Mz B

Dinner with the Verification Crew

2012-01-27T00:39:00.002+09:00

Hey, My Winter Zombie Land

2012-01-27T00:35:00.000+09:00

Stop the Snow

2012-01-23T22:23:00.000+09:00

Irving Penn and Issey Miyake at 21 21 design

2012-01-22T16:36:00.000+09:00

Like the building, but not convinced of it as a gallery, too dark, too many narrow corridors. The exhibition was about the collaboration between Miyake and Penn. The clothes and the photos of them, didn't do that much for me. Penn's close up photos of plants, made me want to get a macro lens and a kick ass flash.

Sant Pau - Spancy Fancy

2012-01-22T16:31:00.000+09:00

It was raining "slud" and it was pretty windy too, but me and the Magnus went to Nihonbashi anyway for some really nice Spanish food. Here you can see one of the dishes, cheeses with their contrasts. And, also for the first time in my life, I tried foie gras, I managed to swallow it, but did not enjoy at all. I do not understand what the fuzz is about, nor do I want to find out. Foie gras, do we need it? NO!

The lighting wasn't the best for a non-flash photo, but he could have looked slightly more happy, it would have helped.

One of the desserts, - small alien head (the Spanish menu should have said something like "cabecita de extraterrestre", it didn't. )

Sante, Rocky & Mange in Shibuya

2012-01-22T16:13:00.000+09:00

Only 2 of them made the photo.

X-mas Is Over

2012-01-15T17:36:00.001+09:00

But blue diodes still look pretty...

Finding New Places in Shibuya

2012-01-14T11:55:00.000+09:00

Craftshead, a bar/resturant with big selection of micro-brewery beer, was the destination, but on the way over there we stumbled across a super hip eyeglass store. Here Magnus explains the problem with his astigmatism problem.

Interior = super hip.

Then at Craftshead, very nice beer as staff.

Post-Cabaret Barfly and then some

2012-01-09T16:53:00.000+09:00

After an cabaret at JzBrat in Shibuya, and fun after show chatting with the artists, I decided to be do the adult thing (not coming along to Roppongi) and watch Barfly while someone else was coding.

Egg Benedict at Glorious Chain Cafe for brunch today.

Then went past the grocery store and picked up a little bit of spring.

A beer (Cider) in Akasaka

2012-01-07T01:05:00.000+09:00

Only 8 min away with the "newly" discovered Chiyoda-line, so why not meet up with 2 of Tokyo's nicest gals after work on a Friday eve. 2 drinks, lots of talking, lots of laughing... yes and Diana tried Irish Cider for the first time.

Art District and the not so great wall

2012-01-07T01:02:00.000+09:00

Yes, this is another wall... not sure if I can see the other brick in it.

Lots of things to see in the art district; and here I thought they had put all their artists in jail...

Inverted Matryoshka?

Colourful and cute... sometimes all that is needed.

Concrete and steel wires...

Made me think of Copenhagen, creative, worn down, but super hip... and I bet it would have been super nice if it were 25C instead of -5C and freakin' Mongolian winds....

Golden boomerang Pegasus?

You should, keep your dinosaurs caged up... several movies have shown us this...

Beijing Cutie Pie 2

2012-01-07T00:51:00.000+09:00

It was windy, it was cold, it was new years, it was nice company (mizzy & the christersson's), it was sleeping until noon, it was brunching, it was a good few days in the northern capital.

Beijing Cutie Pie

2012-01-07T00:43:00.000+09:00

Mr Max got happy when I showed up on New Year's eve. Got to see all his new Lego and other cool stuff.

The chocolate cake was good too; espresso and champagnes were not bad either. Veggie lasagna was main dish, good stuff.

I got in depth presentation of Titanic facts too - the whole audio visual thing, plus a paper model too.

And then when midnight was approaching, energy was no more...

Baby-sitting Aron

2011-12-31T06:34:00.000+09:00

Aron likes apples, he also likes to hid them in a box in the book shelf and eat a little bit more on them some other day.

Homeopathic Remedy

2011-12-29T00:35:00.000+09:00

A sour tempered baby, cured with lemon juice. Sister were sceptic to start with, I had not diluted the remedy enough.

