Scotland Part 1

In between houses we're making a trip to Scotland and we'll be spending 2 days in Catlowdry, 5 days in Edinburgh, 3 days in Fort William and 4 days in Inverness. First time to Scotland for me so I'm quite excited but also not looking forward to moving around and having to pack and leave to different places so often. James travelled when he was younger and did lots of backpacking alone so this is nothing to him but living out of a suitcase for 6 weeks will be something new for me. 

Day One 

Once we moved everything to storage we got in the car and drove 3 hours up north to Catlowdry a small village near the Scottish border. The road was really twisty and winding, even worse than Cameron Highlands and thats only an hour long. There no streetlights once we got off the main road so it was quite scary driving in pitch black darkness. I made a Spotify playlist for the trip but it was only for 2 hours, think we'll need to stick to podcasts for driving after this. I really didn't like driving at night on the backroads because there aren't any streetlights and you can't see if a car is coming round the corner. 

After 3 hours of driving 

Once we checked in, the night drive into town to get dinner.

The B&B was run by this old couple who were really sweet and once we parked we saw a big tabby cat at the entrance. Breakfast was included and it was on really fancy china and everything was set on a glass plate. James said it reminds him of his grandma's house and mine too, mama keeps all the good plates in a glass cupboard. After getting the fish and chips takeaway we went back and watched The Holiday for the first time. The town was so deserted at 7pm on a Monday there were no shops open apart from the fish and chip shop and teenagers were just walking about aimlessly huddled in little groups. It must be so strange growing up in a place like this, so different from KL and the constant city buzz. 

The room was very nicely decorated and felt like I was in an old film. I do like having a bed-side table and the bed was so much nicer than my old bed at Lodge House I had a perfect nights sleep. I think curtains are the way to go. My room in KL has glass window in the ceiling so its never pitch black at night. 

Day Two 

After breakfast we set off to do a 8 mile hike around Kelder Forest Park but because there were so many road closures we were driving for 3 hours. I got really nauseous at this point and felt like vomitting. We stopped by the side of the road so that I could rest for a bit. I wasn't cold at all because I was so wrapped up but James was freezing in his sweats. We drove to a nearby small town called Hawick but by then I was feeling so ill I just wanted to go back. Kelder Forest Park day was a fail. Went back to the room and I recovered after an hour or two and then back out we went. 

Left the room just as it started to rain and by the time we had left the gate it was pouring. I had my mask up so I didn't get rain on my face but we were completely soaked within minutes. James had some issues navigating and we ended up in a forest that looked like it had been burnt down and completely covered in mud. Took about an hour to get back and by then clothes, shoes everything was completely soaked and I was so stressed. Put everything on the radiator and just went to bed. A few hours later we watched a Mandalorian episode and then got ready for dinner at the Hidden River Cafe which was only 12 minutes away but in pitch black darkness we missed the exit and had to go back. Dinner was amazing and made up for getting rained on earlier that day. One of the best meals I've had and it was all seafood tapas. I wonder how they managed to get such a pro chef in the middle of nowhere. 

I didn't get any pictures of the food except dessert because we were too hungry and by the time the food arrived we just wanted to nom. The restaurant was set in a wooden barn which had two floors and residential cabins surrounding it. It would be a good place for a family bonding trip because there's nothing to do except to talk to each other and maybe play board games. I suggested this but James said that it was unlikely my family would agree to something like that. 

It was so beautiful 

Cookie dough waffles with ice cream

Day Three 

After breakfast we packed up and were in the car on the way to Dryburgh which has the Scots Monument and a giant statue of William Wallace. It took about 2 hours to get there and the weather wasn't too bad so we got out and walked around. I think I hate walking even if its short distances I wish I could go drive everywhere. This trip has made me realise that I am 26 with the body of an 86 year old. 

