It's been a while since I wrote here... 2 months! Wow, time flies and all that...
I went back to Stockholm for about 3 weeks in March. It was soooo good to see my family and friends again! A little bit of change of environment was just what I needed. I spent my Easter vacation at my grand mother's summer house in the inner part of Stockholm archipelago and ate a lot of Swedish food (herring, salmon, a mutton steak and potatoes) and had a bunch of Easter beers from small breweries in Sweden and Norway. :P
I managed to get some work done as well, but I won’t bore you with that. ;)
Not many days after coming back to Tokyo (the 2nd of April) I got some distinguished guest; my friends Daniel and Karin. They spent two weeks roaming Japan by train and I did my best to show them around the places I know; streets of Shibuya, bands in Harajuku, sakura in Shinjuku and Ueno, bars in Ikebukuro, electric.... stuff... in Akihabara. I hope I didn't wear you out with all that walking! :D And thank you for taking me to the sky bar of Tokyo Tower Hotel. Very, very Tokyo-esque!
A week passed after D&K left and then I met up with Jacob and Elisabeth from Denmark and Matt from USA. We had a weekend of art/culture with visits at the National Art Center Tokyo, NTT InterCommunication Center and a club in Roppongi called SuperDeluxe. Now this place was the definite highlight for me. We had been told that there would be noise music (what's that? you wonder, then check this video from another event at the same place http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMOR3Fzi2Ck) but I don't think anyone of us four was prepared for how experimental it would be. Seven (7!) hours of... noise. Guitars, computers, mix tables, record players, a fluorescent lamp, a girl screaming (almost) ultrasonic and a cello, strapped to table and disciplined with a brush and a stick... Absolutely crazy and maybe the best introduction to this genre that anyone could ask for. The weekend was wound up at a restaurant where we, thanks to Matt's unbeatable ordering skills, had the chance to try raw horse meat and small squids (also raw?) in soy sauce.
I'll try to put up some pictures from SuperDeluxe later and maybe a video on YouTube (if I figure out how to do that).
Until then, take care!
And now I'm 26...
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Going home
I've been here for more than 4 months now, and it's time for my first trip home. Actually, I feel rather good about that, looking forward to get a break from everything going on here for a while. I have to admit that I'm a bit bored with being able to do absolutely nothing besides being in school during the weekdays...
To not loose all of my integrity I've been fighting for my weekends, and made sure to keep busy enjoying my free time. Two weeks ago we had another national holiday and I took the chance to go to Osaka for two days. Natsuko was rather busy so I spent my time meeting up with friends from the OUSSEP and visiting old familiar places; like the sento “Oyuba”, a public bathhouse on the way from my old dorm to Osaka University. To take a bath there and then walk the road up to school where I went soooo many times on my bicycle was very, very nostalgic.
Last weekend I hung out with Tomo and Sachi most of the time. We went downtown for some udon (thick, white noodles) for lunch, played some ping pong and sang karaoke. Tomo kicked my butt in the first games of ping pong, but then I remembered how to play (after all, I spent hours and hours in the Osaka dorm practising) and in the end I was making him run and sweat. ;D In the afternoon Tomo and I went to a sento in south Tokyo and after that we went playing basketball with some friends. Busy day, huh? The next day we took a rental car to Hakone (close to Mt Fuji, where I went with Natsuko in November), did some shopping in a huge outlet and then took a bath in one of the numerous onsens (hot springs) around there. Note that I went soaking 3 times in 8 days, which must be a personal record. This bathing is an addiction!
This weekend I'm just staying at home, getting ready to move out of the apartment and go home to Sweden. I'll be back the 11th of March and stay for almost a month. I hope it will not be too cold in Stockholm...
Now I've gotta take care of my laundry. Can't hang it on my balcony because the air of Tokyo is full of sand! There are some pretty strong winds blowing and I've been told that this dust has come flying all the way from some China desert...
Take care!
To not loose all of my integrity I've been fighting for my weekends, and made sure to keep busy enjoying my free time. Two weeks ago we had another national holiday and I took the chance to go to Osaka for two days. Natsuko was rather busy so I spent my time meeting up with friends from the OUSSEP and visiting old familiar places; like the sento “Oyuba”, a public bathhouse on the way from my old dorm to Osaka University. To take a bath there and then walk the road up to school where I went soooo many times on my bicycle was very, very nostalgic.
