Elizabeth Tasker

The night light in its box. Called “nekolight” (cat light), it’s a round lamp with black cat ears and a black tail that is used as a hook.

My hand holding the nightlight showing that the hook-tail can just be pulled off and positioned anywhere on the lamp back.

The lamp hanging from the top of a bookcase.

And this week’s cute late night purchase is… a nightlight with cat ears 😸The tail is magnetically attached so you can hang it at different angles!

a man drinking a cup of coffee with the words " yeah there 's something wrong with that " above him Alt: a man drinking a cup of coffee with the words " yeah there's something wrong with that " above him

I tethered my phone for internet for a couple of days after I moved, and blazed through my entire data plan. It transpired to be waaay cheaper to use an eSIM for extra the extra data for a month rather than top up my regular plan 🧐

A pink jelly (collagen) bear sits upright in a dish of hot water.

The bear is starting to melt and its bottom disappears into the water.

The bear has face planted into his onsen destiny.

Annnnnd meat and vegetables have been mysteriously added.

This was the special sakura bear which fulfilled its destiny to become a hot spring. With a garnish of beef, cabbage, and tofu…

Webinar poster, showing the main speakers: Elizabeth Tasker, Tomo Usui, Seiji Sugita, and Rui Tahara.

What are little asteroid grains made of? 🪨🔬 Find out in two hours (03/05 at 5pm JST) where Tomo Usui and I will discuss the science of the Hayabusa2 mission to asteroid Ryugu! 🛰️🔭🧪 Registration is free: www.trybooking.com/events/landi...

The story book accompanying your meal, where you are convinced the bear wanted to end it this way.

A little bear sits in a hot pot. Surrounding him are plates of vegetables and meat. Not suspecious at all little bear.

At Kumachan Onsen, the bear’s dream is to BECOME the hot spring.

And you help him achieve this.

Set him afloat in boiling broth. As he lies down, pile on the cabbage, meat, and other… bath products… all while maintaining eye contact.

This is the most unhinged meal I have enjoyed in a while.

Bold detergent tablets with a sakura theme for cherry blossom time!

Also delightful 🌸

Two packets of Pokemon themed toilet paper and one packet of Snoopy themed kitchen roll.

Highly pleasing 😂

A toasted cheese sandwich with walnuts, four tasty little sides, and a mug of tea.

Drills in the walls,
Cats under beds,
I fled to #Nokucheese
For toastie salvation instead.

After 48 hours, one deeply suspicious text I absolutely assumed was phishing, and the implication that in the last 40+ years of existence, no one in this building complex had ever received a parcel… Amazon has successfully located my new address.

Upon moving, it’s tradition in Japan to give gifts to your neighbours.

I experimentally knocked on my neighbour’s door to receive a flurry of Japanese via the intercom. I apologised, said something about “neighbour”, and she did appear, but perhaps haven’t been fully up yet.

So. That went well 😅

Noted!! Thanks 🙂

Today was the last day I felt I could wing it without a full shower, so that would have been perfect if the gas man didn’t appear! I was pondering options earlier, and forgot about the Miyamaedaira onsen.

With every surface (including the stove) buried under boxes, I didn’t bother connecting the gas.

Reader, the gas also does the hot water.

Three days of moving, cleaning and toilet seat engineering later… I’ve just had a shower.

My apologies to the entire neighbourhood.

There are two wolves inside you. One will only eat while in your arms, and the other will not move an inch until you have exited the premises for at least an hour.

That’s actually two cats. And they’re inside my apartment.

It’s the same—that’s a standard size for the toilet room in Japan 🙂

A calico cat has her face stuffed in a mug.

We’re apparently sharing a water 🧐

Cats have gone on hunger strike. (Neither takes change well.)

#CasperCat is refusing to move from the drawer under the bed. I crawled on my belly and put two plates of food in the drawer with him 🤦🏼‍♀️

#NorahNeko has been convinced to try food… if it’s served next to mine & she eats it with her paw 🧐

A toilet seat in a plastic bag resting against a building, ready to be picked up and carried.

And now I am carrying a toilet seat through the streets of Tokyo at dusk. Looking damn casual.

Took a quick detour to mail back the old apartment router.

The shop dude had questions. He fought them bravely.

A toilet with a built in sink that runs into the tank sits with a regular toilet seat fitted. The water is running properly from the tap into the tank. The floor looks wet from the previous time when that didn’t happen.

AND YOU SAID THIS COULDN’T BE DONE!

OK, one person said that.

It was me.

But! We’ve now survived two flushes without needing an arc.

Thank you! I found a similar video which was incredibly helpful.

a cartoon of winnie the pooh sitting on a tree branch Alt: a cartoon of winnie the pooh sitting on a tree branch watching the rising water below him.

Oops. Caused a flood.

RUN AWAY!

Or maybe turn water back off.

To reset my old apartment to Level 1, the property office insists the fancy washlet toilet seat be removed.

After failing to recruit the movers, I’ve concluded my degrees in theoretical physics and astrophysics have fully prepared me for this mission.

I am purchasing… a spanner.

A calico cat is somehow walking along the tops of the hangers in a closet.

Pro: no longer hiding in bathroom.
Con: unlikely to end better.

#NorahNeko

Despite being trivial, I paid the movers a small fee to install my washing machine.

Turns out my new bathroom doesn’t fit my old washer.

Guy installed new parts on the spot for cash—which anywhere else I’d suspect a scam, but in Japan just made me grateful I’d been sufficiently lazy to outsource!

I am now in an apartment full of boxes!

#NorahNeko has decided she lives under the seat in the bathroom. #CasperCat has refused to leave his carrier.

I have been unable to find a teaspoon 🧐

A pile of moving boxes with a picture of a panda on them is stacked in the apartment.

Was I ready for the movers to arrive? Absolutely not. Are we ploughing ahead, and packing a box filled with old bills because I didn’t get round to stuffing in the shedder. Yes.

A stack of white mesh panels on the balcony.

17 million cut zip ties later…!

Metal mesh panels from the 100 yen shop and a lot of zip ties!

A day before my move, and I can’t put this off any longer. The catio—which is 83.78% zip ties—must be deconstructed 🗡️

😆