Ok ok ok. I know probably everyone living in Oslo already know about this place, but just in case – I found a great cheese shop! One of the great things about Norway is all the quality cheese, so I will be eating a lot of cheese while I am in Norway. This shop is at Birkelunden, and if you pass by, you have to try the cheese platter. Really great quality, big portion of cheese, and reasonably priced. I understood that they also sold different crepes and such, but I came for the cheese, which you should do as well. The staff was also really nice and had a lot of knowledge about the different cheeses they served, so go go go! (& here is the website. )

I drew this little guy for a magazine, dealing with misunderstandings when it comes to language in Japan. Probably not very funny unless you know the Japanese word for octopus 😉

The last pictures of the country house for this summer. I wonder if it will look the same when I return. They keep on continuously building to the display, so it is always fun to go back and spot new little creations. I have been trying to spy a little bit on the people living there, but I have never seen anyone, despite it being cars parked in the driveway.

I completely forgot to post all of these pictures from Nakano a couple of weeks back, so here they are. I am so behind with posting pictures it is not even funny, but hopefully I can put them all out there in the next couple of days.

I love little shabby karaoke-places with even whackier little figurines in the windows.

Haha, ok, really silly joke, since chinko means something entirely different in Japanese than pachinko 😉 (Yes, this is a joke about male private parts.)

And lo and behold – entering this mall in Nakano, I felt like I was in China, and not Japan. Japan is known for having beautiful displays and fancy shops, and this mall seemed like some kind of Chinese outlet mall. They sold Converse for 3000 yen, so if it wasn’t for the fact that I don’t even like Converse, I would have been happy.

And a gazillion paper birds to show support for Tohoku.

And the regular wish-tree which was filled with mostly good wishes for Tohoku as well.

Right next to a whacky store which I think sold mostly animal products. Fancy a polyester steak?

I wish it would be allowed to take pictures inside of shops, but since it isn’t, here is a lot of pictures I shot from the hip, hence the awful composition. The mall was a gem, whacky stores, everything from stone stores to stoner stores.

And then I found the food section, which always makes me happy. This was a true treasure when it came to sashimi!

And you can buy individually wrapped sushi pieces from 50 – 100 yen (3.50 NOK – 7.00 NOK).

In any case – most of the mall looked like this. Lots of retro, antique and special interest shops.

And of course a pretty otaku art gallery as well. The pictures were actually really nice, and I regret not finding the name of the artist.

And look at what we found a bit later on, a real old building? Or a fake one? I can never tell, but there were lots of nice details.

Finally we reached where we were suppose to go for the day, this little tram! It is really cheap, the tram ride takes about 1 hour, and it takes you through all of the whacky little shitamachi neighborhoods a bit north in Tokyo.

And then we had some sushi.

And the oyster was so good I ate it before I remembered I should take a picture.

Finally, we got back home, and this is the view from the side porch.

あのインコの日本語は完璧だよ！私もインコを勝ってほしいものの、旅行はちょっと難しくなるかな。。。インコのパスポートはまだできないかもしれない。

This is what I want to eat right now. This is not what I am eating right now. I bought a pizza, some sparkling water and a six pack of cranberry cider. Alcohol helps this cold weather. Never thought I would actually wear my winter jacket this time of year. It is incredibly hard to get into a good rhythm of blogging in this country, why I don’t know. Norway is good for novelty value, but I have almost been here for a week now, and that novelty value diminishing quicker than I would like it to, to be honest. Enough complaining, the show must go on, and days come and go no matter if I would like them to or not.

I made another little resource pack with Japanese stamps, you can download them by clicking here or on the pictures.

My poor dear neglected blog, not much love has been given to you from me during the past week, but I do have a pretty good excuse. This is what I have been doing:

• Packed most of my life down into a suitcase, and tried to keep it under 20kg.
• Spent a night at a hotel in Narita, watching Japanese game shows about how people lick the wrapping paper around their cake.
• Gave and got lots of real, heartfelt hugs, and kind of cried a little bit even, but not as much as I thought I would do.
• Spent 17 hours overnight at the airport in Moscow, which btw is far better than it’s reputation. They even have free wireless and restaurants open late, so all the reviews I had read on the internet about it being “hell on earth” was not true!
• Had an grumpy old Russian guy take my beloved window seat and refusing to move when I took the plane from Moscow to Oslo. It was only 2.5 hours, so I didn’t bother arguing. But I wish people would‘t take other people’s seats, it creates an awkward mood, no matter if they give the seat back or not.
• Almost got a nosebleed from the excessive use of perfume in Russia, especially on the airplane. Show some consideration in enclosed spaces guys!
• Met my wonderful friends in Oslo again, and currently staying with one of the most wonderful and smartest ones of them all.  Never a dull moment, she (and the people around her) are like walking versions of Wikipedia, and I learn something new every time she opens her mouth. Everyone needs a friend like that, it is good for both the head and the heart 🙂
• Felt cold for the first time in months. Norway is so cold you guys! Of course I knew this, but I had kind of forgotten all about it, with the result that I don’t really have many jackets with me. I am not sure I could ever live in this kind of climate all year around. This Norwegian summer temperature feels like Tokyo in November.
• I have eaten various Norwegian things, like good cheese and a lompe already! Other suggestions? I will get around to Ostepop and Grandiosa at some point 😉
• Spent more money in Norway in 3 days then I do in Tokyo in 30.

In any case, I am in Oslo for most of this week, so if any of you people who live here full time knows about good and cheap places to eat (any ridiculously cheap sushi in this town which is edible?), nice things to see (not the regular tourist traps) or fun things to do, please point me in the right direction!