Monday, April 30, 2012

Day Tripping












Today was a National Holiday in Japan, so we went on a day trip to Otaru with our friends.  Otaru is a city famous for its canals, soft serve ice cream, and sushi, and as we were driving there, I was excited to actually see the ocean.  We took a boat trip out to sea for about an hour, fed the seagulls, and then did a little shopping around the canal area.  All in all a great day with some great friends!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Happenings





Where has April gone?  I knew it was gonna be a busy month for us, but it sure did fly by!  This week was no exception to the busy-ness - Takuya and I had another Live at a new venue on Saturday, and I had a full schedule of classes this week.  I'm excited that this week is Golden Week, which means we'll be off Monday, Thursday, and Friday.  We don't have any big plans, but I have a few personal goals I'd like to accomplish during the holidays.

About the pictures:

  • Our English club has gained 9 new members from the ichi nensei class.  The top picture is of them working with some of the older members with English pronunciation.
  • Spring time means bike riding!  I took this photo at the Sumikawa subway station on Friday.  I just loved all the colors together (my bike's the mint-colored one)
  • This is one of the other performers at the Live on Saturday.  We'd never performed at Mellow before, and I thought it turned out really nice.  We played a 30 minute set, and two other groups performed.  It's nice getting to know other musicians in Sapporo.
  • Takuya, being his silly self on the subway after our performance.


Sunday, April 22, 2012

Back in the swing of things

What felt like a never-ending winter has finally passed here in Sapporo.  The days are getting longer and warmer, and there's even been a few days where I didn't have to wear a jacket outside.  It's hard to believe, since just two weeks ago there was still a few inches of snow on the ground!

Spring is also the beginning of the new school year here in Japan.  March and April have been full of goodbye parties and welcome parties, and I've gotten to know my coworkers better in the process.  I didn't teach the whole month of March, so I was so excited last week to finally get back in the classroom. The new ichi nensei are really sweet, and super energetic.  So far, they're not afraid to raise their hand and answer questions, which is such a relief.  We've welcomed a few new members into English club as well, but we're still an all-girls group!

Takuya and I also had another Live (what they call music performances here) at Monkey Bar yesterday.  It was the first time we'd been there when it wasn't snowing, and it was a perfect day for hanging out with friends and singing.  I even broke out my pianica for one song.  I feel like such a lucky person to have such wonderful friends who continue to want to hear us and support us.

Other happy moment last week included: finally being able to ride my bike to the subway station, seeing the older gentlemen who sort the bikes at the station (they don't work during the winter), planning my balcony garden in my head, and bike rides near the Toyohira River.  

Ethan working on his puppet for Drama Class

Practicing with Takuya (and the pianica)

English Department welcome party for new faculty
  Now that Spring has woken me out of my winter slumber, I promise I'll be better with my blogging.  I'm looking forward to what this season has in store!!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

[Inspiration] Japanese apartments

I love Japanese design/interior blogs.  The homes are never overly-styled, and just look so livable.  And when it comes to decorating small spaces, the Japanese do it best.










These pics come from a new site I happened upon called Lifecycling.  I love all the apartments they feature.  It feeds both of my design tastes - overly simple design or apartments filled to the brim with well-worn things.  I'd like to think I'm  little of both (is that even possible?)








Monday, April 2, 2012

[Sapporo Cafes] Pippin

Pippin is without a doubt one of my favorite cafes in Sapporo, and it's housed in my favorite design store, D&Department.




Their food menu is small, but their seasonal/monthly set meals are amazing.  There's always two choices; a fish set, and a meat and vegetable set.





There's always about 5 or so cooks in their kitchen, which I found unusual for a cafe this size.  But with food this good, there's no need to complain.

They also have really good desserts and an extensive drink menu.  Ethan always gets the ginger ale, but I'm a big fan of their cafe ole.  And their carrot spice cake?  Fugetaboutit.  Delicious!!

We're always trying to find an excuse to go here whenever we're in the Nishi 18 area, and if you're ever around there, you should too!

Pippin
札幌市中央区大通西17丁目1-7