Yoshiko – Japanese Hair Stylist in Northbridge

*** Yoshiko has moved to another salon since Jan 9, 2017.  Details below. ***

It’d been a while since my last visit to a hair salon – my hair needed a rescue!

I brought lots of hair-colouring boxes from Japan to dye my hair by myself, but after few boxes I realised I really needed to have my hair colour fixed by a professional.  Sadly I started to have few white hair (by having two boys at home..) and I found it’s difficult to dye these white hair!  And the colour of my hair was really light brown and I knew they’re all damaged.

I was going to go to HairPlus in West Perth, but then I heard about this Japanese hair stylist Yoshiko from my friend so I made a booking for haircut & colouring with her.

She used to cut people’s hair at home, but now you can see her in Northbridge.  She rents a chair at Eternity Hair Design hair salon on William street just for her customer.  The place is conveniently located in heart of Northbridge.

I think it’s a good idea to rent a chair – she doesn’t work at this hair salon but she just uses a corner of this shop.  Customers need to make bookings in order to meet her as she doesn’t stay at the shop when there’s no booking customer.

Some Japanese magazines to read + nice tea.

She’d been a hair stylist in Japan for 9 years, and has been in Perth for 7 years now.  All the products she uses at the salon are from Japan.

Hair Cut for Men $25 (inc shampoo)
Hair Cut for Women $25 (shampoo +$10) (for people who has super long hair +$5)

Colour $60~$75

Hair Bonding Perm $150~ $170 (cut +$20)

Treatment $20

Booking essential to 0423288620 (Yoshiko)
Mon ~ Sat 9:30 ~ 18:00

I coloured my hair darker, and trimmed the length….

I really love itttttttt!  My hair was really damaged but now it’s much easier to style.  Thanks Yoshiko san, I will definitely be back!

***

Yoshiko now locates in Lathlain.  Same as before, she only takes her customers and booking is essential.

0431 421 322 (Yoshiko)

Bento lunch boxes for kids

I’m sure people are aware of the word “bento” – it’s a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine.  Creating unique bento (kyaraben) is not only common in Japan nowadays but people around the world are also giving lots of ideas to create attractive lunch for kids each day.

Kyaraben is so amazing, and this is the best way to encourage kids to finish up their lunch boxes.  It gives them interests in food too, I think.  I’m wanting to give my kids kyaraben but unfortunately I’m not a creative person… and I don’t have time to google around to get ideas for kyaraben each morning.  (I wish I could!)

For those who are like me, picking up the right bento box could be an easy answer.  There are so many kinds of lunch boxes out there these days, and some of them are really useful and creative.  If you are local living in Perth, check out this shop that sells all kinds of bento items – BabyBento.

Being a mum to two and living in Perth WA, she created this online shop 2 years ago and now she is selling her items at some markets on regular basis.  You can also buy items online and get them sent to your door.

And this is my favourite.  I just saw her using this lunch box today for her kids, and it looked super cute and tidy!  She put 3 mini pancakes on the left side, and halved banana on right top, then vegetables, fruits and finger cheese sticks in other 3 compartments.  Perfect!

If you want to have a look at these items, she comes down to Maylands Wanderful Sunday Market on 3rd Sundays every month which is held at Maylands Sport and Recreation Club located at 50 Clarkson Rd, Maylands WA.  

I’m so inspired now and am thinking to make something creative for my son tomorrow 🙂

Baby Bento
http://www.babybento.com.au
Facebook

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!

Japanese Grocery Shop in Perth 2015

There are few posts that I wrote about Japanese grocery shops in Perth, and they are getting very old!  So here is an update …

Fuji Mart in Subiaco
A new Japanese grocery shop.  Easy access from Woolworths car park (90minutes free parking)!

Shop 13-14, 29 Station Street, Subiaco WA 6008
Tel : (08) 6162 8608

Mon-Fri 9:30 ~ 18:00
Sat 9:00 ~ 17:00
Sun 11:00 ~ 17:00
Public holidays closed

Yee Seng Oriental Supermarket
They occasionally sell new Japanese items.  The shop is located in Hulm Court, surrounded by some nice shops including Sundays Everyday, Ohnamiya, Perth Kimuchi, and UTOPIA.

36 Hulme Ct, Myaree WA 6154
Tel : (08) 9330 9096

Lion Oriental Food Co.
They sells variety of Japanese liquor as well as grocery.

13 Fitzgerald Street, Northbridge Perth 6003

Tel: (08) 9228 9898
website

MCQ at Coventry Village
“Farmer Jacks” inside Coventry Village in Morley.  Some items are much cheaper than other shops, such as Koshihikari rice, konnyaku, furikake rice seasonings and nori seaweed.  They sell a variety of frozen food and this is where I buy all the ingredients for oden in winter!

