Tokyo 2012

In September 2012, I went to Tokyo with my Fiance. It was his 30th birthday and we wanted to celebrate with a trip to remember, and with him being an avid video gamer and me being obsessed with the kitsch and cute, where better to go than the Metropolis that is Tokyo?!

Tokyo Tower

View of stormy Tokyo from Metropolitan Government Building

We flew via Hong Kong, and spent the first week staying at Hotel Montery Hanzomon which was a great place in a quiet location not far from the western side of the Imperial Palace. The hotel was 3* and worked out about £75-£80 a night. It was quiet and peaceful in the hotel, but we didn't do much there apart from sleep as we wanted to see as much as possible. We didn't opt for breakfast as it was about £15 additional quid a day, so mostly we ate on the go or took early lunches. Food in Tokyo is pretty reasonable, and we were on a bit of a budget so opted for their fast food options a lot of the time - though I mean Japanese fast food, not American! You could get a decent portion of Katsu curry or Ramen for around £3-4 each so that was most of our lunches sorted, then we spent a little more in the evenings. Some places even have vending machines outside with pictures of the food so you could press a button and pay, then take your ticket to the counter, which is great for non-Japanese speakers like us! The sheer volume of restaurants was astounding. You could walk past a building that looked much like an office block with 6-8 stories but then find it had a restaurant or two on every floor. One warning though is that sometimes the lifts would open right into a tiny restaurant so by the time you'd walked out you'd already be greeted and seated, with no time to decide if you actually want to eat there or not! Booze was a lot more expensive than I thought it would be, in China we paid about 20p for a large bottle of beer, but in most bars they were at least £4-5 for a tankard. We often took some canned sours drinks back the hotel with us for a low-key drink in our rooms.

If this is fast food....

The second week we stayed at the Andon Ryokan, where the rooms were more traditional, with futons that you rolled out yourselves and straw mats on the floor. The lobby area was modern, with WiFi and a fridge of beer and facilities to cook for yourselves although we never took that option. The place is located further north, close to the Asakusa area where there are more traditional temples than fancy modern architecture. The staff were really helpful, great at offering advice and directions and the cost was more modest at around £55 a night. In hindsight, we could have stayed there for the whole time, as it was a much more intimate atmosphere than the hotel which was more faceless, but before travelling we didn't know what to expect, and worried about comfort in the guesthouse so opted for a hotel with a "real" bed so we knew we'd get some proper sleep.

Rainbow in Ginza

I'm not going into a day-by-day, blow-by-blow account of everything we did in Tokyo, here are just some of my highlights.

See? Ridiculous

Tokyo Disney! I spent all day smiling! It was quieter when we arrived and got much busier, with enormous queues even though we went midweek, but I loved taking the Boyf on "It's a Small World" which I remembered from Disneyland Paris and really enjoyed the Pirates! ride and the incredible Captain EO 3D film with Michael Jackson! The shops were great too, loads of great Disney merchandise, I got a ridiculous Marie hat/scarf/glove combo which I haven't dared to even wear yet! The light parade at the end was really special. The tickets cost about £50 each so it wasn't cheap and I think the Boyf was a little apprehensive about going but we both had an amazing day, our faces hurt from grinning ear to ear for the entire duration!

Kiddyland / Hanuhinken  - both amazing toyshops in Harajuku/Ginza respectively. We had so much fun in there, me with the Hello Kitty and Rilakuma goodies and Boy with the Transformers and Lego! I found so many gorgeous bento boxes and wanted to buy them all but they were quite expensive. I ended up settling on this adorable Rilakkuma set (Rilakkuma is a very cute, but grumpy bear by Sanrio).

Golden Kitty!

My friend had asked me to get her as much bento stuff as I could but I knew there must be some better value bits out there, so I kept on hunting and eventually I found a great 100yen (80p) shop in Shibuya, where I got her (and myself) some really sweet bento items, and now she's looking forward to competitive mumming when her little boys starts nursery! He will be the only one with flags in his food and little rice balls! I also got myself and my parents a little Japanese ceramic cat from Daiso, another chain of 100yen shops in Harajuku. I didn't want to spend too much on my parents as I spent a lot on some gorgeous carved wooden chopsticks for them in China which they admired and then promptly gave back because they don't use chopsticks, ungrateful sods! Here we also stocked up on sweets to take back to work with us.

