as written by Melissa Kartini
Photo by melissakartini This is part of a culture shock series that I’m doing for Japan and Malaysia. Updates for “Reverse Culture Shock: From Japan to Malaysia” will be extremely erratic as I’ll mostly be based in Japan for the foreseeable future. — I know, I know, I haven’t even been living in Japan for …
Coming out fresh from Haneda Airport, one of the first things to hit me in Japan was the atmosphere in trains. This was last year in March, and it was my first time in Japan. Yet it was that specific air that has managed to make an impression on me till now, almost 2 years …
Photo by melissakartini One of the most interesting aspects of Japanese culture that you’d immediately pick up upon arriving is their love to dress up. It is rare to see a Japanese person who is not dressed to the nines, even if it’s for something as simple as a trip to the grocery store. What is …
Photo from my Instagram melissakartini Are you in for a long layover at Narita Airport and feeling disappointed that it’s such a way off from Tokyo? And, well, just about every well-known touristy area? It doesn’t have to be that way, and you certainly don’t have to confine yourself to just shopping at the airport. …
*This was written specifically for a school writing competition. I’ll write another one exclusively for this blog sometime in the future ; ) In life, change is inevitable. We all grow up, move around, lose friends, gain new ones, experience joy and heartbreak… The list goes on. As a person who was born and raised …
I have next to no exposure to natural disasters of any kind. Thus, you can imagine my anxiety when I decided to study in Japan–one of the most natural disaster-ridden countries in the world. In my half-year stay here alone, I’ve already experienced a handful of earthquakes (waking up to what felt like a swaying …
Since I’ve been studying at a Japanese language school in Tokyo for about half a year now, I thought that it was about time to write about it. At first, I wasn’t exactly feeling this particular topic, but I suddenly realized that this might be something that more people would want to learn about. After …