Archives for June 2016

Wanderlust Wednesdays: Thailand Day 4 [Phuket to Koh Samui Travel Day]

June 29, 2016

The day finally arrived!! L and I were so excited to go to Koh Samui – we googled photos non-stop before our trip and it looked absolutely dreamy. To be perfectly honest, we were kind of really over Phuket. Maybe it was the fact that we didn’t get to see all of it, but it was just too raunchy and full of partiers that it wasn’t the relaxing vacation we had hoped for. We woke up early in the morning, packed our bags, ordered in a breakfast via room service and decided to spend our morning at the beach that our photographer Jaran took us to for our engagement shoot – Paradise Beach. Absolutely beautiful. We arrived early enough that there weren’t that many people, and we got awesome beach chairs right by the water.

Weekly Round-Up: June 20 – June 26

June 27, 2016

Weekly Round-Up is a weekly post about things that have been going on in my life. It’s a more personal side of my blog that I’ve decided to document to look back on as I work on my memory-keeping process. So… it’s mainly for me than anything else, but if someone enjoys it along the way, that’s awesome!

This past week’s theme for me was basically the LAST week of pre-school and health consciousness. I successfully went to the gym every day this week and have been doing everything in my power to eat and be healthy. Turning 28 was a turning point for me. I can’t do 10 push ups a night and look good for the Saturday turn up anymore ? I also powered through the week with pre-school for our last week before summer. We had a trial kid on our last day who looks like she will be enrolling come September.

June 20th would have been my mom and dads 42nd anniversary. L and I wanna keep the day special for her, so he went and picked up some flowers and champagne for her. She was so happy. I guess it was quite bittersweet day for us. Always hard to celebrate these kinds of days when the other half isn’t around anymore.

The weekend was quite uneventful but enjoyable nonetheless. L and I tried to get to the gym on Saturday morning but our regular parking lot was full. All other lots close to our gym cost about $3.50 for 12 minutes. ….what?? Yeah. Crazy. So we decided to grab breakfast instead ? we went to our local bakery, which has the best pastries in the world. So worth it. We mozied around the rest of the day and ended the night at a yakitori izakaya restaurant in our neighborhood. It was our first time going but we loved it! Love discovering new places in and around our neighborhood! Sunday night, my Japanese side of the family came over for dinner. My cousin just got married so we wanted to celebrate him and his new wife! We don’t get to see them much, especially since my dad and grandma’s passing so it was really nice to have them come over and catch up under happy circumstances.

This week is officially my summer break! Which isn’t really a break since I have to interview 3 candidates for a teaching position for summer school, a potential family who’s thinking of enrolling, plan for summer school, and plan for the next school year. But it’s a good break from teaching, I guess! Will miss the kids but looking forward to a productive, heathy summer ahead.

5 Things to Do During Rainy Season in Tokyo

June 25, 2016

If you’ve ever lived in Japan, or happened to visit in June/early July, you know the pain in the a- that comes with rainy season. As an owner of a dog who NEEDS to be walked to do his business (he refuses to do it anywhere else…REFUSES), rainy season is the bane of my existence. It’s humid, it’s muggy, it’s hot, and it’s miserable. So, if you happen to visit during this time – you may feel defeated. What to do? Where can we go? But not all hope is lost! I’ve compiled a list of a few things you can do during your visit to Tokyo during this less-than-ideal time of year.

Epson Aqua Park Shinagawa

Photo Courtesy of Reuters

A few weeks ago, I took a few of my pre-school students to this Aquarium in the heart of Shinagawa – within the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. It’s all indoors and absolutely beautiful. It’s definitely a smaller aquarium but it’s absolutely gorgeous. The jellyfish display is probably my favorite. If you have kids, it’s definitely a winner. There’s two rides (a merry-go-round and a pirate ship), and lots of interactive displays. If you don’t have kids and you want to go for a date day/night, it’s also a winner. The aquarium has a bar. I repeat, the aquarium has a bar. Boom. Done. You can find out more about their displays at the website, but take it from me – so worth going there! There’s also a movie theater right next door so if you’re not ready to end your day of adventure, you just walk over a few steps and can delve into a movie. Win win, y’all.Continue Reading

2016 Half-Year Planner Update

June 24, 2016

My 2015 Planner Set-Up is one of my most viewed/searched blogposts on this blog so I took a look at it earlier and chuckled at how much it’s changed. Since then, I have changed up my systems and so far it’s been working pretty well for me so I thought I’d share. I’ve changed it up like 3 times since my 2015 post, so who knows – maybe by January 2017 I’ll have a whole ‘nother system in place but so far? I think I’ve found planner peace. I am currently using two different monthly/weekly planner organizers.

