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Filled with beautiful art and objects from Melbourne.
From MR KITLY,KAMI mugs, CARA mugs, Fog Linen Work
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the dust barrier

hello,
sorry i have been absent for a little while.
here are some (mobile phone) pictures of why.

we have recently moved into a new space.
it has taken two weeks to date for them to come and connect the internet:(
we have two houses worth of stuff piled into two rooms,
while we do some patching up work on the other areas.

it is an exciting venture.
the space is super massive,
above a shop in the inner northern 'burbs of melbourne.
it's hard to show the scale of the place,
but believe me when i say the ceilings soar
and there could be flotillas of people scattered about
with high possibility you would not run into each other.

we have some ideas on how to use the space,
and i really hope i can keep you updated on those
as they come about!

in the meantime...
i have plans to document some of our neighbours.
there is an awesome mix of old and new in the area -
traders that have been there forever and a day
and some nice new kids on the block as well.
please stay tuned!

edit:

i have just been ringing round to
secure a booking for tonight to eat japanese in our fine old town.
of course, there are many, many options.
but just had to share my experience with yu-u in the cbd.

upon calling, my booking was welcomed.
but when i asked about vegetarian options,
i was told not to bother, or in polite code,
'perhaps another time', as all they have is edamame.

now.

i find this disappointing, and borderline offensive.
although admittedly authentic in terms of the struggle
many vegos encounter when trying to order vego dishes in japan itself.

but come on.

it is especially disappointing as i know from firsthand experience in japan
that whilst vego food is certainly not mainstream,
there is a definite trend on in japan toward slow food and whole food,
with the concurrent broadening of meat-free and fish-free options.
and i also know that japanese cooking lends itself superbly well to fresh,
vegetable seasonal produce and grains.

so, anyway, i felt like a bit of a rant there. i guess my message is:

get with the program yu-u.


in contrast, some recommended vego-friendly japanese places in melbs:

wood spoon kitchen (big kudos for vego options, although the onigiri is disappointing)

wabi sabi salon (in smith street, collingwood. i first thought this place over-priced.
but upon investigation of other options,
i think their menu is inventive - giving really good vego options,
a good looking vego bento lunch and is
probably priced ok in relation to other places.)

shoya (very expensive and decor way too urbane,
but pretty amazing all vegetarian degustation menu -
taxi restaurant also used to do an amazing vegetarian japanese platter -
the best i have had in melbourne. not sure if they still do. also expensive.)

kappaya soul food (i belive their focus is more on sushi and sashimi,
just is a nice-looking place with a nice attitude)

cibi for breakfast.

otsumami in northcote also receives good reviews.
i have been there once and found the okonomiyaki a wee bit disappointing.
but again, kudos for a very strong range of vego options,
and for the nice tatami seating arrangements out the back.

very, very keen to get to ocha soon again as well.
this place used to be authenticity at its best. i hope it still is.

the ornate plaster work in hallway,
and the best monstera plant ever inherited- huge and propped up with various sticks and ties
(it came with the place:)

the roses

another inherited plant and brass planter.
the fireplaces are exciting - we need a chimney sweep.
and obviously a good coat of paint
(architraves and fireplace surrounds are victims of an eighties assault)

the skylight will be playing a big part in the future,

two houses of stuff, two usable rooms - the art of stacking
(note sofa arm has been utilised as cat scratching post)

linen press the cat finds his perch in the stacks

the kitchen is currently functional. but waaaay too beige.
last priority but some kind of fix up on zero budget will be hopefully forthcoming.

this window is a winner. almost holy:)

a bit of melbourne japan,

kurosawa season at melbourne cinematheque starts thursday 13 may.

and non-japan related but reminiscent of the japanese diorama-style street scenes
i have seen, this looks fun at CCP.

and

i just updated what's on my record player.
i am not sure if anyone listens to these at all,
but that's ok, because it is a nice way for me to mark it whenever
i listen or re-listen to something that strikes me as great, or beautiful. or both.
today it is the bonnie prince.

kazari special event

a note for japanophiles in melbourne (via ziguzagu):

an evening with the artist Evan Demas with Butoh performance by Yumi Umiumare has been specially organized for the NGV Artbeat members (younger group of NGV members) at Kazari Collector this Wednesday 3 June. With space still left we have been able to invite a small number of friends who may have a special interest.

$25 per head includes drinks, finger food, an informal talk with the artist and special intimate performance by Yumi Umiumare, Australia’s only Butoh dancer.

Please call 9510 2528 or info@kazari.com.au to RSVP 

Friends and partners are welcome.

Wednesday 6.30pm, 450 Malvern Rd, Prahran.

