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a few days ago i thought i was turning into the male version of rapunzel, living high-up in a tower shrouded by clouds.
believe me, i would say yes to clouds any day, but unfortunately no clouds were shrouding me, instead i was wrapped up in wet humid fog.
and unlike rapunzel i wasn't waking to the sound of chirpy blue forest birds. no no no, i got woken up to the noise of a long deep drowning horn from the huge cruise liner ships trying to navigate through the dense fog outside my bedroom window.
but hallelujah, we have been hit by a cold spell and the fog has vanished. last weekend the temperature was 28, yesterday it dropped down to 8.
a 20-degree drop over a matter of days is a wardrobe horror story, but at least the fog has dissolved and i can finally wake up to a view of the sun (no chirpy blue forest birds yet...).
so with this cold snap in full blast we at long last pulled out my extremely hard-earned le creuset pot and put it to use.
i know i know, talk about embarrassing. i mean, who goes to all that trouble for a pot (read here) only to put it away for the next half a year (er... mr sekimachihato)
gotta say, the creamy winter stew chockablock with organic seasonal vegetables k-chan whipped up in our le creuset pot was divine!
oh no...
there was another le creuset sale, and in the same building where i work...
i just bought another two more le creuset pots!
what's up with baby goods?!
k-chan and i have started to stock up on the "bare essentials" these past few weeks, talk about a shock to the system! or should i say my wallet!
i thought someone had snuck (or is that sneaked?!) into the store during the night and slapped on extra zeros to all the price tags!
i think anything with the words "for new born babies" is an excuse to add a few extra zeros here and there...
but to tell the truth, it's all pretty exciting though. i never knew there was such a huge range of baby goods out there! and talk about cute!
(gotta put a stop to this clucky-ness!)
not quite a bare essential, but i couldn't resist (yet again...) getting this 100% woolen knitted mouse (not a rat!) from the french toy brand latitude enfant.
by the way her name is marie.
here's praying that my little one snugs up to this cute mouse and doesn't throw it onto the floor.
i then spotted a beautiful range of baby wear from dimples, known for their use of high quality soft organic cottons and merino wool.
dimples are from new zealand so i quickly gave my mum a call and asked her to check out the price back home. turns out these new zealand made baby goods are cheaper to buy here in hong kong rather than back in new zealand! wtf!
decided on a soft 100% cotton summer blanket with a dimples signature hand-embroidered bee.
i never dreamed that shopping for baby goods could be so satisfying!
from our dear friends who made me fall in love with kyoto's exclusive cha no ka, we were presented with yet another beautiful gift from t&m; this time not from japan's ancient capital but from the romantic city of paris.
mètis thè rouge; or rooibos tea from one of the finest french tea companies; mariage frères.
founded in 1854, mariage frères is france's oldest teahouse.
they obviously know all about tea because this brew is divine!
this blend of rooibos tea is only grown in the western cape province of south africa and is well known for its high antioxidant properties lack of caffeine and low tannin levels; perfect for a pregnant k-chan!
i must admit that i'm a huge coffee fan and need my daily fix(es) of caffeine, but this is a great tea to enjoy before snuggling into bed (unless you wanna be on a high and stay up (no pun intended!) half the night) on a cold night.
oh, and who wouldn't ooh and aah over the distinctive mariage frères canisters!?
i have a soft spot for this kinda thing. this beautiful canister will always have a place in my home!
although i would love to pull up a chair in one of mariage frères french tea-houses, unfortunately i don't see myself in paris anytime soon.
apart from one store in berlin, luck is on my side as they have a huge following in japan with a scattering of stores throughout the country and even a mariage frères restaurant in tokyo.
yet another memo on my must-do-when-i'm-back-in-japan list.
