Melville Matsuri 2015

I need some opinions please!!

Melville Matsuri is happening very soon and we are getting busy to sort things out. Food seems to be the high interest for people, as I received several questions about food.

What food do you expect to see at the Japan-themed festival?

So far, we have Takoyaki, Japanese curry, Japanese-style sausage sizzle, Rice balls, Rice burgers, Japanese cakes, Japanese sweets Wagashi, and Kakigouri (shaved ice).  Do you think they’d be enough?

In Japan, people expect to see Takoyaki, Yakisoba, Okonomiyaki, Crape, Grilled squid (Yakiika), Grilled corn (Yaki-toumorokoshi), Kakigouri … so on…   I wish there is a stall selling Yakisoba at Matsuri but so far no Yakisoba.

Anyway I hope the event will be a successful one!

Melville Matsuri 2015

Finally, a flyer for Melville Matsuri is ready !

Melville Matsuri is a community event for all ages to experience all aspects of Japan.  I’m very happy with how this event is forming – lots of activities !

There will be food & Japanese drink stalls, Japanese grocery stalls, yukata (Japanese casual summer garment) for sale, lots of demonstrations and workshops, and kids activities for all ages.  The best thing is that part of profit goes to local playgroups. 🙂

Check out our Facebook pages, and don’t forget to LIKE and SHARE with friends!

Kitta Exhibition of Natural Japanese Dyeing

Yesterday morning after I dropped off my son at school, I headed to Kitta’s exhibition in North Fremantle.  (I wrote about her workshops & exhibition here)

Kitta is a Japanese artist who lives in Okinawa in Japan, and she creates beautiful fabrics and clothes dyed using natural Japanese techniques.  She is temporary visiting Perth now to carry out rare natural dyeing workshops using Japanese dyes such as Ryukyu Indigo, and  also exhibit some of her beautiful works at Poteau in North Fremantle.

Lovely entrance.

The whole exhibition place was set up beautifully.

I was really amazed to see how beautifully you can dye fabric using natural materials.  Everything was made from scratch by Kitta.  There’re dress, skirts, some fabrics, socks, sarongs, etc created by Kitta, and also some other artists’ kitchenwares available to purchase at the exhibition.

Everything was natural-themed, and even these wooden rails were handmade just for this exhibition.

I tried on some of the dresses.  They were really comfortable to wear, and the colour was so beautiful.  I also loved the uniqueness of the shape.  Everything is one of a kind.

I didn’t purchase any dress yesterday as I wanted to think about it first (the exhibition is still on), but I had a big crash on one of the plates that was made by Japanese artist.  I don’t know why but I didn’t buy it yesterday and I’ve been regretting it ever since, so I asked my friend to buy it for me as she is going there tomorrow. 🙂

Kitta will be in Perth for another few weeks only and once she is back to Japan there is no way to purchase her work (she doesn’t even sell online), so if you are interested please visit her exhibition.

Kitta Exhibition  Sat 15th ~ Fri 28th August 2015

at Poteau 1/98 Stirling Hwy, North Fremantle
www.poteauselect.com

Mon 1pm – 6pm
Tue – Sun 11am – 6pm (closed on Sun 23rd)

This exhibition is organised with the assistance of the NGO Earth Network.

“Bread of Happiness”

There will be a free Japanese film shown at Hyogo Cultural Centre in City Beach this Friday.

The film “Shiawase no Pan” (“Bread of Happiness”) is a 2012 Japanese drama film directed by Yukiko Mishima and starring Tomoyo Harada, Yo Oizumi and Kanna Mori.

<Plot> ” Rie and Nao own a bakery-cum-restaurant named Mani on the shores of Lake Toya, Hokkaido. Nao is the baker who bakes the bakery’s bread, while Rie is the chef who prepares the food in the restaurant. Graced with beautiful scenery throughout the four seasons, this shop serves a variety of customers, some of whom are experiencing personal problems. However, after they exit from the shop, they feel only happiness in their mind.”
– from official website

I love this kind of soft Japanese drama.

There will be no admission fee, and some bread + drink will be provided to the visitors as well.

***  Shiawase-No-Pan **

When:
Friday 14th August 2015, 6PM~

Where:
Hyogo Cultural Centre
20 Kalinda Drive, City Beach
Western Australia 6015
(08) 9385 9002

Japanese Festival in Spring

It’s August now and we are in the middle of winter in Perth.  It’s cold, but I noticed the day is getting longer compared to few weeks ago.  Spring may be just around the corner.

