2015, to put it lightly, was bittersweet. It was full of places, uncertainties, endings, new beginnings, facing fears, putting my life in danger, letting go, and just being happy. Places Oh, the places you'll go! My favorites this year were Japan and Oahu, the places with my favorite …
An Overdue Love Letter to Japan
Dear Japan, You are such an incredible place, and yet it took me ages to write this out. You were the first country to spark my wanderlust over a spontaneous Christmas trip with family friends to Tokyo. You were the first country to stamp my passport. You were the third country I moved to, but the …
Thoughts on Happiness
We all define happiness differently. Some of us see it as something fleeting and brief. Others see it as a lifelong goal. Some may even believe it's something to achieve and spend their whole life "searching" for it. My thoughts on my own personal happiness have wavered like an emotional pendulum, …
On Crumbling and Coming Together
It’s amazing how everything in your life can seemingly fall apart and come together all at the same time. This year hasn’t been my finest. In fact, I’ve tried writing about this month after month and just couldn’t muster up the courage – until now. I even lost all inspiration for …
2014: A Hobbit’s Tale in Review
This is my extremely condensed reflection on my year, spanning across New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, and Canada. https://vimeo.com/115446247 It took me about five different tries to make the smallest-sized version of this. Videographer and editor, I am not! There were far more things I …
How I Fell Out of Love with Someone to Fall in Love with the World
I never believed in the concept of love while growing up. While I'm of fourth-generation Japanese lineage, I was still raised with traditional Japanese customs. This meant little to no affection at all. As a result, I grew up completely shut off to anything that transcended an ordinary …
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How Travel Has Changed Me
Sometimes you never realise how much you've changed until you reflect back on it. As I sit here typing this with 12 less inches of hair, far more experiences, a tougher shell, and an even bolder persona, I'm humbled by how much I've grown in the past year. Melbourne, Australia Travel …
Why You Should Be Selfish
Conversing, networking, building rapport, socializing... sleep.... repeat. It's proven throughout studies that humans are wired to connect. Humans thrive off social interactions and connections. And after learning (thanks, UCSB) all about theories of communication, the meaning of communication, and …
Why Kina Grannis Inspires Me
In a futile attempt to mimic those cool BuzzFeed articles, I'm sharing reasons why Kina Grannis inspires me: 1. She is the most humble, down-to-earth artist to ever grace the planet. It's pretty easy to see through an artist nowadays - especially through videos and interviews. Thus, it's so …
Winter Musings
My favourite season of the year: winter. Also my favourite track off Kina Grannis' new album (and I'm going to see her in concert soon): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ-iatB2KMM It's winter right now, and a bloody freezing one. Melbourne is in southern Australia, so it gets the …