What a strange thing! to be alive beneath cherry blossoms.

Hello everyone. 

I was having a very melancholic week because of some health issues. 

But i never allow myself to stay in that situation for a long time.
Being in a good mood counts to me as being
halfway to win and overcome any physical problem  ^-^

I changed my page a little which gave me the idea to make this post. 

I am a big admirer of Asian things. As a child i was sure those countries were from a planet 

far far away. They do have something exotic and mysterious. 

Cities and landscapes i could only see in photographs. China, Iran(Persia) 

Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nepal places 

i want to visit one day. (Ok i want to go mostly everywhere!!)

Reading their history you can actually see yourself dipping into those very different 

from western cultures. Every country has it's own character and some Asian countries 

will always have a special place in my heart. Japan for example. 

I have read so many articles and stories about Japan, history, books and poems, manga, 

those beautiful ideograms, i have seen countless pictures, anime and video, movies and music! 

But one of their "best feature" as a nation for me, it's their politeness. 

It will never stop amaze me! 

How you end up not loving this magical place, even from distance?! 

**Yummy noises**

"The time of illusion, then, is the beautiful moment of passion; 

it represents the artistic zone in which the poet or romance writer 

ought to be free to do the very best that he can."

I knew by name the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami 村上 春樹 

for over a year now but i never had the chance to read his work. When finally this summer 

i was able to read Norwegian Wood. The novel is a nostalgic story of loss and sexuality. 

A powerful book even thought at first i was very cautious about the story.

I got a copy for about 5 or 6 euros.

Second book by the same writer is the very famous 1Q84. 

First published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–10. H. Murakami spent four years writing 

the novel after coming up with the opening sequence and title. The title is a play on the Japanese

 pronunciation of the year 1984 and a reference to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. 

The letter Q and the Japanese number 9 (typically romanized as "kyū", but as "kew" 

on the book's Japanese cover) are homophones, which are often used in Japanese wordplay. 

The novel applies under the alternate history and parallel worlds genre 

and i found the complete trilogy for only 12€.

An other addition to my favourite writers is Patrick Lafcadio Hearn. 

Known by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo 小泉 八雲 was an international writer,
known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost
 stories. Born in Leukada, Greece he truly had a very traumatic life until he moved
and stayed in Japan. He and his work are very popular in Japan these days.

I was able to find a collective book (from 14€ only 9€)
with some of his stories (plus pages with his life). Melancholic stories of the medieval Japan,
 collected and recreated in travel-stochastic writings about nature, society,
values, religious feeling and the people of the Country of the Rising Sun.
Simply i am in love.

In the introduction says that his favourite writer was Edgar Allan Poe so you can imagine..

Fear and Trembling (original title: Stupeur et tremblements, which means 

"Amazement and trembling") is a novel by Amélie Nothomb, first published in 1999, 

translated into English by Adriana Hunter. According to the novel, in Japan, protocol states that 

in the presence of the Emperor, who until 1947 had been considered a living god, 

a person must demonstrate his or her reverence with fear and trembling, though most 

Japanese citizens today are unaware of this injunction. From 10€ only 3€.

 Any special love towards a country or a culture??
 Many thanks for reading my post and until next time,
take care of yourself!!