2018.08.12 – Part 1 – Pokemon Go Community Day (August 2018)

It’s actually the second day of Community Day for Pokemon Go, the first time ever to actually have 2 days in a month. For those of you who are not familiar, Community Day is when Pokemon Go features a specific Pokemon with chances of catching a “Shiny” variant (one with a different color than the usual), and with special moves at that. There are also other perks such as double XP (for faster level up) or double Star Dust (which is needed to power up Pokemons). It’s a day when everyone playing goes out and plays as a “community” with a common goal of catching a shiny version or just leveling up their characters.

It has been raining a lot this weekend in Manila, so it was a bit difficult to play on Community Day. Since we stayed at home on Saturday, we had one more chance to go out this Sunday and catch more shiny Pokemon. Our first stop was at a coffee/deli shop in Makati called Cartel.

Cartel is beside Pablo and Picasso, along Leviste Street.

Interiors are on point

This coffee shop is within reach of at least 4 Pokestops, and taking advantage of GPS drift, your character may wonder to nearby Pokestops as well. For me, this area is the best spot to play Pokemon Go without having to walk around much.

Community day happens at 11AM to 2PM Philippine/Singapore Time, so I had my brunch (and coffee) together with Pokemon catching. At around 1:10 PM, we decided to go for a drive to try to catch more Shiny Eevee (this month’s featured Pokemon). Don’t worry, I never play while driving. My friends in the passenger seats do the catching for me.

Shiny Eevee caught for August 2018 Community Day (only caught 4!)

After the event ended, Ralph and I dropped off Ivan in Taguig, and then stopped by BGC for some errands. I also finally got a haircut at the Bench store in BGC, which surprisingly has a restaurant/cafe and a barber/salon in one store. I recommend the Barber shop here because at 350 pesos, shampoo and rinse is already included. I also liked how my cut turned out. Bench Barbers is located at the 3rd floor of the Bench store.

Just focus on the hair….LOL.

I apologize for ending this post with a selfie, but the LJ mobile app won’t let me upload any more photos, so the continuation of today will be on Part 2. Go to the next entry!

2018.08.11 – Chill Saturday

So far, it has been an uneventful weekend, but I welcome the much needed rest. My gout is on its way out (if I may rhyme), and hopefully by tomorrow I can already walk normally. I need to get a haircut and play Pokemon Go (it’s community day) so I will be needing my feet.

I watched National Treasure at 1 in the morning and can I say that is the best movie ever? Kidding aside, I have always been intrigued by the Knights Templar and Illuminati and stuff since I read Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum a long, long time ago. After that I watched the first episode of the Kdrama Something in the Rain, and I’m still deciding if I should continue it or not – the first episode didn’t really get me hooked enough.

Other than that, the rest of the Saturday was chill. I played some Pokemon Go in my room by taking advantage of the GPS glitch, played some Mario Kart, and cooked for lunch and dinner (of course, keeping it Keto).

Now, Saturday’s about to end and I’m thinking of finally getting back to studying Japanese. I’m putting it on hold for many reasons but in reality, I’m just being lazy. I really, really, want to buy a nice desk though so I can *study*. Something like this –

I gotta go wash the dishes now. I procrastinated by posting a blog entry, which is a good result of quitting FB/IG and Twitter. Bye for now!

2018.08.09 – Gout is hell on Earth

My right foot still hurts like hell. I’ve discovered the trigger for this week’s attack and it’s my attempt at intermittent fasting. Apparently, fasting elevates uric acid but the kidney is not able to excrete it because it prioritizes ketones. Umm okay, I got this info off reddit so I don’t know the exact scientific explanation. I haven’t been drinking enough water too, so I was super dehydrated resulting to uric crystals. It’s a hard lesson to learn. I’m sad because IF gave me results the past two weeks.