Last weekend I hung out with Tomo and Sachi most of the time. We went downtown for some udon (thick, white noodles) for lunch, played some ping pong and sang karaoke. Tomo kicked my butt in the first games of ping pong, but then I remembered how to play (after all, I spent hours and hours in the Osaka dorm practising) and in the end I was making him run and sweat. ;D In the afternoon Tomo and I went to a sento in south Tokyo and after that we went playing basketball with some friends. Busy day, huh? The next day we took a rental car to Hakone (close to Mt Fuji, where I went with Natsuko in November), did some shopping in a huge outlet and then took a bath in one of the numerous onsens (hot springs) around there. Note that I went soaking 3 times in 8 days, which must be a personal record. This bathing is an addiction!
This weekend I'm just staying at home, getting ready to move out of the apartment and go home to Sweden. I'll be back the 11th of March and stay for almost a month. I hope it will not be too cold in Stockholm...
Now I've gotta take care of my laundry. Can't hang it on my balcony because the air of Tokyo is full of sand! There are some pretty strong winds blowing and I've been told that this dust has come flying all the way from some China desert...
Take care!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu...
... and a good continuation of the New Year!
Plenty of stuff has happened since last time I wrote. I went to Osaka over Christmas to be with Natsuko and we celebrated just the two of us; eating good, singing karaoke and watching movies. She got me a Nintendo DS v(^_^) and I got her a piano, with help from my family. Since coming back to Tokyo I've been listening to her playing through the phone.
I went back to school for a couple of days after that, cleaning the lab and finishing some stuff, and then it was winter holidays for more than a week. Yes! We went to Natsuko's parents over New Year (Oshou gatsu) and her sister and brother with families came during the first days of 2008. We were mostly just taking it easy, eating traditional Japanese food and playing games together. Oshou gatsu is the (only?) time of the year when Japanese mothers take a break from cooking. They make a lot of different dishes in advance, and all of the food is made so that you can keep it for a long time without it going bad. This is called Osechi and we had it from the 31st to the 3rd, but even though we had the same style of food for almost 4 days I didn't get bored with it, because there were so many different kinds to try. Small (pickled?) fishes and shrimps, smashed chestnuts, beans and so on. Some of the dishes have meanings, like, they will give you happiness or good fortune for the coming year.
After that we went to Nagoya with Natsuko's sister and her husband. The highlight of that trip was the aquarium, where I saw a killer whale for the first time in my life. The dolphin show was also very cool. I didn't know that you can train a dolphin to catch a frisbee! Just imagine how hard it is to judge the position of a flying object when you are swimming at ~20km/h and look up at it from under the water surface!
I've been back at the lab for about 2 weeks now and things are moving forward. I've managed to make two different molecules to bring home and I've thought of my own design for a third one. This week I was trying to invent a strategy to synthesize it and looking up chemicals for that. It seems I have it under control now and I will start with the synthesis next week. I am pretty sure that something unexpected will happen that will force me to rethink most of my plans, but you know... that's how it goes. As Prof Peter Stilbs keeps reminding me in his emails:
"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be research!"
Until next time!
Plenty of stuff has happened since last time I wrote. I went to Osaka over Christmas to be with Natsuko and we celebrated just the two of us; eating good, singing karaoke and watching movies. She got me a Nintendo DS v(^_^) and I got her a piano, with help from my family. Since coming back to Tokyo I've been listening to her playing through the phone.
I went back to school for a couple of days after that, cleaning the lab and finishing some stuff, and then it was winter holidays for more than a week. Yes! We went to Natsuko's parents over New Year (Oshou gatsu) and her sister and brother with families came during the first days of 2008. We were mostly just taking it easy, eating traditional Japanese food and playing games together. Oshou gatsu is the (only?) time of the year when Japanese mothers take a break from cooking. They make a lot of different dishes in advance, and all of the food is made so that you can keep it for a long time without it going bad. This is called Osechi and we had it from the 31st to the 3rd, but even though we had the same style of food for almost 4 days I didn't get bored with it, because there were so many different kinds to try. Small (pickled?) fishes and shrimps, smashed chestnuts, beans and so on. Some of the dishes have meanings, like, they will give you happiness or good fortune for the coming year.
