The One About Creative Contemplation (Or What Will Happen to LMPC and Joujoux)

Recently, my husband and I said “yes” to an adventure.

An adventure quite awfully big and of it-wasn’t-even-in-our-bucket-list proportions.

Last summer I was feeling quite unsure in my teaching job.  To make the long story short, on one lazy summer day, I sent an application to teach in another school.  The next thing I knew, I was being interviewed, hired on the spot, and was sorting out all the visa and paperwork required in order for me to make the transfer to my new job.

It’s amazing how things can fall serendipitously into place when you let God take the reins.  One moment your nerves are shackled by uncertainty and restlessness and the next moment, by God’s grace, your soul is filled with strength, purpose, and calmness.  If you recall, my word for 2016 is GRACE and how I was intentional about allowing a lot of it to thrive in my life.  Last summer, I was only praying for enough strength and patience to endure the big changes taking place in my workplace.  But through grace, I was blessed with more than an answered prayer.

Two months since the lazy summer day, here I am.  In Japan.  With my husband.  Where a new adventure awaits.

This is where we will be based while I teach here.  We’re hoping to become very happy here.  To give you an idea, we’ve just found an apartment that we are absolutely in love with, are slowly purchasing items to fill our home, opening bank accounts, applying for a phone line, etc.  It’s been delightfully crazy and the past week has had our heads in a whirl.  We miss our families and the Philippines terribly but we are happy, nonetheless.  For the sake of designing the kind of life that we love, we know we are where we need to be for now.

I am not certain how long the adjustment will take before I can sew a new play food set or a new skirt again.  Or knit.  Or cook.  Or continue with my calligraphy drills.  It might take months or a year.  So here’s a little announcement - two, actually:

What will happen to the blog?  The blog will be quiet for now.  The graceful thing to do for now is to cut myself some slack and allow time to do its thing as far as adjustment is concerned.  I want my blog content to be purposeful and intentional and while it is gratifying to be able to post regularly, I don’t want to post only for the sake of doing so.

When I am fully adjusted, I shall post more regularly, possibly with expat living undertones in my post (Don’t you want to see snippets of living in Japan?).  Don’t worry, it will still be crafty!

Now, what will happen to Joujoux Playthings & Teachables?  The fascinating thing about doing business nowadays is that it is possible to run one from anywhere in the world — well, as far as online businesses are concerned.  Our lean start-up has been gaining a following and we are over-the-moon delighted with the way people have been responding to it.  So, your toysmiths will continue to create playthings and teachables and ship it to anywhere in the world where someone can give a child the gift of meaningful play…

…after the adjustment period, of course.  :)  C’mon, give us time.  Give us grace.  Give me a sewing machine manual in English, please.  Haha.  They’re all in Japanese!  We still have so many product ideas in our heads and we simply cannot wait to get started on making.  When we do, Joujoux Playthings & Teachables will have more handmade product offerings. 

I like to think of this time off from the blog and the startup as “creative contemplation" until I cross over to a better and bright Little Miss Pinay Crafter and Joujoux.

And so for now, I shall “trust the wait.  Embrace the uncertainty.  Enjoy the beauty of becoming.  When nothing is certain, anything is possible.” (Beautifully penned by Mandy Hale)

Attraversiamo.

#LMPCEscapes to Osaka (2015)

Osaka, Japan 2015

The first time my feet stepped on Japanese soil was twenty-seven years ago.  I was 6 and my family and I visited Tokyo.  I cannot remember every single detail of that trip but I do recall colored tights, kiwi, and Tokyo Disneyland. 

The lure of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was what really pushed me to book a trip to the Land of Rising Sun again – in Osaka to be specific and with my family in tow once again.  Well, that and the Dalai Lama’s wise words:

I’m glad I gave in to the Dalai Lama – and to Harry Potter – because this trip has turned out to be nothing short of mesmerizing, authentic, and enjoyable.  It seemed that every nook and cranny of Japan’s second largest city screamed of a culture that is entirely different from mine and there was nothing I could do but marvel at its sights and sounds (or lack of; the Japanese are very quiet people).

We stayed at Daiwa Roynet Hotel in the Kitahama area.  It is a business hotel and is relatively affordable.  The rooms are clean and well-equipped (I miss the warm toilet!).  One can practically not bring a toiletries kit because everything one can need is provided by the hotel:  hair dryer, shaver and shaving cream, tall bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, facial foam, ponytail holder, butterfly clip, hair brush, and towels, towels, towels!  The breakfast buffet isn’t bad, either.  They provide a mix of Japanese and continental selections – and unlimited curry sauce!  Which you can drown your rice in!

 I can get used to this.

My attitude toward dining in a particular country is to devour its local cuisine.  I can never get my head around going to, say, Hong Kong and dining in an Italian restaurant no matter how good the reviews are.  But that’s just me.  In Osaka, I followed the travel advice I perpetually read about in travel books and blogs:  Go where the locals go.  Eat where the locals eat.  I approached the friendly hotel staff one night and asked for a good ramen place (because there was no way I was leaving Japan without diving into a steaming bowl of authentic ramen) and she directed me to small ramen place in the neighborhood which she said was popular among the locals.  Turned out following her recommendation led me to the best tsukemen ramen I still have dreams about.

Dotonbori is still, of course, a must-visit in Osaka.  Osaka isn’t the “kitchen capital” of Japan for nothing and in Dotonbori, one can have his/her fill of the famed okonomiyaki and takoyaki (which Osaka is known for) along with rows of eateries offering everything from sushi, ramen, to yakitori.  It seems to have more tourists than locals, though, but if you follow where the locals line up, your tummy will thank you for life, I’m sure.

