58: ARRIVAL IN TOKYO

Andy and I arrived in Tokyo late in the evening, and headed straight to the rented apartment to meet up with Jenn, who had flown in from London, and Phoebe, who had just done her thesis defense earlier that day. The apartment was spacious, with a large bedroom fitting four beds, big bathroom, kitchen, living room, and dining room. Here, Jenn models the yukata while holding some kitchen utensils.

57: EGGSHELLS IN THE SNOW

By nightfall these eggshells were completely covered by snow!

56: UNDER CONSTRUCTION

55: LITTLE BUDDHAS

54: MAKING LISTS

I like making lists.

53: ON THE WATERFRONT

52: TIME

My Don Quixote clock from Spain

This past week, I have been feeling a sense of urgency, as if I am running out of time. But running out of time to do what? I don't even know. I think I am heading into a quarter life crisis.

51: CYPRESS WOODS

I went snowshoeing in Cypress with my coworkers. It feels so pristine up there with all the fresh snow blanketing the trees. Sometimes I am just in awe of how beautiful nature can be.

50: BEND SINISTER, THE RACCOONS, AND ROCOCODE

Bend Sinister

Rococode

I was so DESTROYED after last night's concert, then having to wake up early for work, and then going to today's concert right afterwards. But it was a good one! I originally bought tickets to this show because I wanted to see You Say Party. Unfortunately, they cancelled due to health reasons, and instead the lineup consisted of Bend Sinister, The Raccoons, and Rococode.

I had no idea what to expect, since I didn't know any of their songs (except for a couple of Bend Sinister's songs that are played on the radio) but I was pleasantly surprised. Bend Sinister was my favourite - their set was catchy and very lively. We even met the girlfriend of the guitarist of that band during intermission, along with a couple of her very entertaining friends. Rococode was also catchy, and I liked their music. The Raccoons were fine, but their set was so loud that I thought my ears were going to explode!

49: PLANTS AND ANIMALS WITH YUKON BLONDE

Yukon Blonde

Plants and Animals

After an exhausting day full of exercise, I headed down to the Commodore to see the Plants and Animals concert, with Yukon Blonde as the opening act. While I was there, I met a concert photographer, and our brief conversation has sparked in me a desire to be one as well. I hadn't really thought about it before, but what's not to like - I would get to go to free shows, stand at the front, wear a media pass, and bring in my SLR (instead of my puny point and shoot)! Now I just need to work on a portfolio and figure out a way to get that media pass.

It was a good show, but it felt like everyone around me was high or drugged up in some way. It was a bit odd. By midnight, the Plants and Animals set wasn't over yet, but I was so sleepy that I didn't stay for the encore. I shouldn't have done that extra 2 hour bike ride in the afternoon after my 2.5 hours of climbing in the morning!!

48: BLOOMING ORCHIDS

So pretty.

47: STRETCHING

Touching my forehead to my knee. I really like stretching. My new goal is to be able to do the splits.

46: STANDING AMONG THE LIGHTS

Today's photo was a failure. These were definitely not what I was going for. I just can't figure out how to properly execute the images in my head.

45: HEARTS AWAY

Happy Valentines day! I wasn't planning on doing a Valentines themed photo, but it ended up being a clear night and I came up with this idea as I was driving home. For this picture, I used my cheap and handy Holga flash. It was difficult getting all the hearts into the frame! (You can see I didn't succeed entirely.)

From Etsy

44: HOMEWORK

I finally gave in to the peer pressure and am going to learn how do injections next week. I am not used to doing readings anymore!

43: WAKING UP IS HARD TO DO

Waking up to the pounding rain makes me wish I could stay in bed all day.

42: NEW WINDOWS

In front of my brand new windows. I love proper insulation.

41: I HEART JAPANESE CREPES AND RAMEN

There is a crepe place on Robson Street, inside the Japanese convenience store with the big Pocky fixtures at the entrance. It was so delicious. The consistency of the the crepe was perfect, with just the right amount of chewiness. My friends and I had just eaten ramen at Benkei and were on our way to the car, when we ran into this place and decided it was time for dessert. I got the vanilla ice chocolate banana whip topping, which was a bit difficult to eat because of the ice cream, but I think it is one of the best crepes I have ever had. One day later and I am still thinking about it.

The miso ramen wasn't bad either. I really enjoy ramen. In fact, I wouldn't mind having some ramen right now.

Afterwards, it was time for games night!

40: HIGHWAY OVERPASS

39: WALL HANGINGS

Made in Italy.

38: PLANKS

37: CINCIN

Appetizer: Polpo

Grilled tofino octopus, chorizo sausage, saffron potatoes and salsa verde

Main: Braciola di maiale
Wood spit roasted pork chop, guanciale braised cabbage, pork cheek cappelletti
apple cider puree and fennel pollen

Dessert: Tiramisu
Lady fingers soaked in kalhua, espresso and mascarpone


Verdict: Satisfying. Good, but not incredible. The polpo was different and interesting. The pork chop was pretty fatty (I hate seeing visible fat on my meat) but tasty. My favourite was the tiramisu - I am not a big dessert person but I was very fond of this one.

36: GOVERNMENT

Parliament - taken in the early morning, about ten seconds before they turned the lights off.

And my favourite building on my favourite street (Government St) in Victoria:

35: PIZZERIA PRIMA STRADA

Amazing Neapolitan pizza at Pizzeria Prima Strada. I had the Margherita pizza with Mozzarella di Bufala and added prosciutto on top. Oh my god I have to go back! All the reviews I had read and everyone I had asked about this restaurant raved about how great the pizza is, and they were right.

I worked off the calories afterwards when I went to Ken and Kay's apartment to play Just Dance 2 on their Wii. It was such a good workout. Ken and I entertained Kay with our Russian dancing to Boney M's Rasputin as well as our duet to Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne (which led to us watching Avril's Mandarin version of Girlfriend on youtube - check it out, it's worth it! I can understand her saying she wants to play.)

34: HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

My cousin gave my family a big loaf of halal bread last night (I'm not really sure why), so I packed it in my bag and brought it with me to Victoria. It's now sitting on my hotel room desk. I guess I know what I'm going to eat for breakfast tomorrow!

33: GASTOWN FOODIES

I spent the morning and early afternoon with Giosy, and we tried two restaurants neither of us had been to before: Cafe Medina for breakfast, and Meat and Bread for lunch.  Cafe Medina had a nice, cozy atmosphere, and I had the Fricassé, which had fried eggs, braised short ribs, carmelized onions, arugula,  potatoes, and cheese in a skillet. Afterwards we shared a waffle with dark chocolate. The food was good, but I wasn't really blown away.

Having fun by our favourite alley

We wandered around Gastown and downtown for a bit before hitting up Meat & Bread for lunch.

I loved it! They only have four sandwiches on the menu, but they do those sandwiches very well. I loved everything about it - the food, the decor, the clientele, the manly atmosphere.

Giosy and I split a porchetta sandwich and a hot wing chicken sandwich.

Porchetta sandwich

I also had a little dessert afterwards - the people sitting next to me offered it to me since they saw me eyeing it as they were getting up to leave. It was untouched, and they seemed like clean people, so I accepted and enjoyed the ice cream sandwich with bacon bits!