listening: ibrahim ferrer - buena vista social club
watching: my cats looking out the window
this blog post is wayyy overdue. i've been running around in the city a lot, dealing with some intermittent internet outage, and suffering from horrible allergies off and on. good news is i found an allergist, successfully navigated a doctor appointment in japanese last week, and have a procedure scheduled for tomorrow that should help a lot with my chronic sinus congestion. unfortunately the meds he gave me in the meantime have a side effect of "reduced ability to pay attention," not ideal when i'm already audhd lol.
my husband got here 3 weeks ago today, and we've been doing paperwork. i helped translate for him at city hall getting registered for residence and insurance, and we're working on my visa paperwork now. things are going pretty smoothly so far.
my husband got here 3 weeks ago today, and we've been doing paperwork. i helped translate for him at city hall getting registered for residence and insurance, and we're working on my visa paperwork now. things are going pretty smoothly so far.
saturday before last, i went to angelic pretty yokohama for the romantic symphony release. i don't find myself buying a lot of new lolita these days, since i primarily wear old school (and therefore vintage/older pieces). however, i've been looking for a mint skirt for more casual coords that works for my style, and the new romantic symphony skirt feels absolutely perfect for me. because i didn't register in advance for a shopping slot, i had to wait until noon for the store to open for general shopping. i had a pretty good jasmine tea from the nearby boba place while i waited. also have a pic of this cute bug that landed on me on the bus there. i think he brought me some luck with the AP release.
another customer and i got there right at noon, and we both wanted the mint romantic symphony skirt-- which turned out to be the last one in stock. so the staff made us play rock paper scissors to see who could buy it. we tied for scissors at first, so i threw scissors a second time because i figured the other person would be expecting me to choose differently next. she threw paper, and i won.
i was extremely excited to get the skirt, but i made sure not to react much outwardly so the other customer wouldn't feel bad. i told her sorry as well. (although let's be real i was not sorry ^^;)
cartainly a new and unique experience. after that, i went straight home. i ended up starting to code my gaming page that afternoon.
another customer and i got there right at noon, and we both wanted the mint romantic symphony skirt-- which turned out to be the last one in stock. so the staff made us play rock paper scissors to see who could buy it. we tied for scissors at first, so i threw scissors a second time because i figured the other person would be expecting me to choose differently next. she threw paper, and i won.
i was extremely excited to get the skirt, but i made sure not to react much outwardly so the other customer wouldn't feel bad. i told her sorry as well. (although let's be real i was not sorry ^^;)
cartainly a new and unique experience. after that, i went straight home. i ended up starting to code my gaming page that afternoon.
my husband arrived the following day, and after that, i started showing him some of my favorite areas i go to often. first i took him to tsuzuki ward in yokohama, the area with the two bookoffs and sushiro. sushiro had a collab with this cat mascot that i think looks like him lol.
on another day we also went to tsunashima, another part of yokohama. there were still some late blooming sakura around there, which was nice to see.
we went to a new bookoff i'd never been to before, and i found some tiny pokemon figures i'd been searching for for quite a while. i also asked the staff about minidiscs because they had a big used blank media section, but the guy working there was too young to know what minidiscs were.. he asked if i meant SD cards, i said that it's an older format than that, so he asked if i meant CDs
eventually he had to ask an older coworker about minidiscs, and they did find some. i felt really old and crusty after that interaction lmao.
on another day we also went to tsunashima, another part of yokohama. there were still some late blooming sakura around there, which was nice to see.
we went to a new bookoff i'd never been to before, and i found some tiny pokemon figures i'd been searching for for quite a while. i also asked the staff about minidiscs because they had a big used blank media section, but the guy working there was too young to know what minidiscs were.. he asked if i meant SD cards, i said that it's an older format than that, so he asked if i meant CDs
eventually he had to ask an older coworker about minidiscs, and they did find some. i felt really old and crusty after that interaction lmao.
i was so excited about getting that AP skirt that i went out in lolita that following thursday, even though it was a weekday. we went down to yokohama to the pokemon center and surugaya. i posted about styling it over on my lolita coordinates page. romantic symphony is such a perfect casual piece, it's exactly what i had been looking for lately. the cotton is so light and comfortable for going out on a warm day. here's my pokecen haul, my surugaya haul, and some stuff i photographed while out. i took a pic of "don don down on wednesday" because it reminded me of this translated cats post that i think about constantly.
while we were out, i also took a lot of flower pics. i think some of these are also from walks to the grocery and hardware stores on different days, oh well they can go here anyway. the azaleas are in full bloom here at the moment. i only grow pet safe plants, which is a bit limiting. i'm glad i can see some plants while i'm out that i can't keep at home. (i love both tulips and azaleas, but neither is safe around the cats.)
while we were out, i also took a lot of flower pics. i think some of these are also from walks to the grocery and hardware stores on different days, oh well they can go here anyway. the azaleas are in full bloom here at the moment. i only grow pet safe plants, which is a bit limiting. i'm glad i can see some plants while i'm out that i can't keep at home. (i love both tulips and azaleas, but neither is safe around the cats.)
i got a taste of summer weather late last week, and spent the morning out on the greenhouse balcony with the cats. they enjoyed exploring and getting some (relatively) fresh air. i've picked out some plants for this area, and can't wait to see it all greeen and floral soon.
we also went and checked out a fancy local garden store, tbh it was a little too fancy for me. they had a lot of rare tropical plants, but no hibiscus or plumeria just yet. i was also looking for a parlor palm, which they didn't have either. it was still nice to walk around the store's grounds, which were beautifully laid out and curated. i wasn't able to take any photos; the store was quite crowded and i would have had no way to crop everyone out.
