Hakone – Puma Swede Blog

January 3, 2025November 20, 2025

Happy New Year

This post took longer to write than I expected. It was supposed to be ready on New Years Eve, but I got sidetracked hahhaaa… But here is a little recap of 2024 🙂

Overall it was a great year with travel, moving, and feels like I got a good dose of adventure and experiences…

In January I went to Tepoztlán with some friends. It’s a small town about an hour from Mexico City. I love that place and they believe aliens made a visit there at some point. Never spotted any even though I wanted to 🙁

In February I visited La Paz which is the capital of Baja California Sur. A cute town and best part was snorkeling with whale sharks. And my giant Margarita 🙂

Also got to go to the big yearly art show Zonamaco in Mexico City with my Swedish friend Sanna. I love art shows…

Apparently I became a carrothead too. Not a huge success if I look back at it hahhaaaa….

Changed back to blond pretty fast 🙂

In March I found a photography school and started taking lessons. So much fun and it’s rewarding practicing a semi new skill 🙂

Traveled to Japan for a wedding. I met Nick & Annie when living in Puerto Rico. It was one of the fanciest weddings I’ve been to 🙂

Stayed after the wedding in Japan visiting Kyoto and Hakone. Too crowded in Kyoto for my liking, but I can see the charm if you would visit when there are less tourists…

Really enjoyed Hakone. The hot spring spa and nature there…

I also booked a room at a love hotel in Tokyo and did a shoot, had some of the best sushi, a fun night at the Muscle girl bar and visited a pig cafe 🙂

One of the highlights this year was going back to Mycelia Retreat in Jamaica. Invited my writer/journalist friend Cyril from Sweden. It was my most powerful mushroom trip to this day and I went through every kind of emotion, but what a reset! I hope to revisit 2025…

In June I decided 3 years in Mexico was amazing but it’s time to go back to the US. Having a bit of a hoarder mentality it took some time to get rid of almost everything and it was hard to say goodbye to friends… Also spent the last 2 nights sleeping on the floor since I got rid of all the furniture hahahahaa… But I see a visit back in 2025 to visit them all again 🙂

Hunter got prepped with his papers and practiced going outside in his carrier and then his flight carrier. He was such a champ handling the whole trip from Mexico to Utah!

July was spent in Utah. I missed the nature and clean air while in Mexico so took full advantage of Utah…

Utah is where I first encountered pickleball and now I’m hooked!

Flew to Vegas and got my hands full with Tyler Faith. Maybe that’s when the idea of living in Vegas was born?

Also flew to Sweden for my yearly hike with my sister. Longest hike we’ve done so far, 7 days, 6 nights AND we made it up Kebnekaise. Definitely top 3 of 2024!!!

2 of my best friends had their 50th birthdays too which got celebrated!

In August I packed the car and moved to Vegas…

September was spent exploring what Vegas has to offer. Reunited with friends from back in the day, found great hikes, celebrated my birthday and a gym with pickleball! I’m loving it here and Hunter is very happy too as long as the neighbors cat Ocean keeps a paws distance 🙂

Finished off October with Halloween…

In November I had a looooot of shoots with fun people 🙂 Even made it out to LA, Nelson’s Ghost Town twice and got taped for the first time which was really cool…

Tried new hikes. Happy I have friends who enjoy hiking as much as I do 🙂

My sister came to visit and we did Vegas and LA. I love that I’m so close to my extended family and wifey Sandy now that I love in Vegas 🙂

And Masha from Russia paid a short visit too. Met her when I lived in Puerto Rico 🙂

Finally December and there was some christmas prepping to be done as yo can see in the previous posts so I’m not going to bore you with those pics again 🙂 My holidays were great. I got some relaxation in, I guess I’ve been pretty good since I got a lot of presents hehheeee… Hunter got presents too obviously and he is spoiled year around whether he behaves or. not hahhaaaa…

Everyone here recommended the show ‘Absinthe’ and I finally got to see it. Wow, it was so good! Funny, incredible acts and now I’m looking into taking lessons in roller skating because this couple looked so cool doing their act with roller skates. It was so fast paced and that they manages to stay on stage without just impressed the shit out of me! If you get the chance, see the show!

Did a mushroom trip and it was great 🙂

Didn’t have any plans for New Years Eve other than wanting some outdoor access. Went hiking with Angel and it was an easy hike and I always feel so good after being in nature!

