On the streets of New York

A crochet bicycle! By Olek

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The trip was amazing. I had to pinch myself several times because I was in Europe. In Paris! Venice! Edinburgh! London! I'm looking forward to sharing some of the photos.

It's good to be back home. Even if it is to cold and rain. I can make my coffee just the way I like it. I definitely missed good coffee!

Bon Voyage

The plane leaves tomorrow. I have almost finished packing and I'm excited. I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my camera and generally taking in the sights, sounds and tastes of many cities.

I may or may not be blogging from afar, in the meantime, take care!

Worth displaying

Plenty of rain here today. Reminded me of the cute umbrellas suspended outside a dwelling in Takayama.

Mini break

I'm getting on a plane tonight and going for sensory overload in Sydney. A long weekend with family, friends, good food and great sights. I can hardly wait! I'm not sure I'll get to everything on my list, but I can try.

200th post = give away!

If you ever get to Japan, you must take some time out to visit Tokyu Hands. It's a cross between Bunnings/Spotlight/Lincraft/Ikea but a whole lot better. No less than 8 levels of DIY heaven, each level having about 3 sub levels. A visit took up most of my morning, I was a happy Casie.

The little package above is for one of you, it includes a few things from Tokyu hands, some of my gift tags and a green tea Kit Kat. Oh yes!

Edited to add the stickers! I forgot to add the stickers, they're included too.

Blog land has been good to me, it's time to give back, for this I'll post worldwide. Come say 'Hi', I've been toying with increasing the image size. This picture size? A little bigger? Or leave as was, what do you think? Let me know in the comments feel free to leave any other feedback too. I'll draw a winner next Friday 4pm Melbourne time.

Good luck. And happy weekend. Ours is a long one and couldn't have come at a better time.

This giveaway is now closed.

A taste of things to come

Winter time in Japan.

On the street

...there were many objects to keep one amused in Japan. Is it the same here? Or the fact that I had fresh eyes over there?

Red

Tasty treats

1. Green tea custard in profiteroles. 2. Hot cocoa in a can, from a vending machine. Doubling as a hand warmer. 3. Salmon roe on rice with a fresh green salad. 4. Cold bento for the Shinkansen. Mmm onigiri! Hmm pickled vegetables.

Oh deer!

They were cute, if not a little pushy if they knew you had (or saw you buy) deer crackers. As visited on our way to Todai-ji Temple in Nara, the old capital of Japan. Incidentally this year Nara is celebrating its 1300th anniversary as the previous capital of Japan! It's hard to fathom a history like that when you live in a country so young.

Kyoto

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Vietnam, but oh I loved Japan. My third visit and I left wanting to relocate there more than ever. Visiting in Winter was cold, but it meant a lot of the time we had the streets to ourselves. So very peaceful. I can't begin to imagine how beautiful these streets would be in cherry blossom season. Next time perhaps?

Abundance

I enjoyed walking through the markets in Vietnam. Everywhere we went the produce looked fresh and vibrant. This translated into the food we ate throughout the trip.

The two standout eateries that we visited were Light Candle in Hoi An. Here we were served wonderfully home cooked food by the most affable Vietnamese women, the passion she has for food and people was compelling. I've never experienced anything quite like it. We enjoyed the place so much we went back a second time, admittedly for breakfast.

The second place was in Hanoi (though there's also a place in Saigon). The premise is to take the best street food vendors and have them all in one place. The choice of tasty morsels was overwhelming, but once we'd chosen, with help from other travelers at our communal table, we weren't disappointed. I would happily have gone back to sample the rest of the menu! You'll find Quan An Ngon, in the French Quarter.

Withdrawals

I am having serious withdrawals from Vietnamese coffee. Outrageously strong/bitter coffee tempered with sweetened condensed milk to create an almost chocolate-y caffeine hit. Happy times (or heart palpitations) after one of these.

The weekend

Japan
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Vietnam

Whether you're getting out and about, or staying in, may your weekend be a satisfying one.

Joyeux Anniversaire - Part deux

I mentioned yesterday, Mum's 59th, next year to celebrate her 60th (and my 10 years long service leave) the Rosies will be in Paris! Well almost. We might be a month late...

Hence learning French being on the list of things to do this year. I've been listening to the Coffee Break French series at work and on the train, but I need to step it up a notch. I loved speaking Japanese (albeit poorly) in Japan and know that learning French will enhance the travel experience.

Village life

One of my favourite places to explore in Vietnam was the fishing village of Mui Ne. Possibly because it was such a contrast to the resort Mui Ne we'd stayed in for the previous two days. This, to me, felt like "real" Vietnam, untouched by the tourist dollar, locals living everyday life.

Mr T got a kick out of it too. Our taxi driver abandoned us and the only way back was by motorbike. My aim of the trip was to avoid them at all costs. Obviously I lived to tell the tale, but I'm sure the driver still has my fingertip impressions in his flank because I was absolutely petrified.

Reality

Back to real life it seems. Thank goodness for Australia Day and as a result, a very short working week. As expected snowed under at work. But it's the weekend now and the plan is to head down to the beach to relax, because we haven't done enough of that recently.

When is experiencing different cultures, exploring new places and not working not fabulous? Mr T and I had a wonderful time and hopefully soon I'll share some more images and catch up with all that's been happening in blog-land.