i just went ahead and bought my desired plants off rakuten, as well as a pachira and staghorn fern at MUDMAN. i don't go to MUDMAN too often, but i really like them-- they're a combination tropical plant/pet store, in a standalone building on the grounds inside a nearby unidy (hardware store/garden center). i'd still like to grab a parlor palm at some point-- i actually saw a 300 yen one at daiso the other day, but was gonna be out for a while and didn't want to drag it all over town.
we also went and checked out a fancy local garden store, tbh it was a little too fancy for me. they had a lot of rare tropical plants, but no hibiscus or plumeria just yet. i was also looking for a parlor palm, which they didn't have either. it was still nice to walk around the store's grounds, which were beautifully laid out and curated. i wasn't able to take any photos; the store was quite crowded and i would have had no way to crop everyone out.
i just went ahead and bought my desired plants off rakuten, as well as a pachira and staghorn fern at MUDMAN. i don't go to MUDMAN too often, but i really like them-- they're a combination tropical plant/pet store, in a standalone building on the grounds inside a nearby unidy (hardware store/garden center). i'd still like to grab a parlor palm at some point-- i actually saw a 300 yen one at daiso the other day, but was gonna be out for a while and didn't want to drag it all over town.
i've been trying to stay home and take care of administrative stuff, but i get really bored easily. it's easy for me to take public transit and go anywhere, instead of staying home lol. i got bored after coming home from my doctor visit last week, so we went to the area around kawasaki station. we got lunch while out, as well as a little shopping.
i got a re-ment at bic camera by the station. this korean night food set is pretty cool, and i think it looks especially funny and cute with pokemon figures, while my figmas are in moving boxes. heracross looks like he drank almost enough shochu to fight god. (btw i love korean food-- a lot of ppl assume it's because i'm into hallyu wave stuff, but it's actually because i grew up in a predominately korean neighborhood lol. i'm not super into pop music or fiction, so kpop and kdramas passed me by.) i also saw this sriracha vending machine on the way home, and took a pic to send to my hot sauce obsessed older brother.
i got a re-ment at bic camera by the station. this korean night food set is pretty cool, and i think it looks especially funny and cute with pokemon figures, while my figmas are in moving boxes. heracross looks like he drank almost enough shochu to fight god. (btw i love korean food-- a lot of ppl assume it's because i'm into hallyu wave stuff, but it's actually because i grew up in a predominately korean neighborhood lol. i'm not super into pop music or fiction, so kpop and kdramas passed me by.) i also saw this sriracha vending machine on the way home, and took a pic to send to my hot sauce obsessed older brother.
a couple days later, i wanted to go to bic camera for more rements. they didn't have many, but i was able to get the rest of the korean night food set.
instead of going straight back to kawasaki, we went over to omori. originally we were just gonna get lunch and go to another of my favorite bookoff locations, but we stopped by the shinagawa aquarium on a whim too. we grabbed lunch by shinagawa station, then took a bus to omori near the bookoff and aquarium. walking around was nice and scenic as usual this time of year.
the seals are always my favoite (of course), the little boy shibuki is so personable. i visit here fairly often, and he comes up to the glass to see me when i wiggle my fingers or a keychain at him... if you're familiar with the "fubukiko" meme seal, this is the same guy haha. he just had his first birthday back in february.
unfortunately because of my allergies, i haven't felt like putting effort into fashion and makeup this month, so the outfit i wore to shibuya and the aquarium is my only documented non-lolita coordinate this time around. it's still the default baby tee, vintage skirt, and white sneakers that i resort to for no effort dressing, but... there is an esoteric photo of me wearing it lol.
on my about me page, i mentioned that i love 80s architecture and interior design. kawasaki and yokohama are absolute heaven for late 80s/early 90s buildings, since the two cities were growing like crazy and getting modernized during that time. when i've been out running around, in addition to flower photos, i take a lot of photos of buildings i like. i'd like to add a gallery of my favorite showa and heisei era buildings to the site at some point, keep an eye out for it soon.
i've seen people say that "japan has been living in the year 2000 since 1985," and i think that's very accurate to a lot of the technology and aesthetics here. i love it.
instead of going straight back to kawasaki, we went over to omori. originally we were just gonna get lunch and go to another of my favorite bookoff locations, but we stopped by the shinagawa aquarium on a whim too. we grabbed lunch by shinagawa station, then took a bus to omori near the bookoff and aquarium. walking around was nice and scenic as usual this time of year.
the seals are always my favoite (of course), the little boy shibuki is so personable. i visit here fairly often, and he comes up to the glass to see me when i wiggle my fingers or a keychain at him...
if you're familiar with the "fubukiko" meme seal, this is the same guy haha. he just had his first birthday back in february.
unfortunately because of my allergies, i haven't felt like putting effort into fashion and makeup this month, so the outfit i wore to shibuya and the aquarium is my only documented non-lolita coordinate this time around. it's still the default baby tee, vintage skirt, and white sneakers that i resort to for no effort dressing, but... there is an esoteric photo of me wearing it lol.
on my about me page, i mentioned that i love 80s architecture and interior design. kawasaki and yokohama are absolute heaven for late 80s/early 90s buildings, since the two cities were growing like crazy and getting modernized during that time. when i've been out running around, in addition to flower photos, i take a lot of photos of buildings i like. i'd like to add a gallery of my favorite showa and heisei era buildings to the site at some point, keep an eye out for it soon.
i've seen people say that "japan has been living in the year 2000 since 1985," and i think that's very accurate to a lot of the technology and aesthetics here. i love it.