Last year I wrote a fairly… optimistic, shall we say, blog post about how I planned to study for the summer JLPT N3 exam in London. Having the N5 and N4 certificates already under my belt, by early 2018 I was ramping up my study schedule ahead of a five-week stint in Japan…

日本人の友達とフォロワーのみなさん！2月27日から3月30日まで東京に行きます。その時に販売しているアートプリント、エナメルピン、ステッカー、ワッペンなどを持っていくつもりです。もし手渡しでもよしければ会ってお渡しします。

新年は目前に迫っているので2018年を反省するのは当然です。なんとなく私は今年は時間が経つのが遅く感じました。もちろん浮き沈みがあったけど、今年は楽しくて特別な経験も多かったです。

Not only is Tokyo my favourite city in the world, but it’s my favourite city for cafe hopping. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a huge coffee nerd, and while many people might associate amazing coffee with cities like Melbourne, San Francisco, and New York, I believe Tokyo is the best in the world—not just in coffee quality, but in attention to detail, customer service, and cafe atmosphere. This blog post is the first in a series where I’ll talk about my favourite cafes across this wonderful city. Here are my first top five!

Just as we’re all different people with different preferences, our study techniques shouldn’t be the same. What works for one person isn’t necessarily going to work for someone else. Just because someone on the internet claims that they can learn 2000 kanji in a year just by reading flashcards doesn’t mean that another person…

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is a gorgeous comfort food, far removed from the more refined washoku and delicate sushi folks usually associate with Japanese cuisine. The word "okonomiyaki" can be broken down as お好み (o-konomi) meaning “preference” or “choice,” and 焼き (yaki) can be translated is “grilled” or “cooked.” The name alludes to the fact that you can choose whatever ingredients you want to add to the batter or topping, making it a highly personalised and fun dish to eat.