X-mas Gift Dinner with Baby Sister

2011-12-28T05:28:00.001+09:00

Some Christmas gifts are better than other; the ones you get to share with your sister is one of the ones that are better than others. Took her out today for dinner at Klostergatans Vin & Delikatess in Lund. I had oysters, she had chantarelle toast, both had bubbly wine for starters. Then I took the halibut (大鮃), she took the fillet mignon. Then she had some chocolate mousse, I had a double espresso (and insomnia tonight).

And before meeting up with Sis, I had x-mas fika out in Alberta with D-chan and his parents. And did some cuddling with Gurran too.

Johanna and Elise

2011-12-27T03:17:00.000+09:00

Having a baby is the best thing ever, if you ask her. It is like having your own little doll that you can dress anyway you like. Only downside is the lack of sleep, other than that simply wonderful.

Very nice fika in Helsingborg today with Johanna and her 2 month old daughter, visiting from London.

Me and Aron

2011-12-27T03:06:00.000+09:00

Playing in front of the mirrors at Sara's place.

Melvin wants to play too, preferably with a ball or a nasty old chewed toy...

Aron is chewing toys too, but is not as good as Melvin when it comes to retrieving them.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T02:54:00.000+09:00

First things first, me, Sara and Aron went to Kattarp before lunch to visit Mint (and Stina with family).

Then it was time for x-mas lunch at my parents place.

Last year's x-mas gift to my mother, instead of dancing angels - dancing cats.

Aron liked the x-mas food too. He tried both salmon and pickled herring, yes and cheese and eggs too.

Aron together with grandma. Very interesting that basket...

Ahh... beer cans. Nice too lick, fun to build towers with.

Donald Duck is on the telly, but Aron is more focused on getting hold of more ginger bread cookies.

It is super fun to sit on grandma's lap, or at least so it seems.

Then everyone except grandma (the older of the two grandmothers) went back down to Billeberga for some more food, some gift games and finally santa claus came too. Or it was actually Sara that was dressed up, which I told Aron several times.

Arriving in Sweden

2011-12-23T05:03:00.000+09:00

Flowers and Prismas

2011-12-19T23:28:00.000+09:00

Illuminations

2011-12-19T22:10:00.000+09:00

Went to toy store in Ginza, went slightly over board again. Say what you want, but there is a little bit of a x-mas feel in Ginza these days.

Cat Woman and I

2011-12-18T22:56:00.000+09:00

The Sofa Did Arrive

2011-12-18T22:51:00.000+09:00

But it is yet to be cough on film. Spent before noon cleaning out the flat to make place for it. Spent most of afternoon waiting for it. Magnus was super cute and brought over coffee and sandwich, while I was waiting, which was good since I was dying from hunger, due to non-breakfast.

Then the sofa was enjoyed... I mainly napped/watched someone else coding. And then there was the evening; spotted this Franziskaner place in Roppongi a few weeks back, and it was time try it out. The gluhwein was pretty nice too.

3000nd Blog Post

2011-12-18T22:40:00.000+09:00

It has been a while. My intention was to blog a photo of strawberries, since that was the summary of Friday eve, but then I got self-conscious, or 3000nd-post-conscious... Keeping it real, there are the Strawberries. Walked home from the office, had a Sandwich at home and did some relaxing. Then went over to Mr M's for some gaming and some more relaxation. No gaming, mostly clip watching, but it was relaxing enough.

二番の忘年会

2011-12-13T22:20:00.000+09:00

Sweet Shino-chan made sure that everyone's beer glas were full. There were other photo's too, but I picked this one, since she did not look insane :)

Honda won the bingo competion, a PSVita... I got a thermos... I was little bit upset as you can see. Honda was very happy as you can see. Now I hear that Honda's new wife would have prefered the Disney Land tickets... He should have left the playstation for me...

Kambe-san won a phone stand... or what ever it was... it made a mark on his for head when I pulled it off...

Sunday Brunch in Azabudai

2011-12-12T02:21:00.000+09:00

Brunch with Magnus in Azabudai, then walking home back to Shibi. Then some gaming...