After that we went to Nagoya with Natsuko's sister and her husband. The highlight of that trip was the aquarium, where I saw a killer whale for the first time in my life. The dolphin show was also very cool. I didn't know that you can train a dolphin to catch a frisbee! Just imagine how hard it is to judge the position of a flying object when you are swimming at ~20km/h and look up at it from under the water surface!
I've been back at the lab for about 2 weeks now and things are moving forward. I've managed to make two different molecules to bring home and I've thought of my own design for a third one. This week I was trying to invent a strategy to synthesize it and looking up chemicals for that. It seems I have it under control now and I will start with the synthesis next week. I am pretty sure that something unexpected will happen that will force me to rethink most of my plans, but you know... that's how it goes. As Prof Peter Stilbs keeps reminding me in his emails:
"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be research!"
Until next time!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Merry Christmas and a Yoi Otoshi wo!
Hej again!
Winter is here, even though it is more like autumn to me. The leaves that became red and yellow last month have now begun to fall from the trees and I feel a sting in my cheeks from the cold when I go out in the mornings. The stores are decorated for the holidays with fake snow and small lights in blue, green and red. I'm not expecting any snow for Christmas Eve but I think I will get into the mood until then. Especially because I got a big box of things from my parents two days ago. Thank you!! Actually I already opened it, haha. I couldn't restrain myself...
I'm going to Natsuko next weekend. There is a seminar at school on Saturday and I'm getting on the Shinkansen right after that. Monday is a National Holiday so I'm gonna stay in Osaka for 3 nights and head back to Tokyo with the first train on Tuesday morning. School finishes the 28th and I'm gonna be at Natsuko's parents' place over New Year (Oshougatsu). We plan to go to Nagoya as well, since the holiday will last until the 7th. Pretty nice!
Haven't been traveling much lately. I think I mentioned it before, that this period would mean a lot of work for me. I've been to school in the weekends for seminars and meetings, and haven't had time to go anywhere far. But the work has paid off. I have made a molecule that shows a liquid crystalline phase (columnar) and that I will probably be able to bring back home to Stockholm to do some diffusion measurements on. It's not perfectly pure yet so I might need to work on that, but at least it seems like I will have something to bring back home next year. Feels good.
A couple of weeks ago I helped Natsuko's dad prepare some persimmon fruit (kaki) for drying. This is called Hoshigaki - 'hanging persimmon'. What you do is to peel them, heat them shortly in boiling water and then dip them in strong sake (shouchu). I ended up getting 6 of them to bring home to my apartment to dry myself, and I have tried to document the drying process with my Lumix. Check it out in my Photobucket!
http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd137/antonfrise/
There you can also see a night view from a skyscraper in Shinjuku, where I went today. Slideshows 'Shinjuku Government Buildings' and 'Hoshigaki in the autumn' are new!
God Jul!
Winter is here, even though it is more like autumn to me. The leaves that became red and yellow last month have now begun to fall from the trees and I feel a sting in my cheeks from the cold when I go out in the mornings. The stores are decorated for the holidays with fake snow and small lights in blue, green and red. I'm not expecting any snow for Christmas Eve but I think I will get into the mood until then. Especially because I got a big box of things from my parents two days ago. Thank you!! Actually I already opened it, haha. I couldn't restrain myself...
I'm going to Natsuko next weekend. There is a seminar at school on Saturday and I'm getting on the Shinkansen right after that. Monday is a National Holiday so I'm gonna stay in Osaka for 3 nights and head back to Tokyo with the first train on Tuesday morning. School finishes the 28th and I'm gonna be at Natsuko's parents' place over New Year (Oshougatsu). We plan to go to Nagoya as well, since the holiday will last until the 7th. Pretty nice!
Haven't been traveling much lately. I think I mentioned it before, that this period would mean a lot of work for me. I've been to school in the weekends for seminars and meetings, and haven't had time to go anywhere far. But the work has paid off. I have made a molecule that shows a liquid crystalline phase (columnar) and that I will probably be able to bring back home to Stockholm to do some diffusion measurements on. It's not perfectly pure yet so I might need to work on that, but at least it seems like I will have something to bring back home next year. Feels good.
