A Quick Update on a Lazy Saturday

Today has been so nice and chilled and laidback and all those good things that I thought I would post an entry on this blog. Usually I go out during the weekend but today I thought I'd take it slow, not really do much and stay in my PJs for as long as possible.

Last week has been really stressful at work so I really needed a good amount of doing nothing in particular. I love Tokyo to bits, it is without doubt my favourite place I have lived in thus far, but sometimes the crowds of people everywhere can be a bit draining. I visited Meiji Shrine on January 3rd this year, 2 hours before the last admission and we barely made it in.. I still had a good time, but damn there were so many people!

I also went to a newly opened pancake restaurant (Japan is obsessed with pancakes!) about a week ago and we queued for over an hour to get into the place. Crazy! It was worth it as the food was really good, but still. I recommend checking out the backstreets of Omotesando/Ginza area if you are looking for a quick bite to eat around lunch time.

I had the mixed fruit pancakes and my friend the strawberry yoghurt version. The cafe was called Cafe Moena, btw.

Today I also went to check out one of the gyms near me and I was amazed at how new the equipment was. All the treadmills had TVs attached to them with headphones and the exercise bikes had cute little pointers as to how many calories you've already burnt (see below, it took me far too long to burn off that piece of candy; next was a latte, followed by a banana. Then I got off the bike!).

For the rest of the evening I don't have much planned except for playing some Pokemon or watching some movies. I rented Bridget Jones and Her earlier, both feel good movies for me. Her always reminds me of when I visited Shanghai 2 years ago. I hope I will be able to travel a bit during 2015 as well, but no doubt my first paid vacation will be used to go see my family at home. 

What has everyone else been up to and how are your NY's resolutions going? 

Let's Catch Up

Happy New Year, everyone! As always, it has been a while but I've been super busy during December. The good kind of busy, for sure, but it was nice to have a few chilled out days this week. I have been off week for most of this week because New Year's is a big deal here and pretty much the only time of the year when some shops and most businesses are closed.

The biggest news is probably that I have finally moved apartments and I love my new place! It is so much nicer, brighter, bigger and overall awesome than my last one. It is still not massive or anything but it is most definitely big enough for only me and it has been so much fun furnishing it! I got really lucky with most of my furniture and found a great deal online. I also went to Ikea this week to get some smaller things like plates, cutlery etc. Now that I have a kitchen again I have no excuse not to cook!

The other day I made nabe (Japanese hot pot) because one of my colleagues from work kindly gave me her old nabe pot and I was really feeling something warm, comforting and on top of that easy to make. I pretty much threw everything I had in my fridge in the pot and it turned out soooo good! The stock I used was kimchi based which made it even heartier and a bit spicy, and then I just added lots of greens (Chinese cabbage, mushrooms, onions etc) and some udon as well as small sausages hahaha. It was honestly awesome and lasted me 3 meals.

Other than this, I have been having lots of Korean food especially Korean BBQs. Shinokubo definitely is the place to go for those. Following is a random selection of food I have been having over the past week. The second one is my to-go-to when I miss my dad´s Schnitzel: roast katsu, or deepfried breaded pork with cabbage and rice. So damn good!

Speaking of home, it's also been my birthday (and of course, Christmas!) not too long ago and I have been really spoiled from friends and family at home. Thank you, thank you, thank you! ;-; It was hard being away from my family over the holidays but at the same time, it is so nice to know that there are so many people thinking about you even if they are thousands of miles away. I feel really lucky and blessed to have so many special people in my life.

I also sent out quite a lot of Christmas/NY's cards myself and it's definitely a habit I want to keep doing. Sending and receiving mail is so much fun and Japan has so many cute post cards, I imagine most of you will find some more mail by me in your letter boxes over the next year. :)

As for 2014 in general, it's been great. Honestly speaking, the past year has been really good for me- there were many highlights such as graduating from university and my family coming to Liverpool to visit, going through a crazy interview process to eventually get the job offer and then of course, moving to Tokyo. Of course it's been really stressful and challenging too; finishing off those final reports for university, waiting for feedback from my company, starting my first full-time job. It's not been easy. But, so far it has been worth it for me.

I have learnt so much, I have changed and grown as a person. I feel more certain about what is important to me in life, which things matter and which don't, who I want to surround myself with and who I can wish well and simply move on without. For 2015, I want to keep this pace up, do well at work, enjoy living here to the fullest, make many more friends and also not neglect my old hobbies! I really miss sitting down with a book, watching a film, or even play games. To be honest, I have already caught up on some movie releases this week as I finally own a TV again! It has been incredibly nice to just chill on the couch for an hour or two, as silly as it may sound.