Golden Ginko

2011-12-10T12:42:00.000+09:00

They Call Her Domino

2011-12-08T20:07:00.001+09:00

忘年会

2011-12-08T00:17:00.000+09:00

You got to love that Kotten imitation rice paper style lamp! And also, people had a good time, and the food was nice too. Found out that one of me colleagues is a interior design geek too :)

Delirium Christmas

2011-12-06T21:18:00.000+09:00

Tokyo Bird View

2011-12-05T23:04:00.000+09:00

Metabolism

2011-12-04T17:28:00.000+09:00

First 3 course lunch with Itoko at the Hyatt, in the warm sun. Then architecture exhibition at Mori tower with Itoko, Erlö and Magnus.

Christmas Crack

2011-12-03T22:43:00.000+09:00

Made me think of Super Hans...

Two Rooms

2011-12-03T21:28:00.000+09:00

Nice dinner, oysters, some champagne, grilled tuna/wagu and creme brule with coffee to round it off, at Two Rooms tonight. Then walking home through illuminated and ginko-yellow Omotesando.

He just needed to do some posing...

And this is not a pair of shoes you should walk 1-2 kms in... but I did. Nice to be out of them now.

Petcha Kutcha

2011-11-30T22:57:00.000+09:00

Pre-petcha-Kutch Beer

2011-11-30T19:36:00.000+09:00

自由が丘駅

2011-11-28T19:36:00.000+09:00

Waiting for miss Kawai...

Late birthday gift from parents

2011-11-27T13:40:00.000+09:00

And it is not their fault, strictly my own. But finally made it to Ana Sui store at Omotesando today, and got myself three cute butterfly rings.

IKEA

2011-11-27T10:38:00.000+09:00

But this was before Ikea, a new restaurant opened close to my place and we (magnus, nix and I) tried their toasts. It was pretty okay and we got to enjoy surf music while eating.

Then I came along to Ikea, while Nix decided not to spend one of his few days in Tokyo at Ikea. They had lusse-katter there, and also meatballs, but I had some fish thing instead. Magnus managed to find a bed, some bed linnen and other stuff too.

Ikea in Japan makes you just as tired as in Sweden. Dinner at TGI, followed by a cider at the Dubliner's (where Hiromi joined for a while) and then a drink at Night fly... then bed time.

And now it is the Sunday.... what to do....

Kamakura

2011-11-23T19:16:00.000+09:00

Slow starting, but finally got out of bed. Headed over to Ebisu for some Good Honest Grub brunch and then set off towards Kamakura.

Red Bar and More

2011-11-23T19:08:00.000+09:00

Mr M have visitors from Sweden over, and they needed to be introduced to some Shibuya bars.

And Lu-chan joined us too.

Sunday Eve BBQ

2011-11-20T21:08:00.001+09:00

Sunny day turned into all of the sudden rainy eve, that then turned into a bit chilly but fun eve on a roof top somewhere south of Shinagawa. We missed the hummer ride... but got a photo of two J-girls enjoying its hood instead.

Lu and her brother... or wait he's not but he very much look like he could be. They are both to confront their mothers about this....

There were a lot of bbq:ed meat... and first time in a very long time I tried some. BBQ:ed meat is really tasty, don't tell any one I said so.... but apparently there is this Brazilian place that I will be brought to... since I'm now a member of protein-land...

Yes, and there was a hot tub... I stayed out of it though...

Lu-chan really matched the floor. Maybe that's why the 1.5 year old boy really really liked her shoes....

Pancakes - Sunny Sunday Side Up

2011-11-20T15:03:00.000+09:00

A very nice change from last night, when running from station to flat was pretty much like running through a windy fontaine.

Standing in line for 40 mins for berry berry pancakes and a pretty decent cup of coffee at Bill's. Have had better pancakes with less waiting, but now it has been tried.

Clouds almost cleared away.

Good Honest Breakfast

2011-11-19T14:38:00.000+09:00

Friday in Roppongi

2011-11-19T14:36:00.000+09:00

Oysters, tapas and some surprisingly good Australian bubbly wine. Outside dinner in front of big street, but still very cozy.

Every time, same story, the shrimps are really really hot and I burn my tongue. When will I learn?