243-253 Walter Road, Morley WA 6062

And, nowadays Coles and Woolworths sell Japanese items on international isle.  They normally stock up basic stuff only such as nori seaweed, sushi vinegar and Japanese curry roux,  but some store sell unique one e.g. QP wasabi mayonnaise!  And sometimes you find a bargain – few weeks ago at local Coles, I got a pack of Japanese panko for $2.  Now I’m thinking to make delicious katsu 🙂

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!

Yee Seng Oriental in Myaree

Before I moved to North of the River I lived in Winthrop and whenever I needed Asian grocery I went to this place – Yee Seng Oriental Supermarket.

Yee Seng is located in Hulme Court in Myaree, just opposite Sundays Everyday and Perth Kimuchi.

The Japanese section used to be small, but now it’s expanded and you can find lots of Japanese & Korean grocery items at this store.

Most of the items, including rice, noodle and konnyaku, are actually tad cheaper at Coventry Village, but I still like Yee Seng because you can find more variety of Japanese food here.

For example, some frozen ready-to-cook food such as pre-cooked tempura, korokke, and crumbled fish are not sold at Coventry Village (to my knowledge).

You can get some Asian vegetables here too.

This is my another favourite section – drinks.  There are lots of Korean drinks that are at low cost.  They sell Korean version of Yakult cheaper than Yakult (although I’ve never tried as I always go with Yakult).

I love Hulme Court – there are lots of good grocery shops and restaurants/takeaway shops. 🙂

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!

NEW Place to Get Japanese Food – FUJI MART in Perth

It’s been awhile since I wrote about grocery stores in Perth where you can buy Japanese products.  Nowadays most Asian grocery shops sell Japanese food, and even supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths sell some Japanese food on the international isle.  – But they are always the same products : soy sauce, wasabi, nori sheets, mayonnaise, sauces, seasonings… some basic things only.  So for Japanese people who live in Perth and want something more “Japanese”, they’d go to Nippon Food in Subiaco where they can buy more variety of Japanese food and goods.

Now, however, there is a new Japanese grocery shop recently opened in Subiaco (same suburb as Nippon Food!)  – Fuji Mart.

Fuji Mart is a newly opened shop which caters variety of Japanese products including food and also some home wares.  They did a big opening ceremony at the shop few weeks ago which I missed – everything in store was 20% OFF!

The shop is conveniently located on Station Street in Subiaco, just above Woolworths car park (which you’ll pay $0 for 90minutes parking).  You’ll find this store in front of the escalator from/to the car park.

Inside the shop resemble a Japanese convenience store or supermarket.  Products are displayed neatly and everything is easy to see.  The store manager at this store has worked at Fuji Mart in Eastern State for a decade, and I can see he has some skill to display a retail shop –  WELL DONE!

And, at Fuji Mart, you will find much cheaper price compared to elsewhere.  Some items are cheapest here to my knowledge!

You can also buy some “100 yen goods” here at Fuji Mart in Subiaco at $2.50.

I was quite amazed by the variety of goods sold here.  You can even find a kit for Japanese calligraphy, magonote (back scratcher), and takoyaki-making plate!!!

I definitely recommend this store to anyone.  If you haven’t been here, just come!  The products are selling super fast so you may find some empty shelves, but they are ordering stocks and hopefully once the store starts rolling on track you can shop everything you need for a Japanese feast!

Fuji Mart

Shop 13-14, 29 Station Street, Subiaco WA
Tel : (08) 6162 8608

Mon-Fri 9:30 ~ 18:00
Sat 9:00 ~ 17:00
Sun 11:00 ~ 17:00
Public holidays closed

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.

4 More Sleeps

What, only 4 more sleeps till Christmas?! I realised I haven’t done many “Christmas” things this year.  I haven’t been to Christmas carols in the park, I haven’t seen many Christmas illumination (as I don’t go out at night anymore…), I haven’t taken my son to Santa land in the city, and I haven’t done much baking and cooking!

It’s not a good time to move house during the Christmas season, is it?  Well, I can spend Christmas in our new (20 years old) house – which is a good thing, but I’ve been super busy tidying up and cleaning up the house. :p  And, we are still undertaking the small painting project.  I don’t know how long it will take… we simply can’t find time to do it everyday!

Need to paint shelves and doors, and attach them to the cabinet.

Just to take some break from the household duties, I had a nice family dinner in Northbridge and afterwards we headed to Forrest Place to see the Christmas light-up. The projector lighted up beautiful images to the GPO building…  I loved the last one – shower of snowflakes.

