Japan: Shimabara street with swimming carps, solo travelers

Is it possible for traveling in Japan during rainy day?

Yes..Japan is one of the best transportation system. So, you can enjoy travel every season.

In May that start rainy season, you can visit many beautiful places by train. This is my one day trip in rainy day. I plan to visit Shimabara, a small city located on southern of Japan.

It was rainy in the morning when I took train from Hakata station. First stop was Isahaya Station  and I picked local train (just only on cabin) to Shimabara. From Hakata to Simabara took around 3 hours.

The city is a very quiet nice and clean. There is a small castle name Shimabara castle. Just 5 minute  walk from the train station.

I walk along small and quiet street and visit the house of sweet (Shimabara Mizuyashiki). It is an tradition Japanese style house. It was surround with many kinds of trees. I would like to recommend you to visit there, if you have a chance to go to Shimabara. It is very beautiful house. Tea and desert there are so wonderful also.

Highlight of this one day trip was not a house of desert. After visit that house, I walk to the south and found the street of crap steam. There is a small canal which very clear water There are lots of colorful crap fish in this canal.

There are a antique house welcome for all visitors. The owner of the house is very kind, she served green tea and ask me walk around her house. I feel relax and peaceful.

There was raining when I went back to Hakata. But the rain is not meaning for me. I feel so good and full.

My experience as a freelance writer, just...follow your dreams

When you were young, Did your parents and people around you asked you about your dreams job? Do you remember about your answers? For me, if I tell someone that I wanted to be a writer, everyone would surely laugh at me.

Why? Because I failed in Thai grammar test. My worst subject's score was Thai writing. I was very good at Mathematics and Sciences.

And in Thailand, people think that someone who is a writer does not have secure income. These kinds of market is so limited that people do not want to take risks. Writers have to invest a lot of their time and energy, and if the publishers do not like their stories, it is unlikely that writers will get much return from their books.

So I gave up on becoming a writer. I studied economics instead. I like to study Economics but I love to write novels. I secretly keep writing and did not tell about it to anyone.

I had a job in banking company. And wrote novels at the night. One day, my co-worker found one of them in my computer. She laughed.

“Sirin, Do you write that story?” She asked me. And look surprisingly .

And I was embarrassed and said. “Yes, I write that story.”

My co-worker laughed again “Don't you think, that stories was so… sweet and grilly? I think, Just only dream girls or teenagers who will read that story. Do you sell this novel?”

At that time, I felt so shy and replied. “No, I write for my free time.”

And she said “I think, It will be better for your life if you spend your time on stock market because you can earn money from that.”

I felt bad from this conversation. But it didn’t stop me from living my dreams.

Internet technology was opened my world. I uploaded my novels on websites. I just wanted share them to the world. And again., The same co-worker, she found that. She laughed at me and told everybody about that. She thought I used my time for unproductive activity. Because, in her world, we should have money or some benefits in term of tangible things from every work.

For almost 3 years, I kept on writing on the website without any income. But it did not bother me, because writing was my passion and I was happy and satisfied.

And that day came, when I got a call from a stranger. She was the editor of the publishing company. She said she really liked my stories and wanted to publish it. Her publishing company wanted to publish all of my novels.


And I ask her “Are you sure?”

“Why?” She asked my back.

“Because I think my novels are so sweet. Only day dream girls who want to read it and they want to read it from free website only?”

The editor kept quiet for 2-3 secs. And she asked me again. “Do you love your novels? Do you happy reading your novels?”

I said “Yes.”

She laughed and said sincerely. “I already read all of your novels and I love them too. So don't think about how to sell them. It is my problem not yours” ...Surprisingly, the readers received my novels very well. It seems that the novels have also created a fan base, most of them are teenagers.

Until now, I have thirteen novels sold in Thailand [www.facebook.com/sirindabookstore] . My fans are usually teenagers. Many of them always think that I am only twenty five years old because my novels are so sweet novels.

Now, I can tell everybody that I am a novel writer. Lastly I want to tell all of you that. Don't be shy of all things that you love to do. You will never win if you do not begin.

Just FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!!!