Filming

I got back from Stitch and Bitch last night and the walls of our darkened apartment were ablaze with light. It turned out to be the extreme lights of a movie being filmed in the park next to where we live. I'd been aware throughout the day of film trucks scattered around on the street outside, and I guess this is what they were doing. It was very atmospheric in the steamy evening haze and I sat on the balcony for a while watching it all going on.

Kyoto station

Before we headed off to the Shinkansen and to start our journey home, we spent a bit of time taking in the futuristic feel of Kyoto station - such a contrast to the beautiful, traditional buildings we had seen over the past two days. The roof soars into the air and a series of escalators takes you high up on to the roof where you can look down over the city and take it all in. We will definitely be heading back soon!

Kyoto - Gold and silver temples

On sunday, we did the Golden Temple (Kikaju-ji) and then got the bus to the Silver Temple (Ginkaku-ji). The silver temple never actually got its intended silver coating, but both were stunning and I especially loved the gardens of both. The silver temple had a lot of the raked gravel which is very typically Japanese and was very dramatic against the luscious greenery of the surrounding gardens. After this, we did the Philosopher's Walk, which follows a tree-lined canal. It was beautifully serene and so lovely to do after dealing with the crowds of the temples.

Kyoto - more food

I couldn't resist putting these pictures up of some of the food we sampled. They definitely like to put food on sticks here and kebab-like things don't seem so strange (see deliciously naughty beef skewers, bottom left), but when cucumbers get put on sticks, it's a bit out of the ordinary. I'm sure it's very refreshing. We also embraced the fluorescent beauty of the shaved ice - very welcome in the heat of the midday sun....

An evening in Kyoto

After a good long sleep at the hotel, where we literally crashed out (and luckily missed a massive thunder storm) we headed out with hungry bellies to find some food. Earlier in the day, we had crossed the river and seen many restaurants flanking the water and overlooking it. This seemed like the perfect place to have dinner, but of course, everyone else did too, and most of the outdoor tables were fully booked. To get to these restaurants, you had to trot down a tiny alleyway. It was jam packed with restaurants and very atmospheric with the pavement still wet from the rain and lanterns lighting your way. The choice of food was endless, but we decided to duck into a little izakaya-style place and sit at the bar. This is always the best place as you can watch the entertainment of the chefs preparing the food - we love it! After filling our bellies with glorious pickings, we strolled down the many side streets of Gion, soaking up the atmosphere.

Bibbed figures

Everywhere we went in Kyoto, we would see these "bibbed" figures, which we guessed were gods. We're still not sure why they need to be bibbed, but we love it! I love the "family" of bibbed figures at the top left (which actually look more like potatoes than gods), even the cat has a bib, and the best of all was this army of figures (bottom right) at the Kiyomizu temple.

Geishas

The walk that Susan gave us also took us through the Geisha district, which was lined with beautiful, discreet houses and inns and we were even lucky enough to see some geishas as well as some Japanese girls dressed up in their finest yukatas (cotton kimonos used in summer) out for an afternoon in Kyoto.

Kyoto - Kiyomizu Temple

We made our first trip to Kyoto at the weekend. I'm ashamed to say it as we've been here almost a year now and have never made it there until now. Of course, we chose the hottest time to go and it was pretty unbearable at times, but Kyoto is a lovely city and there is so much to see and do. We got the Shinkansen (bullet train) there, which was a fun journey after a bit of argy bargy with the cost of it all - it's not cheap, but you do get there in half the time. We stayed in a nice hotel in the centre and after dropping our bags off, we headed to the famous Kiyomizu temple in the Higashi-dori district. My friend Susan had given us a fab walking tour to do and so we were able to follow that without much hassle. The temple was stunning and set in the hillside overlooking Kyoto, in beautiful grounds.

Oku-Tama hike

Today was a national holiday, and so we decided to head out of the city for a good old hike. Luckily, Chris was also up for it and very good at coming up with a plan of action. We met him at 7.45 outside our apartment and headed off to Shinjuku station for the 8.19 train to Oku-Tama, about an hour and 2o mins out of the city. It is best known as being the lake that supplies all of Tokyo's water. It has v steep, forest-covered hills around the lake and they are stunning - especially in the golden sunlight and bright blue sky that we had today. Because of the steepness, it is relatively quiet, only being tackled by serious walkers...and us. We walked up for two hours though pine tree-lined tracks, where we were kept cooler, and there was a beautiful smell of pine surrounding us all the way up. We stopped for lunch on a little ridge where we had a scrumptious spread of bread and cheese, washed down with a cup of coffee brewed on Chris' fab "stove", followed by marshmallows. It was a gorgeous day and we congratulated ourselves at the end with a can of beer and a paddle in the beautifully icy water of the Tamagawa river. Heaven!

