jump start to the holidays
It’s the last day of November today.. I can’t believe it’s the last month of 2020 starting tomorrow! My life updates page is the only page I’ve been able to consistently post in every month so here’s me attempting to write a very quick and rushed update for this month to keep the chain going:)
This month I really got to enjoy the autumn sun on the weekends; something I desperately needed after the rainy and gloomy days in October. I’ve been feeling my fatigue weighing down on me quite frequently these days so I’ve been taking advantage of the sun by going on long walks to the park while listening to podcasts and sitting out on the grass with a book in company. I’ve also been eating out from time to time and have found so many hidden restaurants I never knew about :) Last weekend I discovered a small vegan Italian restaurant near my apartment with my colleague Jiayi which has become one of my favorite places to eat now. It’s located in a little lovely neighborhood on the very end of the road. The lunch menu comes with an appetizer, soup, and pasta which were all very tasty, and I even ordered myself a sweet bean and nut tart as a dessert. I always love little discoveries like this, and I hope to go again real soon because there were other dishes on the menu I have to have a go at!
One not so little discovery was going to see the illuminations at Ashikaga Flower Park. I’d been to this park once before to see their extensive flower gardens, but they’re also known for the large scale of illuminations covering the entire park during the winter. They are most famous for the wisteria garden in spring, but because they aren’t in season now they decorated the garden with flower shaped lights that sparkled to the rhythm of the fairly tale-like music they played on repeat. This was my favorite section, but they also have areas with animal shaped lights, pyramid shaped lights, and even trees with curtain like lights all around the branches. It’s hard to see the beauty of it from photos because it looks 100 x cooler in motion, but I was in awe at how detailed everything was set up! There were also some food stands selling warm food so we got some to fill our empty stomaches after our walk in the park. I haven’t been to an amusement park this entire year nor any festival so this was a night well spent!
Going to the Ashikaga flower park and seeing all these illuminations was a great start to the festive month of December. This year’s Christmas will be lot different from what I had in mind, but I still hope to spread the holiday spirit with Christmas cards and greetings! It’s only Monday so we have a long long week ahead but it’s the beginning of a new month in just a few hours so I’m hoping to start it well with a good night sleep :)