things I'm liking

It's Sunday and Satoshi is working, thought I'd share some random things that I'm liking...

This canvas tote.

I love tea and one of my favorites is Mariage Frères. Recently they came out with a mook (magazine + book) and their furoku (freebie) was this tote.

It is perfect for a short trip to the market and I think it will be perfect to bring
food on a picnic.

How beautiful are these sasanqua petals?

I loved the way the fallen pink and white covered the ground like a carpet.

Recently Yoshimi gave me this for my birthday, a happy pig (a fruitcake) and fair trade chocolates--one with glazed walnuts, one with chopped almonds & one with croquante...I shared half the pig with Satoshi (Thank you!)

What are you liking?

celebrate

Actually yesterday was my birthday, not much fanfare but that is how I like it. I was lucky because Satoshi got the day off.

Our day started off having breakfast at our favorite cafe, Hiro.

Afterwards, we went to the city office to renew my "alien" card.

In the afternoon we walked around Suigetsu Park, some of the ume (apricot) trees have started to bloom.

Did you know that sasanqua petals actually look like hearts? nice!

For dinner I made some seared salmon and we also had some bok choy with eringi, along with some senbei (rice crackers) and other snacks.

And to drink we shared a half bottle of Codorníu Clásico Seco Cava, a Spanish sparkling wine, which I learned about from Su-Lin's post. Dry, bubbly a nice way to celebrate.

No frills but a great day.

tsubaki or sasanqua

Tsubaki (camellia) is a delicate flower that blooms in early Spring.

The seeds are pressed for oil and used as hair oil.

Sasanqua, another type of camellia, blooms in Autumn & Winter.

The flower of the tsubaki falls off whole, while the sasanqua's petals fall one by one.

The sansanqua leaves have a jagged edge where as the tsubaki leaves are smooth.

Who would've thought that such a delicate flower would have such a hearty seed?

I spotted this sasanqua "tree" while walking in Kyoto. It was quite tall so I couldn't get too close to it.