As spring approaches, I’m getting busy for the preparations for an event which will be held on 24th October in Melville.  I’m in a committee and in charge of kids activities.  This event, recently finalized its name as “Melville Matsuri”, is a festival introducing Japanese culture and background to local people.  It’s a charity event and there will be a lot of activities for all ages at a gold coin donation or even for FREE!

For children, there will be…

• Yo-Yo (mizu-fusen)
• Jinbei (Japan’s traditional summer dress) dress-up & photo booth
• lucky dip
• Japanese letter drawing on the body (like temporary tattoo using a non-toxic pen)
• origami
• uchiwa (Japan’s traditional fan) making

and much more.  There will also be a grand final of paper-plane competition for primary school children in City of Melville during the festival.

For adults, there will be…

• ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) demonstration & workshop
• Japanese tea ceremony demonstration & workshop
• kimono (Japanese traditional gown) demonstration & workshop

and much more.  Lots of displays & demonstration featuring Japanese culture (bonsai, taiko performance, cosplay etc) too.  And, of course, some yummy Japanese food & drinks!!

The final flyer hasn’t been completed yet, but as soon as it’s done I will post here again.

Melville Matsuri is on Saturday 24th October, 3pm ~ 9pm :
Paper plane competition 4pm – 5pm
Paper Plane film from 7pm – 9pm
All activities, workshop & food stalls 3pm – 6 or 7pm
At … Frederick Baldwin Park, Le Souef Dve, Kardinya WA

On the same month, there will be another Japanese event in City Beach.  There is Hyogo Cultural Centre in City Beach, and Shichigosan ceremony will be held there on 10th of October.

Their vision is –
“To give these children an opportunity to experience this festival that they miss in Japan. It is the first time the children are officially allowed to wear their traditional clothes (also rite of passage).  The special ages of the children are 7, 5 & 3 years of age. The children are also given special 1000 year old sweets (Chitose-Ame) to ensure a long life.” (- from their 2014 website)  (they haven’t created 2015 version yet)

It’s a great opportunity for families with children aged 3, 5 or 7 who can’t go back to Japan but still want to cerebrate shichigosan.  They can do it here in Perth.  There will be some food stalls as well.  I’m not in committee of this event, but I am planning to sell some food at the stall.  My children are 4 & 1 years old, and we are going back to Japan next year so we will be cerebrating shichigosan then – so I’m not attending this event with my family.

Perth Shichigosan Festival is on Saturday 10th October, possibly 12pm ~ (not sure yet)
At … Hyogo Cultural Centre
20 Kalinda Dve, City Beach WA
(08) 9385 9002

I will update when it’s close to the date!

Japanese Pop-culture Workshop

Love another side of Japan?  If  you like Japanese anime, you may enjoy some cosplay experience.

Personally I like cosplay!  I wouldn’t do too much skin-showing, but I love to dress up in a totally different character.  🙂  That’d be fun!

There was a cosplay show at Japan Festival (I wrote about this festival here and here), so I know there’re some cosplay-lovers in Perth too.  For some people, cosplay may sound wicked, but I bet everyone has dreamed about being someone else once?

Kids cosplay is so cute.

On 22nd August 2015, there will be Japanese Pop-culture introduction workshop in City Beach where you can experience the cosplay world and also get some tips about how and what.  There will also be a workshop for Manga drawing as well.  I remember drawing manga when I was a teenager :p  I was so into it and I still like drawing.

When:
22nd August 2015,  14:00 – 15:30

Where:
Hyogo Cultural Centre in City Beach

Admission:
$5  (Free tea & coffee, cookies are included)
Free entry for Hyogo members

– Attack on Titan Levi cosplay by Lecturer
– Asian ball joined doll (by Volks Japan) exhibit
– Manga character drawing workshop (please bring your own drawing materials)

For more information or to book, please contact Hyogo Cultural Centre at
[email protected]

Colour of Wonder – Kitta Workshop & Exhibition

A friend of mine is organising this wonderful workshop & exhibition of her creation here in Perth in August (next month!).  Places for the workshops are LIMITED! ↓↓

– ” Kitta creates fabrics and clothes dyed using natural Japanese techniques. Based in Okinawa, they specialise in the use of Ryukyu Indigo. This August, Kitta will visit Perth to exhibit a variety of their creations and run workshops that will show you their dyeing techniques.” –

At the workshops, you will be experiencing her world of “colour” dyeing.  It is a Japanese method of dyeing, and is truly unique and beautiful.

