Tokyo Winter 2012

Afternoon chai.



朝ご飯。







Condensation!





Dinner without the food.





Cutest. Stamp. Ever.



Winter morning sun.





Leftover Quinoa salad.



Tokyo is a really incredible city! I've been indoors a lot lately because it's warm here in my mini-me Shimokitazawa apartment and I work from home. There's been a lot of chai, a lot of coffee, a lot of hot water bottles, constant heating, some trips to Tipness, a spot of 1Q84 reading, sadly no Nihongo study, and some work on my new Tokyo Guide...but when I go out I'm always inspired! Everyday I experience something that brings a smile to my face.

- cute Japanese boys wearing beanies in Tokyo cafe kitchens.
- the girl at Shibuya station, Inokashira sen section wearing black and white polka dot pants.
- cooking nabe.
- getting door-to-door from my apt to Shibuya by train in 15 minutes (ten mins by mamachari!)
- the LoFT Valentines Day section filled with every chocolate / chocolate wrapping / sweets cooking set item you could ever imagine. Also accompanied by the token LoFT Valentines Day song!
- eating mikan.
- the craft + design sections at my favourite Aoyama bookshop.
- being able to watch an english movie (in english) while running 7kms at Tipness.
- being interviewed and photographed for a Japanese newspaper.
- waiting for snow.
- having meetings with Japanese editors and publishers.
- wearing pom pom gloves and riding my mamachari.
- spotting pink and grey stripe trucks.

and wondering around taking instagram photos. I am hellosandwich on instagram if you are so inclined.

I hope you've having a lovely week Sandwiches.

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

Note: My dear friend Kazumi-chan read this and commented "Your this post was moving my heart ! You tell us "LIVING in Tokyo". Oh she is so sweet!

Shinjuku Gyoen Picnic

What a lovely day it was today!

A spot of embroidery with my morning coffee. A winter morning run along my local nature walk where I spotted these blossoms starting to bloom. I've been riding my mamachari to the nature walk and running 5 to 7 kms through Sangengaya and along to Kannana Dori and back. I've been tracking my runs on RunKeeper. It's an incredible app if you like running outdoors.



After lunch I rode my mamachari to Commune gallery to see the beautiful accessory exhibition and chat with some super cute new friends. If you have time, be sure to pop in to see the accessories before the exhibition comes down on Wednesday.

I then headed off to Shinjuku where I was invited to a lovely picnic in Shinjuku Gyoen by Yuko-san. The lovely Yuko-san was a participant at two of my workshops and she has the most lovely sense. Yuko-san and her husband wore matching Comme des Garcons cardigans (and matching Tupera Tupera badges!) and prepared beautiful scones and hot chocolate to share in the park. They hand decorated paper cups with mt masking tape and presented everything on a mini table that looked like it could have been taken directly from a cute cafe! We all sat down and going around the circle introduced ourselves and spoke a little about what we love / do. I remember when I first moved to Japan how daunting this Japanese introduction system was!

By 4:30 when the sun went down and the 'we're-closing-the-park-now-so-please-leave-onegaishimasu' song came over the loud speakers we brushed the grass off our clothes and headed back to the station. By this time my feet were frozen numb and I was reaching for my bag to see if I had any hidden kairo packs. I did a sneaky detour via Tokyu Hands and Kinokuniya - some of my favourite past times - and took the Odakyu-sen back to Shimokitazawa. A quick trip to my local supermarket Ozeki to stock up on nabe ingredients, and before you knew it I was relaxing at home with a glass of red wine and some delicious nabe.

A perfect winters day.



I hope you had a nice Saturday Sandwiches!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo