Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Cococo strolls through London
Friday, September 9th, 2011 by lewisMy lovely cousin came over to see us last week. It was her first time in the UK. Luckily the moody English weather behaved very well while she was here. We had lots of picnics and went on many walks which she really enjoyed.
On Saturday we went on a day trip to London to see some sights together.
We drove into Acton, parked and then got the tube to Green Park. After that we strolled along the Mall towards parliament square. It’s funny, I’ve lived in the UK for 8 years in total, but I had never paid a visit to St James’s Park. I guess Green Park is more obvious for non-Londoners?
I personally prefer St James’ Park to Green Park. My 3 year old boy was fascinated by different kinds of birds. Did you know there is a cute little cottage which was used exclusively for bird keepers?
We kept walking towards Big Ben. Hundreds of tourist were wow-ing the huge clock structure Big Ben, on the other hand my son was very impressed by all diggers and cement mixers that were working in the road, he did not care about the World Heritage site. Bless him.
We tried to go on a London Duck Tour but it was fully-booked! Ouch, I should have reserved in advance… so we kept walking to Tate Modern and had a little cultural time before walking over the Millennium Bridge back to St Paul’s Tube Station.
On the way back home, the Sun was going down, the sky was beautiful pink just like sleeping kids’ cheek and my hubby’s sun-burnt forehead!
Pretty St James' Park
Oscar fascinated by the ducks
The bird master's house
Big Ben
Tomono x
Fine Sake, Fresh Sushi and Beautiful Parks -Visit Kanazawa
Sunday, June 12th, 2011 by tomonoOne of the places I would like to go back to one day is definitely Kanazawa in Japan. A few years ago I visited for my friend’s wedding shower. It was also just before I was leaving Japan, so Ihave happy memories of it as a girls trip.
We borrowed my friend’s mum’s posh Range Rover. The car was full of goodies but nobody imagined that this trip will be a long one…. When we were approaching to Kanazawa, it started snowing heavily so we were forced to either get off the motorway or put the chains on tyres. We did not have a satnav so our choice was the chain option…. Two of us were Sunday drives, one of us had no idea about vehicle and Beth was the only person who frequently drove and knew about car but guess where she comes from… Philippines!!! probably she never experienced snow in her country and I’m positive that when it snowed in Japan her husband was driving!
Yeah we used the biggest puppy eyes to get by and made our safe way to Onsen hotel after a long journey.
There is a beautiful park called Kenrokuen http://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/siro-niwa/kenrokuen/e/index.html which is located near Kanazawa Castle. Before the long snowy winter, they assist pine trees with ropes to prevent from damages by heavy snow. Some people might find that when they hear that news each year, they feel that winter is just around the corner.
Kanazawa is not only for the pretty park but fine Sake and super fresh fish! So don’t forget to pop in the little fish market called Omicho market and Sushi lunch.
Mouth watering sushi and sashimi
At the fish market
More sake that you can shake a stick at
Cocoro Visits Borough Market in London
Sunday, January 30th, 2011 by lewisOne freezing Saturday in January, we made a trip to Borough Market with friends.
It’s the place you can try local produced foods and foods from around the world. Everything you need to create great nose bag is here! (thanks to my friend Rick for teaching me this expression).
To warm ourselves up, we tucked into Bratwurst with German mustard and hot Apple and Ginger drink (If only I weren’t pregnant, I would definitely have grabbed a pint of beer!). Also had Caribbean chicken curry and fish soup for lunch. There were so many lovely foods I wanted to try. Wishing really hard that if only I had 4stomachs just like a cow….
My friend bought lovely sweet Balsamic vinegar from Belazu She told me that this Balsamic complement with salads and was also good to sprinkle on ice cream.
What I bought was Spanish Padron Peppers and spicy corn nuts. I will stir fry those peppers with extra virgin oil and serve just with French rock sea salt tomorrow!
Umm yum yum.
Waiting for the train to London Bridge
Oscar tucks into a Bratwurst
Lovely buns and cakes!
Boys having Caribean curry for lunch
Stopped by the Fuzz
Take-home treats!
Tomono x
Imperial Garden in Tokyo
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 by lewisA good friend of mine lives near Shibuya in Tokyo. Skyscrapers are everywhere, a motorway is just above your head but just walking into a little alley there are lots of houses next to each other and it is surprisingly quiet.
One morning she took us to Imperial house and garden. It’s located just few minutes away from business and financial capital of Japan Marunouchi. It was very strange to see massive garden and space and skyscrapers are next each other.
As soon as we started walking, we started to sweat pints! The strong sun also makes me feel bit nauseus….
After we had been walking for about 30mins, Oscar started sleeping in his pram so I asked my friend “ Can we quickly go for nice lunch before he wakes up?”
She took us back to ‘Maru building’ and we had a lovely Tempura course lunch in a fully-air conditioned room.
I love Buckingham Palace, but the Imperial garden in Tokyo is definitely on my must-visit place list!
It’s free to enter, so please try if you live near there or visit Tokyo!
Imperial Garden Tokyo
Walking through the bean tunnel
Entrance to the gardens
Beautiful flowers in the garden
Tomono x
Okinawa - Paradise in Japan
Monday, November 1st, 2010 by tomonoI love traveling and experiencing new cultures. But I recently asked myself “did I ever explore my own country”?
Luckily, the company I used to work for used to take us on company trips at least four times a year. We were able to stay at luxury hotels and had excellent entertainment which we did not have to pay anything at all! How great, hey?