Rilakkuma Bento!

Kiddyland also has a sponsored street underneath Tokyo station where there is a shop for each of the popular characters, Hello Kitty, Rilakkuma and many more we hadn't heard of before. A lot of time was spent here buying souvenirs for relatives. I had been told about it by a Twitter friend, and I am glad she told me as it was quite hard to find, we probably wouldn't have found it off our own bats.It was next door to Ramen Street, an underground street full of....noodles! We found a great shop down here which sold a lot of Japanese confectionery where we found KitKats in amazing flavours like Wasabi and Cayenne Pepper - both delicious!

Tokyo Station by night

On the subject of food, when in Tokyo, one must visit the big department stores' food halls, they are like museums! So much beautifully presented confectionery and bento! Mitsukoshi in the heart of Ginza was a favourite .

Books from Tokyo

I also really enjoyed Kinokuniya bookshop in Shinjuku. I love books, and they have an amazing floor where they keep their English books and art and craft books. We walked away with some stunning graphic art books and a Hello Kitty guide to learning Japanese, sooo kitsch! We also went to the antique books area near Akihabara where I got a vintage Japanese quilt magazine for my flatmate and I picked up some really sweet craft books and a guidebook for London in Japanese, which was possibly a purchase even more ridiculous than my Aristocats hat, but completely necessary!

At this point it sounds like all I do is shop, how dreadful! Here's some culture bits:

Dolls representing stillborn babies, Zojo-ji Temple

Saki barrels at Meiji Temple, Harajuku

Sensoji Harajuku

Asakusa is the traditional district which seemed to be stuffed with temples and pagodas (and a market, but I managed to avoid spending at all there!), and despite being stuffed with tourists like us, I found it was surprisingly peaceful. Another haven of peace was the nearby Sumida Park, next to the river. The Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka was also exceptional. You have to buy tickets in your country of origin prior to going, and they only have a set number of visitors each day. The first room was the most impressive with some amazing models showing scenes from the films. There is also a room upstairs covered with artwork from the films, which are stunning, and your ticket will include a screening of a short film which nobody outside the museum has seen.

Hibiya Park Garden Installations

View of Skyscrapers from Imperial Palace Gardens right before a  storm

Imperial Palace

Hibiya Park was also a highlight, it's a beautiful park right in the centre of Tokyo, but is so peaceful and tranquil. While we were there they had a competition for garden design, and there were loads of miniature gardens for the public to admire. We also found the nearby Godzilla statue, which was a lot smaller than I thought it would be! We spent a lot of time walking around the Imperial Palace Gardens and got caught in a  hailstorm, huddling together under our umbrella in the middle of this historic sight was memorable! There is a section of the gardens which you can enter but we went on the last day of our trip, a Friday, and unfortunately it is closed on Fridays. Ueno Park is also enormous and beautiful, and home to many of Tokyo's museums and a small zoo.

Ueno Park

My culture section seems a lot shorter than my shopping section, oh dear! When I go somewhere new, I want to be able to bring back with me as many reminders of my stay as possible, and I certainly feel we did that! There was so much more that I wanted to bring back but was running out of money and was getting paranoid about my baggage allowance (as it happens, I ended up with 3kg to spare, and was full of regret that I hadn't utilised it)!

That was lengthy! Everything about Tokyo was amazing, I loved every inch of it, even the crazy-busy bits. I want to go back the first chance I get. From now on I will just have to get my cute dosage from Super Cute Kawaii instead.

This year brings a trip to Paris for my birthday in March which we booked last night via Eurostar. We are going early on a Wednesday, staying one night and heading back on the Thursday which is my birthday. I can't wait, I am so excited! I am also hoping to go to Melbourne with mum around May but this depends on whether dad needs a back operation and when it will be. Fingers crossed!