Ordered lobster & crab nachos for dinner and watched the movie Small Engine Repair. It was pretty good 🙂

How were your Holidays? Any goals/plans for 2025? I’ still figuring mine out and fine tuning them. But some things I’ve been thinking about and on my bucket list are:

-visit Vietnam and Iceland

-try a new experience every month, like rollerblading, shows in Vegas, rage room, grow shrooms, race car driving, new recipes and the list goes on.

-having eyelid surgery

-yearly hike with my sister

-add more mindfulness into my life like yoga and meditation… So far I’ve done short meditations every day, but it’s haaaaard with my brain being all over the place hahhaaaa…

I’ll probably be adding to the list, but this is some of it 🙂

I hope your year has been off to a fabulous start! I’m off to LA next week for work and see to see my wifey Sandy 🙂

Hugs & kisses, Puma

April 8, 2024November 20, 2025

Japan Part 2

It’s good to be back, but damn, the jet lag is rough! Been to the gym twice and it feels like it’s the first time ever hahahah… Note to self: don’t skip the gym on holidays! Good to have Hunter jet lag with me, and he likes the Japanese cat treats I bought him 🙂

Anyways, here comes the rest of my Japan trip. Before heading to Kyoto I had breakfast with some people still left in town from the wedding. Not your usual eggs & bacon…

Then jumped on the bullet train that took a little bit more than 2h straight to Kyoto. Not a problem when you bring a few(?) snacks. The breakfast didn’t quite hit the spot.

Guess train rides build an appetite so I got a Wagyu burger for my dinner in Kyoto. Super tasty and it was nice to have something else besides sushi and yakiniku.

Strolled around after and checked out Nishiki Market at closing time. The market is packed with food stalls and other little stores.

Straight for coffee the next morning and starting with Goodman Roaster. Thumbs up!

Then walking in the rain and checking out what Kyoto has to offer. Everyone was on the look out for cherry blossoms. Wherever they were there were always people taking pics. Why should I be any different 😉

Then more coffee and tried Okaffe Roasting Park. Here they don’t rush to make your coffee. It was almost like an art form and there was always some latte art in the milk. Another superb coffee spot!

After a nap I headed back to Nishiki Market to eat dinner. WOW, the amount of people! It came to a total stand-still at moments. Tried some different seafoods and it was amazing!

Finished off with some sake at the room 🙂 Iit’s party-o’clock somewhere in the world, right?

Headed to the famous Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine the next morning. I knew there would be people and I think half of Kyoto was there at 8am in the morning! Still a beautiful hike up and and lit a candle for family & friends who have passed at the top 🙂

And some things that caught my eye on the walk back…

All the fresh air, the climb, and heat made it necessary for a coffee stop and then a sugary waffle-thingy on top of that…

Walked by a place called Skål which means ‘cheers’ in Swedish. Nothing Swedish about the place. Had to go in and check to make sure. Looked like they had good food so I decided to try it. The portions were really small, and super good, so I ordered a 2nd plate. The guy that took my order and payment looked impressed 🙂

Also found Stumptown coffee at a beautiful outdoor mall, bought a new perfume after a lot of testing, impressed by the selection of kimchi and noodles at the grocery store, bought a seal-vibrator at a sex shop, ate more yakiniku saw more shrines… And bought this superb second hand kimono for $15.

I loved all the great coffee places in Kyoto. For me it was the wrong time to be there as I think it was too many tourists. It was hard to get a table at restaurants at night because everyone was fully booked. I see the charm with the small alleys and maybe I would’ve liked it more if I visited another time…

Decided to check out Hakone on the way back to Tokyo. Wow, this was my spot! This is right after getting off the train and going to my Airbnb.

