chochajin
06 June 2020 @ 05:44 pm
[Hiking]: 2 peaks in one day!~  
Hullo.

As promised I'll share the photos of my hiking trip on Monday.
Monday (June 1st) was a national holiday in Germany and the weather was really lovely.

However, already when I was eating my breakfast they mentioned on the radio that all hiking parking lots in a certain region were completely full.
I did expect it to become busy, but not THAT crazy! Luckily I chose a trip in a different area and I also had prepared two alternatives in case I couldn't find a parking lot at my favorite choice.

As I've mentioned in one of my previous entries, people are parking crazily on the side of streets or on farmer's grass fields etc. Police is doing controls.
I was lucky and found one last parking lot where I could squeeze my car in. Parking is quite expensive, costing 4 €, but I just was informed that because so many people are flocking in this year they'll increase it to 10€. What?
The thing is that it won't stop people from "wild parking" as those people don't pay the fees anyway.
And the 10€ will stay for the entire year? Even off season when just the locals wanna park there? C'mon! :( ....

If I had a bigger car, I'd get a bike mount for my car, would park away from the popular hiking parking lots and just bike the rest of the way.....
Unfortunately I live a bit too far away from most hiking spots to actually go there by bike from home.



The trip itself was really beautiful, though.

I think it might be time to change my LJ layout, so I can finally share wider / bigger photos. 600 pixels is really not big enough, what do you think? ^^; ....

some more photos )



So, to come back to my initial idea.
I think it might be time to finally switch to an LJ layout that allows bigger photos. I know I can just switch the layout of the single LJ post to the standard one while keeping my original layout on my main page.
That would also be nice, because the current layout is quite nostalgic, I've had it for such a long time now.
If I want to switch completely, any idea where I could get a layout from? I haven't changed anything around LJ for ages, so I don't know how easy it would be to do everything manually and I also don't want to spend too much time on it.

Also, a few people said I should just start a new blog about hiking or visiting places in my region.
This idea is actually not new, I already considered doing it together with a friend in 2015 when I was still active on my Japan blog.
But as most of you know my Japan blog has been on hiatus for a very long time now for a REASON. I simply don't have the time to keep it up. It would be the same with another blog ...
I just don't want to sit in front of the computer even AFTER work. That's the main issue here. :/ .....

I hope you enjoy your weekend! ^___^


Bye~chuu
 
 
[mood]: curious
 
 
chochajin
04 March 2018 @ 05:58 pm
Blog updates are keeping me busy!  
Hi everyone!

I'm so sorry for the lack of LJ presence.
I've been insanely busy.
I finally changed the theme / layout of my blog:




I loved my previous one.
As some of you might remember I hammered it into shape myself .... and without a lot of CSS, HTML, PHP or JavaScript knowledge back then ... it took me about 6 months to finalize it.
Obviously I couldn't spent that much time on it again.

Why change it at all you ask?
Read more... )


And the biggest problem is I keep using the blog as excuse to not do ANYTHING else in my life.

Some of you might remember that I was getting better at working out regularly in early 2011. I was at a really good point and was thinking about what to do next ............... and then I started my blog.................. and that was that.

If anybody asks me what I do after work or what I do on the weekends: it's the blog.

I'm clearly unable to do more than one thing.
I'm not sure why but I guess it has to do with my perfectionism.


I always wonder what I'd do if I forced myself not to touch the computer / internet for a week.
Ok, I would probably read manga and watch series instead, but if that's also forbidden?
Uhhh ................

See what I mean??

Maybe at least for a while, I should force myself to leave the blog be and ........... I don't know ... just change things.
Also in hopes that this could help my crappy health......


Ok, that's all for now. ^__^


Feel free to let me know how you like the new theme.
It's not as unique as my old one, I know.
And there's still so much I need to repair and improve....


P.S.: I'm really sorry that I haven't been around much.
I also came down with the flu, so yeah.... *sigh*



Bye~chuu!
Tags:
 
 
[mood]: cold
 
 
chochajin
24 October 2011 @ 11:39 pm
[Life=Blog]: I think I've had enough?!  
Uhm .... yes, I'm still alive. Sort of.