My new groove...

Like many, I have got on the scales this morning and had a shock. My weight gain has not just been over Christmas, I would say it's been steadily piling on for a few months now, at least since my trip to Tokyo in September. I need to lose a whopping 17lbs to get to where I want to be, and I really want to be there, and stay there. And so it starts NOW. My new groove is HEALTHY.

1. Exercise: I started reading Run, Fat Bitch Run last night, which I got for Christmas from my sister (I'd be offended had I not asked for it!). It's a no-nonsense guide to stopping making excusing and starting running, and then carrying on running. It starts off with a couple of days walking a simple 3-4 mile route, gradually building more and more running in until you are running the whole way. This morning I walked to work (Holloway to Covent Garden, 4.5 miles), and I intend to as many days as I can. It's tricky fitting in running on this route, as there are no showers at my office and I don't really want to stink all day - that would really go against the whole "making-more-effort" thing! I will try running back from work as the plan goes on, and I will definitely fit some training in at the weekends.

2. Watching what I eat: I am counting my ProPoints with WeightWatchers. I have done this before and it worked while I stuck with it. My mum has lost 4.5 stone since last October on the plan and it seems like it's changed her attitudes long term too. It works by giving you a certain number of ProPoints you can use each day for food (average is 29 for a woman), then you eat according to the Points value. What's good is you also get 49 extra points per week, which you can save up for the weekend, or use up throughout the week additional to your daily allowance. You can also earn extra points through exercise. I will see how I get on, but I think I am going to try and ignore my exercise points. Working out the points seems fairly labour intensive to start with but it gets easier as you repeat certain meals. Today I have had 2 small apples for breakfast (fruit is free), I have 3 oatcakes, half a pot of cottage cheese and half an avocado for lunch (11 points), an Activia yoghurt for lunch (3 points) which leaves me 15 points to play with for dinner and snacks tonight. I am having a chicken stirfry and I will work out the points when I get home.

Cheekily, I haven't signed up for WeightWatchers as I don't want to pay for a membership. I have downloaded a free points app and will track my points using that. I find this works fine for me, but my mum goes to the weekly meetings to weigh in, which works very well for her. I thoroughly recommend the plan, but it's up to you to work out whether you need the support or not.

3. Dryathlon: Completing Dryathlon (i.e. not drinking during January) will definitely help me shed a couple of pounds and it's such a good cause, everyone is a winner (except the pubs).

My motivations are:

1. Being fit, healthy and happy. My Grandmother at 96 struggles, not only because she's 96, but because she's been unfit and lazy for most of her life and has also been quite depressive, and I do believe that the two can't be completely seperate issues. I don't want that to be me. If I am going to live to a ripe old age, I want to be as comfortable and happy as possible, which means getting up and moving more, and eating better.

2. Looking hot on our wedding day! I don't want to look back at the wedding photos and wish I had been fitter and know that I could have done something about it but was too lazy. I have had ideas about what I want my  dress to look like and my good friend is going to make it for me, but recently I've thought about using my mum's instead which is simple, and gorgeous. It is tiny though, my mum thinks she lent it to a relative in Poland who took it in, or else mum was tinier than she remembers 37 years ago! I think even when I lose the weight it will still need alterations but it's time to find out.

Wish me luck!

Dryathlete 2013

After seeing the New Year in at home with a bottle of Moet (following red wine and spiced cider), I am now dry for a full month in order to try and fundraise for Cancer Research UK. I am hoping to do a couple of bits of additional fundraising too, maybe selling baked goods at work or having a jumble sale - I'll probably be a lot more productive with my evenings and weekends than I usually am.

The sister of a friend of mine passed away recently from Cancer. She was diagnosed with liver cancer in October. It quickly spread to her bones and she had left us by the time November was out. She was a beautiful, kind, out-going girl. She was a paediatric nurse. She was 25.

Also my good friend's husband is currently battling leukaemia. He had chemo a few months ago but found out that it had returned in December. They have a one year old son, and daddy is only 30 and due for a bone marrow transplant in March.

