nemuibibliophile

[nemuibibliophile]

Hello, Tumblr shown me a post of yours in a community I'm not part of, but if you're still considering visiting Tohoku/areas north of Tokyo, I can give you some suggestions, if you like! I used to live up there.

First, there's a JR Pass focused on northern Japan only, and imo it's more cost-effective than the all-around JR Pass. I'd definitely consider it if you plan to travel very far in the north, because the distances are pretty long in some cases. Also, you might be able to catch one of the tourism trains in the area (JR Joyful Trains, I think they're called)

Just off the top of my head, some popular places are...

In Tochigi Prefecture (not Tohoku, but north of Tokyo): Nikko World Heritage site (Tobu railways has a travel pass from Tokyo, I think), Tobu World Square,, Ashikaga Flower Park

In Niigata Prefecture (not technically Tohoku, but close enough, and accessible by Joetsu bullet train): Echigo-Yuzawa Onsen area, Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (maybe by bus tour, much easier) + Tunnel of Light, Ponshukan (sake sampling in certain bullet train stations, remi ds me of Baskin-Robbins), Northern Culture Museum...

In Fukushima (they spent 10 years working hard to clean up after the nuclear meltdown, and only the area nearest the reactors is now closed - they have solar-powered Geiger counters here and there, I think, if you wanted to check...): Spa Resort Hawaiian, Aizu-Wakamatsu (samurai school Nisshinkan, former samurai home Bukeyashiki, castle), Kitakata (ramen), Ouchijuku (bit like Shirakawago), Soma (more samurai culture, +horses), Urabandai (outdoor activities), Oze National Park (nature)...

In Yamagata: Ginzan Onsen, Mt. Zao, Yamadera mountain temple

In Akita: Kakunodate (samurai neighborhood + homes, sakura spot)

In Iwate: Morioka (wanko soba, reimen - not ramen - noodles), Sanriku coast (nature, memorials & museums about the 2011 tsunami)

In Miyagi: Sendai, Matsushima Bay (nature), Naruko Gorge (autumn color spot)

In Aomori: Nebuta Wa-Rasse museum (for cool local festival floats), Hachinohe (morning market, also has a cool local festival) + Tanesashi Coast, Hirosaki (castle, samurai culture), nature & resorts around Lake Towada, delicious apple & seafood products...

I've barely visited Tochigi, Iwate, Akita, and Miyagi, and I haven't been to Yamagata at all, so I'm sure I've missed some things

Have a nice trip!

the much needed details, I am almost lost with where and what to look out for Autumn but thanks for the respective areas and what to look out for. I am not sure about going to Fukushima, because of all the tsunami videos i've watched despite it happening 11 years ago. But you know what I might look into it more. Thank you so much for the information I really appreciate it

[nemuibibliophile]

Okay so the follow up, the story about how I adopt my son, a Maine Coon tabby mix of 5 years old. I received an IG dm from my cousin's wife who informed me that her cousin is giving her cat of 5 years to whoever is willing to adopt from her. Like I mentioned before, I wasn't really keen on getting a cat especially when it is already an adult at 5 years old because my first cat, Didie was a kitten and was with us for 14 years before she passed of old age and cancer.

So I wanted a long relationship, one that would grow old with me and not leave me much sooner. Also one I can train from young, like the pram and body leash and what not.But after much questions, like his personality, his health and what not. I decided to adopt him. His photo is the one that called out to me but knowing a lot of details form the previous pawrent, made me aware that his pawrent has actual no intention to give him away at the first place.

When we finally arrived there, my sister and her boyfriend went with me to collect Nikko ( his pawrent called him Niko) from them. We were all smiles until it was time we wanted to bring him back to our homes.

His pawrent wanted to close him into the carrier, but ran into the kitchen and cried. She then, carried him into the carrier the second time at which she then ran into the kitchen the second time and cried. It was awkward and hard for me because I lost my cat so I know how it must have felt for her and it was hard because her mother kept asking if she was alright and if she was sure and she kept nodding. The third time, she finally closed the carrier door with Nikko in but she asked if she could take pictures of Nikko before we leave at which I agreed (internally I was reluctant because the whole situation is awkward and tough but I understood that she truly loves Nikko, we still keep in touch by the way because I felt like it was a responsibility to let her know how her beloved pet is doing with me) . The fourth time , she finally closed the door after the photo taking which made me wonder because her mom was reluctant to take photos with her daughter. My intuition made me feel something is amiss because when I was on WhatsApp with her daughter, her daughter who is the pawrent agreed to pass to me his food, litter, litterbox and toys and whatnot but her mom threw away his toys, what's left of the litter and his food bowl which left me with an empty litter box, and food. Her mom asked the pawrent what to do because she threw away and I was like why would you throw those before completing the adoption process.

