The other day, I bought lebkuchen (German spice cake) at an international supermarket in Shinagawa. Lebkuchen is a typical Christmas sweet in Germany, and I tried very hard to find it last Christmas. I can't believe that I found this now. But I shouldn't have paid the full price for it. It is like that they trying to get rid of unseasonable Halloween cookies without discount! It has to be at least half the price!

2004 is an Olympic year. I would love to watch any kind of sports at Olympic, it is an exciting event for me. But! I was so surprised to hear about Ian Thorpe will not swim 400m freestyle in Athens! He is a world record holder though... I think my mum is so disappointed!

While I was away, it seems like that a police officer visited our flat, and he left a letter. It says 'Make your home more secure. A flat was burgled in this building recently.' on a big smiley cute peepo (Tokyo Metropolitan Police' mascot). We got a security camera in a lift just 2 weeks ago. I wonder if we had a burglar first or a security camera. Or probably the neighbourhood isn't safe any longer. There was also a form in the envelope. If we write our work/relatives addresses/phone numbers, they can contact us/them smoothly in case of emergency, something like a fire I guess. Oh well, it isn't a very happy topic. It made me down!

Our friend's sister and her husband are visiting Tokyo from London, and we had an another hanami 'cherry blossom viewing' in Yoyogi park yesterday. There were many many people having parties everywhere. Amazing! The weather was great, it was ideal for hanami. I was kind of happy that they could experienced one of the Japanese culture perfectly.

After karaoke, we came back home at 6 am woke up at 4 in the afternoon! Awful!! Our friends were having a cherry blossoms party at a park in Yebisu. I didn't feel like drinking but we joined them around 7 pm and kept drinking until midnight. The cherry blossoms at night were beautiful.

We went to the opening of an ELECTRICWIG exhibition at TRICO on Friday. A two spouted teapot, puppet socks with eyes, etc... they made me smile. Trico' choice is always great!

Our favorite bread from the bakery near our local station is called something like 'fermented natural yeast for a long period (with) beurre'. We love the moist texture and the denseness. I seems bigger than before but it just rose, and lots of air bubbles were inside. This happened too often and it was at the end of last year that I was wondering if I should tell them or not. I haven't told them yet, and the bread is still airy. I guess a (part time?) baker or an oven changed but it's been 3 months already. Try harder!

I've been using Google for a long time but I didn't know the Google's built-in calculator function until today. Is this obvious? I found this by accident when I searched the Japanese mobile phone company 'au'. I also learnt that 1 Astronomical Unit (the average distance from the Earth to the Sun) = 149 598 000 000 meters, and the origin of au' name (my guess was wrong).

Last month, personal information on 4,517,039 persons had been leaked from the big company. I was one of 4,517,039! Annoying. The day before yesterday, I received a letter saying that 'they feel as if their heart would break' and ¥500 (£2.53) cheque was inside. It said 'If you don't cash a cheque by 16th May, we would like to donate those money to the fund for the future of the information society etc'. I have no idea what 'the fund for the future of the information society etc' is!

The missing wallet was found in the taxi! The taxi company Asca Kohtsu Daini phoned me yesterday afternoon. I asked them to send it by courier, and I've just got it! Cash, a drivers license, a credit card, a suica, my business card, a library card, a membership card for a sports club, everything was inside. Mr driver, thank you sooo much! It's been about 13 years since I started to use this wallet (I was surprised myself to find it out now), and it is the 4th time that I lost this wallet! I believe the 'fatal relationship' between this wallet and me.

Yesterday, we went to see the cherry blossoms at Komazawa olympic park. The weather hasn't been great these days and the cherry blossoms haven't bloomed much yet, but it doesn't matter because we enjoyed drinking, eating and meeting people. I think about 40-50 people turned up in the end. I tried to make decorated rolled sushi for the first time, but... I can't show what I made! The cooked boiled eggs using the recipe of Naomi Takayama were so popular though. I was very drunk and very happy but I realised that I lost my wallet! Nooo!

I went to Dean & Deluca at atré shinagawa (in J only) which has just opened in the beginning of March. The shop is much bigger than the one in Shibuya and Marunouchi, there were many unusual fruits and vegetables near the entrance, they sell fish and meat too. I was very excited to see lots of different kinds of salt from around the world. They sell salt by weight, but it was too expensive for me. I shouldn't forget about their target customer's annual income is ¥50,000,000 (£257,707)!

After yesterday's official announcement, the sakura (cherry) in full bloom already!? Not quite yet. This is a plastic sakura tree in Shinagawa station. I can't believe that people thought about making/using fake ugly plastic trees for display. But I kind of like these bad sense which I can see very often in Japan.

Today, the Japan meteorological agency announced officially that the sakura (cherry) trees started blooming in Tokyo. It is 10 days earlier than average and it is the second earliest date since data were first collected in 1953. The sakura trees near our flat became very pink today. It always rains a lot, just after their bloom, I hope the weather will be nice this weekend.

My sister brought dried mango from Philippine. She said 'It's not that special but this is the most common and popular souvenir'. I wasn't very keen on dried mango but... It was so good! Very special!! I finished them all in 3 days. I tried Japanese dried mango from the local supermarket but it was totally different .The mango from Philippine was much softer and sweeter and it was yellow, not orange (I should have taken a photo). The scent of mango spread in my mouth. It was almost as juicy as fresh mango. It could be tastier than the fresh one actually! It seems like I can buy the most popular branded mango in Philippine for ¥350〜/100g in Japan. I want to try some. I also like dried Japanese sweet potato. Do I like dried food?