I am aware of the fact that I TOTALLY neglect LJ lately, but I'm just far too busy for an actual life! *sigh*

Good news: My website is almost set and good to go. And it "only" took 4 months ... YAY! Go me!
The layout finally works in all new browser versions.
It doesn't work that well in Internet Explorer 7 and older.

That's why I want to ask you guys one more time:


[Poll #1789287]

I won't be uploading my photos to my webhost, but an image host instead. I'm thinking about going with Flickr and getting a premium account (which I will definitely need - just look at all the photos I've already posted here!).
Do you think that is a good idea? Any other / better options you know of? Please share! :)



Read more... )



Here is a quick "newsticker" as to what has happened in the past (few) months:

Amanohashidate )



There are also a few interesting temples and shrines on the way and on top of the observing platform.

Kobe and Awaji-shima )



Himeji and The Last Samurai )



Alright, that's all for now.
I'm going back to get the server move done and then I'll be busy with travel planning, travelling, winter vacation travel planning etc.
I'm really trying hard here, but I stop promising things I cannot keep. The blog is almost done. All that's left is filling it with content after the server move is done.
Let's hope that you guys won't have to wait so much longer anymore.

P.S.: Thanks so much to all of the awesome people out there who took part in the last poll!

P.P.S.: Is even anybody still out there or did you all run away by now? XD I'd run away, so I can understand. I've been absent for so long anyways.

Until hopefully very soon! CU~chuu
 
 
[mood]: apathetic
 
 
chochajin
25 September 2011 @ 11:55 pm
[Japan Life]: The Zombie is BaCk!~~  
Huuulooooooooooooo~~~~~ *crawls around* ...........

If I sound a bit scary or like a ghost or zombie, then that's exactly what I am recently, I guess.
Thus the lack of posts or being present on LJ at all!! I'm very sorry, but it can't be helped.

I'm back into zombie mode, worse than ever before, I guess.

I've been working on my blog desperately for the past 3.5 months ....... and I'm still not done!
I should have done it like most people do, just start out somehow and work on layout, plugins, javascript and stuff LATER!!??!!! (-___-'') ....

Well, I think I should be done in 1-2 weeks, at least I really, really, REALLY hope so! At first (back in June!!) I thought it would take me 1-2 weeks until I'm done with the layouting and before I can start my actual blog.
After a month or so, I figured how naive I was.
I hate being a perfectionist, this is really annoying!

I hope I have the strength and energy to see this through until the end. Honestly, I'm close to burning out at the moment!
As much fun as it can be to learn new things about Javascript and CSS - I don't really care about these things and just wanna get started.

I've been wanting to quit several times wondering if it's really worth all this work, time, effort and MONEY!!!! ...

Read more... )



Okonomiyaki bread! Absolutely awesome and yummie!!!

Yummie!!!~ )


Alright, that's all for now. No travel photos, no travel entries, nothing. Just confusing zombie mumbling!!!

Sore deha, shitsurei shimasuuuuu~~~~ ヘ(ΘΘ)ヘ
Tags: ,
 
 
[mood]: zombie~
[music]: Kid Rock feat. Sheryl Crow - Collide
 
 
chochajin
08 July 2011 @ 02:57 pm
[Japan Life / Blog Project]: Webhosting, Tanabata, Rainy season  
Hello!

Yes, I'm still alive. I'm soooo sorry that I haven't been around for such a long time. 3 weeks?? Crazy.
First of all I want to thank everybody who took part in the polls and helped me with my blog project.
After that I went into "crazy zombie mode" and have done NOTHING but working on my new project - and still am!

This all turned out to take much longer than expected. My website is up, but far from being publish-ready.
I learned a lot about PHP coding and refreshed my CSS knowledge in the past few weeks. I had a lot of moments where I was about to go crazy as things just didn't work out at all (and that's still going on!)
So exhausting.
Several times I was about to give up.

The biggest issues I had were with my webhosting service anyways, so I'm looking into alternatives now and will change services soon. I hope it will go smoothly.
If you have any webhosting services you can personally recommend, then please do so!
Right now I'm looking into "immotion Hosting" and "WebHosting Hub" as they seem to get the best reviews.
I'm using "iPage" right now and wouldn't recommend it! I chose them because they had good reviews and were high in rankings, but it seems that lately they got worse and worse and a lot of other people are complaining, too. Not just me!