Lovely fresh oysters from all over the world. We tried the 6 different.

Don't ask.

And, Christmas has exploded around Roppongi Hills.

Roppongi Hills.

Getting educated on coffee script.

And then in the end, 3D-musketeers.

Weekend started

2011-11-18T20:11:00.000+09:00

Girls' Dinner at Sony Ericsson Tokyo

2011-11-16T22:50:00.000+09:00

Very nice evening with 15 lovely ladies or so. Assistants, PMs, base band and audio engineers. Lots of laughter.

This Shinagawa salad window is still a mystery - why ware they growing salad there?

Aron in February

2011-11-13T13:21:00.000+09:00

Came across in iPhoto, one of Sara's photos from when she and Aron visited here.

Moneyball, Whisky and Tequila

2011-11-13T12:30:00.000+09:00

Girls' eve with Itoko-chan started with movie at Roppongi Hills - Moneyball. Suntory have a thing going on outside at Roppongi Hills. And we got whisky soda for 200 yen. Not only whisky, Christmas has struck Roppongi hills, it is almost scary.

Then joining the Agave 13th anniversary party, with tequila nomihodai (drink as much as you like). We mixed it up a bit with beer to avoid complete out of hand eve.

The waiter (or he used to be) at Agave came by and said "hej", yes he knows some Swedish. He asked where my friend Martin was, and I'm sure he will be happy that he is not completely forgotten in Roppongi.

Minato Mirai

2011-11-12T17:35:00.000+09:00

The weather had seriously improved from yesterday; blue sky and sun.

Tall building in Yokohama, did not go up to the obsevatory this time.

Stayed below and had breakfast instead.

Technicolour Love

2011-11-11T00:22:00.000+09:00

Went to yoga class, enjoyed it. Walked the 6-7Ks home, then played with photoshop.

High Tension Please!!

2011-11-08T23:42:00.000+09:00

Pizzas and wine/beer at a 500yen place in Ebisu, long time since last. Then followed by another beer at Belgo in Shibuya. Enjoying another Tuesday evening in Tokyo.

Perk of sharing pizza with someone who does not eat salami - you will get my pieces too. We also tried anchovy+blackolives and margarita.

All of them very tasty, cooked in front of us and 500yen each.

Flowers on a rainy day

2011-11-06T14:54:00.000+09:00

It rains, colours were needed.

江ノ島

2011-11-03T20:14:00.000+09:00

Visibility was not the best, and I guess we will have to go back (to see the caves and the dolfieria), but never the less the view from the light house on Enoshima was nice.

Two lion/dogs guarding the way up to the temple.

I watched the natives, you should wash the coin before throwing. I did, I missed, I threw an uncleaned one too. The gods will hunt me down I'm sure.

Ham Steak! Bumfucked Hillbilly. Man to the right, wearing leather jacket that says it all. Yes, the bronze torii gate is pretty too.

The whole island gave me little big adventure, or at least nintendo vibes; there were several tri-forces and we saw a big bag where Link could keep his coins.

Ginza Shoe Shopping

2011-11-01T22:51:00.000+09:00

Having size 25 or 25.5 (39-40) in Japan is not always a walk in the park, but I hope I can walk with these in the park. Visit two big foot shops in Ginza. Second one, was particularly friendly and talk-attive. First store, got a printed mug, second store a Nivea test product. Then again, second one, have a "water massage" feature....

Honda & Kaori

2011-10-30T16:51:00.000+09:00

Today I had the priveledge to attend Honda's wedding reception at the Hikari Room at the Imperial Hotel in Hibiya. My first Japanese wedding, and I'm very impressed. Wish the all the best, and thanks for a great afternoon!

Cocoon Dinner

2011-10-30T16:45:00.000+09:00

Long time since last, so visited cocoon for dinner last night.

Dinner in Yokohama

2011-10-27T23:51:00.000+09:00

Good food with a cool open kitchen and not at all expensive. One grilled salmon, one burger and 2 local beers landed at 4500yen or so.

Yes and then me trying to make fun silhouette photos when I got back home. Not a complete success.

Imse spider

2011-10-27T23:24:00.000+09:00

8 legged company, and not Odin's horse.