Got back in the car and drove for another hour to Edinburgh. I think I was expecting a big bustling city like Manchester or London but its more like York but spread out. Population of Edinburgh is only 500k and the houses are much older, cobbled streets and it looked less urban. Parked the car and trekked through old town to visit Armchair books. I wish I could have spent longer in here but I didn't wear contacts today and my glasses kept steaming up because we had to wear masks and I felt so uncomfortable. I saw a Grimms Stories book which I'd never seen before and Alice's Adventures through the looking glass which is one of my favourite books. I wish I had gotten the Grimms Stories but it was £29 and it was more a novelty collectors item than a story book so I didn't get it. 

Went to the national monument which I struggled with at the beginning because I was wearing my Dr Martens and my heel was starting to hurt. Honestly, I am so scared and nervous for our Ben Nevis climb. I think Edinburgh is such a nice city to live in, the architecture is so pretty and the view from the national monument was amazing. James likes how the city is such a mixture of old and new with the castle on one side overlooking the high street on the next. 

Overlooking the Royal Mile

View from the National Monument 

Had an early dinner at KFC and James got the double down burger which I can't understand. Its just two chicken patties with cheese in the middle. I love the hotel that we're in because there's a rainfall shower which I feel is the epitome of luxury, that and an efficient kettle. First full day of Edinburgh tomorrow! 

Goodbye Lodge House

Our lease for Lodge House ended in September but we managed to extend it for a month because we can't move into the new place until December earliest. So this past weekend James and I have been packing up the house and sorting what needs to go into storage, what we're taking to Scotland and what we're taking to his mum's house for November when we'll be at her house. I'm an extremely sentimental person and this house particularly has been filled with so many good memories over the past year especially since we were both in lockdown and spent much more time at home. James on the other hand is the least sentimental person and just wanted the packing to be over with and done as efficiently as possible because he was excited about the Scotland holiday. Why does he get to have no emotional attachment and I'm feeling nostalgic over the house for the last few weeks before we leave?? 

Ordered 15 boxes but when they arrived they turned out to be tiny! This was about 1/3 of our stuff.

The end result after 2 days of packing. Thankfully we got proffessional movers to help move the stuff into storage. Took about 2 hours on Monday and we were sorted. The last few things to be packed had to be put away in bin bags. 

I'm going to miss the routine of living in Lodge House especially the neighbourhood cats. There were 3 cats that lived around us and it was nice knowing that almost every time you walked out of the house you would meet a meow. This was what the lounge looked like once we had packed away all our things. Its funny how I felt really upset about leaving right up till the morning of. Once the movers had taken all our things away it didn't feel like our house anymore. 

Christmas tree corner where we had the tree up for about 2 months. The lounge was the coziest room of the house and where we hosted games nights and dinners. The window over-looking 'cat patrol' the ginger cat that lived opposite us who was always on patrol. He would constantly be meowing from that window. The morning we left he actually came out right as the car was pulling away to say goodbye. We hadn't seen him that week and right when we were about to leave he came out and let us pet him. Surely its a coincedence but cats always seem to know things don't they? 

Lodge House entrance in the Spring time. 

Cat Patrols house

The Christmas tree that is waiting for us in storage now

Forever grateful for all the memories here, and looking forward to better things in Wakefield! 

October baby

 I turned 26 yesterday!!! Feels surreal that I've passed the mid-twenties mark and I'm closer to 30 then I am to my teenage years although it truly doesn't feel like it. James said that in the time he's known me which is about 4.5 years, I've changed a lot. He said that I'm much calmer now and more mature and I hope that's true. 

Previously I've felt that there was alot of pressure on your birthday. Wondering whether old friends would remember, missing celebrating at home surrounded by family, personally assessing whether you've done enough that year and whether you're becoming better. This year was different. I feel perfectly content with the friends I have, with my relationship with my family and although personally there are still so many things to achieve its a work in progress and I'm not overly worried about the things that I can't change. In the past things have seemed to work themselves and I wasted so much time being unhappy over the uncertainty of things. 

