This is my 56th visit to Japan, and despite all I know and love about Japan, I have never actually “lived” in Japan before. The longest stay was couple of weeks in service apartments.

So with the kids having a long summer break, we are spending 1.5 months here in Tokyo, and for the first time in my life, I am finally getting a taste of how it is like to “live” in my favorite city in the whole wide world.

Read my previous post on Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture.

Konpira Shrine, Kotohira

Kotohira (琴平) is a small town outside of Takamatsu city, and it houses the largest shrine complex in the whole of Shikoku – Kotohira Gu or Konpira Shrine – or nicknamed Konpira San by the locals.

Kagawa was my 44th prefecture.

I had a short day-trip to Takamatsu, the capital city of Kagawa prefecture during my JR WEST trip, and one day was obviously not enough to fill even an edamame-size of my bottomless desire and curiosity to leave no stone in Japan unturned. It had just left me craving for more.

Australia is one of the countries that I visit the most other than Japan (considering what a Japanophile I am which all of you already know), and we have been making yearly pilgrimage to Queensland since even before Cheesiepetits were born.

Here’s a pretty rare cosmetic review, and today I’m introducing a Japanese brand (of course) – Chacott for Professionals.

Chacott was founded in Japan since 1950, so the history dates waaaaay back. Let me straight up tell you why this brand is so unique – Chacott prides itself in its non-chemical, highly safe ingredients that it is suitable even for children.

Wait what?? Children wear make up???

Yes. Pick your jaw up from the ground now and let’s look at the background of the brand and you will understand why.

I have been on a journey with ORBIS for more than a year now, and guess what? Sometimes you just know from your heart that something is worth having with you all the way.

In my last blog post I have introduced Conan museum in Tottori. Actually there’s one more themed manga town which is equally famous in Japan (although not so many foreigners know about it) – Ge Ge Ge No Kitaro.

Ge Ge Ge No Kitaro was written in the 1960s about “yokai” (Japanese folklore ghosts/spirits/monster?), not my era but the older generations will be very familiar with it, and actually it’s animation is still airing until today in Japan so we can say that it’s a timeless classic!

I have not read any of the series or watched any of the anime prior to this visit but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it!! So much that I think this has to be a compulsory stop for everyone who visits Tottori, anime fan or not. It’s like the Tokyo Disney Resort of Tottori. Haha.

In fact I loved it so much that I promised myself to dedicate a whole blog post to it. Here it is!

A new category created with this post – Tottori (鳥取) Prefecture.

It is located at the Chugoku region of Japan’s main island. Read this blog post if you wanna know more about regions in Japan. I won’t deny it, Tottori is probably one of the most forgotten prefectures in Japan. Every time I told a Japanese person that I wanted to travel to Tottori, their first response was “Sand dune? What else do you do there?”

Haha. So yea. Hopefully after my Tottori blog posts, I can change some of your perception towards this very unique prefecture – it is the only place with a sand dune in the entire Japan!!

Hello! A blog post to continue my #CheesieConquersWestJapan journey.

I have been to Kyoto several times but this is my first time visiting Amanohashidate (天橋立). Did you know that Kyoto actually is by the sea? Many people don’t picture Kyoto and the ocean together, but Amanohashidate, located at the Kyotango Peninsula is also dubbed “Kyoto by the Sea”. It’s a very very different side of the usual traditional Kyoto we have in mind. 🙂

I believe that flowers of the nature have immense healing power. Some of the most popular “Instagenic” photos are of beautiful full blooms of a myriads of different floral tones from all over the world, of different seasons.

I chanced upon a cherry blossom full bloom in 2012 and I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of it I was secretly tearing. After that I made a promise to myself to return to Japan to witness this every year.

In Japan, other than Konmari method which is all the hype now, Danshari (断捨離) is also trending at the moment – it is pretty much the same, to declutter and simplify your home and life, keeping only things that you really need and bring joy to you.

And that includes pretty things that make you happy every time you use it.

For my bathroom, the latest addition is Ahalo Butter, a very popular made-in-Japan hair & body care range that is so pretty it gives your bathroom a beautiful cottage garden vibe.

Ahalo sounds very Hawaiian because I guess I relate it to Aloha, haha. (But it does contain ingredients from Hawaii!) Ahalo actually comes from “A halo”. Yes, the glowing ring above an angel’s head. It aims to provide in-home botanical spa treatment for healthier hair growth that resembles a luminous angel’s halo.

Wakayama was my 45th prefecture! Also adding a new blog post category today ^^

It’s so near Kansai airport, it’s hard to believe I left it for almost the last to explore. Today I am sharing about one of the highlights of my Wakayama adventure – Themed trains!