Japan!
Added 2023-05-25 16:09:21 +0000 UTCHey everyone! I wanted to share that I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Japan this month.
I traveled with my husband and my friend Sarah. None of our cats yet because we are still wary of traveling with them.
Our first few nights, we stayed in a city nicknamed "cat town" in Tokyo, Japan. We saw so many cat related things in the streets, from cat themed shops to chalk drawings of cats by children on the floors of their local train station.
I was able to meet my penpal at the local cat cafe which I have been practicing my Japanese with! She is learning english and we shared children's books with each other to help understand the languages.
I gave out a few postcards with a hand written note from me in Japanese:
これは「コーラス」という私の絵のコピーです。
"This is a copy of my painting called The Chorus."
They loved it so much! Some even gave me a gift in return. I wanted to share it with everyone in town because I saw how much they love cats!
We went to two cat cafes, one in Tokyo and one in Osaka. I saw a few street cats throughout our travels. It is my first time traveling internationally and it was a tad overwhelming but awesome. We did not have set plans and were able to enjoy the spontaneous aspects of the city.
I got to put all my Japanese language studies to use! I have been studying even more. Ironically when we came back home to Florida, we discovered two of the employees at our local Starbucks speak Japanese(: I also ran into my Japanese friend/coworker from years ago at Publix today. So cool! I only speak English and want learn more languages to communicate better. I hope to learn many more over time!
I bought a lot of books from Japan, and was happy to discover a couple books that are made by people I follow on instagram. (fatcatart and mofu_sand) Since they are cat inspired I think it will help me pay attention and learn more words.
Overall, this was a very inspiring trip. It gave me a chance to discover more art styles in person. I was familar with the concepts but seeing the colors and expressions used, encouraged me and filled me up my ideas for future paintings.
I would have never had this opportunity if it was not for everyones support :') I am immensely thankful and I plan to use this newfound energy and enthusiasm into creating more art for everyone! Hopefully more Youtube tutorials as I am still getting over my camera shyness.
I hope you stick around and see the progress. Much love from everyone here! Thank you.
The trip was 10 days and I do not want to bore with too much details! Instead I will share some pictures!
If anyone plans to travel and wants insight or advice message me and I can share more information!
I'm posting May Noodle Mail info tomorrow!
Comments
I am just seeing this now. I love the pictures
Robert Geroux
2025-01-22 16:09:54 +0000 UTCThis is so wonderful. My daughter studied abroad for eight months in Japan. She studied at Doshisha University in Kyoto as well as traveling around the country. She majored in Japanese and East Asian Studies and currently works for Mitsubishi Power Systems in Orlando. She has taught Japanese off and on since graduating in 2015. Eventually she will accompany me and my husband to Japan to visit.
Rachel VanDemark
2023-07-15 21:34:14 +0000 UTCHow fun!! ❤️ Your trip sounds like it was amazing.. especially keeping it more spontaneous 😍 One day we hope to visit Japan as well!
NorcalBecca
2023-06-11 23:04:18 +0000 UTCOh my heck you are extremely good at spotting the outdoor kitties! It looks like such a fun trip - thank you for sharing it with us!
Devon McGuire
2023-05-30 17:51:58 +0000 UTCGenerally our customers are cat lovers so they treat the cats kindly. We always have someone on duty in the cat room though, so anyone being too rough etc is promptly sorted out!
Kirsty Monteleone
2023-05-27 11:36:56 +0000 UTCLooks like great fun! I love that you gave snackies to a random outdoor kitty 😂🖤 always come prepared!
RachelLee
2023-05-27 11:12:05 +0000 UTCSince you work at a cat cafe, can I ask how customers are with the cats? I always loved this business idea, but worry about people being rude to the sweet kitties! Are those people promptly kicked out? Lol
RachelLee
2023-05-27 11:10:24 +0000 UTCYes, I love this!! So glad you had such a wonderful trip!