Colour of Wonder Facebook page

DATE: 22 – 23rd August 2015

PLACE: Pollard Designs studio (2 Otway place, Bedfordale 6112 WA)

Contact: [email protected]

<Workshop >
22-23rd August
kitta 2 days Japanese style natural plant dyeing work shop at Pollard studio (Bedfordale)
http://pollarddesigns.com/
You can choose to create a Dress, a Wrap-around Skirt, or a Bag.
The workshop will take place over two days – the first day for dyeing and the second day for sewing. (The finalcolour will depend on the materials chosen, the weather and
other factors).

(time schedule)
●22nd Saturday
10:00-Meet at Pollard Designs studio.
Bush walking to see nature color in the bush.
11:00-Start making color vat in the fire.
12:00-Japanese style Lunch
13:00-Explanation of the process of dyeing.
kitta’s slide show and Sawa’s guitar performance.
14:00-Begin dyeing
17:00-end of the first day

●23rd Sunday
10:00-Meet at Pollard Designs studio.
Beginning of hand sewing.
12:00-Japanese style Lunch
13:00-Sewing continues (if you finish early you can try
another experience of dyeing)
16:00-slide show about Japanese Ryukyu indigo
17:00-end of the work shop

(Work shop Fee)
●$300 for 2 days workshop including Japanese style lunch, materials (wrap skirt ,dress or bag ), tea and coffee.

(Things you should bring for the work shop)
●An apron and hat that is okay to get dirty

(Booking)
●All enquiries about enrolments please Email to
[email protected]

<Exhibition>

15-28th August
Kitta Exhibition at Poteau (North Fremantle)
http://www.poteauselect.com/
Kitta Exhibition opening is held on 15th August.

I’m sure you will have a beautiful experience over these two days!!!  Please note there are only 3 seats left for the workshop…  secure yours now!

Japanese Tea Ceremony in Subiaco

There were Japanese tea ceremony sessions at Green Tea House in Subiaco today, and I headed there to experience my first ever cha-no-yu (tea ceremony in Japanese).

I must say it was a great experience and that 30 minutes gave me a special feeling – surrounded by Japanese instructors and people who have interests in Japan – I felt warm and was reminded what special culture and tradition my home country has.

I didn’t expect to see this many people at the session today.  Some people had to stay stand-up for the whole session.  Tea ceremony is normally carried out where people sit down, but they used chairs due to the height of counter table in the shop.

It was actually my first time to come down to this shop.  There’re many beautiful Japanese tea cups, tea pots, plates, kitchenware and ornaments sold at the shop.  They are very well-made (not cheap ones like you get from Daiso) yet the prices are really reasonable.

The tea ceremony started.  All the guests were focusing on the host’s movement.

Wagashi (sweet to accompany bitter green tea) was served to each guests.

Tea was served.  Made one-by-one.

The wagashi was quite sweet to balance the bitterness of matcha green tea.

I’ve never had matcha green tea prepared in a proper manner like this.  I imagined the tea would be very bitter but it wasn’t that much.  As I was told by the instructor, I raised the tea bowl (to show appreciation to the host), turned the bowl half way in clockwise, then drank it.  I really liked the tea.  I was imagining, in old time in Japan, people were drinking tea like this, and tea time was very special moment.

The whole ceremony reminded me of beauty of Japan.  As soon as I got home I called my mum and asked if she still have kimono in Japan.  I will bring some kimono to Perth next time I fly there!!    Kimono is very expensive, and it’s such a waste if not worn !

Hinata Cafe – a fine day

Hinata Cafe  was held last week with lots of visitors experiencing rich feast of Japanese culture, craft and food.  I was bit worried about the weather but it became such a lovely day.

Luckily I could be there from the beginning and could enjoy taiko performance.  I loved the food at the cafe – people were so nice and working hard to serve warm healthy Japanese cafe food…  My son had sakura-mochi (kashiwa-mochi had been sold out already!) from the cafe.  I told him he can eat the sakura leaves too but he peeled the leaves off :p  I guess the leaves were too salty for him.
I enjoyed takoyaki and hand-made juice there.  I thought the takoyaki was much better than the one I had at Japan Festival in CBD few months ago.