The pawrent is obviously not listening because she was clearly devastated.

When I finally took Nikko to the car, on the way down the elevator, I cried dramatically because I felt how she felt to lose a cat. The first night he was with me, he was stressed and after a few days, he is a trouble maker whom we loved.

When I messaged his pawrent, I said that it doesn't seem like your idea to give away Nikko because Nikko happens to be her beloved pet, the one closest to her and follows her because maine coon is a loyal cat.

To find out that her mother was the one who gave this young pawrent an ultimatum to give away both of her cats in 2 weeks because her mum had enough of the second cat making a mess with the poop and cleanliness issue. Imagine after 5 years, she blew.

So there you go the story of how I met my son who now pisses me off cos he is trying to escape from a pram and somersaulting in it which causes him to almost choke himself. Sigh

[nemuibibliophile]

The first cat I got was a stray kitten, a mixed breed of Siamese and tabby or Tonkinese ( as my sister likes to claim) . We had her for close to 14 years and passed away on August 22nd,2024 due to old age and mainly cancer. She was this ball of feisty energy at home and when she passed at almost 2 in the morning, me and my sister cried hard and long. We had surgery to remove her cancerous tumours but I felt like I could do more. I felt like I overestimated myself to be a good parent to my cat, that I let her down or downright abused her. This guilt is still on my shoulders to this day and the heaviness of it is really no joke.

My brother told me to be financially stable before adopting a cat again but I was not able to move on with my life without one. I have survived without a companion until April 2025 but the emotional sadness of being home but without a furry love is hard. I couldn't go to any cat fair without crying because I missed her and felt the social disparity between a cat parent and side character who needs to ask someone's permission to stroke the cat. A privilege that I used to have.

So, I went around messaging and whatsapping my friends, my colleagues, my ex colleagues and families including my cousins' spouses and without expecting much, I soon forgot the messages I've sent. Where i am from, the rules to owning cats are now much stricter compared to when I had my cat, Didie before she passed. Now, if we are to adopt from pet shelters and from fosters; they need to view our homes and check if our home's windows and door gates are meshed to prevent cats jumping out from high rise homes and escaping the home and not able to survive in the outside world where they are exposed to disease and what not. I understand the sentiments behind it but before I could own a cat I would have had to pay for 2-3k just to fix up the windows and gates. That does not even guarantee me a cat, because it could take months before we could officially welcome a cat into our home.

So there are only two alternatives left, which is to adopt a stray cat outside or to buy a pedigreed cat from catteries. I do not fancy pedigrees, because I love the weird fur colours stray kittens or cats can bloom into once they grow up well fed and nurtured in a healthy environment. It's like nature's blind box because you have no idea what kind of cat you will get. Secondly, the pedigrees are expensive and very predictable of the kind of cats we could get. The most popular breed right now from where I am from, is a ragdoll, followed by russian blue , british short hair but the catteries here do offer Maine coon, Persian and Bengal.

So when my cousin's wife IG dm me about this cat that his previous owner urgently needed to give away , I went to ask her more about him. I wasn't actually thinking of adopting the cat but I felt sad that the cat was given away after 5 years and when I imagined doing that to Didie despite never having done that before, I cried. So after asking so many questions, I decided to take him in.

It was hard adopting a cat out of a family who really loves him but his previous pawrent was given 2 weeks to give away her 2 cats by her mom which I will probably share this another day.

He is my son now, Nikko ( used to be Niko) a Maine Coon tabby mix and he is 5 years old in cat years but 36 in human ones. He is super gentle and quiet, like eerily quiet because I accidentally stepped on him and he just jumped without noise. I am training him for a bit to get used to body suit and pram. We will need to take him out to get used to the stress because when we adopted him , he was so stressed that he pooped on my sister. He needs to get his medical checkup done and insurance settled so that he can be covered. So June will be a very busy period for me.

I will keep this updated in the next post.

[nemuibibliophile]

Emily Wilde 's Encyclopedia of Faeries

It has been a while since my last update and it has gotten to do with me trying to understand and read through this book I got based on the recommendations I found on Youtube. This book has received recommendations from Katie is reading, the cup and thoughts Youtubers and many more. So I was intrigued and immediately went to the nearest bookstore around my area but to no avail. I searched on the store's online website but to no avail which led me to find the book on the online store and found it on Shopee. I was so glad though broke, that I still went through with getting the book right to my doorstep.

