JVlog #13: Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo

Good Day Everyone,

No trip to Tokyo is complete without a visit to one of the world's busiest crossings, the Shibuya Crossing, often referred to as Tokyo's version of Times Square. There are bright neon lights and huge plasma screens all around the crossing, which was further propelled onto the world stage after appearing in a number of Hollywood movies, such as Lost in Translation starring Scarlett Johansson. 

Traffic stops from all directions simultaneously, allowing pedestrians to pour into the roads and cross this huge junction from all sides. It is fascinating to watch the crossing in action from above and that is something I would definitely recommend doing. Watching the crossing at night is the best as you get the full effect of all the brightly coloured neon lights. You can see the crossing in action in the below video as well as my recommendation on the best viewing spot :o).

The Hachiko statue outside Shibuya station is a popular meeting spot for young Japanese, and is equally popular with tourists wanting to have their photo taken with Hachiko's statue. Hachiko was a dog whose loyalty to his master captured the hearts of the Japanese people. You can find out more about their story in the above video. There are also a couple of beautiful cherry blossom trees next to the statue which makes visiting in Spring all the more memorable.

I hope you enjoyed this short vlog :o)

Love Sheen xxx

JVlog #12: Ueno Park, Tokyo - Sakura/Cherry Blossom Festival

Good Day Everyone,

On the weekend, Hubby & I headed out to one of Tokyo's most famous parks, Ueno Park, to see the cherry blossom trees, known as sakura in Japanese. The sakura/cherry blossom festival marks the arrival of spring and is celebrated by having picnics in the parks/gardens with family, friends and work colleagues.

There are often traditional tea ceremonies and it is quite common to see Japanese women in traditional dress. Viewing cherry blossoms is like a national event in Japan and the more well known parks get incredibly crowded, especially on the weekends, as we found out. The queues at the barriers just to get out of Ueno station at the park exit were 30+ people deep! Whilst on the lookout for somewhere to have lunch we ended up wandering through Ameyoko, a shopping bazaar to the south of Ueno station that had stores selling anything and everything, with vendors shouting over one another, vying for people's attention. It was then that we spotted a halal Turkish kebab shop, in fact there were several in the bazaar. Seeing some empty benches we took advantage of being able to have a quick sit down. The kebab was better than I expected and not like the processed donner meat where you can't actually tell what's in it. This was more like a shawarma with chunks of real meat and a generous layer of cabbage salad stuffed into a pitta bread.

We then followed the crowds into the park, which was opened to the public in 1873 and is free to enter. Ueno Park is very popular for hanami (cherry blossom viewing) parties as it has more than 1,000 cherry trees lining its central pathway. Many people bring their own picnics but there are also numerous food stalls in specific parts of the park selling a wide variety of snacks.

As you will see in the video below, this particular part of the park was unbelievably crowded, so much so that we couldn't bring ourselves to walk the length of the central pathway. We decided to explore the periphery of the park instead.

 

We took advantage of some steps that we noticed and climbed to the top to get a better view of the cherry tree lined central pathway and the endless stream of crowds trying to make their way along it. At the bottom of the stairs is a large bibbed Jizo Bodhisattva statue. Jizo is known as the protector of children, women and travelers.

A bibbed Jizo Bodhisattava statue

At the top of this somewhat hidden hill, known as Daibutsu yama or Great Buddha Hill, is a Chedi which is a symbol of Buddhism. We saw people offering prayers at the Chedi. Next to the Chedi is The Ueno Daibutsu which was a huge seated bronze buddha statue that stood in what is now known as Ueno Park from 1623-1923. The statue was destroyed in the 1923 Tokyo earthquake. The remains of the statue were left in the park for many years before the body was melted down for metal in WWII. As you can see in the photo below, the great buddha's face is all that remains now.

The face of Ueno Daibutsu

We then headed towards the Toshogu Shrine and along the way saw what little is left of Kaneiji Temple. Kaneiji Temple once occupied all of Ueno Park. It was built to protect Edo Castle from the northeast which is considered to be an unlucky direction. The temple was huge and consisted of numerous buildings, but the whole complex was destroyed during the Battle of Ueno, which was a battle of the Boshin War in 1868-1869. What remains today is the five storey pagoda which actually sits inside Ueno Zoo, in the middle of Ueno Park.

5 storey pagoda

Toshogu Shrine is one of Tokyo's most tastefully preserved shrines having miraculously escaped the disasters of the Battle of Ueno in 1868, the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, and the wartime bombings of Tokyo in 1945. There are large copper lanterns on the grounds leading to the shrine that have been donated by various warlords. In addition to the lanterns, there are several other interesting structures along the way to the shrine.