I wish I could shop without my son clinging on me 😛  There were nice hand-made things that I wanted to browse around, and also wanted to experience the tea ceremony as well but I couldn’t (*_*)  I got their contact details so I will contact them and shop online I guess…

Matcha Demonstration at T2

Matcha – finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea – is known as one of traditional Japanese tea and I get to see lots of “matcha”  products everywhere in the world such as matcha ice cream, matcha latte (I miss it!!), and matcha cheese cake, just to name a few.  However I don’t think many people actually know what matcha really is and how real matcha tastes like, and especially how to prepare and drink matcha.  Do you?

Well, guess what.  I actually do not know how to prepare matcha (even though I’m Japanese!) in the way it’s supposed to be, and I don’t think many Japanese people do either.  So it was not a surprise for me when I was told that some staff at T2, one of Australia’s largest tea shops, did not know what to prepare and drink matcha.
Nowadays you will need to go to some class to learn sadou (茶道 : the traditional etiquette of preparing and drinking tea) if you’d like to learn how to prepare matcha.

Eisetsu-san, a Japanese tea ceremony instructor who lives here in Perth, approached T2 after seeing 2 jugs of matcha green tea at their tasting counter – one was matcha x lemonnade, and another was matcha with some cut fruits in it.  Well, you probably can drink matcha like this and it could be an “Australian style” or a new way of drinking matcha, but it was far from matcha’s original method of drinking.  Drinking matcha actually involves preparation as well, and Eisetsu-san wanted to introduce Perth people the whole process of matcha making.

Her first matcha demonstration was held on 26th of March this year at T2 in Claremont Quarter, and she served 32 bowls of matcha to guests.  Her demonstration brought more people into the store, and now she is having other matcha demonstrations across Perth.  Her schedule is listed below;

03/May/2015      Hinata Cafe in Bibra Lake @ 10:00AM~4:00PM
07/May/2015      T2 in Claremont Quarter shopping centre @ 3:00PM
16/May/2015      Green Tea House in Subiaco @ 2:00PM

She is also receiving some offers from high schools and university for demonstration.

If you have interest in sadou  (茶道) – Japanese tea ceremony -, please contact her.  She runs classes on occasional bases in Perth (which I’d like to join in future).
eiko2525hiyuli<at>gmail.com

Hinata Cafe 2015

There will be another great Japanese event happening in just few weeks!

This Hinata Cafe, 5th time in Perth, will open at the same location as past years – in Bibra Lake.  This is an unique event as the concept of this event is a “temporary open cafe space to exhibit original craft and art, share experience of self expression”.    There will be Japanese artists selling their gorgeous hand-made works,  as well as food & drink stalls and live music by local and Japanese musicians.  If you love going to flea markets, love wondering your Sunday with some live music, or are looking to get some original hand-made items, you’ll love this one!

I’ve only been to this Hinata Cafe once (they didn’t do last year), and I know there will be this artist Naoko Yamada who paints beautiful arts.  I’m hoping to find a nice painting of her as well as something pretty for my house.

Hinata Cafe Facebook page

Hinata Cafe blog

What’s your thought?

If you’ve been to Japan in matsuri (festive) season (most likely in summer), you know those stall food that add more excitement and energy to the atmosphere.  Yakisoba, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kakigori, crape, grilled corn, just to name a few.   Here in Perth, I get to see some stalls that sell Japanese food at festivals (I saw Fumi’s Okonomiyaki & Yakisoba stall at  Chinese NY festival in Northbridge last month) but not so many kinds.

City of Melville is organising a Japanese festival, which is a charity based event, in October this year.  The details are yet to be confirmed, but there will be some stalls selling food and also Japanese goods for children.  I hear taiko performance will be played at the beginning of the festival, and they will show a Japanese movie “paper plane”.

It sounds exciting as I love matsuri!  I know it’s a charity based event and I can’t expect too much, but I hope to see some stalls selling Japanese stall food there.

Here is a question:  What do you want to see at this kind of Japanese festival?  Food? Activity?  I want to hear your thoughts so I can probably pass this to people who are organising this festival in Melville.

Thanks!

After Japanese Festival 2015

It was another hot day in Perth.  Perth Japan Festival was held last saturday in the city, and I’d say it was a huge success..!

The festival opened its door with taiko (drum) performance just before 1pm.  Our stall wasn’t really ready to sell items yet around 1pm as we were still waiting for some food to be delivered.  I was surprised to see so many people passing by, and asking if we were open.  There was a huge queue on our dango (mitarashi & sanshoku) section which was amazing.

