Have you ever experienced, or imagined, not living in your home? In Tokyo, sometimes people are seen sleeping outside or inside train stations at night. They will disappear in the morning, moving to parks or elsewhere, carrying their belongings or leaving them behind. A national survey reported around 4,000 people living in homelessness in Japan in 2018 (when I was living there) – that accounts … Continue reading Second Harvest Japan
Wow. It has been a while, hasn’t it? I don’t know how many people still read this blog or read notifications for new posts but if you’re reading this: Hello. I’ve missed you. I’ve missed having my stories being read by you. I’ve missed writing for myself, even if that means I have to live with typos and errors. Too many things have happened in … Continue reading Hello there.
The 1st of July marks six month of my living as a pescetarian! I used to believe I could never leave red meat and poultry especially after trying the DIVINE Japanese beef. I believed so despite my knowledge that meat production is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, which cause climate change, and I had been a promoter of climate action for the … Continue reading My Pescatarian Journey
My life consists of movements. My favorite place has been the airport since I was a teenager. From the time I turned into a young adult, the wonders of travels had become my home. I left my hometown Jakarta in 2015 for Japan in search for experience, learnings, and adventure. Living in Japan is a dream for many people but I’d never thought of living … Continue reading Repatriating
Three years ago, as I sat on a beach reflecting upon my life, I decided to take a yoga teacher training. What I gained from practicing with my teacher in Tokyo, Nana Kalyani, in the-then past year was more than enough to convince me: her yoga classes and approach inspired me to share the benefits of yoga with people who seek them. The thing is, … Continue reading A Typical Indian Odyssey #2: Yoga Teacher Training
I stepped out of an AirAsia airplane into Bangalore’s Kempewgoda International Airport in the beginning of April 2019, unsure about what to expect. I would be in the city for a night before moving to the neighboring city Mysore the day after, in time for my yoga teacher training course. I had done a little research on India. I had read articles that told the … Continue reading A Typical Indian Odyssey #1
Another year has passed and here I am, looking back at the year that’s coming to a close in a few hours. I started the year 2018 without new year’s “goals” or “resolutions”. This was the first after a few years of having diligently written down goals, even setting quantitative ones. Always on the list were to lose weight (5-10 kg) and write a number … Continue reading 2018
I read on Quora stories by non-Japanese residents of Japan who felt hurt because “people in the train would get up to find another seat” to avoid sitting next to them. Or because a co-worker stopped talking to him when the co-worker realized his English was not good enough. Apparently, the co-worker was friendly to the Quora poster only to practice English. Do these stories sound … Continue reading Living Japan #8: On Racism
Breathe. Smell your freedom of movement, of expression, of choice. Remember. Give gratitude to short-lived love, to knowledge, to passion. Hope. That one day, you will be enough, be understood, be supported. Help. Ease away their pain, loss, disappointment. Acknowledge. Not everything work. Breathe. Then let it go. Continue reading Breathe, then let it go
Do you know anyone whose face would light up when they start talking? I know this person whose default expression carries a scowl. Her eyes are cold, her lips say “I’m not impressed”, and her general attitude an “I’m so tired today, give me some space”. Not scary, but cold and indifferent, which can easily be interpreted as unfriendly. The extraordinary thing is that, all … Continue reading Some of Those Impressions Are False
amellina's journal 