There is a place for visitors to cleanse and purify themselves using traditional ladles and water that flows out through a bamboo pipe. There is a plaque on a wall detailing the specific steps of the cleansing ritual.

Water and ladles for cleansing and purification

Next to the cleansing site and in front of the large lanterns is a display of ema. Ema are small wooden plaques upon which visitors/worshipers write their wishes/prayers. These are then left hanging at the shrines where gods/spirits receive them. As expected, most were written in Japanese but there were some written in English, as well as several other language. It was really lovely just to take some time out and read these. I captured a few close ups in the vlog including one that really touched my heart so you can read those by watching the above video :o).

Lots of ema plaques

Ema plaques with wishes and prayers

Across from the ema display is a very poignant display of The Flame of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The flame burns in the centre of the wing of the bird monument below as a peaceful protest against the use of nuclear weapons. We spent quite a few minutes reading the accompanying plaque and thinking about the harrowing devastation that the dropping of the world's first two atomic bombs, by US forces in August 1945, must have had... it truly is heart breaking and a moment that will stay with me forever.

The Flame of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

We then walked further along to take a look at the Karamon, a Chinese style gate built in 1651 at the front of the Toshogu Shrine. The gate is very ornate with two dragons carved on pillars at either side of the gate. The dragons are known as Noboriryu and Kudariryu which means Ascending Dragon and Descending Dragon. In the video you can see the praying ritual made by lots of people at the gate.

Karamon - a Chinese style gate

Ueno Park is huge! As well as Ueno Zoo, there are numerous museums including Tokyo National Museum, National Science Museum, and National Museum of Western Art, to name a few. We didn't visit any of the museums as we wanted to enjoy the wonderfully warm spring weather. As well as admiring the beautiful cherry blossom trees, we also enjoyed looking at the wonderful bamboo fences and gates. I love Japanese gardens!

Bamboo fencing

After several hours of walking, we were in need of liquid refueling and so we headed out of the park back to the main road to look for somewhere to rest our sore feet and grab a drink. After a short rest we headed to the southern end of Ueno Park to the Shinobazu Pond. There were little independent stalls surrounding the pond at one end selling all sorts of bits and bobs. I think most were selling second hand/used items, but there was everything from wooden cutlery and ornaments to old camera lenses and musical instruments, as well as jewellery and clothes.

Bentendo Temple Hall in Shinobazu Pond

The pond is split into three parts and at it's centre is Bentendo, an octagonal shaped temple hall. This particular part of the pond is especially lively during cherry blossom season with numerous food stalls. At one part of the pond you can hire paddle boats but I warn you, the queues are extremely long at this time of the year.

 
As the sun began to set, the night time cherry blossom illuminations were switched on. We took one final partial (it was still ridiculously busy lol) stroll down the central pathway of Ueno Park. The lanterns looked beautiful and their projecting light made it possible to still view the cherry blossoms.

Night time illuminations

And then we headed home feeling exhausted but incredibly blessed to have been able to enjoy the sakura festival for a second time.... remember we came to Japan on holiday this time last year, before we found out that we would be moving here :o)

I hope you enjoyed this blog post and do watch the embedded YouTube video as I think that will give a better feel for this amazing time of year in Japan.

Love Sheen xxx

Psoriatic Arthritis: Second Time Acupuncture, Cupping & Moxibustion

Good Day Everyone,

Last Friday I went for my second session with my Japanese therapist for some more complementary medicine/therapies. I could not believe the difference the first session had made to my left shoulder. A week later and that shoulder was still feeling great. There was barely any tension or tightness. I've also found that I sleep really well on a Friday night after my sessions.

In last week's session the therapist started by asking me how I was feeling, specifically with regards to my problematic left shoulder. I informed her of the huge, positive, difference the first session had made to my left shoulder and explained that I was struggling with the pain in my right shoulder and collar bone joint. Also the arthritis in my right wrist and thumb was particularly active.

Acupuncture needle in my foot

She started this second session, very much like the first one, with me lying on the massage bed facing up and her examining my stomach and then poking it in several places with an acupuncture needle. She then examined the rest of my body in detail and focussed a lot on my spine. After this I spent the next hour or so face down as she did acupuncture on various parts of my body including my head, neck, shoulders, and ankles. She did focus more on my right shoulder given that that was my problematic area currently. I apologies in advance for the quality of the photos as they were taking using a phone rather than my camera.