My main planner and catch-all is my currently super famous, super trendy Get to Work Book made by Elise Blaha Cripe. I have the 2016 version which goes from January through December of the year. I cannot wait for her to release the 2017 version because I’ll be jumping on that as soon as it’s released. Currently, she has the July 2016 – June 2017 available with both a black cover, and the classic chipboard cover for $55. Can’t sing enough praises for this planner. I use it for just life reminders and work reminders. I don’t use a “teacher planner” per say, but I have a separate binder I use for all my work necessities.

Month Close Up

Weekly View

Reflection + Goal Setting Page

Project Ideas – I use this both for creative projects + for when I’m planning units for the pre-school

Another Project Planning page

I don’t really spend too much time decorating my planner, unless I’m really in the mood. I mainly use The Reset Girl’s stickers to decorate the monthly page, but otherwise, I just use random Frixon pens to fill in my weekly pages. I’m seriously loving this planner and it has gotten me so much more organized.

My other planner I’ve been using is the Simple Stories’ A5 Carpe Diem Planner in Platinum. I was originally using this planner as a daily planner but once I received my GTWB in the mail, I decided I needed to find another use for this beauty. So, upon my blog re-launch on June 1st, I decided to use it as a blog planner and boy has that changed the game. I use Simple Scrapper’s Planner Inserts (HIGHLY recommended for any creatives who run a blog – or just as a project planner in general). I’m planning on writing out a more detailed post about how I use this planner and its inserts if anybody’s interested in learning more about it – let me know in the comments below if you are!

I made my dashboard using Thermoweb’s Decofoil – I kind of messed up on the alignment (always pencil in your design before foiling. Trust me.), but I love the polkadots on polkadots. Those little banner in the pockets are just printables from Studio Calico that I stored there for as a just-for-now before I put them away. The “Remember” post-its and gold flag stickers were gifts from my dear friend Elyse and it’s from Sessa Vee. I adore her designs. So simple and so chic.

This sheet came with the original Simple Stories planner but couldn’t find it in my heart to tear it out – it was too adorable!

This daily planner notepad also came in my Sessa Vee gift package from Elyse! I find it so much more guilt-free than an actual planner filled with sheets of daily A5 papers – it’s just not my style because I just don’t have the time to fill it out every morning or night. This one comes handy for when I do want to quickly jot down things that are happening during that day and/or things to remember before heading to bed.

That about wraps up the way I’ve been using these two planners throughout the past few months and I’m currently enjoying the way it’s been going… I don’t see myself changing it up in the foreseeable future but you never know! Do you guys use a planner? If you do, how many? I never thought I’d be a more-than-one-planner kind of girl but after taking this blog a little more seriously, it’s been a huge help to have this second planner to help me plan out my projects and blog posts.

Wanderlust Wednesdays: Thailand Day 3 [James Bond Island Tour Phuket]

June 22, 2016

Another super picture heavy-post – my apologies! On our 3rd day in Phuket, L and I decided to embark on a speed boat tour to the James Bond Island Tour from Phuket with a company called 2 Sisters Tour. We woke up super early to wake up for the shuttle and imagine our major disappointment to wake up to a freakin’ TROPICAL STORM that morning. We went down to the lobby regardless, where we were instructed to wait, and we were joined by other people who were supposed to go on a different boat tour. We expressed our concerns to one another while we waited, but then they got picked up and decided to go. We waited for a while, and eventually our shuttle driver showed up saying the tour was still set to embark. Patong was FLOODED, and so was a lot of the rest of the city. L and I were definitely freaking out. But, we arrived at Mhak Prok Pier after about an hour and a half. After waiting even longer once we checked into our tour at the Pier, we were led to our speed boat. Oh my goodness, Lord have mercy, that was the craziest ride ever. We bought these $3 ponchos they were selling at the pier, but we were literally SOAKED by the time we arrived at James Bond Island.