Smørrebrød in Finland

2011-10-23T20:48:00.001+09:00

Looking back it seems like this weekend have been slightly food focused. But after the pizzas on Friday eve, there were some drinks in Roppongi too, and things got sufficiently out of hand. Then had lunch with Mr M, followed by a short fika and a walk around Shibuya with Mattias, whom I have not seen for more than 10 years and used to study with in high school. He was here with his office on a architecture study trip. After that been soup, no photos, but you all know what it looks like. Now back to the topic proper bread with nice toppings.

Daikanyama is the location for this very cozy cafe that makes you feel you were back in a confused designer happy Scandinavia. We tried the smörrebröd set, and picked salmon and shrimp. The shrimp were a bit fresher than most original and the salmon a little less smoked a little closer to its origin (not the Scandinavian version but its ocean origin), but it was all good. If they want to improve further they should push Carlsberg and a shot of gammeldansk onto their menu. But don't get me wrong, it is well worth a visit and rye bread, you do not come across that every day here.

As you can see, they are really doing what they can with the Nordic feel. Keeping it light and birch-y (カバノキ）inspired, even if the shop is located on B1.

And no, I'm not in Finland, that is the shops name. (Disclaimer to avoid confusion and upsetting parents of being in closer time zones than I actually am.

Pizza in Yoyogi-Uehara at Enboca

2011-10-23T20:29:00.000+09:00

Really tasty Pizzas, with lots of unusual toppings. We tried okra, fennel, four types of cheese and a fig pizza for desert. There were six of us, and that is probably a very good number of people since you really want to try many different pizzas.

First start were steamed veggies. This was without a doubt the fancies and most creative selection of steamed vegetables I've ever seen. Sweet potato, pumpkin, peanuts, lotus root, lily sprouts, ginko nuts, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, roman broccoli and several other things that we were not even sure what they were. The whole thing was served on a bamboo mat on top of a a water bath.

And I hope baby sister sees this, edamame served on pizza oven roasted on the branch, giving them a slight wood smoky taste. I also taught the girls the eeeeeedamame, eeeedamame!!! song.

Dance Show at Velours

2011-10-21T00:00:00.000+09:00

The ladies were really good, and for once it wasn't completly packed at the venue.

Ladies in white, Diana have trained them well!

Lamps with prisms are pretty things.

Not as cute as the girl on stage, but I had dressed up a bit too - best way to get a normal Thursday to feel a bit more fun. And the observant person can see parts of the dress I will wear at Honda's wedding lunch. The even more observant person notices that it is the same dress that I wore for my cousin's wedding back in 2006, but hardly have used since then. Fits fine, only need to fix one of the shoulder straps and I'll be laughing.

And a monochrome close up on the hair, might use those roses for the wedding too.

All the Way Home

2011-10-18T21:33:00.000+09:00

According to google maps, the shortest way goes via Takanawadai's (did not see Trisha) and Shirokanedai's small dark back streets, passing Ebi Garden Place, through Ebisu and finally up long the Yamanote rails towards Shibi. Some observation; takanawadai = raper's-ally-potential, Ebisu = might-want-to-move-there-some-day.

So made it home, safe and sound and today is both HIMYM and House day, evening saved.

Saturday

2011-10-16T15:16:00.000+09:00

After slow starting and with breakfast at 1pm in Shibuya, there was some walking. Maybe not the best weather, but almost managed to stay clear of the rain completely.

Purple Nails All Around

2011-10-16T15:09:00.000+09:00

...Don't know if I'm comin' up or down. Kind of simlar to before, a bit shorter and a bit more lavendery.

Belgian Food Again

2011-10-15T01:09:00.000+09:00

Milkshake

2011-10-13T22:07:00.000+09:00

Burgers and milkshake with Gustav and PO at Arms close to Yoyogi.

Shanghai Before Dark

2011-10-10T02:30:00.000+09:00

Shanghai Nights -　ネオンの輝く上海の夜

2011-10-10T00:46:00.001+09:00

Meet the Jetson's in Shanghai... a TV tower that eats Tokyo Towers for breakfast, and I suspect is linked up to some inter-stellar communication network, or maybe can be used if we need to but up an artificial atmosphere on some other planet. Communistic Retro-Futurism; I hope it is a genre, if not, it most definitely should be!

