October 28, 2012

temple town

Two weeks ago my lovely sis visited me for a little while in Tokyo. While she was here we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto for the weekend. Kyoto is Japan´s most popular tourist destination with its hundreds of temples and shrines, also a well preserved historic district to wander around in. Kyoto is also the town famous for Geisha, or Geiko. We didn´t spot any while we were there though. Although Kyoto, like any place in Japan really, is crowded with tourists, it was such a nice city break from buzzing Tokyo. We spent two days there and walked our feet off. We had superb summer weather really and it was lovely.

We stayed at a traditional Japanese Ryokan for the night. How lovely! Dinner was served in the room on a small table set on the floor and it was soo much food, local specialities, as every prefecture in Japan has its own food style, basically. So good. Lots of tofu, sashimi and vegetables. Nom nom. We slept on futon beds and rice pillows on the floor, as you do here. Brekky was also served in our room, and it was traditional Japanese as well. I must admit, I am such a porridge w fruit morning person, but as we knew what was coming, it was quite good to have salmon with hot green roasted tea first thing, along with some tofu soup and rice.

The most impressive sight was of course the Golden Pavilion Temple in the North of Kyoto. It is build on wooden poles above the small pond and it looks like it´s floating above the water. The two upper floors of the wooden temple are covered in golden leaf, so it is a spectacular sight when the sun shines on its walls. Truly amazing. The sun only came out for a little while, when we were there, but it is magical. Although as all tourist sights in Kyoto, this was as well crowded with people, it was nevertheless a quite calm and sort of spiritual place, as all temples and shrines are really.










October 03, 2012

an evening stroll

Instead of taking the bus home from the Shibuya the other day, I decided to walk home. 1 hour and a few photos later. I shouldn´t have worn my thongs though. My feet are killing me now. 

Here´s from Shibuya to Azabu-juban: 










September 30, 2012

last week ....

I was taking a walk around Ebisu and Daikanyama, a nice hip neighbourhood with a bit of a European street feel to it, lots of small French and Italian restaurants and nice little clothes shops, designer labels and vintage stores. It´s very close to Shibuya, but less the crowds. Very relaxing to walk around the streets. I spent hours at the T-Site, a complex housing a gallery, cafĂ©, camera and bike shop and a dog salon, but the biggest store is the big bookstore Tsutaya, which is spread out and interlinks the three buildings. It´s really impressive, but the best thing is, that you can take your drinks from the downstrais starbucks and sit down to look through the books you brought to your table. It was rather crowded when I was there, so no free space, but still, browsing through the different book sections was nice, although most of the books are obviously in Japanese. I was astounded by the amount of international magazine´s they had, mostly the niche arty magazine´s. But they also had frankie magazine - luv! 



wall tattoo 

Denim store

Dog hook 

T-Site sculpture

Dog Hotel, Spa and Shop







September 09, 2012

the standing sushi bar

This. deserves a separate post. The Standing Sushi Bar in Shibuya, a tiny little place just one block from my office. On the hunt for a cheap lunch, this was recommended to us by a work mate and it was really amazing sushi for a really good price. Freshly made in front of you, by quite nice and funny sushi chefs, I was told by my Japanese work mate, who went with me there.

But see for yourselves.






Nom Nom.

xx

my week in tokyo - a photo recap

This week.... I went on a big jet plane to go living and working in Tokyo, Japan for a few months. How exciting is that? yay.

Admired the taxi driver´s fancy uniform and look at the fancy seat covers. Class.


Had a warm welcome at the office.


Get used to working in crazy, buzzling Shibuya. The people, the music, the blinking lights... the excitement.


Was attending a fancy Japanese dinner with the most amazing food ever. So delish! And had coconut pudding with green tea jelly on top. The pic doesn´t do justice to the green the jelly was, it was more like a poisonous green in colour.


Just can´t get enough of "50% off after 5pm" sushi dinners! Nom nom.


Gazing at the skyline with Tokyo Tower from my balcony.