Weekly Round-Up: June 13 – June 19

June 19, 2016

Quite a hectic and quick week for me! Started off strong, going to the gym every morning before pre-school. Been treating myself to convenience store iced coffee, which isn’t really half bad. I love Japanese convenience stores – they truly are the definition of ‘convenience.’ So clean, and always fully stocked of delicious foods, drinks and even stationary!
Second to last week of school this week – last week for one of our kiddos before he headed off to the Philippines with his family for the summer. We decided to have a little outing for our two older kids to celebrate summer and we decided to go to the aquarium since we had been learning about dolphins. We went to Epson Aqua Park in Shinagawa and it was absolutely amazing! Stay tuned for a “Guide to Japan” post about it 🙂

Tried catching up on Project Life this week but didn’t get too far. Completed maybe 2 spreads of April before jumping into a new project (our California mini-album from last Christmas/New Years). Yesterday was an incredibly hot heat wave. Literally didn’t leave the house except to go eat some cold soba, which is especially refreshing on hot days like yesterday. L and I cleaned the filters to the AC around the house…tried to make ourselves useful. Today was a rest day for me regarding the gym, so we decided to go have brunch at a famous brunch-spot close to our house in Futakotamagawa. Post about that outing coming up in the coming weeks, too! The last photo in the collage is the last Father’s Day I spent with my dad before he passed away. We had spent the day at Kinuta Park, walking Alfie and just hanging out. I remember that day, 4 years ago so well. I miss him so incredibly much, especially days like today, but I really do miss him every day. He was such a wonderful dad. I’ll definitely have to make a layout about this day and all the things I love and miss about him.

Well, that’s a wrap for the weekly round-up! I’m so looking forward to summer break and getting away. L has been super stressed out at work, too, so it’ll be a much deserved/needed break. Can’t wait to catch up on a bunch of projects I’ve been working on, too, so I’ll be sharing a lot more crafty stuff in the coming weeks! Talk to you guys then!

Fuji Safari Park | 富士サファリパーク

June 18, 2016

The Crafty Tokyoite’s Guide to Japan is a weekly (or an attempt to be) feature I post about recommendations of places to visit in Japan (mostly Tokyo). I know this is a tourist heavy country and if I can help in any way with anybody wanting to take a trip out here, I would love that more than anything. Sometimes they’re lists, sometimes they’re photo logs of places I’ve been to, and sometimes they’re just a simple blog post with something I want to share about the city I love the best. I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave any comments or feedback about places in Japan you’d like me to write about!

On Saturday, June 4th, L and I decided to drive out to Mt. Fuji area to visit Fuji Safari Park (富士サファリパーク). It’s one of my favorite places to go, and in L’s two and a half years living in Japan, he had never been so we decided to go before it got too hot. The weather was a little meh, but it was absolutely worth it! I wish one of us had brought our DSLR, but unfortunately we had a mishap: we forgot our SD card. Dun dun dunnnnn – so we had to use our iPhones. But it was just as well because we weren’t allowed to open our windows during the drive through the “safari” so we had that dreaded window glare in most of our photos. Regardless, we had an absolute blast and it’s highly, highly, recommended to anyone staying or going to Mt. Fuji area during a Japan trip.

Many of the “large” animals were viewed via your own car or by the Safari park bus. If you ride the bus, they have these caged windows that they attach raw meat to it, and the lions and tigers come RIGHT UP to the windows to eat it. It’s crazy-cool but this time we went through in our own car so none of that funky business for us. Instead, we settled for the awesome “petting-zoo” portion of the rest of the park. There is Dog House, a Cat House, and a Bunny House, where you pay ¥500 (~$4.50) to go into each of the “houses” to bond with the respective animals. We chose to go the closer-to-free route of paying ¥50 each to feed the alpaca (my favorite), the albino kangaroos (who didn’t even move, much less eat), and the regular kangaroos (THE BEST EVER, #1 BEST PART OF MY DAY). You can also go in and cuddle capybaras, and other little critters, as well as take photos with baby lions (seasonal). Unfortunately, the tickets to take photos with baby lions were all sold out (literally devastated), but it was all worth it to feed the kangaroos.

As you can tell, I couldn’t get enough of these guys. And they have little joeys (baby kangaroos) IN MAMA’S POUCHES. We were squealing (yes, even L). They’re hungry little buggers and we ran out of coins by the end of the day so I was literally picking up food off the ground that people had dropped to keep feeding these guys. I’m pretty sure I was single-handedly responsible for kangaroo obesity at the park, if they encounter that problem. As you can tell, this was such an amazing and unforgettable day for us. I cannot recommend it enough. It’s so different than a traditional zoo where your heart hurts seeing animals in tiny cages – and I know it doesn’t change that they’re in captivity, but we had such a wonderful time. Let me know if you have any questions!