On Sunday, we finally watched The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Our friends who watched it already didn't seem happy about the film but I really enjoyed it. I think it could be shorter though. It was tough to sit on a seat for 3 hours and 50 mins (including film trailers and advertising), even Virgin Cinemas Roppongi Hills has large feet spaces and better seats. By the way, I want more caramel on popcorn...

Yesterday, our couple friends brought baby Ikanago 'Japanese sand lance' boiled in sweetened soy sauce. It was given to them from their home in Hyogo. Thanks! The ginger gives a good punch to the taste. It was so delicious with plain rice. But I think it won't attract many non-Japanese people because of the looks...

My husband came back from Hokkaido. He brought the white chocolate sweet called 'yuki ya kon kon' (means 'Snow! Come to us') which has raspberry jam and cheese cream inside. This is a new product by Rokkatei, my favourite confectionery company in Hokkaido. They sell this only in February and March. It melts like snow when I touch it! It is very sweet creamy cheese cake chocolate. I think it's a little bit expensive for ¥600 for 6 pieces. But I still like Rokkatei.

I finally got Tyrkisk peber (Turkish pepper) the other day. (see my old entry about Liquorice.) My sister' friend brought them from Finland. I don't know how to thank her! It is so good, at least to me! I tried to make Turkish Pepper Candy shot, just adding crushed 2 candies to 150cc of vodka. I left it until the candy has dissolved, and I tried a shot... Something went wrong! It tasted like medicine. The one which my Norwegian friend made was much sweeter and darker, I think. I should have added some suger?! Anyone got a good recipe?

After I finished my little business in Roppongi today, I tried to have lunch at German bakery MENTPHYS (J only) which I found on the internet the other day. But... the shop was gone! No!! I tried other bakery good day for you ROPPONGI (J only) instead. But... it was shut! Doh!! They got many cake orders for White Day and too busy to open the shop. In the end, I went to Roppongi Hills (which probably never goes down well with me somehow) and I had an aubergine and tomato sandwich at IDÉE CAFFÈ. The filling was nice but the bread wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I feel like shopping around Tokyo for good German bread (J only).

Last month, I mentioned about my hayfever, but it was nothing. I'm suffering propery from a real hayfever since this Tuesday. Sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, itchy eyes, muzzy head and I feel like washing earholes with a water gun. Yesterday, I bought pocket size lotioned tissue called 'it will be trouble if my nose gets red'. You've got a point! But other lotion tissue 'Ten-nen Hoshitu' is much softer.

When I buy washing up liquid, I choose from the colour or the design of the bottle. This yellow bottle by Johnson is my recent favourite one. I often check 3 pharmacies near my flat, if they have new products. The bottle changes more frequent than we think.

We got an invitation for Department of design College of Art, Nihon University (japanese only) graduation show from our friend Y, went to see it last night. It reminded me of my student time. Same atmosphere! We had 40mins before it shuts but it wasn't enough time to see everything, no time to fill in a questionnaire. I wanted to write that Y's work was my favourite. I couldn't believe that I forgot to take my digicame with me. How stupid! We didn't expect to see Y there, but he was there! All's well that ends well. Congratulations on your graduation! Let's meet up for KANPAI soon.

We went to our friends wedding party the day before yesterday. It took about 1 and half hour by a pickup bus from Shibuya to the Japanese style hot spring hotel in Oume city. We could have a bath before the party and it was very relaxed party. The groom got very drunk in the end, and that made us all happy. I wonder how much he remembers the party... Anyway, we won't forget it. Congratulations to both of you! Very best wishes for your happiness!

Today is the luckiest day in the six day Buddhist calendar, our friends are having a wedding party. Also F1 World Grand Prixit 2004 starts today, and Mamoru Oshii' INNOCENCE which my husband was looking for a long time opened in cinemas today. Too many exciting thigs are happening.

This afternoon, I saw a guy selling THE BIG ISSUE JAPAN in front of Shinjuku station south exit. I heard that THE BIG ISSUE launched in Japan last year but I've never seen anyone selling the magazines in Tokyo until today. When I first moved to London, I was wondering about those people who were shouting 'Biiiig big big big issue!' or 'BIGissue!' on streets in London. The Japanese guy who I bought it from was rather moderate. The new issue just came out yesterday. A4, 30pages, full colours, ¥200 (£1).

Our friend who started to live in South Korea a year ago, came back to Tokyo for a short time. Last night, lots of our drinking friends gathered to see her. I and my husband always have a good time with them. They are very lovely people.

These days, I receive only bills and detailed statements in my letterbox at home. I use my index finger to open them. I love this olivetti paper knife but I don't use it often. It is designed by Marcello Nizzoli, he used the bird as the motif as same as LEXIKON80. Last month, we receiced the invitation letter for our friends' wedding party. I opened it with this knife. Nice.

I bought a plastic flower vase on Sunday. It's a flat plastic bag, but very strong when the water is inside. I guess it got the idea from a liquid soap refill bag. The plastic is quite thick, I hope I can reuse it again and again. I bought a peach flower to put into a vase. Tomorrow is Peach Blossom's Festival (Girl's Festival).

Yesterday' late afternoon, we went to Roppongi Hills to see KUSAMATRIX. It was WOW! I always love the art works which have a simple idea and a strong impact. She is so cool. And also another Wow! for my husband's discovery at Tokyo City View. He noticed that the sky colour of Tokyo is same as the ticket colour! I'm not sure but I think the lighting in the lifts might change like this colour gradation. On the other side of the room, there was Mt. Fuji at Sunset. It was huge.