So it's been a REALLY long time.

Remember me?! The one in the tissue paper dress? It feels like I have been gone for yonks, and, well, I have! 2 months! Ridiculous. I have been away with work and spending a bit of time with my family. You know when you just need to switch off for a while? Yeah.

So anyway, here we are at Christmas time. J and I put the tree up last Friday. Gifts are not yet wrapped, and not all are bought yet. It is warm and sunny and I want to go to the beach, but today I am working on getting my store back up and running. It's been too long!

I thought I would share some pictures of my life in the last few weeks - fresh berries (note mulberry stained hands!) from my aunt's orchard; cute new puppies; and our Christmas tree.


Did you notice my red shoes? They're nice aren't they? I bought them in Melbourne. Love!

I miss Japan and want to go back.

All pictures of Kanazawa, March 2010.

The proposal

In the next few weeks I will be sharing with you some details of my engagement - the ring and plans for the party, and also some thoughts about decorations and ideas for my wedding (still a while off yet, but you can't help thinking about things).

So, before I barrage you all with the minutiae of ribbon widths and seasonal winter flowers, I thought I would share with you the day it all happened. The Proposal.


We spent the day on hired bikes, whizzing our way around Kyoto. By the time we got around to eating our picnic lunch, it was nearly three in the afternoon, so we stopped at 7-11 and bought a bottle of champagne to have with our food. The idea was to partake in the cherry blossom festivities by camping out under a tree and basically staying there til the evening.

The tree we picked

Looking up

Our picnic food

After we had eaten, we were relaxing in the sun, enjoying the peaceful park and the falling cherry blossoms, and that's when Jon proposed. Lovely :)

Thinking food. And: the food heaven that is Japan

Me drinking hot corn soup out of a vending machine

This week, we will be home most nights so I have been flicking through some new recipes to try. Cookbooks, newspaper cuttings and handwritten gems from friends are all getting a glance, as are photocopies from magazines, vaguely scribbled notes from relatives houses, and websites. This week, we will be trying:
Cream tacos with rice and beans a Mexican staple involving long peppers, corn, and cream filled corn tortillas, with tomato rice and refried beans. Jon's nanna taught him the recipe.

Tuna steak with fresh salsa and lemon potatoes this much recommended recipe was lovingly typed by our friends in London, and was stuck to our fridge there for the whole 2 years we lived there - and we never tried it. I found the paper in my folder of random recipes and felt ashamed. So this week it will be attempted!

Chicken with roasted cherry tomato and basil sauce is photocopied from a little free cookbook that came with a magazine. My mum had it sitting on her kitchen bench at home. I will serve it with mash.
That will be the extent of my adventures into cooking this week. What inspired me was looking through the photos of all the amazing food we ate in Japan. So fresh, the flavours so delicate and everything presented with stunning attention to detail.

A bento lunch box for a train journey. Onigiri (rice balls), pickles, katsu (breaded items - pork, prawn, chicken), hardboiled egg, potato salad, orange, and spinach.

An outrageous amount of cabbage, bacon and eggs at a festival stall.

Kaiseki - a very posh traditional Japanese meal, like a degustation. This was dish 1 of 9.

The picnic we ate about 10 minutes before Jon proposed to me under the cherry trees. Note bottle of spumante.

First course of a typical evening meal at a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn). Vegetables, beans, fresh baby squid.

Tempura soba. The broth was the highlight of these dishes - rich and flavoursome.

Ramen, one of the best things about Japan. This was our first time ordering and we overdid it with the added extras (leeks, greens, bamboo shoots)!

The freshest sushi in the world, at Tsukiji fish market at 6am.

The cakes are a whole different story. Perfection.

Cuteness overload

If there is one thing I was expecting in Japan that really didn't let me down, it was the cute factor. Everyone from kids to adults love the cute little characters that seem to represent everything from noodles to cars and toothpaste. The train has a cute little penguin, castles had little cute ninjas, towns famous for oranges had made a character out of the fruit.