I was so excited to get a bedroom with the Japanese style where you just unfold a mattress on top of these mats. I sleep better on hard surfaces so this was perfect for me. I had to google about this and supposedly it’s a better way of sleeping for your body and posture. Maybe my future bedroom 🙂

Hakone is famous for their onsens. They are bath houses with hot springs. After I checked in I went straight to one called Tenzan. Wow, it was so nice and I liked it since they had baths outdoors. You put your clothes in a locker. No swimwear needed or allowed. Then you wash yourself and visit the different pools and saunas. It was so relaxing and it only cost $10. No photos allowed from inside so got these from their website. There were more pools, but my favorite was sitting inside the cave 🙂

Starving afterwards and decided to grab food at the restaurant there. I saw there was raw horse meat on the menu and went for the safe bet ordering fish, shrimp and veggies. The shrimps were tiny little things with shell, head, and everything. The fish was tiny too, but good. Maybe not my best meal of the trip but I had some chips and cookies from 7-Eleven after hahahha…

Was supposed to head out and see The Hakone Open Air Museum the next day. While I was having coffee I discovered there were hikes in the area. Opted for a 3 hour hike instead and it was a really nice trail along Lake Ashi.

When finishing I went straight back to the same onsen as the day before. Perfect after a day out sitting in the hot water just relaxing…

I wish I would’ve had more days in Hakone. Smaller and more chill than Kyoto. Not as crowded and there were more things I would’ve wanted to check out. I would’ve done hot springs every day! One can always hope to visit again 🙂 Took the bullet train back to Tokyo while snacking on chocolate shroomies 🙂

Dropped my bags off at the hotel and headed straight to brunch with friends from the wedding… I think I visited the dessert table like 4 times 🙂

The next day I went to a micro pig cafe. They have so many different animal cafes in Tokyo with owls, hedgehogs, capybaras and snakes for example. I started wondering if Hunter would accept a micro pig as a buddy, but I think he’s happy being the only one getting attention so it’s a no 😉 But they were very cute…

A photographer wrote me on IG and asked if I wanted to shoot while in Japan. Why not? Got to put in a little bit of work while travelling 🙂 I wanted to shoot at a love hotel. Basically a hotel where couples can go and hang out, (and more), away from home as many live with their parents. They have them here in Mexico too. You book them per hour. So after cuddling with the piggies I met the photographer at Lapia Hotel and booked a room. You get free popcorn and can pick a costume to wear too. There are vending machines for lingerie and toys too. Very cool! It was a great shoot and the photographer was great. Here are a couple of behind the scenes pics and a couple of shots I put on IG. More coming 🙂

I had initially planned to go to a snake cafe after, but opted to join some friends at a Muscle Girl Bar instead. It is just what it sounds like, a bar with muscular girls. You get a protein shot when you came in and for about $30 USD you could drink as much as you wanted. The girls danced, poured shots in peoples mouths for tips, did pole tricks and pull-ups. There was a whole menu for what you could buy for tips, butt kicking, face slaps, being sandwich between 2 girls (only for girls though) etc… It was a fun experience and the girls were fun.

I was pretty beat and a bit drunk when I made it back to the hotel. Put on a face mask and my April fools joke was that I had adopted this bird I found. I actually found it while shopping for fun stuff for my shoot and thought this birdie would look good on my head 🙂

The last day in Tokyo was spent walking around and I bought some gifts. Walked by the famous Shibuya Crossing, the iconic intersection. Traffic is stopped in all directions where everyone can cross in all directions…

Coffee break and spotted some cherry blossoms…

I got an reservation at Sushi Nakamura for my last dinner in Tokyo. A friend who spends a lot of time in Tokyo and loves sushi recommended the place. It was Omikase style with sake pairing. It was definitely in the top 5 of food experiences in my life! The sushi melted in my mouth. Also the first time I tried uni, but not my favorite. There was so much food ands sake I rolled/wobbled out of there hahahaa…

Needed a boost of coffee before heading to the airport so I relented and made a cup of instant coffee, having to use the free toothbrushes the hotel offered to stir it with. Very classy…

Took the train to the airport and the flight home felt super fast since I slept most of the way 🙂

It was a great trip. I’m amazed how clean everything is. Even the public bathrooms are spotless! No smell, no paper on the floor or drops of whatever (most likely piss on the floor)… And I love the toilets that wash all your holes, fan that dries you and some even had music that you could play for privacy! Also something I’d like for my home! A picture of one of the toilets where the water was filling up from the top after flushing. Or was it for washing your hands? LOL

The train and subways was the same way. No litter or stained seats. People stand aside orderly when you exit and even if it’s crowded there’s no pushing. Maybe due to all the signs they have up…

There’s also no smoking on the streets. There are designated areas, street corners or smoke rooms at hotels and malls. There was a lady who used clothing rollers to clean up the entrance mat at the hotel…

Here comes the usual leftover pics…

Such a beautiful wedding and great to see friends I don’t get to see often. I loved Hakone and hope to explore more of Japan one day.

