XUE-ORIGINALS

A full moon, a couple of lanterns & mooncakes.

2011-09-12T16:12:00.003+09:00

Happy Mid-Autumn everyone! A favourite Chinese celebration in yet another city.

Happy Mooncake & Lantern Festival too. There's a full moon tonight.

The day started with this pretty box of mooncakes which friends have brought back from a recent Singapore trip. Thank you Chiara, Silke & Kalim.

These often takes the place of a birthday cake since my lunar birthday is also today.

Yes, the Chinese have two birthdays - lucky us! We really try to keep our Chinese lanterns intact, as we move from city to city.

On other days, the lanterns are displayed as part of our garden-trellis-headboard, in our guestroom & also by the kitchen windows. Too pretty to be brought out once a year.

Tonight, we make & eat these jiaozi. Then we'll stroll around our Dubai neighbourhood, with the lanterns.

And a homemade card from my Annika.

Partying, sewing & sneaks of my studio ...

2011-05-25T17:31:00.005+09:00

It was a hectic week. After we got back from our Easter break in Singapore, it was more unpacking in a frenzy & more spring cleaning to get the house ready for some guests. Here's a glimpse of our new home, here in Dubai. Behind these 3 metre high curtains, is the garden with a pool, something which we never had before & which is really, really useful now with the present temperatures of 40s C / 100s F .

A couple of last minute cushions made with my favourite fabrics.

Whipped up a special dress for our special girl.

Thank you all, who sent her bloggy birthday wishes in the last post - you made her very happy!

Had a little pool party to celebrate Annika turning 11.

The pool was a real scary, yukky, mess the first time we saw it.

That's why this pic is smaller so you won't get too put off.

And the house used to be very empty & clean. This was my spacious (to me!) & empty studio.

It was meant to be a family room with wooden sliding doors leading into it, from the kitchen (which I absolutely love!). I have placed my laptop to the left corner of this room so that when I type, I can still see the pool if my kids are in there.

The studio is fast filling up with stuff. Here is some (yes, some!) of my fabric.

Organised by colours & also by themes.

I try to be neat but I think these multiply at night !!!

In front of me is a curtain suspension rod, with various projects all patiently waiting to be finished...

Among this mess, I sewed this wristlet pouch for a good friend. Hope you like it, Linda !

Happy Birthday, Annika !

2011-05-16T00:51:00.001+09:00

When you keep moving around the way we do, it is hard to form any friendship, let alone maintain the friendship when it's time to move again. So my little girl became my best friend & we do many things together.

She draws & sews , like me. She knows which fabric goes with which & which fabric I would like. Today, my little girl has grown a little.

Well, actually, she is now taller than me & she just turned 11 today!

This is this year's homemade birthday party invitation card
& 5 friends will come over, for lots of splashing fun in the pool.

Each year, we make our own cake too.

Happy 11th Birthday, Annika !

Special times.

2011-05-08T15:26:00.004+09:00

I never had any toy as a child. Not store-bought ones, at least. We play like most kids in our village - running around, hide and seek games & climbing lots of trees. One fond memory was the "5-stone" game we did, similiar to "jacks", I think. With no spare fabric scraps & no rice nor beans for the fillings (these are for eating only), I became quite good at this game as I had to use real stones.

Now, I made these for my kids, not only when they were small but to play with, even now. It makes great sewing-projects-on-the-go. There are green beans stuffed in them as I no longer have to save every morsel for food. Seeing these makes me think of my mother, whom we visited over Easter. She gave up schooling at 8 years old so that she could work & support her family. She taught herself to read & write our Chinese language & now reads the Chinese newspaper every day. She adopted me so I could live & have a better life. And funnily, I have inherited my sewing skills from her.

She learns English so she could communicate better with my children, whose Chinese are sadly, not as fluent as their Po-Po's ( Grandma in Mandarin ) English. All these make us children & grandchildren, love her more. I am proud of her as she is proud of me.
Happy Mother's Day to my Mama. Happy Mother's Day to you all.

Quilting for Japan.

