When Malaysia announced a Covid-19 lockdown would take effect on March 18, 2020, Cheesie decided to maneuver to Japan in a “spur of the moment.”
“I purchased the last flight out on the seventeenth. I told myself, ‘If I will be stuck in a lockdown, I desired to be in Japan.'”
The 39-year-old blogger’s love for Japan was evident even before her big move to Tokyo — the Malaysian had traveled to Japan not less than 56 times and covered all 47 prefectures.
It got to a degree where I gave up traveling the world … the more I went to Japan, the more obsessive I got.
“I like Japan very much and really [intensely]. I used to travel to other countries but each time I used to be some place else, I’d all the time be like, ‘Why am I not in Japan as a substitute?'” she added.
“It got to a degree where I gave up traveling the world … the more I went to Japan, the more obsessive I got.”
Cheesie’s love for Japan goes beyond its delicious food and the more tangible elements of its wealthy culture. She said the country’s practices and philosophies have greatly enriched her life, and tells CNBC Make It about three of them.
1. Gratitude
In Japan, it is not difficult to search out something recent to be glad about every day, said Cheesie.
That is since the practice is “rigorously incorporated into day by day life.”
One example of that’s saying “itadakimasu” before you eat, which implies receiving the food in front of you with humility — a way of showing appreciation for everybody involved in its preparation.
And saying “otsukaresama desu” to your colleagues after a protracted day of labor is a option to recognize and thank them for his or her labor.
“These are the small things or gestures that I find really fascinating, and it makes appreciating things quite a bit easier in life,” Cheesie said.
2. ‘Unconditional acceptance’
Cheesie’s love for Japan can be deeply rooted in the way it has taught her to simply accept herself and circumstances.
“Generally, persons are very nice and courteous in Japan. And it is just natural that if persons are nice to you, you may be nice to people,” she said.
“That became the character of my being here — giving and receiving kindness.”
That is an enormous change from who she was — a “very mean self-critic” who all the time thought she wasn’t adequate.
I became a person who I liked. This country modified my life.
“I became a person who I liked. This country modified my life.”
Cheesie shared her experience undergoing 4 days of “Yamabushi training” last yr at Dewa Sanzan, the three mountains in Yamagata Prefecture which can be believed to be sacred.
“In precedent days, it was practiced by monks who lived ascetic life within the mountains,” she said.
“But in modern-day, it’s customized for urban people where they go into the mountains and pray for 4 days without talking.”
Cheesie underwent 4 days of “Yamabushi training” last yr at Dewa Sanzan, the three mountains in Yamagata Prefecture which can be believed to be sacred.
Cheesie
The one word one could utter was “uketamo,” or “unconditional acceptance” of your surroundings.
“Even when it starts raining or you will have no food, you will have to simply accept it. You possibly can only say ‘uketamo,'” Cheesie added.
The “transformative experience” allowed her to master the art of acceptance in life, no matter life’s ups and downs.
“It’s one of the crucial powerful tools that I’ve picked up.”
3. The standard lifestyle
Cheesie, who was previously based in Singapore and Malaysia, said that as compared to Japan — those countries have turn out to be “too modernized.”
In Japan, you may still experience the standard lifestyle in nature, away from the hustle and bustle of cities like Tokyo and Osaka.
For instance, she recently visited Kudaka — a distant island of Okinawa — where she saw islanders catching poisonous sea snakes with their bare hands without netting or tools.
Pictured here is “irabu-jiru”, or sea snake soup, a delicacy from Kudaka island. The poisonous serpent is caught by the islanders’ bare hands.
Cheesie
