Yunomi.us is “a new online marketplace offering tea and knowledge from artisan Japanese tea farmers, tea masters, and tea ware artists”, and recently they got in touch with me to see if I would like to have a taste. Their website is beautiful and inviting, and I must say I quite enjoyed myself whilst … Continue reading
I know I’ve been sharing a lot of pictures of stuff recently, but I’ve had a birthday and Christmas, and I’ve been very lucky. My Japan collections are fully topped up for the year to come, which is just as well as I now need to save my pennies for my Japan trip in May. … Continue reading
My office has the tradition that when it’s your birthday you have to bring cake in for everyone to share, so I decided to bake myself a birthday cake with some distinct Japanese flavours last week. I found the recipe here, and I would like to thank Hiroko Liston for posting it as it was … Continue reading
As I mentioned at the beginning of November, this month I’m participating in NaBloPoMo and I’ll be posting every day. I’m almost half way through the month, and it’s been a challenge to get the posts written every day, but it’s giving me a good chance to catch up on things I’ve been meaning to … Continue reading
At the beginning of April I was lying in bed one night browsing Facebook, when I spotted an announcement from Chiki Tea asking for tea tasters. Moments later I had managed to sign myself up to taste some funmatsucha (粉末茶). Not to be confused with matcha (抹茶), funmatsucha is actually micro-ground sencha (煎茶) (that’s ‘ordinary’ green … Continue reading
What’s the best place for two Japan-obsessed girls to have a long lunch and a catch up? Turns out it’s Tombo! Last weekend I had the pleasure of spending the best part of four hours talking Japan with Emily of Emily Loves Japan. Having just returned from Japan herself, she was aglow with tales of … Continue reading
This month I thought I’d try something sweet for a change, and I’ve had a lot of fun experimenting with cupcakes and piping bags! I find baking very therapeutic and stress-relieving, and although these cupcakes are highly calorific I would still recommend making them from time to time! 😉 First I made Double Matcha (抹茶 … Continue reading
As a special post-Christmas treat, my mum surprised me by preparing all the ingredients to make the matcha and azuki roll cake I had recently drooled over on the Japan Centre website. I’ll admit that both of us thought it might be a bit of a challenge, but it was a challenge we were willing … Continue reading
It’s my birthday today, so I’ve decided to write a very self-indulgent post featuring some of the things I love about Japan. I’ve picked 30 random topics off the top of my head, in no particular order – one for every candle on my virtual birthday cake. 😉 1. Takoyaki Osaka’s favourite octopus balls! 2. … Continue reading
When contemplating the next post in my A-Z of Japan series, I thought I might write about geisha (芸者), ganguro (顔黒) or gashapon (ガシャポン). However, there was another topic that was in my mind, a topic I haven’t been able to forget about since leaving Japan. So… G is for… Green Tea Frappuccino! Known as “Matcha … Continue reading
Haikugirl's Japan 