I had a pretty great 26th! Spent the Saturday before my birthday with Cally having drinks at The Liquorist which had a very homey and chill ambience. I'm so glad that Cally is in Leeds and that we've gotten so much closer over the last year. We can spend hours just chatting and its so nice to be around someone who just gets you. Then we went to Cat cafe with James and even though the cats couldn't be bothered about us it was nice spending time with the cats. I've always been a cat person and I love that you can go to a cafe and just be surrounded by them. James and I had dinner at Dough House and had a 20 inch pizza which was one of the best pizza's I've ever had in my life. 

Dusty pink SASKI leggings and the besttt cake

BESTIE

This 20 inch pizza which we finished in one sitting

Dinner with my favourite person 

On my birthday itself James had to work so I had calls with Assikin and Maria and family throughout the day. Played Among Us at night with James' family. I got presents from Maria, facemasks and beauty things and cake delivered from Jenny and Peter which was really sweet of them and THE SASKI LEGGINGS from the family that I've been wanting for 3 years now. Cally came over on my actual birthday day to give me presents and one of them were the pyjamas that I've been wanting. James got me the most beautiful earrings that I've been wanting, thick gold hoops that aren't too big plus 3 other pairs too. I feel very blessed and lucky for the support system and people I have. Here's to 26! 

Couch Potato

Currently nearing the end of Week 2 of Lockdown! In between writting essays, doing job applications, and playing Pandemic we've been binging on quite a few shows and films recently. 

1. Money Heist! 

Season 4 of Money Heist just came out and everyone on twitter couldn't stop raving about how it good it is - watch a whole season in a day good, so we decided to start. We're on episode 3 now and it's so addictive! Reminds me a bit of Now You See Me but with a more well thought out plot. The premise is a gang of I think 7 people who are robbing the Spanish money printing press plus the standard hostages and cops. Very fast paced which I love because they explain the plot in flash backs and don't waste time with build up. 

2. Bake Off! 

Watched a few episodes a couple years ago but didn't get into it because it was quite slow paced. After watching Mel and Noel Fielding on TaskMaster decided to rewatch it and its actually really good now. Probably more so since I've recently gotten into baking so I appreciate it a bit more. 

3. Reply 1988 

Watched this in February before the Lockdown. Took me ages because it has about 18 episodes which are about 2 hours each! Set in Seoul in the 80s it follows 6 friends from their college days to adulthood. Super heartwarming and had very typical asian family themes. Made me miss my younger days a lot, they really go by fast but when you're a teenager you feel like you can't wait to grow up. 

Books

Currently reading Catch 22 but I've been so easily distracted that it's hard for me to pick up a book these days. I used to read so much when I was younger and then completely stopped from 17-24. Trying to get back into it slowly because I used to love getting lost in a good book. This year I want to try and read 12 new books. So far the ones I've read are: 

1. Brave New World 

Similar themes to 1984, dysoptian future world, dictator/military state, limited freedoms. Can't believe this was written by someone born in 1890. Very well written and quite scary to think how accurate some elements of the book are in the present day. Class divide shaped by genetic engineering, silencing anyone who can't conform to remote islands. This was a really good book and I think much better than 1984. 

2. Circe 

Greek Mythology meets modern day tragedy. Eva recommended this to me ages ago but only finished it recently. It did annoy me at many points at how hopeless the main character is, but I guess this is accurate to a woman in those times and in that setting. Down with the Patriarchy! 

3. The Subtle Knife Amber Spyglass 

Read the first book when I was 11 and then didn't know there was a 2nd and 3rd. Got the trilogy for Christmas and couldn't put it down. So good and exactly the type of novel I used to read when I was younger. Still has the same draw as it did all those years ago. 

