French toast & coffee made with Cafe Lumbalumba‘s beans for Sunday brunch.
Tokyo
Pumpkin Soup
Made this for dinner tonight. I love Japanese pumpkin/squash – sweeter and more starchy than what you usually get in the US.
The recipe calls for half a Tablespoon of uncooked rice to make it thick. Turned out delicious, great for a cold Sunday night.
Orange Mille-Feuille
Went to watch a French movie called 小さな哲学者たち (= “Little Philosophers” in Japanese, Just a Beginning in English) at a private showing that some friends of mine put together.
Had some French dessert, too 🙂
My Favorite Color
You can tell I have a thing about this shade of pink.
A moment of calm
Today I made some tea my friend brought back from her trip to England. Just what I needed, a moment of calm.
Sake Night
Incense from Kyoto
It’s still hot in Japan during the day but I can feel the air is a little different from a few weeks ago. I picked up 2 small packages of incense at Kyoto Station yesterday before coming back to Tokyo.
Back in Japan
The photo is just a bottle of Jasmine Tea. How pretty. It’s been three weeks since I’ve left Tokyo to go to St. Louis, San Francisco, and New York – now I’m back.
On the plane, I watched a couple of interesting documentaries on Japanese craftsmanship. One was about a traditional Japanese umbrella (wagasa) studio in Kyoto called Hiyoshi-ya. They are applying the skills on contemporary light fixtures.
The second one was on Jaxon Corporation and its founder/designer Hideo Shimizu. They make one-of-the kind bathtabs that are top quality in the world.
Mr. Shimizu said he went to Italy to learn chair making, but decided to start designing bathtubs instead later on, after visiting an old ryokan (Japanese-style inn) and realized the craftsmanship of the bathtub he used there. He said something like “I didn’t grow up sitting on chairs as much as other Westerners but I realized I know what are good bathtubs are like”.
I also watched The Other Woman (水曜日のエミリア). Enjoyed NY-based movie as I was leaving there, and I just like Natalie Portman 🙂
Sky (Sunset)
My friend told me last night that I should stop worrying too much about what’s going to happen in 10, 20, or 30 years from now. He said, “Did you know exactly where you were going to be a year ago from now?” — right, you made your point.
It was raining when I woke up this morning. But by the time I was at Yoyogi park a little before 8 am, blue sky was peaking through.
How do we know what’s going to happen before it actually happens?
Don’t over-trust your past experience. Life isn’t as predictable as you may think.
Do you Love Mondays?
I read Danny Choo’s auto-biographical blog entry today, titled “How Discovering Japan Changed My Life” (also available in Japanese & Chinese). It’s a long entry but if you happen to be in the middle of thinking about life, work, your passion, or something along the line, his story should give you some more to think about. Also, if you’re interested in learning Japanese (or any other foreign language) I think you’ll be inspired.
The gist of the story is: He loves Mondays.
And I want to keep loving my Mondays too.
(This photo is from last week)