the end

Goodbye, Japan.

Jo x

packing

Packing. My Donald has been subject to cruel treatment, I'm afraid. I had no choice but to squash him completely in a vacuum bag so he could fit in the suitcase. I feel so guilty right now...

POOR DONALD!

Jo x

23

News for you: I'm old. 22 has passed and I'm now 23 years old as of July 21st. Gosh.

Well, in celebration of this event I went out with a group of friends to izakaya and all-night karaoke. Altogether it was the best birthday I've had in my entire life, so special thanks to Corey, Stella, Janice, Dana, Enzo, Asuka, and Ken! Thank you! So grateful to have met you, and so very sad to part from you in a few hours.

Mwaaaah!

Jo x

2...1...

...all of a sudden it's only hours until I take my stuff and head to the airport. To leave. For good. Well, for now. It's so strange and I think I'm still in some sort of denial, despite having said some tough goodbyes already, and standing with packed bags.

5 hours 'til departure. Let's make them count.

Jo x

disneyland!

A thousand childhood dreams coming true in one moment. Hello Disney!

Funky vending machine #1.

My relatives. Monkey magic.

Funky vending machine #2.

I may not be allowed to drive on the streets of any country, but even Stella will tell you I rocked the road in Disneyland!

Happiest place on earth.

Jo x

3...

Only 3 days left now. No idea where the time went! The past months have flown by, and also been the absolute best ones. 

I will post some photos etc from recent events as soon as I get a free moment so watch this space!

Jo x

ps: here's a little teaser -

japanese hipsta

こんにちわ !!

^^ Jo x

fuji q!

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but Fuji Q is an amusement park close to the majestic Fuji mountain. It's the closest I've been so far, and it's absolutely stunning! And - AND - look at the rollercoasters! Amazing!

Corey also forced me into the Haunted House (I hate Haunted Houses) and god, my god, my almighty god it was scary! We quite literally ran through, narrating the walk ("A person is going to come out from behind that curtain, and now there's a corner" etc etc), also chanting "It's a happy place, it's a happy place." At first they sent in people group by group, but soon you caught up with other people. The couple behind us were laughing so, so much at our comments, while the elderly couple in front of us were doing it like it was a fricking walk in Yoyogi Park on a sunny Sunday morning! Anyway. It was sort of fun. 

LOOK AT THE TURN!

Crazy lady. 

See! I do other things than eat! Sometimes.

Jo x

veggie adventure VIII: vegecafe

Last one for now, I promise. I'll update on something else before the next one. BUT! This place - Omotesando Vegecafe - was nothing less than utterly amazing! It was located on a tiny side street close to Jingu-mae Station and was rather inconspicuous despite its bright green colours. It's mainly a take-out place and only has 7 seats inside, but was cosy nonetheless.

As you can see, literally a narrow space with a bar disk-like eating area. It's not a place you spend hours in, obviously, but perfect for a quick bite while shopping or, in my case, after a museum visit. 

Their speciality is soy meat, and it comes in 5 different flavours. You can order either just the soy meat in 3 sizes, or in M/L with brown rice and cabbage. 

Menu. 720 yen for a L size soy meat (huge!), and 680 yen for one L size with rice.

Being the fatty I am I chose the L size with rice. As for the soy meat you can choose between 5 flavours: Veggie mayo, Tomato, something, something else, and mine - Spicy Korean. The bowl was a lot bigger than I expected but happy hungry me devoured it nonetheless.

Lots of yummy soy meat with sort of spicy Korean flavours.

I definitely recommend this place, especially if you find yourself hungry in the Harajuku area. It's easy to find, cheap, super friendly staff, English menu, and most importantly - so delicious! I will try to go back once before leaving Tokyo. Who wants to join?

They also sold merchandise with the mascot + logo on! I'm such a sucker for stuff like this so I got the whole lot. In fact, I spent more money on these than the actual food! So lame. But they were so cute, ne?! At least I didn't get the thermos...although...maybe next time...

Link: http://www.vegecate.com/

Jo x

they work hard in japan

Spotted in Shibuya station.

