Be Certain That You Do Not Die Without Having Done Something Wonderful For Humanity.

Week four’s book is A Letter To My Daughter by Maya Angelou. It is short, it is easy to read, and it is brimming with learned wisdom; the kind which often springs from old people. And though I did not find every chapter relatable, I did find every chapter, useful.
My mother’s precious hands, holding an almond milk cappuccino at recently opened Unknown Chapter Coffee Roasters.

I’ve blogged THIS drink before. My momma doesn’t like it but I sure do! Traditionally used to soothe the stomach, Kawakawa leaves are known to be an anti-inflammatory as well as an analgesic. Kawakawa tonic was traditionally used to aid digestion. To further this function AOTEA Native Tonics brew Kawakawa leaves with herbs and tea leaves that are also understood to help with digestion. So it’s good for you, too. 
“Let’s tell the truth to people. When people ask, ‘How are you?’ have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. You must know, however, that people will start avaoiding you because, they, too, have knees that pain them and heads that hurt and they don’t want to know about yours. But think of it this way: If people avoid you, you will have more time to meditate and do fine research on a cure for whatever truly afflicts you.”

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.”

“All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us all that we are more alike than we are unalike.”

(Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter)
Who’s sniffing who?

Recently I attended my friends, Kate and Rory’s engagement party. My mother insisted on taking a picture of me before I left home. Since then, she has, bless her soul, posted this picture on every single one of her social media platforms.

Zen Sushi & Dumplings. Go get some. PS this is salmon and avocado with brown rice.
Last night my momma kept entering the kitchen and interfering in my business that I threatened her I’d never cook again (hehe). So, here it is: oven baked gurnard fillets rubbed with tangerine slices, chopped tomatoes, Kalamata olives, fresh garlic, olive oil, paprika, pepper, salt, and garden mint for The Last Supper. #cookyourowndamnfish

“Where There Is Love Nothing Is Too Much Trouble And There Is Always Time.” ~Abdu’l-Bahá

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

“So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.”

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

“This is what we call love. When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand what’s happening, because everything happens within you.”

“Why do we have to listen to our hearts?” the boy asked.
“Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you will find your treasure.”

“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it’s better to listen to what it has to say.”

~Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Joy Gives Us Wings

O SON OF MAN! Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more. (The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh)

My dear mamma often uses the analogy, “life is like a ferris wheel,”. (Though sometimes she mistakes and says, “circle.”) Her reasoning basically, is that there will always be ups and downs. You can’t always be happy (at the top) nor will you always remain unhappy (on bottom). Of course, like all advice we don’t want to hear, I’d often let this ‘circle business’ slide in through one ear and out the other. Today however, i firmly believe it. Because when I look back on my life, it is exactly this. A crazy wild ferris wheels of joy and sorrow and joy and sorrow and joy again. Currently (though I realise, temporarily) I am enjoying the most joyous and serene view of Autumnal Nashville.
Factory at Franklin: an old factory turned shopping complex. 
Acai bowl lunch from Franklin Juice Co.
Okay, so THIS is Halloween! NZ has much catching up to do!

These pumpkin markets seem to be around every corner!

Remember my giant watermelon pic? Same same!In this world we are influenced by two sentiments, Joy and Pain.

Joy gives us wings! In times of joy our strength is more vital, our intellect keener, and our understanding less clouded. We seem better able to cope with the world and to find our sphere of usefulness. But when sadness visits us we become weak, our strength leaves us, our comprehension is dim and our intelligence veiled. The actualities of life seem to elude our grasp, the eyes of our spirits fail to discover the sacred mysteries, and we become even as dead beings.

There is no human being untouched by these two influences; but all the sorrow and the grief that exist come from the world of matter—the spiritual world bestows only the joy!
If we suffer it is the outcome of material things, and all the trials and troubles come from this world of illusion.

For instance, a merchant may lose his trade and depression ensues. A workman is dismissed and starvation stares him in the face. A farmer has a bad harvest, anxiety fills his mind. A man builds a house which is burnt to the ground and he is straightway homeless, ruined, and in despair.

All these examples are to show you that the trials which beset our every step, all our sorrow, pain, shame and grief, are born in the world of matter; whereas the spiritual Kingdom never causes sadness. A man living with his thoughts in this Kingdom knows perpetual joy. The ills all flesh is heir to do not pass him by, but they only touch the surface of his life, the depths are calm and serene. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá)

I Am Always Doing Things I Can’t Do…

…This is how I get to do them. (Pablo Picasso)




Everybody has the same energy potential. The average person wastes his in a dozen little ways. I bring mine to bear on one thing only: my paintings, and everything else is sacrificed to it…myself included. (Pablo Picasso)


Without great solitude, no serious work is possible. (Pablo Picasso)

Jacqueline Picasso or Jacqueline Roque (24 February 1927 – 15 October 1986) is best known as the muse and second wife of Pablo Picasso. Their marriage lasted 11 years until his death, during which time he created over 400 portraits of her, more than any of Picasso’s other loves.