I really sincerely hope 2015 will be a great year for everyone reading this as well and let me know if you have any resolutions <3

Visiting New Places

 

It's autumn in Japan, yesss! As per usual this weekend I made sure to get some fresh air and check out some more local parks in my area (Tokyo has so many nice green spots!) and thankfully the weather stayed nice and warm throughout the entire weekend. Friday was such a nice day with not a single cloud in the sky- we could even see Mt Fuji from our office- so I was a bit worried that that was going to be it and it would rain again in the weekend. But it didn't! All the pictures above are from yesterday and earlier today.

I checked out Bagel Standard, a cute shop selling New York Style bagels in Nakameguro which I can only recommend. They had so many different types of bagels and fillings it was hard to only pick one. In the end I went with a berry bagel filled with cream cheese, nuts and honey. I also got a green smoothie with no added sugar which I then went to enjoy near the riverside. Perfect day to have lunch outside! I was almost tempted to go back and get some more bagels for breakfast next week but instead ended up walking towards Ebisu from where I rode the train home.

Speaking of home, the most exciting thing I did this weekend was probably go to see two new apartments. I liked them both (they are both sooo much better than where I am currently living) and I will be signing the contract for one of them at the end of next week. I'll be moving a little further out of the city just because it is cheaper and my new apartment is literally going to be double the size of my current one. (Which still doesn't make it big by any means but still! I'm exciteddd.) This also means I will be all moved and settled in less than a month's time so I will be spending Christmas in my new place (and at work, haha). Yay!

I don't really have much more to say right now so I'll just leave you with another picture I took in Shinjuku the other night. I had a really good time in our Shinjuku office this past week! ^^

Hello, hello. It has been a while!

I think I am writing this entry mostly for my brother who always reminds me to update this blog. I really enjoy blogging but I tend to get incredibly lazy. Especially with Twitter and Instagram, it is so much easier and less time-consuming to post micro updates instead of one big weekly post.

Either way, I've been quite busy but the good kind (I think!). Work is very stressful and (emotionally) demanding sometimes, but it's also rewarding. I like that with the kind of work I do, I can really have a positive impact on the people surrounding me (if I do it right!). I don't want to talk about work too much on here so I'll end this saying it's been a steep learning curve so far and I have both good and bad days. But I think that's normal and most people experience this with their job!

Weekends are so much more fun to talk about! I have really been enjoying my days off as I usually just pick a random place somewhere in Tokyo I haven't been to yet and go to explore the local shops and restaurants in that area. I'm pretty sure I easily walk 5-10km every time I leave the house on weekends (which is sadly the only form of exercise I am getting right now, but it's better than nothing for now). Food-wise I've found some awesome cafes, especially for lunch- I kind of want to make a separate post about all the food places I've come across so far which I would recommend. 

Despite the fact my Instagram is full of cakes and dessert in general, I feel like I have been making quite good food choices overall. Monday - Friday I often manage to get at least 4 of my 5 a day (if not all 5 on good days!) as I have discovered "Happy Salada", a salad delivery service for lunch. Luckily they deliver to my work place for free which is awesome! All salads are customisable so I've been enjoying having caesar salads with avocado, cranberries and etc during my lunch breaks at work.

Tomorrow I'm already back in the office and I have a busy week ahead with a heavy focus on training this week. For most of this week I will actually be going to a different office (for said training purposes) so I imagine time will fly with the new environment and new people to meet. Fingers crossed the next weekend will be here in the blink of an eye again! Also, all photos above are from this weekend. For more detailed descriptions check out my Instagram. :)

Hello from Tokyo

 After an 11 hour flight and some more hours spent traveling in general, I arrived in Tokyo yesterday morning! My first day wasn't much fun to be honest as I was really tired and jetlagged, and having to carry massive bags (which weighed a ton) throughout central Tokyo didn't help. I spent most of the day exploring my neighbourhood and taking some pictures. Also, raiding the 100-yen shop nearby with some 'essentials'. Sometimes I think 100 yen shops are basically made for foreigners who have just arrived and are trying to settle in. While I find that in most 1€ shops that I've visited, for example, they mostly carry junk, in Japan you can find pretty much everything you might ever need. Cutlery, general kitchen utensils, bathroom and cleaning products, storage options, food, clothing essentials, more homeware.. and etc.

So today I went to get my address registered in the nearby ward office. The area around the ward office was really nice with a little park closeby and what I assumed were shrines on top of a hill. (I'll check them out next time). I had to get a bit more essentials shopping done so I headed to Ikebukuro next, which is undoubtedly one of my favourite spots in Tokyo. It feels so buzzy and exciting, especially after it's gone dark. I'm still not completely over my jetlag and my feet hurt quite a bit from running around all day again, but what I noticed today is that I really, really like the fact that a traditional Japanese park can be right by a lively shopping street or awfully high skyscrapers. It feels like 'old' meets 'new' and even 'Japanese' meets 'Western' at times. 

