I hardly ever eat Norwegian style tacos, but all of a sudden that was what was for dinner yesterday. It was far better than I remember it being. I still miss real tacos, the small round ones with lots of cilantro, but that will have to wait until I can find a shop that actually sells cilantro and the small wheat tacos. This is good enough for now, it cured my craving for familiar food. 美味しかったですよ！

I mentioned in my previous post that I saw this amazing house today. I am speechless. I went through a back alley in my neighborhood, and look what I found! I found – wait for it – “Nostalgic Country House”! It is apparently a private residence, the cars look normal, but the exterior of this house is just… I have no words. I love that about Japan, that behind every corner there is something new and crazy.

I think they like bikes.

It looks like organized hording.

A lot of creative things, the little things around the fan are actually small plastic eggs you can get from vending machines with a little toy inside.

Painted helmets and more eggs.

And a very creative use of anti-hangover-drink-bottles.

And look! Sato-chan! There was actually two of these pink/orange elephants, one on each side of the house.

And the sign, saying it is a Nostalgic Country House, even though I am not sure what that means. But isn’t it amazing?

Hello Sandwich had a great little post about potted gardens in Tokyo, and today I spotted some of them myself. I also saw an absolutely unbelievable house, but it was so amazing it will have to get it’s own post after I am done posting these pictures. So for now, the rest of the pictures from today, and I will follow up with a post of the most amazing house in a post right after this.

Almost felt like I was in England when I saw this house, how cute.

This is katakana and translates to “araifu” – “a life”. Turns out it was a funeral agency.

And then we went to 井の頭恩賜公園 (Inokashira Park), a really pretty park.

Some really pretty birds hiding in the branches.

And someone is having a cozy time. I am not sure why I get super-excited every time I see a fat bird. Other people go “aww” when they see babies or puppies or kittens, I go “aww” whenever I see a fat fluffy bird.

Look at how cute that thing is! He is snuggling up with himself. Aww.

I think I should start a new category on the blog called “Engrish”. Before I ever came to Japan, I thought that Engrish was a myth, and that there were not so many quirky things written everywhere in English – but turns out that Engrish is not a myth, and I see strange English written all over the place.

First, here are some pictures of recent meals and snacks, just because I like taking pictures of food. The sushi above was 350 yen, which would be about 24 Norwegian kroner or about or about 4$. I don’t understand why everyone thinks Japan is so expensive.

Couscous! We found these great sun dried tomatoes soaked in peppery olive oil, it made the couscous so much better.

I got chocolate.

And I made mozzarella and tomato salad with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Apart from pictures of food, I had another reason to write this entry. I got the results from the December JLPT test in the mail a couple of days ago, and I was in the group of 50.8% that actually passed the exam. This week has just been crazy busy because of a midterm test, but the actual test was easier than it could have been. I think they went easy on us. Now, I am of to write a speech for tomorrows speech content. I don’t feel like entering it, but it is mandatory, 書かないわけにはいかない。(On a tangent here – why do Japanese love double negative? To NOT write it is NO good.)

I hope everyone is having a beautiful week.

明日週間テストがあるのに、今日は横浜に行って、あまり勉強しませんでした。(Tomorrow I have my midterm test, but today I went to Yokohama and didn’t study much at at all.) The blog have been a bit quiet for the past two days again (blame it on valentine and homework), but I am sure that will change as soon as my midterm test is done and I have some time to breathe again. In the mean time, I present you with crappy iPhone Hipstamatic shots because it was snowing last night and I did not bring my camera.

You get your own yukata at hotels in Japan.

Look, the Japan Railway family of birds!

Doing homework at Starbucks. I really don’t understand why everyone thinks Starbucks coffee is so amazing.

If it wasn’t for the clouds, you would be able to see Mt. Fuji in the background here. I saw it this morning, but I didn’t take a picture.

My class schedule, and me looking at it.

Pretty soap and pretty tea at the hotel.

And more of the funny smoking signs at the smoking area.

Today we went to chinatown in Yokohama and ate dim sum for lunch.

One of the gates in chinatown.

And then – lo and behold – we found a cafe called “The Cafe”. The Cafe actually had good coffee. After all the nasty coffee I have been drinking in cafes in Japan, I was in heaven for a little while. I think it was french roasted, because the taste was mild and round and not too bitter. Bliss.

An old illustration I dug up from god knows how many years ago, way to heavily inspired by the original “Can you pass the acid test?“.
I think it is fitting for this week.

(Old picture, ca 2002)

I am sitting here, armed with coffee, cigarettes and Japanese books, and I am trying to figure out why the little squiggles on the paper don’t wish to be deciphered today. The strangeness of this week continues, I think there have been 3 earthquakes this week (small ones), it feels funny when the ground underneath you is literally shaking. Yesterday evening an ambulance stopped right next to the house, and a woman was carried out and put in the ambulance by paramedics. I think she will be ok though. I saw it all from the veranda, and I couldn’t quite connect the dots. There is just something in the air this week.

Do you remember the time on the internet when it was cool to photoshop your pictures to hell and back? I found some really old pictures, and even though I wouldn’t torture my pictures the same way today as I did back then, I miss the time when a lot more was allowed. It was fun to make alternate universes where the sky was green and the earth was pink. In many ways I envy people who have just started out with a new hobby (like photography), there is so much more room to play and make good mistakes. After a couple of years I think most people start to limit themselves, and don’t even bother experimenting anymore. At least I know I am one of them. Some of the joy gets lost somewhere along the way. Anyway, these pictures are not necessarily good, but I remember I had a really fun time taking them and editing them.