adventures | kimberly ah

Apr 07 2014

Home from Tokyo

We have been home from our Japan vacation for a week now, and in case it’s not obvious by my absence last week, adjustment has been rough. I always have a hard time with jet lag–I’m not a good sleeper in general–but this time I was especially delirious and zombie-like. Today, I’m shaking off the cobwebs, unpacking (yes…I haven’t even unpacked one of our suitcases–the one with all the stationery!) and sifting through the pictures from our two week stay in Tokyo.

So prepare for Japan Month Part Two and plenty more Japan Does It Better Posts in the coming weeks. We did a lot of the same things that we did last year and added a few new favorites like the Postal Museum Japan, calligraphy lesson and a Spanish tapas bar. (Yes, I said Spanish tapas.) I will be back on Wednesday with my first post and I will be working on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday posting schedule this month (and maybe longer) while I get back into a routine here at home.

It feels good to be home…and awake!

P.S. The picture above is us (our feet) with a street marker after a late-night dinner in Sangenjaya (our hotel neighborhood).

Tagged adventures, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Mar 26 2014

Hello from Tokyo

I’m currently passing the time at Bunbougu Cafe, drinking hot tea & eating office supply-shaped cookies. (More on those coming soon!)
Our trip is going well, though it’s passing more quickly than we expected. Naoto is spending lots of time with his mom and I’m eating too many Misdo donuts and seeing too many stationery shops. (Actually, there is no such thing as too many stationery shops!) Tomorrow I’m having the calligraphy lesson, which is both thrilling and scary–I hope I’m not the worst student the teacher has ever seen! And, I saw the cherry blossom blooms for the first time today–just one tree but hopefully more will be blooming by the weekend!
I will report back soon…and obviously, get ready for many Japan posts when I get home.

P.S. Pictured above, an izakaya near my mother-in-law’s neighborhood.

Mar 20 2014

2 Comments

adventures, snail mail, vintage

Stamp King

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with Donovan at the Stamp King of Chicago. Even though I read Donovan’s wonderfully crafted blog post about the Stamp King, I had no idea what to expect. I’ve never been to a stamp and coin dealer before…I’ve never been buzzed into a shop before.

But one look at the Stamp King (pictures on the aforementioned blog post), I knew we were in good hands. He was kind and funny and relaxed. There were two young coin collectors in the store perusing the coins and helping Donovan and I add up our stamp purchases. We ended up being there over the lunch hour and the Stamp King offered to order lunch and to share his bottle of wine. (Next time, I’m taking the bus so I can take him up on this offer.)

Even without wine, I had zero control over myself. There was a lot of vintage stamp goodness and Donovan and I made a huge dent in the Stamp King’s inventory. After the first ten dollars, I stopped counting, because, really, how quickly can tiny one cent and three cent stamps add up? Well, evidently they add up pretty quickly…plus I picked out several larger denominations, too. Anyway…next time I walk into the Stamp King, I’m just going to hand him all of my money. It was well spent as far as I am concerned.

Tagged adventures, mail art, snail mail, vintage

Mar 18 2014

2 Comments

adventures, what's for dinner

Empty Bowls

A couple of weeks ago, I attended Empty Bowls, a fundraiser hosted by Oak Park-River Forest High School and its Wheel Throwing Club. Empty Bowls raises money to help West Suburban PADS (a shelter program) and the local food pantry. For $15 you get a handmade bowl and some soup and bread. The bowls are made and donated by OPRF students and the soup is made and donated by local grocery stores and restaurants. The event feels very community-driven. My friend Karen goes every year and this year Jackie and I joined her. I’m only sad I didn’t know about it sooner. Many communities host Empty Bowls, so I highly recommend seeing if there’s one near you.

There were hundreds of bowls to choose from–big ones, little ones, well-made ones, imperfect ones, colorful ones, natural ones–it was seriously hard to choose. I think we each swapped out our choices at least once. Jackie ended up with a blue spotted bowl and Karen’s was a green ombre. My bowl (bottom center) is speckled white. It reminds me of a bird’s egg. Taking your bowl home serves “as a gentle reminder of the many empty bowls that need filling world wide.” (Quote taken from the Empty Bowls website.)

During the fundraiser, my bowl held a hearty portion of chicken noodle soup. Today it’s sitting on my desk reminding me that I have enough.

