baguio blog (1)

My Three Trips to Baguio

by with One Comment Travel

Baguio, again? I got that reaction from friends and family. It is because in the span of 13 months, I have been to Baguio three times.

I went to Baguio at end of January 2019. At that time, I read reports about single digit temperatures and it really felt like that. It was that cold that I layered my clothes. Good thing it was a work trip so we stayed mostly indoors. We stayed in Baguio Country Club so staying indoors was not a problem since I got this view.

We had time to go to Mines View to shop for souvenirs and I bought some hand towels and jams.

When I posted a few photos of that trip, I got this comment from my friend, Wela.

Be careful what you wished for.

By March, there was a seat sale for a trip to Manila. It was only 1200++ round trip so off we booked that November Baguio trip to celebrate Shirly’s birthday. This was my second trip to Baguio for that period.

I was really looking forward to this trip because this was Wela’s first trip with friends and my first trip with both of them. Wela and Shirly are my longtime friends. They were my friends since grade school. Even when I went far, far away in high school, we kept in touch through letters. So this trip was special.

Because I am the artsy-fartsy friend, I need to visit something artsy during the trip. We went to BenCab Museum.

I have been to that museum before and I love it there. This is my dream if I have millions of pesos. I will build a gallery, cafe, studio with a nice garden. I put dibs on that idea.

And this is my beef with BenCab. I cannot afford anything I like in the museum but the entrance ticket and the meal in the cafe. Poor me!

We went to another artsy place. I have not been to this place before. This is the Tam-awan Village. The village features the rich culture of the Cordillera. This was also a nice inspiration to that gallery+studio+cafe+garden of my dreams.

Our driver suggested that we visit the Diplomat Hotel. I have no prior idea what the place is all about. It sounds like a spooky place to me but it was day time and Shirly who has been there did not look scared. She even told us that the courtyard was nice. I even had my picture taken at the courtyard.

The hotel was in ruins. If my memory serves me right, it used to be a monastery turned garrison turned hospital turned hotel turned government building and so on. My imagination did not run wild. Not until I posted my photo on Facebook and I get comments about its notoriety. I even watched a Jessica Soho feature and it was about a tourist who captured something on video while on that courtyard. Scary! Now that my innocence (ignorance) has been broken, I declare that that was my last trip to that hotel. Ha!

We went to the Baguio Botanical Gardens. I love flowers so this was a happy place. They have elephant statues which I think is better than riding those poor elephants in Thailand.

I posted this photo of me in the middle of these yellow flowers. My uncle commented in jest that there is a snake beside me.

Fast forward to February 2020, there is a snake beside me! There is an area in the botanical garden with all the Chinese zodiacs. Although I am surrounded by dragon-born friends, I was born on the year of a snake. I am a dragon at heart, snake by birth. Charots.

We also went to the strawberry farm in La Trinidad, ate ice cream and bought some souvenirs

We dropped by the colorful Stoboso houses.

In the evening, we went to eat some cake because it was Shirly’s birthday. We had strawberry shortcake from Vizco’s.

So everybody thought I was done with Baguio. Not quite. I got a message from Uncle Jing that he would be going home to the Philippines in 2020 to attend his 50th college homecoming. Uncle is the husband of my mother’s sister who lives in Canada. He is from Baguio. He would not be able to travel to Butuan to visit us so he suggested we go to Baguio instead. The easiest person to invite to Baguio is me and my cousin, Azenith. I already know how to go to Baguio and Azenith had too many leave credits. So off we went.

On February 1, 2020, Azenith and I traveled to Baguio. We flew to Manila, rode a taxi to PITX . PITX is the new Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange. The terminal is spanking new with modern amenities. It is like an airport terminal. There is a Solid North bus there that travels to Baguio non-stop.

It was already past 6pm when we arrived in Baguio. Look at our tired but happy faces!

We had dinner and went back to the hotel. (But at 9 p.m. , we wiggled our way to the night market at Harrison Road).

Our hotel was along Session Road so I woke up to this view every day in Baguio.

There was free breakfast in this hotel cafe.

And one can eat in this little terrace with this view. We didn’t though. The tables were too small for three people.

Our first day in Baguio was on a Sunday so we attended mass first. The cathedral entrance was a few steps (and three flights of stairs up! ha!) from the hotel.

Off we went to visit The Mansion…

… and Wright Park.

I saw paintings for sale at Wright Park. Should I start selling paintings this way in Guingona Park? Nah, the introvert in me can’t stand socializing with passersby.