2011-03-30T14:27:00.002+09:00

Thank you for writing, in regards to previous post. I truly appreciate the comforting words.
Since then, there doesn't seem much we can do from here ..... except sew.
I am making this quilt & giving it to my children's school
(Deutsche International Schule Dubai), who will then hold a raffle, with all proceeds going to
the German Lutheran Church in Tokyo, towards helping the people of Japan.

This quilt is called "Ganbatte“. In Japanese, it means “persevere, you can make it".

Made entirely with Japanese fabrics, reminding us so much of beautiful Japan.

In Red & White, the national flag colours of a red rising sun on a white background.

“8” for luck as in the 8 appliquéd kimonos.

The Japanese children in the fabric design, represent the families & citizens in unity,

bunnies as it's the Year of the Rabbit, fishes for strength, courage & luck.

The gracious people of Japan will pass through these times of suffering,

like fishes swimming through turbulent water.

“ Ganbatte, Nippon ! “

Sad, guilty & lucky - a post with no pics.

2011-03-13T20:09:00.004+09:00

It's been weeks & months since I've posted. We are now living in Dubai, amidst lots of boxes still waiting to be unpacked. This past weekend, we enjoyed our first dip in our own pool, at our new home. Enjoying happily... till we learnt that miles away, in Japan, in the country that we used to call home for the past 5 years, a massive earthquake had struck. By now, most of you would have seen footages of the disaster. We used to live in Tokyo & still have friends there. We tried calling our friends in Japan but in the initial hours, were unable to reach anyone. Slowly, we started getting emails from friends in Tokyo & from people who thought we were still in Tokyo.

We were also having breakfast then & felt so bad & guilty when this happened. This is probably the "big one" that all Japan residents have been waiting for. When we lived there, we had an emergency backpack (copies of passports, cash, wipes, face-masks, inhaler, medicines, chocolates, walkie-talkies...) & in the garden shed; boxes of canned food, more sugar items, water, first aid kits. When Martin & I had to fly to Dubai for the look-see trip, we made sure the kids knew what to do/where to go, just in case.... .

Maybe this is stupid but to be honest, the kids & I kind of wished we were still in Tokyo. I feel callous for wishing that we were there & then feel lucky too that we are not there. We have since gotten emails that our friends are alright & that some have left Japan, for fear of worst to come.

Mothers waited anxiously at home & it was hours before they were together with the children again. Husbands were trapped in the offices & if they left, had to make the way home on foot as the public transportation had shut down. A couple of the kids' old classmates wrote to us already. Quite a number of schoolmates were crying & most thought that they were going to die. All these kids in fear & their parents were seperated from them, during all those hours!

It happened shortly before 3pm on a Friday. The school buses would have left just after 3pm so the result was, most children had to remain in school till past 9pm since the roads were closed. The German school there is located in Yokohama, with a big river & overhead highway, between Yokohama & Tokyo. That highway was closed. We used to sign a form, allowing the school to take care of the children, if an earthquake should occur. Of course, a parent can also choose to go "rescue" one's kids from the school. We always hope that if an earthquake does happen, that the kids would be in school since the school is equipped to have the kids there for 4 days, with food.

Many walked home from the office & that was something which (when we lived there), my husband had also practised doing occasionally, to prepare himself. But then, it would have been a more difficult walk home now with thousands of people doing the same thing & the danger of aftershocks & falling debris from damaged buildings. He too, had an emergency backpack & an extra pair of good walking shoes, in his office.

Keiko Goke, an incredible quilter & fabric designer, whom we met in the Tokyo Quilt Fest - she lives in Sendai, Miyagi Perfecture where it was most devastated, I pray that she is alright as so many are missing after the earthquake & tsunamis of over 30 feet in height. More than half the city has been wiped out. We are glad especially for our families' sakes, that we have left Tokyo. And we feel guilty & worry though, for our friends who are still there. (Edited on 15 March : Keiko & her family are alright & still in her own house in Sendai, which is so amazing!)

Over the oceans & across the dunes, from Tokyo to Dubai !

2010-12-15T21:47:00.004+09:00

Our new life will be starting in an oasis. As you are reading this, the movers are here
& we are preparing to leave Tokyo. With fond memories, we say goodbye to these :

For the next few years, we will be residents of DUBAI, United Arab Emirates.