Katie Ahern
2023-05-26 17:35:04 +0000 UTCLooks like a great trip! Glad you had fun
Sagans Soul
2023-05-26 13:26:44 +0000 UTCI work in a cat cafe in Adelaide, Sourh Australia. It is the best job ever! Looks like you had a wonderful trip!
Kirsty Monteleone
2023-05-26 05:37:11 +0000 UTCThis is oh so cute and a big inspo for when I plan to go to Japan! Thank you for sharing <3 I just love all the signs with some sort of cat feature on them. Walking through this area and spotting them would fill my heart up
Sara P
2023-05-25 23:55:50 +0000 UTCI didn't get to see Station Master Tama 2!! Next time we're near Osaka/Kyoto I'll be sure to go!
Rebecca Salinas
2023-05-25 23:21:59 +0000 UTCIt rained most the time I was in Kyoto too. I know need to go back cause I somehow missed all of this!! Did you go see Station Master Tama 2?
CB
2023-05-25 21:42:19 +0000 UTCWAIT. When did you get MARRIED?!?! Congratulations! So glad you got to go to Japan and can't wait to see your new art.
Amy Bridwell
2023-05-25 18:52:56 +0000 UTCGlad you had such an amazing experience! I also got back from Japan 3 weeks ago. I absolutely loved it and desperate to go back! Didn’t come back with much cat stuff but did get a giant fat cat soft toy.
Kylie Pennick
2023-05-25 17:22:06 +0000 UTCwe had our friend Amy stop by every day, giving them snackies! and she sent us photos of them daily too ☺️ she also is traveling internationally (to Taiwan) and gave her cat sitter a detailed care sheet as well! she has a black cat named Pepper
Rebecca Salinas
2023-05-25 17:09:14 +0000 UTCReflect on that new inspiration! We also need a Noodle & Friends behavior report from the sitter
Gab Skeen
2023-05-25 16:59:37 +0000 UTCLovely! What was your favourite part?
Tatiana Novikova
2023-05-25 16:55:47 +0000 UTCI just bought an instructional book on needle felting cat portraits- Wakuneco. Her work is beautiful. The book is all in Japanese--I so wish I could read it! Google translate struggles with the text. Her photos are so many and so well done that I can make out most of the project progress without reading the captions.
Deborah J Mackie
2023-05-25 16:41:02 +0000 UTCWhat a glorious trip! Such beautiful photos! I went to a cat cafe in Singapore in 2014. I thought it would be full of tourists like me, but it was mostly Singapore residents. Cats are/were considered vermin there, and most housing is government controlled and cats are not allowed. No wonder the cat lovers of Singapore flock to the cat cafes. Those kitties were among the fortunate few living a safe life.
Deborah J Mackie
2023-05-25 16:37:05 +0000 UTCCongrats! It's amazing how many things just happened to you those days, they seem wonderful 💕. Also learning new languages are great too! I'm a native spanish speaker, so if one day you want to learn it, i'll be here for you ✨
Francisca Guerrero González
2023-05-25 16:35:24 +0000 UTCKyoto and Fussa (near Tokyo) as well!
Rebecca Salinas
2023-05-25 16:21:54 +0000 UTCThat sounds like the absolute best trip I'm SO GLAD you had a wonderful time! Also you're absolutely going about language learning right; find your interests and lean into them, and converse with native speakers as much as possible 😁. リベッカさんがんばって!
Ruth
2023-05-25 16:18:43 +0000 UTCAmazing! I went to Japan over the New Year in 2019, and it was honestly one of the best trips of my life. Did you go anywhere besides Tokyo and Osaka?
Tatiana Novikova
2023-05-25 16:18:22 +0000 UTCIm going in 3 weeks! So excited 😊
Rhyanon Davies
2023-05-25 16:18:06 +0000 UTCHusband! Grats, I didn't realize!
Fe Gaffney
2023-05-25 16:15:18 +0000 UTCI just got back from Japan as well! So excited that you got to go! It's awesome although I didn't find any funny hats for cats 😔
Leah Neustadt
2023-05-25 16:14:32 +0000 UTC
