Japan: What Felt Like Spring

I went to Japan for a little over a week with my mom. We stayed in Osaka and made day trips to Kobe, Nara, Kanazawa and Kyoto.

Osaka:

Cat cafe! Yewwww!

This is the cat that hung out with us the most. He was huge and so insanely cute. 

Nara:

Whoa blind deer. 

Nara is kinda magical with all the deer running around, but most of the time they're just doing this: flocking to you the instant they see you have food and then dropping you like you're nothing once they've eaten it all. 

We ate so much ice cream.

Kanazawa:

Found this on the ground. 

Main reason for going to Kanazawa.

Laughing at my mom.

Kyoto. So lovely and fell in love with it:

Bamboo Forest. 

Mom. 

I had been to Japan before with Jane over a few years back and we had such and fun and hilarious time. It was nice coming back to Japan with my mom, to be reminded of toilets that do everything for you, eating oodles of noodles, having inanimate objects talk to you, navigating complex subway systems and stations, seeing such beautiful and intricate objects and crafts, consuming copious amounts of green tea everything, seeing such cute stuff that it hurts, seeing inexplicably odd stuff that you can only describe as 'Japanese', getting to wear pants and experience the tail end of a spring season, and of course, seeing and experiencing all this with my mom. xoxo. 

Bali, Indonesia: Waves.

I was in Bali, Indonesia for a month. Snaps:

Piece of shit Ronald McDonald watch I bought. Note to self: never buy a watch in Bali ever again. 

This place is one of the most touristy things to go to in Bali, but it's totally worth going to. I have been here before, years ago when I was a kid with my family. I remember my brother had a package of peanuts and the monkey just snatched it right out of his hands and it shocked and terrified him. I didn't expect for it to feel so new and interesting to be in the park again. It's so crazy and hilarious to be so close to so many monkeys. 

Tanah Lot. 

Went to Bali mainly to surf. 

Puppy spot. 

Paths going I don't know where but oh I'd like to know. 

This was the view during this meal: 

Like I mentioned earlier, I had been to Bali before when I was a kid with my parents. I don't remember much of it and I don't think we did much either when we were there, just stayed at a resort and were as lazy as humanely possible. So I was interested in revisiting it (lol and not living a resort lifestyle) and seeing how I'd feel about it now (tough life, I know).

There were times where I loved Bali - the surfing (catching better waves and moving to shorter boards, hooray!), the incredibly nice, warm and hilarious people, what little untouched nature I did see was beautiful, the ornate architecture and aesthetics, the spirituality running through so much of everyday living. And there were times where I was so frustrated with it. So many people, so many cars creating these paralyzing traffic jams (what should be a 15 minute ride turns into an hour), hotels and villas everywhere, everyone trying to sell me something (a massage, motorbike rental, sarong, bracelets, taxi ride), being asked where I am from and if they could come with me ("No? I miss you already"), the huge gap between rich and poor, the pollution. But I know that there is more to Bali then what I saw and I want to see it. To know it. And I will be there again soon and I hope I get a bit closer to doing that.