On my knees at Grand Hyatt's parking lot - to capture vertical and horizontal stripes. Boy in Blue.

And for second year in a row, my b-day was celebrated at a Hyatt hotel - 86th floor this time.

Both food and service was okay - not Japanese OK, but OK for China/Sweden. Roasted baby potatoes with Norwegian salmon.

I'm almost sure a neon lit up skyline of the Pudong is mandatory. Did not bring the good camera so, grainy iphone-experia it is...

Huangpu is doing a "the river runs through it" on Shanghai. You can take the subway underneath, you can go on one of the river boats, or you can enjoy the Shanghai Sightseeing tunnel... 3 times...

After b-day dinner and drinks, Chinese karaoke; better artist selection but worst song selection. Better UI, good with original videos... worse size of beer pitcher.

And walking home at 12 midnight, looking for a bar... finding only Massage places... suspecting that SH goes to bed early... Shanghai is apparently not a city that never sleeps (although lady CC says it is possible to rock the night away :)).

Upside-Down Drumming

2011-10-04T22:47:00.000+09:00

Me, Lu and a few others at Zepp on Odaiba (Mötley Crüe was there too).

Hanabi with Hanami

2011-10-02T20:10:00.000+09:00

This year most of the local fireworks were cancelled, but Tsuchiura was still on. It did not really feel like hanabi season since it was October 1 and kind of cold outside towards the end.

After the display Itoko had takoyaki, I tried the banana instead (would have been better deep frozen with a bit of bitter chocolate on, now it was kind of too sweet).

Then before heading back home towards Tokyo we had a quick stop at a bar and chatted with some of Itoko-chan's friends.

Last Weekend things were all black and white...

2011-09-30T23:48:00.000+09:00

Disney Sea on Day off

2011-09-30T21:48:00.000+09:00

Firstly, took chiyoda-sen to kokkaijidomae, changed to marunouchi-sen and entered Tokyo station from a whole new entrance. I'm pretty sure there are parts of Tokyo station reaching down to the center of the earth. Anyways, managed to meet up with Erlö, Lego and Eri.

At Disney Sea we ran into this little one, I'm pretty sure he is named Donald.

It is weird and a bit scary, walking around in a fake Europe; it is way too clean and there are way too many Japanese around.

Tried the Indiana Jones ride, long line but a bit entertaining.

Steam Liner - Columbia and me.

A light house.

Part of little mermaid themed attraction, we did not try.

Weather was a slight worry a the beginning of the day, but when the sun was setting the the clouds were glowing.

Sindbad adventure.

And then to round of the evening, a visit at Franklin Ave.

Spanish Food with Del and Itoko

2011-09-23T23:41:00.000+09:00

Tried a new Spanish place in Aoyma today, or it is not new apparently it has been there since 1977. Very tastey tapas, good paella and fun atmosphere.

Nailed

2011-09-19T16:01:00.000+09:00

Long time since last, but felt it was time now to get my nails done. Now trying to get used to typing with long nails again.

Fasting, detox and Yoga in Chiba

2011-09-18T18:18:00.000+09:00

7 days of no proper food only fruit juices with some fibers, an hour or so outside Tokyo at 日本アロビクセンタ in Honda (not the car, the location 誉田).

Outside the porch of our cottage was, well bamboo mainly and lots of different bugs.

Itoko-chan was taught how to say "Neeej, inte i ansiktet!" (there was a very crafty spider that kept putting up webbage, thank you Karl P, across the path to our cottage). Later I added a few more phrases to complete her basic Swedish training.

This is a トンボ (tonbo, if your into bingo you can use tombo-la as a help to remember), and there were lots of them.

Only iPhone camera and from a distance, but still you can see the little lizardness.

It takes a village to make juice - no it doesn't but there were a lot of peeling and squeezing going on during this week.

Grapefruit, carrot, a dash of orange and sprinkle some fibers on top... and call it breakfast, lunch and dinner.

There were other things to drink too, like herbal tea and.... INKA... which apparently is a product of Poland... Enjoyed by the Polish in generations, it said on the back.