Yokohama

Neil had to work yesterday morning so to make up for it, we planned a trip out to Yokohama in the afternoon. It is about 45 mins train ride from where we live and a pretty, chilled out place - a bit like going from Manhattan to Brooklyn, for anyone who understands that! We started by walking along the waterfront and soaking up the beautiful weather. It's been scorching and v humid, but there was a beautiful blue sky and it's just so lovely to have sun and heat. I love it! We ended up at the Red Brick Warehouse, an old warehouse that has been converted to shops and restaurants, where we had a fresh scrumptious lunch at Bill's (Aussie Bill Grainger's restaurant). I ordered a greek haloumi salad which was v tasty, if a tad small....

We then headed on to the wonders of Cosmo World, a world of roller coasters and fairground rides and I introduced Neil to his first roller coaster ride! He wasn't sick, which was good, but he did spend most of his time looking at his feet!

Scots and sausages

We went to the British Embassy yesterday, as one does.... The St Andrews Society was having a BBQ there and we decided to go and eat much food, listen to some piping and dance the hot evening away to a fab ceiledh band. As usual, it was lots of fun and we came home feeling very merry....

Bikes

I couldn't resist taking a photo of all these bikes today. Cycling is very popular in Tokyo, but everyone cycles on the pavement and uses a cruising style, where they have mastered the art of weaving around the pedestrians. I'm too scared of taking someone out as I wobble past, so have steered clear of the cycling malarkey. I've heard of a few scarey incidents and definitely don't want to be responsible for knocking someone over - see attached photo of a sign we saw recently......

Jug

I went to my first pottery class today since getting back to Tokyo, and it was really lovely to be handling clay again - I missed it. Today we learnt to make a little square dish, which was harder than I expected. I also picked up a little white jug that I had glazed ages ago. Even though it's a tad wobbly, I think it's really sweet and am very chuffed with it. I'm just hoping it pours!

Dinner

The restaurant the we decided to go to last night was one we hadn't been to before. It is very close to a bakery we love to go to and we spied it last time we went for croissants. It is a tiny place, with 3 tables and then room at the bar for 6 people, but in true Japanese fashion, is beautifully styled and not cluttered at all. The owner is very friendly (and speaks very good English, which helps) and we think her husband does the cooking. The food was scrumptious and we had a wonderful choice of sashimi, tempura, tonkatsu (pork cutlets in breadcrumbs) and chicken wings, all washed down with a scrummy plum wine - heaven!

The neighbourhood

We decided to head out for dinner last night and walked to the restaurant a different way than normal, and it was great to "rediscover" our neighbourhood. It seemed to be coming alive as the weather cooled and people headed out for dinner/drinks etc. There are so many restaurants and bars in our area and each one is quietly bustling away behind closed doors. Sometimes you can get a glimpse in as you walk past and there is always lots of life going on inside.

Sunflower Garden

We had a lovely day yesterday, mooching around the city and trying to keep cool. It was a blooming hot day and very humid, so everything had to be done somewhat slower than usual. As the evening approached, the weather started to cool down and it became a gloriously balmy evening. There is a plot of land near us that used to be a car park and is obviously going to be developed at some point. Until this is done, some "guerilla sunflower planters" have commandeered it and have planted hundreds of sunflowers there, whilst setting up a makeshift bar in one corner. We stopped off for a cold Kirin and admired the sunflower stalks. I'm looking forward to seeing them in full bloom, so watch this space...

Election time

Apparently there are some elections coming up and you are definitely aware of something going on. Anyone who has seen "Lost in Translation" will probably know the scene where Bill Murray is walking down the street and is passed by a van loaded with loud hailers shouting things out, and there are lots of crazy ladies waving out the windows. Well, it's real and they are all over Tokyo. As well as driving around in their vans shouting, they stand on street corners with microphones. I saw some today and couldn't resist taking a photo. This man (to the right of the picture with a microphone) had some lovely ladies in orange t-shirts waving inanely to anyone passing by....

The Eccentric Elephant Eating Eight Eggs....

I saw this lovely mural today and couldn't resist putting it on the blog.