Living in this city with the world's tallest building,

and lots of sand between our toes.

For the next few weeks, we will house-hunt while staying at a service apartment.

Keeping our fingers crossed for our dream villa, the term of which houses are referred to, there.

Our children will start school on 4 January, at the Dubai German International School,
where there's palm trees in the courtyard.

In their new school uniforms of white Polo shirts & black bermudas,

they will learn German, English, French & Arabic

(which replaces the Japanese that they used to learn in the past).

And next week, on our first day in Dubai, we will not only celebrate this new part of our lives,
we will celebrate our wedding anniversary as 17 years ago, on Christmas Eve, we got married in New York City.
It might be quite awhile too, before I get back here so please bear with me,
while we move & then get settle & try to unpack those 600 boxes or so!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, everyone!

Countdown, twice !

2010-12-04T21:07:00.002+09:00

We are counting down frantically over here.

We count down in between panics, not only to Christmas but to our big move across the oceans.

This year, we will spend Christmas in another country, where it will never snow (sob!).

This year, we couldn't put up as many festive decor as we normally do.

Except for our homemade Advent Calendar,

everything else stays in the attic, waiting for the movers to come.

Our Advent Calendar has different sized pockets & removable wooden pegs.

In our home, we filled up some of the pockets, Santa filled up the rest.

Sometimes, the pegs moves around to fit the goodies accordingly.

My husband is German so we celebrate German festivals too.
So on 6th December, Saint Nikolaus (protector of children & a very good friend of Santa),

will come by to fill up the children's shoes, which will be left outside the night before.

Happy Advent !

Sayonara soon

2010-11-16T15:44:00.002+09:00

This is our Tokyo home where we have been living, these past 4 1/2 years.

Here is where I started to sew & collect gorgeous Japanese fabrics,

Each year, we look forward to the first blooms on the pretty tree outside our front door.

And when it finally blooms, fragrance fills the air.

This is also where our kids had their first "no school, it's snowing" day.

Soon, we will say sayonara to all these 4 seasons & our cosy home.

After 4 1/2 wonderful years in Tokyo, we will move to another city.

A city full of traditions, mystery & super incredible structures.... an oasis paradise.

Soon, my husband & I will fly out there, to find another wonderful new home for the next few years.

So where are we moving to? Tune in again, for this exotic city, our 6th residential city in 20 years of living abroad.

Autumn, Quilts & Mt Fuji.

2010-11-02T10:01:00.002+09:00

Just got back from a few days by Lake Yamanakako near Mt Fuji, enjoying autumn in all its glory.

We relaxed at a cosy inn, owned by a Japanese family & ate too much delicious Japanese food

cooked by the innkeeper's wife, who also folded original wrappers for our chopsticks.

Unfortunately, Fuji-san was behind a thick mist all those days so no nice pic of it.
You can imagine that it's still there, across the lake, in the mist.

Luckily, we still have good memories of this beautiful mountain, as you can see in this pic from a previous visit.

Fishes were abundant in the lake !!! Our 10 year old Annika took these pics since so I can blog about them.

And I did what most quilters would do...take along a pile of quilts

& quilt tops to be photographed against the incredible autumn colours.

Unfortunately, the typhoon was there at the same time so we had to take quick pics in between the rain.

Brought along some metal clips & an extension pole. I know the rigid pole is not so pretty but luckily I did, since the fences were mostly wet & there wasn't any low, sturdy, horizontal branches that we could use.

It kept raining & stopping & raining. Only dropped a quilt once, down on that wet floor!

Some quilts, some quilt tops & some waiting for more quilting to be done.

One even have a needle & thread in it (if you can spot it!).

I love the pics that we managed to take. A big thank you to my 2 men who patiently held up the quilts!

Also brought along scraps so I could cut & trim - a collection of many favourite fabrics for another project.

( My attempt at stash busting, Alia ! ).

Probably breaking another quilt rule as the scraps are of different thickness & texture.

It's a real colourful mish-mash & I love it & that will be for my next post.

Happy Autumn days!

