2019: a year of travel and reunions
Three months into 2020, I find myself with a lot of free time which I should use toward updating this blog. 2019 was a strange and interesting year. It was a year of self-discovery and a lot of traveling and reunions. I also decided to fully embrace my crazy astrology side. In reality, I think it kept me sane during a tough time. I’m a few months late but here is a recap of my 2019 year.
FRIENDS
Goodbyes are never easy. They weren’t easy on study abroad and they certainly aren’t easy on JET. Every year during the summer, we are to say goodbye to people who have decided to leave the program and move onto the next chapter of their lives. In 2019, I said bye to some friends who really helped me when it came to settling into Okinawa and friends who I started my JET career with. We had had the time of our lives together and I am so grateful that I met them on this experience. It might be a while until I see some of them again but I know there always the possibility of meeting in the future.
104 Likes, 4 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "My friends know that I hardly make an appearance to outdoor things, mostly due to fear of heights..."
76 Likes, 0 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "Summer months are hard sometimes. Not because of the heat or humidity, but because of the goodbyes..."
Travel + Reunions
The subject of friends however, leads me into the next part of 2019 that really shaped my year, was the tons of traveling I did and the people I got to meet. This is where a tiny bit of 2018 comes into play.
Going a little further back to October 2018, I traveled to Osaka during a long weekend to meet up with my best friend and his now wife, for a food filled weekend. I also got to meet his friends who I would see later in the 2019 for his wedding (but more on that later). It was the first time in 3 years since we had seen each other so this was a long-waited reunion. I had a hunch that he would propose on this trip since he told me about it a year in advance. I couldn’t stay for the proposal as I had to fly back to Oki on the day he did it but I was right! It was during this trip that I also met up with another old friend later in the night. We had an izakaya dinner with a few drinks and caught up on all the hot gossip 😂.
84 Likes, 0 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "In Osaka for the weekend, catching up with old friends, one of them being @lilantagonist...."
67 Likes, 2 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "This trip has been all about meeting old and new friends. #oldfriends #newfriends..."
The following month in November, I traveled back to Hakone where a study abroad friend accompanied me during the trip. I wrote an extensive post about it where you can read here.
December 2018, I traveled back home to Hawaii for the holidays. Since it was the first time I had been back since moving to Okinawa, it was less of a vacation but more of a seeing people type of trip. I ate all of my favorite foods and drank as many craft brews my little bladder could fit. Rang in the new year with my parents which comprised of watching the New York Times Square celebrations and also seeing the fanfare displays of (illegal) fireworks from neighborhoods in Hawaii.
50 Likes, 0 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "I've had yakiniku in Hawaii, Tokyo, Okinawa, and even Korea...I still think Hawaii has the best..."
79 Likes, 0 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "I told myself I'd eat so much more poke when I was home for the NY holidays. Instead, I ate so much..."
67 Likes, 2 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "Family dinner on the eve of New Year's Eve. Dad made prime rib and lobster tails 😋...."
In 2019, I traveled to Tokyo twice, one for a long weekend and another for less than 48 hours. The latter trip was probably one of the craziest things I’ve done. You might be asking, why pray tell did I do such a thing? The sole reason was to have a reunion with a friend we affectionately refer to as Spicy Senpai. It was a pretty last minute reunion thing but it ended up working out. We hit up our old stomping grounds Torikizoku and sang some karaoke afterwards. For those who know me, know that I don’t go to karaoke unless I’m really drunk 🥴😅.
72 Likes, 2 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "Last weekend I went to my old stomping grounds of my study abroad days, Tokyo. I kept it on the DL..."
70 Likes, 6 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "I haven't eaten anything remotely interesting lately, so here's another reunion photo from last..."
May 2019, the long awaited trip of 2019 was to Hong Kong for Golden Week. It’d had been over three years since I had been back and a lot of things had certainly changed, including my nieces and nephews who are now teenagers! 😱 A highly anticipated reunion took place during my week in HK with my very first internet friends, Steph and Fi. Our friendship began on message boards, fangirling about Johnny’s Jr groups, and we all had accounts on LiveJournal. Talk about throwback! Not gonna lie, I’ve never been great at keeping in touch with my friends from high school but it seems to be easier with international friends, and these two are my longest standing international friendship.
71 Likes, 2 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "Some people do the 10 year challenge...here we have the 12+ year challenge. Swipe to the last photo..."
52 Likes, 2 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "Finally watched Avengers: Endgame with @annyeong_o3o yesterday, ate delicious egg waffle puffs and..."
May was a busy month because in later May, I traveled back to San Francisco for a short trip of 10 days. The purpose of the trip was to see my best friend get married. When living overseas, it’s difficult to decide which wedding to attend or pass on. It pained me to miss weddings of two other close friends this past year so I made sure to see them during my 10 days back. I wish it was a longer trip because there were friends I wish I had gotten the chance to catch up with. Sorry to anyone who I didn’t get to see while I was back, there’s always next time. To the ones I did see, it was great catching up!
123 Likes, 5 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "In all of my years living in SF before, I've never taken a photo of or with the Golden Gate Bridge..."
102 Likes, 0 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "Congratulations to @lilantagonist and @andieduong ! It was a beautiful wedding and thank you for..."
114 Likes, 0 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "Was freezing in SF last week and now that I'm back in Okinawa, I miss the cold 😅. Visited SF for..."
To close off 2019, I went to Korea with friends in October. The first I went with my mom, we didn’t really venture out anywhere except for the densely populated Myeongdong area. I did not buy nearly as much face products as the first time I went but definitely ate more food. The seafood market is and will always be my favorite stop in Korea. We found sound instagrammable spots along the way and I even got my hair recolored for super cheap! (~$20 USD)
109 Likes, 4 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "Found a coffee shop that was super grammable that served equally delicious, and pretty chocolate..."
54 Likes, 2 Comments - stayventuring (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "Paid a visit to Noryangjin Fish Market again with @jasenokole and @rigo.the.amigo and had an..."
46 Likes, 1 Comments - 김보배 (@gimbobae23) on Instagram: "하외이에서 오신 인친님^^ #하와이 #인친 #가을 #뷰살롱 #압구정로데오 #보배롭다"
There was another trip that closed off 2019 but that deserves it own separate post so stay tuned for that. 2019 was certainly an eventful year in terms of traveling. A different type of eventful than what we’re experiencing now in 2020. Thanks for reading, stay safe everyone, and wash your hands!