In between, Juice meals, there was yoga lessons (sometimes twice a day), but we still had time to lounge on the grass by the pool and do some swimming too.

You can look this cool even if it was really hot and my back got kind of red.

Detox was taken seriously; bowels, nose and here after everyone tried Kunjal.

Chiba could not keep completely still, there were a few shakes pretty close to where we were. (Lower right corner along the train line Honda)

After 7 days, first meal was fruits. I know not much of a meal but one step up from juice at least.

Then there was radical improvement. Very nice Japanese vegetarian food.

Everyone enjoyed the selection.

There were some left overs that became part of the breakfast. Onigiri with umeboshi, fruits, home made marmalade and more. Unfortunately, I woke up 15 min before breakfast and were not so enthusiastic about eating.

Itoko-chan enjoying the misoshiro soup.

And then there were some cleaning up to do.

Apparently, you are not suppose to eat protein, and especially not animal proteins for a few days. Well, I'm prepared to take the risk - a bit bowl of bean soup, with chili, garlic, feta cheese is currently enjoyed in Tomigaya.

Juice lunch no more

2011-09-17T12:38:00.000+09:00

Now fruits instead...

Morning by the Pond

2011-09-14T09:24:00.000+09:00

Poolside Relaxation

2011-09-13T14:58:00.000+09:00

Somewhere in Chiba

2011-09-12T09:42:00.000+09:00

Skype with Aron and Sara

2011-09-10T14:59:00.001+09:00

You make outside kitchen window fun...

2011-09-09T09:38:00.001+09:00

It could be little Momo or Leon, honestly I do not know which one is which.

The new yoga outfit

2011-09-05T22:14:00.001+09:00

Maybe not the best photo, but this is what I look like after yoga class and some walking in the rain.

Rain

2011-09-05T21:04:00.001+09:00

Chocolate From China

2011-09-05T11:13:00.001+09:00

At Roots Lounge in Ginza

2011-09-03T16:09:00.000+09:00

Lunch at Aveda Cafe

2011-09-03T14:31:00.001+09:00

Umeda's Nomikai

2011-08-29T21:38:00.000+09:00

Friday evening we went to a Chinese resturant to celebrate Umeda'san (to the right in the photo below) that is leaving the company. I tried several new dishes, discovered that Kanji-box app is fun for Japanese too, got requested and did show my back (before started drinking even) and also the stranges thing, got informed that the daughter of one of my collegues is suspected to be evil. There were photos shown as evidence, I did not see it, and asked for a translation to English just to be sure. It turned out that even the Japanese did not understand the logic behind why this little girl was evil. Good thing though, he thinks it is getting better now, but to start with she was 悪魔 (akuma, I learned a new word too, that was good).

Lotus in Ueno

2011-08-21T17:53:00.000+09:00

A little bit of rain drizzling down, no sun and lovely temperature, perfect for a Shibi-Ueno walk.

Did not bring the good camera so there was one or two of those "almost falling into the pond" experiences. Lotus flowers and that experience were actually what finally provoked me to get the camera back in 2004. (2004?!? surely I would be allowed to get a new one, now... 6 years later?)

Seems like weather was very much like it was today, that day. Here are 3 pictures from the archives.

Sweet baby sister was visiting, here walking next to Magnus.

Slightly over exposed, my little canon did not have a zoom. Emma on the ground reaching out as far as she could, baby sister holding on to my legs to prevent a close-to-pond experience.

Same thing, different year.

The greenery seem to enjoy the climate too. And there is something with the little island that just make you think you're inside a Zelda game.

Did not find any diamonds, but did not look under the sculptures either, so there might very well be a few of them hiding.

Speaking of underneath the sculptures, this is the La Porte de l'Enfer - Gates of Hell by Rodin and today I learned that it sits on top of a earthquake safety solution that lets it move a bit and still keep it standing; you really don't want to have a 6m x 4m x 1m bronze sculpture falling over.... especially if it was one out of 3 made from the original cast in 1917.

Walked along Tokyo University campus and then came across this pretty wall, or should I say walls. A beautifully aged red brick wall on top of one made out of stone.

No Nuclear Poo!