A couple of weeks ago I helped Natsuko's dad prepare some persimmon fruit (kaki) for drying. This is called Hoshigaki - 'hanging persimmon'. What you do is to peel them, heat them shortly in boiling water and then dip them in strong sake (shouchu). I ended up getting 6 of them to bring home to my apartment to dry myself, and I have tried to document the drying process with my Lumix. Check it out in my Photobucket!
http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd137/antonfrise/
There you can also see a night view from a skyscraper in Shinjuku, where I went today. Slideshows 'Shinjuku Government Buildings' and 'Hoshigaki in the autumn' are new!
God Jul!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Onsen, museums and the usual stuff
My life goes on here in Tokyo. The work is progressing slowly, I'm still struggling with the organic reactions and almost everyday I discover new ways to fail in getting a pure product. It's a bit of a mess but I still learn a million things per week so I guess it's good for me, huh?
It's getting colder here, the temperature has fallen down to 10-15C. It's not that bad compared to Stockholm in November, but as the insulation of Japanese houses is a joke the indoor temperature is not that much higher. So I've bought myself a nice fleece sweater and a real futon (bed cover) to battle the cold. Another way to keep warm is to go to an onsen (natural hot spring). Two weekends ago I went with Tomo, Shin-chan and Ma-chan to Tochigi prefecture, two hours north of Tokyo by train. We spent a night at Kita Onsen, an old traditional hot spring in the mountains. Very remote and isolated. The minshuku (Japanese inn) was an old house that reminded me of Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away, Miyazaki Hayao) and there were several different baths to soak in, both indoors and outdoors. At night they turned of the lights and we enjoyed the hot water with beautiful stars above us. I had brought a package of Absolute Five (five flavours of vodka) and we tried all of them many times and compared the Swedish alcohol with Hakkaizan (wonderful Japanese sake) and beer. The next day, despite the hangover that was just slightly cured by a morning bath, we climbed one of the peaks close by and experienced the first snowfall of this winter.
Last weekend Natsuko came here for 4 days. We spent one night at her parents place, again enjoying her mothers wonderful cooking. Then we took the buss to Sengokuhara in Hakone, a mountain resort two hours west of Tokyo and thus close to Mt Fuji. The main goal was the Pola Museum, were they are now showing Monet and other impressionists in a special exhibition. Both I and Natsuko have since our stay in Paris this summer begun to like paintings by Monet, Pissarro, Cézanne and so on, and the visit to Pola Museum was great. Another sweet thing was the private onsen of the hostel we stayed at. You could book it for half an hour at a time and have it all by yourself! We also visited the Venetian Glass Museum and a museum for Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the writer of The little Prince (Le Petit prince).
Back in Tokyo we went to one last museum for the weekend. This time it was an exhibition by Philadelphia Museum of Arts with more impressionist art, but also surrealism and cubism with works by Dalí, Picasso and Duchamp.
As you can see I spend all my time working in the weekdays and all my time playing in the weekends. From now that might change a little, they have scheduled some "Laboratory Seminars" during the following Saturdays so I won't be able to go on any long trips. Too bad...
Check out the pictures in my Photobucket!
http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd137/antonfrise/
My trips to Kita Onsen and Hakone and the view of Mt Fuji from the door of my apartment.
Take care!
It's getting colder here, the temperature has fallen down to 10-15C. It's not that bad compared to Stockholm in November, but as the insulation of Japanese houses is a joke the indoor temperature is not that much higher. So I've bought myself a nice fleece sweater and a real futon (bed cover) to battle the cold. Another way to keep warm is to go to an onsen (natural hot spring). Two weekends ago I went with Tomo, Shin-chan and Ma-chan to Tochigi prefecture, two hours north of Tokyo by train. We spent a night at Kita Onsen, an old traditional hot spring in the mountains. Very remote and isolated. The minshuku (Japanese inn) was an old house that reminded me of Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away, Miyazaki Hayao) and there were several different baths to soak in, both indoors and outdoors. At night they turned of the lights and we enjoyed the hot water with beautiful stars above us. I had brought a package of Absolute Five (five flavours of vodka) and we tried all of them many times and compared the Swedish alcohol with Hakkaizan (wonderful Japanese sake) and beer. The next day, despite the hangover that was just slightly cured by a morning bath, we climbed one of the peaks close by and experienced the first snowfall of this winter.