Hitting the gym in a bit and got Lesha coming over later to teach me some more Photoshop and Lightroom. Got a lighting class this week too and hope my sleep will be back to normal any day now!

Wish you a fantastic week!

XXX Puma

March 29, 2024November 20, 2025

Japan Part 1

Japan is very cool with a lot of differences compared to other countries. I’m rubbernecking, people watching, eating delicious food, walking and looki-looing, drinking, shopping and I feel like I would need a month here to have the time to and see do everything I want.

Let’s start from the beginning. The flight was on a Tuesday a week and a half ago at 00.50. In my head that meant Tuesday night, before becoming Wednesday morning. Luckily someone who understands time better than me pointed out that it actually means the night of Monday. I found this out 24 hours before my flight. No stress though, and Hunter and I enjoyed coffee & milk in bed before he did his best to help me pack…

The flight was delayed so I grabbed some wine while waiting…

It was perfect to take a red-eye flight, and I arrived at 7am the next morning. Super smooth to grab the bus right outside the terminal into the city. Just checked the bags at the hotel and headed out. Had a Verve Coffee right by the hotel. I used to drink Verve when living in California.

Checked out Cat Street and molested a competing Puma 😉

This was an awesome coffee place – Coffee Mameya. It was a high-end coffee shop that only offered pour overs from different roasters around the world. You got a chart, your barista talked about the different options, and then made you your coffee pour over style.

There was also some sushi and pancakes before a ‘yakiniku’ dinner at Kokokara. Soooo good. Kind of like Korean BBQ where you cook your own meat and pickled veggies.

The next day I had a local guy take me shopping. There is a lot of options here and so many secondhand stores for luxury items. I was mostly amazed they have my size in bras here so bought some.

I then headed out on my own to the Harajuku area and walked around. So much fun and and packed with people!

Another yakiniku dinner… I could eat this stuff every day. I love the small spots with just room for like 10 people. I’m getting hungry just writing this…

Started Friday with coffee from Streamer Coffee Company. They have this seasonal special called Sakura Latte (for the pink flowers called Sakura or cherry blossom) with some pink sprinkle on it and I could’ve had a liter of it!

Then finally met up with some friends and Annie, the bride to be, and catched-up over lunch. I look like a pink panther next to Annie who’s always dressed like a supermodel!

More coffee and walked through Yoyogi Park. I thought there would be cherry blossom everywhere, but only spotted a tree or two here and there. People said it has been too cold and wet so they are late. Someone actually wrote me on IG yesterday and said that they are supposed to start blooming NOW. They better hurry up because I only have a few days left hahahaa…

When walking I came across a store with a Finnish name – Hyvää Matkaa. It means ‘have a good trip’. Obviously I had to go in and check it out. They even sold ‘vihta’ which is the dried branches of a special tree that you soak up before hitting your back with it. The best part was the chocolates, and I couldn’t resist buying some and ate them in 3 minutes!

Fancy sushi tasting menu for dinner. Luckily they were showing pics on an iPad of what we were eating because it was all in Japanese.

On Saturday while running around town I suddenly hear someone yell Puma. It was Mar who I met at the psychedelic retreat in Mexico in November last year. So crazy, what are the odds!

At night it was the wedding rehearsal and I got to meet almost all of the other wedding guests who were from all over the world. Went to a bar after and I had some tasty Espresso Martinis…

Then finally the big day for Annie and Nick’s wedding! I found a makeup artist on Instagram and Hanna was great.

The wedding was amazing! Short ceremony, photos after, and then a delicious dinner! I could consider getting married in this style LOL… Naaah, won’t be walking down any aisles and making lifetime commitments anytime soon 🙂

The day after the wedding I took the bullet train to Kyoto. Love the efficiency here, no f*cking around. Train leaves and arrives on time. I will write another post about Kyoto. Now I’m in Hakone and this might be my favorite spot here so far. Well, I’ve only been here less than 24h so far, but the Onsen (hot spring baths) last night was the best and I plan to go back tonight 🙂 Tomorrow heading back to Tokyo and have a shoot planned, visit a mini pig cafe, and a snake cafe too!

Happy Easter by the way and wish you a fabulous weekend. 🙂

XXX Puma