So yeah, I took the day off today because I couldn’t sleep with the pain. I finally fell asleep at around 8am, woke up at 2, ate, and went back to sleep. I woke up again at 8pm already, had dinner then welcomed the usual visitors at home. I like having people around because it distracts me from the pain. Pokemon Quest also helped with the distraction.

Now it’s 2:50 am. I just finished watching Switched on Netflix (I will post a review separately, but watch it guys!). I will be sleeping on the couch tonight so that I have easier access to the restroom in case I need to pee (I will be peeing a lot because I have been drinking water like crazy, to flush out the uric acid).

This is my view right now. My brother’s playing jazz music in his room so I’m feeling quite relaxed, pain on foot aside. I hope I get to sleep soon. I don’t want work to pile up.

Good night! I’ll be playing Pokemon Quest until I run out of batteries or I fall asleep.

2018 1st Half – Top 5 KPOP songs

So, it’s not too late to post this. I haven’t been listening to a lot of Kpop this year. I guess as I grow older, the more biased I become to the artists that I already like. I will do better for the second half, but for the first half of the year, these are my top 5 songs – at least the ones that I can think of at 3 in the morning.

#5. Roy Kim — Only Then

Believe me, I almost cried when I first saw this (of course, with subtitles enabled).

#4. Blackpink — Forever Young

It’s sad that this song doesn’t have its own music video. I have two BP songs on this list, because I have been waiting so long for them to come back! Forever Young reminds me of Winner’s Really Really for some reason. My favorite part is the phrase “Blackpink is the revolution” because I’ve always believed that “Blackpink in your area” was supposed to be 2NE1’s next tagline. Haha.

#3. Blackpink — Ddu Du Ddu Du

This record breaking song of 2018 is hands down my favorite from their comeback album. Music video aside, I just love how the song seems like a mix of different songs but still ends up being harmonious or continuous when you get used to it. What about that dance break towards the end? I love Lisa. Ah yeah, ah yeah!

#2. iKON — Love Scenario

I’ve always been a Winner (Team A) fan. But this song made me appreciate all the effort iKON (Team B) has put into getting to where they are now. For me this is their first song that really stuck. Their new release is equally good too and I believe that Love Scenario is their turning point into becoming a more successful group!

#1. Seventeen — Thanks

My #1 song of 2018’s first half – I love how the song, the dance and the music video go very well together in communicating the emotion and the meaning of the song. I haven’t been a Carat for long (I just started liking them since Don’t Wanna Cry and worked my way back from there), but I felt how the group has grown from their Pretty U days. There is a sense of maturity in the song, showing more passion than just having fun and enjoying themselves. I like the lively, energetic songs, but I enjoy this mature sound (similar to Don’t Wanna Cry) more!

That’s all for now! Will try to post more Kpop and Jpop related entries in the future!

Quitting Social Media

I’m quitting social media – at least the three top ones – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I’m thinking of it as a way to reduce the distractions in my life, to take me closer to living a more minimalist lifestyle. It’s not going to be easy, being a social media addict since social media was born, but I am willing to give it a try.

Endless scrolling

I’ve grown tired of mindlessly refreshing and scrolling on these apps. I do it at the office when I should be focusing on work. I do it over lunch when I should be bonding with friends. And especially at night, during bed time, when I should be sleeping. It’s the feeling of wanting something new, something interesting that could feed that urge in my brain that gets me restless. And when I find nothing interesting, I still continue refreshing until something good pops up. That’s a lot of time wasted on nothing. A lot of time I could have spent doing something else I really want to do.

Productive time

My main goal in doing this is to maximize the time I get in a day doing the things I want to do. That includes blogging, studying Japanese, catching up on anime and my favorite series, and reading piled up books. Some of these are little things, but the first two items are goals I’ve been putting off since forever.

