A fresh start on top of a hectic marathon.

It's that time of year when everyone in Japan is so busy getting pissed and broke with End of Year parties (忘年会）, frantically searching to buy the "Must Have Foods" for the New Years Party (お正月) and stressing out on designing and getting that list of contact correctly to send the New Year Greeting Cards (年賀状) and then on top of that the "Total Weight Loss Household Cleaning Program" which is a pain in the back side but well ... need to get rid of the old, make everything tidy, clean and nice for a fresh start. Not carrying the dirty vibe into the New Year is the key but also to rid of unhappy things as well... Lets clean clean clean.

Tomb of Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms Period unearthed?

  According to various news sources, archeologists in China have recently excavated and unearthed of what believed to be the tomb of the Famous Wei Grand Chancellor Cao Cao. They found more than 250 articles, made of gold, silver, pottery, 59 engraved stone plates logging the name and amount of the articles buried in the tomb. Seven of the plates logged weapons believed to be used by the Cao Cao. Known and famous for his cunning plans , ruthless military principles and Machiavellian tactics but his career has been described in the novel as of a villian rather than an upright general who played a large part in uniting China in the third century.
 The govenrment of Henan and Anyang are planning to exhibit the relics found to the public, as an avid an of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel (San Goku Shi  in Japanese) I can't wait for them to be on show so I could see them with my own eyes.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas day, the day for billions around the world to be together with their loved ones. Even though Japan does not officially recognise it as a national public holiday but it is far from the fact that Christmas has been a part so important in this society. Xmas carols, decorations, illuminations across department stores...etc the atmosphere of Christmas in Tokyo is just as busy as anywhere else.
For your interest, Xmas is a common abbreviation of Christmas as we all know but did you know the correct pronunciation for it , the X is the Greek letter Chi and there for Xmas correct pronunciation is krɪsməs as in Kai Mas. Save yourself the humiliation of pronouncing Exxmas the next time you want to use Xmas.
Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas.

Where to eat the best たこ焼き - Takoyaki in Osaka.

So recently I made a trip to Osaka and of course this bustling and dynamic city is very well-known for its uniqueness of Takoyaki (octopus ball). Avid fans of these little juicy balls will find hundreds of these little stalls at train stations, markets, temples...etc. I have had quite numerous encounters of different types of takoyaki from different stalls but so far the one that I would recommend to anyone who is going to Osaka is the one located in an arcade called 梅三小路 (Umesan Kouji). This arcade is just opposite the 桜橋口　(Sakurabashiguchi) of the JR Umeda station, the stall is just at the other end of the arcade. It is easy to find, the takoyakis are amazing, they are hot, tender, interesting stuffing plus exquisite taste, you can not go wrong. They cost around 1000 Yen for a set of 20 balls. Try them and take it from there.

End of year Calligraphy Artwork

Today I finished the final strokes of my art piece to use for the New Year's Calender and I have to admit that it was intense and difficult to try to master these characters "森羅万象”　meaning Universe. Overall I am quite satisfied with the outcome, it will take 2 weeks for the Calender to be done, I will upload photos of it.

SakuraRyu

One may ask,why is the name 'SakuraRyu'? I love Ryu - Dragon - and as I am creating this site to post about my experiences of living in Japan, thus the idea of relating my favourite mythical creature to the most used and symbolised flower in Japanese culture, there wouldn't be a better candidate. I also imagine of a flying dragon with the body covered in pink sakura petals and into the sky.
The Journey of SakuraRyu now begins to soar.