A Day at Chelmsford Tea & Gift

Konnichiwa!

And... Happy Easter :D If you celebrate, I hope this day brings you many joys and fond memories. I thought I might use some of my time while I wait for the bounty of food to cook, to share another blog post with you. If you follow my blog, you've probably heard me mention Chelmsford Tea & Gift in several of my Green Tea of the Month posts. It's an adorable tea boutique that sells a huge variety of bagged, and primarily loose-leaf teas. It has more green tea flavors than any other tea shoppe I've been to. Here are some pictures I thought you might enjoy

 Some variations of loose leaf green tea

 More green tea<3

 Aren't these awesome! Individual filters that you can fill with whatever loose leaf tea you'd like

 green green green

 A Japanese Book of Tea, right up my alley

 love love love these asian tea-cups with lids

 Remember the teapot-shaped tea steeper my boyfriend got me for Christmas? Found it!

A book just for green tea, it even looks refreshing

Have any tea stories or Easter stories to share? I'd love to hear them. Have a blessed holiday :)

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley

Spring Break Goodies

Konnichiwa!

As you may know, Spring Break recently ended. Every Spring Break, my boyfriend goes to St. Augustine Florida (and I miss him soooo much every time). This year he brought me back some Japanese souvenirs because he knows how I am about Japan :)

First is a Japanese painted porcelain egg. I had seen one like this at the antique mall, and wanted it, but it was too expensive to buy. And now I have one :D

This may not look Japanese at first, but there is a message on the bottom: "The Art of Chokin- Chokin is the ancient Japanese art of engraving copper and gilding it with precious gold & silver & other decorative colors. This incredible art work first appeared on the armaments of the mighty Samurai Warriors in the late 12th century. The stunning Chokin Art has been handed down from generation to generation. Today it has evolved into an art of decorating various household articles as well as prized art collections by a handful of renowned and dedicated master of Chokin artists." I am currently using it to store some seashells he collected for me (fun fact, I also collect seashells)

How was your Spring Break?

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley

TV Episode Review: An Idiot Abroad - Climbing Mt. Fuji

Konnichiwa!

So basically.. it's been eons since I last posted. Second semester senior year is crazy . But don't worry I have like 2 pages of ideas for blog posts written up :) Lately I've been really getting into this show called An Idiot Abroad. It's about this disgruntled British man who is sent to all these different countries to experience their cultures (some of which are quite exotic and unpleasant). In this episode Karl, the subject of the show, is sent to Japan to climb Mt. Fuji. On the way, he experiences several little "treats"- a cat-petting cafe, sumo match, Buddhist temple, tea ceremony, eats fermenting fish, an exercise routine at a Japanese workplace, technology/invention center, and finally, the big mountain. (By the way, if anyone wants to see a cool video of a Japanese tea ceremony here's a link - http://youtu.be/7tt7NBIVeMY) It takes him from about 2 pm to 7 am the next day. That's so much time walking! But the view was absolutely beautiful, and I hope to go the some day. Karl actually quite enjoys his trip to Japan, as opposed to his trips in man of the other episodes. The idea of Buddhist meditation and the sacredness of tea really resonates with him. This show is amazing and hilarious, GO watch it :) 

Since I've been slacking on my blog lately, I think I'll make another post tonight (GTOTM) so stay up :)

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley

P.S. Sorry about the color-backing on the text. My accoun is messing up again

Antique Mall Close-out and GTOTM

Konnichiwa!

I just want you all to know that I am making great progress in learning Japanese through my Human Japanese software. I've really enjoyed drawing the little characters (Japan really is all about cute!)Also I FINALLY fixed my blog so that it is easier to read. Anyway, I'm straying from the topic. Sad news: the antique mall near my house is closing :'( This is extremely disappointing, not only because it's a good place to find cool Japanese stuff, but also because it is a great place for thrifting and buying gifts. As a tribute to its final days, I will show a few other cool Japanese items I found on sale there recently.

Interesting and ornate egg-things. Seriously though, can somebody tell me the purpose of these?

Japanese vase. This one was actually cheap enough for me to purchase. It is currently sitting on the dresser in the front of my room. Hopefully after Valentine's day I can fill it with some flowers ;)

last but not least, tea set!! I am quite fond of tea-pots with bamboo handles like this, as opposed to the traditional Japanese teapots that are dark-colored, ceramic, very wide/round, and flat. I think there must be a difference in eras between the two styles. The kind I like are much more difficult to find. I already have a tea set that I received for Christmas, as you may have read. However, it only contained 4 cups and a pot whereas this one basically contains a whole kitchen! Overall though, I like the way mine looks better and that is more important

Since I'm lazy, I'm combining this post with my Green Tea of the Month for the Month of February. I would have used Lemon Green Tea or Kapchorua Green Tea as my GTOTM, but since I already described those in my Christmas post, I figured it would be a bit redundant to appraise them again. Plus, those are running out, and I've been using the kind that a picked for this month far more often. Drum roll please....

Decaf Green Tea!!

A bit anticlimactic? Sigh, I know. But really, this stuff is great! Second semester has been kinda crazy, and sometimes I'm so busy that by the time I get around to drinking my 3rd green tea, it's too late for any caffeine. This has definitely been my saving grace.