I feel this every year but Perth gets really really quiet during Christmas season!  Very quiet, less people and less cars…

Oh, I had an order for 4 huge Christmas cakes last week.  This is my favourite cake – a sponge cake with fresh cream and fresh fruits.   I love it, but I’m not sure if I will make this for my family this year :p  I’m thinking maybe I will make a tower of profiteroles, resembling a Christmas tree.  Sounds cute doesn’t it?  I’m sure my son will love it!

It’s my little one’s first Christmas this year.  Wish you have a wonderful festive season too!

Boundary Fence Issue…

Sigh….  It’s been a troublesome winter for me this year as the boundary fence in the yard had been giving me a headache for almost few months.

Part of the fence broke few months ago because of stormy wind.  There’re 2 neighbours who share the fence with us, and one of them approached me saying they’d organise everything including finding a cheap fencing company and book for a service.  They said they will even get a quote to fix another neighbour’s part for me.  Such a nice couple.  They called up fencing companies and the earliest service we could get was 2 weeks away.  Apparently our boundary fence wasn’t the only one which got broken by those wind.  So waited, waited… for 2 weeks.

Because another neighbour was tenanted and the owner resides overseas, I tried contacting their real estate agent about the boundary fence.  The agent wasn’t helpful and he kept saying he can’t do anything because he can’t be in touch with the property owner.  That’s weird.  I thought taking care of these things’re their job.  I tried calling him everyday like a stalker.  I also mentioned that in order to fix the fence they first have to cut down the tree which was growing towards our yard.

The part of the fence with friendly neighbour was fixed after 2 weeks.  Still no news from another neighbour.  The agent kept telling me to wait until he gets information of house insurance.

… few weeks (more than a month) passed.  One day when I called the agent, he said he’s not the person to call anymore.  The owner of the house changed the real estate agent and I had to call another real estate company.  Gosh, can things get more complicated?!  But when I called up a new agent, I was surprised how friendly and helpful she was and I was relieved when she said she will organise everything including forwarding the quote to their insurance company and cutting the tree branches.   Things seemed so easy!  I’m not surprised that the original agent was sucked.

It felt forever until I saw the branch was being cut and trimmed.  Ok, things are looking good. I called up fencing company to book for a service.  Again, we had to wait for another 2 weeks as they’re very busy at the time.

Unluckily, during the 2 weeks there was another storm, and because the tree was removed and there’s nothing to support the fence, another part of the fence (connected to the part which had already been broken) had broken down!!!  It seemed endless, and I felt like I was to deal with boundary fence forever.  I got a quote for newly broken part and claimed to the insurance company.  Had to pay excess twice… sigh.

The last part of the fence got fixed up pretty quickly and now my mind is at peace.

A guy from fencing company gave me a great tip.  Next time, if part of the fence is broken and other part of the fence seem to be affected as well, kick the fence and knock everything down so insurance will pay all at once. Thanks!

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

Monggo Indonesian Restaurant

My sister-in-law visited us from Jakarta over the last weekend and we took her to Indonesian restaurant Monggo on Beaufort St, Mt Lawley for dinner.

In Perth I’ve only been to Sparrow in Northbridge (more than 8 years ago!) and Bintang Cafe in Victoria Park for Indonesian food.  On Monggo’s website the menu looked pretty good and more “formal” type compared to other two. Their menu had almost all the basic Indonesian food I could think of (and something more), and the naming “Jimbaran Fish” and “Serabi Bandung” recalled the memory of my trips to Indonesia over the last decade.

Inside the restaurants I could tell all the staff are Indonesian.  They were very friendly.  The table setting and decor looked pretty.
We ordered Kepiting Soka (crisoy soft shell crab),  Tumis Sayur (stir-fried vegetables), Ayam Rica-rica (slow-cooked chicken dish), Jimbaran Fish (grilled Barramundi fillet), and Beef Randang Kapao (beef curry).

I thought the pricing was bit expensive considering the size of the dish.  My husband and I are big eaters so we were little disappointed when the dishes came to our table.

All the food were very delicious though.  Because we had 2 kids we ordered Chicken Rica-rica MILD (instead of HOT) but it tasted still great.  I loved Tumis Sayur – the texture of the vegetables were just right!  My husband wanted to order Bebek Betutu (Ubud’s famous duck dish) but sisters didn’t want duck 🙁  I miss Ubud!!  Thinking to going to Bali again this year.

For dessert, we ordered Coconut Ice Putar (homemade coconut ice cream in a young coconut shell) and Serabi Bandung (Pandan-coconut fluffy pancake served with syrup).

