Sempervirens

04/05/2019 Comments Off read Adventure, Health & Fitness, Nature, Travel

Sequoia, girl, your eight feet palmar flexion creases chokes the fog around you. Having the thickest skin and run miles and miles from NorCal to SoCal. Your tallness and redness can be seen from miles and miles away, even in the thickest heaviest fog. I cherished you as a child. I hugged you. I have mourned you. I am always reminded, there is no other tree in the world that could put me in much awe as you. When I walk into your redwoods, I know I am in a place of gracefulness. A place of reflection. A place to fill a room.

Sequoia Sempervirens, also known as, California Redwood is one of the most awe eye dropping trees!! They are amazing and I photographed these beauties up and down the coast along HWY 1 (Pacific Coast). Big Sur is also beautiful and a place I always love to go to tackle down my creative writing as a writer (poetry). Hwy 1 is also gorgeous. It is something very special about this place. I biked it and it is considered one of the most dangerous roads to bike. The bike shop was very concerned about me biking alone. However, I knew and told myself over in my head, you got this! I literally biked Big Sur; I did it! I can take it off my bucket list and I am looking forward to doing it again.

I will never start this far again, but please believe, I was in beast mode.

This was tough, but I never stopped. It was other bikers and they were rooting me on. One of the best days of my life!

Mcway Falls, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Big Sur, California

時々 Sometimes

04/05/2019 Comments Off read Anime, Fashion, Film, Manga, T.V.

Even though it was before my time and I saw the VHS recorded versions of Astro Boy and I saw actual TV footage of the 2003 series, Prince Planet, Eighth Man, and the list continues. Astro Boy was the first black and white Anime I have ever seen on television. I would watch Pokemon every morning with my brothers before getting on the bus or driven to school. Hayao Miyazaki is one of the best and has a great amount of wonderful work. The Wind Rises is still one of the best Anime’s, in my opinion, I could watch it over and over. There were other things sent home from my father from Asia: A Korean Mink blanket. It was dark pink/red on one side and light pink on the other. It was heavy, but the most softest material I have ever touched. I also received manga, china, kyoto and kokeshi dolls, and other things. The one thing I will always hold dear to me are the mangas, mink blanket, and the kokeshi dolls. They say, 時々, you have to grow up. I do not believe anime has anything with “growing up” per say.

The enriched history behind Anime, culture, my Father, and my family, and so many other things of why the culture of Anime will be something I will always love until I grow old. Anime was and still is, a voice for Asian people; it was a way of life to speak out against injustices. It was their (Japanese) ambassador. Moreso, in America, I see more otaku culture and not even a full understanding of manga or anime itself. It is quite interesting because a lot of Americans are quick to talk about how some people rob others of their cultures, dress like them, carry conversations, but will not ask themselves about this very thing when it comes to cosplay, the allusions to Asian culture in the very Anime you watch, most do not even catch on (gods, culture, practice of life, their way of life, etc.) to the allusions in the anime, and if you do not think it is important, you are sadly wrong. Most people do not even know the origins of Mickey Mouse and still to this day believe it is an American cartoon; it is not. If you are curious, you can read a paper I wrote more pertaining to this by clicking the download button.

Denise B.’s, Understanding of Manga & OtakuDownload

I believe there is no other artist who captures the very otaku culture of America and mixture of Asian culture (Anime and Manga) like the artist, Simone Legno. Legno is an artist I watched as a teenager, followed every blog post posted, every drawing, watched his career take off, and he is still one of the greatest artist of my generation. Visiting this store in Los Angeles was one of the best decisions I have ever made, but also due to the fact it is no longer opened and it was the only store (Tokidoki) in the U.S. A newer location will be announced soon. I will do a follow up on the new location once they have fully moved. The packaging (the shopping bag) I will never throw away. It is heavy duty, but I use it to keep my drawing markers and pens in. With your purchase you get at least 2 stickers and my beach rucksack (MSRP $165) came with a tokidoki keychain.

This Tokidoki location was located at 7965 1/2 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA., 90046 | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Tea…With ♥

04/01/2019 Comments Off read Adventure, Food & Drinks, Travel

Song Tea

On a beautiful morning, with opened windows, the sun rays prances origami shapes casts by plants outside of the shop onto the walls and floor. The smells of tea leaves dances closely together and creates a sense of calm aroma. It matches the personalities of both owners and mood of tea and song. I once was ~~addicted~~ to coffee. I would drink coffee every day. Some people say coffee wakes them up, keeps them going or awake, etc. Coffee never gave me that feeling and I never drank coffee because of it. Coffee always did the opposite for me. I would spend a lot of money at Starbucks and still do have Gold Membership, except, I cut down the spending on coffee. Coffee made me drowsy and I notice I did not sleep well throughout the night. My migraines and anxiety weren’t as bad once I cut away my coffee intake. I had finally made my switch fully back to tea. I love tea, tea is ♥, and tea makes me happy!

I stopped by this place, Song Tea & Ceramics, at the time they were not even open for a year. However, it was by far, one of the most beautiful tea spots I have ever been and here is why.:

Both owners go over to Asia (China and Taiwan) to help pick their tea leaves along with the farmers.
The farmers also receive profit on the tea bought and the tea leaves they pick.
Both owners (of Song Tea & Ceramics) have enriched historical information not only on tea, but also Asia where they get their tea, the farmers, the tea process, and so much more.
They are willing to share their endeavors with you! When you buy tea, you help the farmers!
Ceramics made by local and non-local artists (international and national) you can buy here and they receive majority of the profit; how wonderful is that!

You can walk over to the shelves and pick up the containers, open the lid, and smell the tea. Tea is something you can smell and the smell is exactly how it taste. Also, they always have their tea of the day, for you to sample along with other tea for you to try. And for $10 you can have a flight of three teas from the Song collection. It is a very intimate experience. When I went, you can just drop in and have a flight of tea as pictured above before the blog starts. You may want to check and see if that has changed.

There are many options to choose from. There are traditional and non-traditional tea cups. I bought myself a traditional set and it comes in beautiful packaging.

I bought 2 traditional tea cups. Support other artists!

They even have tea pots!

Song Tea & Ceramics is located in San Francisco at 2120 Sutter Street. Instagram | Facebook | Twitter