Friday Favorites #4

Beautiful Kimono pictures, impressive views of Tokyo and 10 cool things to buy in Japan are just some of the topics you will find in this weeks Friday Favorites!

No matter where you live, being caught up in the daily grind can make you feel tired, unmotivated and just *urgh*
That’s when you need to take a step back, get out, enjoy the sunshine and do something for yourself, experience something new. A good friend of mine send me a quote last week that resonated very much with me.

“Sleep doesn’t help if it’s your soul that’s tired.”

I don’t know who said it, but it’s true. When we fall onto the couch in evening after a long day at work and just watch TV until we fall asleep, it does little to relax our soul and fill up our energy levels. Luckily Tokyo and its surrounding are the perfect place to find new places to explore. There are so many interesting restaurants, beautiful neighborhoods and entertaining things to do that the list of places I want to visit grows longer every day.

And now, this weeks Friday Favorites:

Articles/Blog Posts

10 Cool Things to buy in Japan – AddyinWanderland wrote a nice list of ten things you should buy in Japan, which are actually all things I did buy myself when I went to Japan for the first time.
Types of Kimono: Furisode – Maitê Serra is the author of Kisetsu – Primavera, a historical novel set in XV century Japan, which is currently being translated, and writes very informative and beautiful posts about Kimonos. Just have a look at those gorgeous Furisode Kimonos!
Mr. Kanso – Japan’s Weird Canned Food Restaurants – Not really new, since it opened in 2012, but I heard for the first time of it this week. It’s a restaurant that serves canned food, which is an interesting concept, to say the least. I’m actually surprised it is still up and running. There sure is no shortage of interesting cafés and restaurants in Tokyo to try.
Japan with Kids – Traveling to Japan with children can seem to be a daunting task, but even though I haven’t yet any experience with it, I think that Japan can be a fantastic destination for the whole family. There are a lot of things you can do with children, kid friendly areas and a lot of information about the travel with kids.

Photos/Comics

Flower installation in Yamashita-koen

One of my favorites pictures I took the last week. In the Yamashita-koen in Yokohama are flower installations in form of little gardens, with all kinds of designs and beautiful flowers. This one, with a window to the harbor was definitely one of my favorites.
The Logo Design, pt. 3. – I believe everyone who sees this would think, well that’s ridiculous of course, but how often do we encounter people who tell us something like that when we just started with something? “You want to do what? Don’t you think that’s stupid/boring/unnecessary…” Sometimes it’s hard to not get discouraged by that.
The struggles of working inside when it’s sunny outside – don’t we all know that feeling? Even though I like my job, enjoy writing my blog and lots of other things, sometimes I just want to go outside and run over meadows like we did as children. Isn’t it amazing how just bathing in the sun can make you feel so much better?

Videos

Hello Tokyo from Christoph Gelep – Fantastic Video of Tokyo and really well made. I really enjoyed the way this video was cut, and of course the atmosphere Christoph Gelep was able to catch with his shots.
Chupa Chups CM – choose your color – A new commercial that is currently airing and definitely recognizable even if you don’t look onto the screen. Sometimes commercials here in Japan are really strange and even annoying because you hear and see them all the time. Case in point – the Yellow hat commercial. Someone made it into a loop and I dare you to watch the whole video without asking yourself “Why? Is it that bad on purpose?”
Japanese hospital has an insane way to test young surgeons (watch below) – Very innovative and interesting way to decide who the best fit for a surgeon position is.