(Nearly) Happy Weekend!

Just a quick one to say hope you all have a fabulous weekend! This is a Vogue cover drawing I did back in 2009 xx

Where am I?

If you want to be greeted by name, and enjoy some ridiculously fantastic pizza, then make your way to Fandangos, the cutest little Italian restaurant in Onomichi, Hiroshima. I was sitting there on Friday night for Gillian’s belated birthday celebrations when I had one of those mind vs. location moments. It didn’t feel like I was in Japan at all, I really could have been in any country at that very moment. I was eating perfectly prepared Italian pizza and enjoying the company of nine different nationalities: Irish, Japanese, Australian, Canadian, British, New Zealand(er?), Jamaican, American and South African! I’m really grateful for those little escapist moments, when I can just relax and enjoy good food and catch ups with good friends.

PS. I’m donning a little second hand granny dress that I managed to shorten and then squeeze into my suitcase from home. And thanks to Emily for being my personal paparazzi when I need an outfit shot! I’ll link to her beautiful blog as soon as she starts one ;) PSS. Apparently smiling and keeping my eyes open is some sort of impossibility… I’ll be waking up an extra half an hour earlier every morning just to practise (not!).    

  

Octopus Balls

About a month or two ago I said to the boyfriend, “Hey, let’s go for takoyaki!”…and of course his reply was, “Why don’t we try make it ourselves?” Eeep!

Recipe in hand we then attempted (with great success) to make what is essentially octopus, spring onion and little dried shrimp in a ball of pancakey batter, covered in fish flakes, seaweed, takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise. No really…it’s yum!

Layover at Incheon International Airport

What to do when you have a 6 hour layover at Incheon International Airport? Leave! As impressive as this airport is, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add another stamp to my little green passport and discover a new country…even if it was only for a few hours. I eased through passport control after finding out I could stay in South Korea for 30 days without a visa. Next stop was Heungryunsa temple, a little Buddhist gem just 25min from the airport.  The journey led me across South Korea’s longest spanning cable-stayed bridge to thousands of streaming paper lanterns at the 650 year old Buddhist temple…All those lanterns were for Buddha’s birthday of course! And I learnt a new word: Gam sa ham ni da = Thank you.  South Korea I will definitely be back!

Honey I'm home

Well, home away from home:  When I’m in Japan I call South Africa my home, but when I was home, I referred to my apartment in dear little Mihara as home. It’s all very confusing. Anyways, here I sit, (back in Japan) ready to unpack my bags like a kid on Christmas. For now, still in my groggy airplane state, I’ll leave you with a drawing of mine that I found when I was at home home (you know which home right?).

Kloof S.P.C.A

I added another check to my “at home to do” list after spending Monday morning at Kloof S.P.C.A. One of my favourite things to do is rummage through the vintagy rails at the Fine Feathers Ladies Boutique, and then me and the family enjoyed tea and toasted sarmies at the cute little tea garden there. Now I feel the need to add “get tan” to that list seeing as those legs of mine haven’t seen the sun since October 2010!!