Life:Current Loves and dislikes

Update: my how the time does fly !!

Since my last 'current loves' post,  I got sick, boo dry winters and working with children!! Forever sick in winter!

I went home for xmas, that was a much needed (but too short) trip. I hadn't been home for nearly 2 years.

and finally I got engaged :D. It was a surprise and not a surprise. K and I had talked about it a lot but he still managed to surprise me :D.

Current loves

Comfy chunky knits



Skincare~specifically Balance me, Ren, Indeed labs skincare. 

Recent discoveries but I'm loving using them. They've really helped my skin.

Blackmilk leggings~ I love Blackmilks leggings, some people balk at how expensive they are but they are so worth it in my opinion.
Amazing quality printing and nylon.

the consistent winter weather in Japan. Sure it cold but every day the sky is blue and the sun is shining.

Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm~ this stuff is amazing!!! I bought it largely because of the hype tbh but I'm so glad that I did. It's the only thing that saves my lips from being completely ruined.
And I have a lot of lip balms!

Current dislikes

my eczema has returned :( -

I had it as a child but it disappeared and then came back when I went to uni :( . 

how dry the winters are in Japan

dry related health problems ~eczema, getting sick more, hangnails and epic chapped lips


I miss being warm~ I don't think that Tokyo is as cold as the UK but because of the lack of central heating and poor insulation in the houses and buildings , once you get cold it's difficult to get warm again. Sure having a hot bath works but thats not really an option when its the middle of the day and you're  in a freezing cold elementary school.

Current reading: 

Harry Potter ~ I think it's the cold, that is making me reach for this as its a comforting and familar read.

Current listening:

 At the moment, I'm not really listening to anything.

Current watching:

 I am rewatching the Big Bang Theory, it's not everyones cup of tea but it makes me chuckle.

I've also started watching Sherlock. Yeah, I'm late to that one. People have been talking about it for years, but I just never really got into it after watching some of the first episode. Anyway I gave it another go and I am happy that I did. I am enjoying it a lot.

What are your current loves and dislikes? 

Beauty//: Nuxe Rêve de Miel lip balm

Currently I have about 6 lip balms on the go. 

I've tried chap sticks, Burt's bees, Maybelline's baby lips, etcetera the list goes on. 

The only one I really liked and found that worked , was Burt's bees. 

I have two Maybelline's baby lips balms but tbh they do sweet f-all for me, I think I just have them because I don't like bring without a lip balm . 

Anyone else feel the same way? Can't be without a lip balm? 

Anyway, I bought Nuxe Rêve de Miel lip balm about 6 months ago after seeing a lot of rave reviews. 

It has become quite a hyped product but I still read a lot of reviews before buying( I hate buying  products that don't work.). 

What do I think? ...

I wasn't disappointed. 

This is a  wonderful product. It has a thick texture with a refreshing cirtrus-y scent  and doesn't leave my lips greasy. 

Most of all though, it is reallllly moisturising. Japan's winters are dry. Very dry!

  I get chapped lips most of the year,  but during winter here, my lips and hands are just permantley dry and nothing but the strongest stuff makes them feel soft.  

However I actually don't like pot balms (messy!) but I'm willing to over look this here because it's such a great product and besides it does come in a stick form too (need to buy!). 

Have you tried Nuxe Rêve de Miel ? Love it? Hate it? 

Places in Tokyo//:Rikugien garden

Having lived most of my childhood climbing trees and buildings dens, one of the things I find most difficult about living in Tokyo is the lack of greenery.

Sure it is kind of expected so I can't really complain. Tokyo is very tightly packed with buildings as are some of the smaller cities I've seen here too, but it still makes me a little sad.

Especially after wondering around Cambridge and London while I was home for Christmas. It was lovely to just see random trees in places. Don't get me wrong you do find that here but I feel you have to look a lot harder than, say London.

Anyway back to my point. 

I've made it my mission while in Japan to visit as many lovely gardens and parks as I can, and there are some very nice ones here.

This post is about Rikugien garden, which is near Komagome station and can be reached by the Yamamote line and the Namboku line.

I went here sometime during November, so I got to see some beautiful Autumn  ( nearly wrote fall!!) leaves. Even though there were quite a lot of people in the park that day, it was still a very peaceful time and we managed to wonder down some deserted paths.

~

More info here


What do you think of Rikugien garden? Do you have a favourite garden or park?

Tokyo//food: Devil Craft pizza and draft beer in Kanda

Devil Craft: Kanda Tokyo
http://en.devilcraft.jp

Large Chicago style( front) and small classic (back)

I like pizza. I like it a lot.

 Before I couldn't eat dairy, I used to eat it a lot. Now that I can no longer eat dairy I don't eat it very often :(.
Pizza in the uk is generally pretty good, I mean you're more likely to find good pizza than bad.
 Unfortunately the same can not be  said for Japan. :(
The occasionally  pizza I've had here, have mostly been crap bar the standard Pizza Hut/ dominos, which are  always the same everywhere just insanely expensive in Japan.  

Sooooo my post today is about pizza in Tokyo. Specifically Chicago style pizza. 

For a while a friend of mine talked of a place in Tokyo that served really good Chicago style pizza and Craft beers......interesting I thought (well apart from the beer.....i don't care about beer:O).

Finally I got the chance to go and I was not disappointed.



I can't really say I have had proper Chicago style pizza in a restaurant  before but I went to Devil Craft with people who had and they assured me it was pretty good.

 So Devil Craft in Kanda is in a  narrow building but inside it is very cosy and stylish. (no pictures I am afraid i forgot)

Taste? The pizzas were delicious.
 We order 2 large Chicago styles (Devil Daddy and ?)and 2 small classic style ( Bbq Chicken and Eden). The overall opinion was that the Chicago style ones we ordered were too tomato-y and the 2 classics we got were much better. In hindsight we wished that we had ordered  2 small chicagos and 2 large classics but oh well. Next time.

I also had a slice of pumpkin pie, which was a first for me. It was suprisingly delicious. ( Pumpkin pie isn't popular in the Uk) 

Price? Well when I think about how much pizza costs back in the UK, Devil Craft was VERRRRy expensive in comparison. Actually when I think about how much Pizza hut and Dominos cost in Japan and how big they are....it's still expensive but I would go back.

Large is 2,700 to 3,700 roughly small is 1,150 to 1,850. 

Drinks? It's styled as a pizza and craft beer place and they do surprisingly  have a lot of craft beers. In all honesty I don't really care much for beer but I do like the occasionally craft beer. Devil Craft Kanda has 15 beers( i think), the ones I tired I really enjoyed ,I only got half pints. Like i said I am not much of a beer drinker. The other alcohol they have are some wines and belgian beers.

Service? Can't really  complain there. Only things I can think of are...it felt like the food took a long time to come out(but that might have been because everyone was so hungry and I'm used to instant BAM food is done Japan)
Also  I didn't like having a set time frame to order. I'm unsure of it but at one point they told us we had half an hour left for ordering food. I guess if they do have some sort of policy like that in place its because they're quite popular.  Personally I like the option to louiter and order slowly and not feel like I'm being rushed out of the door.

Overall: I think I would visit here again, even though I am not a big fan of beer. I liked the pizza (and the pumpkin pie) and I liked the atmosphere. I'd recommend visiting it.

Pumpkin pie