Buku Buku Soap

 Apart from correcting and selling Japanese style fashion accessories from Kyoto, I love collecting handmade soaps.

I use them of course, but because I have so many of them, it takes me a while to use them up.  I recently found this Japanese lady who is based in Sydney is selling handmade natural soaps.

She runs a course on Saturdays but you might want to check availability first.


If you would like to purchase her soaps, you can place order via her site. There are many people who make natural soaps but she is the only one I know sells soaps with Azuki (Japanese red bean), Sake and sesami!

http://www.bukubukusoap.com/

I ended up buying few other ones and they all smell great. I just want to look at it. They smell too good to be used!

I will try not to buy any other soaps this year but the temptation is alwasy there.

One love project

It's been so wet and cold in Sydney. I can't remember when the last time the town experienced so much rain. It rained for at lease a week!

It's finally sunny today and I'm feeling more motivated. (Yes I know I shouldn't use weather for an excuse..)

Some of Kyo Modern's products will be available on discounted price at fundraising bazaar which will be organised by a none profit organisation called One Love Project.

One Love Project was established by a Japanese lady Shiho in Sydney. She runs bazaar and invites Sydney based artists to run workshops. All the sales are donated to earthquake victims in Tohoku region in Japan.

It's been more than 2 years since earthquake and tsunami hit Tohoku. Because we don't live there, many people don't think about it any more but victims still need lots of help. Many of them are still can't return to home, have mental damage from the incident and need more support for day to day life.

As Shiho says, sometimes it's difficult to keep supporting victims in natural disaster zones continuously. It;s so much easier to give one off donation. However her and her volunteers aim to give that continuously support. I'm very glad that I can take a part of this!

As for what kind of Kyo Modern's products will be available at the bazaar, I will be uploading the photos on Kyo Modern's Facebook page closer to the date.

The bazaar and workshops will be held from 9am to 12 noon on the 21st of July 2013 at 12/14-20 Eric Road Artarmon NSW.  

Play dough workshop commence at 10am. Origami workshop will commence from 12noon for adults and 1:30pm for kids. These workshops will be conducted in Japanese but of course, artists can speak English! 

Please the names below for more information of up coming events:

One love project

Kyo Modern

(Photo: Origami artwork by Midori  Furze. I will be joining her work shop from 12noon on the 21st. She  runs many other workshops in Sydney. For more details about her and workshops, please visit http://www.midorifurze.com   )

Soy Candle Aritist Takako

A friend of mine who will be sharing the stall at Kirribilli market on the 1st of December makes soy candles.


She makes soy candles with and without fragrance. Personally I like the one with fragrance.

Unlike ordinary candles that are made by mainly paraffin, soy candle doesn't have burnt smell. It is softer and has a low melting point.

Her candles comes in various sizes and with different decollations. I purchased stained glass ones before. And I just found out she started making Christmas candles too!

When I share a market stall with friends, I often end up buying their products for myself. I love my friends artworks.

You can find more information of what she does via her facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/reikot#!/CandlemakerTakakoYamamoto

Hope to see you all on Saturday!

Japanese calligraphy

A friend of mine runs a monthly workshop of Japanese calligraphy in ryoan Gojyuan in Balmain, Sydney.

She has ran numbers of workshops in Australia before.

Learning calligraphy was compulsory in any schools in Japan. I wish I took calligraphy lessons more seriously so that I could have had nice hand writing!

If you are interested in learning Japanese calligraphy in Sydney,  please contact Tomoko directly or ryokan Gojyuan.

Tomoko: tomokoworld514@hotmail.com

More details are available on Tomoko's website: https://sites.google.com/site/mojiyafudeart/

also on Gojyuan's website: http://www.ryokangojyuan.com/en/workshops_calligraphy.php

My food adventure never ends. I love food...especially sweets!

A friend of mine bakes cakes for special occasions. You can see some of her works on her blog or on facebook page.

If you have trouble viewing the page, search Julie's heart bakery.  She is based in Sydney.

I'm thinking of asking her to bake a cake for my wedding anniversary. It will be either something with a love heart or my favourite character Miffy!

Friend of Kyo Modern -Aizuya-

A friend of mine is from Fukushima.

Many people now know Fukushima as the town with nuclear disaster.

But what Fukushima is famous for is its beautiful culture.

It's famous for stunning castle(Tsuruga), beautiful traditional style villages and national parks (Minami Aizu), cute Akabeko doll and Aizu momen.

Momen means cotton.

Aizu momen has distinctive stripe patterns.  It's often dyed with indigo, but does come in different colours. (ie my apron in the photo) The texture of the cotton is tough and also absorbent.

My friend Hiki sells aprons, brooches, bags, beverage coaster and luncheon mat made of Aizu momen.

Her website is currently under the maintenance, but you can still contact her by email or phone.  The contact details are below:

aizuaus@gmail.com
0430 378 438

Some of her products are available in shops in Sydney. Please contact her for more information.


