Archive for October 2007
While it’s true that many of us who live outside Japan love Japanese crafts and stuff, the Japanese themselves are very much in favor of zakka from overseas, particularly France!
Life-styles With French Goods [フレンチ雑貨と暮らしたい] is by Akemi Matsudo [マツドアケミ/松戸明美], the founder of Zakka + and this is her shopping guide around Paris for great French zakka.
Here are some absorbing pages:
French zakka wouldn’t be complete without Alain Gree, an author and illustrator of detective novels and numerous well-loved vintage children’s books (many of which are out-of-print). It was after seeing this that I ordered online a set of postcards with his original illustrations which I’ll show you the next time.
Akemi also shares a few easy craft ideas for metro/museum tickets, paper-box packages and etc.
My family and I went to a buffet in this hotel. Not a huge spread considering the price. But so far this place is the only one I’ve been to that serves beets at the salad bar and rum + raisin ice-cream. The beets were good and so was the ice-cream.
The decorative titles in the middle of the table served as an attractive centrepiece.
The magnificent gothic monastery, Westminster Abbey, which belongs to the royal family.
Picture taken on: 19 April 1992
The 12-day ‘European Whirl’ tour started with Paris and this was one of the spots for picture-taking. Why did I include the red/white warning tape into this photo? Hmm…
Picture taken on: 22 April 1992
Longest stay in London
Harrods just across the street and that’s aunty Audrey chatting with my cousin. We prolonged our stay in London after the tour ended. We had to. More family time, sight-seeing and shopping.
Picture taken on: 6 May 1992
A quick snap at the gate. This being one of the few ‘unhurt’ photos after having rewinded (unknowingly) a roll of film and piled new shots onto those previously taken, resulting in over-lapping images.
Picture taken on: 19 April 1992
First trip to Europe
Mum, cousins and me were there to visit aunty Audrey who was living in London at that time, plus we were there to join a tour to Europe. The flight to London was most memorable (aka suffocating) because we were seated in the smoking section! Yah, those days when smoking was allowed on air!
London was the meeting place for everyone joining Trafalgar’s ‘European Whirl’ tour. Our first stop, Paris!
What you see is what you must find.
Xiao bai cai (aka celery mustard/chinese chard), a relative of bak choy.
Full blooms are right at the end of the stem and leaves…they resemble trees.
Now,
the garden is in hot (miso) soup. For tonight’s dinner.
Late Sunday afternoon was a good time to replenish a few knotting necessities. Took less than 10 minutes to buy cotton cords, then it was a drive to a button shop.
This is the same shop that mom used to bring me to as a kid whenever she needed buttons for her custom-made dresses. The shop owner is a very nice and honest lady. If only all shop owners were like her. She sells buttons from Japan only and she told me that some Japanese had bought her buttons to bring back with them to Japan.
I had in mind which part of the shop to browse and since there were mostly familiar designs, I picked one that I have had but of a different colour. When I was ready to pay for the set of 6, a side glance revealed a 25-member strong button family displayed on a cardboard and they look like the perfect candidates for the bloom knots! Lifting up that card, revealed another good card! Happily I put back the 6 and got this lot (except for the stripes which were from another shop nearby).
With hundreds of buttons in that little store, it’s nice to have some pop right in front of you when you least expect, even though I’ve been there countless times. Another big reason why yesterday’s button harvest was a good one is that all have holes big enough for cords.
I didn’t buy everyone in each family, that’s reserved for another round. Happy family will have to wait.
A view from La Samaritaine’s rooftop cafe. Wish this image was sharper on our Samsung 145S.
Picture taken on: 16 October 1998
Thyroid
This one is ready to be mailed to a dear friend whose birthday is next week, who has recently been very stressed and whose thyroid isn’t taking it well.
Last night, we were out for a meal with my family at the Plaza Market Café in Raffles City, where we were treated to a nonya buffet spread. While we were chatting about the past, the topic on thyroid was brought up when my aunt shared what my mother had to endure when her thyroid problems acted up after the birth of my elder sis. That was news to some of us. My mother had never told us the full details.
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