Imbibables

♫ ♪ San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers In Your Hair) - Scott McKenzie

Queen of Hearts Merlot from Santa Barbara (makes me nostalgic) and a tiny Asahi Super Dry beer from Japan (makes me laugh). I don't think I'll ever drink this...I was thinking I might save it and bring it out for guests as a joke sometimes. Only in Japan will you find such an adorable beer!

Tea from Paris

♫ ♪ Du Matin Jusqu'au Soir - Edith Piaf

My new favorite movie is Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, and ever since I saw it, I've been thinking about nothing but Paris. My life is full of funny little coincidences and so of course pretty shortly after I fell in love with the movie, my dad's next business trip was to Paris. He bought me a lovely tea there that's fruity, smooth and sweet, some of the loveliest tea I've ever tried. I love how it comes not in tea bags or loose-leaf but in little muslin satchels. 

Uji

♫ ♪ All I Have to Do is Dream - The Everly Brothers

Uji is magical.

Trinkets

♫ ♪ Parlez-moi d'amour - Dana Boule

I like how they all look together. The orange bracelet is from a jewelry case at a yoga studio (Be Yoga in Palo Alto, California), the serpent bracelet is from Stella and Dot, perfume is Dior, and the mirror compact, glass bracelet and spoon are all from my dad. The spoon is from Beijing. Nerd fact about me: I collect spoons. I have maybe seventy of them and every single one is from a business trip my dad took (this collection started when I was very young). The picture of course is of my beautiful mother.

Tea Time

♫ ♪ Girls - Death in Vegas 

Documented my green tea process from yesterday morning. I've been using this teapot for about four years ever since my Dad bought it for me in Uji (the cups are actually from a gift shop in Nara).

Weekend

♫ ♪ Just Like Honey - The Jesus and Mary Chain

I visited my dad in Nara-shi this weekend. Nara is a very special place for me...I can feel it the minute I step out of the train station. My dad's apartment is actually in nearby Kizugawa-shi, which is quiet and full of fields and lush flowers and huge insects and bamboo forests. We found some cute cafes and restaurants in the downtown Nara area during the day, and later, while he did some work at the office, I raided his Hemingway collection and started reading A Moveable Feast. The beautiful jade piece is a gift from my dad, he was in Beijing last week on business and visited a jade factory and the Great Wall, among other things. It's the perfect size for holding just a handful of yen coins and a train ticket.