Her and I will be holding a stall at Ryokan Gojyuan in Balmain, Sydney on the 28th of April. It will be on from 10am till around 3 or 4pm.

If you will be in the area on the day, please pop in!

Ryokan Gojyuan

http://www.ryokangojyuan.com/en/index.php

Arielle’s Organic Cakes

I love cakes in Japan. Our cake is based on French style with bit of Japanese taste.

We like it light and not so sweet.

So to be very honest, when I moved to Australia and discovered quality of cakes here, I was very disappointed.

Of course, there were some very nice cakes in good cafes and restaurants but majority of cakes I came across were too sweet in my mouth, so heavy in my stomach. 

Azuma cafe in Sydney city is one of the very few decent Japanese style cake shop I know but recently, I met a Japanese lady called Natsuno who runs her cake business in Sydney.

She studied French style patisserie in Paris and recently returned to Sydney. What she makes is very unique. She can make cakes and other sweets without any artificial ingredients, preservatives sugar and butter oil!

She does have a web site but currently it's  not in use. So if you would like to view some of her works and prices, it's best to contact her by email or phone. She can then send you photos of cakes with more details!

Arielle's Organic Cakes
www.ariellesorganiccakes.com.au
Email: arielles.cakes@gmail.com
Phone: 0431 577 989 (7 Days 10am to 5pm)

Friends of Kyo Moden -Aki Desings-

When I held a stall at Kirribilli market in October, Aki the designer/craft maker held her stall next to me.

She is also from Japan. She is a mother of 3 girls, designs and makes fashion accessories out of leather, and also studying to be barista.



What a busy woman!!

Compare to her, I have so much more time. She makes me feel I'm lazy.

I bought her bookmark( in a shape of a cat!!), hair accessoris and a pair of earring.  Other things she makes are, key rings, necklaces, brooches and many more. It's all designed by her and made of Australian leather. 

It was the first time for her to hold a stall at a market. She was there again last week. However she said she probably won't hold a stall for a while.

Luckily, you can buy some of her products at a gift shop called "Megan Kate Emporium" in Willoughby, Sydney. I have been to this shop before and it was full of gems! You can find anything from babyware to cute summary dress!

The shop's website is www.megankateemporium.com.au

To contact Aki to purchase from her directly, her email address is akidesigns@hotmail.com

The last Kirribilli market is on this Saturday the 17th. I will be on a "bowling green area" from 8:30am till about 3pm. Please pop in!!

My stall location: M3 http://www.kirribillimarkets.com/general-market/location-map

News: Ryokan Gojyuan's open day

A friend of mine Linda is doing open day of her Ryokan Gojyuan in Balmain, Sydney this Saturday (10th of Dec).

I will be selling some of my products and promoting my town Kyoto. There will be other people selling their products and offering workshops as well.

It will be a fun day so please pop in anytime between 10am to 5pm! At this stage, I'm not sure if I will be there till the end but mostly likely tostay to help Linda.

You can visit Ryokan either by a bus or a ferry.  It's only a short ride!


Please refer to Ryokan Gojyuan's website for more information.

Furoshiki

Furoshiki is Japanese style wrapping cloth which is used for wrapping gifts and carrying items.

It has been around in Japan for more than 1000 years and it is available in many fabrics and different sizes. Fabric ranges include cotton, rayon, silk and chirimen. (Kyo Modern uses chirimen fabric in may products as well!)

There are many ways to wrap the gifts with Furoshiki. A friend of mine Yoshie offers Furoshiki wrapping courses in Sydney.

Her website is http://www.musubi.com.au/

The website explains about the history and use of Furoshiki in more details. She does regular workshops at Ryokan Gojyuan - 208 Darling Street, Balmain NSW.

Apart from Ryokan Gojyuan,  she will be holding a workshop Art Gallery NSW on the 13th and 27th of November.


http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/japanese-fabric-wrapping/

Please register her workshops to discover the beauty of Furoshiki wrapping!

Mihana in Crows Nest

There are plenty of nice Japanese restaurants in Sydney but Mihana is the only one I know as a Japanese style "dining bar". 

The term dining bar is perhaps incorrect English. This term is widely used in Japan. It basically means it is a bar where you can have decent food.

Mihana offers large varieties of Sake and other Japanese style drinks. And also tasty Japanese food! They are open till late so I go there when I can't be bothered cooking on late Saturday night or after watching a late night movie session. 

Their website is under constructions at the moment but you can still get the idea of the atmosphere of the place from this website. 

http://www.mihana.com.au/

They open Monday to Saturday, closed on Sunday.  Private rooms are available for small groups. 

My recommendation is Chashu (pork) salad. Desserts are pretty good too!

Mihana Dining and Sake Bar
32 Falcon Street
Crows Nest
(02) 9901 3895