Then, off to Mines View Park! I hoarded another set of hand towels. I think I have expressed before that there was nothing to see at Mines View Park. The view deck is narrow and crowded and the mountains there do not look magnificent but still I took a selfie because I wasted time to go up there. I might as well get something out of it.

It was Azenith’s first trip to Baguio so I brought her to the tourist traps. Ha! She looked stunning compared to my toothy grin.

Lunch was in the Vanilla Cafe at the Kamiseta Hotel. I read beforehand that Kamiseta Hotel serves buffet breakfast and lunch on weekends. Since we already have free breakfast at the hotel, I wanted to have lunch there. I wanted to see their sunroom with the colorful chairs and fancy decors that are easily associated with Vanilla Cupcake Bakery. If you happen to see their branches in Manila, this is the expanded version of the cafe.

This should have been my logo, don’t you think? Double K and a flower since I love botanical art. But then again, I use K squared for a logo because long before my math was at that level, my father already taught me what it meant and integrated it in my signature. Now, I multiply life by the power of two. Charots. (In case you do not know, it is a line from a song.)

We went to the botanical garden after. It was a quick walk from the Kamiseta hotel.

I want to have a canopy of bougainvillea in my dream garden. This is the inspiration.

On the second day of the trip, we went to Atok, Benguet. I wanted to see the Northerm Blossom Flower Farm. It was a Monday. I chose that day to avoid the weekend crowd but, alas, the farm was closed for maintenance every Monday. I did not know that. So, we went to other spots in Atok instead. We went to the highest point of the Halsema Highway. This used to be the highway with the highest altitude in the Philippines (until last year, the Kiangan-Tinoc-Buguias Road in Ifugao snatched that title).

This is the awesome sight from the view deck. Behind those clouds is Mt. Pulag, the highest peak in Luzon.

On my left is Mt Timbak.

We went to Bosleng Grotto after. The view was majestic- a far cry from the crowded Mines View Park.

On our way to the grotto, we passed by cabbage farms.

To maximize our trip since we were not able to see Northern Blossoms flower farm, we visited Haights Place. There were not much flowers so I insisted to have my picture taken among the snapdragons…

… and alstromelias.

This place is also where those cherry blossoms from Japan were planted. They are expected to bloom in a few years. I now have two reasons to go back to Atok- cherry blossoms and flower farm.

This trip was already my fourth trip to Baguio in my lifetime and I have not tried strawberry picking. Or should I say I do not have a photo of me picking strawberries until this time. Ha! Voila!

I spied another way of displaying and selling paintings.

After this, we drove back to Baguio city. We rested and took a stroll around Burnham.

The Panagbenga Parade was cancelled due to the coronavirus scare but the garden landscape entries were slowly being set up.

We had dinner and went back to the hotel to pack.

We left at 9 a.m. the next day.

Bye, Baguio! You are lovely. Hope to see you again someday!

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More Digital Illustrations in 2020!

by with No Comment Creativity

It is January 4. It is already 2020 and I still feel sluggish. I think I needed a break from the holiday break.  I probably feel this way because I was still working until December 27 at 11:57 p.m. emailing my report to the client. I was the one who chose that deadline so I should be able to commit to it. I put pressure on myself and I barely made it. I submitted in the nick of time.  So since then, I was embracing my free time- waking up late. I scheduled activities late in the afternoon like paying bills and meeting friends.

I had so many wonderful plans to jumpstart the New Year. I planned to wake up early and start walking. I planned to start cleaning up my room.  I planned to do more art. I planned to write my pending blog posts.  I was reading people’s posts about their past 10 years. I think I had an interesting 2010s and I wanted to write about it but it meant digging up photos and memories. I could not continue without shedding a tear.  I spent the past ten years of my life without my parents and I was able to survive it unscathed but with a lot of inner struggles.  It would take time for me to write about that so I decided to write about something else. (Galing ng segue ko. Ang haba ng sinabi. LOL) Oh, well. Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.

So, let me write about this new art form I tried the past year- digital illustration.  People who know me know that I do a lot of watercolor paintings. I love doing it but it is something I do with intent and the intention is to do it well. So I take my time. Every output I do is planned. I try not to commit mistakes because my art materials are expensive. (Don’t tell my Tita.) I cannot just paint and then throw them away after just because I did not feel good about them.  This made digital illustrations attractive to me. For the times I feel like doing art and I cannot commit them on paper, I can do digital illustrations. I can always erase, edit and redo digital illustrations. And to do that, I use Adobe Photoshop since I am most comfortable with that application.  I just needed to practice the pen tool.  This game is very helpful in getting me acquainted and be at ease with the pen tool. https://bezier.method.ac/

My first digital illustration was this anemone. I think I only drew two flowers and tried to create patterns. This is the pattern in one square.