Bali

Made a trip to Bali for a few days around August 2019 when James came to visit. This was my 2nd time in Bali but this time I spent much longer on the island and the days were centred around surfing all day and trying out different restaurants at night. Didn't manage to do any nature walks or trips to the mountains this time because we wanted to spend most of the day surfing and by the time we were done it was close to sunset and time for dinner. Some of the places we went to:

Ku De Ta 

The first night we arrived we had dinner at Ku De Ta which was in Seminyak itself and not too far from the hotel. They had an infinity pool overlooking the beach and huge plush bean bags and side tables with heated lamps next to it. Probably one of my favourite restaurants in Bali because it had such a chilled out vibe to it. The had music playing but not loud enough that it felt like you were at a club. I had the best lamb and olive pizza with mediterreanean dips.

Potatohead Beach Club 

The second night we had dinner at the Potatohead beach club which is probably the most elaborate restaurant set-up I have ever been to in my life. Its about 4 different restaurants in a dome shaped building with an infinity pool in the centre. The food here was so good, we had ayam berempah and terung belado with sambal belacan. I still get cravings for terung belado now. It gets quite cool at night and much less humid whereas its scorching hot in the day with so much humidity.

Finn's beach club 

Finn's was probably my least favourite of all the places we went to. Very much more of a club-vibe. People were literally bouncing of the walls and they had the music blasting. Food was really nice though, and they had everything from pizza and pasta to sushi. Would have definitely appreciated this place more when I was younger. I'm too old for the rave life now.

Motel Mexicola 


This was one of the best restaurants I've ever been to in my life! If you're ever in Bali you have to come here! It's based in Seminyak which was not far from our hotel. The food here was to die for. They serve tapas and there's so many options to choose from, but between the 2 of us we finished about 6 plates. We ordered the calamares, taco de pollo, empanadas, quessadillas and a few other tacos that I can't remember now. Everything was so good! Slightly dissapointed that we only came here for the last night because I probably would have gone here twice if I had known how good the food was going to be. It had the most beautiful art deco walls meet Coco furniture, tiki lamps outside, and overall very 60s glam but with tropical fluorescent lights. This was definitely one of the highlights of Bali.

One of my favourite holiday spots and definitely affordable if you plan ahead. Bali, we'll be back!

March Update!

In the last 10 days since I blogged about social distancing things have changed drastically all over the world. Malaysia now has 30 deaths and the restricted movement order has been extended for another 14 days. In the UK, Boris Johnson, Prince Charles and there are now 1,408 deaths when it was just 1,019 yesterday. Spain has 7,340 deaths and there are 35,000 deaths globally. We are still quarantining at home most of the time with the exception of a state allowed run to a nearby park every other day.

I'm facetiming home regularly where everyone seems to be much more panicked then I am here. Absolutely no going out in KL, the army has been deployed and people are sunning/ bathing their grocceries in dettol after buying them. I don't even have a facemask here since the guidance has been you only need a mask if you have symptoms or are sick. When we went to Sainsbury's there were little markers to show how far apart you had to stand from each other and only a certain amount of people were allowed in the shops everyday. The shops in Leeds aren't as well-stocked as they usually are because of panic buying so it feels a bit dystopian going in and half the shelves are empty.

It's a really strange time in the world. People are losing their jobs, businesses are tethering on bankruptcy, hospitals are over-loaded and are at capacity. The Home Minister of Malaysia released a statement that all Malaysians should return before all commercial flights are cancelled. I was quite sure that I wanted to stay here until the crisis was over but now I'm not completely sure if that's the right thing to do because they're saying it may last longer than 6 months.

Everyday Living 

Apart from that, I started Couch to 5K and i'm on Week 4 right now. So far it's going good and I feel like I'm actually enjoying running for once. It's quite easy to follow the podcast because it tells you when to run when to jog, how much further you have. Can't wait to finish the programme and be able to do 30 minutes without stopping. On the off days we do hiit workouts at home, surprisingly the lockdown is when I've done the most exercise in my entire life!