I Want To Buy Everyone This Book

Dear Liz Gilbert,

My sister and I watched Eat Pray Love on opening night. We loved it (as in actually loved it – not just saying “loved it” for exaggeration) because we both adore travel and because we both enjoy food. Of course, we were very fond of its message too. Soon after, we read the book. Your book. Since then, the answer I have given (still give today) to anyone asking, “So. Who is your favourite author?” has been/still is, you.

It was midway through my last year of university, when assignments were becoming lethal that I listened to your famous Ted talk. You talked of creativity in a way I had never heard before. Suddenly, the pressures and anxieties around writing the perfect essay were out the door. Instead, I showed up to my study table, I made time and I worked and I worked and I worked until my muse/genius/inspiration was convinced I was serious and in Maya Angelo’s words, spoke, “Okay. Okay. I’ll come.” And it did. Just as you’d promised it would. And it got me through. I passed and I felt invincible. If only I had though of creativity in this limitless way before.

One week ago, I bought your latest work Big Magic at the Geneva airport bookstore. I am in love and I don’t know how to thank you. It is liberating, humorous, inspiring and above all, real. I aspire to write like you, in a manner that’s both intelligent and conversational, serious and loving, funny and true.

I want to buy everyone this book!
Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.
It’s a simple and generous rule of life that whatever you practice, you will improve at.
But to yell at your creativity, saying, “You must earn money for me!” is sort of like yelling at a cat; it has no idea what you’re talking about, and all you’re doing is scaring it away, because you’re making really loud noises and your face looks weird when you do that.
(All quotes by Elizabeth Gilbert form Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear)

I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? (Mary Oliver)

Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. (Mary Oliver)



Listen–are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life? (Mary Oliver)

Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living.(Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)


You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life. (Mary Oliver)


You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. (Mae West)

An Inside Look At A Spanish Supermarket

So different to both Japan and New Zealand. When travelling, I love to visit the local supermarket. It always becomes a highlight because it’s always so interesting.

Two entire rows + four row fronts (each side) just for cheese! Oh my!



This is a monkey fish. You choose your fish and the ladies (or gentlemen) prepare them for you. Of course, preprepared fish is also available.

Jose doing his thang.

Apart from this brand (which is refrigerated) the remaining milk here look like cleaning products because of the way they’re stored and packaged.


Meat, meat and more meat.

Look at the top right yellow label. 339 Euro for one leg! Now that’s some special meat.

Jose says these pigs eat acorns so even though they’re fat, they’re good fat. “Like me,” I said (hehe).
All of the tomatoes an Italian chef could wish for (also on other side).

In Japan, carrots are heavily sprayed making them big and perfect. Then, they’re individually wrapped in excess plastic. This is how fruit and vegetables should be! Ugly but delicious. 

I love these peaches! 0.98 Euro for a KG! Good or good?!


All of the legumes! Plus, olives, anchovies, pates and dried nuts and fruit (not pictured).

Look Japanese friends! “Japanese” food!

Introducing Jose to almond milk and other trendy health foods (hehe).

“Write It On Your Heart…

…that every day is the best day in the year.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)



“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” (John Wesley)

“May I share with you a formula that in my judgment will help you and help me to journey well through mortality… First, fill your mind with truth; second, fill your life with service; and third, fill your heart with love.” (Thomas S. Monson)


“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)


“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” (John Wooden)

“Know That You Can Start Late…

…look different, be uncertain and still succeed.” -Misty Copeland

This city makes me feel I can do anything!

Notice: spicy vegetarian curry at CAMP and the unfortunate sign in the local train of how *some* Japanese view non-Japanese.

My Japanniversary!

Today is my one year japanniversary. Looking through my blog and pictures, I can see I have achieved a lot of things. Some of which include Asian babies, giant fruit, new friends, of course teaching, cycling through the countryside, playing dress-ups, a couple typhoons, a few failed tinder dates, learning to kill a cockroach, open a jar, and to fetch the remote all by myself, and all of which include food: sourcing it (still haven’t found beetroot) cooking it and eating it. Sometimes with friends, most times alone. The latter not a good feeling. Basically, it hasn’t been easy since I live really rural and I can’t speak the language. But, (prepare for the cheese) it has been real. I have achieved what I set out to do – which was to gain more life-experience, in order to grow both as a person and as a writer. And, I have enjoyed. Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from my year in Japan, it’s this: we must never settle. Though not in the physical sense of the word. What I mean is, to have an open mind about the world, our world, its people and our experiences with it/them. And to be accepting of change, of transformation. For not only is change good, it is growth. And the only way we can change is if we become exposed. And how do we become exposed? We throw ourselves into the open, into the unknown. Though by this, I don’t necessarily mean a geographical point. For even opening our minds to viewing a single minuscule thing in a different way is throwing ourselves. In the words of C. JoyBell: “we can’t be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don’t have something better.” Ari-ga-to!