Hydrangea at Banpaku Kinen Koen, Osaka

Banpaku Kinen Koen, a park close to Osaka Uni, had a 'Hydrangea festival' around June last year, so me and some friends went to check it out. Turns out it was just that the hydrangea were in bloom, but it was really nice taking a trip to the park on a sun drenched day.

Visiting York and Betty's Tea Rooms

Last month I finally achieved a little goal of mine- to get out and see a little more of Yorkshire. Although I know Yorkshire is gorgeous- Howarth and Skipton were lovely when I visited them- I am soo guilty of just going between uni and my bed... But anyway, I dragged my boyfriend out to York and it was really cute! We even had afternoon tea at Betty's tea rooms. York is super quick to get to from Leeds, taking around 25 minutes on the train, so it was the perfect day trip.

New in beauty: Hair dye, Lush and Maybelline

It's January, it's a bit cold aaand I've just had exams, so I decided to treat myself to a couple of new beauty bits to cheer myself up~

Life lately// Plants, Exams and Christmas

It feels like forever since I did an actual catch up-style post. I used to do monthly summaries last year, but this year has just been a mess of studying so I'd got out of the habit I guess. So anyway, I went home and saw all my family again for Christmas <3 Christmas was extra special this year because last year I spent it in Japan, without my family! Apart from eating tonnes of food, we met up with our cousins for a coastal walk(!) on boxing day, saw the Christmas lights in London, and went up to Nottingham to see the pantomime. I also went out for aesthetically pleasing tea. 

Kawaii animal doughnuts and hanging out in Osaka

Me and Emily had a free day, so we decided to go take purikura and have an all night Karaoke session. As we were in Osaka, I was determined to find the adorable Cat shaped Donuts that Rikku had shared on instagram a while before. The shop is called Ikumimama, and it was inside Yodoyabashi station. I found it quite hard to find, because it wasn't on any signs, and it wasn't really near the other shops. Oh well, we got there in the end :) Thanks to Emily for persevering :)

We ordered 12, and went to eat a few at Nakanoshima.

The street lights at Amemura are so artsy and cool <3

We had Okonomiyaki at Fugetsu in Dotombori:

And then went to the game centre and played some games and took Barbie purikkura at Shinsaibashi Sega.

(Side note: Isn't Emily the cutest omg. She's so stylish!) After puri, we headed to karaoke and sang all night long. I was surprised that even though it was just us two, we managed to last all night! All night karaoke is really good, especially with your good mates :) 

Thanks for reading! -Amy xoxo

Bleach London's Violet Skies: Mini review and hair update// Unryuuin and Sennyuji temples, Kyoto// My Christmas Wishlist

Gero Gassho mura, Inuyama castle, and becoming love masters at Sankou Inari Jinja

The day after Gujou Hachiman and sample food making on our study trip with Osaka University, we went to Gero Hachiman Gassho mura (which is a style of traditional houses which supposedly look like hands clapped together) and Inuyama castle near Nagoya. Gero Hachiman Gasshoumura was pretty interesting. I'd never seen this style of building before, but the village at Shirakawa-go is pretty famous and I'd wanted to go there. Sadly I ran out of time, so I'm glad we got to see Gero Hachiman. The weather was gorgeous when we went, and it's pretty far in the countryside, so it looked amazing.

My first empties post: hair dye and Japanese makeup

I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely love empties posts. Normally I'm pretty good with not hoarding makeup and beauty products- I usually go for a one in one out approach. Buuut, lately I've been trying out a few new products, especially hair dye and silver shampoo (I have 5 different bottles of shampoo on my shelf at the moment.... send help) I want to try more products, but I like the idea of minimalism and I don't want to become a hoarder, so I'm trying to get things back down to a more reasonable level. Using things up is pretty satisfying, too! Anyway, here are my empties from the last few months:

Gujou Hachiman Castle and sample food making in Nagano and Gifu

One really cool thing about studying at Osaka Uni last year was that they organised really cool 'study trips' for us- overnight trips for only about £20, and we got to go to places like Naoshima and Himeji castle. This time was a trip to Nagano and Gifu prefectures. We got to see gorgeous rural Japan and go sightseeing. 

First place we visited was Gujohachiman town. First up we had some free time to explore, so me and some friends climbed up the hill to visit Gujo Hachiman castle:

It's such a lovely castle! It's a bit out of the way, but definitely visit if you get the chance!

Next up we went to a place where they make food samples and we got the chance to make our own- the traditional way using wax! We made Tempura. Mine wasn't too beautiful, but I did have a lot of fun :)

Next we got back on the coach to Gero, in Gifu prefecture. We stayed at a huge fancy ryokan with an onsen! Gero onsen is pretty famous, so even though I'm not really a fan of onsen (taking a too hot bath with strangers is a bit much) I went in! It felt really nice, and it made my skin really soft too! I'm a bit sensitive to heat though, so I had to get out quickly and go to bed...

The next day was pretty packed- we went to Gero Gasshoumura, and Inuyama castle, so expect posts on that soon! Thanks for reading! -Amy xoxo

Visiting the Kawaii Monster Cafe in Harajuku//  Asakusa and Sensouji at night// Bleach London's Violet Skies: Review and pictures

New Year's Resolutions 2017

Happy New Year, guys! I've already written about whether or not I achieved my resolutions for 2016, and my blogging goals for 2017, so today's post is going to be my personal resolutions for 2017. I don't want to stress myself out with too many resolutions, so a few of these are more about finding the time to do things that make me happy this year.

Travel more// I want to get to Europe definitely, and at least start planning going back to Japan. I'm really starting to miss it. Also (more realistically) I want to get to Edinburgh- it's been on my bucket list for ages now.

Get a job// at least a part time job or internship. I need something to keep me busy over summer.

Save money and be more intentional with how I spend it//  I think I'm getting a little better at this recently, but I want to stop impulse shopping for things like clothes and food, and only buy things I really like.

Get good grades this year in uni// I want to get out of my studying rut and be a bit more efficient as well.

Don't kill any plants!// I think I'm going to buy a couple more plants, and also want to try growing an avocado plant.

Read more// and by this, I really mean read for fun more. I read plenty for uni, but I want to make sure that I build in some books too. I also want to be more intentional with how much social media I consume, and only follow things which inspire me, not things that bring me down. I want to read more in Japanese too. I'm going to try for one book a month, at least!^^

Practise and learn new skills// I really want to prioritise fun things like baking, photography and practising guitar, and I also want to learn new ones like photo editing.

Keep up self care// things like maintaining a regular sleep schedule and drinking enough water make all the difference.

Keep up my blog// like I mentioned in my blogging goals post, I want to make my blog better with regular content and keep improving with things like photography.

Stop putting things off and being afraid// 2016 has been a year of anxiety for me, so it's led to me shying away from putting myself out there. taking opportunities and going and seeing people. It's a vicious cycle, so I want to try and get things done quickly, before I can talk myself out of them. I wanna be more spontaneous and do things that make me happy :) I also don't want to let some negative people's opinions affect me any more.

Have you guys got any New Year's resolutions? I hope y'all have an amazing 2017 <3 <3
-Amy xoxo

Kare Sansui and Maple leaves at Tofukuji, Kyoto// Colour Freedom Misty Grey: Review and Before and After// Did I achieve my New Year's Resolutions for 2016?// Blogging goals for 2017