I've definitely got the feeling I can get used to life around here.

Tokyo To-Do-List Part 1 (Beauty)

Lately I've spent a majority of my free time reading up on travel guides and various blogs on places to check out in and around Tokyo. I've been to Tokyo a couple of times already and have quite a few favourite spots myself (Odaiba!! On a beautiful day you can't beat the view) but I've never been there long enough to really check out the small cafes and restaurants which are usually not found on the main streets, or little shops which might be a little harder to find too.

My interests over the years have also changed (My 17-year-old self was much more interested in anime & manga than I am now, though that is not to say I'm not enjoying Sailor Moon Crystal to the fullest at the moment) so I've been noting down quite a few places related to beauty especially. So without further ado, two beauty related spots I can't wait to visit:

1. Etude House & Missha Stores in Shinjuku

I have never tried any Asian cosmetic brands because I wasn't really into beauty products much until perhaps 1 or 2 years ago. These days I like using Clinique and if I feel like splurging out, Origins or even YSL (the latter is definitely more a Christmas present to myself kind of splurge). I am also a huge fan of BB creams and it just so happens that my current one is about to run out. I'm trying to use it quite sparingly these days so I don't have to buy a new bb cream until I get to Japan, because after having done some research, I really want to try a Korean brand. There's a lot of good things about Etude House and Missha online, and turns out both opened stores in Shinjuku Station in recent years and I'm really excited to check them out ♪ Looking at this article here, the store layout of Etude House looks super cute too.

2. Shiseido The Ginza

The reason I really want to check this out is because it's not just a store selling Shiseido products, but rather a 3 storey beauty mecca. There's even a way to try out their products without actually.. trying them out; it's all through computer simulations. It sounds really fun and even though I doubt I'll be buying much until I've got my first couple of paychecks secured, I'd love to visit this place and perhaps even treat myself to their "beauty boost bar" or facial treatment courses.

I've also been keeping my eyes open for other bits and pieces of Asian cosmetics which seem to get recommended a lot. I'll probably be posting my own reviews once I've had a chance to give them a try. I'm also thinking of doing a review post of the haircare series by Lush I've been using lately- again something I probably wouldn't purchase myself because they're not exactly cheap, but my mum originally got the products for herself and I'm just kind of... taking advantage of that at the moment, ha. ^^

An Update On Things

I really suck at this blogging thing, I can't believe 2 months have already passed since my last entry. I feel like nothing much has changed since the old Livejournal days in that aspect.

However, exciting things have been going on and I'm very happy to be able to (officially) say I'll be moving back to Japan in September. My 就職活動 aka job hunting has been rather tough- I always thought graduate schemes and/or jobs which require 5+ interviews were a myth! - but no, they exist, and I'm more than lucky and excited I managed to pass all rounds for my top choice of companies to work for.

I've been wanting to go back to Japan for a while now- actually, probably ever since I left Fukuoka around this time last year. I loved living in Fukuoka. I had great friends there, a nice place to live in and the city is absolutely beautiful. I thought about getting my Master's in Fukuoka for a while, but it's just too expensive especially when you are in between majors. It's just too much money to spend on something you're not 100% sure about, or have no real work experience in. Studying a field and working in one are very different by the looks of things. 

Thus, I decided to look into possible career options instead. In all honesty, continuing my studies just didn't seem right and I really felt like I wanted to start making my own money at this point. Looking into career options wasn't a quick task, but knowing what I didn't want helped narrow down my choices a lot (teaching English, a stereotypical Japanese company) and left me with few options, but one of these options proved to be for a company which I believe fits my personality and ambitions perfectly. A match made.

This week then, I had to pack up my things and leave what I called home for the past ~4 years. I'd come to feel very attached to Liverpool over the past couple of years and especially saying goodbye to my best friend was so much harder for me than I thought it would be. (Insert cheesy line here about how it wasn't a goodbye, but rather a 'See you later'... but even knowing this didn't help much when I had to get onto my train.) 

The plan though is to hopefully make enough $$$ in the future to easily fly back and forth between Europe and Japan. ^^;;;

Right now, I'm just enjoying being home and the security of having a job lined up while I wait for my Visa to be processed. I've also started looking into possible flats in Tokyo which aren't too far from where I'll be working. It's so exciting and nerve-wrecking at the same time to move to a new city as big as Tokyo; Fukuoka so far has been the biggest city I've ever lived in, and I've never had to deal with rush hour or anything like that before. In Fukuoka, I just jumped on my bike when I wanted to go out. I feel like trying to cycle in Tokyo could potentially be life-endangering. I'll report back once I have found somewhere to live anyways! ^^