And when you try to put multiple squares side-by-side, the flowers connect. Cool, eh?

I needed inspiration in doing digital illustrations so I turned to Instagram. I followed illustrators and hashtags. I found out that there was an illustration challenge running at that time. It was #urbanjungleweek. Those who want to join were asked to create an illustration interpreting the prompt of the day. There were prompts given like succulents, park, edible and wild.

This is what I made for succulents. Since I was new to digital illustration, it took me the whole day to finish this one. I was using the track pad of my laptop. Dragging and clicking were tests of the dexterity of my fingers. Ha! I liked the way it turned out.

The next prompt was park. I am bad at drawing people so I only drew a girl on a swing. This is such a lonely park. Haha

The prompt here was edible. Those who organized this challenge may have meant this prompt as edible plants. I interpreted it as any food. When I did this, I was on low-carb diet so I was deprived of all these yummy goodness.

This ‘wild’ prompt was just a mishmash of wild plants.

When the #urbanjungle challenge was over, I was compelled to practice more so I did an interpretation of a Bailey Zindel photo, a digital illustration of hydrangeas and a landscape scene of Dinagat (since I just came from a vacation then).

I also joined the flora and fauna challenge in August and the prompts were water, tropical, mountain, desert and forest. These were my outputs.

I love these challenges because I get to practice and I also get to see what others did by clicking the hashtags on Instagram.

So for 2020, I hope to join more challenges, improve the skills and expand my illustration portfolio.

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How I Painted My Biggest Piece to Date and Why it Took Me Almost Three Months to Display it

by with 5 Comments Creativity

Or maybe we should call this the post with the longest title!  Ha!

My art journey is slow and steady. I do not get to do art as much as I like this year but whenever I find pockets of time, I try to do one piece.  To keep the inspiration burning, I try to immerse myself in the creative world by visiting museums and exhibits in between leisure and work trips.  I also try to observe my surroundings, be in the moment and find inspiration around me.

I found that pocket of time in August, right after my trip to Baler.  This idea has been brewing in my head for some time. I wanted a piece of my own art in my own wall. I already bought my A1 size watercolor paper in June. My plan was already in motion. To visualize an A1 paper, it is 8 times the size of an A4 paper. Arrange two rows of four A4 paper in portrait orientation to get an A1 size paper.

So for a size that big, what should I paint? No question, it has to be something botanical.  I have files of plants and flowers I wanted to paint. I always check those files for inspiration. I decided on succulents because it is an ode to my inability to grow them.  I have tried growing them several times before. They always die. Painting them is the best alternative.

Painting a large piece requires me to allot space in my dining/office table.

Painting is really therapeutic. It feeds my soul so I always take my time. I do not hurry.  It is a pleasurable experience for me so I savor the moment.  (Ang drama ko! Haha)

What I enjoy most about painting succulents is that there are different varieties. It was an exciting process to paint the details of the different varieties.

Painting can be a cerebral process when you try to decide how you are going to add depths to the piece and where to add those specks to show texture and dimension.

Painting is an exercise of planning skills.  Since I taped the edges of the paper unto my table, I covered the piece with sheets of bond paper every time I was not working on it. I always emptied my water cup and placed my palette away from the table to avoid mishaps.  (Imagine this scenario: a lizard walking on my palette and over my painting. I do not want that to happen.)

I also used these pieces of paper to cover painted areas to prevent myself from touching those areas.

Painting tested my EQ, which I know I barely have. My initial plan was just to finish this with a white background.  This is supposedly the finished painting.

But no matter how I want to avoid mishaps, this happened. No use crying over spilled paint, right?  

So I added other details little by little.

I added more succulents until I was finally done with this finished piece.

I sent this to the framer and I finally have my own painting in my living room.

Well, not quite.

Since this is a watercolor painting on paper, this was framed behind a glass to protect it from the elements.   Large painting + glass= heavy painting.  So I kept the painting on my sofa reinforcing it with pillows. I was still trying to figure out how to hang this heavy painting.  I thought of buying brackets and additional screws but I was not able to find time to go to a hardware store.

