Eemma in Japan

Today I visited Kyoto to check out the cherry blossoms. Kyoto is...

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:45:00 -0400

Today I visited Kyoto to check out the cherry blossoms. Kyoto is my second favorite city in Japan just because it has so much culture to offer! I’ve been there once before, but in the middle of the summer. And I didn’t get disappointed this time either! Check out my video from my visit there today. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to.

I’m really liking Osaka. The city is just so pretty, with...

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 06:39:22 -0400

I’m really liking Osaka. The city is just so pretty, with the water going through. We’ve visited two temple areas I really liked; Sumiyoshi Taisha and Shitennō-ji (a must if you ever come here). So cozy! Other than that the city has some great food, parks and shopping! Come come come!

They’re very generous when it comes to giving samples. The...

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 01:04:27 -0400

They’re very generous when it comes to giving samples. The things you see to the left are samples I’ve received in different cosmetic stores while buying the things you see to the right. Actually a couple of samples are missing, I’ve already used two packs of cotton pads (I guess some things do come in handy) and today when buying chips at 7 Eleven I got a pack of sausages (!).

I’ve mentioned previously that I absolutely love what...

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 10:11:28 -0400

I’ve mentioned previously that I absolutely love what Seoul has to offer fashion- and clothes wise. I’ve fallen in love with one specific brand called Culture Call. From what I can understand (there is very little info out there in english about them), the brand is very new and they’ve collaborated with Agyness Deyn, who currently is the face of the brand. I had visited one of their stores twice, without buying anything, and really wanted to go back. But I kinda felt embarrassed.. their stores aren’t that big and I knew the employee would recognize me if I came back for the third day in a row. So, for a few days I googled around trying to find where else they had stores. I found out the korean name of the brand in Hangul (컬처콜 … I think?) and with the help of some bad google translations and pictures I finally figured out where else to find them. And I could finally buy the jacket I had been wanting ^^ (the one on the pic above). L-O-V-E their clothes. Did I say that already? And Agyness Deyn looks awesome in their campaign. Here’s some pics and a video of their line. And their website (doesn’t work in Safari =/ ).

Today I also went to an area called Samcheong here in Seoul....

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 09:26:38 -0400

Today I also went to an area called Samcheong here in Seoul. Definitely different from what I’ve seen so far. Really liked it! It’s located near the royal palace Gyeongbokgung. The neighborhood is packed with small cafés, restaurants, art galleries and unique shops. Many of the buildings are traditional korean houses. And then you have the shops that are modern (yet unique). The combination just makes it really cozy and charming. Big plus in my book!

Just back from my “birthday dinner”. (My bday today...

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 09:02:00 -0400

Just back from my “birthday dinner”. (My bday today ^^) Had some non-asian food at Outback Steakhouse. I went for grilled fish with the most awesome garlic glazed shrimps I’ve ever had, awesome vegetables and awesome potatoes! MMMMMM! Best meal I’ve had in… months.

Hi there! Still in Seoul! So.. what have I done while being...

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:30:00 -0400

Hi there! Still in Seoul! So.. what have I done while being here? I’ve checked out some temples, walked (a lot) around the city, I’ve visited numerous “grandma markets” (big markets that sell, what looks like, chinese imported clothes, bags etc. that mainly old people visit), I’ve tried out their subway system and food. And I’m not loving the city. It’s definitely an experience being here though. I’m a sucker for big cities, the neon lights, all of the people. I just love it. Seoul IS a big city, it has things to offer, but after have been in Tokyo for so long, I think I’ve become picky. And when it comes down to it, what makes a city is really the people. And here I don’t feel welcome. It’s not just because I don’t know their language.. the first times I visited Japan I didn’t know a single word japanese but it never felt like this. I guess you just can’t feel at home everywhere. I know this city isn’t for me. I had never known that if I hadn’t gone, so I’m really glad I went. I still have a couple of days to go before I leave Korea, so I’m gonna keep experiencing the city!

As you probably know I’m currently in Seoul, South Korea. It was an unplanned trip due to...

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 09:45:43 -0400

As you probably know I’m currently in Seoul, South Korea. It was an unplanned trip due to what’s currently going on in Japan. While being here I’m more and more realizing how much I miss Tokyo. There is no city in the entire world can compare itself to Tokyo. Yet I keep comparing. I truly love Japan and Tokyo. I can’t put it any other way. I can’t explain it. I want the disaster to end. I don’t want them to suffer anymore. Please. Just stop.

Aww look at my cute little Sakura tree. I think it’s made...

