Alighted at Hakonemachi-ko, the first stop of Hakone Sightseeing Cruise. Apparently, Motohakone-ko is the stop that's nearer to Hakone Shrine but I somehow confused myself between the two since they sounded somewhat similar. I spontaneously decided  to trek from Hakonemachi-ko to Hakone Shrine anyway because I wanted to take photos of Mt Fuji with Hakone Shrine, a sight only available via trekking.

Anyway, I'm someone who prefers walking if I have the choice and I found myself walking around Japan a lot to admire its scenery and bask in Japan's winter climate, which I'll never get to experience in Singapore.

The corns smelled so good and fresh, especially in winter!

Hakone Sightseeing Cruise (Hakonemachi-ko Port)

Address
161 Hakone, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun 250-0521

Phone Number
+61 0460-83-7550

I expected the queue for Hakone Ropeway to be congested since it was the peak holiday season in January but it was surprisingly empty and I only had a group of people before me. I was hoping I could get the entire Hakone Ropeway cabin to myself but a group of tourists came after me and I had to share my cabin with them T_T Thankfully, they were well-mannered tourists, allowing me to enjoy the splendour of Mt Fuji in peace.

It was a blessing that I could see Mt Fuji the entire day I was in Hakone.

Hakone Ropeway (Owakudani Station)

Address
Japan, 〒250-0631 Kanagawa-ken, Ashigarashimo-gun, Hakone-machi, Sengokuhara, 足柄下郡箱根町仙石原１２５１−１

Operating Hours
9:00am to 5:00pm or
9:00am to 4:15pm (depending on season)
Further information here

Phone Number
+81 460-84-8437

I don't think I'll ever forget the first time I saw Mt Fuji. I couldn't believe my eyes. My eyes were registering the snow-capped mountain, a marvelous sight that still makes my heart skip a beat, but my brain was saying, no no it's impossible. Mt Fuji is known to be elusive; some of my friends stayed in Hakone for two days without even sighting Mt Fuji once — would my bad luck actually allow me to see Mt Fuji the first time, the very first hour, I was in Hakone?


Some Japanese ladies broke my train of thoughts, squiming to get a better view of the scene outside our bus, squealing, "Fuji-san! Fuji-san!" Then, I knew it — the snow-capped mountain I saw was Mt Fuji. My childhood dreams, completed at 21. It was surreal, just like when I first witnessed the A-bomb Dome in Hiroshima. My entire Japan travel was surreal.


In a way, I was glad Hakone Ropeway was suspended at Sounzan or I'd have never discovered Owakudani. There's something about Japan that caused me to be crazy thankful for everything, even the little errors that occured throughout my travel.


Owakudani is known for its black eggs — chicken eggs with black shells due to chemical reactions after being hard-boiled in Owakudani's hot springs. (I know this only because I googled.) It's rumoured to add seven years to your life when you consume a Owakudani black egg. Unfortunately, they only sold the eggs in a bulk of six and I was alone so I didn't have a chance to try the egg.

Online shopping is no longer new this decade; with various travel platforms dominating the Internet, millennials like you and I are often spoiled for choices when we travel. How do we find the best flight promotions, book the cheapest hotels, enjoy the most value for money activities when travelling?

Work has always been a sensitive topic on my blog that I tried to steer clear of, only briefly mentioning my first job after I left the company because it was so heartbreaking for me to walk away from what I truly loved. I'm letting myself break down here right now because I have nothing to lose — I already am nothing. I've burned out. Beset with a never-ending avalanche of self-doubts, I catch myself neurotically wondering, once too many times, when will I succeed — if ever.

I toyed with the idea of leaving my job for a while now, but never found the courage to tender my resignation — till recently. When I graduated from Mass Comm last year, I was a wide-eyed optimistic girl who saw myself as the ever-present sun. Now I know I'm just a candle, one that's easily burned out in the hands of the wrong people, and I'm on the verge of collapsing.

I went through the motion in 2017, allowing society to mellow my personality. I worked for the sake of a pay check. I turned into one of the sceptical adults I swore to never be, the kind satisfied to be stuck in the 9 to 6 life as long as my wallet remained filled. Initially, I buried myself in even more work. I thought by keeping myself busy and with more money, I could numb myself.

The ominous signs became increasingly, glaringly obvious. Spinning a web of bureaucratically impeccable lies, the malevolent mastermind concocted a perverse wedge of hope — an alluring dream to the ignorant and repulsive to the knowing. I watched my greatest source of motivation reduced to nothing but a pernicious illusion. I must add that this beguiling catastrophe, the epitome of ostentatious and expedient, might actually make a great episode of a cliche reality TV show. If it wasn't happening to me.