Fuji Safari Park | website
Address: 〒410-1231 Shizuoka Prefecture, Susono, 須山字藤原2255−27
Phone Number: 055-998-1311
Open From Mar.16 to Sep.3 09:00 to 17:00
From Oct.1 to Oct.31 9:00 to 16:30
From Nov.1 to Mar.15 10:00 to 15:30
Admission: Adults (high school & older) ¥2,700
Children (4 to middle school): ¥1,500
Senior Discount (65+): ¥2,000
******I HIGHLY recommend you buy your tickets at a discounted rate at a convenience store******

2016 Project Life | February Spreads

June 17, 2016

February was absolutely a crazy month (in the best way possible)! It’s also a hard month as my dad passed away 3 years ago on February 1st. It’s always a hard day to get through without getting sad to think about the pain that his sudden passing caused my mom and I, but this year, luckily, February 1st was a Monday so we stayed busy with pre-school and the munchkins.

Wanderlust Wednesdays: Thailand Day 2 [Phuket Engagement Shoot]

June 14, 2016

Day 2 in Phuket was quite the exciting day! Back in Tokyo, L and I had been talking about hiring a photographer in Thailand. We wanted beachy photos, but not overly corny – photos that showed our true colors. That’s when we found Gina Smith from Gina Smith Photography. We fell in love with her website and portfolio and booked her right away! We talked over e-mail about ideas, then chose a date and a time to meet once we were in Phuket. Since we were only there a few days before moving to Koh Samui, we prayed the weather would co-operate with us since our photoshoot was set to take place in the morning. We were pretty bummed when we woke up to an overcast day, but we had faith the weather would clear up. We decided to spend the early morning eating breakfast at the hotel restaurant and lounging by the pool before cleaning up.

Needless to say, the breakfast was mmmmmm delicious. And the coffee? HEAVENLY.

Weekly Round-Up: June 6 – June 12

June 13, 2016

Can’t believe how fast this week flew by – felt like I just wrote one of these yesterday! Shows how much you really have to treasure each day. The hydrangeas have been blooming in full glory all around our neighborhood. These are the ones found at the neighborhood park we go to with the kids on nice days. Love them! I think the best news of the week was finding out my BFF is pregnant!! I’m so incredibly happy for her I can’t even start to describe my excitement 🙂 Such an exciting time for her! Otherwise, a regular week with the kiddos. We introduced the “doll washing” job and the kids love it – especially the girls! Funny how “maternal instincts” show so early on in life! Thursday was a fun day – got to reunite with my friend I’ve known since KG. She lives in Boston, though, and only comes home twice a year so it was lovely to see her. Mom and I took a couple snapchats while waiting for her and her mom. I’m kind of sort of obsessed with Snapchat… if you want to follow me, I’m at @oddlyjapanese. Not much crafty, more goofy 🙂

I found the most random thing at the grocery store the other day….a VENUS FLYTRAP! I’ve always been weirdly obsessed with carnivorous plants since learning about them in elementary so when I saw it on sale for about $4.00, I had to have it. It’s been quite an interesting experience so far. We had a trial student come in on Wednesday – he was so sweet and fit right in! Looks like he will be starting in September. Exciting stuff! After pre-school on Friday, mom and I headed out to Costco to pick up some stuff L wanted for a BBQ he was hosting on Saturday. He invited some of his co-workers over to watch the Warriors game. With the time difference, the game was at 10:00 am so it worked out to watch the game, then grill some burgers and hot dogs. The weather was absolutely beautiful (so HOT!) and the Warriors won so we were stoked. After we all ate and everyone left, we had the laziest Saturday ever. I’m not complaining – I love lazy days with loved ones.

We had an extra lovely Sunday this week. I’m taking the kids to a field trip this coming Wednesday, so we decided to drive out to the area we are going to, to make sure we know where parking is and how to maneuver the kids in the best way. So, we drove out to Shinjuku and had lunch at T.G.I.Friday’s. Totally ruined my diet considering I skipped the gym that morning but OH WELL, life is short. We explored the area a little bit, and the area is filled with super cute cafes and restaurants! Wish we had more time to explore but we had to get back in order to get ready for one of my mom’s friend’s daughter’s graduation party (phew, that was a mouthful). She just graduated from HS and is going to Berklee School of Music! So excited for her. The party was at Beacon – a totally classy and beautiful restaurant in between Shibuya and Shinjuku. L and I are maybe considering the location for a small reception in Tokyo when we eventually get married. The food was absolutely delicious and the all you can drink was pretty fantastic. I won’t admit I got totally wine drunk (yes, I did), but we had a wonderful time eating, drinking and dancing until 10:00 pm. Overall good week and hoping for another week as wonderful as the last!