I planned a two day trip to the Fuji Five Lakes. This is what will be coming up in subsequent blog posts and on my YouTube channel.

Our last sunrise from our Yokohama apartment

We spent most of May in a bit of a whirlwind. We had days where we were drowning in bubble wrap as we started to pack up our belongings into shipping boxes, and days where we were rushing around taking in some last minute sights. I tried to capture as much as I could on my vlogging camera so that I could continue making videos about Japan once we returned to the UK. My arthritis riddled body can capture footage more easily than it can edit it into vlogs so please bear with me.

We also had the challenge of selling all of our furniture that we’d only recently bought. We soon learnt that Japan does not have a big second hand market and recycling furniture is a very costly affair. If we hadn’t managed to sell our furniture, we’d have had to pay a lot of money to have it collected by a recycling firm. This explains why expats often give their furniture away for free on the local Craigslist. Luckily for us, we managed to sell everything, albeit at a fraction of the price we paid, with just a week to go!

This meant that we then had to spend our last week staying in various hotels. We spent three nights in Tokyo and used it as an opportunity to visit a few of the sights (I’m sure there will be a blog post &/or vlog coming soon). The rest of the week was spent in Yokohama liaising with the local authorities and utility companies to wrap things up before we left.

On our way back to the UK, we stopped off in Singapore for six days to de-stress as the last couple of weeks in Japan were pretty taxing, and to catch up with friends. It was sooo good to be in a country where we could speak the language and get vegetarian and halal food ;o). I did do a bit of vlogging whilst in Singapore and will post that on my YouTube channel soon.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore

The iconic Singapore Merlion

We adjusted to being back in Singapore so easily that it was a bit like coming home, although I had forgotten just how hot and humid Singapore was! The heat definitely got to me, as did the stress of the move and consequently I spent a couple of days on bed rest as my body started to react to the past few weeks. The six days went by way too quickly and before we knew it we were on another plane making our way back to the UK.

Cora the Caravan - our current home

We’ve not been back a month yet and already Japan and Singapore feel like distant memories, more so for me, as hubby has had a trip back to Singapore for work purposes. It feels strange to be back in the UK after four years of living in Asia. And what feels even stranger is living in a caravan…that’s right, hubby and I are currently living in a caravan. Not something I ever imagined doing but then again, I never imagined living in Japan either ;o).

Love Sheen xxx

Missing In Action & Moving

Good Day Everyone,

I've been MIA (missing in action) recently as I've had another arthritic flare which has been really frustrating. Aside from the pain and associated insomnia, a flare up tends to restrict my movements and ability to do simple everyday things from walking to taking a shower. As a result I haven't been able to post any Japan vlogs even though I have a backlog of video footage accumulated. It wasn't until I started my YouTube channel that I realised just how much work goes into producing a 10-15min vlog, esp. when you work at a snail's pace like me courtesy of my arthritic hands!

The good news is that I seem to be over the worst of it and back in the land of the living.... and Instagram :o). Me not posting on Instagram is usually a testament as to how bad my flare up has been!

The other bit of news that I have to share with you is that hubby and I are moving. Our little adventure in Japan is coming to an end soon. We are not yet sure where the next chapter of life is going to take us, but what we do know is that we will be spending a week in Singapore (our previous home) in June, before we head back to our real home, the UK for a bit.

These days we are immersed in bubble wrap and shipping boxes as we pack up our lives for the second time in 12 months, and try to sell furniture that we only just bought a few months ago! We are also trying to make the most of the time we have left in Japan and recently spent two days at Mount Fuji which was a fantastic little trip. I have lots of exciting vlogs to share with you over the coming months but things might be a bit slow. When I'm having a good health day I'll be wanting to spend it outside enjoying the last bit of Japan, rather than sitting in my bed editing vlogs, as I'm sure you'll understand :o).

We are very much looking forward to our stay in Singapore. After the stress of packing and sorting everything out in Japan, we will be in need of some downtime. Also it will be lovely to catch up with our old friends and eat lots and lots of fruit ;o).

On a final note, whilst living with chronic illnesses can be soul destroying at times, it's not without it's perks.... yes perks. Thanks to my pain induced insomnia I was awake at 4.30am to watch this breathtakingly beautiful sunrise - these photos are completely unedited! It almost reduced me to tears and made my heart swell up with so much gratitude for the beauty my eyes see. In that moment, for just a short while, I forgot all about my pain :o).

Love Sheen xxx

The Land Of The Rising Sun

Good Day Everyone,

Since moving to Japan, I've often wondered why it is referred to as 'the land of the rising sun'. Was it to do with the red circle on its white flag being a representation of the sun or was there some other reason? A quick search on Google revealed a number of possible explanations.

One explanation is that the Japanese characters which make up Japan's name mean 'sun origin'. Another explanation is that the ancient Japanese knew of China and other countries to it's west, but did not know of any islands or countries to it's east, and therefore thought that their land was the first to be awakened by the rising sun. Running along the same theme, another reason as to why Japan is referred to as the land of the rising sun is simply because it lies to the east of mainland Asia, and the sun rises from the east.

It was almost six weeks after we moved into our apartment, that I found out why for me, Japan is referred to as the land of the rising sun, and that is because of the most amazing sun rises I have ever seen. I could not believe that I had not seen these before given that we sleep with our curtains and blinds open, and our apartment faces east. When the sky is full of heavy, dense clouds the sun rise can easily be missed and that's what we'd had a lot of. However, on days like this particular one when there are gaps in the clouds, we get to see this! I took these four photos consecutively whilst watching the sun come up, and the colours are so amazing that these photos have not been edited in the slightest :o)

1. The sun is coming up, peaking from behind the clouds

2. Can you see the sun rays spreading out from above the sun?

3. The whole sky is basking in the most beautiful orange glow

4. And it's completely up

Waking up early is definitely worth it when I get to capture photos like these and sometimes I can actually see sun rays... I don't think I have ever seen rays before we moved to Japan. On a clear morning, with minimal clouds, I get to capture the sun like this!

I hope you enjoyed these photos and now, like me, get to appreciate why this amazing country is referred to as the land of the rising sun... a very apt reference, if you ask me ;o)

Have a good weekend all.
Love Sheen xxx