Jewel

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words on kindness; And for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."

--Audrey Hepburn--

What a beautiful quote!

Reaching you.

Hey peeps!

First of all, I'm feeling incredibly sorry for my current infrequency of updating...I am very very busy.

Past few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind, and I've been swamped by tons of job-resumes to write; so here's me, moping around the house wearing pj-esque clothes, hair's a mess, in need of girly session with my friends and wishing I was living someplace else.

Despite my cliched-excuse, I can see, in the tiny box on the right hand, that you guys still day-to-day visit here for me. I genuinely appreciate it! arigatou:).

With regard to that, I put that web tracker to simply piece out where all my generous readers are from. So please do not worry, I'm not knowing any more info than that, and not spying on you or anything(!). But honestly, it 's wonderful to know that I'm now having visitors from Korea, Hong Kong, US, Germany, France, Canada, all over Malaysia, Ausralia.... and of course Japan. This is why this blog is here for. Thanks so much guys, and I'll try to make my posts as enchanting as I can.

As to me, no exciting item to tell now, just hoping my current wish for a dream job will eventually drift ashore to the sands.

P.S. ...soon more pictures with humans to come! ;P

Shinjuku

"Like a star in the dark of night
Like birds lost in flight

Like clouds in the sky of blue"

Love Today

I love Valentine's Day, I mean, as much as I hate it; seeing many shops dripped with heart-shaped goodies just leaps up one's heart while it could be no more merciless without having beloved one to give it.

We Japanese celebrate Valentine's day in a unique fashion, which is simply described as a day when only women give chocolate gift to thier special someone. Not a mutual exchange or any sort...boys are undeniably blessed in this country:(.

Anyways, I'm sending love and appreciation for all my favorite people who always make my day brighter and my life a little easier. And not to forget, special one for my truelove.

Also I send my deepest thanks for many earnest readers around the world.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I love you all!

austerity

"Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires."

---Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu

Happy Chinese New Year--- a little thought on Made in China ethnicity

When I was in Melbourne last year, I was amazed by the fact that Asian population in Australia had remarkably increased since I was there in 2002. Indeed, there were hardly no areas in the city where we didn't see any Asians, and majority of them were Chinese or overseas Chinese mainly from Malaysia or Singapore.

I too had a chance to get to know them very well last year, and became pretty close with some of them. One time I asked my Malaysian-Chinese boyfriend whether he thinks themselves as different from those Chinese who were born in China. He told me that they may have slightly different mentality, and he indeed felt a little foreign to them. Contrarily, I also found it very interesting how Chinese people retain their own cultures, and are proud of their ethnicity no matter where they live or have grown up. That's probably something which we Japanese need to reconsider about ourselves.

Anyway, today is Chinese New Year, and as you know I'm not Chinese. But I still send a greeting to all my Chinese friends/readers if it's okay to share a little sense of their festivity as a same Asian fellow:).

By the way, I've just known that our otoshidama ( a Japanese New Year custom of giving monetary gift from parents/relatives to children) had an origin in Chinese red packet which is also given during Chinese New Year. I truly appreciate our ancestors who took over this awesome tradition from China:p.

Happy CNY guys!

Greeting from Japan,

Little Miss Sunshine

The whole story began with a bizarre encounter at shower room in college dorm. It wasn't long until I realized that this tiniest girl had the greatest love for others which I've ever seen.

Years elapsed, and now Ranko is moving back to Nagoya where her first office life awaits.

Best teammate whom I spent the prime of cheerleading days together; the best partner who snuggled each other and bemoaned the shortage of boys in our university during the time of singleness:P; and the best girlfriend who always shared the laughter, pain and even stupidity.

I'll miss you my little miss sunshine!

All the best for your brilliant future.

Deepest love for my beautiful tiniest friend,

breather

So it is Sunday again after another frantic week for excavating my future.

I was in Tokyo at the beginning of the week, meeting some professionals to dig down their vocations. Indeed the session was awe-inspiring, and seeing other zealous students had also given me a huge stimulation to carry on this baffling job-hunting process.

Because of this current craziness I didn't notice that it's been already two months since I came home (...and I was even more hopeless enough to have forgotten my best friend's birthday!).

It's a farfetched fact that one's life can dramatically change during such a short period. I sometimes wonder if I was really in Melbourne,where all my friends and boyfriend lived within 30 seconds reach, and where I spent countless nights drugging myself with writing a paper.

I hate sticking to the past, but from time to time, I can't help looking back just for a pause. So then, I can start clawing my way again.