As well as the characters, the obsession with all things mini and perfect seems to be quite prevalent too. Mini plastic cakes, tiny shinkansen trains, food served in miniature perfect forms - it all adds up to the cuteness factor.

My personal cute favourite, Rilakkuma the bear (above, eating a chocolate sundae), is a very popular character and seemed to be somehow present everywhere you looked. He was to be found as a soft toy, on pancakes, pencils, crockery, and umbrellas. He really has infiltrated every walk of Japanese life. But he was so cute... and hard to resist!

Cute ninjas outside Matsuyama castle

Rilakkuma comes home with us - rescued out of a skill tester machine!

Arrangements like these were dotted around lots of side streets. Always a joy to discover!

Can you believe this shop!? I suppose it goes without saying that I bought some gorgeous fabric here - but the shop itself did not have one surface that wasn't pink.


I couldn't resist this Rilakkuma bear noodle bowl and soy sauce dish - aren't they super cute? In the background is a lunch box carrier - so sweet! and handy! Thanks Japan, your cute overload worked on me!

Updates

I'm back!
Japan was AMAZING. I could make a post every day for a year about all the different aspects of the country and I still couldn't cover it. It was just the most vibrant, crazy, traditional, polite, and beautiful place.

Also, I have some Big News. While we were in Kyoto Jon asked me to marry him. I am now engaged :) More about the engagement later, and I'm sure this blog will be something of a wedding planner eventually, as I share my DIY details with you - and I do plan to DIY a lot!
In the meantime, I thought I would share some moments from our trip.

First stop, Tokyo - what a city. We spent 7 days of pounding the pavements, eating some outstanding food, seeing crazy sights and buying some lovely souvenirs.

Top photo - a rainy day at Shibuya crossing. This is one of the busiest shopping districts of the world. Japan has a massive umbrella obsession - ladies have fancy ones to match their outfits, and no-one is seen without an umbrella. So when the neon, the rain, and lots of people combine, it makes for quite a sight.


Dinner one night at a tiny tiny bar in Shinjuku serving yakitori (food grilled on sticks). The menu was a challenge - pointing and some drawing skills came in handy. We now call this "The Bladerunner night" as it felt like we were in the movie. Tiny dingy alley, rain, smoke, neon. Great atmosphere.


The first sign of sakura - cherry blossom - in Naka Meguro, a suburb full of great quirky craft and design shops and little cafes.

We arrived at 8pm on the first night. Ditched our bags and practically ran out into the street of neon and excitement. This was the first photo I took of Tokyo. Pretty great first impression huh!

Just a bit excited

I thought I would share with you some of the great books, zines and resources I have used in the planning of our forthcoming trip to Japan. Some I have had for ages, and have been a long-time inspiration; others have been ordered recently through reading other blogs and talking to people. Yes, it might look a little excessive - but I believe part of the fun is in the planning, and I have really enjoyed poring over this wealth of information and discovering little known and secret places that will form part of our adventures.


1. Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Ferguson
This book was given to Jon years ago by a good work friend of his. We have both read it several times. It is an account of a Canadian guy's journey from the very southernmost to the very northernmost points of Japan during the cherryblossom season - all done by hitchhiking. The tales of small, off-the-beaten-track towns, people who drive him all over the countryside, and the predicaments his gets himself into are both touching and hilarious. And at the same time, he reviews places really well. Several of his highlights have made their way into our trip.

2. Our Japan notebook/planner
This notebook is full of our scribblings of possible places we want to see, maps, train journeys, accommodation, and random bits of information.

3. Little Tokyo Shops zine by Angela of signsaysopen
This little zine was pointed out to me by the lovely RubyJo. It is a guide of hancrafted and local shops in Tokyo, specialising in fabrics, crafts and homewares, with the odd cafe thrown in for sustenance. I printed mine out so I can take it with me, and hope to find some of these treasures in Tokyo whilst I am there.

