Growing up, our only baby chair at home wasn’t high but it was low, bamboo-made and very sturdy. One side has a table with a slot as a seat. Flip it to the next side and it becomes a stool for grown-ups.

When I think of concrete, I’m only able to think of floors, walls and countertops, but if you were to step into Concrete Garden, you will be greeted with a beautiful scenery of life-like foliages cast entirely out of concrete. A mixture of concrete and sand was used to create this Rose of Sharon flower. Now that’s a gentler side of concrete.

There are things created not meant to be seen. How ironical but necessary.

There’s a flashlight on the side of the desk in our hotel room, which is located near the Ueno Station.

Nicholai-do (Holy Resurrection Cathedral) is of Byzantine architecture, built by a Russian missionary, St. Nicholai.

The Cocoon Tower (aka Mode Gauken Cocoon Tower) in Shinjuku houses design colleges and a medical school. The basement is a huge mega bookstore, Book 1st, with 900,000 books!

I wish this sign (top right) on the JR train will someday appear on our MRT trains…”Please set your mobile phone to silent mode and refrain from talking on the phone.”

The Aoyama Flower Market has all things pretty…pretty flower bouquets for sale, a prettily illustrated blackboard and its own pretty book too!

The cool AssistOn shop in Harajuku.

Some zakka buys: grater with ceramic cup, faux wood Dymo tape, leather cords, beads and books.

Random jots:

• Exchange rate from the money changer:
  SGD 1 = 60.98 Yen

• New Izu Hotel
  • A budget hotel near the Ueno Station. Very convenient to reach from the airport and vice versa. One straight train, no transfers required.
  • I booked the semi-double room which is essentially meant for 1 to 2 persons. At 8,000 Yen (about SGD 124 or USD 81) per night, it suits my budget. Hotel rooms are expensive in Tokyo, by the way. But I don’t recommended it if you have claustrophobia because the room and its en suite bathroom are both very very small.
  • The room, though cramp, has a desk, fridge, water pot, phone, clock/alarm/radio, TV, hangers, towel rack, shoe horn, mini shelf, hair dryer, flashlight, yukata and slippers. Shampoo and toothbrushes are also provided.
  • The heated toilet seat is nice and warm on a cold day.
  • Refundable deposit for LAN cable (500 Yen) and 2-pin plug (200 Yen).
  • There’s a convenience store beside it and another one nearby.
  • To get to the hotel from the train station requires climbing up and down the stairs of a bridge, but there is a Tokyo Metro subway exit which will eliminate all that exercise. At Ueno train station, go to the Tokyo Metro subway side and look for the “Tokyo Metro Pass Office”. Next to the office is a path leading to an elevator. Use that elevator to get to the ground level and walk as you would to the hotel as shown on the online map.
• Orange ring replacement gaskets for Luminarc/Borgonovo canning jars are sold at Tokyo Hands.
• The Kinkado is a neighbourly department store without the frills that is seen in posh mega stores. It has 2 buildings, each with a few levels. One building is packed with fabrics and sewing supplies while the other houses knitting, beads and other crafty supplies. You can find a collection of JR train buttons on the fabric side. It also sells cosmetics, accessories, clothing, etc. It’s across the street from the South exit of the Ikebukuro Station, from the Seibu side of the station.
• Fancl is still cheaper in Japan.
• Early March weather was cold. Average temperature hovered around 10-12 degrees Celsius, and dipped to 5-6 degrees at about 6pm.

I’m planning to collect all my jots on travelling to Japan, specifically Tokyo, and put them in one or more posts, which will hit the streets in time to come. It will cover jots on how to get to and from Narita Airport to downtown Tokyo, how to plan your visit, links which were helpful to me when I first step foot in Japan, and so on.

This uniquely sculptured chest of drawers will make a cosy home for crafty knick knacks and whatnots.

The fine workmanship and the use of walnut wood are good reasons why it’s going at 73,500 Yen (about SGD 1151 or USD 752) a piece.

Next week: adult-friendly high chairs.

ABC = Awesome + Brilliant + Contemporary

Capitola Girl merges laptop keys with glass tiles, turning each letter (or command) into ABC pendants! You don’t have to be a geek to heart these necklaces!

Hi everyone, I’m back and here with me are a few scenes from Vegas.

Convention venue + our home.

A picture next to the desk in the room.

The “Lion Habitat” in MGM.

The lions are relaxing in a state-of-the-art resort, costing 9 million dollars to build. Totally sound-proof and scent-proof against us, the fearful human spectators.

Hub’s kid-at-heart at work here, in a trolley at Target.

Exhibits from the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum, within the McCarran International Airport.

“Women’s interest in aviation was reflected in these children’s books of the 1930s.”
Jane, Stewardess of the Airlines by Ruthe S. Wheeler (1934) and Linda Carlton Air Pilot by Edith Lavell (1931)

Some zakka buys: Orla Kiely’s reusable shopping bag, unbleached cheesecloth and a Pyrex measuring cup with that all-important lid.

Random jots:

• Exchange rate from the money changer:
  SGD 1.532 = USD 1.00

• Visas are waived for Singaporeans but it’s imperative to fill up a travel authorization form online. Print a copy, just in case. Have to fill up a waiver card (similar to the form) before the plane touchdown.
• MGM Grand
  • Arrived in Vegas past midnight and checked into MGM. There wasn’t a fridge or kettle in the room. Paid $10 for an air pot and $2.50 to have it delivered to the room. No self collection, pay $2.50 or live without boiling water. A friend had to pay $135 for a fridge! We also requested for 2 pairs of slippers but they were delivered free of charge. What a relief…
  • There are 2 connecting doors, on opposite sides in our room that can link up to 2 adjoining rooms.
  • Free ice from an ice-making machine near the lift lobby, on every floor.
  • LAN connection charge = $15/day.
  • The staff at the concierge was super helpful! They will print out Google road maps/bus routes to help you get to any part of the city.
  • There is always someone smoking somewhere in the hotel, except maybe within the conference centre. Even the non-smoking floors have lingering traces of smoke.
• The Deuce
  • The Deuce bus which travels along the Strip charges $3 for a single trip or $7 for a whole day pass. Announcements of places of interest, hotels and change to other bus routes are made before each stop and they are also shown on the monitor screen. We had to ride on the Deuce then switch to other buses ($1.75/single ticket) to reach K-mart and Target.
  • In the direction towards the McCarran Airport, The Deuce stops at Town Square which has restaurants, and also Borders, Whole Foods, H & M, Banana Republic, just to name a few.
  • On a particular leg of our journey, when we boarded the Deuce and was about to pay the fare, the driver said to us and to the rest of boarding passengers that we don’t have to! Free ride! And we don’t know why!
• It was good to catch the Bonnie Hunt Show, Regis and Kelly (with Anderson Cooper) and reruns of Home Improvement and Still Standing. Then almost every TV channel was reporting on Nadya and her 14 kids!
• The weather was cold + dry, causing some minor bleeding when we blew our noses.

(Prices in USD)

Scenes from Tokyo will be up next Monday.