listening: various - absolute almighty vol. 6
watching: ザ・ソプラノズ 哀愁のマフィア
(the sopranos, ENG with JP subtitles)
i was planning to write this yesterday, but i ended up walking to the next ward over instead. i'm not yet sure if i intend to write these weekly, but one week after my previous entry seemed like a good place to wrap up and document my recent activities for now.
i ended up getting my fish, his name is 'microsoft office 2007.' he looks like a pallette swapped version of the betta on angelic pretty's jewelry aquarium print.
i also added some blue leopard ramshorn snails to go with the pink ones, because i'm getting a lot of algae growth. in addition to adding snails, i decreased the amount of the day that i run the full spectrum light. i keep the rain shutters and curtains open during the day, so this room gets a lot of natural sunlight. so i may just always need a fair amount of snails to keep the algae in check. they all seem to be thriving decently so far, there's snail eggs laid all over the walls of the tank now. hopefully their population doesn't get out of control.
i also added some blue leopard ramshorn snails to go with the pink ones, because i'm getting a lot of algae growth. in addition to adding snails, i decreased the amount of the day that i run the full spectrum light. i keep the rain shutters and curtains open during the day, so this room gets a lot of natural sunlight. so i may just always need a fair amount of snails to keep the algae in check. they all seem to be thriving decently so far, there's snail eggs laid all over the walls of the tank now. hopefully their population doesn't get out of control.
on monday i went to yokohama again, this time further into the city, in the area around the central station. a person i know back in the US wanted an item from the pokemon center, and i had been wanting to go shopping there anyway. i did a bit of shopping for myself, at surugaya (larry tin and sunflora button badge), the pokemon center (nincada plush and goodra accessory tray). i also picked up some sewing supplies at daiso for a project i'm planning.
after shopping, i grabbed lunch at my favorite sushi chain, sushiro. they had a seasonal nigiri, snapper with pickled sakura petals. it's my first time having anything with pickled sakura, i liked it. i'm by no means a foodie (in fact pretty picky, i prefer simple dishes with few ingredients), but i'm making an attempt to experience japanese seasonal foods when i can. sushi like this is definitely an easy option for me to try fun seasonal food within my comfort zone
it's finally warming up over 15° (~60F), so i should finally be able to wear lolita out and about on weekends. my neighborhood is having a sakura festival next weekend that i really want to attend in lolita.
the weather that day was absolutely beautiful, i took the long way around walking from the pokemon center building over to sushiro, just to get some fresh air, sun, and sightseeing. this area around yokohama station has a lot of interesting decorative features, i always enjoy just looking around here. a lot of the buildings here were put up in the 80s; i love that era of commercial architecture and design.
after shopping, i grabbed lunch at my favorite sushi chain, sushiro. they had a seasonal nigiri, snapper with pickled sakura petals. it's my first time having anything with pickled sakura, i liked it. i'm by no means a foodie (in fact pretty picky, i prefer simple dishes with few ingredients), but i'm making an attempt to experience japanese seasonal foods when i can. sushi like this is definitely an easy option for me to try fun seasonal food within my comfort zone
it's finally warming up over 15° (~60F), so i should finally be able to wear lolita out and about on weekends. my neighborhood is having a sakura festival next weekend that i really want to attend in lolita.
the weather that day was absolutely beautiful, i took the long way around walking from the pokemon center building over to sushiro, just to get some fresh air, sun, and sightseeing. this area around yokohama station has a lot of interesting decorative features, i always enjoy just looking around here. a lot of the buildings here were put up in the 80s; i love that era of commercial architecture and design.
speaking of lolita, i've been organizing my wardrobe more, mainly in this big plastic storage unit for the closet. it needs some dividers or something, i'm not crazy about having all my accessories just jumbled in a drawer. although i will say, all the colors and textures together look nice to me, in a way.
elsewhere in the home, i've been working on decorating and still filling out furniture. my big project is this game console setup. i mailed some of the systems to myself from back in the US, and i bought the PS3 and N64 at online thrifts here. i thought i packed my blue japanese PS2 for mailing, but that box seems to be lost in the old house somewhere 
as far as actually playing games, i've been playing puyo pop on PSP, and i started bayonetta on switch! i love it so far. it's one of those games that i just happened to miss at release, but everything i've seen about it has made me think i would enjoy it.