These multitudinous challenges led me to believe that life just has an unhealthy obsession with ruining me, and everything I had and loved. Tearing me down. Breaking me apart. There's nothing more corrosive than the dense, blanketing malaise that continually reminded me, time and again, money doesn't make the world turn round. Sure, I had a comfortable amount sitting in my bank. In fact, I had more than I needed even if I were to quit and travel for six months, but I was also miserable. Utterly miserable.

I took my first break a couple of months back. I travelled to my favourite country, Taiwan, with one of my closest friends. We partied, drank, laughed. But the nights after she slept saw me in a befuddled state, stifling, on the verge tears. Leading to the Kaohsiung trip, I was constantly stressed out. I didn't reply messages for days because I couldn't stand picking up my phone to face a deluge of work messages. I grimaced at the thought of work; I've always been one to push myself but I knew I haven't been giving my all because I couldn't work anymore.

With the recent occurrences fuelling and affirming my decision, I went against the decision of my mom the first time since stepping out of my rebellious teenager phase, and I did the unthinkable: I left my second full-time job without another job lined up. I threw in the towel because I couldn't see myself working there another second. I stopped believing in the work I was assigned to, long ago. I was burnt out, my mind insolently blank. For the sake of my sanity, I let go.

For once in my life, I don't have a plan in mind. What do I do now, after the waves of relief and adrenaline have washed over? I am completely clueless. Maybe a little foolish too, and definitely terrified. My life has come to another standstill; a crossroad which either decision will bring me to very different places. Literally. Should I abruptly stop my stable income in an attempt to pursue my childhood dreams of relocating to a country I love, or continue on with life as it is?

Hakone Tozan Train from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto

Due to the influx of people at Odawara Station, I eventually lost the couple I was following to Hakone and didn't get a chance to properly thank them for bringing me around :( With the delays I faced while travelling to Hakone, it was already 10am by the time I reached my first stop, Odawara.


The good news is because I got my Hakone Free Pass online, I didn't have to queue to top up my card or buy a one-way train ticket in Hakone. It was easy for me to travel around the whole of Hakone with my free pass.

Japanese queuing up in an orderly manner for the train

Hakone Tozan Railway is a 40-minute ride from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto. If you travel to Hakone during the cherry blossom season or autumn, you'll be treated to the magnificent views during the train ride. Because I was in Hakone during winter, most of the trees were barren. However, I got to witness the train changing conductor and moving backwards while climbing up the steep hills of Gora — a unique aspect of Hakone Tozan Railway.

Despite everyone's insistence on spending more than a day in Hakone — even the passes were two or three day bus passes — I decided to do just a one day trip to the outskirts of Tokyo, Hakone due to the lack of time. If I were to return, I'd definitely stay in Hakone for a longer period of time, and travel to Fuji Five Lake (Fujigoko) so I could witness Mt Fuji up close but time wasn't on my side back then and a day trip to Hakone from Tokyo was my best choice.

I initially planned to set out early in the morning to catch the earliest train to Hakone but I was too worn out by then (my 5th day in Japan), so I snoozed for an hour before finally making my way to Shinjuku to collect my Hakone Free Pass.


Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center

Address
Japan, 〒160-0023 Tokyo, Shinjuku, Nishishinjuku, 1 Chome−26−13
(1st floor — Ground Floor)

Nearest Metro Station
Shinjuku Station (West Exit)

Telephone Number
+81-3-5321-7887

Anyone remembers my 3 beauty hacks for busy bees blog post last year for Althea Singapore's first birthday celebrations? Althea Singapore turns two this July and they're back with bigger, better sales to celebrate their second birthday!


One of my favourite things about shopping on Althea is their seasonal box which changes every few months. It's always a surprise when I receive my parcel because they always come in pretty designs and happy colours!




Other than the limited edition Althea birthday box design this year, Althea is also throwing in birthday kits and a birthday sample pack for lucky early bird shoppers.


The birthday kit can be used to decorate your box so every shopper has a unique box. Additionally, if you take a photo of your unique birthday box and post on Instagram with the hashtag, #AltheaTurns2, you can stand a chance to win a pair of return flights to Korea.

Don't fret even if you're typically suay — there are more than ten winners in this year's competition! The first runner up wins a year's worth of free shopping on Althea, and the second runner up wins 3 months' worth of free shopping on Althea. Althea is also giving away consolation prizes of USD$100 Althea credits to 10 lucky winners.


