Lines and Shapes in Kyoto.

Lines and Shapes in Kyoto.

Tuesday, 29 June 2010

This will be the last post on Kyoto (finally). Random but nicely connected shots of lines and shapes of Kyoto. This city kept me so busy with my camera everywhere. It was wonderful. The best shopping I did in Kyoto this time was the copper tea caddy (chazutsu) from the oldest chazutsu maker in Japan called Kaikado. Beautiful chazutsu I had always wanted to own one day, was brought home from their head shop and I am so pleased! I will be enjoying the changes this lovely chazutsu will create after many months and years :)

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INODA COFFEE イノダコーヒー本店 (Kyoto)

INODA COFFEE イノダコーヒー本店 (Kyoto)

Thursday, 24 June 2010

INODA COFFEE is one of the oldest and the most famous coffee chains based in Kyoto. And I went to their head store for a morning coffee. Going into the machiya-style Showa-ish cafe, non-smokers are taken to the smaller building at the back of the main building walking through the lovely courtyard. I really loved all what was there, the cute red coffee pot logo, the coffee cup, the very polite waitress who looked as if time travelled from 50 years ago, the air and the light and...everything. It was quite relaxing just being there, I wished there was a coffee shop like that near my house so I could visit every morning before starting work. But then I realised that I was there having coffee at 8:30 in the morning because I was on a mini holiday having so little time to spend in Kyoto, and if this was in Tokyo I would not be able to do that anyway. Ha!

INODA COFFEE HONTEN (MAIN STORE)
140 Doyu-cho, Sakaimachi Dori Sanjo Kudaru (google map)
Open: 7：00 - 20：00


P.S. Do you know that HELLO SANDWICH now lives in Tokyo? Yes she does!!! Check out what she did on her first day in Tokyo as a Tokyo resident!!

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Kurumi no ki - Nara

Kurumi no ki - Nara

Wednesday, 2 June 2010

I took a VERY quick trip to Nara and Kyoto last week, it was so rushed that I could visit only very few places. Kuruminoki is a lovely little shop & cafe that is set in sweet little cottage like buildings. Although it is not so conveniently located - a bit out from the central Nara area, it's been there since they opened it 25 years ago when all these now-very-popular natural style cafes and zakka shops weren't even seen in Tokyo. Kuruminoki had been on my list of places I want to go to for some years and I finally made it and.... I instantly LOVED it, the shop, cafe, the gardens, the whole atmosphere were just perfect!

I had a beautiful lunch in there, though I had to wait for over an hour to be seated. I know it's crazy but I had no choice other than to wait coming all the way from Tokyo for it. But actually, I could spend hours there sitting at the bench reading a book, it's just so nice being there! I don't know why there is no place like that close to me really. I will definitely go visit there again when I go to Nara next time. If you have some extra time in Nara, please do try going there.

Kuruminoki
567-1 Horen-cho Nara City (google map)
You can take a bus #13 from Nara station and get off at "Kyoiku-dai Fuzoku Chugakko", Kuruminoki is right near the railroad crossing.

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Yokohama (from late September, yes very late.)

Yokohama (from late September, yes very late.)

Thursday, 12 November 2009

Obviously I haven't been taking photos so much lately, I finally got the two films developed which had been staying in my two cameras for a while. And these are from Yokohama when I went there with Stephanie on a very nice hot day in late September. I remember sitting in the sun at the top of osanbashi terminal drinking beer and chating with her like it was only a few weeks back. But the season has changed and now it's almost winter, time flies don't they.

Anyway, Yokohama Minato-mirai is a waterfront city that is only about half an hour on the express train (Toyoko Line) from Shibuya and is a very nice place to spend a day exploring around. The contrast between the futuristic skyscraper of Minato-mirai and the Yamashita/Chinatown area oposite from it is quite interesting. My favourite way to explore is to start from Minato-mirai Station and walk around towards Akarenga-soko (Red Brick Warehouse), to the osanbashi terminal, walk through the Yamashita Park and head to the Yokoham Chinatown which is said to be the biggest Chinatown in Asia and one of the biggest in the world. The night view of Yokohama minato-mirai is spectacular when it's all lit up, so stay till it gets dark!