Acupuncture needle in my head

Like the previous week, she used Moxa patches on my ankles.  In the photo below you can see the Moxa patch on my ankle burning away. As the stub burns further down, the metal part of the base/patch does get quite hot so if the therapist hasn't taken it off by that stage then I'll usually say 'hot' in Japanese and she'll immediately remove it. She also uses a 'cigarette' version of the Moxa patch and sort of pushes the warm ash into certain places on my back after she's pierced it with an acupuncture needle.

You can listen to my experience of my second session in the video below as well as how it left me feeling afterwards and again three days post-session. In the video I also talk about my first ever experience of the wet cupping (also known as blood letting) that the therapist did on the back of my neck.

As she wrapped up the session the therapist stuck these acupuncture plasters on various parts of my body. As you can see from the photo below, the plaster has a raised nodule in the centre and inside it is a very fine, short acupuncture needle.

Single needle acupuncture plaster

I removed these acupuncture plasters a few days later and I tried to capture a photo of the needle at the center just to show you what it looks like. You'll have to excuse all the fluff that's on the sticky part of the plaster in the photo below.

In case you are wondering, my sessions typically last around 80-90mins. The first one cost 8,950 Yen and all subsequent sessions cost 6,700 Yen, which is actually cheaper than a massage.

I'll be honest, I am struggling to fully understand how exactly these therapies are working and you may think that there is an element of the placebo effect, but I am actually feeling a reduction in not only the tightness in my muscles and joints, but also a reduction in my pain, and there's no mistaking when I'm in pain. The way I look at it is that at least there are no real side effects to these therapies unlike modern pharmaceutical drugs and even if I don't understand how they are working, I will continue to explore these therapies for as long as they are having a beneficial effect. I only wish I'd started to explore them a few years earlier, but hey, you live and learn ;o)

Have you ever tried acupuncture or any other complementary therapies? What was your experience?

Love Sheen xxx

JVlog #11: Js Pancakes & Demolition

Good Day Everyone,

I am so happy to finally be over my recent arthritic flare. This weekend was the first time in a very long time where I actually woke up feeling good. I seem to sleep really well (well for me, anyway) after my session with the Japanese therapist. 

Even though the weather wasn't great hubby and I headed out to one of our favourite pancake places for breakfast. As it was the Spring equinox weekend there were long queues, as often tends to be the case for food places on the weekend. But these pancakes were so amazing that they were definitely worth the wait, and a total treat for me. I have to be so careful with my sugar intake as sugar is the number one food irritant for my arthritis and it's something I have to avoid completely when I'm having a bad flare.

The weather is definitely turning more spring like. The pink magnolia trees have blossomed and look absolutely beautiful. It's making me excited for the cherry blossom festival. After breakfast we headed of to get hubby a hair cut and came across some serious demolition that is going on near where we live. We've not seen a lot of construction since we've been in Japan, which to be honest has been a welcomed change from Singapore, where we felt we were living on a building site for three of the three and a half years that we were there.

Poor hubby struggles to get a good hair cut in Japan, as you'll see from the below video.

After a mooch around the shops we came home as the weather was turning and although we had planned to go for dinner, I completely crashed and burned after five hours of being outside. Unfortunately, my arthritic body is only able to cope with just a few hours of activity each day before the exhaustion becomes too much for me. Nonetheless, it was wonderful just to be out and about again, and not be in as much pain as I have been recently.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too.
Love Sheen xxx

Psoriatic Arthritis: First Time Acupuncture, Cupping & Moxibustion

Good Day Everyone,

If you've read my previous post then you'll know that I've had a very tough and painful few weeks with my recent arthritic flare. I cannot put into words the fatigue and exhaustion I have felt lately, not to mention the excruciating pain, sleep deprivation and breathing difficulties. Arthritis is sooo much more than a few aches and pains!

In my desperation to manage this flare I dramatically upped my pain medication...it did nothing! I went for three massages in one week in the hope that they would alleviate my spinal and shoulder pain but again this was unsuccessful.

Acupuncture needles in my hands

So I finally bit the bullet and decided that nothing could be worse than the pain Arthur (aka arthritis) has been causing me, not even the pain (or fear rather) of needles and started to explore complementary medicine, namely acupuncture and cupping.

In this video, I talk about my first ever experience of not only acupuncture and cupping but also something call moxibustion. In a bid to save my arthritic fingers from unnecessary typing I wont repeat what I discuss in the video but I'll leave a few links down below to where you can find more information about these three therapies, in case you're interested in them.

