Started my week popping by Tatiana and getting my third and final set of NCTF injections. I sometimes wonder how I’d look if I would’ve stayed all natural? No lip fillers, tattooed eyebrows, lower face lift, Botox and whatever other injections I’ve had, and what color would my natural hair actually be? Too late to wonder about that, will just keep injecting, lasering, lifting, cutting and coloring hahahhaaa…
Had to catch up on a lot of work. Custom orders and the regular smut 🙂
As I’ve said before, Hunter likes to be involved and it’s not always helpful. Here he just planted himself in the middle of the shot and we had to take a 5 min break to pet him and finally convince him to pick another spot…
Had another class of lighting. So much fun to learn and it’s amazing how much you can change the feel of a photo with different lighting. We also practiced copying the lighting from different shots. I picked a photo of one of my favorites directors, Quentin Tarantino!
Some selfies from this week. I bought this awesome hair cap from Japan….
And this weeks pics of Hunter. He thought my bra was a perfect headrest hahahaa…
A couple of more shots from my shoot at the love hotel in Tokyo 🙂
Yesterday I came across my mushroom micro-dose pills. Decided to take one. Normally I don’t feel anything from them, but yesterday I felt it kick in. Had a good feeling and then later I got huge munchies and had to order pizza and snacks. Only overdid by a little on the sugar ratio LOL…
I did go to the gym too but forgot to take pics as proof, so you just have to take my word for it. That’s pretty much all I had going for me this week. Next week I have more work, school, and gym planned. How about you?
It’s good to be back, but damn, the jet lag is rough! Been to the gym twice and it feels like it’s the first time ever hahahah… Note to self: don’t skip the gym on holidays! Good to have Hunter jet lag with me, and he likes the Japanese cat treats I bought him 🙂
Anyways, here comes the rest of my Japan trip. Before heading to Kyoto I had breakfast with some people still left in town from the wedding. Not your usual eggs & bacon…
Then jumped on the bullet train that took a little bit more than 2h straight to Kyoto. Not a problem when you bring a few(?) snacks. The breakfast didn’t quite hit the spot.
Guess train rides build an appetite so I got a Wagyu burger for my dinner in Kyoto. Super tasty and it was nice to have something else besides sushi and yakiniku.
Strolled around after and checked out Nishiki Market at closing time. The market is packed with food stalls and other little stores.
Straight for coffee the next morning and starting with Goodman Roaster. Thumbs up!
Then walking in the rain and checking out what Kyoto has to offer. Everyone was on the look out for cherry blossoms. Wherever they were there were always people taking pics. Why should I be any different 😉Â
Then more coffee and tried Okaffe Roasting Park. Here they don’t rush to make your coffee. It was almost like an art form and there was always some latte art in the milk. Another superb coffee spot!
After a nap I headed back to Nishiki Market to eat dinner. WOW, the amount of people! It came to a total stand-still at moments. Tried some different seafoods and it was amazing!Â
Finished off with some sake at the room 🙂 Iit’s party-o’clock somewhere in the world, right?
Headed to the famous Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine the next morning. I knew there would be people and I think half of Kyoto was there at 8am in the morning! Still a beautiful hike up and and lit a candle for family & friends who have passed at the top 🙂
And some things that caught my eye on the walk back…
All the fresh air, the climb, and heat made it necessary for a coffee stop and then a sugary waffle-thingy on top of that…
Walked by a place called SkÃ¥l which means ‘cheers’ in Swedish. Nothing Swedish about the place. Had to go in and check to make sure. Looked like they had good food so I decided to try it. The portions were really small, and super good, so I ordered a 2nd plate. The guy that took my order and payment looked impressed 🙂
Also found Stumptown coffee at a beautiful outdoor mall, bought a new perfume after a lot of testing, impressed by the selection of kimchi and noodles at the grocery store, bought a seal-vibrator at a sex shop, ate more yakiniku saw more shrines… And bought this superb second hand kimono for $15.
I loved all the great coffee places in Kyoto. For me it was the wrong time to be there as I think it was too many tourists. It was hard to get a table at restaurants at night because everyone was fully booked. I see the charm with the small alleys and maybe I would’ve liked it more if I visited another time…
Decided to check out Hakone on the way back to Tokyo. Wow, this was my spot! This is right after getting off the train and going to my Airbnb.