Tomorrow: another career convention in Osaka!

interlacing

These past few weeks have been a furious succession of career forums and seminars; it's a crucial season for senior university students like us who have been soaking themselves in the snugness of carefree student's life.

Now we have to step out from this lukewarmness and realize that we are soon going to be flung out to the real world where everyone has to stand on their own feet.


I've been contemplating as to my future since the end of last year, and I must say that I have been flinching from daring to my dream. But it has been evenly changing since I came to one simple conclusion, which made me rethink on how to wheel my life.


Whether I succeed or fail---No one knows until I actually try.

Whether I'm decent enough for that particular job---Up to judgement by others, not myself.

What I want in my future---No one knows but I.

high time

One lovely evening accompanied with plentiful childhood's memories.

Three mischievousnesses are still alive.

Safe trip back to Sandiego!

puzzlement

"We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves."

And So We Start Again...

Another New Year has begun and so we start again hopefully refreshed and animated about the year which lies ahead of us.

A Happy belated New Year everyone! May the year be as joyous as the one we just had, and bring all of you a myriad of dramas that juice up your life:).

My start of 2008 has been a full of get-together with family and relatives. In our country, New Year's holiday is just like Christmas in Western culture, so family members reunite and appreciate this festive season together.

And just like in any other cultures, festivities can never be completed without divine food. This is always the season of expanding waistlines...*sigh*. The picture is Osechi-ryori, traditional Japanese New Year's dish. I'm a huge fun of my mom's Osechi:).

It's also a tradition to visit a shrine or a temple at the beginning of each year, praying for health and happiness.

...Well, look at the horde of people! I had to squash into there just for my 100 yen-worth wish.


Despite my obstinate longing to spend Christmas in overseas, I after all love to be in Japan for New Year. Japaneseness in me cannot miss out all of this.

Annus mirabilis

2007 is almost completing its voyage and another brand-new year is about to embark on a long bumpy journey.


I must say that 2007 marked something momentous on my life; 9 and half months in Melbourne opened up a new prospect for my forthcoming future, and if any, I learned so much about myself.

It was also a year brimmed with a lot of new encounters and partings. Sorrows of goodbye were always unbearable, but those pains also told me an infinity of each friendship. ( Btw my last tear of the year was poured onto The Bridges of Madison Country...the movie was absolute legend!)


Hope the upcoming year is also full of joy, cheer and loves and I'm wishing everyone a happy new year from Japan!


Love for everybody and everything which made my incredible 2007,

Blue moon

Holding onto a high school-friendship is sometimes not a very easy thing since college life is often whirligiging to one's life-track.

But we

No matter how different our life would be and no matter where each of us steers for, we probably find a byway to catch our breath together now and again.

Lotsa Kisses,

"Free to flow"

Christmas has just come and gone, and now everyone is hustling into the feeling of new year; yes this is how little Christmas means to us. No Boxing Day or sales, and nothing reminds of the holy carols once the day has gone. What a simple nation!;P


Today my best friend Naoko came to visit me in Kobe. We stuffed ourselves with luscious lunch and also with beautiful winter weather at the garden restaurant.

Thanks for coming Nao-chan! Looking forward to another Kobe session again!

...4 more nights to a brand-new year!

Holiday Greeting

Although Christmas has no religious meaning to most of our Japanese, this particular season has been always my favorite. Holiday memories abound, and every year my sister and I used to be the organizers for home-made Christmas party. This cute yearly ritual has been faded away as we have grown up, but this year we still gathered and sat around the table with a little special meals and Christmas Stollen.


Last weekend was spent with three girls at one of the restaurants in Osaka. Our small Christmas gathering.

Yukkin and Natsuko ( Naoko was also there but all her pics were blurred!).

It was indeed the first time I properly met up with them since I came home. Regardless of how much the life has changed for each of us, never-ending girly session as usual:P.


Wishing you the best of the holiday season, no matter what you believe in, what you celebrate, may every moment be filled with blessings of peace, with joy and with love.

Happy merry Christmas!

Welcome all my loves

Hi, I'm finally blogging again!

It has been a month since I made my farewell to Melbourne, and I have closed down mihiro's blog for good to leave it only with memories from that beauteous city.

Now I'm back in Kobe, gingerly typing words here after a long absence from English:P.

This my second blog is going to be about my personal life, ramblings and such as you read in my previous one. But this time I'm blogging from home.

Hope you guys enjoy taking a glance over my life, and hopefully this'll be a place to stay in touch with everybody!

Love always,