Braving the rain - Strolling through Kyoto's Gion district

Some of you might recognise the pictures from... oh dear, three years ago!? Now there is an article to go with. Written for Taiken Japan: http://taiken.co/single/braving-the-rain-strolling-through-kyotos-gion-district. Enjoy!

Back from Oi Keibajo - Japanese photographic treasures from the past

Yep, I found some treasures again! Come check out this wonderful collection! http://www.bijoucaillou.com/back-from-oi-keibajo-japanese-photographic-treasures-from-the-past/


* PS: Grigori, talking about photography, I got your Essay in a Box and will post pictures soon! I first thought it was a pack of cherry pies and took it to work for my afternoon break delicacy, and then..
:-)))

At the Heiwajima Antique Fair

Just a few quick pictures from last week's Antique Fair in Heiwajima for you. Wish you could have been there with me!!

Oh, news flash, Taiken Japan just published my article about the fair. Check it out here!: http://taiken.co/single/hunting-for-treasures-at-the-heiwajima-antique-fair
Yaaay!

A Sunday morning at the Toshimaen amusement park flea market

http://www.bijoucaillou.com/a-sunday-morning-at-the-toshimaen-amusement-park-flea-market/

Shameless Self-Promotion Thursday (10) - Wow!! Where did you get that??

It's Bijou Caillou! :-)) Of course it is. Carina, you're a genius. I'm laughing with no end in sight with your collage, and it fits the Shameless Self-Promotion Thursday so well it would have been a real shame not to use it! I absolutely love it! Thank your being such a great supporter of Bijou Caillou!

Did you know that February 13 is Galentine's day? That's the perfect time to show your best girl some love, because she's always there for you, right? To celebrate this very girly holiday, Bijou Caillou offers you 30% discount on all Etsy items with the promotional coupon code: galentine30. Enjoy!

There are a few new items in the store, come in an find something beautiful! https://www.etsy.com/shop/bijoucailloustore?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Behind the scenes of a creative business - Tonia Speich-Hess talks about Kooky

On Bijou Caillou today: http://www.bijoucaillou.com/behind-the-scenes-of-a-creative-business-tonia-speich-hess-talks-about-kooky/

The Maxwell Street Market

The good thing with jet lag is it gets you out there at sunrise and you almost have the city for yourself. I like that. And I like early-weekend-morning-empty-metro-taking-you-to-the-suburbs. 

You won't find anything fancy at the Maxwell Street Market but you'll get a certain sense of oh OK this is where "real" people live and buy their socks, batteries, mattresses, shampoo, Bears merchandise etc..

Sellers and buyers are for a large part latin american and black, which means…. great street food! I HAD to have a quesadilla or two for lunch, followed by a raspberry churro. That was around 9.30am
:-))

On my way back I found an odd couple of shrines somewhere in the back alleys. Some kind of black magic? I don't know. Or maybe just a tribute to the god of pineapples :-)) (the book says "Religion for Dummies").

My head exploded (in a good way)

This is what happens when you visit the Tokyo City Flea Market in Oi Keibajo. You go totally nuts. 

I was hunting for cheap vintage jewelry to tear apart for a new project of mine, and man oh man, do they have what I was looking for. Some treasures there and I didn't spend more than 3000 yen (25$).

Beautiful gemstones, pearls, chain maille, and a lot of bling. All of this is going to be dismantled and.. well, you'll see.

Love those golden squares!

That flea market is held every Saturday and Sunday of the year. Oh dear. I'm gone…

Mito Kairakuen - Part 3: Bento, tea and flowers

Time to sit down and have lunch with this bento box bought at the entrance of the garden. It's going to be Gyudon (beef bowl) today.

A few meters away, free beverage. I say beverage because I don't know exactly what it was. I've had it before and I almost spat it out because I expected tea but it was more like a salty sour seaweed broth. Not fab.

The free green tea stand. Ah, that's much better, thanks!

Those babies have just been watered, and yaay, we've found the bonsai shop!

So beautiful and very hard to resist. Bao Zhen and I both adopted one of those. Well, one of those at the bottom of the stand, younger and cheaper.

This is Broken on his first day back home. The plum tree's branches are so fragile, I had no idea and was careless, I admit.
Broken did produce very beautiful and fragrant blossoms, though, and he's doing well. One month later and he now has a few more friends to share the balcony with. You can follow their progress here.

Another tree shop.

See you in Part 4…