Dear friend,
I just wanted to give you a life update from Osaka, Japan (where we are living the next month or so):
Why are you in Osaka?
The first question:
“What are you doing in Osaka?”
Currently Cindy is working on her Ph.D in Vietnamese History (the history of the Vietnamese-French Library) and is in her intense writing phase of her dissertation. When we were living in Vietnam, she was doing the research phase of her Ph.D. — gathering materials, photocopying/scanning documents, and coming up with ideas.
For the next year or so, she is going to write her dissertation, and the great thing is that she can write from anywhere. We personally love being in Japan, because it helps us focus to work. We spent about two weeks with her family in Orange County, which was great (eating great food, spending quality time with the family, and producing a new video course on Photography Entrepreneurship which will launch in May). But the downside of living at home is that it is hard to focus on doing work (spending time with family is too much fun).
Why work in Japan?
Reasons for living/working in Japan:
- Quiet: Compared to Vietnam, where construction is loud everywhere, Japan is a quiet paradise.
- Convenient: Family marts (convenient stores) everywhere, day-to-day living is simple. Living in the suburbs, it is difficult to even get groceries without having to drive somewhere.
- Very walkable: We love walking — it is one of my favorite joys, which is also conducive to street photography.
- Novelty: The culture is very different in Japan compared to the rest of the world.
- Food: We love Japanese food (ramen, yakitori, sushi, etc). Also buying meats at the local grocery stores are very cheap, high quality– which makes it easy to cook at home.
- Drinks: We love Japanese beverages (green tea/matcha) which is very cheap here.
Airbnb in Osaka
Currently we are staying in an airbnb apartment in Osaka, and while it is small, we have everything we need here.
We have our coffee (we travel with a ‘Clever‘ dripper), green matcha tea, cacao powder for hot cocoa (highly recommend the ‘Navitas Cacao Powder‘ on Amazon), and our devices to do work.
It is pretty amazing– I am super inspired by how effective the Japanese use small spaces.
For example, the kitchen is tiny, yet you can fit everything in there. All you need is a microwave, an electric hot plate for cooking, a tiny fridge, and a hot water kettle and you’re good.
Even for their bathroom, the faucet for the sink is connected with the shower, which saves so much space.
For sleeping, we have fold-up futon mattresses, which we sleep on in the evening. When we wake up, we fold it up and put the blankets in a corner, which gives us more free space.
Which makes me wonder– how much space do you really need in a home?
I actually prefer living in smaller quarters, and in a small apartment. Everyday life is easier. We wake up, and we don’t need to move very far to make our morning coffee. I actually have discovered I quite like being able to live close to the ground, which allows me to do lots of stretching, yoga, and pushups on the floor.
Also the cool thing about our AirBnb in Osaka, we are right next to the fish market (Kuromon Ichiba Market), which allows us to get fresh sushi everyday (everyday at around 6pm, there are lots of sushi that we can buy for 50% off!)
UJI
Our first week we stayed at a Ryokan (traditional Japanese inn/bed and breakfast) in Uji, Kyoto (one of our favorite places).
Why do we love Uji so much?
Well first of all, the green tea/matcha is amazing there, and we love the quiet-zen of the area. It is a super small town, and walking by the river is such a blissful experience. Words cannot describe the amazing sound of the rushing water, and the peace of just looking at the mountains and the greenery there. If you ever have a chance to visit Japan, definitely stay in Uji for a few days, and make sure to stay at a ‘Ryokan’ (where you can also enjoy the ‘onsen’– the traditional Japanese bath, which is the best way to relax and fall asleep at night).
Our future itinerary
Anyways, this is the basic blueprint of our next few months:
- Now to mid-April: Osaka
- April: Kyoto
- Early May: Tokyo
- June-August: Orange County
- September: Bay Area (series of workshops in San Francisco)
- October to future: ???
Current/Future Projects here in Osaka
While here in Osaka, I hope on doing more fun videos– simple GoPro videos of everyday life here. Also, doing more writing, blogging, and making more slideshows, photos, and beats in garageband. I hope to use this time to do some more philosophical rumination, to hopefully discover more truths about everyday life which can be beneficial to myself and you.
Oh yeah, and how do I like Osaka? Love it. Super cool city, more gritty and the people are friendlier/more down to earth than Tokyo. Also things here are a bit cheaper. Also great city for street photography.
Lots of awesomeness to come! Thank you for always supporting me and Cindy, we will keep you in the loop with everything.
Always,
Eric
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