2011-08-15T09:50:00.001+09:00

Summer Sonic 2011

2011-08-15T01:52:00.000+09:00

It was extremely sold out, but we made it in at the end to see 2 bands. First one was X-Japan, Japanese heavy metal from the 80's. I was not overly impressed, very strange mix of slow and quick songs, and very long piano parts. They are apparently really big and stuff.

Speaking of really big, but a smaller Japanese version (platform shoes and all, Ace still have to sand on his toes to be seen behind me), were hanging out next to the arena.

And then finally Red Hot was on the stage. Must say it is very nice being able to stand in the middle of the arena and have space around you and no one is jumping into you, or trying to push ahead. Yes, it was sold out but people behave.

And then, in the end there were a short hanabi.

And then in the was lots of waiting to get home. Show ended 21.30 and it took us 1.5 hour just to get on the train and I were back in shibi at 00.45ish.

Before the Show

2011-08-15T01:51:00.000+09:00

Lu, Diana and me, went to Chiba to try and see Red Hot Chili Peppers (and possibly some other bands too). Uninterested in paying radically expensive tickets from the "tickets, tickets, need tickets?" crew, we ended up at a bar (and then another one) to wait for price to go down and the show to start.

Mint beer is not as bad as one might think (it is exactly as green as one might think though). I was not as brave and went for the cranberry vodka safe card instead.

Lu posing for Diana while waiting for her food.

And then, since my two dear friends are into fortune telling I decided to try too for the first time. The lady was super nice, and even ran after us in the end saying that she forgot to tell me that I'm very lucky in business. I was kind of expecting her little book to spontaneous combust when she started to calculate and prepare answers. I learned a new Japanese word today 運命 (destiny), the paper did not catch fire, but Lu got excited since it was first time she heard a fortune teller being that direct; "It is destiny". And maybe it is so, but is that always a good thing?

Pint of 'bow

2011-08-13T21:24:00.001+09:00

Sweating with Hellstrom at Irish pub.

Karaoke

2011-08-13T14:03:00.001+09:00

Devi

2011-08-11T20:58:00.000+09:00

Rövtski outlet

2011-08-06T14:01:00.001+09:00

Why have I not seen this before? And also surly there is a spelling mistake, the t should be at the end, right?

Pretty Little Things

2011-08-02T22:19:00.000+09:00

And then finally, we have the remaining photos from my Sweden trip. Aron is at Willy's in Helsingborg doing grocery shopping before his camping holiday at Mön in Denmark. The green cardigan he got from me in February is fitting perfect now, and is nice to nibble on too, it seems like.

A cute little cat belonging to my parents neighbor. Climbed up the tree and posed for a well composed photo.

A purple passion fruit flower, (or are they just called passion flower ?) in my parents greenhouse.

Saturday Continues

2011-07-31T07:34:00.000+09:00

And then we went up to grandma's place. And the basket of the rollator was fun fun fun.

It was almost as fun as sealing across the floor and checking out grandma's wheels.

We got nice fika, with coffee, sandwiches and stuff. And I was offered bed linen too, but they were too small for my 140 bed, but very pretty and hand decorated by grandma herself. Maybe one could cut and paste those embroideries onto something that I actually can use.

Then and epic encounter - Mint meets Aron the poser... he was sceptic too, that day 5 years ago when he met Aron for the first time, so I guess if we would give them a few days, all would be good.

Saturday with Family 1

2011-07-31T05:28:00.000+09:00

There are more photos to come, but the internet connection here at my flat in Lund in nothing short of appalling. How am I supposed to live at this speed? Anyways, I went to Billeberga (aka B-town) then together with Sara-Aron-Johan-Melvin-Oban-Viggen to Kattarp. The pond is not only beautiful it is also very fun to splash its water around.

Have to be careful, there by the edge.

Aron trying to catch the fishes in the bucket.

And then sitting in grand-dad's lap, with a 30's inspired hair do... according to the stylist (aka grand-dad).

Let's see tomorrow if the wlan can manage to upload the photos from grand-ma's place and when Mint meets the new Aron for the first time. That and yes, a very cute cat in a tree and Aron at Willy's in Helsingborg.