So if you have a fantastic antique mall nearby, raid it while it lasts! I think I'm going to go cry now

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley

ANOTHER present from Ayana!

Konnichiwa!

So you remember my pen-pal Ayana, right? Well she totally surprised me and sent more Christmas presents :D And I mean a LOT. And its all extremely awesome stuff. Even the packing is freaking adorable. I feel really blessed to have her as a friend, and to live in an age of technology where international online correspondence is available. Here are pictures :)

 the gorgeous packaging

 I love seeing all the Japanese characters- its the little things that excite me<3

 extremely soft 'A' bag (A is both my initial and hers)

 strawberry lotion. I actually had put strawberry lotion on my Christmas list, so now I can cross it off :)

 flowers/watermelon bellyband. I've never had one of these before!

 Hi-chew candies! yum yum yum

 again with the authentic Japanese characters

 chopsticks with a holder!

 fake eyelashes. So glad to receive these because I planned on using fake eyelashes for prom

 unique envelope<3

 little Japanese stickers. So kawaii ( ^-^)

 very heartwarming, hand-written letter (Ayana's English is really impressive)

and here they are all together - yay!

I am so absolutely astonished at her generosity, and I have already found a use for every gift. This Christmas season has provided me with a lot of culture and love<3

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley

Christmas Gift Exchange With My Japanese Penpal

Konnichiwa!

Welcome to my blog; I just know you're as excited for the holiday season as I am :) I want to introduce you to my penpal from Japan. Her name is Ayana. She's seventeen and we've been talking since the summer. Ayana's a really cool girl; she has a little sister and an older brother, she's a big One Direction fan, and she has taught me a lot about what life is really like as a teenage girl in Japan. I've got to say, with the tough educational curriculum there, I'm not jealous! Here's a picture of the cutie<3 

Isn't she lovely?

Well for Christmas we decided to do a gift exchange. I wanted to do a theme for mine: Christmas in America. So I got her a bunch of little things and wrote a letter explaining how each item related to the holidays in the U.S. and how she could use it. I gave to her- sugar plum lotion, mocha cappucino packets, pink striped fuzzy gloves, peppermint bark dipped in dark chocolate,   and then the last two items were a fusion of America and Japan to symbolize our friendship. They were a "hello kitty" Christmas ornament and a framed haiku poem that I wrote for her about the snowfall. And then I wrote her a second letter about my family's Christmas traditions in case she was interested.

here are my little presents for her^

I recently received, via the mail, her present for me and I simply could not wait til Christmas to open it. I was already so intrigued by the real Japanese postage stamp!

here it is^

Anyway, here is what she gave me. It was this ADORABLE little christmas book with a Father Christmas on the front. His beard is actually furry! On each page there are little encouraging messages written in Japanese characters (Ayan kindly translated to English beneath each). And on the last page she wrote me a special message<3 Here are some pics

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to make international friends online; if you are even considering a penpal you should definitely go through with it because it will bring you great joy and you will learn a lot about another culture:)

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley

A Day at the Asian Market

Konnichiwa!

So my boyfriend and I really like to frequent the local Asian market because of all the interesting foodstuffs and items sold there. Asian cuisine is SO different than American, it amazes me. There were these huge spiky fruits there which totally befuddled me! Where I live, the majority of the Asian culture is Vietnamese, so there wasn't a whole lot of Japanese things there, but I thought it would be fun to show nevertheless.

 Live critters for purchase- yikes!

 Ramune drinks, our favorite :)

 mochi mochi mochiiiii. I thought these ones looked interesting, I wonder what flavors they are?

Here's the little soup spoon I purchased for 99 cents, which I absolutely love

If you are blessed to have a local Asian market, go check it out! You might just be surprised by some of the cool finds.

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley

Green Tea of the Month: Matcha

Konnichiwa!

So this title may be a little bit deceiving, but that isn't entirely my fault... When I bought this set of matcha green tea at Chelmsford Tea & Gifts, the lady selling it sold it as "matcha", even commenting that it is delicious as a latte. So naturally, I was under the impression that it would be a can of some lovely green powder for me to scoop into milk, like at Starbucks. WRONG. It is little tea bags filled with half normal green tea leaves and half matcha powder. Although it is refreshing steeped in water, I bought the stuff for lattes so I thought "dangit, I'm going to find a way to make a latte with this stuff." And it worked :D

(^tricky right?)

So here's how the latte is made

1. pour skim milk into teapot

2. microwave the pot of milk for 2 minutes on high

3. put two bags of "matcha" in a mug

4. when the microwave finishes, pour it on the tea and then steep for 2 minutes

5. remove the teabags

6. stir in stevia swettener (i do two packets tehehe)

7. snuggle up in bed, drink, and enjoy :) (and maybe even procrastinate from homework a little...)

Despite the deception, I'll give it up to Chelmsford for providing me with one hell of a latte! It has a slight hint of vanilla flavor, some good calcium,is relatively cheap per cup, and is only 80 calories. Beat that Starbucks! I'd really like to try making this with coconut milk instead of regular. I'll let you know how a real matcha latte goes when I get to making one.

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley