Carpe Diem

A Turkish guy I met at Antalya had the words Carpe Diem tattooed on his arm. I asked him what it meant, and he told me it meant "live the moment". Now, we hear this aphorism quite often, but what does this really mean? When I got back home, I looked it up on the internet, and saw that it translates into "seize the day" (or also "Enjoy the day"/ "Make use of this day") on Wikipedia. 

Carpe Diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace. 

The original text: 

Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi

finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios
temptaris numeros. ut melius, quicquid erit, pati,
seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,
quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
Tyrrhenum: sapias, uina liques, et spatio breui
spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit inuida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

Translation:

Don't ask (it's forbidden to know) what final fate the gods have
given to me and you, Leuconoe, and don't consult Babylonian
horoscopes. How much better it is to accept whatever shall be,
whether Jupiter has given many more winters or whether this is the
last one, which now breaks the force of the Tuscan sea against the
facing cliffs. Be wise, strain the wine, and trim distant hope within
short limits. While we're talking, grudging time will already
have fled: seize the day, trusting as little as possible in tomorrow.

(by Michael Gilleland)

Hence, be wise, do the daily task, and live today; time is swiftly flying. 

How did you spend your day? :)

Topkapı Palace

Hand made Carpet store

My askım, our charismatic bus driver

Hüseyin, our Hot air balloon pilot

Just chilling at Cappadocia

At the leather jacket fashion show

Aegina Island, Greece

A priceless laugh

Collige, virgo, rosas

Evzones stretching

Outside Derinkuyu underground city

A different kind of Eye Candy (designs, patterns, mosaics)

I recently toured around Turkey and Greece for 10 days- 10 amazing days that changed my perspective in life. I especially fell in love with Turkey. (I couldn't see much of Greece- I only got to tour around for a day :( boo. I'll make sure there's a next time!)

I was enchanted by its history, how its unique location has always been an ideal site for many civilizations & left marks as they passed through; its people, how they always made me laugh and enthralled me with their charisma; its mosaics, how each tile has meaning and tells a different story; and lastly, its overall culture & atmosphere, how people (and even cats & dogs) are genuinely happy and chill. 

Money doesn't insure happiness, and I saw that Turkish people truly think and believe that. Well maybe not ALL Turkish people, but certainly the people I met during the trip. I wish I could be more like that. Perhaps if I live there.... I'll learn to be ;) I REEEEALLY want to live in Istanbul!

Aya Sofya

At a Kebab restaurant

Topkapı Palace

Topkapı Palace

Grand Bazaar- tiles & dishes, all telling different stories

Grand Bazaar- every wall is covered with mosaics!

Grand Bazaar- beautiful lanterns

Hand made carpets at Cappadocia

Hand made carpets at Cappadocia

Beautiful mosaics on tiles & plates & lanterns at Antalya

ruins in Pamukkale 

small lounge on our way to Ephesus

ruins in Ephesus

Inside Aegina Chapel

Inside Aegina Chapel

Every time's a charm

Third time's a charm? No no, not at Odaiba. Every time you visit you'll be mesmerized by the magnificent view, the romantic aura, and the futuristic infrastructure around you. You'll be surprised to know that Odaiba is an artificial island built on waste!

I've been to Odaiba countless times, each time leaving a significant mark in my memory lane, although now that I think about it, I didn't actually do much in particular at Odaiba.

I guess it's all about the feeling. When you're there, you can't put your finger on what exactly makes Odaiba so ethereal, but whatever it is, it works its magic and puts you in an ebullient mood for the whole day. 

I want to say it's similar to what you feel when you're in love. And if you're lucky enough to go to Odaiba with the person you love, speaking from experience, it's the most wonderful feeling ever. 

These pictures are from last spring. The sky was so clear and the weather was lovely! I also happen to l-o-v-e the outfit I was wearing that day. A white&grey combo, although I'm a little disappointed that none of the pics show my shoes. 

A replica of the Statue of Liberty

At the dock w/ Aqua City and Fuji TV studio in the back

Aqua City is a huge shopping center with Joypolis (small indoor amusement park) and Little Hong Kong. You can literally spend a hole day there and still not see everything!

Oh my eyes!

A beautiful place to think...

Say Cheese!

View from a ferry

 I watched the Titanic the day before riding the ferry and it put me in the best mood! (I love that movie) It was such a liberating experience, just letting go of all my worries and fears as if they were gone with the wind.