A right crafty one

I went on my first crafty excursion today since getting back, led by my friend Helen. We met at the Nishi-Ogikubo area, a short train ride from Shinjuku and a quiet neighbourhood selling some gorgeous Japanese antiques among other things. We payed a visit to a lovely little fabric shop called Pindot, where I stocked up on a pile of fabrics to add to my growing collection, and then on to a kimono fabric shop which was heaven.

Honeymoon

The honeymoon was also perfect. We decided to rent a villa in Grasse in the South of France for a week and then spent four nights in a beautiful auberge set in the hillside near Tourtour in Provence. It was a perfect combination and we relished the lounging by the pool, wandering around beautiful French villages and gorging on the endless supply of amazing food and wine. I think France will be a new passion for us!

Wedding Day

Well, we are now back in Tokyo after an amazing few weeks. The wedding day was the best day of our lives and it was so special to celebrate it with friends and family who had come from near and far - Paula and George were the Aussie representatives; Roz, Colin and Ashley made it all the way from NY; and Neil's mum made the epic journey down from the Lake District. It was the most perfect day and thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate. You can view more photos by clicking here. Enjoy!

Bye bye!

Well, it seems that I'm off to England today! It feels sad to leave, but I'm going back for a nice reason as Neil and I will be getting married there in a month! I thought I'd send myself off in true Japanese style by having some dressed up dogs as my final image....

Umbrella hut

It was pouring with rain for most of today, and so the obligatory patterned umbrella came with me - I call them ladies umbrellas as they all use the long style umbrella here, with the curvy handle. Because it rains a lot, they make the umbrellas "fun" to use and many of them are beautifully designed. The one I took with me today was black with bright green dots.

Anyway, when we got to the gallery, we were ushered to a little side room next to the main building, wondered where we were going and soon realised it was the umbrella "hut". It actually looked like Doctor Who's tardis inside and had hundreds of slots to leave your umbrella while you went and saw the exhibition. This is actually very typical of Japan and most shops will have a small version of this, or at least offer plastic tubes to slot your brolly in to keep dry.

Lucie Rie

I went to one of the most inspiring exhibitions I've been to in a long time today. It was a retrospective of the work of Lucie Rie, a potter I had never even heard of until I came here. She was born in Vienna, but fled to England during the war and lived there until her death in 1995, where she devoted her life to creating ceramic works of art that really do take your breath away. I was actually quite moved when I saw it and I'm sure I appreciate the delicacy and work that has gone into the pieces now that I have been studying pottery for a while. Her shapes were so inspiring and the use of glaze simple yet very effective. It was also good to see that some of her early pieces looked a little like my clumpy caveman pieces, so there's hope for me yet...

Prezzie ideas

A while ago I made some framed pictures for Flo and Lila and Morwenna recently commissioned me to do some for her friends' children. Here is the outcome. It could be a new venture for Cheeky Leopard...

Wall hanging

Well, I got busy pretty quickly and here is the outcome! I found some nice bamboo sticks today and decided to use them for my tenegui and to make a hanging for the hallway. I'm actually quite pleased with them!

Tenugui

My latest fad, fabric-wise, is tenugui. I lovingly call them "sweat rags" but they are pieces of dyed cotton cloth that are used for anything from wiping, as a dish cloth, for wrapping gifts, a cover, a wall hanging or..... a sweat rag! They come in all sorts of amazing colours and there is a wonderful shop near me that has a wonderful collection. I have chosen earthy tones (not sure what I'm going to do with them yet) but there are all sorts of lovely colours.

First of all the cotton is bleached, then the fabric is folded into 90cm lengths, with paper patterns mounted on them. They are starched and put on top of each other. When the pattern has been applied, a mound is formed around each pattern to seperate the dyes. The dyes are poured onto the surface of the fabric and are sucked below with a compressor. This will let the dyes permeate the fabric and help produce the design so that both sides stay the same. The washed fabric is then dried in the sun and ready for someone like me to come along and buy a job lot!

My first log cabin

I went to my quilting class today (yes, I've officially turned into a mad old lady!) and did my first block towards a "log cabin" quilt. Not bad! It's called log cabin as traditionally the centre square is red and represents the hearth of the house, then one side is in "cool" colours and the other side is in "hot" colours. It is all sewn by hand, so don't hold your breath for the finished result, I need to do about 40 of these....

Our first Hibiscus!

