Saturday, May 30, 2015

To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before

... well, not quite. Still, if you are looking for inspiration for neat places to check out in Tokyo (or nearby), here are a couple often overlooked favorites.

KITASENJU
Land of truly cool painted shutters (a whole street worth), really odd 'Italian-style' takoyaki and more bars than you can shake a stick at.

KAWAGOE
Streets filled with Edo-era storehouses and homes, delicious sweet potato snacks and visitors dressed up in kimono and fox masks.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

A Single Interlude

Matcha-kun has flown off to Europe for work (lucky bugger!) leaving me with our whole apartment to myself and a brief return to my single life... and I can't say I hate it. Typical only child, I am quite happy spending time on my own in my quiet private domain. Free to arrange the plates as I wish, eat whatever odd thing I want for lunch (veggie burger with about 3 kilos of salsa), read until 2:00am and dance around like a loon to Vienna Teng.

While we are quite independent people, no matter how flexible living together does change things a bit. You try to respect the other's schedule, make meals for two (so, 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter and a smoothie won't cut it) and make time together.
am probably not the poster child for coupled living. I like to do things by my own schedule, need alone time and require lots of time for my hobbies (koto and long distance running). Matcha-kun is by no means willfully interfering, but sometimes I feel like I am juggling constantly and that in a lot of ways living alone was simpler.

This probably sounds bad, however it don't mean that I intend to give up our coupled lifestyle. There are many benefits to it and lots of laughter, and as David Levithan wrote: 'In truth, I still sleep better when I'm alone. But now I allow that sleep isn't always the most important thing'.