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 07:17:00 -0500

Aww look at my cute little Sakura tree. I think it’s made for planting outside but it was so cute and cheap. Hope it will last a few days ^^

Oh, and I hate Microsoft and Xbox. Quick rewind; I play COD on the xbox. They released some new maps. I wanted to buy them. I try. It didn’t work because I don’t have a japanese visa (?!). I go and buy a point card in a store. Write in the code on my xbox. There are two map packs to choose from. Which one do I choose? The one called ENG-JP or JA. I choose ENG-JP because I have the japanese imported version, i.e. the one that isn’t dubbed to japanese. Buy the maps. Download starts. Download done. Error; “Wrong region” (?!). Call the support center the next day. They have no one that talks english (?!).

I had been looking forward to those maps for 2 months and now they’ve just stolen my money. Now what? I drag my ass back to the store and buy a point card again? They expect ppl to do this mistake so that they can earn more money. It’s disgusting. Most retarded company ever.

Okay… seriously japan?! 5 minutes ago my door bell rang,...

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 07:50:10 -0500

Okay… seriously japan?! 5 minutes ago my door bell rang, it’s now past 9 pm. I open the door and there is a man saying he’s from the post office. I’m thinking to myself “what did I now do?”…. I went there after school to send a small package home to my family in Sweden. I filled in a little form, with instructions in english, with what was inside of the package. I wrote “makeup”, thinking that would be good enough. It was chap sticks. The postoffice dude didn’t understand what “makeup” meant, so I tried to explain it using gestures. To my surprise the word wasn’t the same in japanese katakana. Anyway, he proceeded handling my package, I payed and left. *fast forward 4h* So now this dude is standing in my doorway. He explains he’s sorry that he didn’t understand what I had written on the form and that he didn’t know english. “Dame desu” means that something is not allowed or that something is bad. When saying that something is “dame desu” the japanese love use their arms and form a big X in front of them. Anyway, that was a side note. But there are a lot of “dame desu”s when it comes to sending packages abroad from Japan. So the post office man came to my house after having looked up where I lived (I wrote my address on the back of the package), after his working hours just to tell me that the package might not arrive to the recipient (he thought the products might contain alcohol or was hair spray). Wow. I’m in shock. Customer service?! INSANE! I applaud that guy. Wish my japanese was better so I could have said something more to him. He didn’t blame me at all, he said it was his fault for not asking more about what was inside.

Another weird thing happened to me in Nagano last week. I had bought my ticket for tokyo and there was about 1h to kill before the train left. Later when we go to board the train, about 5 minutes before departure, the guy I bought the ticket from was standing there. He explained that he had calculated wrong when giving me my change back. I had payed too little. He had made some calculations on a piece of paper, showing me what he had done wrong, saying “i’m sorry” in a million ways a million times. I wonder how long he had been standing there in the freezing cold waiting for me. This second example I understand why he did what he did since he otherwise probably would have ended up in a lot of trouble for calculating wrong. But the post office man…. that’s just amazing.

Wow. I did it. I went to the hairdressers. My hair was is such...

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 04:01:48 -0500

Wow. I did it. I went to the hairdressers. My hair was is such bad condition. For the last maybe 5 years I’ve permed my hair. A year ago I stopped and decided I would let my hair grow out straight like it naturally does. So the past year the top half of my hair has been straight and the rest curly. It’s looked like crap. So damaged. Like svinto (click). I’ve been embarrassed to go get my hair cut cus it’s been so baaaaad. The fact that I would have trouble explaining how I wanted it cut in japanese, was not really the problem. I just wanted the tops trimmed anyway. But now I’ve done it :D I can pull my fingers through my hair now without them getting stuck :D Almost all of the “perm hair” is gone!!

Got home from Nagano two days ago. Had a great time! I...

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 03:49:06 -0500

Got home from Nagano two days ago. Had a great time! I don’t like snow but it was really nice during those three days. Insane how you just 2h by train (a bit less actually) can get to experience a different climate like that. And different nature. Seeing the snow monkeys up in the mountains was awesome! This is why I love Japan.. just an hour from tokyo’s centre you can experience some amazing (!) nature. Love the contrasts.

Tomorrow I’m going to Nagano!! :D Staying for two nights....

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 06:39:48 -0500

Tomorrow I’m going to Nagano!! :D Staying for two nights. Gonna say hello to the snow monkeys, check out some temples and that kind of stuff. Takes about 1,5h w the Shinkansen. Woowoo love going on trips, most of all staying at hotels!!

Hi there! So Christmas and New Years have past and I’ve...

