東京百寶箱 Tokyo Treasure Hunt

東京百去不厭, 每次都有些驚喜, 大抵和式料理注重食材原味, 與我偏好的清淡口感相合, 其次工藝美學深植常民生活, 處處皆視覺饗宴! 十月初正值涼爽的早秋, 走走停停吃吃看看, 平時努力工作不就是為著幾日豐足的心靈假期? 此趟遊記食記還待慢慢寫來, 戀物狂卻等不及獻寶:

As long as one cares about material of any kind, he or she will never return from Tokyo empty handed. There is something for everyone despite the soaring Japanese Yen. I promise I will use and reuse, inspire and re-imagine… these objects that make me happy.

While a gentleman might prefer blonde, I love petites.
The Starbucks demitasse and the candy tote of Dean&Deluca are so much cuter than their regular sized counterparts! The heart shaped tea strainer is there to show the scale but isn't it adorable, too?

I admire the effortless intertwine of traditional craft and modern design in many Japanese products. The plum theme washi paper wrapped tea canister was from Itoya, Ginza. The porcelain chopsticks rest set was a souvenir from the Time&Style store, Tokyo Midtown. My friend MK designed one of their best selling furniture series.

Purely impulse buy… so I can start making car shaped pancakes for Little V. The tiny hangers will showcase my doll fashion :)

My all time favorite Toraya has another celebration - 30th anniversary of its Paris location! The gelée style sweets inside the box were not so much my taste but I loved the illustrations on the cover.

These coasters(you know the type that protects a fine wood table from stains of cold glass of water or a hot cup of tea) in fancy restaurants have nice weight and texture with very pretty letterpress graphics. Of course I am going to rescue them from going into the trash and repurpose them :)

I am neither a candle nor a scent person. The combination of a light pink porcelain cup, a Japanese kiri wood lid/saucer, and the mimosa scented soy wax votive just… melt my heart.

It seems quite popular for woman's magazines in Japan to include enticing give-aways with each issue. The mini canvas pouch was from the November issue of InRed. The lace patterned eco bag was from the July issue of Madame Figaro. Both have upbeat designs and are very functional.

Etude opus1 Violin

This exquisite greeting card series also has a grand piano and a clarinet. I don't think I will ever have the heart to write on it and break up the serene silhouette… probably just frame the card and daydream in front of it.

I am hopelessly obsessed with porcelain cups, plates, bowls… The ultimate feat from my past trips have always been hand-carrying boxes of fragile ceramic pieces from Paris, London, Tokyo… while trying not to spank the crying kids(not mine) sitting next to me in coach :P Oh well, I have learned my lesson after the move from San Francisco to Singapore(or more precisely traumatized by the grandeur of my private collection) I only allow myself to bring home no more than three precious porcelain each trip going forward. This organic plate with silver glaze was bought at the Toraya tea house/gallery in Tokyo Midtown; it was a part of the current exhibition. The artist drew his inspiration from the moon's reflection in the autumn pond.