I was so excited to get a bedroom with the Japanese style where you just unfold a mattress on top of these mats. I sleep better on hard surfaces so this was perfect for me. I had to google about this and supposedly it’s a better way of sleeping for your body and posture. Maybe my future bedroom 🙂
Hakone is famous for their onsens. They are bath houses with hot springs. After I checked in I went straight to one called Tenzan. Wow, it was so nice and I liked it since they had baths outdoors. You put your clothes in a locker. No swimwear needed or allowed. Then you wash yourself and visit the different pools and saunas. It was so relaxing and it only cost $10. No photos allowed from inside so got these from their website. There were more pools, but my favorite was sitting inside the cave 🙂
Starving afterwards and decided to grab food at the restaurant there. I saw there was raw horse meat on the menu and went for the safe bet ordering fish, shrimp and veggies. The shrimps were tiny little things with shell, head, and everything. The fish was tiny too, but good. Maybe not my best meal of the trip but I had some chips and cookies from 7-Eleven after hahahha…
Was supposed to head out and see The Hakone Open Air Museum the next day. While I was having coffee I discovered there were hikes in the area. Opted for a 3 hour hike instead and it was a really nice trail along Lake Ashi.
When finishing I went straight back to the same onsen as the day before. Perfect after a day out sitting in the hot water just relaxing…
I wish I would’ve had more days in Hakone. Smaller and more chill than Kyoto. Not as crowded and there were more things I would’ve wanted to check out. I would’ve done hot springs every day! One can always hope to visit again 🙂 Took the bullet train back to Tokyo while snacking on chocolate shroomies 🙂
Dropped my bags off at the hotel and headed straight to brunch with friends from the wedding… I think I visited the dessert table like 4 times 🙂
The next day I went to a micro pig cafe. They have so many different animal cafes in Tokyo with owls, hedgehogs, capybaras and snakes for example. I started wondering if Hunter would accept a micro pig as a buddy, but I think he’s happy being the only one getting attention so it’s a no 😉 But they were very cute…
A photographer wrote me on IG and asked if I wanted to shoot while in Japan. Why not? Got to put in a little bit of work while travelling 🙂 I wanted to shoot at a love hotel. Basically a hotel where couples can go and hang out, (and more), away from home as many live with their parents. They have them here in Mexico too. You book them per hour. So after cuddling with the piggies I met the photographer at Lapia Hotel and booked a room. You get free popcorn and can pick a costume to wear too. There are vending machines for lingerie and toys too. Very cool! It was a great shoot and the photographer was great. Here are a couple of behind the scenes pics and a couple of shots I put on IG. More coming 🙂
I had initially planned to go to a snake cafe after, but opted to join some friends at a Muscle Girl Bar instead. It is just what it sounds like, a bar with muscular girls. You get a protein shot when you came in and for about $30 USD you could drink as much as you wanted. The girls danced, poured shots in peoples mouths for tips, did pole tricks and pull-ups. There was a whole menu for what you could buy for tips, butt kicking, face slaps, being sandwich between 2 girls (only for girls though) etc… It was a fun experience and the girls were fun.
I was pretty beat and a bit drunk when I made it back to the hotel. Put on a face mask and my April fools joke was that I had adopted this bird I found. I actually found it while shopping for fun stuff for my shoot and thought this birdie would look good on my head 🙂
The last day in Tokyo was spent walking around and I bought some gifts. Walked by the famous Shibuya Crossing, the iconic intersection. Traffic is stopped in all directions where everyone can cross in all directions…
Coffee break and spotted some cherry blossoms…
I got an reservation at Sushi Nakamura for my last dinner in Tokyo. A friend who spends a lot of time in Tokyo and loves sushi recommended the place. It was Omikase style with sake pairing. It was definitely in the top 5 of food experiences in my life! The sushi melted in my mouth. Also the first time I tried uni, but not my favorite. There was so much food ands sake I rolled/wobbled out of there hahahaa…
Needed a boost of coffee before heading to the airport so I relented and made a cup of instant coffee, having to use the free toothbrushes the hotel offered to stir it with. Very classy…
Took the train to the airport and the flight home felt super fast since I slept most of the way 🙂
It was a great trip. I’m amazed how clean everything is. Even the public bathrooms are spotless! No smell, no paper on the floor or drops of whatever (most likely piss on the floor)… And I love the toilets that wash all your holes, fan that dries you and some even had music that you could play for privacy! Also something I’d like for my home! A picture of one of the toilets where the water was filling up from the top after flushing. Or was it for washing your hands? LOL
The train and subways was the same way. No litter or stained seats. People stand aside orderly when you exit and even if it’s crowded there’s no pushing. Maybe due to all the signs they have up…
There’s also no smoking on the streets. There are designated areas, street corners or smoke rooms at hotels and malls. There was a lady who used clothing rollers to clean up the entrance mat at the hotel…
Here comes the usual leftover pics…
Such a beautiful wedding and great to see friends I don’t get to see often. I loved Hakone and hope to explore more of Japan one day.
Hitting the gym in a bit and got Lesha coming over later to teach me some more Photoshop and Lightroom. Got a lighting class this week too and hope my sleep will be back to normal any day now!