I've been baking alot more too! So far I've made pancakes, brownies, chocolate chip cookies and next on the list is a burnt cheesecake once I manage to get all the ingredients. Ordered a paint by numbers kit but it's going to take a few weeks to arrive. Quite excited to try something new! I think sometimes I actively avoid things that take too much effort. But spending time on things that have nothing to show for it feels a little empty.. like endless surfing or scrolling.

James and I have been playing this board game called Pandemic which is apt with whats going on right now. The premise of the game is that you need to solve objectives for each round based on 4 diseases that have broken out in the world. You have different roles like quarantine scientist, researcher, medics, dispatch. It takes about an hour to play a game and we got the legacy version so we have 12 months to complete.

Stay safe everyone! X 

Les 3 Vallées

After Christmas and over New Years this year I went skiing for the first time. We had a chalet in Les 3 Vallées in France which is also the largest ski area in the world. I was super excited because I've never gone skiing before, my family had gone skiing without me in South Korea a couple years earlier and I always felt that I really missed out on that trip. The journey there took a whole day because we had to get from Leeds to London and then get the Eurostar to Paris central station and then an internal Paris metro to get to another station to catch the connecting train to the Alps. It was such a journey and James and I wanted to try French McD's whilst waiting for the connecting train which took so long that we almost missed the train and didn't even manage to find the McD's. Paris was having strikes at the time so the Metro wasn't running properly and there was so much traffic because they had closed roads for the strike. It was pure chaos getting to the Alps. Once we got off the last train we got in a mini-van which took us up the mountain and this took almost 2 hours. Then we didn't know how to get the keys to get into the chalet and we were struggling with the passcode until this Russian group opened the (safe?) which had the keys. Got to the chalet and the air was so thin that I struggled to breathe a little bit. 

Day One 

The chalet is midway up a hill so to get down to the base of the mountain you need to ski down a blue. The difficulty of the slopes started off with easy greens, blues, reds, and blacks which were the hardest. That first day I could barely manage to stand on the slopes long with skis. Skiing down was a nightmare. Looking back I must have been awful to teach, I cried so many times and had multiple breakdowns. Skiing is honestly so difficult when you're first starting out. And I felt like I was slowing everyone down since everyone else in the group had been skiing for years. James was so patient throughout my many fits but when we got back he said I definitely needed private ski lessons tomorrow.  Skiied back up to the chalet and went down this monstrous slope called Purdue which is a green but for some reason incredibly hard. I just kept falling and basically rolled down the mountain. I fell down so many times and when we got back I couldn't get my ski boots off and cried about that on the stairs before going in the chalet. Got in the shower and realised I had massive bruises all over my hips and red welts on my back where the snow had rubbed up against when I fell. Took pictures to send to the family group and they said it was normal. If I'm struggling this much I have no idea how they managed South Korea. 

Day Two 

Had my first ski lesson today which was so much better than day one because we practiced on an easier slope. My ski teacher was this really chilled out guy who brought me down some easy greens that were Frozen themed. Learned how to snow plough, how to stop, how to balance on one leg, how to turn. Honestly ski lessons made learning so much easier. Came back and had lunch at this burger restaurant that took about 2.5 hours (not exaggerating!) to get our orders out because it was peak ski season and many of their staff had ski injuries and were off work. Skiied back up to the chalet and went down yesterday's Purdue. Fell down alot still but not as bad as the first day. 

Day Three 

Last day of 2019! Didn't have any ski lessons today but did some greens with James. Had such a bad fall here that my knee was throbbing the whole day. Only did half a day today and came back to the chalet for lunch and then drinks at this bar with the girls. The boys needed pro ski time and the break was needed for me. Prosecco evening girls time was probably the highlight of this day. Got back to the chalet, had dinner and then played board games and cards all night. Everyone was asleep before the midnight on New Years which isn't new for us because James can't stay up past 11pm. 

