20.03. 2013 - shinjuku gyoen

     I spent this afternoon enjoying the cherry blossoms at Shinjuku Gyoen.

It's been a very early spring, apparently, so these are something like a fortnight earlier than normal.
It was really lovely, even though I was not the only person to think of going there today, it was packed!

I saw something like 2 dozens ravens too, which always makes me feel good because I love ravens.
Fun fact right there.

Admittedly, the bit that was fun for me was taking photos of all the other people taking photos of the flowers, because I like creepy hobbies.

But firstly here are some of the flowers themselves! There are a fair few different kinds, plus I think some were plum blossoms? I'm honestly not sure.

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And when I saw this fellow I felt like the world was smiling upon me.

He had a rather large audience and japanese & foreign alike seemed to be equally amused.

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And now onto my favourite hobby; taking photos of strangers without them knowing.

Like stalking, but with less of a point.

Due to the lens I had on, it's really impossible to tell if I'm taking a photo of a pretty little flower or someone off in the distance with a camera.

Perfect.

 

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There you go! 

I hope you have a good today and a pleasant tomorrow.

Signe

11.10.2012 - shinjuku gyoen

Tuesday

I hurt my knee the other day, not badly but enough to properly hurt.
So instead of going to Hombu after work I took myself out to dinner at Eat More Greens.
Delicious, as always.
I ate avocado! and liked it! well, I didn't mind it at all.
I feel like this is one of those magical "I'm becoming an adult" moments, maybe not?

all time is tea time.

they even provide throws in case one gets chilly!

vegan taco salad

baffling

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Wednesday

Went and returned a dress, walked around Harajuku for a while.
I had 5 Japanese people ask to have their photos taken with me, two of the Japanese girls were together but the rest were separate.
Turns out not that many people dress like pin up models here, do it's still exciting?

It was bizarre, but cool.

the dress

the makeup

I also bought myself a ring that has a capybara on it, excuse me while I die of joy.

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Thursday

Went to the dojo, skyped with my family for a while, tidied up a bit.

Then I went and spent the afternoon at Shinjuku Gyoen, which is a beautiful park.

I walked around the Traditional Japanese Gardens for a while, they were gorgeous.

Then I spent some time lying on the grass reading my book. And by 'some time' I mean '3 hours'.
The most relaxing three hours I've had since I moved here, hands down.

water, douglas adams, and snacks.
the big three.

And to finish it all off I walked about the Formal French Rose Gardens, which were also gorgeous.

And these I took whilst walking back to the Shinjuku Exit, which was across the park from the rose garden.

what day would be complete without a public bathroom mirror shot?

On my walk back here I stopped by Bic Camera to look at tripods (found a decent one for about $90, which I think I'll go buy tomorrow.)  and some lens. My 50mm doesn't autofocus (it never has, I got it for free because of that) and I'm torn between buying a working one or maybe the 16-35 f/2.8.
Unfortunately for me the latter is going to cost me slightly less than $2,000 whereas the 50mm will only set me back about $500, so that decision is pretty much made. 
I dunno, I want something a bit more wideangle, but it has to have a low f stop or I go crazy.
Does anyone want to give me two grand? please and thank you.

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I'm sorry for the lack of proper blogging lately, I've been having a really hard time adjusting to being here.
I'm still really really homesick and I'm really struggling with being alone all the time and the general feeling of loneliness, which is made a thousand times worst by my inability to speak the language.
I'm just very alone in a very foreign place, and I really have no idea how to go about dealing with any of the emotion it's bringing up, so.
bit of a pessimistic ending here, but it's important for me not to lie on this blog and say everything's amazing when it's not. And it's not right now, far from it.


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hope you all have a good day, and a pleasant tomorrow!