The rainbow bridge 

Color it Europe

Paju Provence

Van Gogh Self portraits 

That's me!

Paju Provence, located North of Seoul, is a small town imitating Provence, a region in France. 

The colors of the buildings may be a bit TOO vivid and colorful to say it's like Provence or anywhere in Europe at all, but I can't know for sure since I've never been to Europe before... :(

I found out that the reason why Paju Provence has a Van Gogh self portrait collage is because Van Gogh lived in Provence and his fame as a painter is largely a result of what he painted there! 

Paju Provence has lots of shops and restaurants and it's a great place for a date :) 

Just looking at the bright colors will put a smile on your face, trust me! 

80's elegance

Vintage shop in Shinsa-dong Garosu Street

Shoes, shoes, and more shoes!

Hiding in between modern sophisticated shops was an underground elegant vintage shop.

It had a collection of second hand clothes/shoes/accessories in good condition and such unique styles that are bound to come back! 

The only con I found was that some of the shoes were TINY. I have pretty small feet- I'm a 23.5 (Japanese shoe size) and I could barely fit my foot into some! 

I didn't get to have a good look at all the clothes so I can't wait to go back and get some vintage in my closet.

Two Typical

Shibuya Crossing

Yes, it's none other than the famous Shibuya Crossing!! :) Tens of thousands of people cross it every day; within a couple of minutes the curbs fill up with countless pedestrians and once those lights turn green, it just becomes a huge amalgam of people. It seriously looks like Moses just finished crossing the Red Sea and the waves (pedestrians) are forming back to make the sea (the amalgam of people). 

This was taken last summer (2010) when my sister Annie came to visit me. She's the gorgeous one on the left! We both lived in Tokyo for quite a while- Annie for 4 years and myself for 8- but we realized we never took a photo in the center of this legendary crossing, when we've been crossing it hundreds of times! 

It's cliche, it's typical, it's super duper touristy, but we make up for it with our darling summer outfits! 

If you ever visit Shibuya, you should definitely try this- it's quite something, standing in a chaotic crowd, being the only ones still in a city that never seems to stop moving. 

Heels for heels

New Spring shoes!

Usually I get much MUCH more excited when I treat myself to a pair of new shoes. 

But there's a sad story behind this one. 

Last week, I had the humiliating experience of breaking my heel by tripping while climbing up the stairs. 

What a klutz! 

Fortunately, I was out on a street with lots and lots of shops around me. I did a trade off- bye bye beautiful navy super high heels and hello cute light pink/nude slightly shorter heels! 

Half fail, half win. Oh well, can't have everything. 

I've been wanting heels in this color (I wanted higher heels actually, but you know, lesson learned) so I thought might as well. I'm uber psyched though to wear these heels with a cute spring one piece dress! :) Pictures will follow shortly!

Light it up

Tokyo Tower & its many faces

Please excuse the horrible quality of these pictures- they were all taken from my iPod touch. 

Did you know that Tokyo Tower is actually a little taller than the Eiffel Tower? I don't know about you, but I always thought the Eiffel Tower was ginormous! 

Tokyo Tower isn't exactly the most beautiful tower in the world, but it has its own special way of making my heart tingle every time I see it. Hmm maybe it's because the Japanese media portrays T squared (is that super lame or what) as a romantic symbol in the heart of a busy, fast moving city. 

Personally, I know lots of other picturesque places around Tokyo and I can't wait to go back and take pictures to show y'all! 

I want to commend whomever that thought up of lighting the tower up in different colors because to be quite frank, the orange lights do get a little boring. 

What do you think? 

Check out this superb picture of Tokyo Tower taken by a professional! Click here.

The city doesn't sleep

Dongdaemoon market

Clothes have bus stops too!

I went to Dongdaemoon market with my mom last friday. She wanted to buy some new clothes for her shop, and I decided to go with her because it's such a fresh experience compared to what we're used to seeing. Half of the shops in Dongdaemoon sell at wholesale prices, and it gets mega hectic from midnight! Shop owners start shopping with huge luggage bags since they buy in bulk, and shops send out clothes to other areas within Korea. 

All those bags you see in the pic are the clothes that are going to be sent out. The queue of bags grow longer as dawn approaches. I wish one of the buses could stop at my house! 

It was my third visit to the early morning market. I left at around 1am, but apparently the market is busiest at around 2~3am. Crazy!