Blogging – instead of uploading a photo on Instagram or posting a tweet about a topic I feel strongly about, I would rather make a blog post about it. I’ve said it before that social media killed blogging. Everything is instant, and the feedback you get is also instant. But I feel like I’ve lost something important along the way – taking time to relish in the moment, and reliving it later through a lengthy blogpost. And because there’s more effort involved in it, it becomes more special to me. I can also easily trace a blog post vs. a tweet or an FB/IG post (talk about more scrolling). I started with blogging and I want to continue doing that moving forward.
Studying Japanese – there has been countless nights when I plan to study, and then I realize I’ve wasted four hours on my phone. It’s a significant number of hours wasted. My goal was to take JLPT N3 by December, and that has been my goal since last year – it just got postponed twice because I could never find the time to study. I’m cutting it tight this year, but I will have to make do with the time I have left because I don’t want to push it back any longer. If I fail, at least I gave it my all, and it will be easier to take it again next year.

Minimalism

The past few weeks, I have been fighting the urge to buy a new phone (ehem, One Plus 6). This is mainly because my current phone hangs up a lot when I use Instagram and Facebook. Quitting social media eliminates that “need” because really, I will just be using my phone for basic things like messaging and calling. This will probably cut down my phone time by more than 50%. So yes, I am proud of myself for doing this because I will save myself from spending money I don’t have.

Quitting social media also means not being able to see only the good things people post about. I admit, it gets depressing to see your friends having the time of their lives, while you’re stuck at home on your phone on a Friday night. There are studies done correlating the rise of depression to the rise of social media and this is true. Even if we don’t acknowledge it, deep inside we will want to show others that we’re doing fine on social media, even if we’re not. I get depressed about not having any new photo to post on Instagram. It’s sad, but it’s real. At least I don’t have to worry about that anymore.

TL;DR

I sound like I am convincing myself that I’m doing the right thing. That’s partly true. This is a big change for me and to be honest, I’m not sure how long I can keep up. But, similar to me jumping on the Keto diet on a whim, I hope this will bring me more good along the way. It may just be as small as completing my list of anime to watch, or as big as making extra money on the side (I don’t know how but it could happen). Let’s see what happens! Quitting social media will be good for me. That I know.

Late Birthday Update

Hey guys! I know I haven’t posted for a long time now. I don’t really have an excuse other than not having any motivation to do anything productive in the past few months. As you may know (or not know), I turned another year older this July! Usually, I do a birthday post that talks about the year that was and my goals for the next year, but I never got around to that this time.

As it is technically still my birth month, I thought of coming back to this blog with a belated birthday update!

#KetoTransformation

Honestly, things are looking up lately because I feel better about myself. This is mainly from embarking on the Keto journey. I’ve already lost around 30 pounds (around 14 kilos) within 5 months (officially, today). I still get surprised at the physical changes I see when I look in the mirror, or at a photo of myself! For many years, I didn’t want my photo taken because I hated how I looked. My self-esteem was really low. People were always teasing me about being fat, and I did not imagine that reality would ever change.

A couple of months into my diet, I still got judgmental stares from people who didn’t understand why I choose to “suffer” and sacrifice food (and alcohol), which I used to love a lot. But what they don’t realize is that I’m OK letting those things go because I really believe that for me, Keto really works. And I’m not planning on gaining those lost pounds back! Now, they’re shocked at the results!

Taking on this “way of living” has turned things around for me, and I’ll continue this until I hit 130 pounds, and even beyond that. I’m also starting to do intermittent fasting because my weight has plateaued for a while now and I just want to bring that down as soon as possible! Long story short, I’m still Keto strong!

“Frugal” Minimalism

I can do better at being a minimalist. To be honest, I’ll give myself failing marks at this department. I’m still buying things I don’t need, and I’ve stopped being deliberate about my choices in general. I joined a group on Facebook called “Frugal Minimalists” and I’m learning a lot from the members of that group, especially with saving money and being frugal, on top of being minimalists. Here are the 5 major changes that I’ll be doing differently from now on:

Stop eating out. Consistently prepare my own meals.
Stop using Grab/car to/from work .
Track my daily expenses.
Get rid of more things that I don’t need.
Invest savings.