I don't like my life right now.
..... )

Here are some photos I took of hydrangeas. The symbol of rainy season, I guess:



Read more... )



Photo Source: Soraomiagete510



Yesterday, July 7th, was Tanabata (read more about it here), also known as the star festival.
It's not a national holiday and it's not such a big deal. Not all children seem to really care about it - at least from my experience.
At least it's the start of summer festivals now!


Okay, that's it, I guess.
I wanted to wait with travel entries until my new blog is up, but as this takes muuuuch longer than expected, I just keep them coming here for now, although this means double work for me in the end.
Livejournal is just sooooooooooooooooooooo much easier to use!! I almost forgot about how simple things can be!!!! Paradise!!~

Thanks for reading and supporting me!
I'm trying to be a good girl now!
 
 
Current Location: In Zombieland!
[mood]: distressed
 
 
chochajin
10 June 2011 @ 12:19 am
[Japan Life]: My crazy future vision!  


First of all I want to thank YOU all for your encouraging and helpful comments!!
I never thought so many people would react to it as they feel the same as me!!! It seems to be quite a common problem of "our" generation (hope most of you don't kill me now: 30yrs old hag don't throw us all in one pot!! Ahem~)
I was really touched by reading all of your comments. Really, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

This means a lot to me!!
I hope I can give just a little bit of that back to you, but how?
Also, I'm sorry that the next Japan travel entry has to wait a bit due to my ranting. It's on its way, I promise!!

So, like I mentioned in my previous entry I came up with at least "something" I could do.
It's not like I found THE solution. Not at all. However, "Barbara Sher" suggests that you get active in order to move forward. It's the only way to eventually find what makes you truly happy, the only way to find your wishes!

The strange thing is that this is not something that will make you all go WOW! AWESOME IDEA! Never thought you'd come up with something like that!
Actually the contrary might be the case, I'm pretty sure.
When I created my "paradise fantasy job scenario" I wasn't that serious .. I couldn't as I didn't know exactly what I wanted, but what I created looked kind of like this (no drawings as I can't draw ;o; ...):
Read more... )


What??? You wanna blog for money or what??!!
Mmmh, yeah kind of...
I still have a full-time job and almost 1 year left befoe I go back home and then I'll be without any income for a while (probably).
I'm well aware of the chances, but if I could only make a bit of a pocket money to support myself a bit when I'm back in Germany and get to know a few people through that, new doors might open for me, right??


It won't be easy, though.
As much as I'm into it and as much as I've already planned out in my mind, there are TWO things that say loud: NO NO NO!!!

#1: I has no time!
I know that everybody has 24h. I wonder how some people are able to get done so much while I (and many others) can't. It's strange.
An interesting fact that seems to be true for a lot of people is that the more free time you have, the less you actually get done! If your free time is limited, you'll do more! I experienced that myself.
Also, "Barbara Sher" writes about this phenomenon, too.
I wonder why it is like that, though!?!
I want to do my workouts several times a week, study Japanese, work on my blog, randomly browse the internet, learn more about fitness and healthy food, plan out my future, watch things on my laptop etc.
In addition to all the things that I don't want to do, but have to (shopping, cleaning, housework in general etc.) there's just no way I can handle all of this!

#2: Didn't you say you wanted to cut your internet time down??!!!!
Yepp. One reason was that I wanted to have more time to myself where I can focus on my inner voice and figure out what I want to do. Another reason is simply that I turned into a zombie (see previous entry). (I need a zombie graphic! XD)


So why the hell would you want to start (another) blog then
I have no idea. ... )


So, that's pretty much it.
What do you think? I'm open for hard criticism, so go all out!! That's what I appreciate the most.

P.S.: According to Barbara Sher I might be a "scanner". People who are interested in many different things often can't decide on ONE job, one ONE thing they like doing. They end up trying many different things, but never staying with one.
They like reading about something new they're interested in and once they feel they know enough / have read enough, they move on to the next one. This is not entirely true for me, but true enough.
Some of those "scanner" people end up being journalists or something like that. I'm still in the middle of reading that chapter in the book actually, but I thought it might be interested to some of you out there, too, as you are possibly "scanners" as well?
"Scanners" also have a hard time nowadays, because "experts" is what companies want, not people who know a little bit about quite a few topics.
 
 
[music]: Adele - Cold Shoulder
[mood]: annoyed