Tagged adventures, crafts, food, forest park

Mar 06 2014

Japan Does It Better 9: Hygiene Masks

When you are out and about in Japan, it is not uncommon to see people wearing surgical or hygiene masks in public. The first time I saw this, I thought that the people wearing the masks were recovering from serious illnesses and protecting themselves from germs. And while some people do wear the masks for this reason, most are wearing them out of courtesy for others. In Japan, if you have a cold, you sport a hygiene mask so that you don’t spread the germs to your fellow commuters, coworkers and family members. As a frequent rider of the subway in Tokyo, it gave me great comfort to see the hygiene masks on the train, especially during rush hour when I was commuting face-to-face with my fellow passengers!

Do they really work? As far as keeping cold germs in, it seems they do. (Maybe they actually work, or maybe it’s human nature to back away from the ill mask-wearer…) But wearing one for protection isn’t very effective. Naoto is a good example of this. On our flight home from Japan in 2011, he wore a hygiene mask and I didn’t. He was sick for a week.

Naoto has a box of masks in the closet. He wears them around the house when he has a cold so that I don’t get sick. Thankfully, he rarely gets sick and when he does, the mask keeps me safe from his germs. (Knocking on wood…)

So, courtesy with colds…another reason Japan Does It Better!

P.S. When I write these posts, I base them off of my experience with Japan and I do a bit of Googling to see if there is anything interesting to add. My “research” led me down a surgical mask information vortex. (Feel free to click on the links for the full stories.) It turns out that some people wear the masks to avoid social interaction, to disguise the fact that they are not wearing make-up, to disguise the fact that they haven’t shaved and (the best!) to feign a cold so they don’t have to go out drinking with their bosses after work!

And, an NPR story, just for good measure.

For the rest of the JDIB posts, click here.

Tagged adventures, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Mar 03 2014

6 Comments

adventures, snail mail

Presley Meets April

April and I “met” on Twitter when she began commenting on Presley’s pictures. We starting writing each other letters and postcards shortly after that and we finally got to meet in person last month at Ex Postal Facto. April lives in New Zealand and she’s doing a bit of travel in the U.S., including Chicago this past weekend. Since she flew all the way from New Zealand, and because she is the Founder and President of the Presley Adami Hasegawa International Fan Club, we arranged a meeting between April and Presley on Saturday morning.

Of course, Presley was her aloof, suspicious, feisty self but she allowed April to give her a treat, throw her fetch ball and take her picture. We thought everything was going well until I threw a toy for Presley and in her excitement to chase it, she attacked April’s arm instead…(I’m so ashamed!) Sigh…

Thankfully April was a good sport and accepts Presley as she is…

After the meeting, we left Presley alone and went to the Marion Street Cheese Market for lunch and then headed into Chicago to visit Greer. In spite of the cold and snow, we had a really great time warming up and perusing all of Greer’s splendid offerings. I had to restrain myself a bit because of our upcoming trip to Japan, but I did manage to buy some really cute cat notecards.

Thanks to April for being such an easygoing visitor for Presley and happy travels throughout the rest of your travels!

Feb 26 2014

5 Comments

adventures, adventures at the library, cocktails, snail mail

San Francisco Favorites

I have quite a stash of paper bits that I picked up along the way in San Francisco. I am hoping to get them all stashed into a mini book with some pictures from the trip soon. (Of course, the fact that I still haven’t finished my book of our trip to Japan hangs over my head as I type this.) Hopefully, I’ll be back before I leave for Japan with a completed mini book…

As a final post about San Francisco and Ex Postal Facto, I thought I’d share a few favorites from my trip. I stayed at the Hotel Abri near Union Square. Naoto and I chose it blindly because it was super close to the BART and within a short walking distance of two of the three Ex Postal Facto event locations. We got a really good rate, which made me nervous…inexpensive hotels in expensive cities can be scary places. Thankfully, the Abri was fantastic…the staff were all kind and helpful, the room was clean and modern (there was a super-large TV on the wall, perfect for middle-of-the-night viewings of the Olympics!) and they served little juice shots in the lobby every afternoon. When I checked in, they offered me the choice between an interior room or an exterior room. Of course, I wanted the street-side! (I’m no stranger to noise!) It turns out, the nightclub across from the hotel was JUST below my window (pictured above, velvet ropes and all). On Friday night when I got home, I had to laugh at all of the commotion, but it didn’t really bother me…the club music became white noise and I was up watching the Olympics anyway.