4. A Year In Japan by Kate Williamson
I recently bought this book after doing a search for interesting books about Japan. It is filled with the most gorgeous watercolour paintings of the minutiae of Japan, accompanied with little essays about her experiences whilst she lived there. It has convinced my to see several things, like the Saiho-ji moss garden in Kyoto, even though I need to send a written application to visit!

5. Mini Address Book
I bought this about 2 years ago, and covered it with some washi (Japanese paper) that I bought in Melbourne. The idea was to write down any interesting tid-bits that I found in newspapers, library books, and recommendations passed on from friends. Back then, all I knew was that one day I would go to Japan - at the time, I didn't have the savings or the opportunity. But now, I have been able to read over it and remember little restaurants and shops that I have noted, and will try to visit them.

6. Pocket World Atlas
This atlas has traveled the world with me, and I have used it for reference whilst planning this trip.

7. Tokyo Superguide
I just downloaded and printed this awesome guide this week. Jon found it here whilst searching for good Japan blogs. It is seriously great for the hardcore fashionista/designer/cool person in Tokyo - I was overwhelmed just reading about the breakdown of shopping areas and hidden gems. I also love the design of the booklet itself - it folds and staples into a proper book. Fab.

8. Rough Guide to Japan
I am not a huge fan of Lonely Planet. I have used the Rough Guide for China and for India and I found them really good. Nice maps, helpful and straightforward suggestions for itineraries, accommodation and eating, and lots of small and out of the way places covered too. It has been a constant reference and will go with us to help out!

As well as these physical things, I have also found these great online resources:

Tokyo Shopping Guide
Tokyo Foodie
Japan Guide

A new temptation

I may be light years behind everyone else, but I have just discovered the Book Depository. They have a massive range of books, ridiculously cheap prices and free postage to anywhere in the world. You can't get much better than that! Today my first order arrived:


A Year In Japan by Kate T Williamson. It is the most gorgeous book - a travelogue, with small handwritten essays and lovely watercolour paintings of the little details of Japan and everyday life there. It makes me so excited about my upcoming trip - and that reminds me, I need to stay away from websites like the Book Depository.

WHERE have I BEEN all this time?!

Indeed you may ask. I apologise for my lengthy absence! I have been in South Gippsland, the very southern part of Victoria. It's where my Dad's side of the family are from. Just before Christmas, as some of you will know, my Dad had a stroke. He's on the mend now, but my family's plans of going down for a holiday were thrown into jeopardy when he was told he was not allowed to fly or drive. So I stepped in to share the driving with my Mum. I was so glad of the opportunity to go, spend some time with my parents, my aunt, and my brother, and really soak up the countryside.

You know you're in the country when you have to stop to let the cows across the road!

Trying my hand at hunting for strawberries




We built our own BBQ! Yum!

Living in a van

...on our holiday, our little van was a fun was to live in. A cooker, little fridge, sink, table and chairs and a bed. All you need, really (as long as you stop for a shower and toilet break).

It makes you realise how little you need to be comfortable. Two saucepans and a few plates, a box of dominoes and some fresh fruit and veg, and voila! Gourmet travelling.

Christmas Decos from Around the World

One of the nicest things about coming home from our holiday was opening the door and seeing our Christmas tree quietly waiting for us. I love putting it up every year and I thought I would share with you some of the special decorations I have bought on my travels around the place.

This lovely lady is a handcrafted wooden piece from Nuremberg, Germany. When Jon found out about my love of Christmas decorations, he bought me this whilst he was there watching the World Cup in 2006.

Then we have this jolly Santa. He is from a huge Paperchase store on Oxford St in London.

This sweet star is all the way from Xian, China. I think it is the cheapest decoration I have ever bought at approximately 25c.

A little nativity scene from La Paz, Bolivia.

The Virgin of Guadalupe, a painted tin decoration from Oaxaca, Mexico.

As you might guess, my tree is a bit of a mish-mash - but a very loveable one!