The hottest place in Japan is Okinawa. It’s about 640km away from the other main Japanese islands. Because of its warmth, lots of baseball teams spend winter time for their training during the off season.
I visited Okinawa a few years ago on one company trip. I tried the local food called Tonsoku ramen, which is noodle soup with pig legs….. I tried but I just could not finish. People say its full of collagen and good for your skin but I can’t face pig toes or the thought of munching on them…..
I was so fascinated by its culture and how beautiful the sea was. I personally thought the sea was more beautiful than Fiji or the Hawaiian islands.
I rarely see Japanese people dance in the restaurants but people from Okinawa are different! They enjoy drinking very strong alcohol called Awamori and dancing along with Sanshin guitar. The atmosphere is just great, listening to music, enjoying local foods and feeling the tropical air.
If you are looking for different beach holidays, try Okinawa. There are so many things you would enjoy!
Tomono x
Do you know Anpanman?
Thursday, September 9th, 2010 by tomonoWhen my brother took us to Anpanman museum just a few days after we arrived in Japan, Oscar did not really get the idea of Anpanman.
Well it didn’t take long for him to recognize this popular character which you can see everywhere you go in Japan. So when we went back to the Anpanman museum in Yokohama a few weeks later, he absolutely loved it!
Oscar was wearing a lovely baby Kimono that was a gift from a dear friend of mine. Big thank you for my dear friend Mami!
Oscar and Anpanman
At the Anpanman museum
...and Anpanman goodies!
Tomono x
Cocoro goes to Mt Fuji
Saturday, August 7th, 2010 by tomonoHave you ever been on Mt Fuji? We woke up very early one morning and drove to Yamanashi. We left early to avoid nightmare Tokyo congestion however it was very smooth and arrived there around 7:00am. We went into “Famiresu” which is a Japanese abbreviation of family restaurant and had breakfast.
I ordered pancakes for Oscar , although he did not eat at all but my breakfast, he really enjoyed drawing pictures on the pancakse with an icing pencil.
It was such a cloudy day and we could not see Mt Fuji at all, so we went to Oshinohakkai. The fountain is made of melted snow from Mt Fuji, the water is absolutely beautiful and cold. I heard it took about 80years for that melted snow to become a fountain.
My friend Yanochi took us to see Lake Yamanaka then drove up to Mt Fuji. It was only 14degrees (it was around 24degrees at the bottom of the Mountain) and still cloudy. I never felt that cold in Japanese Summer. It was something spiritual.
Fresh, cold water at Mt Fuji
Mt Fuji in the mist...
Tomono x
Bright lights, Tokyo city!
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 by tomonoOscar and I went to Tokyo to see my friends last week. Oscar got so excited to see many airplanes at the airport. It was only 1hour 20minutes flight so it was easy-peasy after the nightmare 12hours flight back from UK.
On arriving at the airport, my dear friend Erina greeted us, and we took the train back to her home near Shibuya. Oscar again got so excited to be on the choo-choo train, everything was so modern and high-tech I felt like I was in the movie Lost-in-Translation. Lots of electric noise and it was just so busy everything was in your face. Lots of flashing lights, many police cars, I wondered to myself “will this city ever be silent?”
When I was living in Japan, I didn’t notice most of those things but being away for a while made me realise that Japan definitely has an interesting lifestyle.
Tomono x
Tokyo airport
A Japanese Police 'Patokaa'
Our trip from UK to Japan!
Saturday, June 5th, 2010 by tomonoPassport - checked!
E-tickets - checked!
Plenty of snack - checked!
Change of clothes - checked!
Toys and Thomas - checked!
After a long cuddle with my parents-in-law, we left a very cold and misty UK on Wednesday. It was only a 45minutes flight to Amsterdam. Our transit time was 1.5hours so it was just enough to have some lunch and change his nappy.
Luckily our flight from Amsterdam to Osaka was not fully booked so Oscar was able to use an empty seat. Despite my few weeks of feeling anxious, Oscar was such an excellent boy on the flight. He enjoyed watching Toy Story for over 1hour and had a few hours nap as well. I kept giving him apple juice which was mixed with water during take off and landing. Hope he didn’t have any earache.
On arriving at Kansai Airport warm and muggy air welcomed us and I realized how bright Japan is. All the cleaners for the airplane was waiting to go into aircraft impatiently, eager to clean very hard. This is the kind of thing I love about Japanese work ethics.
We just woke up from 17hours sleep and about to have grilled fish for dinner. yum yum.
Oscar was a good boy on the flight
Cleaners eager to get on board in Japan!
Tomono x
Fun in the Amsterdam sun!
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 by tomonoWow, what a gorgeous day! Our garden seems so much nicer and all the flowers have started blooming!
We just came back from a lovely weekend in Amsterdam. I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to our friend Eleanor for the excellent tips!
I’ve just finished 4 loads of holiday washing and catching up all emails, now it’s time for my blog!
It’s been 14years since I first went to Amsterdam. At that time I was just a naive country girl who went to a big city, needless to say, I was so shocked to face such urban culture!
This time we went to Keukenhof to see Tulips in bloom with my family. As soon as I entered the park, it was just full of a beautiful scent.
As Japanese celebrate the arrival of Spring with the blooming of cherry trees, it was great that everyone was enjoying the beautiful blooms in the warm sunshine here too. Oh, don’t you love the warmth of sunshine and beautiful flowers?
Please check out our new Sakura collection and be the first of Spring trend this year!
Stunning tulips in bloom
Canal scene in Amsterdam
Oscar strolling around the city
Tomono x
"We have absolutely fallen in love with your super cute baby kimonos"
Tina, London
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