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Taaaaakoyaki, taaaaakoyaki...

My first time making Takoyaki… …was a disaster. The mix overflowed, and turning them was not as easy as it looked on the video. But they’re edible and taste good, so it wasn’t a complete disaster. The second set turned out a bit prettier, but not perfect spheres either. I don’t know how they manage to make them pretty, but I will keep trying. This is the recipe that I followed.

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Guava Pie

I made Guava pies yesterday. This is the recipe that I followed, it’s in Spanish only though. It turned out delicious, luckily there was enough mix for two pies :D. I have been doing some plushies for my etsy store lately. I’m afraid they won’t sell, but I have been feeling the urge to make plushies, so I made them. Luckily, I’m not in dire need of money, but it would still be nice to sell…

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Min Yoongi

I don’t know why it ended up looking like he’s going to cry.

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This is what happens when you have too much free time

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InDesign Skillshare Class

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Flight and Arrival to Japan ✣ March 31 - April 1

Arrival to Japan ~ March 31 - April 1

From April 1st to April 21st, I took a trip to Japan and South Korea with my brother, my sister-in-law (Vanessa), and my sister. I’m finally going to be writing about this because I have probably forgotten a lot already, and I don’t want to never post about it like it happened when I went to Europe, and Texas. So, yeah my blog for the next few months, probably, will be about my trip to Japan and…

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Tengo un librero nuevo

Tengo un librero nuevo

Además de mover todos mis posts a este blog nuevo, he estado re-organizando mi cuarto toda la semana, según yo para ver que voy a acomodar en el librero nuevo. Pero ya que soy muy dada a la introspección, me he dado cuenta que estoy haciendo todo esto para seguir postergando mi búsqueda de trabajo. Se supone que regresando del viaje Japón-Corea iba a buscar luego luego, pero la verdad soy muy…

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I’ve moved!

Worpress won the blogging platforms competition, mainly because you can add galleries (photo sets) to text posts. I found a free theme that I don't hate, but once I get a new job I will probably buy a nice theme.

I activated the option of crossposting to tumblr, so unless one day I decide to make this private, you will be seeing my posts on your dash if you decide to continue following. But this is my last direct post here, probably. Thank you for your attention.

Here’s the link, btw.

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Phone Pictures from Japan Dump #7 (and last)

I posted some of these on Instagram, but I would like to have them all together on this blog.

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Phone Pictures from Japan Dump #6

I posted some of these on Instagram, but I would like to have them all together on this blog.

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Phone Pictures from Japan Dump #5

I posted some of these on Instagram, but I would like to have them all together on this blog.

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Phone Pictures from Japan Dump #4

I posted some of these on Instagram, but I would like to have them all together on this blog.

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Phone Pictures from Japan Dump #3

I posted some of these on Instagram, but I would like to have them all together on this blog.

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Phone Pictures from Japan Dump #2

I posted some of these on Instagram, but I would like to have them all together on this blog.

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Phone Pictures from Japan Dump #1

I posted some of these on Instagram, but I would like to have them all together on this blog. And yes, the first picture I took in Japan was of the toilet.

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This thing probably took me over half an hour to write, with help from a reference text, and it probably has mistakes OTL. I don’t think I have a good reason for deciding to learn this language, other than wanting to know more than two languages and wanting to exercise my brain, but every time in the future when I think ‘WHY ON EARTH AM I LEARNING THIS WHAT AM I GOING TO USE IT FOR’, I’m going to think about my trip and how amazing Tokyo is, and how much I want to go back.

Ah yes, I just remembered what else I wanted to put into writing so it could stop being a mess of thoughts in my head: I quit my job, and I don’t know how long it is going to take me to find a new one, hopefully not too long. This past week since I’ve been back I’ve been jetlagged, sick, and not in the mood to do anything. So I gave myself the last week of the month as an extended vacation and I haven’t been doing anything productive. BUT, the month is over and it’s time to get myself together. I haven’t made an actual plan for the month, but these are things I should use my time for:

Start having healthy habits. I ate very poorly during my trip, walked A LOT every day, and didn’t sleep enough, so I lost weight. I need to gain that weight back, start exercising, and drink enough water everyday.

Send at least three CVs daily.

I bought a Japanese book with instructions and patterns to make bags, so I have to make bags.

Re-organize my bedroom and give away or sell things I don’t need anymore.

