1 year anniversary!

1 year anniversary... of procrastinating on this blog, that is :)

So here goes my excuse: a whirlwind of things has happened and was hard to write it down all here. Who wants to hear me complaining about writing my thesis or the stress of job searching? Also, who blogs any more nowadays? No one really writes them anymore and frankly people do not have the time to read them. Gone is the era of Xanga or MySpace. Nowadays there are so many outlets you can post your emotions and current state whether be a picture, a tweet, or a short video.

At the same time, I was surprised  people actually do want to know what's going on in my life; not because I'm popular but just to make sure I'm alive; especially since my life has been precarious for the past few years. Sure you can see pictures of me having fondue or going on a weekend trip to London on social media but it's hard to know what's really going on in my life. I've been really grateful for all those that have been genuinely concerned (especially my mom) and this is the main reason I decided I want to write again.

I also needed a medium for reflection. In Japanese there is a word called 備忘録. It's a series of notes that are recorded down so you're able to look back and reflect on later. It's not so quite deep and thoughtful as diary entries but it's more of a GPS compass in life. Seeing that my life has been a whirlwind, it's a nice place to put down my thoughts so I can look back.

And I concluded that I needed a place to write. Earlier this year, I was having lunch with an old professor. He has been a special mentor in the sense he is a genius (Harvard alum) but also a talented  Chinese style astrology and tarot card reader (very cool right?). So every time we meet up, he has been consulting me both from the "real-world" side and psychic side and told me I should write more. It doesn't really matter what I write about but I should write to capture my thoughts and be able to release them to a wider audience. Those words of advice somehow really stuck to me. So stay tuned :)

So now that my long excuse is over, what happened to me over this past year?  After my 5 month hiatus and recovery in the US, I went back to school and graduated from the University of Geneva and received my masters. I still remain in Switzerland working on a short project at the UN until the end of the year. After that, my life remains to be unseen... we shall see where things take me.

Went hiking with friends yesterday. Yes I'm turning more Swiss by the day

Pride Day

Embarrassing to say but I've also never really been to Pride Day in SF. Yes I'm embarrassed. But I never had the chance before 21 (the funnest part about Pride Day is the drinking) and was gone throughout my 20s. So what a better way to celebrate it fully! We started the day by watching the parade, headed for a few pre-drinks at Dolores Park, brunch at a popular venue, and then ended with some dancing/drinking bash! This is the way to celebrate people of all gender, sexual orientation, marriage, love, and body types.

Perfect day to drink outdoors :)

Brunching at Foreign Cinema! Love this place

Ready for partying part II!

The 22,000km Trip (32) Tokyo: Nezu Musum

Nezu Museum is one of those tiny gallery-type museums so it's quite small and not as flashy as the other metropolitan museums. But it's well liked by locals for 2 reasons 1) They have small but interesting exhibits here and there (They had an exhibit on the history of Buddhism when I was there) 2) The inner garden & cafe is gorgeous, especially during spring and autumn. Unfortunately it was still cold in Japan when I was there but many women come to this museum in kimono specifically to look at the garden and have tea in the cafe. If you want to get away from the business of the city, I highly recommend it!

The 22,000km Trip (31) Tokyo: Toast Brunch and Shrine Amongst Skyscrapers

The unique thing about Japan via other Asian countries is that we're not really a "breakfast" bunch. If you go to China or Thailand, you see porridge shops or street stands swarmed with people, waiting to have a bite before going to work or school. Japan for some reason, there is none of that. That is not to say we don't eat breakfast. In fact, we eat quite a lot, and considered one of the most important family meals of the day (especially as dads are at work until late and don't come back after the kids are asleep) but we tend to eat at home. I still have fond memories growing up and surrounding a table to eat a whole course of food (rice, soup, fish, pickles, fresh seafood, salad, simmer vegetables) before going to school. However, with recent times things are changing. There's special breakfast menus at fastfood restaurants and Seven Eleven sells coffee and pastries. Brunch is becoming big too, copying SATC and other American shows. When I told my friend where I was staying in Tokyo, he recommended me a good... toast shop. A place known for toast? Now this was a first. I had to check it out.

The "toast store" is more known for its coffee is in a modern office building in Toranomon. According to the many reviews I've read, they're traditional European style coffee is well-loved by coffee-connoisseurs and hard-to-please coffee lovers. They're also known for serving special toast with fermented butter. Sounds fancy huh?

Toranomon Koffee

And voila! The infamous toast which comes in an artistic box

The butter is what I've been missing.. European style butter! Ever since I moved to Europe, I don't think I can no longer eat butter other than French ones. It's so much flavorful.. I can understand French cuisine takes such pride and uses a whole lot of butter. Paula Dean... your sticks of butter recipe do no good! It's slightly salty, slightly creamy, and you can even smell the aroma.

After a nice little brunch (I love having brunch amidst of salarymen and women busy looking through their schedules... ah yes student life) I decided to take a stroll to the infamous Miseki Shrine nearby. It's quite amazing that this shrine is atop a steep hill surrounded by nothing but skyscrapers. It's not wonder that this shrine has been sacred grounds to wish for good business and promotions for centuries! It's a great little hidden gem in the smack middle of a business district.

Picked out one of those fortune telling sticks...I got "middle luck" which is rather good.. but really? I'm still in pain here