VIDEO: JAPANESE COOKIES

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VIDEO: JAPANESE ICE CREAM

TARAKO!

Hi!

We're back in Japan after a visit to Sweden.

Today, Per and I are going to a "family restaurant" chain called Saizeriya to eat Tarako Spaghetti.

Tarako is salted cod or alaska pollock roe.

Tarako spaghetti is spagetthi with a creamy sauce made from tarako, cream and topped with nori ① .

I've only had it once before and I LOVED IT!

When surfing the web ②, I found these commercials for instant Tarako sauce.

They made me love Tarako even more!

① Roasted seaweed

② As the cool kids call it

UPDATE!

I had two bites of the Saizeriya Tarako spaghetti. 

I did not enjoy it. The one I had before was way better.

#disappointment 

Yes! This really is a post about a train station.

Did I ever think I'd do a post about a train station? Umm... Probably not. But the thing is, I really like my train station.
I call it mine because we live next door to it and I go there almost every day - not only for transportation, but also for shopping, eating or just to browse the shops inside this huge place.

The thing is though; Ikebukuro is relatively unknown for most expats in Tokyo.
I find that so strange because Ikebukuro station is the second largest train station IN THE WORLD for Petes sake!!!
In 2007 it had 2,71 million passengers going through it every single day.
I mean, how cool is that?

So there you have it. I love Ikebukuro Station.

Ps. I hope I won't blog about train stations ever again.

HELLO KITTY CAFÉ IN SEOUL

My husband and I went on a mini break in Seoul two weeks ago and we ended up at the Hello Kitty café.

Per is buying a souvenir mug.

 Everything is Kitty shaped and pink. EVERYTHING!

Caffe lattes and matcha lattes with Kitty.

 This is what we had: Hello Kitty strawberry mousse cake, latte and a cappuccino.

I didn't get Kitty on my cappuccino :(

 Sorry about the lighting in these last two pics, but everything was just so darn pink upstairs it was difficult to take any decent photos.

A VISIT FROM MY COUSIN

Hello!

My lovely cousin, Janette has been staying with us here in Tokyo for one wonderful week.

I thought I'd share some photos and, of course, videos of a few of the things that we've been up to.

Trying different Japanese foods, such as Taiyaki, the fish shaped pastry with red bean paste filling.

Accidentally ordered a hot, sweet strawberry milk drink thinking it was coffee at the My Melody café in Daikanyama.

Macarons at Ladurée in Ginza

We had sashimi at a nice restaurant in Ikebukuro.

(Janette thought the shrimp was awful btw)

Funny flavored ice cream.

These are the flavours we ordered: Hokkaido potato, Shark fin noodle, charcoal, wasabi, green tea, double cheese. 

Ehrm... Yum??

Wagyu hamburgers at Blacow in Ebisu.

Shibuya crossing (of course).

Tomorrow, my mother, stepdad and two sisters are coming to visit.

Can't wait!

Eating Japanese jelly

I'm trying the popular Japanese jelly with 0 calories.

Sorry about the poor video quality :(

Tokyo day one

Hello!

Per and I arrived in Tokyo this morning.
This is what I've done today:

• Bought water from a vending machine (on my bucket list*)
• Eaten a delicious onigiri followed by a green ice tea (on my bucket list*)
• Unpacked in our tiny, but lovely flat on the 22nd floor in Ikebukuro.
• Eaten a pork bun and spicy noodle soup for lunch.
• Bought a clear plastic umbrella (on my bucket list*)
• Followed Per to the dry cleaners to drop of some shirts.
• Done a bit of food shopping at our local supermarket.
• Marveled at how well dressed everyone are.

* The bucket list will soon be published on the blog. 

But, the most important thing I've done today was to try umeboshi.

Umeboshi is a japanese plum that is pickeled and tastes salty and sour (due to its lactic acid contents). It's considered good for digestion, prevention of nausea, and for systemic toxicity, including hangovers.

The citric acid is claimed to act as an antibacterial, help to increase saliva production and assist in the digestion of rice. Additionally, umeboshi is claimed to combat fatigue (historically given as part of a samurai's field ration) and protect against aging.

Because I've been wanting to start a YouTube channel, I made a video of me trying umeboshi (in Swedish). Hope you'll like it!

TOKYO PREP #2

Konnichiwa!

After watching all those YouTube clips, I've understood that many gaijin (that's foreigner in Japanese ^^) in Japan get colds and flu a lot.
Since last autumn and winter was crazy for me flu-wise, I'm not taking any chances. 
That's why I'm on a strict get-healthy-for-Japan-plan.

My favourite discovery is Blogilates.



I've even started following Cassey's PILATES FOR BEGINNERS CALENDAR.
Ok, so far I'm only on day two, but so far so good ;)

Today I'm starting a two day cleanse and trying hot yoga for the first time evva! 

If you want lots of inspiration on healthy stuff. Check out my brilliant Pinterest-board!

Oh, and by the way! 

If you have any advice on how to stay healthy and flu free whilst traveling - please share it with me.

TOKYO PREP #1

Per went to Tokyo today :(

He'll be back in 3 weeks since we are going to my best friends wedding and to Barcelona for one week (Yay!).

As you probably can imagine I am trying to prepare for our 3 month stay in Japan as much as possible. That includes watching tons of YouTube clips.

How cute is this?!
Kawaii!! ^^

If you have any tips on videos about life in Tokyo or Japanese culture please comment.

Bali.

I woke up this morning with an urge to go to back to Bali.

My husband and I went there for our honeymoon and it's a truly magical place where everything is green and beautiful.