as far as actually playing games, i've been playing puyo pop on PSP, and i started bayonetta on switch! i love it so far. it's one of those games that i just happened to miss at release, but everything i've seen about it has made me think i would enjoy it.
on tuesday, i walked 1km to the northwest to a different station from the one i usually pass through. i'm trying to familiarize myself on foot with the areas around home; i've mostly previously walked around in the area down the main street west of me. this area is further north of that, and up a hill. i got to see our local community center that holds a lot of events around here, as well as a great vantage point to see my town and all the way over to downtown kawasaki.
i also got to see some more spring blooms up close, there was an unused lot on my walk with some beautiful plum trees in it. i'm still getting used to living somewhere with seasons other than "hot" and "february," so it's pretty exciting to see all this!
while i was at the station, i grabbed a couple donuts as a snack to take back home. the seasonal one (left) was surprislingly tasty-- it has candied sakura petals on top, and salted red bean paste inside. i like that it was sweet enough without being overly rich or sugary. i find a lot of the typical sweets back in america overwhelming and kind of gross. rose and orange blossom are common flavors for sweets from my family's culture, so i like floral desserts/snacks, and i've now learned that sakura is no exception.
i also got to see some more spring blooms up close, there was an unused lot on my walk with some beautiful plum trees in it. i'm still getting used to living somewhere with seasons other than "hot" and "february," so it's pretty exciting to see all this!
while i was at the station, i grabbed a couple donuts as a snack to take back home. the seasonal one (left) was surprislingly tasty-- it has candied sakura petals on top, and salted red bean paste inside. i like that it was sweet enough without being overly rich or sugary. i find a lot of the typical sweets back in america overwhelming and kind of gross. rose and orange blossom are common flavors for sweets from my family's culture, so i like floral desserts/snacks, and i've now learned that sakura is no exception.
then the day after that bright spring afternoon, it snowed?? 
i'm sure i looked like a total yokel gawking out the window and taking photos, but it's really shocking to me lol. i stayed inside for most of that day, other than peeking out the windows for some photos.
the day after this, i just did a lot of laundry both at home and the coin laundry, and walked to 7-11 to mail my mercari sales. i put up some closet cleaning items on mercari, and it's been going surpringly well! it's also really convenient to just run my packages up to the convenience store to mail them. at my old house, the post office wasn't within safe walking distance, but still a short enough drive that it felt like a waste of time, fuel, and emissions.
mailing from the combini is also nice in that i don't have to print the label myself-- the mercari app gives me a code to scan at the convenience register, then yamato makes the label when they pick up from the convenience store. it's nice and private as well, i don't see the buyer's address and they don't see mine. i also walked to this place kohnan, it's kind of like a hardware store, but they also have cosmetics, stationery, stuff like that. i went there for sock glue for my lolita OTKs. while i was in that building, i stopped to grab a dinner at the nicer grocery store i don't usually go to. they had this adorable sun mascot for produce... i love you Sun sun..........
i'm sure i looked like a total yokel gawking out the window and taking photos, but it's really shocking to me lol. i stayed inside for most of that day, other than peeking out the windows for some photos.the day after this, i just did a lot of laundry both at home and the coin laundry, and walked to 7-11 to mail my mercari sales. i put up some closet cleaning items on mercari, and it's been going surpringly well! it's also really convenient to just run my packages up to the convenience store to mail them. at my old house, the post office wasn't within safe walking distance, but still a short enough drive that it felt like a waste of time, fuel, and emissions.
mailing from the combini is also nice in that i don't have to print the label myself-- the mercari app gives me a code to scan at the convenience register, then yamato makes the label when they pick up from the convenience store. it's nice and private as well, i don't see the buyer's address and they don't see mine. i also walked to this place kohnan, it's kind of like a hardware store, but they also have cosmetics, stationery, stuff like that. i went there for sock glue for my lolita OTKs. while i was in that building, i stopped to grab a dinner at the nicer grocery store i don't usually go to. they had this adorable sun mascot for produce... i love you Sun sun..........
