Saturday, February 07, 2009

greengate

I saw these latte cups on a website for a bakery. When you buy baked products from their bakery you receive a sticker for every 200 yen (about US$2), when you've saved up enough stickers for items from their catalog (one of them being this cup), you can redeem them.

Since the bakery in our area closed down, I don't have much access to collect the stickers, so I surfed the web and found a Japanese online shop for these Greengate latte cups.

Greengate, a Denmark company, has different items for the home. The online catalog kind of reminded me of Pottery Barn.

So, I ordered two from the site and I was lucky, they were having a sale, 30% off.

The shop was quick too, as soon as I ordered (which was a Friday), they sent me instructions by e-mail for payment.

I went to the bank (on that same Friday) and asked for help in putting the payment into the shop's account. Did you know that the security guard was the one who helped me use the bank machine? I don't think you'd ever see that in the States.

In Japan you often deposit monies into other people's accounts. We do this for our rent. And even if the banks are of the same name, they still charge you a handling fee (banking in Japan is a total rip-off!)

So, the cups were sent out on that same Friday and I received them the next day...talk about fast!

The cups are a nice size, holds about 2 cups, it is easy to hold in your hands, a nice way to warm-up.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Kat :),
those cups are both lovely, especially the one with the white background!

I love online shopping here in Japan because deliveries are so incredibly fast! A couple of weeks ago, I ordered some textbooks for me on Amazon Japan, and without selecting any expedited delivery options, I received my books the very next day!
I couldn't believe it!

Ciao Kat, as always I enjoy reading your blog!

Mari

Anonymous said...

Love those mugs kat :) such lovely graphics...Interesting that its a Danish company.How wonderful you were able to order them directly .

What a cozy feeling indeed.

tres cool !

Abigail (aka Mamatouille) said...

CUTE cute cute cute cups.

And I know what you mean about the banking here. Rip off!

genkitummy said...

Kat-Those are cute cups! I googled "greengate" and "denmark" and am now looking through the catalog!

Deb in Hawaii said...

They are beautiful cups! I love the colors and patterns. I'll go check out their website. It's so much fun to have a great coffee, tea or chocolate drink in a beautiful cup!

Jenster said...

Those cups are adorable! I especially like the red one.

It's interesting to learn about how payment are done in Japan. Can you also use your credit cards for online orders, as we do in the U.S.?

Unknown said...

Hello Kat! :)
I left you a comment yesterday, but I don't know what happened to it.
Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how much I like those mugs you bought! Especially the one with the white background!

And I agree with you about online shopping here in Japan: it's awesome because you get your packages so quickly! A few weeks ago I ordered some textbooks for me on Amazon Japan, and without selecting any expedited shipping options, I got my books the very next day! Incredible!

Ciao Kat, and as always...keep up the good work! :)

Mari

K and S said...

Sorry for the late reply, Mari!

Thanks Shar!

Thanks Abigail and isn't it "our" money that they are holding?? :)

Hope you can order something from them, Genki :)

Beautiful things definitely brighten the soul, Deb :)

Thanks Jenster, yes you can order with a credit card also, I don't have one here, so I pay cash. :)

Take care everyone!
Kat

Rowena said...

The banks charge for that?!?! Oooh, I would be so peeved, but you know....oh man this is scary. What with the US economy and the way things are, maybe they'll start doing that too make a few extra pennies. Yikes!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is crazy fast! I'm off to go check out their online catalog!

K and S said...

I'm sure the banks are thinking about it Rowena, but they probably wouldn't do it because they wouldn't want everyone pulling their $$ out from them...

Lori, the online shop in Japan was fast, I am not sure how fast the Denmark shop will be.

Take care you two.
Kat