If all else fails, the neighborhood convenience stores offer filling gastronomic options too.  The first night we arrived in Osaka was close to midnight.  We were famished and trooped to the nearest 7-11 because it was the only place still open.  There, we helped ourselves to cartons of soup, donburi, noodles, and maki – and they were surprisingly good!

 Food trucks parked inside the Osaka Castle Park

 Don Shop in Shinsaibashi

Ramen dinner at this place.  Nothing can get more authentic. There was a sake place next door.

Because we were first-timers, we did the tourist-y thing of visiting the Osaka Castle, Dotonbori, and Shinsaibashi.  And Universal Studios.  Of. Course.

 A wall full of wands

A fun thing to do in Osaka is to people-watch.  One can spend time in a local coffee shop (Japanese coffee – yum!) and watch professionals smartly-dressed as they rode their bikes to work (Osaka had me at its bike-riding culture), little Japanese children with their boxy backpacks independently walking their way home from school, and Japanese women who can pull off wearing sneakers and an electric-pleated skirt.

 Yup.  These things still exist! :)

We visited the Grand Front Osaka and only got to check out Kinokuniya Bookstore.  If you know me well enough, you’d know I hardly leave a country without checking out the local magazines they have – so I really did not mind that Kinokuniya had no English books at all.  An invisible string pulled us to the roof deck, though, where we were welcomed by a calming sight – a small rooftop park.  And you know me and open spaces.

 

Do walk around the neighborhood where your hotel is situated at.  Because Kitahama is at the heart of the business district, the neighborhood can be very quiet and serene during off-duty hours and it was nice to engage with the neighborhood – even at midnight when we came across a fellow who clearly had too much sake.  Cannot get more authentic than that!

 Taking cues from the Japanese

While it was fun doing the tourist-y stuff (I totally geeked out in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter), I admit the most fun I had was allowing myself to be engaged with authentic experiences – the stuff one only reads about in books or manages to get glimpses of in movies:  Japanese schoolchildren being all independent at 6 years old, neighborhood eateries, rows of parked bikes, slurping my soup, the muted colors of a Japanese wardrobe, fellows who roll their sleeves to enjoy dinner with friends after work, straight Japanese men with handbags (which they carry off soooo well), locals who read books whilst on a train ride, among other things.  And if only for these (which do not cost a single yen), I am raring to go back.

The One About Balik Bukid 5

How did having fun and being entertained drastically move from plain, holistic, and organic (like tumbang preso using slippers and an empty sardines can and making bubbles using gumamela flowers) to lazy, one-dimensional, patience-reducing technology such as Playstations and smartphone app games?  Toys of today are colourful, yes, but made of plastic.  I love fabric and wooden toys.  They are, yes, organic and natural.  In all my years of teaching preschool, people have made the assumption that I probably owned a lot of toys.  But because of the way toys today are made, I sadly admit I do not.  Plastic just does not do it for me.  That is why I make my own teaching materials as much as I can help it.  Anyway, just last week, during play time, I watched my students engage in a delightful game of Chinese garter.  My co-teacher and I watched with delight and listened as they chanted “10, 20, 30, 40...” and wondered how they learned to play the game.  Wouldn’t it be nice if kids today took a break from their game consoles and engaged in real play?

That is why Balik Bukid could not have happened at a better time.  When one is used to the city rush, there is nothing like going back to the basics and breathing fresh air, wearing a hat not because it’s fashionable but for protection, feeding rabbits, playing in tire swings, rowing a boat in small lake, patting a pony and riding a horse, playing mud races, laying a blanket on the ground and having a picnic, and eating organically grown produce.  Pure holistic fun.

I wrote about my first Balik Bukid here.  Two years and four Balik Bukid Fairs later, my mom, dad, and I, along with my cousins and newest niece, trooped back to the farm to witness it all over again on its fifth run! 

Balik Bukid is located at Sta. Elena Golf and Country Estate in Laguna.  It’s so close to Manila and yet it feels like a world away.  Shopping and dining options abound along with get-down-and-dirty entertainment options such as a mud race, horse and carabao rides, sprinkler playgrounds, obstacle courses, arts and crafts, and a Waldorf play pen.  My mom and I breathed in fresh air despite the sweltering heat as we strolled around the farm which was peppered with inspirational quotes painted on wooden tablets.

Watching the play pen for kids was heartwarming.  My late baby brother was a Waldorf student. 

That doll's hammock!

Check out the lovely birdcage chandelier in the Pavilion.

Outdoor eating area

A lot of the items sold in the bazaar were homegrown products, handmade lovelies, and organic items.  Lovely children’s dresses and women’s apparels, bags, home sprays and bug sprays, wooden serving platters, shoes, leather goods, and – my favourite – handmade toys!  I was so excited and enamored by them that I forgot to take pictures.  What I did take home with me, though, was two tubs of Happy Bubbles and a bubblemaker fashioned from two sticks and cheesecloth to make giant bubbles with!  Can’t wait to let my students play with them during outdoor play!  Real play, y’all!

One will never feel guilty about devouring the food offered in the fair because they were all healthy and organic.  My mom and I shared a brick-oven Margerita pizza and fresh apple juice.  I also took home a box of Bocaditos from Baked by Anita.  The Wild Mushroom with Gruyere &Truffle Oil and Spinach with Goat Cheese & Pine Nuts varieties were wonderful company when I had dinner that night.

 

How fun was all that?  I was born and bred in the city but my husband, my family, and my friends know that I will always be a provincial lass at heart.  I like the conveniences city life provides but it can never give the joy farm living gives.  And even though Balik Bukid happens only twice a year, it’s nice to know that there is such a pleasant and peaceful haven to go to to make my provincial heart sing.

P.S.  If you want to see more Balik Bukid pics from other people, check out Instagram using #balikbukid.  I swear, I’m missing it all the more because of other people’s happy pictures!