Fabrics all around & a teenager too !

2010-10-15T06:40:00.001+09:00

A friend asked what fabrics do I have & how much.

So, here's a part of my ever-growing stash.

Some are folded.

Some are lying around,

patiently waiting to be sorted out, by colours, theme or by designers.

The hardest part of my projects, is always selecting the fabrics,

which seem to be oozing out from every corner of my small & crowded studio.

...and a new quilt top...

Today, our Niklas, is 13 years old. He sure loves to read.

He has been waiting a long time for this day, to be a teenager.

And we waited a long time for Niklas to be in our lives.

Whenever I pick him up in school, he hugs & kisses me which really means a lot to me.

I am happy that he does that, whenever he sees me or his sister.

He holds his sister's hand when she is frightened. And removes her shoes for her,

when her hands are full with schoolbag & ice cream.

生日快乐，权权! Shen ri kuai le, Quan Quan !

You are finally a teenager. Have fun with your new Kindle.

Lots of sewing & reading.

2010-10-02T17:20:00.025+09:00

I have a few quilt tops that I need to work on, so they are all over the house.

Sometimes I sew in the studio, the living room & the terrace too.

Especially ever since the landlord built us a roof !

Our terrace isn't big but pretty cosy to us. Most Saturdays, we eat pancakes out here.

In between, I am happily distracted by presents.

New quilting books, lovely flowers & drawings by the children

& more books that came with my new Kindle.

All wonderful birthday presents from my children & husband

as we celebrated special days (see previous post).

When asked which cover should they order to go with the Kindle,

the children said "No Papa, Mama would want to make her own cover!".

And so I did...with a Laura Gunn oilcloth & a cheery Japanese fabric too.

It's been lovely days!

A special day. A special quilt.

2010-09-22T05:00:00.015+09:00

In the past months, we have traveled quite a bit & I have sewn quite a bit too. And blogging always gets more difficult the longer I stay away. But it is that special time of the year again so I am finally back, with some pics.

It is also my Chinese birthday when the moon is at its fullest tonight. It is a special time for us because it's mid-Autumn & it's our traditional Lantern Night & Mooncake Festival, all rolled into one! We shall drink tea & eat mooncakes & walk around the park with our home-made lanterns. Make wishes with huge flying lanterns. And eat homemade jiaozi (Chinese dumplings in soup).

For the first time, I sew for my mother. A quilt with lanterns on the front & bamboo shoots on the back. I worked on it as we went from city to city. By the time we reached Singapore, it was pretty crumpled !

"Red Lanterns" for my mother as she loves red & because she found me during a Lantern Festival, when I was a few days old.

Happy Mid-

Autumn everyone!

Happy Mooncake Fest!

A quilt named 很可爱 ... & some pins

2010-06-26T08:11:00.051+09:00

While waiting for my kids after school, I normally sew under a tree. A mother passed by, was smitten by this quilt & soon, it will be on its way to USA !

This quilt is named 很可爱 ( "Hen Ke Ai" in Mandarin ), which means "very adorable". It has my favourite children-print fabrics & the little girls in the design reminds me of my own little girl. Ok, not so little since she's now 10.

The label is hand-sewn onto the back of the quilt ; handwritten & with our homemade stamp designs, a round applique & some free-motion stitching plus the buyer's message.

We start our summer break today so the blogging process will sloooww down even more :) . Next week, we head first towards Osaka & Kyoto, & then back to Tokyo. Then we will leave Tokyo again, this time for Germany, London & Singapore.

A couple of English bloggers had been very kind in recommending quilt shops in London. Thank you Melanie & Shev for your suggestions! I won't be buying fabrics ( I think! ) but I sure look forward to books, notions, gadgets & what-nots galore!

This is the very kawaii Baby Liam, who loves his new quilt as much as his parents. Sadly they have left for Germany & we will miss them very much.

PINS ( & I don't mean those that's used for sewing ! ) :

An update on my previous post, about my 12 year old son who broke 2 bones in his arm.

Niklas says "Thank you!" to those kind people who commented & sent good wishes to him.

Unfortunately, things got worst for awhile & he was operated on,

when an x-ray showed that the gap between bones, had widened.