Day Four

New Year's Day and more lessons for me with my french ski instructor. Met with the same ski instructor again and we practiced on some greens and blues. Told him how difficult Purdue was for me and he brought me up and down a slightly different path which was so much easier. After the lesson I tried to navigate back the same path but I'm so bad with directions we ended up right back at the start of Purdue. It was not bad at all today! Managed to get all the way down without falling down even once. Purdue was the hardest thing on day one and two but manageable now. I think its harder for me to ski when I'm with James but when I'm with other people I just get on with it because pride and also they might just leave me on the mountain. 

Day Five 

Skiing in a group again today. I wish I remembered the names of the slopes that I went down a bit better but I'm horrible at navigating and just followed the group. Went down mostly blues today which were super icy and diffiuclt to turn. Didn't fall down once even thought whilst I was skiing all I could think about is I'm going way too fast and I can't stop and shit if I break something how will I get anywhere. Super pleased that I managed to keep up today. My knee was still throbbing and turns were getting harder but skill wise I was improving which made skiing fun at last. Craziest thing that happened was right before we broke for lunch Beth had a fall which didn't look too bad because she got up and skiied down not long after but after lunch she couldn't walk anymore. Had to call the emergency ambulance and be taken down the mountain in what looked like a mobile coffin. It was so horrible and painful and her knee was so swollen it was twice the size of the other leg.

Day Six 

Went skiing behind the mountain today so it was so much colder. Went down a slope called Jerusalem which had the most amazing views and barely any people on it. People were dressed so stylishly on the slopes in cute overalls or matching rainbow stiped top and bottoms. Had dinner out for the first time in a really good Italian restaurant. The desserts at this restaurant were really good and I had so much wine that walking back was such a struggle. We decided to walk back up the mountain on the snow instead of taking the steps and the air was so thin because it was late at night that I had an asthma attack and had to stop. Everyone else went up the mountain like they were walking up a flight of stairs even though the incline was ridiculously steep. Including James mum who was in her 60s. Had to make a detour and find the steps up and an hour later we were back at the chalet. 

Day Seven 

The end of the ski trip! Travel back to Leeds was again a whole day affair because the trains were cancelled so we had to take a 2 hour drive to get us to a different train station so we could get a connecting train to Paris Gare du Nord. Metro was running again so got on that in good time. Got back to London at around 7pm and then stayed over at Nottingham to have Annie's breakfast and then back to Leeds the next day.

This was such a nice trip skiing was amazing and definitely something you can pick up as an adult. Before I go the next time though I need to train alot more because you can't ski very well without strong leg muscles... and I am not as fit as I could be. 

Pictures from the Trip 

Social Distancing

For the past 3 months the news has been dominated with Coronavirus or Covid-19 which is a respisratory disease similar to Sars in the early 2000s and MERS. At first I thought it was going to be a pandamic similar to H1N1(swine flu) or Dengue both of which I had and recovered after a week or so. Not deadly, nothing to worry about. This March the death toll for Covid-19 increased rapidly with some countries going into complete lockdown like Italy, Iran and China and other countries banning or limitting travel significantly. 

Malaysia has implemented Work from Home for the next 2 weeks and most of my friends and family are off work and school. Most internationals here have left for home and the entire course has gone online. I've been at home for the last 5 days and the days feel so monotonous. I've had a cold for the last week so it's best that i'm self-isolating but the boredom strikes! I'm not the most socialable person but I do miss going in to classes physically and meeting friends. 

The scary thing about the virus is that it can be lethal to older people and those who are immuno-comprimised which is why everyone has to stay home to minimise the spread of the virus. Schools have closed, unis have closed, and most jobs are recommending work from home here in the UK. Everyday the death toll goes up and there's not enough tests available for everyone and the hospitals are overflowing. People are stock piling toilet paper and pasta and tinned foods. We had to go to 3 different places before we could find any toilet roll last week and so many items in our usual grocery shop was unavailable. I never would have thought that something like this could happen in 2020!