Let me say that painting can be a test for AQ- Adversity Quotient. I recently learned about AQ from my smart friends. An adversity quotient is a score that measures the ability of a person to deal with adversities in his or her life.  I must admit that I have a really low EQ but I think I have a reasonable AQ score.

So here is the story. The painting had been sitting on my couch for weeks. My aunt kept asking me when am I going hang my painting but I was busy so I never had time.  One fine Sunday, my friends came for a visit. We were waiting for another friend.  (I feel like I am writing a blind item of some chismis column! Ha.) When the friend came he/she went to sit on the couch.  Our dog, Christian, was barking hard because he saw a new face. I directed him to smell the new visitor so he would feel at ease but instead of smelling, he jumped at the visitor prompting the visitor to lean back. Then I heard the cracking sound of my breaking heart chos of the glass.

I looked at my friend’s back and I saw no blood.  I was relieved.  My friend was apologetic. I told my friend not to worry about it too much as I do not have attachment to things.  Attachment to people, yes.  Chos! (Notice my effort of not identifying my friend.)

This is where my high adversity quotient comes in. (Buhat sariling bangko moment?)  It was easy to just have it re-framed but I would still have the same predicament as before. How do I hang the heavy frame?  Many watercolor artists have the same dilemma as me. How does one frame the painting without the glass? Glass is heavy and it adds glare when you tried to view the painting. A quick Google search led me to a painting technique-  apply cold wax. Cold wax is a substance often used to oil paintings as a medium and sealant.  Apparently, you can use it for watercolor paintings.

So when I went to Japan, I looked for cold wax from an art store there and they did not have it.  When I went back to Manila, I also went to Fullybooked and Art Bar but they did not have it.

I finally found an online store that carries it. Yay! I also bought a fixative as a backup.  I had work for the month of November so the wax application was put on hold.

Finally I found some free time in the first week of December so I worked on applying the wax. At first, I used a cleaning cloth to apply the wax but it seemed like the product was absorbed by the cloth .

So I used the best tool in the world- my hands. It really was easier to use my fingers because I could feel which part of the surface still needed to be waxed.

Waxing made the colors pop and it protects the surface from the elements. Plus, I did not have to buy brackets. The painting was light and easy to hang.


 Look at that!

I have finally decorated my living room for Christmas and hanged my painting!

All’s well that ends well.

atmanilaart01

My Inspiration Cup Overflows at ManilArt 2019

by with One Comment Creativity

Whenever I visit Manila, I always try to do something worthwhile other than being stuck in traffic or trapped in a blackhole like a mall. I guess the Universe (or Facebook and Instagram algorithm, haha ) really knows what I enjoy that this sponsored ad appeared on my feed. When I saw this, my artsy fartsy heart did a happy dance.

The art fair was around the time I was in Manila after that Japan trip. I was able to drag my friends to SM Aura to see the artworks. I am thankful that these friends always say yes to my requests to accompany me to activities I enjoy. I always prefer experiences over shopping. The only shopping I always find myself having a hard time resisting is shopping for art materials, notebooks and pens.

ManilArt is dubbed as the country’s biggest visual arts fair and it was!

Ok, before I bombard this piece with lots of praises for the art fair, let me tell you first about something I hated. No, hate is a strong word. Something I dislike. No, more like something that makes me freak out deep inside my being. Ha! In the Japan trip, my friend, Gail, would have a heightened spider radar whenever we were surrounded by trees while I would have an unnamed creature alarm in my system whenever It gets dark and there is a grass. So at SM Aura, my alarm system is on rest because we are inside a mall. It was in the afternoon. There was no grass. Not! As soon as I stepped inside the hall, my eyes went straight to a large art installation of more than two dozens of the unnamed creature I feared most. I think it was some sort of a statement about the quest of finding a prince. (May time pa talaga ako magexplain no?) I quickly walked to the next set of display.

Good thing the next display area was awe-inspiring that I forgot about that frightening installation. This artist immediately became my favorite among all the artists showcased in ManilArt. Say hello to the works of Roel Obemio.

This is entitled”After the Girl with a Pearl Earring”. It is his take on a popular Vermeer painting but injected with modern theme.

He made the same approach with Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”. He named this “After Venus”.

Here are his other works.

Roel is from Cagayan de Oro. Yay! A fellow Bisaya! (Feeling close agad, Kat! LOL) Anyway, he used to work for the Philippine animation studio of Hanna-Barbera (Yogi bear, Flintstones, Scooby Doo). I can see the influences in his storybook kind of paintings.

