Meet Marimo

Last Saturday, I went to the annual J-Pop Summit Festival in San Francisco's Japantown. While it was neat to see the crème brûlée and Japanese curry food trucks and the people dressed up as different Japanese characters, my favorite part was souvenir shopping.

I ended up buying two small marimo in a cute glass jar from Utsuwa Floral Design. Marimo are small green lake balls (moss balls) with a velvety appearance. Apparently, they are found only in the northern hemisphere, which might explain why I never heard about them when I lived in Japan. Marimo in Japanese roughly translates to "plant balls that live in water." Marimo last for a long time and require little care:

-Once a week, change half of the water and add fresh water (distilled water or filtered water)
-Indirect sunlight is best, but fluorescent light is also fine

My dad laughed when I first showed him my marimo. His brother and him used to throw slimy moss balls at each other from a fountain near where they lived when they were young.  He thinks they're silly, but I think they're just great.

A Short Return to The Land I Love

What better way to revisit my old stomping grounds in Japan than to attend the wedding of my Japanese friend in the town where I used to live? In May, I was lucky to be able to return to Hitachi to be a bridesmaid in a beautiful wedding at an amazing venue right next to the Hitachi coast in Ibaraki prefecture. Highlights of the trip include the wedding (of course!) and seeing another friend of mine and her new twin baby girls in Tokyo.

When I lived in Japan for two years, it always felt like I was running around, going to and from four different schools, or taking a weekend trip to a neighboring prefecture.  I was determined to see as much of Japan as I could in those two years, and I did.

But this time, slowly relaxing and just spending time with my friends gave me a greater appreication for Japan and especially for the many connections I know I will always have there.

Jen and I, about to devour our taco rice dinner at her apartment!

A lovely performance at the wedding.

Is that cake real?!

Two of the four bridesmaids.

Posing for some pictures before dessert!

The cakes and fruits at the dessert table were so light and fresh.

One of many courses.

The closest I got to seeing the solar eclipse...

Fabric Fun

I've been finding PLENTY of uses for all the Japanese fabric I bought in Tokyo before returning to the U.S. last year. I had originally bought the fabric because my aunt said that she would make me a Japanese quilt when I got home.

Apparently I had bought enough fabric for many quilts. So together we've been finding other creative uses for the fabric. From mini quilts, to bags, to knitting needle and crochet hook rolls, we've been unstoppable!

Here's our latest project. These bobby pin holders are so cute and handy! I found this idea on pinterest.com.

My favorite one is on the far right in the first picture, the fabric with Japanese hair accessories on a pale pink and white background.

I bought the paper clip holders at Staples, and the fabric came from my Japanese collection, of course.:)

Who knows what'll come next!

My Japanese Stamp Collection

Actually, the collection belongs to my grandmother, but she gave it to me when I returned home from Japan this year. I was so excited to sort through and organize these little pieces of history.

Last Thursday, I visited Treasure Island Stamps & Coins in Palo Alto to find out a little more about these old stamps and how to best preserve them. After talking to the owner of the shop about the value of the stamps (the most expensive ones are worth from $25-$30) and how to keep them looking nice, I bought a small blue album with inserts for the stamps.

I loved looking at the different stamps and guessing what time period they were from. I especially liked seeing old images of Miyajima and other places I have visited in Japan printed on the stamps. Luckily, my grandma had preserved them well, so it was really easy to remove the stamps from the sheets and place them in the album. My grandmother said that she had only given me two pages out of many albums of stamps (it was a hobby she enjoyed with her mother), and that I should look at her other stamps, too. I have a feeling I'll be visiting that stamp shop again soon!

My grandma gave me the stamps on sheets like this. Many of the stamps had fallen off, so I first removed all of them from the sheets.

Then I tried to organize them by year, style, and/or shape.

After a few hours, all the stamps made it into the book!

This is one of the most valuable sheets in the collection. According to the man at the shop,  it's worth $25-$30.

This is the other most valuable sheet, also worth $25-$30.

This is the most recent addition to the collection - I received these "Japan Sports 100th Anniversary" stamps from a teacher friend of mine as a gift before leaving Japan!

Sushi Time!

A few months ago, I picked up the Lily Sugar'n Cream pattern book, Asian Inspiration, at Michael's Craft store and just HAD to try the project I saw on the front cover...sushi placemats! I thought the placemats would make the perfect Christmas present for my Japanese teacher in Japan. I love the cute little chopstick pockets on the right sides of the placemats. And the best part is, they can be used for forks, knives, and spoons just as easily.

Crochet away!

The finished products!

My chopstick collection (the Asahi beer glass is from a restaurant in Hitachi)