I was in a bread section with Melon-pan, Anpan and soybean pan.  Although I thought the pricing was bit too high, customer kept coming and we sold all our items out around 2pm!  I think the atmosphere of the festival helped selling these bread.  We wish we could prepared more food but it was our maximum… There’re total of around 400 bread.  I didn’t think it’d sell out in 1 hour.

I wonder how much did these people at Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki and other food stalls prepare the ingredients to keep up till 8pm.  It must have been a massive amount..

I found that there’re more Australians and other Asian customers compared to Japanese customers.  I think the locati on of this event is bit too small – you can’t really walk around especially with strollers.  And, I thought there should be more stalls selling variety of food… including sweets.

Anyway, after that crazy 1 hour, I was free and joined my sons to enjoy kakigori, wataame and takoyaki.

I love matsuri.  There will be another Japanese festival in Melville in October.  I’m looking forward to it.

An eventful day

Happy Chinese NY~~

This year, my birthday happened to be in Chinese NY week, and it’s been eventful days watching dragon & lion dances, many red dresses around, and munching on yummy food.

Today I went to Northbridge just to get my birthday chocolate treat at San Churro, and ended up staying for the Chinese NY festival on James street from noon till 8pm! (had a break at home for 4hours in between though)

There’r many stalls, including Takoyaki stall and Okonomiyaki/Yakisoba stalls as well!

I wonder Japanese festival on 7th will be a huge success too… hopefully it does!

Perth Japan Festival 2015

Perth Japan Festival is coming up!
For those who don’t know about this event, this matsuri is a free event with lots of fun for kids and families as well as adults.  I was there last year, and I was surprised to see the crowd.  It’s at the Forrest Place in CBD and I guess people couldn’t just pass all those stalls and shows.

Nijino-kai Sunday Market

“Niji No Kai” is a non-profit Japanese volunteer organization in Perth, and they are holding a stall at the Karrinyup Swapmart on Sunday 4th of May!

All the money raised at the market will be used to help providing assistance to Japanese people of all ages who live in Perth area.

If you have anything at home that are not in need or would like to give away, please donate them to “Niji No Kai”!

☎ 0403　530　928
E-mail : [email protected]

Or if you’d like to participate, please come and see what’s on sale at the market.

When: Sunday 4th May, from 7:30AM

Where: the undercover parking area in the north-east corner of the Karrinyup Shopping Centre

Hot Japan Festival in Forrest Chase

Were you there??  There was a Japan Festival held in Forrest Chase in Perth from 2pm until 7pm yesterday.  It was a HOT day, especially that I’m 24weeks pregnant and also had a huge headache from the cold I’d caught few days ago I honestly didn’t want to get out of air-conditioned room in my house.  But I pushed myself to head to the city just because I wanted to eat okonomiyaki (saucy savoury pancake) and kaki-gori (snow cone).

As I expected, there were so many people at the event.  When we arrived there was a cosplay competition going on on the stage.

There’re huge queues around the stalls.  Because the water fountain was on, people had to queue around the water area and I couldn’t see where the okonomiyaki stall was at first.  We walked around, and first my son played super-ball tsuri ($2).   You scoop floating super balls from water using a catcher made with thin paper.  Once the paper is broken you are out.  You could get maximum 5 balls and when my son caught 5 balls he broke the paper using his fingers :p  Anyway he got 5 balls!

We decided to queue to get some food.  It was so hot so we wanted to get kaki-gori first.  Huge queue…  The stall was also selling snack bags for kids and cold drinks.  We got kids snack pack, ramune (Japanese carbonated drink for kids typically seen in summer festival in Japan) and kaki-gori.  My husband didn’t want to queue so he went to grab hot dog which had no queue in front of the stall.  Okonomiyaki and takoyaki stalls had the longest queues :p

We noticed that Japanese consulate was giving away plates of yakisoba for free, so I queued there.  In the end I didn’t get to eat okonomiyaki 🙁

Around 5pm it started to cool down a little.  Kids were crazy playing in the water area.  I wanted to listen to live music but decided to head home around 5:30pm.

It was a fun event and I was amazed to see how many Japanese people (and people who like Japanese culture) are in Perth.  I thank all the volunteers who helped this event, and the people who contributed towards the Fukushima charity.

