Shitamachi Museum

Back in time ... at Shitamachi museum or Shitamachi Fuzoku Shiryokan located in Ueno, Taito, Tokyo. 

Shitamachi is an area around Ueno and Asakusa where the ordinary Japanese used to live since Edo generation.
The museum is all about the traditional culture life of Shitamachi.

 

Replica of the merchant shop

old candy store

refreshments store 

It's a game set ...not food!!!

Sento or public bath

typical old Japanese room

exhibition of Shitamachi's way of life as late as 1940's.

nostalgic sewing machine

blacksmith display 

tea time! 

laundry area

kitchen

exhibit

post

An afternoon sleep on sakura tree branch at Ueno Park

Digital Art Exhibition

An amusing digital art exhibition in Nihonbashi, Tokyo

Theme is about Japanese food and art.

見て食べるの和食のデジタルアート

 食神さまの不思議なレストラン

Sanctuary

Japanese typical food 

Dining area

 Too expensive but worth visiting.

Loving heart

Precious moments in Hamanako!!!

The love between mother and daughter...

... is forever <3 br=""> 

Smile is the key that fits the lock of everyone's heart <3 nbsp="" p="">

Happy heart's day to all!

I can smell love and romance in the air...

Happy Valentine's Day to all ...

For me ... this is the day to show and express extra love, appreciation and friendship to everyone especially to all my love ones.  

Thank you all for the love and caring ... 

Whoever lives in love...lives in God and God in him.
In this way... love is made complete among us .
(1 John 4:16)

God is the greatest love of all ... 

 Happy heart's day everyone

Let it snow!

It's holiday here in Japan today... 'went out driving to IKawa  ... 

we drove there for about 3 hours and we ended up in a snowy mountain ... 

Probably my first encounter to snow this year ;-) 

We were not able to reach the Minami Alps ... coz the road was closed due to heavy snow ... so we decided to roam around the Ikawa and Kawane part ... sometimes it's nice to drive without any plan and you'll discover many things like we have visited --- museum, tea shops, camp sites, dam, suspension bridges and of course spa!

Yes! I love nature ...  thanks be to God for the beautiful day xx

An early Valentine gift

Valentine's day is coming soon ...

Here in Japan ... the tradition is that women gives choco to men!  Men who receives choco on Valentine's day return that favor on March 14 which they called White Day.    

Since I have many friends from other countries who believes Valentine's day is for everyone we love ... we traditionally give gifts to all we care about ;-)

Today, after my daughter-like Abs dated me for dinner and coffee ... she handed me something on the way home ... here it is ...

an early Valentine gift from her xx 

What made it more special is that it's her homemade choco ...

'love it!  So sweet like her xx

May everyone have a sweet Valentine's day!!! 

Oni wa soto ... fuku wa uchi!

Did you throw some beans today?

Feb 3 is Setsubun day here in Japan. It's an annual Japanese tradition. 

As explained in www.cute-calendar.com ... 

Setsubun, also called Bean-Throwing Festival or Bean-Throwing Ceremony, is the day before the beginning of Spring in Japan. The name literally means "seasonal division", but usually the term refers to the Spring Setsubun, properly called Risshun celebrated yearly on February 3 as part of the Spring Festival. In its association with the Lunar New Year, Spring Setsubun can be and was previously thought of as a sort of New Year's Eve, and so was accompanied by a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come.

They yell "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (Demon out! Happiness in!) as they throw beans at the devil.

Our Makizushi for this year ... what a lavish tuna!!!  

It's also a tradition to eat uncut maki sushi on setsubun. Participants eat the entire role in one sitting in complete silence. It's important to face a particular "eho" or lucky direction as you do this. The direction changes each year according to a 5 year cycle... this 2017, the lucky direction is north-north-west.

Hello February!

It's start of February today ...  i had an appointment to make in the afternoon so i decided to use my bike coz i really need to stretch out and work out ... even it's cold outside!

On the way home ... i passed to Sumpujo Park ... and here's what i found out ... cherry blossoms in winter!!!  

Cherry blossoms 

I was actually confused if it's really cherry blossoms coz it usualy bloom on springs.  I thought it could be plum blossoms which usually bloom at this season.  

Plum blossom

However, i learned from my Japanese students that cherry blossoms have split at the end of each petals whereas plum blossoms don't have ... so i convinced myself that it's really cherry blossoms because the petals have splits. 

 white plum blossoms

Oh well...  time really flies sooo fast ... imagine it's February already!!!
i hope this February will be another good month for all of us xxx

Philippine New Year 2017 Vacation

Summary of my 3 weeks New Year vacation in the Philippines.

Thanks be to God for the blissful and memorable trip <3 font="">

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Mannequin Challenge ... game over!

Just for family fun ... without any rehearsals ...  impromptu, just told everyone to do this mannequin challenge which was viral last year autumn...  and everyone present in the family that night cooperate... 

... and when i started to turn on the camera ... here they are ... "take 1" shot only! lol

Not that good but funny :D 

The kids were amazing ... every time i fan the camera to them ...they have different poses :D
Oh well, we'll try to do this better next time ... and yes with Sachan already  ;-) 

Adventures in Batanes!

This time ... I explored the beauty of the northernmost province of the Philippines ... Batanes

🐚Dios Mamajes, Batanes! It was a remarkable adventure!

Preview of my trip to Batanes with my sis Malou

More photos and vid in my FB account ;-)

Happy 2017!

A happy and blessed New Year to all !!! 🎉🎍🎵

今年も、よろしくお願いします🙇⤵

 Greetings from my family to yours!!! 

 Get together gathering in Batangas, Philippines