Jo x

veggie adventure VII: nagi-shokudo

Busy, busy, busy these days. Nagi-Shokudo is located in Shibuya, roughly 15 minutes' walk from the station's West Exit, and undeservedly accused of being difficult to find. No, not at all, but you need to know where you're going. The sign is clearly placed on the corner, however inconspicuous it looks. The restaurant itself is on the basement floor, down some stairs, on the side. 

The interior was very hipster, with books and CDs for sale, and random objects such as a father Christmas in metal, and a meter-high doll wearing a hat. They played smooth music and we were the only guests (although we did come just when they opened, mind).

There was both normal seating and the cosy Japanese sit-on-the-floor-until-your-knees-hurt-too-much kind, which we used. 

料理!!

I can't for my life remember what it was called in Japanese, but perhaps that matters less. Here's what it was. First, a small plate with three individual dishes: enoki (mushroom) cooked in garlic, kabocha (pumpkin) cooked with some nice spice, and tsukemono (pickled cucumber) which was a bit salty and tasted like the one I used to eat back in the day when I was a young girl in Sweden! Mucho nice, in other words.

Main plate: soy meat fried in something yummy, making it soft and a bit mushy. Served with lettuce and bell pepper.

All this was served with brown rice...

...and vegan miso soup. Nom nom nom! Came to 1,000 yen (=83 kr / £7.80) which I thought was pretty decent for the amount.

The other "Today's Special" they had was a curry plate with brown rice, popadum, a piece of falafel (I think), lettuce and some mushy stuff on the side. Bit spicy, but with great flavour! This one was 1,500 yen but made a muscley Italian full enough to refuse ice cream afterwards so two thumbs up!

More to come, more to come! Also, I do do other things than eat - no, honestly I do, even if it doesn't seem like it. Posts shall come.

Jo x

veggie adventure VI: chaya

It's time again, friends! As my final exam has been completed, classes begin to slowly finish one by one, and the already minuscule workload diminishes completely, I have plenty of time on my hands to enjoy a final two weeks of this wonderful, wonderful country. Accordingly, I ventured to yet another vegetarian restaurant this evening.  

The venue for the night was Chaya Macrobiotics in Shinbashi, located in the fancy-schmancy Royal Park Tower. We're talking expensive cars and taxis up front, a hat+white gloves-wearing clerk outside the door - making the automatic sliding doors open  for you!!! - the full package. Now, I was feeling rebellious and lazy this morning and put on my watermelon top and shorty shorts, with messy hair in a side braid + Converse. Felt like a fish in the desert. But it's ok. 

The place was nice! As in, not too fancy or anything, but rather cosy and homely and quiet and solemn. They sold no meat, egg, dairy, nor refined sugar. So, more than just a vegetarian restaurant, this one also had a health concept going on, with their macrobiotic food. Such a win-win, wouldn't you say?

My photos are crap, but trust me when I say the atmosphere was calm and quiet, and it'd be a good place for a lunch date. 'Simple' comes to mind - simple interior, simple menu, simple food, simple service (as in non-pretentious), and a simple concept overall.

りょうり !!

Appetiser: soy nugget tossed (love that word) in nori (seaweed) sauce. So incredibly yummy, and a lot softer than the deep-fried soy I've had recently. I'm a little sensitive to seaweed when the flavour becomes too dominant, but this one was subtle enough to tickle my taste buds. Yum, yum! Came at 500 yen, and was perfectly alright to share between two people.

Vegetable curry plate with organic brown rice, 2 delis (some potato salad thing - front - and some veggie mushy mix - back) + salad. Perfectly flavoured curry and gorgeous rice. Simply perfection. 1,300 yen.

 Cheeky dessert: Tofu cheese mango cake. At a relatively low 260 calories (yes, the menu told such secrets) it was simply irresistible. As it came in, we understood the calorie count: the cake was tiny. Anyway, my friend and I decided on one word to describe it: pleasant. Neither fantastic nor delicious, nor so-so, or blah - pleasant. The interior was made up of some mango mush and tofu cream stuff, and that was the best part of this little lavishness. Came to 440 yen a piece.

All in all, 1990 yen per person which admittedly is quite a lot. But for that we had 3 courses, and quite a lot of healthy well-cooked food in a fancy area. Can definitely recommend this place, maybe for a couply night out...?

Link: http://www.rps-tower.co.jp/en/restaurants/chaya/

Jo x