after the trip talk...

So my plan to blog while in Japan didn't work out. The internet was bad, my telephone didn't function properly and I was so tired every night. But I did try to remember what I did and experienced and I am going to post it now, after the trip, instead. I will maybe not write about all of them at the same time, I don't have the energy to, and I also need photos from my boyfriends camera so you can see all the wonderful things we experienced!

Tokyo - Day 0 and 1 (17-18 july 2013)

We started our trip 6 am in Katrineholm. We took the train to Arlanda, checked in our bags and started waiting. Around 12.20 the boarding began and M was really excited, he have not travel much. We changed plane in Helsinki, Finland. Of course I realized on the airport that I somewhere along the way lost my wallet. I had to phone back to Sweden and my mom and ask her to help me. I could transfer my money to M's account, so I still could use my money in Japan, while she helped me contact the bank and such.

After this, our first crisis, we finally could take the flight to Tokyo. We spent about 10 hours on the plane and beside the dinner we got after take-off and the breakfast before landing I spent my time trying to sleep beside M. It was never hard to fall asleep, I was so tired, but M couldn't sleep and woke me up all the time when he started to move.

When we finally arrived at Narita Airport I had gotten some sleep and could concentrate again. M was going strong on pure energy. We was a bit late to find our luggage (after toilet breaks right after landing) but a nice guard helped us find them where someone put them after picking them of the luggage conveyor belt. Something I have never seen in Sweden, here they just leave your luggage on the conveyor belt until you pick it up.

 After that we went trough security and out in the main area of Narita airport. we took the stairs down and bought a Suica & Nex-pass, a combination pack with a Suica card (for the subway trains) and a Narita Express ticket (Nex). The next place we had to find was the Narita Express train, but this wasen't hard, the Airport had a lot of good signs and personal that really helped us along the way. On of the strongest memories from this part of the trip was the older man waiting at the ticket gate for the Nex platform. He was really nice and welcomed us to Japan in broken English and then he showed us how to use the ticket in the machine.

The train was also nice, clean and comfy, even if we didn't really understand how the security lock for the bags worked ^_^''' When the train started to move I found it hard to stay awake once again. But at the same time I didn't wast my time on sleeping when I got the first glimpses of Japan trough the window. I couldn't really believe that I really was here!

After an hour or so we arrived at Tokyo central and here we had to switch to subway. I am not going to bore you so I will only say that yes, the japanese subway system is really confusing at first but we were in luck and had found instructions on the hostels homepage beforehand and didn't meet so much trouble besides the change from the JR train to the ordinary subway. We also walked a bit around the neighbourhood before finding the hostel but after we found it we realized that it was so easy and close to the subway.

We got the key to our room an could leave our luggage there and then we went out again to explore our neighbourhood. We lived really close to the Asakusa shrine and we spent the rest of the day there. The shopping street right beside the shrine was a wonder and we couldn't really comprehend all the things that we was seeing. Yukatas and food and trees and temples and... All the things was so wonderful!

When it started to get late and we were to exhausted we went back to the hostel and bought bentos in 7eleven to eat before falling in bed.Oh, I forgot! I found one of my new favorites to drink: fanta melon!

two days left!

Today I woke up early and the first thought in my head was: It's only 2 days left! In two days we really starts our trip to Japan. We will be leaving 6 am on Wednesday to travel to Arlanda (the airport). Take-off is then planned 12.55. Then we will spend the following 13 hours flying and changing flights before landing in Narita. It will then be 8.55 in the morning japanese time (1.55 am in Sweden) and I hope that we at that point had the time to sleep on the plane ^_^''' 

I also hope that my finacé still will be as happy as he can be. He sometimes have trouble to be still, and doing nothing for such a long time on the plane can make him really cranky (yes, like a baby!). I think we both have to try to sleep a lot on the plane, so that the times flies so to speak.

Today we are going to wash the last clothes we want to pack and tomorrow the luggage will be filled and ready. We also needs to clean and stuff here at home, like emptying the fridge and so on and hopefully I don't have to do it all on my own. Maybe I will also have time to meet upp with some of my friends and say goodbye to them. 

I think I am going to miss Quinn the most when we are away. That cat is like my baby and splendid two weeks on the other side of the earth is going to make me miss her. She will be staying with M's mother and Quinzel's cat-brother. She is going to have a great time, getting fat on all the nice food and have somebody to play with all the time.  Hopefully her brother wont teach her stupid things so that she will miss-behave when she comes back home to us ^_^

It's time!

