Shrines and Temples in countryside Tokamachi
Isn’t it true, nothing screams “I’ve been to Japan!” than posting a picture of yourself with a shrine or temple in the background, right? If you happen to visit Japan, don’t miss to include visiting temples and shrines in your itinerary and don’t hesitate because no matter what your religion is, it’s no big deal…
Surprise! New blog name!
Yes, I have changed my blog name! My original blog name was Sandier Pastures, a name I picked when I started blogging when we moved to Dubai from Japan in 2007. I was happily blogging for eleven years and used the handle @sandierpastures in my social media accounts. Everyone who knows me connects that name…
Take a look at another side of Japan
Today I looked out of our bedroom window and realized, it’s been exactly one year since we visited this countryside. Tokamachi. My husband’s hometown. The place he grew up. And though we’ve visited a few times in the past, I could never get tired of the view, be it in summer or in winter or spring and maybe…
Welcoming spring at Echigo Hillside Park
When we were living in Dubai, the only chance we had to see real tulips was inside a lobby of a five star hotel. Dubai is awesome like that, if you can’t get to the real flowers, they bring it in. These flowers are imported from far flung countries and handled with so much care…
Spring comes to our new home
The promise of spring’s arrival is enough to get anyone through the bitter winter. People who visit this area called, “snow country” in Niigata prefecture would think it will take a year for all the snow to melt. And I can’t blame them, I mean look at this. This picture was taken last February, in…
Starting a new life in Niigata
For the past two months, this is the view that greets me every morning when I wake up and open the curtains. If you saw the photos I recently posted on my Instagram account during our move to Japan, specifically in Niigata prefecture, you would tell me I’ve gone crazy. And I’m going to tell…
Sand dunes, in Japan?
Oh, in case you’re new here and/or not following me on social media, especially on Instagram, we’ve moved to Japan. It’s been a month since I started sleep talking in Nihongo again. And if you ask me how we’re all doing, thank you, we’re all doing fine (except that – my daughter claims that I…
Why we left Dubai
I don’t know how many times I’ve apologized for the lack of updates on this blog so I’m not going to do it now because I can’t promise to be consistent in writing with all the things currently going on in my life. But if you are reading this, thank you for still being here.…
Swimming with the whale sharks in Oslob, Cebu
This year, I took the kids again to the Philippines so they can spend the rest of their summer vacation (2 months!) after our 10 days vacation in Japan. We started to let them stay with my parents starting from last year because they’re better off there than being cooped up indoors in Dubai during…
Splash n Party: the newest kids aqua park in town
I’m going to make this post short – have you been to the kids aqua park in Jumeirah called Splash n Party? I’ve heard of this place for a long time and seen pictures on social media uploaded by other bloggers but never really got to check it out with the kids because the invites were…
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Finding Backroads 