Not enough? For 20 days, Althea is giving away a prize on Instagram on every working day. Time to camp on Althea's Instagram account during lunch breaks (or office hours) :P



Happy 2nd Birthday, Althea Singapore!

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Althea Singapore
(Facebook | Instagram)

Same school, different stage in life.

When you're young, you give everything you have and love recklessly because you don't know how it feels like to have your hopes crushed and your heart shattered. You only learn after several heartbreaks that the love you can give is limited. Stepping into society gives you more to worry about and love gets more complicated. If there's something I learn about growing up, it's that you gain new perspective towards things as you enter different stages of life, causing these the differences between loving someone as a teenage student and as a working adult.

Falling in love

Then
You don't need a special reason to have a crush on someone. Your crush can be, and usually is, the captain of your school's basketball team, your table partner or someone you've been texting a lot. You look up to him or enjoy his company rather than love him. Your feelings for him are more of adoration than anything else.

Just because you have a crush on him doesn't mean you die die must have him. You don't really know how to chase a guy or attract a guy either — simply bumping into him on school grounds or watching him smile is enough to make your day.

Now
You're falling in love? Good luck battling yourself internally as you struggle to not let your past experiences shape your current relationship. Will you stick to society's norm and let the guy chase you or take the initiative? Which will the guy prefer? Wait, why do you care? Can't you just be yourself?

He's showing interest? Now you worry about whether he's being especially nice to you or he's this nice to everyone. You ask his friends and mutual friends about him in an attempt to know him more because you've seen how ugly a person's true self can be. You give things more time because you don't want to commit till you are 100% sure.

Oh, he genuinely likes you too? Congrats, now you have to worry about whether you have seemingly endless topics (remember that looks alone don't last forever), his family background (you don't want to be called a gold digger if he's rich) and whatnot. There's lots of considerations before you decide to even date him.

Getting together

Then
You like someone and the feeling's mutual? Get together then, what's so difficult about that?  "Ai gia steady mai?" (Literally: Want to be my stead? — an old fashioned Singaporean way of asking someone to be you girlfriend.) No mind games, one sentence solves it all.

You don't have to worry about how long you've known each other or how long you'll be together — relationships that age sometimes last only about a week anyway — as long as you're happy together, who cares if it's infatuation or love? You don't even care if the world is against it.

Now
You test water by bringing him to meet your family and friends — any unanimous unpleasant opinion about him and he's out. By now you know there's a good reason behind the saying "outsiders see it best"

You consider other factors like whether his interests and beliefs are aligned to yours, whether you can accept his weird habits, if the topics between both of you will run out someday. You wonder whether the differences in background and culture, if any, will bring you together or drive you apart.

You look at the people he surrounds himself with — are they good or bad influences, what do they usually do as a group, where do they usually hang out? Do they like you as much as he does? Do you like them too?

Other than feeling comfortable with each other and developing some good feelings, there are so many factors to consider prior to entering another relationship because you're tired of getting hurt.

The future

Then
You have everything planned out from the kind of house you'd like to live in with him to the theme of your wedding. You make plans about your future honeymoon spots, you talk about going through the rest of your lives together and even attend the same universities.

You're hopeful about marriage. You dream of a wedding attended by your family, your best friends and you might even be thinking of throwing a huge, grand wedding to celebrate your love. You swore you'd marry him and proudly declare that on every social media platform you own.

Now
You stopped saying I love you forever because you know now that forever is a promise you can't guarantee even with a marriage certificate, what more when you're just dating. In fact, if he mentions marriage this early in your relationship, you'd be paranoid.

You know that it's not that easy to determine that you want to spend your whole life with someone. You're afraid because you've never been married and you've seen married couples end up in ugly divorces.

You know marriage is not a bed of roses, it's about give and take, you'll learn when is the right time to stand firm and to give in when there's a need to.

You learn to understand and accept some of his bad habits because there's no perfect person in this world and you love him enough to see that his good outweigh his bad.Maybe you even stay in lackluster relationships because they feel comfortable. You're no longer looking for that spark.

Breaking up

Then
You wilted away, spent your whole day mopping around, sobbing your heart out because you can't believe someone you loved with your entire existence can just walk out of your life like this. Spoiler: they can, and they will, and it'll take you many lessons before you learn so.

It feels like your world crumbled and you lost everything you ever know of. You might even take a day or two off school to recuperate because you can't stand the thought of bumping into him in school. When you're back in school, the sight of him is enough to send you wailing and you hide in toilets to cry instead of listening in class.