It’s a long journey but I’ll be updating about this on the blog more often!

Pursuing passion relentlessly

I am not getting any younger so I can no longer be putting off the things I want to do or achieve in my life. There’s so many things I want to do, too many in fact that I’m always at a loss where to start. There’s Japanese proficiency, blogging, photography, games and books I need to finish – and maybe a side gig that would also help me earn extra. I know I need to do better at prioritizing what I really want to accomplish first. And then there’s the problem of just wanting to take it easy instead. Failing marks at this department as well, but I’ll again, try to do better this year – starting with this blog!

TL;DR

My 2018 theme is self-improvement. I’ve been floating around at the lowest point of my life for quite a while and making these changes have been essential in keeping my physical and even my mental health in tack. I’m not out of the slump yet but I’m getting there. 🙂

Keto Bread (Attempt 1)

Three months into the Keto Way of Eating (WOE) and I thought that it’s about time that I start expanding my menu. I saw a video on Facebook about creating Keto bread so I decided to give it a try.

Ingredients

The ingredients are simple:

7 medium sized eggs
1/2 cup butter (melted)
2 tbsp. coconut oil (I used my MCT oil)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Steps

Basically, you just need to combine and mix everything thoroughly, starting with the eggs, butter and oil, followed by the solid ingredients.

Preheat your oven for 5 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Transfer the mixture into a loaf pan lined with baking paper and then pop it into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes until bread rises and is golden brown. I am a total newbie in baking, and I didn’t have a loaf pan so I used a disposable aluminum container. This is probably a mistake, but I didn’t have anything else to bake this on.

Bake for 45 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius

After 45 minutes, I poked the bread with a toothpick to see if it’s done. There should be no crumbs sticking to the toothpick. Take it out of the oven and let it cool before slicing.

After a little over 30 minutes (and maybe I should have let it cool down for at least an hour), I was ready to cut the bread into slices to form a loaf.

Final Product – Keto Bread

Judging by the looks, I rated it a 7.5. The texture looks close to a real bread. But when you touch it, it feels more dense. For the taste, I gave it a 4 – it tasted too “eggy” and “coconutty”, and the texture when eaten is similar to that of a dense pancake. Obviously, because of the ingredients used, the taste is as expected. I don’t think the bottom part cooked well because I didn’t use the right baking tool. Overall though, I am proud of the output because it’s my first time to bake ever!

I have already took note of some of the changes I’ll do on my next attempt. Maybe reduce the number of eggs. Then mix it properly so that it doesn’t break while baking. Lastly, use the right baking pan/loaf tin!

Tokyo Spring 2018 – Day 9: Shibuya

My goal for this trip was really to explore places in Tokyo that I’ve never been to before. Shibuya, I have visited the most in Tokyo, but I wanted to hangout here for today for some window-shopping and Pokemon Go!

Hachiko Square

Shibuya is equivalent to Hachiko and the crazy scramble crossing. I’ve posted about this many times, but since today is a different day, here are photos of Hachiko and the scramble from this morning!

Shibuya Scramble Crossing, also famous for being underwhelming

Just some trivia that I learned from our tourguide the other day (and no, I have not seen a single Hachiko movie because it’s sad) – Hachiko was actually alive and present when they unveiled this statue of him. He passed away one year later and was buried next to his master (the Toudai Professor).

Neko Shrine

So – after arriving at Shinjuku Station, checking in on Hachiko and the scramble crossing, off I went to my first Legendary Raid of the day. I walked quite a distance somewhere in East Shibuya and ended up at this shrine (which was the Gym).

Another story from the same tour guide, he said that when that other world took Buddha from us, Jizo were sent down as an exchange to help us human beings. These Jizo are said to be very friendly and love to eat, which is why Japanese people usually leave food near their statues.