On Friday, I came back to the hotel to find a surprise from Naoto. When I used to travel for work, he would send me something on every trip–a fruit basket, chocolate covered strawberries, a fruit bouquet, a cheese plate… It was fun to get a treat again. This time it was Ghiradelli chocolate-themed and it made me smile. Riding iconic streetcars was the best way to travel! (Read more about car No. 1073 here.) We had drinks at Tradition on Saturday night. They have a large book of handcrafted cocktails organized by style/era (Speakeasy, Dive-Bar, Tiki, New Orleans, pub…) and you can sit and enjoy those drinks in “snugs” to match. I had an Old Fashioned and a Colony and maybe it was just the company I was with, but man, those cocktails were tasty and I really liked this place. (We have a lot of bars in our neighborhood here in Forest Park, but sadly none of them are good craft cocktail bars…sigh.)On Sunday, Bob, Ana and I had breakfast at Craftsman and Wolves. Pictured above is The Rebel Within, a tasty asiago, sausage and onion muffin with a soft boiled egg baked inside (!!!), chocolate sourdough bread and the best cup of coffee I had all weekend. (I brought some beans home for Naoto…coffee makes the best souvenir.) I played around with a real life card catalog at the San Francisco Public Library while Ana perused their calligraphy collection. Japan Town was loads of fun…I think I would have appreciated it more if my trip to Japan weren’t so close. As a matter of fact, I’m super jealous that San Franciscans have such a huge portal to Japan!My trip ended (well, before that other ending) at La Boulange where I met up with a group of friends from letter writing and xPF. I didn’t eat or drink anything here, but I did covet the giant bowl of hot chocolate that everyone seemed to be enjoying! (Pictured above is Melissa of Craftgasm.)

All of my food and drink stories made Naoto wish he had joined me. I think if Ex Postal Facto become a recurring thing, he won’t be staying home for the next trip!

Tagged adventures, cocktails, coffee, food, mail art, shopping, snail mail

Feb 25 2014

10 Comments

adventures, in my library, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Spending in San Francisco

With our upcoming trip to Japan planned, I was able to restrain myself from spending too much in San Francisco. Don’t consider it saving though…consider it delayed spending. (I’m already making my wish list for Japan.)

Patrick and Co. is an old school office supply store much like Pieritz Bros in Oak Park. It is simple and charming and they had an awesome selection of pens and pencils. I’ve never owned a Palomino Blackwing pencil–which is regarded by pencil lovers as the best pencil ever–so I figured I would try out all three versions. I also picked up a Prismacolor Turquoise pencil, just because of its snappy color. And do you remember taking essay tests in the Blue Books? When I saw them on a shelf at Patrick’s I had instant flashbacks of staring at the blank pages in high school and college. I thought it might be fun to write a letter in one. Finally, I bought a bunch of postcards at Patrick’s, too…but those are traveling through the mail. I’m happy that the kind clerk at Patrick’s gave me a bag. (In San Francisco, stores charge ten cents per bag.) Those graphics–including a floppy disk!–are going straight into my San Francisco mini book! Maido is a sweet Japanese stationery shop that seems to be the go-to spot for Japanese pens and paper items in San Francisco. I’ve been coveting those Midori Cherry Blossom paper clips for a long time…and I didn’t find them the last time I was in Japan, so I bit the bullet and turned over an arm and a leg for them. Totally worth it…they will be used in my datebook and in my future Japan mini book. I also snagged those California stickers to stick on my San Francisco postcards and in my mini book. They are made by Candyspotting and ohmygoodness, they come in every state and you can customize where you put the heart! (I may have Illinois in my Candyspotting shopping cart right now!)I’ve shared my love for my Coccoina glue stick before and I’ve had my eyes peeled for the glue pot. I finally found it at Arch, an amazing art supply store (and more!). The glue pot is a bit messier than the glue stick (you apply the glue with a teeny brush) but it smells delicious and it is so fun to use! At Ex Postal Facto, I splurged on several items in the Saturday Morning Vintage booth. I was so excited to meet Xenia and to see her selections in person. As it turns out, it’s very difficult to resist old paper in person. I bought a giant book of trading stamps, some first day of issue envelopes, an Ex Postal Facto paper pack, some awesome skiing labels, lotto cards and World’s Fair tickets. I picked up this cat print at the Paper Pastries booth. Margaret had so many cute things that I’m having regrets about not shopping more. The cat print is going to hang above the desk…as soon as I decide what else I’m doing up there…(I’ve changed a few things since that post.)And finally, I got Confessions of a Yakuza in a Japan Town bookstore. I bought it for plane reading, but I was too distracted on the flight home to read it. But, it will make excellent reading for the flight to Japan. Naoto and I are obsessed with the Yakuza (Japanese “mafia”) so I figured we would both get some mileage out of this paperback.