Japan Festival in Perth 2014

A cultural festival to present a variety of Japanese culture, including foods, craftworks, martial arts, pop culture, anime characters cosplay, summer Kimono, games and origami for children, live music, dance, etc. We hope this event will strengthen the bonds of friendship between Western Australia and Japan, as well as the sense of community among the Japanese people living here!

Place: Forrest Place, Murray St Perth

When: Saturday 22 Feb 2014 2PM ~ 7PM

website

Imagine the delicious smell of okonomiyaki (savoury pancake with thick sauce), takoyaki (octopus balls), yakisoba (stir-fried noodle), Japanese curry etc etc.  Buying these food and Kakigori (shaved ice with syrup) from the stalls sure remind the memory of Japanese summer to people who’s been to Japan and experienced these fireworks and summer festivals.  We have last year and can’t wait to experience that in Perth 🙂

I’m sure kids can enjoy this event as well with these traditional Japanese festival games including fishing the water balloons, superball catching, yukata (summer kimono) dress-ups etc etc.  If you don’t have yukata here is the chance of getting one!

It happens to be my birthday as well (22nd Feb) so I’ll be taking my kid there and enjoy the matsuri!!

(photos from http://www.japanfestivalperth.com)

A Japanese Designer at Perth Upmarket

A Japanese girl Mai Rikiishi is a fashion designer who designs and creates beautiful clothes for women from her home.  She studied at Tokyo and worked in USA in fashion industry before moving to Perth in 2010.

All design are hand-painted by her and then digital printed into high quality natural fabric.  She has a 2 year old girl at home so she is doing all the work when her little girl is asleep.

She is having a stall at Perth Upmarket tomorrow the 24th November selling her beautiful dresses.  Check out her website to see her creations!

Details of all the sellers can be found here.

WAICC Indonesian Food Fair

Today there was an Indonesian Food Fair in Bateman.  I heard there’ll be many authentic Indonesian foods including savory and sweet, so I headed down there to have a try.

This WAICC Indonesian fair is annual event, and is carried out at Bateman Catholic primary school building.
When I arrived there – …WOW, lots of smoke coming out from satay section.  There were people grilling satay in front of the building, and it was very smoky!! Smelled good at the same time too – variety of meat with Indonesian peanut sauce… yum!

There were lots of Indonesian signature foods such as Nasi Lemak, Mee Goreng, Martabak.  I got this sweet sesame ball-thingy (labelled “ONDE” but I’m not sure if this is the name of the food??) and it’s good 🙂  It’s like the sesame balls you get at Yum Cha, but this one has different filling inside.

There were many great foods to buy.  I’ll definitely come back next year! 😀

Hinata Cafe 2012

a

…  First, this is not a photo of Hinata Cafe market which was held in Bibra Lake. Today a new Apple store opened in Garden City so I went there to have a look in the morning. It wasn’t my plain, it was D’s.  I was actually gonna go to Hinata Cafe from 10AM, but D insisted that he wanted to get free T-shirt. :-p

There were many people queuing and the staff in blue Tshirts were cheering to all customers.

After receiving freebie, we headed to Hinata Cafe market.

It was a beautiful sunny day!  Perfect day for outdoor market like this.  It was my first time going there, and the place was cosy and filled with people.  Parking area was very limited.

There’re chairs and tables where people can eat and drink the food/beverage they buy from Hinata cafe.  Above photo – nature craft was my favourite.

There are handmade arts and craft sold inside the small building.  They’re so cute and well-made.  Very lovely.

From 10:30 and 12:30 there was “under the tree kindergarden” which some people did reading and singing to kids.

Demonstration of Japanese tea ceremony was available.

I met many friends over there.  It was a great catch-up.  My friend had this “miso soup & 2 onigiri” lunch served on a bed of a bamboo leaf.  There was a big queue to the cafe.  I wanted to eat green tea tiramisu, but I couldn’t 🙁  Hopefully I can try lots of food next year.

Hinata Gallery Cafe 2012

There will be an exciting event for people who love hand-made craft, art, music, Japanese foods and culture in Bibra Lake.  This event, called “Hinata (sunny side) Gallery Cafe”, will be held on 8th of September 2012 at Perth Waldorf School, Bibra Lake.

There will be stalls selling hand-made crafts, arts, etc as well as Japanese foods and drinks.  I’ve never been to this event before, but apparently it’s held annually.  I hear all the things at this event are very well-made and good quality.  Above of all, nothing can beat the warmness of handmade things.

There will also be an opportunity to experience Japanese calligraphy, and listen to Japanese musician playing and watch Japanese film.