Last weekend Natsuko came here for 4 days. We spent one night at her parents place, again enjoying her mothers wonderful cooking. Then we took the buss to Sengokuhara in Hakone, a mountain resort two hours west of Tokyo and thus close to Mt Fuji. The main goal was the Pola Museum, were they are now showing Monet and other impressionists in a special exhibition. Both I and Natsuko have since our stay in Paris this summer begun to like paintings by Monet, Pissarro, Cézanne and so on, and the visit to Pola Museum was great. Another sweet thing was the private onsen of the hostel we stayed at. You could book it for half an hour at a time and have it all by yourself! We also visited the Venetian Glass Museum and a museum for Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the writer of The little Prince (Le Petit prince).
Back in Tokyo we went to one last museum for the weekend. This time it was an exhibition by Philadelphia Museum of Arts with more impressionist art, but also surrealism and cubism with works by Dalí, Picasso and Duchamp.
As you can see I spend all my time working in the weekdays and all my time playing in the weekends. From now that might change a little, they have scheduled some "Laboratory Seminars" during the following Saturdays so I won't be able to go on any long trips. Too bad...
Check out the pictures in my Photobucket!
http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd137/antonfrise/
My trips to Kita Onsen and Hakone and the view of Mt Fuji from the door of my apartment.
Take care!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Now with pictures
I made a Photobucket account to show you some pictures! Follow the link below, you will find some slideshows a bit down on the page. You can also watch the pictures from the albums, links are on the left side of the main page.
http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd137/antonfrise/
Enjoy!
http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd137/antonfrise/
Enjoy!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
My first month
It's almost 4 weeks since I came to Tokyo and I've manage to create something that could be called an everyday-life.
I wake up around 8.30am in morning and have some bread with walnuts and bottled milk tea for breakfast. I call Natsuko on the cell phone and we talk while I get ready to leave for school. The phones have loudspeakers so I can get dressed and brush my teeth while talking.
The walk from my apartment to the subway station (Yoyogi-Uehara on the Chioda Line) takes about 15 minutes. I always get on the 9.17 train, the ride is 14 stations and takes about half an hour. I pass by many of the big central places, like Hibiya and Omotesando and every morning I see all the classics images of Tokyo subway: jam-packed trains full of office-workers playing portable videogames, reading books and sleeping. I get of at Nezu station and walk another 10 minutes to get to the university and my lab.
We start everyday at 10am. This is an important time and it's bad to be late. My project has just begun so I've been reading articles and books most of the time to get some basic knowledge. Last week I started doing experiments but my background is not organic synthesis so I need quite a lot of help. The work is interrupted by sporadic(?) lectures and seminars.
I finish somewhere between 10 and 11pm (and this is no exaggeration). The days are very, very long. Everyone else is also working late so that helps motivating me. I kind of see it as a competition.. if they can do it, so can I. But more important is that my project is very, very cool and I learn an incredible amount of new stuff all the time. So I don't feel a strong desire to go home early... yet.
I take the subway home and pick up some bread for the next day's breakfast at the local FamilyMart or 7Eleven. I usually make it home before 11.30pm. I watch some TV, read and talk to Natsuko again. Most nights I get more than 7 hours sleep.
It's quite a nice life. I get a lot of stuff done at work. I walk 50 minutes every day and do 50 push-ups every evening. I can listen to almost a full album of music on the subway and I'm reading my second book since I came here.
The week-ends have been busy. Natsuko has been here once and we met with her parents and brother. I went to her place in Osaka 10 days ago and we visited the royal palace in Kyoto together with her sister. This weekend all the people from the lab went on a school-trip to the mountains for a sleep-over in a ryoukan. We had some excellent food and I had a bath in an onsen for the first time since coming here. Next weekend I will go with Tomo and some friends to another onsen. I'll write about that next time!
Take care
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)