Now
The sun rises and earth continues spinning whether or not you're going through a break up. Your heart is shattered? Better hold those pieces together till you reach home. Don't even cry on public transport — you don't want potential clients seeing your mess now, do you?

You lost your relationship — that's okay — but you can't lose your job. No matter how swollen your eyes are or how broken you feel, you still wake up at 7am, put up a strong front and head to work. Love is important but it's not everything.

You've been thorough enough break ups by now to know that you'll survive and the darkness does not last forever. You've figured your coping mechanisms out long ago and you know how to handle yourself. Still, you grow a little more despair with every break up because time is ticking and no longer on your side for long.

If you're lucky — or naive, like me — you'd find the courage to love again. And again, and again. Maybe you'll find someone who reminds you of the days when you believed that love is unconiditional and hopefully, you'll learn to shower him with the love he deserves, the love you always wanted to give but was too afraid to.

Love is a strange feeling even the deepest philosopher can't put into words. Maybe thats why the smartest adults are wary when it comes to love.

Nonetheless, I shook off the initial nerves and continued my way to Sunshine City. If you think Singapore MRT is confusing with up to 6 exits sometimes, you haven't been to Tokyo. Ikebukuro itself has almost 50 exits — one wrong turn and you're on the other side of town! The signs were sometimes misleading too, disappearing halfway through my commute. Thankfully, my Japan SIM card (click) worked fine even underground so I gave up following the signs and relied on Google maps instead.


I found it amusing that Japanese were uniformly dressed in black although their shops boast winter coats in a wide array of colours.

Nicole from 99 Percent Hair Studio has been taking care of my hair for the last four months. A lot of my friends, upon seeing the crazy bleaching and dyeing I put my hair through, requested to touch my hair and were pleasantly surprised by how soft my hair still is! I previously dyed my hair a lot on my own and of course, my skills can't be compared to the professionals at 99 Percent Hair Studio and that caused a lot of damage on my hair.


This time, Nicole also identified my scalp problems and customised a scalp and hair treatment for me in preparation for the potential bleaching next month when I change my hair colour. As I face the problem of oily and flakey scalp, Nicole suggested the treatment to reduce clogged pores on my scalp. It's important to do scalp treatment regularly to prevent hair fall problems — the effects of hairfall might not be obvious when we're young but hair fall problems can become increasingly worse as we grow older, resulting in receeding hairline when we age.


Nicole first applied an exfoliating gel treatment, leaving it in for a while. The exfoliating gel, meant to soften the dead cells in my scap for easy removal, gave my scalp a cooling sensation. After which, Nicole gave me a good scalp massage to ensure that my scalp absorbed in the goodness of the exfoliating gel treatment!



After washing my hair, Nicole applied a moisturising mask as hair treatment to my hair because my hair is, expectedly, damaged due to all the bleaching I put it through.


Then finally, after washing off the hair mask, Nicole applied anti hair fall serums on me, which smells amazing! I couldn't stop smelling my hair on my way back because it smelt sooo good ^_^


After the hair treatment, I wasn't supposed to wash my hair for 24 hours. Nicole also shared with me some tips on how to keep my hair shiny and healthy, and how to solve my scalp and hair problems. She cautioned that I might see some flakey dead skin in the next few days, which will be a normal occurence as the scalp treatment was meant to remove my dead skin cells. It's day 4 now, and from my observations, the effect is minimal, definitely not enough for my colleagues to question my scalp problems or even notice.

Doing treatment to your scalp and hair is essential considering you'll be spending your entire life with your hair. The amount of damage we do to our scalp and hair by just going into the sun everyday is unbelievable! If you bleach or dye your hair a lot like me, the condition of your scalp and hair is definitely worse than most people, therefore, a reguar scalp treament is essential to ensure that you don't face hair fall problems when you grow older.

All you have to do is to sit down for an hour doing your own thing and 99 Percent Hair Studio will work their magic on you. Ta-da, you'll have healthy scalp and hair!

99 Percent Hair Studio Price List

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99 Percent Hair Studio
(Facebook / Instagram)

Haji Lane Outlet
Address: 40 Haji Lane, #01-01, 189233
Telephone: 6396 3667
Opens daily from 11am to 8:30pm

Katong Outlet
Address: 42 E Coast Rd, Singapore 428762
Telephone: 6702 7062
Opens daily from 11am to 8:30pm

Orchard Central Outlet
Address: 181 Orchard Road #04-10/11, Orchard Central Singapore, 238896
Telephone: 6238 3667
Opens daily from 11am to 9pm

Email
99percenthairstudio[@]gmail.com