Evan Demas is a local installation artist and sculptor as well as an award winning Ikebana practitioner and recently assisted visiting Japanese Master Tetsunori Kawana construct the grand bamboo sculpture at the NGV. Click here for more info on Evan Demas

Visit Yumi Umiumare’s website here

momo's renkon burger

i am so very happy to post my second guest recipe, a delicious renkon burger recipe from kurashi arekore's momosan. renkon is lotus root, and you can buy it frozen in asian supermarkets, but momo said that fresh renkon is grown by local producers in nsw. i think we could also find it fresh down south here, if we investigated a little at farmers markets or asian grocers...please do see if you can find fresh (momo recommends only fresh!) and give the burgers a try - so delicious. the recipe is in downloadable PDF under the ii-ne-kore vegetarian japanese recipes on the left hand side there.

a very big thank you to momo. i think kurashi arekore blog is one of the most beautiful, lovely examples of 'murmurings about my life'.

ps - momo and friends visit wood spoon kitchen on smith street - a relatively new japanese place that i really want to get to soon. i like the sound of those corn butter parsley onigiri! and whilst we are on nice melbourne japanese places, kappaya cafe and lovely japanese wares store zakkaya as reviewed at the wonderful open blog are also absolute winners.

kappaya

wood spoon kitchen

pecha kucha melbourne

ps - anyone in melbourne and keen for 6 minutes and 40 seconds of slides of inspiration from architects, designers, artists and the man behind the ever so lovely concept of the jacky winter group and lamington drive gallery might want to head in to pecha kucha melbourne tonight at the toff in town...
images: dylan martorell warburton (top) and osaka loop line (bottom) via the jacky winter group

from pecha kucha site:

'pecha kucha is japanese for chit-chat and is a new way to present using PowerPoint. presenters are allowed to use 20 slides, which are shown on screen for 20 seconds each. it equals a 6 minute, 40 second presentation. it was great! If you’ve ever sat through a boring presentation with the presenter rambling on and on and on or reading to you EXACTLY what is already on the screen, this is definitely for you.'

kuwaii @ monk house design

i recently lashed out and bought a lovely kuwaii dress from my favourite neighbourhood clothes shop, monk house design. kuwaii are just brilliant; the jewel colours, the cuts.

monk house design stock beautiful clothes with a focus on local designers who are making amazing things. they have entirely covetable collections that include dylan martorell printed teatowels and delicate porcelain as well as lovely clothes. and you just can't go past their meishi.

monk house design retro meishi

hannah rose porcelain available via monk house design

i LOVE this (the plate reads 'maybe dancing will help'). available at monk house design

風呂入る？

some pictures of japanese ofuro (or furo) via flickr and the melbourne-based japanese bath company. i really like the blue and black tiling and hexaganal tiles in some of these. and the ubiquitous candy coloured plastic tubs. the cedar-lined tub from japanese bath company is of course divine. these furo are generally baths from private japanese homes or from a small guesthouse.

i like these pictures because they show the prosaic style of most furo in japanese homes. bathing in japan is a wonderful ritual - after a long day to have the water heated in the bath, soap, wash and rinse yourself, then step into the pure steaming hot water is a joy almost spiritual in nature. for most people in japan this daily ritual takes place in the most humble of furo, whether it be a stainless steel tub in a small tiled wetroom or the unit bath (ユニットバース) of the cramped tokyo apartment. the pleasure of a hot bath is so deeply embedded in the culture, traditions and psyche of japan, i believe the pure sensation is undimmed by the tiny and often enclosed space of the daily bath. 

maybe given unlimited space and an ideal world everyone would love to have a bathroom with the key classic japanese elements of garden views, the scent of wet cedar, the cool breeze on a hot face from the open window - but the pleasure that is in my very bones now, due to my years in japan, of the simple delight in a slow soak is something that i am deeply grateful for: and it all started in my tiny stainless tub in a makeshift outhouse at the back of my tiny nagaya.

quote from japanese bath company:

'every evening without fail, more than a hundred million people lower themselves gently into the steaming waters of a japanese bath. whether it's a stone pool fed by a hot sping or a compact tub in the home, the daily ritual remains an integral part of japanese life. clothes are shed, the body is thoroughly lathered, scrubbed, rinsed, and then one enters the deep and inviting world of "ofuro"...it's another world. for a bath is not just a bath and water is not just water.'

picture credits from top: ebi debi flickr, japanese bath company, nursiepoo flickr, charley marley flickr, bron flickr, donfer.ch flickr, tinonthewing flickr, technicolorcavalry flickr

ziguzagu

another melbourne japan treasure, ziguzagu is a japanese textile wonderland suitably hidden down a narrow one way richmond sidestreet. and it is just amazing. full to the brim with rolls of vintage kimono silk, hemp, linen and indigo dye fabrics, as well as beautiful objects of old japan like go boards worn with time, ancient tansu, shoji awaiting repair and glass front wooden tea cabinets. i was like a child in a corner milkbar back in the day when your little tightly clutched coins of silver bought you a weighty mixed bag of freckles, milk bottles and mint leaves. my current hearts desire is for the kind sew-ers of ziguzagu to sew me some zabuton of fabrics chosen from the delightfully coloured, patterned piles.

ziguzagu has a special quality - combing the aisles with likeminded japanese textile appreciators, digging through piles of kimono and obi, feeling the texture and admiring the patterns of the silken weave, finding that perfectly imperfect ceramic incense holder, woven bamboo basket darkened with age, delicately cracked tea bowl - it transports you ever so briefly from a richmond laneway to the crowds of kitano tenmangu, one of the biggest, oldest temple markets in japan. i highly recommend a visit.