Sayonara

We are off for a little holiday to Japan tomorrow. I can't wait. I love Japan and although I have been there a few times it has always been for too short a time.

Today - as if by magic - the newspaper travel section has a wonderful article on what to do for 24 Hours in Tokyo! Some really interesting places so we are going to follow it to the letter (until at least we get lost). How could you resist the Salt and Tobacco Museum or the Life Safety Learning Centre - all about earthquakes?

Then we will be off to Osaka and Kyoto clutching lots of interesting ideas of places to visit. Some of them courtesy of my friend Helen who did lots of groundwork for us earlier this year - thanks Helen.

I probably won't be blogging this trip but will try and keep you up to date on Facebook.

Final Snippets

These are the last snippets from Tokyo - I think it is time to get back to reality. Thanks for your nice comments. It is always nice to know you are not talking to yourself in cyberspace.
I love interesting signs - this was in all the railway stations.

More interesting sweet/biscuits/cakes - not sure but they look delicious.

I am sure these are also delicious but just not as appealing.

Now just what would I do with more Amino??

Looks like bananas are extra luxury items in Japan too.

Edible Japanese Snippets

Food - my favourite topic
Here are some yummy cakes - but are they - look again. They are actually small towels rolled up to look like cakes - not sure why but aren't they cute?

Lunch is always a time to try out lots of little tastes

But would you eat at Cafe Smell?

Fresh is best but not this fresh

For desert you can't go past some delicate cakes. The Japanese excel at packaging and design



You can always check the menu outside most restaurants which makes life very easy if you don't speak Japanese - pointing is an acceptable form of ordering.

Tokyo Day One

A wonderful flight with a little bit of sleep and watching 'The Queen' with Helen Mirren. Flight took nearly 10 hours and the trip from the airport took another 3! Unfortunately as we couldn't check in till the afternoon and it was nine in the morning we had to start being tourist straight away. Fortunately the Tokyo International Quilt Show started at ten so after wrestling with the buttons (in a vending machine) outside a cafe and then eating a yummy soup I was ready to face the (quilting) masses.






Held at the Toyko Dome which usually houses baseball games - it is an interesting venue for a quilt show.

You enter at the top and then walk down through the seats to the floor below.The vendors are around the outside of the floor and the different exhibitions (colour coded) are in the centre.

When you need to take a break you buy a bento box (lunch pack) from here and then go and sit in the seats and watch the show from a distance. By now my feet were the most intensely painful part of my body and the jet lag was setting in so I sat and watched for quite a while.







Of course the quilts were amazing. The show website does better justice than my photos but here are a few that took my fancy. My favourites were exhibitions by master Japanese quiltmakers each with their own exhibitions but unfortunately you were not allowed to take photos but there were catalogues available.

There was a collection of group quilts and although many traditional - this one took my fancy as each block was food - 3d and so clever. Made me hungry again.


Korean style pojaji quilt - I had to buy some fabric to try this technique. I love the transparency effect although it is a long time since I did hand piecing.




I loved these little buttons all over a quilt - so happy

The crowds were quite thick in front of the major winners at times

This is the roof of the Dome - could almost be a quilt itself











While I was at the Show, Peter was wandering aimlessly wherever his curiosity took him. There are a lot of street people in Tokyo and many live in boxes and queue for food . I will post more positive photos of Tokyo next time.


Protection from the frost I expect or just decoration?