Japan is very cool with a lot of differences compared to other countries. I’m rubbernecking, people watching, eating delicious food, walking and looki-looing, drinking, shopping and I feel like I would need a month here to have the time to and see do everything I want.
Let’s start from the beginning. The flight was on a Tuesday a week and a half ago at 00.50. In my head that meant Tuesday night, before becoming Wednesday morning. Luckily someone who understands time better than me pointed out that it actually means the night of Monday. I found this out 24 hours before my flight. No stress though, and Hunter and I enjoyed coffee & milk in bed before he did his best to help me pack…
The flight was delayed so I grabbed some wine while waiting…
It was perfect to take a red-eye flight, and I arrived at 7am the next morning. Super smooth to grab the bus right outside the terminal into the city. Just checked the bags at the hotel and headed out. Had a Verve Coffee right by the hotel. I used to drink Verve when living in California.
Checked out Cat Street and molested a competing Puma 😉
This was an awesome coffee place – Coffee Mameya. It was a high-end coffee shop that only offered pour overs from different roasters around the world. You got a chart, your barista talked about the different options, and then made you your coffee pour over style.
There was also some sushi and pancakes before a ‘yakiniku’ dinner at Kokokara. Soooo good. Kind of like Korean BBQ where you cook your own meat and pickled veggies.
The next day I had a local guy take me shopping. There is a lot of options here and so many secondhand stores for luxury items. I was mostly amazed they have my size in bras here so bought some.
I then headed out on my own to the Harajuku area and walked around. So much fun and and packed with people!Â
Another yakiniku dinner… I could eat this stuff every day. I love the small spots with just room for like 10 people. I’m getting hungry just writing this…
Started Friday with coffee from Streamer Coffee Company. They have this seasonal special called Sakura Latte (for the pink flowers called Sakura or cherry blossom) with some pink sprinkle on it and I could’ve had a liter of it!
Then finally met up with some friends and Annie, the bride to be, and catched-up over lunch. I look like a pink panther next to Annie who’s always dressed like a supermodel!Â
More coffee and walked through Yoyogi Park. I thought there would be cherry blossom everywhere, but only spotted a tree or two here and there. People said it has been too cold and wet so they are late. Someone actually wrote me on IG yesterday and said that they are supposed to start blooming NOW. They better hurry up because I only have a few days left hahahaa…
When walking I came across a store with a Finnish name – Hyvää Matkaa. It means ‘have a good trip’. Obviously I had to go in and check it out. They even sold ‘vihta’ which is the dried branches of a special tree that you soak up before hitting your back with it. The best part was the chocolates, and I couldn’t resist buying some and ate them in 3 minutes!
Fancy sushi tasting menu for dinner. Luckily they were showing pics on an iPad of what we were eating because it was all in Japanese.Â
On Saturday while running around town I suddenly hear someone yell Puma. It was Mar who I met at the psychedelic retreat in Mexico in November last year. So crazy, what are the odds!
At night it was the wedding rehearsal and I got to meet almost all of the other wedding guests who were from all over the world. Went to a bar after and I had some tasty Espresso Martinis…
Then finally the big day for Annie and Nick’s wedding! I found a makeup artist on Instagram and Hanna was great.Â
The wedding was amazing! Short ceremony, photos after, and then a delicious dinner! I could consider getting married in this style LOL… Naaah, won’t be walking down any aisles and making lifetime commitments anytime soon 🙂Â
The day after the wedding I took the bullet train to Kyoto. Love the efficiency here, no f*cking around. Train leaves and arrives on time. I will write another post about Kyoto. Now I’m in Hakone and this might be my favorite spot here so far. Well, I’ve only been here less than 24h so far, but the Onsen (hot spring baths) last night was the best and I plan to go back tonight 🙂 Tomorrow heading back to Tokyo and have a shoot planned, visit a mini pig cafe, and a snake cafe too!
Happy Easter by the way and wish you a fabulous weekend. 🙂
Happy being back to blonde. Angel came over and decolored the yellow out of my hair and fixed the roots.
On Tuesday I finally had my class in lighting. The school has a smaller studio where we practiced. Started basic and then got to experiment a little. Scheduled another class for lighting when I’m back from Japan 🙂
Then experimented some more at home. Not really, I just have crappy lights for my homemade content hahhaaaa…
Saw Tatiana on Thursday for my second session of NCTF. When I’m there waiting for the numbing cream to kick in, hugging the support piggy and complaining about my under-eye wrinkles, she goes to her cabinet and pulls out a package. It’s called Aqu Lift and one of these packages has 5 needles with threads. I had one package done for each eye. Crazy looking and thank god for the numbing cream!!!