Oh and by the way, in case you were wondering... I cannot believe HOW MUCH BETTER I feel after just one session and I'm now KICKING myself for letting my phobia of needles and pain get in the way of trying these therapies sooner! But at least I seem to be turning a corner and finally feeling human again :o).

Love Sheen xxx

More about acupuncture here
More about cupping here
More about moxibustion here
Watch moxibustion in action here

This Too Shall Pass

Good Day Everyone,

For the last few weeks I have been struggling more than usual with Arthur (aka arthritis). I don't know what's made him so angry that he's flared up this badly, but I do know that he's not happy and he's not shy in letting me know. One of the hardest things about living with this autoimmune disease is not knowing what my trigger is. If I knew what was causing my body to react in this manner then I could work to reduce, ideally eliminate it. As with most autoimmune diseases, the trigger could be anything from a chemical that I am exposed to which could be in my makeup, toiletries, food or environment to a genetic component or even stress... there is simply no knowing. And that is one of the most frustrating things.

The pain in my neck/spine, shoulders, collar bones and hip joints is driving me crazy. It leads to many sleepless nights and living with chronic pain is sooo much more difficult when you're constantly sleep deprived. Seriously, when I've had a decent night's sleep I'm like Mary Poppins on Pro Plus, the high is so great that I feel like I could conquer the world (even if in reality I'm still in bed by 8pm ;o)). The difference in my mood and personality is profound...just ask my hubby.

Its no wonder that people living with chronic pain and disease are more likely to suffer from depression. I know from experience how easy it is to fall into a downward spiral of depression, negative thoughts and self sabotage. The battle is not only physical but mental too. There's this little voice inside my head that questions the value of every good, yet difficult, thing that I do when doing it hasn't stopped this disease from progressing! It hurts to exercise but I need to exercise daily to maintain my mobility and flexibility because if I don't, my joints start to seize up and my movement becomes restricted even further. It takes an awful lot of mental strength and will power not to give into that voice and just spend my days lounging on the sofa in my pjs. It also takes a lot of (mental & physical) energy to be positive and happy when I'm in such severe pain.

Chronic ill health is like a full time job and more. I have to work at it constantly, every single day of the week. So even though I'm in pain and particularly fed up at the moment, I still work hard to eat as cleanly as possible, I still try to exercise daily, and I still try to actively manage my mental health. A positive mindset has a huge effect on one's physical health, and vice versa. I don't do all of this to make Arthur better, (although I live in hope), rather I do it to not make myself worse, to avoid that downward spiral that I feel is always calling my name.

Hope is something that I will never give up. After spending a decade of my life living with the most awful scalp psoriasis, fearing I'd never know what it is like to have a normal scalp again. Feeling complete and utter despair at having to spend hours each day treating and managing this affliction, I now have a scalp that is 95% clear. It took 10 years but I finally got there and that is why I will never give up hope... some things that we want so desperately do come to us, it just takes a while!

As well as hope and prayers, I also have certain motos/mantras that I remind myself of when going through a tough time such as the title of this blog post. I know from experience that bad times will pass, I just have to be patient. Time doesn't stand still for anyone so if things are bad, never give up hope because they will change... time will bring that change. Likewise, if things are good then treasure and value them because it could all change in the blink of an eye.

So in a bid to keep my sanity through this bad patch, I've been getting up each morning and going for a walk along the seafront. This not only forms part of my daily exercise but I find being outdoors very therapeutic. Seeing the morning sun glistening on the water with the birds chirping in the background is very calming. Everyday I notice different trees budding, new flowers blooming and that gets me excited for spring, it gets me excited for the change that I know is around the corner, it gets me excited for when I will feel better :o).

Love Sheen xxx

JVlog #10: Yokohama Dining - New Ali Baba (Turkish Food)

Good Day Everyone,

Things have been pretty quiet at our end lately due to me having a bad arthritic flare. However, hubby and I did manage to catch up with a friend of ours last month. We headed out to a lovely family run Turkish restaurant called New Ali Baba in Nihon-Odori, here in Yokohama.

It's a very small, intimate place where the owner and his family make the food fresh to order. Hubby and I have eaten at this particular restaurant several times as it's one of the very few places that serves halal meat.

I love the warm and cosy decor of colourful lanterns, Turkish tiles and cushions. Twice a week they have a Japanese belly dancer and we just happened to go on one of those nights. As you'll see in the video below, the Japanese gentlemen on the table next to us, really got into the spirit of things ;o).

Love Sheen xxx