Some things that I've been up to recently is that James and I have been rock climbing consistently again. I've started baking more. The brownies and pancakes were a success but the cookies sadly were not. I wanted to start baking something new every week but James is blaming me for making him fat and has requested I stop for a few weeks. :( 

I tried a no sugar diet for about 3 weeks! It was so incredibly hard, there's sugar in everything! Even pasta sauce and bread and oats has about 5 grams of sugar without adding anything and we're only allowed 25 grams a day. I do think that after doing the no sugar diet my body needs less sugar and dessert. The first week was tough but the 2nd and 3rd week I barely craved sugar and now things that seemed normal to me before is suddenly too sweet which is good! You can condition your body to adapt to anything. 

Part 3 of Tokyo

I keep starting and not finishing this post and now it's the 17th of February and I can only remember snippets of that last day. I'm going to try and finish this today before I forget completely. 

Our last full day in Tokyo!

Akihabara 

Started the day at Akihabara which was not too far from the hotel. This is where most of the outrageous things you hear about Japan are located like maid cafes, sex toy souveneir shops, owl cafes. It was quite close to the hotel, only a couple stops on the overground train that we had access to with our JR pass. Right as we were walking out of the train station I spotted this small little cafe, conveyor belt sushi! It looked like a chain restaurant and not as authentic as those stand alone ones would be but we had already made two attempts at going for conveyor belt sushi and the first time the queue was way too long and the second was when we got separated in the Tsujiki fish market and Ma and A went but E, Baba and I didn't. It was quiet and we were the first ones in seeing as it was only 9 am. Caused quite a ruckus when we first got in as ma thought she had lost her phone and we were frantically searching for it before realising it was in her coat pocket. 

Conveyor belt sushi 

The restaurant was set up like a bar and there were two chefs in the centre slicing and dicing and serving up the sushi right infront of you. There were also little taps that ran across the bar where you could get steaming hot water to make your own green tea. Everything you need was already set infront of you, soy sauce, wasabi, chopsticks, little bowls and plates, green tea powder to make the tea. 

A very happy E 

Green tea on tap

Tried eel sushi for the first time and definitely won't be trying it again. Slimy and no real flavour. I did try something else for the first time that's changed my view on sushi forever, shrimp with pesto! One of the best sushi I have ever tried in my life. You think it doesn't go but then you try it and wonder how no one else does it because its so so good. I'm going to be looking for pesto shrimp in every place I go to now. 

MY FAVE PESTO SHRIMP

Ueno Park 

After brunch we got back on the train and headed to Ueno Park. There were cute little pagados, lakes with ducks, autumnal trees, vendors selling ice cream. Cool but not freezing, super clean walkways surrounded by huge willowy trees, little prayer temples every so often, and a starbucks smack in the middle of it. Reminded me a little of Central Park in New York as they had an art musseum attached to the corner of the park like the MET. Tried a green tea latte which tasted awful, like spirulina mixed with hot water. I don't think I'm a fan of green tea infused things. 

Temples in the park 

5 tiered pagoda temple feat A 

Harajuku 

Went back to Harajukku because A wanted to go to the Nike store. The main feel of Harajuku was that it was a high end flea market. Vintage clothes, pre-loved Balenciaga's, nitrogen ice cream. Ma and E spent a good hour at a charm making store where you could pick and design your own charms. They were really pretty, and Ma does have an eye for designing things, she's also probably the most trendiest person I know. I didn't make one because it's pretty in the moment but I rarely wear these things.

Nike store

Pandora ain't got nothing on this place

Pre-loved is re-loved

Had dinner at this restaurant near our hotel after trying and failing to get a table at about 4 other places. The queue took ages because everyone was out for new years eve. 

Carnivourous 

Definitely going to miss Japan. Tokyo and everything about it was just magical, it's in a league of it's own. Till we meet again Japan, sayanora! 

Signing off, 2018