Cafe will open from 10:00 to 19:00, Craft/Workshop open from 10:00 to 16:00, Music Concert will start at 16:00 for 30 minutes, and Film will start from 16:30 until 18:30.  Yes, it’s a whole-day event!

So, write down the date “8th September 2012” on your diary and experience the whole culture and entertainment of Japanese artists!

PBC Expo and Pizza with The Lot

PBC Expo (Perth Pregnancy Babies & Children’s Expo) started yesterday, and D, Hiro and I headed to Claremont Showgrounds Exhibition Centre in the morning.  We assumed there’ll be more people on weekends.

It was around 12am when we arrived there, and the parking was full!  So many people with prams, as expected…  We wanted walk around fast, so we carried Hiro.  It was my first time going there, and I didn’t really search what’s there and how big the expo was.  I think I should have done it at least to check what exhibitors would be there.

Many exhibitors were offering free samples and discounts on their products.  At the entrance of the expo you can get a pamphlet of vouchers you can use at the stalls within the expo.  I didn’t even know these things and was wondering why people were handing those piece of paper to the exhibitors.  Soon I found out I had to tear the coupon out of the pamphlet and pass to the exhibitors in order to get the free samples.  I see I see…

I got so many free stuff and pamper bags.  I also bought some Curash bath-time moisturiser ($4.00), Heinz’s disposable bibs (5 for $1.00), and Sistema’s  set of baby feeding utensils and containers ($10.00).

We didn’t stay there for long (I think it was less than 1 hour) but many people seemed to enjoy the free stuff, talk to some experts (breastfeeding, postnatal depression, children’s health insurance etc), and the foods.  It could be fun going with mom friends.

At home, I wanted to clean up the fridge and decided to make pizza for dinner.  D likes eating salad rolls and keeps few containers of vegetables (say; tomato, red onion, lettuce, cucumber, etc) in the fridge, but once he runs out buns he doesn’t touch these containers and all the vegetables go bad 🙁  I hate wasting food, so I cut these left-over up and used as toppings for pizza.  I picked few leaves of basil from the garden and used it too.

Ummmm I think I put too much food on the pizza :p  Yes, I am a piggy…  But I like it with lots and lots of ingredients.  I added chopped bacon for D too (as he loves meaty one).  It was great – tasty, and the fridge is now clean!

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May 5, Children’s Day

I have a photo of 2-weeks-old Hiro in the room, and the photo makes me realize how small he was once and how big he has grown in the last 2 months. In this photo he is sooo tiny!

Look at him now!  Is this a same baby??  He is wearing the same clothes.  His face, arms and legs are round and chunky!  My mum calls him “little piggy”.
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He now wears the size 000, and newborn nappies are getting tight. You know, he was too small for size 0000 clothes and newborn nappies were too big for him when he was born.  In-laws bought him lots of clothes at size 000 – 00, and I used to think “when will he be able to fit in these huge outfits?!” Now he wears infant size nappies, and those huge-used-to-be clothes are just right size for him. Looking at the size0000 clothes made me miss the tiny legs and arms…  Baby grows so fast! (><)

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Now I’m looking at size 0 clothes and thinking when he will be able to fit in these huge T-shirt. The day might Not be too far away.
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5th of May is Children’s Day in Japan, and is part of the Golden Week (national long weekend). It is a day set aside to respect children’s personalities and to celebrate their happiness.
The day was originally called Tango no Sekku, and traditionally families with boys celebrate this day by displaying kabuto (traditional Japanese armour as worn by samurai) and raising koinobori (carp-shaped flags).
(http://www.jpn-miyabi.com/Vol.21/sekku-e.html)

It was Hiro’s first Tango no Sekku. Although I didn’t have koinobori or kabuto to display, I made a little one just to celebrate this day.

Be a strong, healthy boy, Hiro!

Showcasing Japan’s Freshest Anime　　

Luna Palace in Leederville is screening 5 Japanese anime films for a limited 2 week season from 16/Sep/10 (Thu) ~ 29/Sep/10 (Wed).

“Reel Anime” is a anime festival held in Australia and New Zealand.  All the fils will be screening in the original Japanese with English subtitles.

These 5 films are:

• EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE
• EVANGELION:1.0  YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE
• SUMMER WARS
• KING OF THORN
• REDLINE

Obon

© Librairie Seizan of KYOTO

Car, Storm and Summer

Hinamatsuri