Stumbled upon this on my way to work. Ben unfortunately wasn´t working that day! ;-)


Came across amusing subway signage. LOL. And they do have women only rush hour carriages. I´m so glad for my 20 min Bus ride to work and not having to brave the enormous rush hour crazyness every morning. I will check it out once though. Just to tell the tale afterwards.




















Had some excellent ramen in Harajuku yesterday with not so fancy ordering. Order at the machine, there is only one ramen to choose, but you can add onions, beef, noodle thickness as you like. And it was in English as well. yay. Then you enter and sit at a bar with little capsules with a little window in the front. The soup will be cooked freshly and handed to you through the window. And yes, real people do work there.




















Et voilĂ . So good. 

More to come.
xx


August 31, 2012

I´m leaving, on a jet plane....

Tomorrow I will board a big plane again travelling east with a final stop in Tokyo, Japan. That´s where I will be working and living for the next three months. Let the adventures begin....



Talk to you later,
xx

March 21, 2012

morning ritual reloaded

Being intolerant to wheat and some other things, I basically have to come up with pretty creative ideas sometimes. Wheat I would say is the hardest to give up, especially with all the beautiful German breads out there. A quick  sandwich on the go or for lunch is rather impossible. Spelt bread works sometimes fortunately. Strangely enough, when I am at home I can eat any bread, and I am talking proper bread with seeds and a crust, not toast - mistaken for bread in some countries, says me. 


I am the oats porridge lover of all times. Seriously. Every morning for years and years with mixed berries ... delish ... and as I am also highly intolerant to raspberries, scratch that off the shopping list as well. Although, funnily enough, I still tend to go to get fresh raspberries, but catch myself short.


So, instead of the good old oats porridge I switched to wheat free muesli and wheat free oats, but also try  new things. Amazing how many oat, grain variations are out there. Heaven. 


New obsession is muesli with berries, chia seeds and flaxseeds plus a little cheeky honey sometimes. 


I stumbled upon this little beauty the other day. Definitely going to try that one on the weekend. 


Cracked farro porridge with strawberries. Bliss. 


via bkfst.tumblr.com
RECIPE via here

Farro Porridge with Farm Berries and Walnuts
vegan, serves 3-4

basic porridge:

1 cup cracked farro
3 cups water
a few pinches salt

Add-in:
2+ Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup soy creamer (for pouring over top as desired)
1 cup sliced farmer's market organic berries
1/2 cup crushed raw walnuts
other: additional berried, dried fruits, spices like cinnamon, vanilla..

To Make:

1. Add farro to dry soup pot - over high heat. Allow grains to toast in dry pan for about a minute. Tossing around a bit.
2. Add in water and salt.
3. bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. If you simmer covered with a lid be sure to monitor closely - as farro can bubble quite rapidly - spilling over the pot. NOTE: this method is for cracked farro. Whole grain farro will take longer to cook.
4. When farro has reached a cooked consistency, add ingredients like maple syrup and spices.
5. Serve in a bowl with soy milk or creamer poured over top - I like a nice amount to loosen the cooked farro.
6. Add berries and walnuts - and anything else. Serve!





















March 19, 2012

this week I ...

tried to bring some color into the grey days

had a few  "british" moments on my to the office
- actually every time I pass this cafe

admired the blue skies during my lunch break


still in love with "strange tides" OPI nail polish and some glitter

finally jumped on the "MAD MEN" wagon... absolutely love it
adored our cute little backyard corner

tried coconut water just because... not impressed

March 12, 2012

My week on instagram

I already tried it in February, but got rather too busy to actually participate or the day was already over when I remembered to take the pic. So, another month another challenge... the instagram Photo a Day Challenge..... 

Every day has a different topic, take the pic of your interpretation of that theme, upload to instagram, tag with #marchphotoaday and share. 
Enjoy.

March Photo a Day challenge
created by fatmumslim.com.au

Day 1 Up

Day 2 Fruit

Day 3 Neighbourhood

Day 4 Bedside
Day 5 Smile

Day 6 Window

Day 7 Red

Day 8 Loud 
.... to be continued