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

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