Also, the difference between Temple and Shrine is that Temple is for Buddhism while Shrine is for Shintoism. While Japanese people are not specifically religious, they have a strong belief in god(s). Most of them practice both Shintoism and Buddhism. They usually go to shrines to pray for things in the physical world, and to temples to pray for things/intentions for the other world (more spiritual).

Back to Shibuya

The next raid brought me back to central Shibuya. While waiting for the raid to start, I wanted to hangout at a coffee shop that is within the range of the gym. However, it was full! So, I bought cold coffee from a nearby Pokemon vending machine and drank it on one of the benches. I spent only 150 JPY vs. 300-500 JPY in a coffee shop!

Tower Records

After finishinga all of the nearby raids, I visited Tower Records because I have never been there and I wanted to check out the latest songs in Japan! The Shibuya Branch had 7 floors of music, a cafe and a (small) bookstore! I like how you can actually listen to the songs to help you decide which CDs to buy. Music stores in the Philippines don’t have this!

Apparently, BTS is super famous here right now!

There’s a whole shelf for City Pop! My brother would love this!

I already took photos of the albums I want to listen to when I get home. I hope they’re available on Spotify! If not, let’s see where I’ll find them! 🙂

There’s also a small bookstore and cafe on the 2nd floor. Right now, the cafe has a Bungo Stray Dogs Dead Apple collab – so the menu and decorations are inspired by the anime movie! There are some Bungo Stray Dogs items for sale, too – but I didn’t get any of them!

Ichiryu Ramen

For dinner, I couldn’t decide what to get right away. I knew I wanted to eat fried chicken – and KFC was the only one I could think of. At the same time, I wanted to eat something I can only eat here – so after going around for 30 minutes, I saw a ramen place that offered a fried chicken set! I settled for this and did not regret it!

On my way to the station, I saw a photoshoot and snapped a photo, like everyone else. I guess this is not an uncommon sight in one of Tokyo’s fashion center – Shibuya!

This day may seem short with such short post, but it was quite tiring! I still managed 16,000+ steps from walking all over the place due to Pokemon Go! I know I wouldn’t be able to play as much when I get home!

Tomorrow is check-out day. I’m not yet sure how to spend the rest of the day before I head to the airport in the afternoon. My flight is at 8.25 PM so I still have a full day left to explore. I might just take it easy this time! Time to sleep so that I can check out on time! Good night!

Tokyo Spring 2018 – Day 8: Shinjuku Gyoen

After putting this off of my itinerary, I finally found time to visit Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden today. And I’m glad that I postponed it to a day when I had more free time, because the place is enormous! The last time I went here with my friends, we were in a rush. We arrived at around 3PM, then had to leave by the time the garden closed at 4PM! This time around, I spent around 4 hours exploring the entire area!

Getting there

Shinjuku Gyoen has three gates that you can enter from – Shinjuku, Okido and Sendagaya gates. On both visits, I went through the Shinjuku gate, alighting from Shinjuku-sanchome station. The park has an entrance fee of 200 JPY, which is unusual as most parks in Tokyo are free. However, upon entering, you will understand why they are collecting an entrance fee because of how well maintained the park is!

This open area will greet you upon entering from Shinjuku gate

Tourists are swarming at the first cherry blossoms tree they see!

Take note that the park is open from 9AM to 4PM only so make sure you have enough time to explore. You’ll need more than an hour to cover the entire area, but you can also easily spend half a day or until closing time relaxing in this wonderful park!

Mother & Child’s Forest

Ready to explore, I took the path opposite where people are headed. While everyone was scrambling to get to the cherry blossoms, I went to the forest. Mother & Child’s Forest is a section of Shinjuku Gyoen that is basically just like a forest inside the city. There are big trees and signs that show animals/insects that live in the area (although I didn’t see any of them). I spent a good 30-45 minutes walking around, taking all of the oxygen from the trees in, and getting scared of wild animals that may jump at me any minute. Of course, there are no such scary animals inside a park like this, but this place has the feeling of a real forest!