So I have read through half of it with much struggle because firstly, my full-time job takes much of my me time on a weekday basis and secondly, it was hard to visualize the work maybe because I have not seen such scenery and the language, its English was riddled with words I felt like the origin was from Iceland, Finland that has these names of location that was hard to pronounce for a foreigner. This to me was the biggest downside because I felt disconnected and lacked chemistry because it wasn't a smooth read though there were parts that I enjoyed. So i don't want to give it up like this.

I mean maybe is me. So I am trying to give this book and me another chance to reconcile and maybe i can get why many readers are in love with this novel.

Plus i am little pressured cos i have its sequel coming to me next month so wish me luck!

[nemuibibliophile]

Legends & Lattes

This is the sequel to the recent book I've read, Bookshops Bonedust by Travis Baldree.

When I first finished Bookshops Bonedust, I knew off the bat that I would love to know what Viv, the young female orc was up to. I love how her character was portrayed, the adventurous kind, and yet while recovering, getting into books and knowing people from Murk as a mystery pops along the way.

So I was pretty excited when the second book came and I have to say that Legends & Lattes did not disappoint me one bit. I was glad that the book skipped the gory part of her adventure and went straight into her next divulge at which she decided to stay put in one place called Thunes and open up a cafe.

Here is the thing, the place where she decided to establish the cafe has yet to introduce coffee to society, she first got into it in a place called Azimuth via a friendly gnome she met when she entered the cafe through the exotic "bean" she smelled.

That's when she decided to own a cafe and sell coffee but she had another idea along with it. She came about a song that bards used to sing about Scalvert Stone and if it is placed along the ley lines it will produce a "ring of fortune" with the aspect of the heart.

Along the way as she established her cafe, she met a few kindred characters whom I truly love how they grew with Viv and became her lucky stars. I feel I should name one of the characters that I am very fond of. He is a rattkin and his name is Thimbles. He's such a cute and lovely character in the story. Love it when he appears. So keep a lookout on him.

Here is my spot of tea, it is a very lovely book and I finished it in a sitting. Got to show how much I really enjoyed this book. The sad thing is it did not link the previous book's characters like the rattkin Fern except for the short introduction to Legends & Lattes in the first book. I would love to see them interact in a way but it does not dampen the atmosphere it has established in the story. Would recommend getting both books to enjoy

Sleepy review: 4.5/5

[nemuibibliophile]

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

Another day another new book.

I got it at the local bookstore in my area. It wasn't the typical thick novel book but it looks intriguing because i had yet to read any novels that was originally in another language.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa is about these three characters, mainly Takako who broke up with her weird *the take of my impression of him* boyfriend, resigned from her job since they were colleagues in the first place and moved to her grandfather second-hand bookshop with her mum's intervention

So this book is really about Takako trying to find her way in life within the four walls of her grandfather's secondhand bookshop. Of course, her quirky uncle, Satoru, and her M.I.A. aunt, Momoko who left her uncle for five years suddenly appeared to bring Takako the needed help she required.

Here is my spot of tea: the story is well described with certain images clearly presenting in my mind what the streets of Jimbocho look like but I do wish that was more information given on Satoru and Momoko as the story progressed. It felt kind of there and yet missing for their part. I looked forward to the second series of the book called More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop to fill me in.

Sleepy review: 3.8/5

[nemuibibliophile]

My birthday gift.

The smell of new book

Bookshops Bonedust by Travis Baldree

It took me a while to finally sit or lay down to read this book because it has been years since I reached out to one. I am not proud of it one bit but hey, better late than nothing.

So here goes :)

Bookshops Bonedust is narrated to be in a fantasy era where orcs, elves, humans, and more have lived in harmony. It takes place in a quiet beach village called Murk, where this young female Orc, Viv was part of a well-known mercenary and was left behind to heal after getting her leg badly injured. While healing her leg, she encountered this run-down bookshop and met Fern the rattkin who then slowly introduced her to the world of reading and the numerous encounters through it.

Here is my spot of tea, it was quite delightful for me to follow Viv in exploring the stories she read, it is almost like a subtle inception since I was reading what she was reading, and uncovering the mystery behind Murk's recent disturbances is surprisingly quite calming. Not to forget, Travis' touch of quiet romance between interspecies ever so slightly crosses the line of the LGBTQ. Though I usually enjoyed the straight-laced romance, this book managed to make me enjoy the simple intimacies Travis weaved through it.

So if you love a slice of life, with a dash of mystery and a sprinkle of romance and without much drama then, this book is just right for you.

Sleepy Rating: 4/5