The amazing thing is that all his paintings had a dot in the labels. His paintings sold out!

Since I could no longer buy his paintings (kasi wala ka namang pambayad, Kat), I just opted to have my picture taken with the paintings. (Palusot!)

This series is cute. The characters are wearing Filipiniana but with a twist. One is holding a designer handbag. Another is holding a paintbrush. The last one is wearing a Minnie Mouse hat while holding McDonald’s french fries.

I will give you a run-through of all the other works (from other artists) that I love.

This is Shirly’s favorite painting because she is a coffee lover. This is Francis Nacion’s work. I love his colorful painting plus his paintings are in these gorgeous custom frames made by skilled carvers from Pampanga.

There are sculptures in the art fair. Can you see us in that piece in the wall?

Ramon Orlina’s glass sculptures are also in display but I stayed away because I was afraid I might accidentally bump the display. It would truly give me a heart attack if that happened.

I always gravitate towards realism. This one is made by an Iranian artist, Ali Esmaeilipour. I am a fan of Araceli Dans’ lace in paintings and that lace in Ali’s work reminded me of Dans.

I like how Ram Mallari was able to create a work of art from scrap metal.

Here’s my friend, Gail, looking at the details of Arnica Acantilado’s work.

This one is a take on John William Waterhouse’s painting of the Lady of Shalott from a poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson. The difference from the original is that there is no child in the boat and no floating lantern in the Waterhouse painting. It is interesting how this painting is also an inspiration in Ghibli. I saw a print of this painting inside the museum. Ghibli artists studied the works of Waterhouse to understand how he used colors.

This is a lovely bronze sculpture. I forgot who made this.

This is Argee Dacuyan’s ” Mag-iisang Tatanda” and “Nag-iisang Ilaw”. Ouch!

I stalked spied Romulo Galicano talking to some art patrons. I could have walked up to him and asked for a photo but he might start talking about art and discover that I am a poser. LOL. I do not know how to talk art so I just observed from afar.

This is his work.

It is fit for a museum. It is called ‘Ominous’. It is his take on the aftermath of Yolanda. That beautiful lady is mother earth struggling with the devastation. The angel of death is in the background. At first glance, it is a beautiful painting but after you have seen the details, it is also a sad, sad one. I think that is the purpose of art – to stir your soul.

I like happy paintings so after looking at all the pieces, Roel Obemio is still my favorite artist in ManilArt2019.

But my favorite painting is Efren Carpio’s Prutas. I think I have sent a photo of this piece to a lot of friends because I think the concept is really clever.

Did you get what it is all about? I remember older people telling me before that if I swallow a santol seed, the tree would grow inside my body. Efren Carpio was able to tell that story in this painting. Clever!

My takeaway at the ManilArt: The Philippine Art Scene is exciting. My inspiration cup overflows.

Hope to see this art fair again next year! Behind me are JP Pining’s works.

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How We Spent Two Days in Tokyo

by with 2 Comments Travel

This is the last of a series of blog posts about my trip to Japan. First part can be found here. Second part, here.

After more than 3 hours of traveling by bus from Niigata, we arrived at the Ikebukuro station in Tokyo. We dropped by Don Quixote, a retail blackhole (ha!), for a bit since Gail needed to look for something. Off we went to Ueno where our hotel was located.

This is our hotel. They must have ran out of appropriate paint color. LOL

Hotel is still a little cramped but it was clean and there was a fridge so we’re fine.

We wanted to go somewhere that day but we did not have enough time. We decided to just find a place to eat. We found this place that has a vending machine for orders. One would have to push a button to choose and order, insert the bills and get the receipt.

We gave the receipt to the server inside and after a few minutes, our order was served.

After we finished eating our dinner, we roamed around the area and found out that the Ameyoko market was just around the corner. We did not find anything interesting so off we searched for the nearest Don Quixote which was a few blocks away. After some retail therapy, we went back to the hotel ready to call it a day.

We really do not have a very tight schedule for our first whole day in Tokyo, we just chose places we wanted to visit like the Imperial Palace, Uniqlo Store at Ginza, Hachiko at Shibuya, Sekaido (art store) at Shinjuku then back to Ueno for the zoo and park. We agreed that we would just visit what we could cover for the day. We took a leisurely pace. Tita na kami kasi.

First stop was the Imperial Palace. We rode the train to the Tokyo Station.