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Weekend in Tohoku.

Weekend in Tohoku.

Monday, 31 August 2009

I spent a weekend in Tohoku - the northeastern region of Japan. The biggest attraction of this trip for me was my 6-year-old neice who lives in Sendai, spending the whole weekend with her was really wonderful :)

We also went up to Yamagata prefecuture, only one hour drive from Sendai and visited a place called Yamadera which literally means "Mountain Temple" and is famous for the "Narrow Road to the Deep North" (Oku-no-hosomichi 奥の細道) where a haiku poet Matsuo Basho stopped by and penned famed haiku poem. The "Narrow Road" leads up to the top of the mountain with a hard climing of over 1000 steps, and another 1000 down to come back which nearly killed me but the view along the way especially from the top was really rewarding. And "onsen" (hot spring) afterwards was also devine!
Back in Tokyo it's heavily raining and rather chilly (typhoon is approaching), seems like this summer is ending so much faster. But I will be going to Taiwan and Vietnam in a couple of days, back to a really hot weather! All the yummy foods are waiting for me and I'm very excited. yay!

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Fading Memories of Kanazawa

Fading Memories of Kanazawa

Wednesday, 8 July 2009

I had more photos from Kanazawa in the roll of film I just had developed so here they are.

The bottom four photos are taken at a lovely little shop/cafe called Collabon which is run by two local artists. There are some shops like it in Kanazawa but this one had the most welcome atmosphere of all. I had a cute company too ;)

I can't stop thinking about the wooden tray in the last photo which was seen at another shop in Kanazawa. I will try if I can get it somehow.


I bought 2 types of really cute japanese vintage papers at this shop. I thought they are made locally, but were actually from Yonagado 夜長堂 from Osaka. Their beautiful papers are also sold at keibunsha.
Collabon
1-4 Yasue-cho Kanazawa-Shi
Ishikawa Prefecture 920-0854
PH: 076-265-6273
11:00 - 20:00 / Closed on Tuesdays

Comments: 9

City guide to Kamakura : Komachi Area

City guide to Kamakura : Komachi Area

Friday, 3 July 2009

My favourite osusume shops around Kamakura Station:

01. cafe vivement dimanche - very famous cafe that is said to be where today's japanese cafe culture started. good coffee and brazilian music. just off Komachi street. 2-1-5 Komachi Kamakura-shi

02. claro - a small record shop specialising in Brazilian music run by (and is next to) cafe vivement dimanche.

03. Kosuzu - the best soba noodle restaurant in Kamakura! 2-13-4 Komachi Kamakura-shi

04. Toshimaya - "hato sable" (pigeon shaped biscuit) shop that has 200 years of history in Kamakura. You can get "hato sable" in many places around tokyo but "hato sable zakka" is only available at this main shop! Unfortunately the day went it was closed... but you can check out the "hato sable zakka" at 8tokyo.com. 2-11-9 Komachi Kamakura-shi

05. Kamakura farmers market - good place to visit ealier in the day. Little soufle shop inside the market is VERY GOOD! 1-3-10 Komachi Kamakura-shi

06, 07. Milk Hall - an old cafe and antique shop. great "taisho" atmosphere. 2-3-8 Komachi Kamakura

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Trip to Kanazawa #04: Shin-tatemachi Area 新竪町商店街

Trip to Kanazawa #04: Shin-tatemachi Area　新竪町商店街

Monday, 29 June 2009

Ten to fifteen minuite walk from the 21st Centrury Museum, you find Shin-tatemachi shopping street 新竪町商店街. The street goes only for about 200 meters and it looks pretty deserted, but if you see carefully you find some interesting shops selling antiques and japanese homeware zakka made by local artists here and there along the way. Many of the buildings seen here are the traditional machiya (town house) style and throughout the street there is a really nostalgic feel to it. I wouldn't say it's a must-see place, but if you have some extra time it could be interesting to wonder around.

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