In June, we made an early reservation for a beachside pension house for one September weekend. We were hoping we’d be able to enjoy the last few days of summer getting a tan, and staying in a room overlooking the beach. That reservation was for this weekend, and lo and behold, it’s scheduled to rain…
Category: Japan
We’re Moving!
One fine day, I received an email about having to renew the contract for our current place, which was fine as it was something we had to do every few years. The difference this time was, our monthly rent would have to increase by 50,000 yen! First thing that came to mind was our happy…
Living with the Apple Watch in Tokyo
After a couple of years trying very hard to stop myself from buying it, I finally gave in and got me an Apple Watch (Series 3 GPS + cellular version). I guess I cannot forever use my strategy of telling myself next year’s model is going to be better. It also helps believing the LTE…
Morning Fire Scare
This morning, while getting ready for work, I got a little scare from this alarm sound coming from the security intercom. It was later followed by the sound of sirens outside the building. Been living here almost ten years already, and this was the first time. Fire in the building? This wasn’t exactly what I…
Stranded in Paradise
A couple of Mondays ago, we were stranded in Paradise. We spent the weekend over at beautiful Izu, and were on our way back to Tokyo. Our Tokyo-bound train was supposed to leave Izukyu-Shimoda at 3PM, but a typhoon had just made landfall, and the trains had been cancelled. We tried renting a car hoping…
Sumida Fireworks 2016
You know it’s summer in Japan when there are fireworks almost every weekend. Last week it was the Adachi Fireworks, and this week, it’s the Sumida Fireworks. The good thing about Sumida is the fireworks are very close to the Tokyo Sky Tree. Here are some pics.
Tokyo’s Bicycle
I first heard about Tokyobike from a Japanese TV show where a group of British tourists were talking about Tokyobike and how popular it is in London. My first thought was how ironic that Tokyoites were buying London Brompton Bikes, while Londoners were buying Tokyobikes. I’ve been staying here in Tokyo for about ten years now,…
Birthplace of Tennis in Japan
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to play tennis at Yamate Park in Yokohama. The Meetup organizer named the event “Playing tennis at the first place of tennis in Japan,” so it was more than enough to attract my attention, and make me take that 1.5 hour train ride from where I live, just…
Joanna of Vienna
We Filipinos are very good in recognizing other Filipinos wherever we are in the world. We know it immediately even without saying or hearing a word. We can tell by the way we smile, or the way we make eye contact. We just know. And once we make a positive identification, a simple “kumusta po?”…
Philippine Elections 2016 on Google Trends
I did a quick search on Google Trends with regard to our five presidential candidates and the result I got is interesting, but not at all surprising. If the Philippine Elections were a contest on who generates the most online buzz, i.e. “trending”, there seems to be one clear winner — Rodrigo Duterte. It’s not even close. Of…
Azaleas of Minami-Senju
Not known to many people, but Minami-Senju is kind of a hidden gem, known among the locals and hobbyist photographers for azalea spring viewing. The blooms usually start after the sakura cherry blossoms season (mid-April), and last a couple of weeks until around the Japanese golden week (early-May). During this period, the sidewalks and the center…
Tennis in Tokyo via Meetup
Recently, I found an easy and relatively cheap way to play tennis in Tokyo.
Enrico in Tokyo 