As soon as we reached the station, we looked for a place to eat. We think that there were better choices in a train station than outside. We found this place that served breakfast sandwiches so we quickly settled to the available seats.

Look there is a bucket under every seat for a place to put your bags.

Off we went the Marunouchi exit of the Tokyo station. Just before we exited, we looked up and the ceiling was beautiful.

This was the reason why Grace reminded us to take this exit and when we were already outside, we should not forget to look back. This is what the station looks like outside. Just beautiful.

When we crossed the street, there was this commemorative installation for the Rugby World Cup that was being held in Japan that time.

After we had enough photos, we walked our way towards the Imperial Palace grounds. I thought we would be able to see the palace from the grounds. I guess not.

So we took a few photos in the palace grounds area and we are off to Ginza!

Google told us that it was 17 minutes away by foot. We also got to pass by Hibiya park.

I love how there were pockets of greens in between concrete jungles in Tokyo.

So what is in Ginza? The largest Uniqlo store in the world!

There are 12 floors and I was only able to buy 1 thing- thermal undergarment because it was on sale. It was already fall/winter season and I live in a tropical country so nothing caught my fancy. Plus, I was on a limited budget. We also kept on computing because prices were more or less the same as the ones in Manila.

This is the view from the top!

After going through all the 12 floors in Uniqlo, we were off to Shibuya.

I just needed to visit Hachiko at least once in my lifetime.

And since we were already in Shibuya, we might as well cross one of the busiest intersections in the world.

We went to Shinjuku afterwards to check out an art store. This was my special request. And we had difficulty in finding the store and just when I was so ready to give up, it was just in front of me all those times. Naks! I was meant to get those paint tubes, notebooks and pens. Rationalizing the purchase.

I guess we lost track of time because by the time we reached Ueno, the zoo was already closed. We will just have to visit it next time. We trekked back to our hotel after we had dinner. We had to pack. We would be checking out of our hotel the next day. And the highlight of our Tokyo trip was also scheduled the next day.

Our last day in Japan would be spent at the Ghibli Museum! And somebody was prepared to go there. Look at her earring.

Ever since Grace went to the Ghibli museum with her kids, I wanted to go there too. I know nothing about Ghibli until Grace mentioned it and I caught up with 4 Ghibli movies since then. I know. I needed to catch up.

It was difficult to get those entrance tickets. One needs to book a month in advance. We tried to book online at the specific time and date when tickets were available but the website crashed on me. I messaged Grace about it so she called her local Lawson office and personally bought the tickets for us. Whew! When I checked the website a day after, the tickets were sold out!

We had a specific time when to enter the museum- 10 a.m. The museum was 45 minutes away so we checked out of the hotel at around 7 a.m. We had to leave our luggage at the lockers at the Keisei Ueno station where would ride the train to Narita later that day.

To reach Ghibli, we had the option to go to Mitaka station and ride the Ghibli bus or take the Kichijoji sation and walk. We took the Kichijoji route because we saw that there was a Catholic church along the way. I traveled with a saint so we needed to visit a church. Kidding aside, it was a nice way to be thankful for our trip.

The church was tucked away behind a building which we first thought was the church.

You know you are in the right place when you can understand what is written in the sign.

Our walk from the church to Ghibli was an easy one because we passed through the Inokashira Park. Gail was on heightened alert because trees meant spiders between tree trunks. Hehehe

There were directions on which way the museum was. It was hard to get lost.

We saw the Ghibli bus that we did not take because we opted to walk.

We finally reached Ghibli. This is not the entrance yet.

We turned to the other corner and we found a line! We arrived 20 minutes before it opened and there was already a line. I was looking at the people and told Gail, “So these are our competitors in getting the tickets!” LOL

Photography was not allowed inside the museum.

All I can say is that Ghibli artists are so creative and detailed. They would label each color they used in the illustrations so every frame you see in their movies are perfectly made. There are notes on how each frame was made. If you are into illustration and art, the place is very inspiring. I was happy to visit Ghibli. My inspiration cup overflows. Thank you, Grace, for securing the tickets for us and for introducing Ghibli to me!

Our last destination before we headed for the airport was this pancake place. Grace told us to try this place while we were planning our trip. It was a short walk from Ghibli. So as a celebration of this trip, we splurged a little in this place. We ordered a meal and a dessert. Yes, a pancake meal and a pancake dessert. Yummy fluffy pancakes!

As I was trying to finish my meal, another set was waiting for me to devour. I shared this with Gail, by the way.

What a way to end a trip to Japan! I hope to go back!