Yes, it is time to write again! Finally I have a lot to write about. Last week I visited my parents and had time to spend time with my grandma and sister as well. It was wonderful to meet them again <3I got to help my sister move and I went shopping with granny. I also spent a lot of time with the dogs and Bessie is so old now, you can really see it. It was nice meeting all of them but I was also happy to get back home, especially because I missed M so much!

This week was also my birthday and I celebrated a bit with my fiancé and his family, and of course I got money and flowers and stuff from my own family but we celebrated together before, when I was there. We tried to get our chocolate fountain working instead of making a cake, unfortunately it was a total flop. I got a bit sad because I turned one year older and nothing really wanted to work for me on that day, but I tried to just be happy for all the nice people I have in my life instead!

Yesterday I got together with some of my friends and celebrated again for both myself and for Sy, who is born the day before me. It was a given that we should celebrate together this year! I baked muffins and J helped me bake a red velvet cake. We also had dinner together before we got to eat all the sweet stuff and it was great. we played some Zatzy and Sy won! Then we tried the cake and it was wonderful! I got a lot of nice presents at well and the night was fantastic over-all. I really love spending time with nice people! 

When it was time to end things I was really tired and I fell asleep as soon as i laid down in bed. Today I think we will start the last things before our Tokyo-trip, it is only four days away now and I am so looking forward to it! <3 We have to wash and clean and read and pack.. There is always more thing to do before a trip. I will get really stressed out but I think that as soon as I set foot on the plane everything will just flow away. I am not going to care about anything else than just having a great time in Tokyo!

(But I will really miss my Qunzel Princess here at home, I do really love my cat!)

Japanese sweets I would like to try

a couple of days ago I made a blog post about some of the Japanese food I want to try during my trip in the summer. Now it is time for the sweets and snack-version of the list. Here goes:

Daifuku - I feel you have to try traditional japanese sweets in Japan

Dango

Kakigori, shaved ice. This looks wonderful, especially in the summertime

Taiyaki

Melonpan

Koala's March. I have tried the strawberry ones but chocolate is interesting

Umaibō

Pocky!
I have tried a lot of different kinds of Pocky in my life but I will try a
lot more! Like the panda and some dessert pocky I haven't had earlier...

Hi-chew
I have heard that these are popular. And I really like all the different flavors!

Yan yan

Green tea ice cream

Japanese crepes.
Crepes isn't Japanese but I have heard that they are wonderful! 

Bubble tea.
I have had bubble tea before as well so my main focus is getting my BF to try it ^__^ 

Japanese kit kat.
In Sweden there is just one flavor so I have been longing to try some of the stranger ones in  Japan. 

Now I have most certainly missed some really awesome things and I am sure that I will try even more while I am there. Hopefully I can take a lot of pictures during my trip and then post them here afterwords. Maybe I can write a little about my reaction trying them as well.

As you can see a lot of my money this summer is going to get spent on stuff in Tokyo, mostly on things you can eat and drink. Oh, yes! i haven't told you about stuff to drink (except the bubble tea) and the main reason is that I am not really sure what to try. Any suggestions  I know that they have different kinds of flavor on Fanta and stuff so I am going to try that. I also want to try some Japanese drinks... We have to see what I find! ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ

Japanese food I would like to try

Lately I have found myself googeling pictures of japanese food as a way to pass the time until our trip to Tokyo. I hope that my money are going to be enough because I want to try everything. Here's some sample of what I have found that I would like to try:

Udon (Kitsune Udon in the picture) is one of the noodles I want to try!

Then yo have Ramen, the skinnier noodle from China

Soba noodles, also a japanese noodle

Yakitori, grilled chicken

Tempura, deep fried seafood and veggies

Okonomiyaki

Gyoza, japanese dumplings

Gyudon, rice and beef, a kind of donburi ("bowl" or "bowl of rice").
It is said to be very cheap so maybe we will be eating a lot of this?

I really love Japanese curry and plan on buying a lot with me home <3

I make my own omurice at home but it would be good to try the real deal ^_^

Tonkatsu, deep fried pork, looks wonderful!

So these were some of the things I would like to try. Besides this I want to eat Korean BBQ, a lot of the stuff they have in konbini and a lot of sweets. Maybe I will make a new post about some of them? Do you have an suggestion about other things I should try? Please leave a comment! ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ

EDIT: I have a new post about Japanese sweets I would like to try