I'm doing it for these people. I am doing it because more than 1 in 3 of us will develop cancer up some stage in our lives. I'm doing it because we should never give up the fight.

I understand that Christmas has crippled many of us financially, but if you wish to sponsor me, you can here.

Edit: Since I posted this, the sister of another girl I went to school with has been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia. Another reason to keep fighting.

A Polish Christmas

My mother's parents were both Polish, they escaped during the Second World War via Sweden where my Uncle was born, Scotland where my mum was born and then had six months living in Argentina before finally settling in London. For fear of being arrested, they never went back to their homeland. Nan worked as a bookkeeper on Fleet Street and Granddad worked for British Rail, they got a decent sized house in Southh West London, which my Grandmother at 91 still lives in (Granddad died in August 1991).

Like many Europeans, for Poles, the Christmas celebration was on Christmas Eve, so every year we'd drive up to my Nan's from Kent. With my cousins and aunts and uncles, she'd do a full Polish Christmas dinner for us, complete with herring, breaded fish, potatoes and bigos, and poppyseed cake for dessert (eurrgh!). After that, we'd open our presents from that side of the family then head home, before celebrating a British style Christmas at home on the 25th.

As the years went on, the dinner stopped, as cooking for 12 people was all too much and we'd go for coffee and cake instead, but now, Nan isn't really able to do much as the host, and the tradition has stopped altogether, and my Uncle's family prefers to take holidays in the UAE at Christmas, so Nan comes to us, along with my Dad's mum, all the way from the Black Country.

This year Nanny Kiki (so-called as that's what she called me when I was a baby) had a heart attack the weekend before Christmas and spent the 9 days in the run-up to Christmas in hospital. Her hearing is dreadful and her memory worse, but she loves to talk and is always cheerful. She had us very much on edge all over Christmas though with sudden gasps and grunts, and I felt I shouted "ARE YOU OK?" more than I said anything else! What I love about my Nan is her relentless cheeriness, even though it's repetitive, her most used words are "unbelievable", "lucky", "amazing".

Nan probably won't be in her own home much longer. The vast amount of medication she was given is too much for her to remember to take properly, the stairs in the house are steep and it's all becoming a bit of a worry. For years my mum has been doing the Christmas shopping for her, as it's difficult to get to the shops, find the gifts we want and carry them all home. This year my mum bought me on her behalf the stunning Rose Petal Jam Polish cookbook by Beata Zatorska and Simon Target which I thought was a particularly thoughtful given the circumstances.

My Nan may be with us for many years to come, or this heart attack may be signalling that her rich life is coming to an end, and even though she didn't choose this book for me herself, I can remember her by it.

2 days after Christmas, Nanny P went home from our house, and on the very next day, she fell over and broke her ankle. If it doesn't rain it pours (all this follows my Dad's back injury which he is still recovering from)! She is 96, and is very, very immobile anyway, so it's unlikely that she will recover well and will probably need to go into a home too. I am glad we go to spend Christmas with them both at home this year, and in subsequent years we can make the best of whatever the situation is.

I grabbed a handful of old photos from Nan's house yesterday. Unfortunately I don't know who's who in most of them. With my grandparents escape to the UK, I never knew my other older relatives or their friends. That's them at the back, top left.

Early Christmas presents for me....

Christmas time is a time for giving, and people have given me some amazing gifts already so thank you! Today my boss gave me this Bare Minerals lipgloss set. I've sniffed 'em all and they smell gorgeous, and come in great, wearable shades.

I also have been given some of the amazing Lotus biscuit spread by my friend and flatmate. We love this stuff, and she sprung it on me at the weekend after we'd said we weren't doing gifts! It's available at Le Pain Quotidien or at a much more reasonable price from Waitrose. Someone get me a spoon....

On a serious note, Christmas is a time for giving and for being with the ones you love, although getting stuff is always a nice little bonus! My sister is in Australia this year and it will be the first time I've not seen her at Christmas. My dad, as mentioned has had two serious bike accidents this year and is only just out of his backbrace, and my beautiful Grandmother had a heart attack last weekend. At present, the hospital are saying that they will be able to let her out on Christmas Eve, and she will be able to spend Christmas at home with us, and I really hope this is the case. This Christmas is definitely about spending time with loved ones. To my family.... cheers!