So that was my restrained shopping in San Francisco…I think I may have one more post about San Francisco before I start obsessing about Japan again.

Tagged adventures, books, crafts, Japan, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Feb 24 2014

3 Comments

adventures, vintage

Musée Méchanique

On Friday, before heading to the Mail/Art/Book Opening Reception, Ana, her husband Bob and I went to the Musée Méchanique at Fisherman’s Wharf. For a few quarters, we had a fabulous time. The arcade is filled with antique arcade games that are sweet, creepy, weird and unusual (sometimes all wrapped up into one). The three of us shared a bunch of quarters and went to town trying out the strange games.The game above is the oldest in the museum. It used a series of Alice in Wonderland-like drawings and mirrors to create the vision of “Alice” jumping rope. This one was an Opium Den and a quarter made all sorts of doors and drawers open for real creepiness. There were two games with an “execution” theme…shudder…Ana and I were both excited to see a typewriter zodiac game…sadly, it was broken and only spit out a blank sheet of paper for Ana’s horoscope. But it was fun watching the old Royal attempt to type!I thought this game was pretty progressive…a MAN trying to comfort a crying baby?! Doesn’t he look like a doting father? Sadly, this game went on a little too long and the crying baby was awfully realistic. Spoiler alert: A husband.This was one of my favorites…the chef opens the pizza door and your prize drops into his scoop. Then he drops it into the bin and it flies out onto the floor! (Sadly it was a cheap necklace…but really, the real prize is watching the pizza guy do his thing…)Many of the games sing and dance…the clown dances on demand (because you push buttons to control his arms and legs.)This amusement park was made from toothpicks…it’s kind of incredible to think about building that and making it all move (with the help of a quarter). I mean, technology is great and everything, but building this kind of thing is mind-blowing.

The museum also had retro arcade games like Pac Man and pinball. We each took a spin at pinball…now I want a pinball machine for our home. (Take note, Naoto!) I’m terrible at video games, but pinball is fun even when you aren’t racking up a high score.

I’m really looking forward to taking Naoto here the next time we go to San Francisco.

Until then, I’ll leave you to ponder this:

Tagged adventures, vintage

Feb 21 2014

2 Comments

adventures, My Love Affair with Tokyo

Planned: Another Trip to Japan

Right before I left for San Francisco, Naoto booked our flights to Japan!

In some ways, it feels like we just got back. I still have some washi tapes and some stationery I haven’t even opened! And, our bank account just recovered from our last trip (and Christmas!) But I’ve always wanted to go in the spring, and rather than go this summer again (too hot!) or hold off an extra long time until next spring, we decided to take the plunge and go in March. We scored a decent airfare (on ANA…love those Japanese carriers!) and made reservations at the same hotel.

I’m on pins and needles about seeing the cherry blossoms bloom. It’s hard to predict when they will open, but we will hopefully be there to at least catch a few…

Naoto wants to spend extra time with his mom while we are there this time. That means I will be adventuring around Tokyo by myself sometimes. I’m dreaming of spending all day in Itoya or Sekaido or spending extra time at Mister Donut for postcard writing and donut tasting. While this whole independence thing makes me super excited–I always feel bad for dragging Naoto into every single stationery store in the city–I’m also a little nervous. I don’t usually need to ask questions in stores–I have spending money in Japan perfected. But taking the train in Tokyo is still puzzling to me. So, if you hear about an American lost on the subway in Tokyo, you can say, “Hey I know her!”

The best part of our trip is that I get to spend my birthday in Japan. I’m already making up my list of must-do’s on that day.

I’ll share more about our trip as it creeps closer. In the meantime, I need to use up some stationery and washi tape so I can make room for more!

Tagged adventures, I *heart* Japan, Japan

kimberly ah

kimberly at home

Category Archives: adventures

Home from Tokyo

Hello from Tokyo

Stamp King

Empty Bowls

Japan Does It Better 9: Hygiene Masks

Presley Meets April

San Francisco Favorites

Spending in San Francisco

Musée Méchanique

Planned: Another Trip to Japan