Tokyo: A Certain Style *cross post*

Tokyo: A Certain Style, by Kyoichi Tsuzuki, I've had this book for about 6 years when my partner told my sister that I loved this book and didn't have it, so my sister gave it to me for my birthday. I have poured over the pages a million times since. Recently, I pulled it out for three reasons to look at the small spaces especially those apartments that are tatami style apartments since I will be one of those people soon enough and wanted to get some temporary decor tips. Then the second reason is I find that I enjoy sketching things and rooms much more than I use to when I was younger so this is a perfect book to sketch from, just to get my hand moving. Lastly, I am planning to build my photography portfolio in Japan so I was using this book as a jumping off inspirational book of photography which Kyoichi Tsuzuki photographs make it breathtaking. The book is sectioned into different kinds of apartments, like, "Beauty in Chaos", "The Fancy Fetish", or "Kiddie Kingdoms" with a brief note about the person living in the apartment and what they do. Anyway I want to share a few of the photographs from this book which I highly recommend you add to your library.

Sunrise Mart Soho-Japan in New York *cross post*

Since I wrote about Panya in my previous post I figure I can write about Sunrise Mart which is where I got my lunch today and it's a great Japanese supermarket, this is the Soho Branch. Sunrise has a couple of locations but this one has an eat-in seating section which is nice. This is a a small but real supermarket, you can get all your ingredients to make any Japanese meal. Of course there is all the fun candy and treats, they also carry Panya treats, like curry pan and yummy fluffy bread loafs, I bought one to make french toast!






There's a whole section were you can get hot take out or just take it to the eat-in section. The have Ramen noodles, in Shoyu (soy sauce), Miso, or Tonkatsu (pork). I got the Miso Ramen, that's usually my favorite and the safest bet anywhere.



In the hot food section you can get all sorts of Donburi (rice bowls). There's chicken katsu don, Tonkatsu don (pork) and shrimp don. Haven't tried theirs yet only Panya's and theirs is yummy.



You can also get the prerequisite onigiri (rice ball with filling) in many flavors. My favorites are the spicy tuna, tuna mayo, or plum, although I really have to be in the mood for these.



This packaging just had me rolling,it's the first thing saw when I walked in, What kinda spaghetti? huh?



I'm having a little crafty get together this weekend and I thought these party toothpicks would be fun. This is just some of the cute stuff they have there. Super cute animal toothpicks, but what's the brown guy a Squid? My favorite though is the faces toothpicks, there are some questionable emotions on some of the faces, and who really wants a dead guy face on their tea sandwich (is it a warning like the skull and crossbones on a poison bottle) or the weeping face (this food is so bad it made me cry, what? huh?)

Dinner at Panya-Japan in New York *cross post*

Panya is one of my favorite Japanese comfort food restaurant and sweets bakery. They have everything delicious and cheap! Some of the savory treats from their kitchen are Chicken katsu don or sandwich, traditional Japanese Breakfast set, curry rice and many more yummy dishes.




You can pick up from the refrigerated section more yummy goodness, like onigiri, 4 kinds sandwich set (like the ones at a Lawson or 7 Eleven in Japan, sans the tonkatsu), sushi, salads, and bento boxes.


They have an amazing bakery section too, some of the treats I've tried and loved are the macaroons, the green tea and rose one are my favorites. I also love the green tea tiramisu, cream puff, and curry pan, I'm told the pear danish is outrageous! They have lots of beverages aside from coffee drinks





Aside from all those delights they have a small section where you can pick up dry goods like green tea cookies, big fluffy loaves of bread baked in-house, all sorts of chip-like snacks, pocky, wasabi peas and all sorts of candies and sweets.




This was my delicious Chicken Katsu sandwich for $6.50 plus an Oi-cha (green tea) $2.50 total of $9 for dinner pretty good deal and there are tables so you can have your meal or treat there.

- Posted by misskitty1970

My New Neigborhood in Japan! *cross post*

OMG! I was able to locate my new place in Nakameguro, Tokyo, Japan via google maps street view. This is so cool, look how cute the neighborhood is! So the place is the one with the green awning 3 houses in from the corner on the right.


A view of the streets by the corner




The corner house

Then these are pics of stuff three blocks up walking towards the train station

All Set for Japan

Bonill/ Nill Style Cafe, Nakameguro

Yay! I have my plane ticket and today I confirmed my apartment in Nakameguro, a super cute neighborhood in Tokyo! I'm staying in a Japanese style apartment with Tatami mats and futon.



Okay rewind, I have been posting I'm my other blog about the state of affairs and totally forgot no one has any idea here. So I gave notice at my job as a designer at a big clothing company this week. My plans are to work on my real art career as a photographer and painter, so that's where Japan comes in, I'm leaving in March for a month to work on my portfolio. I will be cross posting here all my adventures during my stay, but you can also visit my other blog at craftylove.

So back to the apartment I'm renting. Luckily, I'll have a washer in my apartment but no dryer. Have to figure that out, guess I can buy a small clothes line. The train station is about 7 minutes away according to Sakura House, the agency that helps foreigners with rental apartments and guesthouses. It's going to be weird living by myself, no partner and no dogs, kinda a little sad, but I know its just a month. I leave March 1st the day after my birthday.

Nakameguro is filled with super cute stores, cafes, and music venues. The area is known for its vintage stores and hipster residents. Its like Williamsburg but without the toxic waste and better train line. The pics of the area are from my last trip in 2008.