Yesterday, our ex-flatmates from London arrived in Tokyo. I asked them to bring lots of stuff, but they brought even more (not all of them are on a photo!). Thanks!! I will try to be a good host for 2 weeks!

I went to a French restaurant in Toranomon for a girls’ dinner. The bouillabaisse was so amazing! We ordered 2 portions of bouillabaisse for 6 of us, but we could have ordered three portions. I was a bit disappointed about the waiter who served 8 bowls from a pot, not 6...

I think the most popular birthday cake for kids in Japan is strawberry shortcake (sponge cake with cream and strawberry filling and strawberries on top!). In London, sugar icing cake is probably the popular one. I was amazed when I saw a Barbie printed with icing for the first time! I heard that inside of the sugar icing is fruit cake and that the icing outside keeps the cake for a long time, so it's not only for decoration. I never tried it and I haven't even seen anyone eating it, but supermarkets sell so many kinds of icing cakes, so I think they are very very popular. But I prefer cakes with lots of cream. Come to think of it, I remember a celebration scene from the film Godfather, there was a big sugar icing cake. Don Vito Corleone didn't want to eat it though.

I used to take the number 38 bus to college. Sometimes it got too packed and I had to wait for another bus, but I still like the No.38. Can you see there is a little nice thing between 3 and 8 on a bus? I like it ♥. In Tokyo, there are too many meant to be cute graphics in town, but they don't mean anything to me. If I see these little cute thing in London (not often though), it made me smile. Not all the number 38 buses have ♥, I hope you can find one (if you want)!

I had The Fruity Malt Loaf SOREEN in London. It used to be my favourite. When I had it for the first time, I thought the taste and the texture were similar to Japanese sweet. It reminded me of brown sugar flavour. But now I think it's not really like that. Anyway I love this, especially the gooey texture. After a few (or bit more) pints at a pub, our friend G told us to show us the proper way of eating it. Slice the loaf about 1cm, and spread butter (it was same as mine!). It's also nice with unsalted butter. It is sticky and quite difficult to cut, so prepare a good knife. 220g, £0.69 (¥139).

I take trains when I go out, but I don't like trains in Tokyo. The Underground in London can be very messy/dirty (my mum refused to sit down because her clothes might get dirty!), but there is something very nice about it which we don't have in Tokyo. It's the armrest on each seat. Nobody can disturb my space!

Sometimes, baked beans are introduced to Japanese as one of the bad British food, but I think they are nice. Heat baked beans in a saucepan, and pour hot beans over buttered toast and top with very strong extra matured cheddar cheese. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Serve hot. Cheese and pepper are very important, because of the tomato sauce is quite sweet. I don't want to have this for my dinner but nice for a late breakfast on the next day of a heavy drinking party. It is also nice with potato, of course. Heinz Baked Bean in tomato sauce, 200g tin, £0.31 (¥62). Reasonable.

When I went to the East end of London, my friend K saw a nice old (since 1862) Pie & Mash shop, and we agreed to have a try. Because, the shop wasn't empty, they sell an East end speciality jellied eels (which I've never seen), and we saw a certificate of the 1999s Golden Pie Dish award by the window. And the pie was... super disappointed!!

Yesterday, C came back from a business trip. It's been 4 weeks since we last saw each other at home. We went for dinner and beer at our neighborhood izakaya. He told me lots of funny stories from his trip.

Yesterday, I and my friend M visited our friend Y, and we had a grown up ladies dinner (that's what I thought). I usually drink at Izakaya (pub) or sit in a park/our living room' floor (japanese style), not in front of a table with nice nibbles! Y's room was amazing. It looked just like it came out of a magazine. I want a GE fridge too...

Yesterday was my friend T' birhday, and we had a party at T' flat. P and my birthdays are also in May, so they celebrated for us too. I started to drink from 5pm and finished at 3:30am. I made a resolution not to have a hangover, but I am completely wasted now...

In London, I saw strong messages on cigarette packs which weren't there 2 years ago. I don't know If these warning actually stop lots of smokers to smoke, but maybe it helps for people who may start to smoke. Anyway it costs £4.90 (¥988), too expensive. I wouldn't smoke! Even the little size (we don't have this size in Japan) costs about £2.50 (¥500), it's crazy. I wonder the price of cigarette in Japan will be £4.90 one day. It is only £1.48 at the moment.

After we ate nice food at The Easton, we decided to move to Hat On Wall (bar & gallery) which opens till late. When we arrived there, there were already lots of our mates. My friends secretly organized a surprise birthday for us. After the midnight, we celebrated Mr. N' birthday and kept drinking till 2am. To think about almost all of the pubs in London are closed at 11pm, we had a very long party. I enjoyed a lot. Thanks everyone! I guess I'm well trained by friends in Japan who usually drink (and also mix their drinks) untill morning. I had no hangover the next morning!

What made me happy while I was in London is that my friends organised a birthday party for me and my ex-flatmate N. My birthday was 6th and Mr. N' birthday was 7th. Thanks! It was the first time for me to go to this pub The Easton. Good food, spacious as a pub, I really liked it.

I used to go to this little cafe in soho. I'm glad that it still exists. This is one of the few places in London that I feel like eating cakes. I had a cup of cafe au lait and an apple almond tart. £5.20 (¥1,045). It seems like prices have gone up in London.

I came back to Tokyo from London. I chose English breakfast for my flight meal. It came with PJ smoothies and müller Fruit Corner. They are both very London. My flight was kind of empty, and I got four seats to myself, slept a lot.

I took a bus from Frankfurt Hahn airport to Frankfurt train station. The bus was a Mercedes, of course. And the many off-white Mercedes taxis near the train station were a great view.

I've been to Germany for 5 days. It costs £39.85 for a single flight London-Frankfurt. Quite cheap. It was nice to use a staircase to get in a plane, like an old style. No reserved seats.