Green fingers

Last week's warm weather brought out my green fingers, and so Chris and I made a pilgrimage to a massive garden centre in Odaiba. Chris found some feathered friends which he has threatened to use as their new garden feature. I'm more worried about the blow-up doll on the shelf below - it's meant to scare away the birds, but it seems a lot more sinister than that....

Anyway, I made a good amount of purchases, and have a great selection of pots and plants to transform our balcony into a little oasis. Watch this space...

Odaiba

On wednesday we made a journey out to Odaiba, an island of reclaimed land in Tokyo bay. You can get there by subway, but we decided to take the scenic route on the monorail. It is quite dramatic as it snakes around the bay and spirals up to meet the Rainbow Bridge, before making stops at several shopping malls and amusement arcades en route. We enjoyed the ride and then stopped off at "Venus Fort" a gargantuan shopping mall. From the outside it looks like an aircraft hangar, but you step inside and are immediately transported to an "Italian Village", complete with piazza, fountains and Roman-style statues. Even the ceiling is painted to resemble a perfect Mediterranean sky. Apparently the lighting changes depending on whether it's dusk or dawn...

We then got the monorail a few more stops and got off at the beach..... Yes, there is a man-made beach in the centre of Tokyo and there are even volleyball games going on to complete the scene. The only give away that we are in the city is the Rainbow Bridge looming in the background, oh, and a few tower blocks too!

Chuzenji

On monday we decided to take the winding bus trip up the mountain to Chuzenji lake and Kegon waterfall which were created thousands of years ago by a nearby volcano. It was a dramatic ride up the mountainside with 40 odd hairpin bends, and was cool and crisp when we got to the top. Apparently the lake is one of the highest in Japan and is quite beautiful. We decided to take a boat trip round the lake and take it in.

After that, it was a quick stroll to the Kegon falls, with an ice cream stop on the way.... and a quick photo with some bears....

Nikko lunch

For lunch in Nikko we decided to go local and ducked into a restaurant serving yuba, also known as tofu skin. It is made from soybeans and ends up looking like very fine muslin when it's hung out to dry! It is then cut into strips and rolled up to resemble a bandage!

Sounds yummy, no?! Actually, it was and I'm really glad we tried it. We were served about 7 different dishes in quick succession and each one was a variant on the yuba, with a bit of dry, salted fish thrown in for good measure - I couldn't touch that one, I'm afraid...

Nikko Temples

On sunday we went to Nikko for the night. It's been Golden Week here in Japan, a massive national holiday which actually forces people to stop working for a few days and enjoy themselves. Neil deserved a much needed break from the slog of work (he's been working late nights and weekends for weeks now) and we decided to spend most of our time relaxing in the city, but to take off to Nikko for one night.

Nikko is about 2 hours train journey out of Tokyo and a pleasant ride through paddy fields. It is famous for its temples and we were very impressed by the intricacy of them, even though we had to battle through the crowds to see them. After checking into our ryokan (Japanese guesthouse where you sleep on the floor on futons) we spent the afternoon trotting round the temples and taking them in. There was so much to see.

New York Grill

Following the New York theme of the day, we went for a slap up meal at the New York Grill last night and it was fab! It's on the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt hotel, where "Lost in Translation" was filmed, so we followed in Bill Murray's footsteps by having a cocktail in the cocktail lounge first, listening to some jaaaaazzzzz. We were then ushered through to the restaurant and had a table in prime position next to the window - yay! Needless to say, the view was stunning. For dinner, Neil went for the tuna steak and I went for the Australian tenderloin which were both gorgeous. These were accompanied by creamy mashed potato with garlic flakes, and asparagus in a creamy sauce. It was then followed by a divine New York cheesecake - heaven!

Photography Exhibitions

I went to my gallery meetup group yesterday to see two photography exhibitions and meet new people. The people were lovely and we had a beer afterwards, and the exhibitions were interesting too. One was photos by Jean Loupe Sieff, which I loved. The other was by a Japanese photographer called Morimura Yasumasa. His photos were a interesting, but a bit strange. The strangest thing was that it turns out that the organiser of this meetup group lived in New York for 18 years and lived on my block on East 9th street all that time! We both lived opposite each other at the same time and probably crossed paths many times without even knowing it. What a coincidence!

Fab fabrics

I went to a quilt show yesterday with Jo Ann and Helen. The show was a bit disappointing, but there was much foraging to be done and I bought some fabulous fabrics to play with. Now I just need to decide what to do with them...