I just noticed, the Serabi Bandung was supposed to be 3 pieces of pancakes, but we got 4.  Maybe it was because all our party (except 2 including me) were Indonesian?  We also got this caramel popcorn for free as well. ↓

The Pandan-coconut pancakes were good, but I loved Coconut Ice Puter!  I was imagining it’d taste something like the coconut ice cream you get from any  shops here but it didn’t.  Rosy colour (aroma of rose … Pandan?) with the texture of half ice cream half shaved ice.  Open the lid of young coconut, and scoop the ice cream with fresh coconut meat…  Yum!!

My husband has a sweet tooth and he loved it.

Monggo website

You can browse their menu here. (download the PDF)

By the way my son turned 3 this week.  I put his photo with a message from us on the newspaper in japan. 🙂  I love you so much and hope you stay like this (a round boy with big smile) forever!!!  xxx

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)

2014!!!

It’s been quite a while since I updated Umeboss…  I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s Day 🙂

I used to write something down and share things with blog visitors few times a week (sometimes almost everyday!) before but now I’m finding it difficult sit in front of computer and write something with a soon-to-be-3-year-old-boy being around me.

I feel like I’m saying this all the time, but time flies…. it is already 2014!! And, February!!  This year Australia Day in Perth wasn’t that hot compared to the past years, and I really regret not going to South Perth to join the Australia Day event and watch fire works.

It is Chinese New Year at the moment (Chinese NY was 31 Jan 2014, but apparently they celebrate for 15 days) – In Japan we don’t have Chinese NY but here I do celebrate as my in-laws are half Chinese and also I have Chine friends 🙂  I had a traditional Chinese NY dinner with in-laws, and my son wore red Chinese dress.

I’m actually pregnant with my second, so no trip to Japan this year…  Instead, my dad (and maybe my mum if she can overcome the fear of getting on a plane) is coming to Perth around November to see his grand sons.  My son and I went to Japan for 2 months last year and now we are already missing it.  It was summer in Japan and we enjoyed all the summer festivals, including fire works and bon fire, and of course FOOD!!!  I miss sushi~~~ sashimi~~~

It makes me feel little down when thinking about no being able to go to Japan, stay in ryokan and enjoy delicious food and onsen (hot spring) and relax for at least another 2 years, but I’m sure it’ll come faster than I think.  Babies and toddlers are cute but 2~3 years old can start enjoying same things as you do so I will wait to have a nice relaxing trip to Japan until my second one turns 2..  Ahhh…. feels such a long time <3

I think this year, until I give birth to a baby, will be fairly a relaxing one because I actually stopped baking and am focussing on time with my son at the moment.  Doing Bagelier at home was great but I don’t think I can do things as I used to do if I have 2 kids… at least for the first few months.  So I decided to take a break.  Long break.  I don’t even know when I’m gonna reopen Bagelier :p  I am really thankful for all the customers and friends who have been supporting me doing this business and hope to get back on foot someday 🙂

At the moment I’m planning my son’s 3rd birthday party.  I wasn’t even thinking of doing it until my son started asking me about birthday cake etc… (I’m surprised how he knows it’ll be his birthday soon) so I thought I’ll throw a small party – just a morning tea at the park with friends and family.  Last year his birthday cake had Anpanman (Japanese cartoon charactor) but this year he requested a dinosaur.  The cake will be as usual – sponge cake, whipped cream, lots of fruits…. like Japanese cake.  Then I’m gonna put 3 dinosaurs on top (because he’ll be 3).

I’ve already made dinosaurs to put on top of cake 🙂  I hope he will like it!!!

(for how to make these chocolate dinosaurs, see my post here)

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! 😀

Very Hot & Humid New Year

Time passes so fast….  I was talking about Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and now it’s already January 14!
How did everyone spend New Year’s Day and the holiday season?  We did pretty much nothing – just relaxing in the pool in the yard and visiting friend’s house.

Hiro made New Year’s mochi (kagami-mochi) using Play-Doh.  A little mandarine on top 🙂

And he ate mochi we made.  It was first time he had mochi – I was little worried that he might get choked on mochi (that’s a major reason for people being admitted to the hospital in Japan during New Year’s holiday season :p)

And we were treated with Spanish chicken dish by our friends 🙂  It was delish!

I brought some sushi and dessert.

I wasn’t in Perth this time last year so I’m not sure if it’s only this year or it’s been like this since last year, but Perth’s summer is getting humid….!!!  Since I came to Perth in 2003 Perth’s summer has been always HOT and DRY.  Now I don’t know if I’m in Japan or Bali or Australia :p  I hate hot and humid climate….  it makes me go crazy (*_*)

Australia Day has been always sunny and hot (and dry), so hopefully it’ll be like that next week…