After many painful nights in the hospital, he is now back home again, with stainless steel pins holding the bones together, & a new cast for his friends to sign on.

Happy summer everyone! Stay cool & have fun!

Quilts, lanterns & broken bones

2010-06-04T10:30:00.004+09:00

When I started quilting, I thought I will be making quilts for family & friends.

Didn't think anyone would buy, let alone place an order.

And then, I sold 2 quilts & am working on a custom order for a single bed quilt! Can you see me hopping around still ?!!

These are the 2 quilts sold.

- Calming Pinks & Greens.

Very soft & luxurious fabrics with fleece batting. It's for a mother, at the end of a long day.

- Playing with Animals in Blue.

Cotton fabrics with toys motifs (western & asian designs). 2 very lovely new parents bought this for their equally adorable baby.

With a wonderful Bernina, you can make wonderful personalised labels too! Now I understand why quilters have more than 1 project at a time. I have so many ideas running around in my head & I want to sew so many quilts - all at the same time!

The latest project in the making is "Red Lanterns". I am making it with my mother in mind.

She found me during the Lantern Festival, one mid-autumn. She loves red & she loves lanterns in the wind. It will be the first time, I am sewing just for her.

And we had an excitement recently. My 12 year old Niklas fell out of a tree & broke 2 bones in his right arm. He climbed to get his ball & fell 2 metres (over 6 feet) to the ground.

When you are suddenly one-armed, almost everything is more tricky. His little sister, Annika helps him patiently with everyday normal things.

I help him, with lots of scoldings in between the concern & care. I still scold, when I think of the worst that could have happened.

Annika said his arm (before the cast) looks like Harry Potter's arm when it became boneless & was all floppy. She also said that if we dotted Niklas' hand, the broken arm will look like a swan's head.

Happily sewing . . .

2010-05-22T05:30:00.006+09:00

So what do you do when you have a brand new sewing machine?

Sew up a frenzy, of course!

This is my first real quilt. Inspired by Keiko Goke, a famous Japanese quilter & fabric designer. We were lucky to have met her at the Annual Tokyo Quilt Fest & she even autographed her book for us.

Annika chose these fabrics & I made the quilt in 4 days - I do not know if this is a long time or not.

It's a combination of machine & hand stitches. I don't have the patience to completely hand-stitch any quilt so I truly admire those who only do hand-stitching.

I hand-stitched whenever I was in the car, waiting for my kids. I did machine sewing when at home. And there is fleece batting between the quilt top & the backing layer.

I love doing free motion stitching & so does my daughter.

This Bernina QE makes it so easy to try out wriggly lines & squiggles sewing through all thickness.

It works so hard that I stop to hug it every now & then.

Happy, Happy Day !

2010-05-15T05:06:00.017+09:00

I do have much to blog about & no time to blog. In past months : the cherry blossom season came & went, I have become more interested in quilting, acquired a new, fabulous sewing machine (Bernina QE 440), & made a couple of quilts too.

The children grew older & Annika played at her first piano recital, in this homemade dress. She also turns 10 today.

Annika was born in Singapore, 15. May 2000, the Year of the Golden Dragon. She set her alarm clock to 7.55am as that's the time she was born. Coincidentally, her brother, Niklas was born at 8.44am (on 15. Oct).

Happy Birthday to my sweet child, my partner in sewing.

Gong Xi Fa Cai !

2010-02-14T07:15:00.003+09:00

Today is Chinese New Year & the first day of spring. Our ume (plum) tree is blooming pinks!

Besides 2010 being the Year of the Tiger, these are also Tiger-years : 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 (...in case you are wondering if you are a Tiger).

Tiger people are sensitive, capable of great sympathy, courageous and powerful. Born to command & able to sway the crowd. Sincere, honourable & humorous. A good friend to have.

Tigers are most compatible with those from the years of Horses, Dragons, and Dogs. It is my mother's year & my husband's year too! So according to this, both of them are not compatible with their spouses since my father & I are not born in those years :) .

Last night, we had our traditional Chinese New Year's Eve, reunion dinner. We made our own Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings in soup or potstickers) & almond cookies too.

