Tokyo - Day 4

A big reason for coming to Tokyo was to do the International Bazaar at the Tokyo American Club and today is traditionally the busiest (and longest) day. I got to the club at 8am ready to set up my stall which was luckily in a new and busier place.

I'm so proud of how the stall looked and love how my bags all work together. I also got to see a lot of familiar faces, old friends, return customers, as well as new customers.

The show finished at 8pm and I was ready for some food and something cold and alcoholic to drink. I still hadn't had my sushi fix so we headed to a kaiten sushi (conveyor belt sushi) place in Shibuya.

I loaded up on a massive selection of sushi all washed down with a cold beer. Yum!

Tokyo trip - Day seven

It's my last day in Tokyo! It's gone really quickly, but I've managed to fit so much into each day. Today was supposed to be a relaxing day for me, but I still managed to run around. I started the day with a filling breakfast at Ivy Place which is a restaurant almost opposite where we used to live. I ordered a tasty eggs benedict and sat in the sun, enjoying the morning and watching the world go by. After that I mooched around Tsutaya, a book shop with an immense selection of fashion, interior, design, craft books etc which are all gorgeous. I then popped into my favourite tenegui shop to pickup some items, before jumping on the train at Daikanyama and heading to Jiyugoaoka, a town about ten minutes train ride away that has a slightly similar feel to Shimokitazawa. I like the local feel of the place and the quiet bustle of it, but the main reason for going was to visit a lovely little kimono shop there. It's down some back streets and not very easy to find. I was originally taken there by a friend of mine and I was worried about being able to find it, but I did, and the sweet girl who works there was very attentive. It's a family-owned shop and she runs it with her mother.

She left me alone to forage through her boxes of kimono pieces and I came out with some lovely bright designs, as well as some more subdued ones.

After my trip to Jiyugoaoka, I went straight to my friend Jan's to hang out there for the afternoon with some other friends. One friend, Noriko, brought some beautiful obi pieces for me to take home. So kind! You can see them below.

I've spent the evening packing....and panicking!!!! I have so much stuff and may have to take a lot of it in hand luggage..... To soften the blow, I decided to have my last supper at the kaiten sushi (conveyor belt sushi) place in Shibuya.

It's fine to go on your own, which is what I did. People sit in rows and you have your own little area in front of you, with an iPad at eye level.

Order your food on the iPad, and sip your beer while you wait for the food to appear.

Each order comes whizzing along the conveyor belt and stops directly in front of you.

You then have to take your dish off the conveyor belt and if you don't, you get an angry button flashing and ringing at you. Note the picture on the button of an angry little man!

The fish was beautifully fresh and tasted even better when washed down with a cold beer.

Not a bad way to spend my last day in Tokyo!

Tokyo trip - Day three

I woke up this morning (having been able to sleep to a decent hour this time) to torrential rain! This was not good as I had planned a day of shopping, which is not conducive to having to cart around a brolly....

Anyway, I headed off to my first port of call, the clasp shop! It's a wholesale shop in Kuramae which has been around for over 80 years and is run by a group of little old men who play jazz and blue grass all day. The shop is packed full of all sorts of bag-making supplies and purse frames of all shapes and sizes. I headed there to pick up clasps for my cosmetic bags, but needless to say, I also found some other items in my foraging. This included these fab purse frames with a bobble detail.

I then headed to Nippori where there is an area called Fabric Town. Every shop sells fabric or fabric-related items and it's heaven for any fabric lover. I could have spent hours there but had limited time so headed to the best one, called Tomato. It spreads over five floors and has all sorts of fabric to choose from. I like to home in on their printed cottons and picked out some fab items for my cosmetic bags and purses.

These zebras are great and I love the bright red background. They will have a contrasting black and white polka dot lining.

Boston Terriers! How bloody cute?!

Two different types of glasses prints. These will be great for making glasses cases with.

I can't resist a cute kitty cat print and the dogs are pretty sweet too!

I then headed to Azabu-juban to meet three friends for lunch. We went to a lovely restaurant, Yasaiya Mei, that is vegetarian and sells fresh, seasonal food. I loved the display of greens on the counter as we entered.

What I love about Japan is the attention to small details. The chopstick-rest above is made from wood but designed to look like a slice of lotus root.

I chose a 'tendon' set lunch which includes a selection of scrumptious vegetable tempura on a bowl of rice.

After lunch we came across a shop selling rice crackers. I loved the brightly coloured, patterned packaging!

For dinner, I met up with a friend and we went for kaiten sushi ('conveyor belt sushi') in Shibuya. You choose your dishes by typing your order into an iPad in front of you and minutes later the order comes shooting along a track and stops right in front of you!