Mata

The time has finally come to leave Japan. I always thought that I will stay here forever but sometimes fate pulls some unexpected tricks along the way. I will be flying back to the Philippines carrying the memories of Japan, a place where I worked and lived for ten years.

Routine

37. Today. 

I just finished reading the book "25 Lessons I've Learned about photography life" by Lorenzo Dominguez. It was given by a friend in 2012. In one of the last chapters, the author talked about a realization while living alone -

While living alone, waking up alone, going out to take pictures alone, eating alone, being alone, I became much more aware that I was not alone, that apart from other people, the world was full and overflowing with, with beauty in motion.

And that brings me to reflect on my life here in Japan. Yes, I am living alone and felt that I have already made the necessary adjustments in order to survive in a foreign land. After all, my seven-year stay is more than enough.

 

Selfie

It was simply called self-portrait back then.  But because of the social media frenzy, the term selfie was born and became the common term for self-portrait. The word was so popular that it was even picked by Oxford English Dictionary as the "word of the year" in 2013.