Exoplanets, Embassies and fig tempura

Matt's astrophysicist friend released a book about exoplanets and we got to attend a fancy launch party at the British Embassy in Tokyo. Wooh!

Despite being from good old Blighty, it was actually my first time there. Because of this, I got a little over-excited and decided to wear a blue dress with red shoes and union jack socks. Here is my only proof:

I'm a fancy grown up

The author of the book; delightful British lady working for JAXA, Elizabeth Tasker, gave a short presentation that included an introduction to herself and her book, reading an extract from it out-loud.

Elizabeth Tasker reading an extract from her book "The Planet Factory"

Elizabeth is charming, funny and relatable. Her strong passion for space, planets, and all that in between is infectious, and watching her talk about her work is enough to pique the interest of even the least science-savvy (AKA me). 

I look forward to reading “The Planet Factory”, which has been published by Bloomsbury – known for publishing Harry Potter, but as Elizabeth claimed, “soon to be better known for publishing me”. Fingers crossed.

We took home a signed copy, and after Matt is done with it, I shall have my turn. I look forward to reading what Elizabeth publishes in the coming years (possible follow-up book on moon formation apparently?), and in the meantime will be checking out her blog.

After the presentation, we drank wine and mingled with Elizabeth’s other die-hard fans. On the way out we bumped into a woman walking a Norwich terrier dog and now we’re convinced we want to get one (SO CUTE).

We walked up to Ochanomizu and went to a cheap tempura restaurant. Alongside my ebi-yasai tempura don, I ordered the seasonal special: fig tempura. I was so curious I had to. The first bite was amazing, but after that the tempura coating fell off, and then I was just faced with eating a hot fig. Yum? Maybe? Still not sure.

Fig Tempura. Curious to try?

As the nearest Docomo electric bike port was empty, Matt took our road bike and I took the train home. We raced used Facebook messenger live location (such an awesome feature, I can’t even).

To celebrate getting home first, and to rub it in my face, I opened the front door to Matt stripped down to his gudatama-themed boxers doing a victory dance. It was a pleasant evening all-round.

In celebration of going to the British Embassy, The Rolling Stones (coz they're British, got it yeah?):