“The best camera is the one that’s with you.”

– Chase Jarvis

This post is a bit belated, but I was going through old iPhone photos recently and got nostalgic for my trip to Japan last year. My family visits almost every summer, but last year was extra special as it was for my grandmother’s 88th birthday. I almost always bring my big ole SLR on trips, but there are times it gets tiring to carry it around, to make sure I’m traveling safely with it, to have it out and ready for those quiet or exciting or inspirational moments that I want to remember most. So this time around I left it at home, wanting to focus on spending time with my family and grandmother, to travel a bit lighter, to savor the moments in our home away from home.

All the images below were therefore shot (and edited) with my camera phone. It of course doesn’t have the capabilities and control of my fancier camera, but how that particular moment felt? That’s all still there. I took snapshots of things I have been seeing since I was 5 years old, but never photographed before – the bright kitchen in my grandmother’s home,
the tiny tatami room my sister and I always sleep in,
the cute houses along their street,
the yakitori stand we always visit.

My mom wanted to mix things up a bit this time, so we actually took a quick overnight trip to a cozy fishing town as well, and stayed at a family-owned bed and breakfast. They served us ridiculously fresh sashimi from fish they caught in the ocean basically outside their door, and vegetables they picked from the nearby hills, and we basically ate our weight in seafood.

Hope you enjoy this peek into our trip…

{ more iphone photos on my instagram here | see more travel photos here }

Our overnight trip to Shimoda…

This is going to sound ridiculous, but Denny’s is one of my MOST FAVORITE places to eat in Japan. Check out that menu! Those parfaits!

It is always a heartbreaking thing to hear of a natural disaster and see the resulting aftermath occurring somewhere in the world. But when it’s a place you’ve set foot in and lived, where you’ve met the people and created ties and formed friendships, where currently so many of your family members and friends reside, it most definitely hits closer to home.

I’ve been watching the news and viewing photos with a heavy heart, finding myself brought to tears by the devastation that has happened to such a beautiful country, one that showed me so much warmth and kindness, and offered me so many wonderful memories along the way. But I’ve also found my spirits soaring as amazing articles about hope and tenacity surface, hearing inspiring stories of survivors, of the coming together of a nation, of the kindness shared among strangers, the smallest gestures of people doing whatever they can for the person next to them (this one is especially heartwarming).

And though it is can be a horribly helpless feeling viewing it all from thousands of miles away, wishing you could go help dig through the rubble with your own hands, stories of hope and help come from this side of the ocean as well.

I am excited to share with you this amazing relief effort put together by some wonderfully big-hearted friends. For Japan with Love is a donation drive set up by Ever Ours and Utterly Engaged, who handpicked Shelterbox {with volunteers already in Japan providing shelter and goods} as the organization to donate to. They have also set up a “Bloggers Day of Silence” for tomorrow, in honor & respect for what has happened in Japan. This fundraiser has seen a shockingly overwhelming response, with over $18,000 raised in just a few days.

Any small amount helps. You can visit the site and read more here.

日本のために祈る。

Where to begin? It felt so good to be back to visit and the trip unfolded beautifully! Being in Japan during the cherry blossom season is really an amazing thing. You go the whole year walking under and passing by trees that you don’t even realize are cherry trees, until spring comes and every tree around you suddenly becomes a bursting spectacle of light pink blooms. They only last a week, and we managed to fly in just as they were reaching their peak and the blossoms were starting to fall (which is the truly magical part!) In addition to soaking in the cherry blossom splendor, we experienced Tokyo’s luminous nightlife, inhaled the most amazing foods (ramen, katsu, okonomiyaki galore!), shopped til we dropped (Japan is definitely the land of colorful scarves – I somehow limited myself to three new additions), saw family and friends, and enjoyed the perfect weather. The humid summers can be brutal and we already know how I feel about cold winters, but the spring weather was juuuust right.

Although I was SO ready to come home 3 years ago after my year of living there, this past week reminded me that I could definitely fall in love with Japan all over again. Can’t wait to go back!

Peeking outside our hotel room, at the fabulous Hotel Pacific Tokyo. Highly recommended if you’re ever in the Tokyo area!

My little sis:

Crepes in Harajuku:

Businessman + Rob + sister on the train:

The flower shops in Japan are amazing! So many cute little plants and the most adorable and whimsical flowers! I SO wished I could pack them ALL in my suitcase and bring them home.

Asakusa:

With my sis & my mom – any resemblance? :)

A part of my heart was definitely left at LOFT – an amazing 6-story home goods store that had everything you could ever need in life:

Ueno Park – we rented a row boat!

In Kamakura we had a scrumptious meal of maguro over rice, cold udon, and mochi tempura. That’s right my friends, MOCHI!!

We landed back in LA on Sunday, took a quick nap, and then jetted off to an engagement session. I’m SO excited to share the images from the session with you – the location was breathtaking and the couple is just the sweetest! Stay tuned!