There are supposed to be some fish in this pond, but I couldn’t find them

How trees help provide fresh, cool air (based on the photo)

So scary! There were explanations but they were all in Japanese!

At this point, I got scared because I ended up somewhere off-beaten – there’s a walkway, but it’s not paved so I felt lost and scared that a bear may show up! Haha.

Let me take a photo of this flower because I’m not scared

If you haven’t noticed yet, I am a scaredy cat. After this, I saw a sign leading back to the toilet at the entrance of the forest, and got out of there unscathed. I needed to pee, too!

Rakuu-Tei Tea House

My next stop is a tea house in the Japanese garden part of Shinjuku Gyoen. They serve green tea and a confection/wagashi for 700 JPY. I wanted to go in, but a queue was forming inside, so I ended up just taking photos of the beautiful sakura right beside the tea house.

This tree adds a perfect touch to the tea house’s Japanese architecture

The sakura petals look like snow flakes!

Japanese Garden

I hope I’m labeling the locations right. I should have brought home an English pamphlet with me so that I could provide you guys with more accurate information! Anyhow – Shinjuku Gyoen was the setting for the anime Garden of Words – and a lot of those scenes are taken from the views you can see in my photos below!

What makes a garden a Japanese garden? There are some key characteristics, like well-trimmed shrubs, ponds usually with koi swimming in them, small bridges over those ponds, a minimalistic feel – I’m no expert in landscape architecture, but you’ll know when you see one.

Love the reflection of the sakura tree on the pond

More Sakura!

After the Japanese Garden, I ended up at an area where there’s even more sakura! In terms of overall experience, I enjoyed the sakura in Shinjuku Gyoen better than Ueno park. This may be because the ratio of people to sakura tree is lower in Shinjuku Gyoen. You couldn’t really do hanami with alcohol in this park, so that could explain why there are fewer people here. You can really take your time with the trees, take as much pictures as you want or until you get tired of it. There are also rest areas spread across the park where you can buy refreshments, coffee (hot or cold), and snacks. If you have a book, or brought your earphones with you for some music, you’re set to chill!

The following photos will need no captions so just dumping it all here!

Shinjuku Gyoen also has a French garden, which I didn’t go to anymore because my feet are already very tired from walking all day. So, I’m squeezing in a photo of the trees from that garden, taken from afar!

Shinjuku Garden Greenhouse

I was on my way back to Shinjuku gate to exit the park when I chanced upon this modern glass structure to my right. At first, I thought it was a building outside of the park itself. Turns out, it is a greenhouse and it is part of Shinjuku Gyoen. It was getting really cold, and since there was no additional fee to get in the garden, I thought I could use the warmth from the greenhouse effect for myself!

The building reminds me of the Cloud forest in Singapore!

I have become fascinated with plants lately – and chancing upon this greenhouse was a pleasant surprise for me. I saw a lot of plants I wanted to take home with me (of course, I couldn’t) – especially those small flowering plants that are so minimalistic! No specific captions for these, but I love them all!

The greenhouse also contains plants from the tropics, and some of these are familiar to me as they grew on my grandma’s backyard when I was a kid! It’s weird seeing them exhibited in a place like this!

I’m not sure if this is exactly Santan, but it looks like one.

This exact plant is on my grandma’s garden. We take the flowers and sip the honey, too, like Santan!

My grandma makes her own tablea (raw chocolate tablets) from cacao seeds

There are also some interesting plants that deserve to be photographed.

This weird upside down blue chili-looking plant!

Coffee arabica – interesting because it’s my first time to see one! I love drinking coffee!

There used to be an older greenhouse in the same park back in the day, just beside where the current greenhouse is. The imperial family put-up a rest house where they could stay in when they want to relax and observe the plants in the greenhouse. These are the photos of that house. Unfortunately, it’s closed to the public, so no photos from the inside. It looks haunted, to be honest! (Scaring myself again)

That concludes my almost 4 hour tour of Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden! I recommend this place to anyone visiting Tokyo, most especially in the Spring and in Autumn (I saw a lot of maple trees as well)! Aside from those – there are other reasons to visit the place such as the Mother and Child’s Forest and the Greenhouse! You can also just chill in here, bring a mat, some food and (non-alcoholic drinks), a book maybe – do a picnic with friends, or just enjoy your alone time! Shinjuku Gyoen is worth the 200 JPY entrance fee!