Christmas shopping...done!

I started my Christmas shopping a little later than usual this year...it seemed to creep up so quickly! Here's a run down of some of the awesome stuff we got for friends and family this year. I can't tell you what I got the Boy, as there is a danger he might read this. Maybe after Christmas.

My mum: Bridesmaids DVD which I hope won't give her a heart attack, Hairy Dieter's cookbook - she's been doing WeightWatchers and has lost 4.5 stone since last October so will need some inspiration to keep up the good work! On behalf of my sister, who is in Australia for the year, I got Champneys Spa Treatments Citrus Blush Hand Lotion which mum adores and I'm hoping to sneak a little trial on Christmas day when she's opened it.

My Dad: Bradley Wiggins' biography and some cycling gloves. My dad is an obsessive cyclist, it's a 40 year love affair. He used to race with Bradley's dad, and also won the fire brigade world championship in 1983. He's had two accidents this year, having fractured his pelvis in March and then in October, he came off again in the final sprint of a race, and has been in a backbrace up until now. In the new year, he'll be looking forward to getting back on the bike.Maybe I'll get him some stabilisers too.

My fiancé got some really nice gifts at the Seven Dials shopping event a couple of weeks ago, where there was 20% off at nearly all the shops (and where we also splurged at Superdry as per my earlier post). For his brother, he got this amazing t-shirt from Super Superficial. It's so incredibly random, it was just begging to be bought, I am looking forward to seeing his face when he opens it.

For his cousin's little ones, who are 2 and 4 years old, we got this gorgeous stamp set from Magma. They love dinosaurs and we thought it was adorable, and a bargain at £15 instead of £20.

Also in Magma, we picked up this gorgeous print by Katie Viggers for his mum, who loves foxes. Katie's work is beautiful, and I've just found out she has a blog about children's books, which is delightful, and going on my Google Reader instantly.

Speaking of Google, I am also very excited as I have ordered a new phone. I had the good fortune of winning a BlackBerry a few months ago with free credit for a year, but after 2 years on Android prior to that, I have realised I just can't do BlackBerry again. I am getting a Samsung S3 Mini and included in my contract package is a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, so I really can't wait to  get hold of these so I can start playing with them! I popped into the store earlier on the offchance that they would be ready to collect but alas, it wasn't meant to be. A couple more days on BlackBerry it is then.

We had a burrito each at Chipotle Islington today and it was delicious. I am a real Mexican food lover, and the burrito was probably overkill after last night's chilli pie (make a chilli con carne, then use flour tortillas as lasagne sheets, and bake with loads of cheese- delicious) but I could not resist a burrito for lunch. We usually go to Chilango, but in an effort to try new places we chose to Chipotle instead and it didn't disappoint. Good guac!

Tomorrow I am excited to be going to a quote-along screening of Mean Girls at the Prince Charles Cinema tomorrow, followed by a Christmas lunch with my friends in our flat. It's going to be SO FETCH.

Pre-sales perving

Here are some bits I am hoping to snap up in the January sales!

I love this Mango dress. I am really attracted to this shade of blue, I love it and am planning to feature it in our wedding. This isn't a bridesmaids dress though, more of a work dress. If I manage to find it in the sale, I might even snap up the black version too!

I also really loved this coat in Zara. I tried it on last week however and found that the L was too small (!? I am a 12-14!) and the XL was slightly too big. If I find it in the sales however I might try it on again. I definitely need a warm coat to bring my wardrobe up-to-date, my H&M number from last year is far too thin and I'm really feeling the chill.

On my web-surfing mission I've also found these wedge boots on the New Look site. I really struggle sometimes to find shoes, as I have size 9 feet. This is a royal pain in the arse, and really restricts where I can buy shoes, but luckily New Look do a really good range of affordable shoes in a 9. The fact that they are on sale now might mean a sneaky trip to New look at lunchtime tomorrow....