Jiyugaoka

Jiyugaoka is one of Tokyo's most favorable places to live, and I sure do agree to that!
I go to Jiyugaoka every chance I get. This time, I went because Risa lives there, and since Kazuma's never been before, we decided to give him a little tour.
What I love most about Jiyugaoka is how chill and relaxed everyone is. Since I live closest to Shinjuku, the center of the larger metropolis of Tokyo, I see people rushing by, always late for a meeting or bumping into about 10 people on the way to catching a train. In Jiyugaoka, everyone's living at their own pace; they catch their breaths when things go by too quickly and sit down on a bench under the trees to slow down and appreciate the simpler things in life.

Run Forrest Run

After a whole month of eating convenience store food and pre made food, I had a craving for a nice, warm, delicious meal that tasted a little more home made. I really enjoy cooking, but I'm a horrible cook. It really is a tragedy. I only cook when I'm back at home with my mom, so when I'm alone in Japan, I rarely cook. But I just go around saying that my kitchen is too small (it's true, i only have one stove!) because it's slightly embarrassing. I want to go to a culinary school for a few months during the break!
Anyway, my friend Yukimi and I went to Bubba Gump at Korakuen, which is right next to Tokyo Dome. Since Yukimi and I are both huge dessert fans, we decided to go easy on the meal and go all out for desserts. We shared an appetizer (garlic bread and shrimp with spicy garlic sauce) and a dish (grilled mahi mahi and shrimp with bourbon sauce over mashed potatoes) together which was absolutely scrumptious. We each chose a dessert which we also shared- Yukimi chose the chocolate chip cookie sundae and I chose "that chocolate thing", which was a brownie with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream and raspberry sauce poured on top. (Isn't your mouth just melting?) We couldn't finish our desserts because the amount was seriously equivalent to a meal!

Yukimi looking super cute! :)

Yukimi's Pandora bracelet which I love looking at

A stroll in the city

I don't go to Roppongi very often because it's a bit too much for me personally, but I do enjoy my occasional visits. I think I'd enjoy it more if I went partying, but I'm not a fan of drinking and getting sweaty and not being able to get home until the trains start again from 5 am. I do have the occasional thirst for dancing, dressing up and letting my steam out, but the cons of partying always outweigh the pros. I'm pretty low key when it comes to hobbies and leisure.
One of my favorite places in Roppongi is the National Art Center (second photo). I think the architecture of the building is modern and extremely unique. Of all the exhibitions I saw at the National Art Center so far, my favorite was the van Gogh exhibition, and I'd love to go again if the van Gogh collection came back to Tokyo.
As tacky as it might sound, I feel the satisfaction of going to Roppongi only after I see the Tokyo Tower. My spirits are lifted the moment I see the tower for reasons unexplainable.
Next time I visit, I'd love to check up on the restaurant below. I love the French-like terrace and effervescent atmosphere!

DIY frames

Natural Kitchen is a cute little 100 yen chain store in Shibuya, Kichijoji, Jiyugaoka and Shinjuku. I went to the one in Shinjuku the other day to pick up some arts and crafts to decorate my picture frames. I bought a pack of sea shells and a starfish to give my room a nice Summer marine look. I just super-glued them on to the frames and voila! three super cute & original picture frames done!

The road not taken

I haven't been to Shibuya for quite a while- actually, I think it was my first time ever since I got back to Japan! I used to go to Shibuya almost every weekend when I was in high school, so I have very fond memories of this place. But since I live closer to Shinjuku, I don't have much of a reason to go to Shibuya.   

I remember I used to love going to the Starbucks right in front of the crossing and sitting on the 2nd floor window seats that looked over the crossing. I remember seeing one foreign couple wearing a tux & a white wedding dress and crossing the major intersection, stopping at the middle for a second to share a sweet little kiss. 

There was another time when a guy wearing a very tight white full body spandex (for advertising...I think) got stuck in the middle of the intersection when the traffic lights turned green and cars started speeding around him.  

I love this crazy, spontaneous, fun side of Shibuya and hope to go back very soon to take more pictures! (It was a very gloomy, cloudy day so I didn't take that many pictures)

Beauty as it is

I am so proud of these pictures. It's really a matter of luck whether you get a chance to see the sky as beautiful as this. I remember each time I took these pictures of the sky; all I could do was stare in awe and admire the magnificent beauty only nature could create.
I can't think of a better moment to wish to be able to fly.

Goodbye to the old

I had cleaned out my closet about 5 months ago and was shocked to find a pile of clothes that I wanted to throw away. Some still had price tags on it, which made me feel so ashamed and embarrassed that I had wasted so much money on clothes that were impulse purchases than well-thought-out purchases. I had let money flow out of my purse like water.

I just really hope I can control my shopping urges from now on.

Anyway, Shelby and I had quite a bit of clothes we didn't want anymore, and so we sold some pieces to a second hand shop. I ended up making about $4 by selling 14 pieces. It was really sad, since I had spent about $100~200 for the same 14 pieces. 

I think I'll just donate the rest, since it really isn't worth selling the bunch just to make a few dollars. 

I took these pictures on our way to the second hand shop and took the last 3 pictures on our way to Shinjuku to watch a movie. I don't know why my legs look ridiculously huge in the second to last picture, it looks so out of proportion! 

Sure ain't easy

Shelby came over to my dorm for a sleepover the other day. We ate and talked and snacked and talked and then decided to go out on a midnight stroll just to help out our poor stomachs (yep, this is our definition of a midnight stroll).

On our way back to my dorm, we wanted to do something slightly crazier, and thought it would be pretty fun dressing up this time. I think we were inspired to do so because we had watched Sex and the City (the movie) earlier. We somehow ended up trying to put together clothes that would look horrible as an outfit. 

And it was actually unbelievably hard to make an outfit look bad. Who knew? We subconsciously kept on grabbing things that would go well together!

This was the best we could do so far, but we plan on getting super bright and crazy 70's outfits and go all out!