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 06:03:23 -0500

Hi there! So Christmas and New Years have past and I’ve had a great time! I wasn’t really feeling the japanese tradition, which is to go to KFC on christmas eve and eat chicken (no joke!). Instead I spent the day at Disney Sea, which was AWESOME! Best_place_on_earth. New Years was really sweet too. We started off the night by going to an izakaya where we ate and drank a bunch, after that we went to a karaoke. We spent ‘tolvslaget’ at a club in Shibuya and after a couple of hours we made our way to a temple. They don’t have any fireworks over here during the new years, which was kind of a surprise to me. We went to the temple in Harajuku, and boy where there many people. People visit temples to pray for good health and fortune. All around Harajuku there were tons of food stands and other activities going on. But we came there around 3am and it was sooo cold, so directly after the visit to the temple we took a cab home.

My new years resolution is to go get a hair cut THIS month. I hate going to the hairdressers, even more so in Japan! Guess I’ll just have to being some paper and a pen and draw what I want. At this point my hair looks so bad I’m embarrassed to go get my hair cut! god dammit!!

Have a great 2011 everyone!!

Look at those cute leaves! :D Living in the middle of Tokyo,...

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:30:00 -0500

Look at those cute leaves! :D Living in the middle of Tokyo, I’ve totally missed that it’s actually fall right now and that the leaves have changed color. Sure, there are tons of parks here and there, but it’s not like you go there often. And when walking around in the city, all I obviously see are the neon lights. Today however we went on a school trip to Fujikyu Highland, an amusement park just below Mt Fuji and a 2h bus ride from Tokyo. The scenery around there was amazing! Mountains w trees in greens, reds and oranges. The amusement park was pretty sweet too. They had some insane rides! The coolest one was roller coaster that accelerated INSANELY fast, it reached 250km/h! Damn.

Btw, if you don’t know how twitter works or don’t have an account, you can go here and see pictures I post there at least.

Ttyl!

A little update might be in order. The reason for why I...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 05:43:00 -0400

A little update might be in order. The reason for why I haven’t posted here in a while is cus it’s easier to use my Twitter for smaller updates.

Making dinner atm. Waiting for the rice to catch up. Other than that, in school we’ve now started learning some new big things. Before we’ve only been talking in a polite way… and that’s mainly used when you meet someone for the first time or if the person is superior to you. Useful indeed, but if you talk to your friends that way you just sound weird. So we’ve now started with the “plain style” which is the more relaxed version. But it’s a real mind fuck. Have to think so hard again when talking.

Now the rice is soon done!! Back to cooking! Ttyl!

So yesterday we went to an Izakaya! It’s a bar type of...

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 07:06:39 -0400

So yesterday we went to an Izakaya! It’s a bar type of place that also sells food. You can spend hours there, ordering all kinds of stuff. The dishes are usually pretty small (note the tiny pizza slice on my plate on the pic), but the idea is to order many different things and share them. At the place we went to you had a portable touch screen thingy where you ordered what you wanted. After the Izakaya we ended up at a really cool bar with some dart and cowboy theme going on. And then we took the last train home! It was sort of a “good bye” party since a couple of my classmates are going home next week and some are changing class. Tomorrow another test awaits! Back to studying.

Been raining on and off for 2 days. When that used to happened...

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 09:34:52 -0400

Been raining on and off for 2 days. When that used to happened back in Sweden I’d complain my ass off. But over here, it’s like I don’t even think about it. I don’t care. I don’t have to sit inside just because it’s raining. It doesn’t bother me. It’s because life over here is different, I’m living my life in the city I love.

And oh.. sorry for the absence lately. School is BUSY!!! This week we’ve had 4 tests. iiij! Tomorrow we’re going to a Zoo tho. Yay for Zoos………… ô.O Going to the circus would’ve been worse though. That would’ve sucked. haha. But yea, going there with class so it should still be fun. And then we’re off on monday too! THANK YOU!!!

Don't buy anything green

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:15:36 -0400

I’ve made the mistake countless times. So here’s a little inside tip for anyone who’s ever coming to Japan; don’t ever buy any beverages or packaged foods that have the color green on them. I’ve actually not made the mistake since I got here this time, but my friends keep falling for it. The things always look really good and refreshing.. but it’s deceptive I tell you. I _THINK_ the stuff is suppose to taste like green tea but it just tastes like chemicals. I love green tea. But not when it’s cold or mixed into the cream of the inside of a doughnut or is the flavor of your chewing gum. Surprise!! Mhmm…. I’ve never liked iced tea, but they’re really keen on the green version of it over here. Gonna try to tame my taste buds into liking it.

This is what I woke up from today. And a lot of other days....

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:16:50 -0400

This is what I woke up from today. And a lot of other days. They’ve been digging doing something on and off for a month. Loving it. And no, I’m not standing down on the street. I’m lying in bed and the windows are closed. If feels like they’re IN my apartment ffs.