Last stop: Kabuki-cho

After this, I played Pokemon Go which brought me all the way to Shinjuku Station and the Kabuki-cho area. I then had Ichiran Ramen for dinner. I have accepted that I will not be able to do Keto until I return to the Philippines!

Right around the corner is Kabuki-cho’s most famous landmark – the Godzilla Head of Toho Cinema! I love how Japan is just so random. Coming from the serene and calm Shinjuku Gyoen to a crazy area like Kabuki-cho – they’re opposite but they’re both very Japanese! This is why Japan is so interesting!

That’s all for now! I didn’t expect a full day, but it turned out that way! Two more days before I fly back to the Philippines!

Tokyo Spring 2018 – Day 7: Meguro River, Akihabara

Although day tours are convenient, because of the distance and the length of the commute, it can still be tiring and draining. After two consecutive day tours, including waking up early for the pick-ups, my body caved in to sleep. In short, I woke up at 12 noon!

My remaining days until I leave on Saturday is free-for-all. I don’t have any specific plans so I can take it slow when I want. I’ll probably just spend it walking around small alleys, playing Pokemon Go, hanging out in cafes, and doing street photography.

Coffee and some work

I had to send a report for work today so I had late breakfast in a coffee shop in Akihabara. I just picked a random one, which was Cafe Renoir. I ordered butter toast, thinking it would be a small serving but to my surprise, it was almost half a normal loaf of bread! Bye bye Keto again today!

Drafted a blog post while waiting for reports to finish running

Meguro River

I saw amazing photos of cherry blossoms along the Meguro River on Instagram so I decided to check it out. Unfortunately, the cherry blossoms are already past full bloom – in fact, they’re now around 90% green! A cherry blossom tree is in full bloom when all you see are flowers – once the leaves start to come out, it’s already past its prime.

Still, the place is beautiful!

I can imagine how beautiful this would be if it were all flowers!

Since I was already in the area, I walked around a bit to explore the place. After crossing of the streets, I saw some hope! There were still a couple of trees that had flowers!

A couple of trees still in bloom along this alley.

Apart from the cherry bossoms, the Meguro river is also lined up with some cool shops and cafes/restaurants. I guess in a way, coming here past the bloom is a blessing in disguise. There were fewer people, and the atmosphere was more relaxing and chill!

More cafes/stores around Naka-Meguro station!

Back to Akihabara

After Meguro River, I didn’t know where to go next – so I thought of returning to Akihabara to play Pokemon Go. When I arrived, there were 40 minutes until the nearby Legendary Raid starts, so I grabbed a quick late lunch. I a curry rice restaurant called C&C and ordered Pork Omelette Curry Rice! Here I am eating rice again – I will just have to make up for this when I return to Manila!

After lunch, I was able to join 2 legendary raids, and managed to catch 1 Latias.

My first Latias (and weather-boosted, too!)

After raiding, I spent my the rest of the afternoon window shopping inside Yodabashi Akiba. Akihabara is a haven for people like me who love technology, anime, games, music – and all of these are inside Yodabashi!

I wanted to catch them all, but I couldn’t (no money)

Window shopping can be tiring! The top floor of Yodabashi had a cafe so I ordered an iced coffee and spent an hour finishing up my blog on Mt. Fuji. At around 7PM, I decided it’s time to go back to the hostel – without eating dinner because I ate so much carbs today! I also almost bought a Sigma 60MM E-mount lens for my camera but I’m giving myself two more days to think about it! Seriously, I don’t think I have any money left after this trip!

Now, what to do tomorrow?