I had to film it because I thought it was so freaky looking, so if you have a needle fetish, here you go 🙂
To top it all off she did the NCTF using my face like a punchingbag for needles and covering my face in a blood red mask hahhaaaa…
I also had the permanent cap put in by the dentist. If you ever consider dentistry work or injections, come to Mexico. It’s so much cheaper and as long as you go to a well reviewed place, you can save a lot of dinero! If I move back to USA, I will come back here and fix everything that’s broken 🙂
Now you’re going to get my best tip of the week – fast and delicious apple pie. I made it twice this week and I changed out the brown sugar to coconut sugar. It’s so delicious, you only need the ready pastry dough, apples, sugar, cinnamon, butter and egg. It doesn’t look so good here in the pic, but trust me, make double portions right away 🙂 You’ll find the recipe and instructions here – https://natashaskitchen.com/apple-cinnamon-slab-pie/
Too much apple pie and Dayana convinced me to go out to Santa Fe on Friday and do a class of booty & abs with her at the Commando gym. Checking the results after. Dayana passes but I need like 100 more booty classes!
A very cool barista I know here got this awesome tattoo because she also loves magical mushrooms!
Hunter says hi and has found his new spot. Can you find him?
I’ve cleared that spot for him now, and of course he hasn’t used it since. Maybe it was more comfortable with all the chargers and cables there…
Here we compete for the title ‘Best Double Chin” in this pic… He loves half-laying on my belly when we go to bed, then he starts to fall asleep and sliding down. By some automatic reaction his claws come out to try to hold him in place. Worst idea ever, but what Hunter wants, Hunter gets.
I just finished shooting my Swedish friend Sanna who’s an artist. We got to use a studio and I got to practice my photography skills. We shot a lot of cool stuff. Just have to go through them before I show you 🙂 Here’s just a screenshot of from my IG story.
By accident this morning, I realized that my flight to Japan is tomorrow night and not on Tuesday night! Got to head home and wash & pack. Julieta is coming over to live with Hunter and make sure his needs are catered for like the king he believes he is hahahahaa..
Started my week getting better at manipulating and enhancing pics in Photoshop with Leisha. I found her at the gym. One day we talked and it turns out she has been teaching Photoshop and Lightroom in a university before moving to Mexico. I asked her to start teaching me, and now we have lessons planned 🙂 If you start seeing pics of me looking 25, wrinkle free, huge a*s in perfect surroundings, you know my classes are working hahhaaaa…
Until then I’ll keep injecting some Botox and whatever else I can get my hands on. Got some Botox and was supported by the office mascot.
I had lunch planned with Angel on Tuesday. He said he was going to cook and I thought that I’d be gone for like 3h. We ended popping 4 bottles, smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes, and talked about life on his balcony. His dog Charlotte kept us company. It was great catching up, but next time I’ll aim for a little less drinking and smoking LOL…
Ximena and I were shooting the next day. Felt a bit worn out from the night before, but my motto has always been ‘party hardy, but you never skip work because of it’. I’ve never cancelled a shoot or other work because of a hangover. That’s just being an amateur 😉 Luckily I found leftover pizza in the refrigerator and ate it while shooting!
Hunter thinks the attention from Ximena should focus on him a bit more while we are shooting. He usually just crashes in her lap until he gets what he wants or she gives him a snack.
They called form the dentist and asked me to pop by since they had to do a new mold of my tooth. They told me I didn’t need numbing, but I told them to numb it anyways because I don’t want to feel anything while she’s digging around in there with various tools!
Hit the gym and feel that my fitness level is pretty good now. The tan is getting there too 😉
And impressed some chicas at the gym with the strength of my ‘rack’ 🙂
I crave nature here. Went out to the woods and did a small hike. I think the next place where I’ll live will have closer/easier access to trails and nature. Yes, thinking that it might be time to move soon…
Excited about this upcoming week. First Angel is coming over tomorrow to fix my hair. The yellow color doesn’t feel very bueno. On Tuesday I have a 4-hour class on lighting at the photography school. Got class with Leisha too and Spanish. Hopefully doing a shoot with a friend to check my skills too. Pizza night with some friends who recently went to Japan to get all of their tips.
Thank you for the tips you guys sent about Japan. After the wedding which I think will be fabulous and fun, I have a list of things I want to do. I hope to visit a Muscle Girl Cafe and a cafe with Capybaras. A day to see Mt Fuji and maybe pop by Osaka. Maybe take a Samurai class and sake tasting. I’m very excited to be going!
And some more attention on Hunter since he loves it. Almost more than me hahhahaa…
Born and raised in Sweden, but I’m of Finnish ancestry. I’m now an American citizen and currently live in Mexico. I’d rather say yes than no to new experiences, and you’ll find me traveling a lot. I love to be creative and have a clothing line Psychonaut Explorer. Coffee is a necessity in life, but no instant-shit! Quality beans please. I Crossfit and hike for exercise and try to eat paleo, which goes so-so. I take pics and video of pretty much everything, read a lot, and enjoy watching movies and series.
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