yesterday, i was going to rest at home and write my blog, but i ended up walking to the area south of my house to explore (and go to another sushiro lol). this area is also uphill from home, even though it's in a different direction from the other uphill area i went. i got a beautiful vantage of the ward south of mine, as well as the greater area between kawasaki and yokohama. i think in the distance, is that part of yokohama i visited last week, that i like to go to a lot.
soon after i got back, i got a package from my chinese shopping service. packages from china come super fast here, both because of geography and much faster customs process. it only took 5 days to get to me after they shipped. i got the purse and necklace from a taobao designer, and the AP osanpo babuskha off xianyu. i'm expecially excited about the babushka... about 2 days before i found it on xianyu, i had posted on bluesky and in a server about some of my favorite AP solid releases, including osanpo. i said i hope to find the JSK but don't expect to ever find the hair accessory, since older accessories seem harder to come by. xianyu proved me wrong almost immediately the jewelry jelly socks came from mercari the day before, i just gathered them together to share some recent purchases on a lolita server i'm in.
soon after i got back, i got a package from my chinese shopping service. packages from china come super fast here, both because of geography and much faster customs process. it only took 5 days to get to me after they shipped. i got the purse and necklace from a taobao designer, and the AP osanpo babuskha off xianyu. i'm expecially excited about the babushka... about 2 days before i found it on xianyu, i had posted on bluesky and in a server about some of my favorite AP solid releases, including osanpo. i said i hope to find the JSK but don't expect to ever find the hair accessory, since older accessories seem harder to come by. xianyu proved me wrong almost immediately
the jewelry jelly socks came from mercari the day before, i just gathered them together to share some recent purchases on a lolita server i'm in.
other than the sakura festival next sunday, i'm not really sure what i'll do next week, i just kinda do what i feel like from day to day.
i'm planning and setting up for when my husband and cats arrive in about 3 weeks, like ordering a double bed and shopping for cat food. i wanted to make sure to get food with roughly the same ingredients as what the cats eat in the US, so they have an easy transition. in about a week and a half, my husband is taking them to the vet for USDA export endorsement. their flights are booked and their import here has been approved, so all that's left is waiting. i miss my cats and husband terribly, and i'm looking forward to being reunited.
to be honest, part of why i've been keeping busy with walking and short distance travel is to keep my mind off of being lonely. i've spoken to a few more neighbors, the lady across the street introduced herself to me the other day. a lot of the old ladies around here like to initiate conversation with me; it feels nice to know people find me approachable, and i guess interesting enough to talk to. people keep asking me if i'm 1- italian or portuguese, and 2- a college student, which is really funny to me because i am none of those things and i gotta admit, i'm glad that nobody so far has automatically guessed that i came here from america.
i'm looking forward to meeting more people around here, and hopefully making some acquaintances at some point. there's a lot of local events, especially this time of year, so i'm glad for the opportunities to get out around neighbors.
i'm planning and setting up for when my husband and cats arrive in about 3 weeks, like ordering a double bed and shopping for cat food. i wanted to make sure to get food with roughly the same ingredients as what the cats eat in the US, so they have an easy transition. in about a week and a half, my husband is taking them to the vet for USDA export endorsement. their flights are booked and their import here has been approved, so all that's left is waiting. i miss my cats and husband terribly, and i'm looking forward to being reunited.
to be honest, part of why i've been keeping busy with walking and short distance travel is to keep my mind off of being lonely. i've spoken to a few more neighbors, the lady across the street introduced herself to me the other day. a lot of the old ladies around here like to initiate conversation with me; it feels nice to know people find me approachable, and i guess interesting enough to talk to. people keep asking me if i'm 1- italian or portuguese, and 2- a college student, which is really funny to me because i am none of those things
and i gotta admit, i'm glad that nobody so far has automatically guessed that i came here from america. i'm looking forward to meeting more people around here, and hopefully making some acquaintances at some point. there's a lot of local events, especially this time of year, so i'm glad for the opportunities to get out around neighbors.