Design practice, practice, practice, every day.

I have plenty of time to cook, I should cook.

Edit and post the pictures from my trip. I have almost 2000 pics, so I don’t know if I’ll stop feeling overwhelmed by the number.

Find a place to volunteer.

There were more things, but I’ve forgotten now.

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Before nostalgia makes me forget...

Our trip was amazing, and I will post about all the amazing things later, but I also don't want to forget about the bad things.

I’ve never wanted to be a “weeaboo” or “koreaboo” or even an “otaku”, there are things (and people) I like that are from Japan or S. Korea, there are parts of their cultures that I admire, but I’m aware that they don't represent their whole country and culture. Because of this I was aware that not everything there was going to be pretty and perfect, but I still had expectations, and I was let down on some aspects. These mostly come from culture shock, they're not necessarily bad, they're just things that from my personal perspective were odd, annoying or even bad. By the way, I’m hyper aware of the things that are wrong with my culture, so the purpose of this isn’t to say “Oh we Mexicans are better than..”. And I’m probably wrong on some things because I was only there for 3 weeks and I didn’t meet many people. I just want to remember this to take into consideration the next time I start idealizing one of these two countries.

Japan:

No one in the subway talks, and it feels kind of stifling because you're afraid of making a sound and disturb everyone. This mostly happens in Tokyo, because in Osaka people are louder and chipper it seemed. I am a quiet person, I like silence, but this was too much.

Mostly everyone is always staring at their phone. It was such a weird sight for me, no matter what age, they’re staring at their phone like zombies.

They’re always in a hurry and it’s dangerous to not walk at the same speed everyone is walking at.

Being a gentleman there is definitely not about giving your seat in the subway to women, even if a woman is closer to the seat, the man will hurry to get there first. Or even holding the door. No one holds the door for strangers.

People in bicycles drive super fast, on the sidewalk, and YOU are the one that should be aware because even if they’re about to run you over they won’t ring the bell or say anything. And it’s not like they respect their designated lanes, they’re everywhere. Also, I rarely saw someone wearing a helmet.

Everyone mostly ignores each other, they don’t look at each other, no smiles, no hello nods, no “do you need help with that super heavy bag you seem to be struggling with?”, no “are you lost, can I help you?”, no “you dropped this near me, let me pick it up for you”, nada. One day I accidentally dropped a coin and it landed in front of a guy and the most he did was stop it with his shoe. I’m sure I should have said “Sumimasen” but I was shocked at the fact that he didn't pick it up for me which is something mostly everyone here would have done.

They get drunk in the middle of the week. The subway at night and in the morning reeks of alcohol. It is a really strong odor. I’ve always been grossed out by drunk people. They also smoke a lot, but fortunately they have their designated areas for this.

They are respectful, but not always. No one in any culture is always respectful, but this is one of the things you always hear about Japanese people “They are so respectful, and manners are so important to them”. They might be, but I had people shamelessly cutting in line in front of me, or even almost pushing to pass before me.

I didn’t really enjoy the food.

Seoul:

Good customer service is practically nonexistent. They seem angry, like they’re doing you a favor or like you’re bothering them. It’s even scarier if it’s a person much older than you. And sometimes when you buy something from them they don’t even say “thank you”.

I saw several middle age/old people spitting inside the subway station.

Middle age/old people push you if you’re in their way instead of saying “excuse me” or at least “move!”. THEY JUST PUSH YOU. And not gently. This happened to me and I got so mad. But I saw it happen to other young people and they didn’t even react, it was so weird. 

Same thing about men not giving their seat to women, and about no one holding the door for someone you don’t know than in Japan.

Our taxi driver was a bitter old man that was practically yelling at us, and my brother and his wife got one that actually yelled at them.

They talk SO loudly.

People stared at us a lot. People in Mexico stare at foreigners too, but with curiosity. In Seoul it almost felt like they were staring with disdain.

Most young people have an arrogant demeanor.

They have more in common with us Mexicans, regarding disregard of order and rules, than to the Japanese.

I will probably remember more later, or regret writing some of these. Just like I’m aware kpop, anime, and dramas don’t represent their culture, I’m also aware all these things I wrote don’t represent their culture and it’s not all they are, and not everyone is the same way. I did find some people that were super kind to us, and in general I loved the cities. But people in Seoul in particular left me with a bad taste. They are probably nicer to caucasians.