The new year brings new bags. "THE BAG" - so named by my son Niklas as he & Annika were impressed & intrigued by the flexibility of the design. My kids are very kind to my work.

THE BAG converts from a cute petite handbag to a larger carryall. Start the day small, do your errands & chuck everything into the same bag, which has "grown" bigger.

Many pockets inside & outside (those are just patchwork). And it has a detachable shoulder strap when you get tired of carrying it. This is now my favourite bag, at the moment!

Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone!
Happy New Year!

16 years ago...

2009-12-24T07:14:00.012+09:00

...we got married on Christmas Eve in New York City. 2 friends who were staying with us for the festive season, didn't know of our plans until that very morning, except that they had to bring something proper to wear as we were "...going somewhere special" on Christmas Eve.

So we went to the German Lutheran Church in NYC to be married by the Pastor, had drinks at The Rainbow Room with a fabulous view & cruise around Manhattan in the evening, in a yacht.

No, it wasn't a private yacht but it was a yacht with more fabulous views. On the way home, it snowed - a perfect end to a special day! Happy 16th year to us!

Our home is pretty cheery at this time. Couple of pics are from last Christmas since we do about the same thing each Christmas :

A special Advent Calendar to help the kids count down the days. Our traditional wooden hand crafted Angels from German, a collection started by my mother-in-law for us. She sent us a couple each year & I'm glad she did this!

Each Christmas, the children put up hundreds of these paper gingerbread boys & girls. Annika & Niklas made these when they were both still in kindergarten. I pre-cut these from 3 shades of brown paper & each day when they got home from kindergarten, they would "decorate" a few. If you start in June, you will get hundreds by the time it is Christmas!

On our tree, besides twig-stars, gold & red tinsel balls, we have hand-painted mini clay dolls from China, kawaii painted wooden clogs from Japan.

Beneath the tree is part of our quite-large Brio trains, a collection which started when Niklas was one. And he's 12 now.

Here & there too, are craft made by the children, like Christmas mobiles made in Kindergarten. And this Chinese Doll made from a halved-milk carton.

And some old pics of the kids when they were really young!

Have a wonderful festive time & stay warm!

From climbing in Beijing to sewing in Tokyo.

2009-11-19T09:33:00.013+09:00

Back from Beijing & back to the usual hecticness of daily life. While in Beijing, my blog & almost all of yours too, was on their restricted list so I couldn't publish nor visit any blogs when I was in Beijing. And now, getting back again to posting is always hard for me. Had meant to post earlier but.....life happens :) .

As usual, whenever I'm extremely busy...I sew!...which I am sure makes sense to a number of you!

For the first time ever, I sewed on a zipper. Never thought I would, as just the idea of a zippered project, brings on headaches.

First, I looked at some Japanese craft books with pretty pics & wonderfully illustrated patterns. Then, I gave up on the patterns which always give me headaches too!.

So I start cutting & sewing. Not sure sure how I did it ..... but here's my zippered box pouch & since I am no longer afraid of zippers, I've made more!

Also made a large-sized Diaper-Case plus Changing-Mat for a nice new-mama-to-be.

The padded fabric design had illustrations from "Momotaro" (The Peach Boy), a Japanese tale of an old couple who longed for a baby & he came to them one day, inside a giant peach which was floating down the river. Hence, "Momotaro".

The darker oilcloth design had multi-coloured "Kokeshi" girls. These fabrics were carefully chosen to prepare for a baby girl or boy!

And I finally found time to go to the post office, to mail off some goodies for bloggies - good, kind folks whom I have been lucky enough to get to know. Enjoy!

So where are the Beijing pics??? Will show you when I can decide among the thousands that we took! Meanwhile, here's peeking at you from an ancient doorway on the Great Wall !

A Wall & some distractions.

2009-10-27T09:53:00.005+09:00

We have left these houses & our own real house to go climb a wall.

Climbing a wall : It has always been my dream to bring our kids to China, as they are also part Chinese. My husband & I have been to Beijing a number of times, way back before we had the kids & also before we know each other. This will be the first time we are there, as a complete family.

This week is our autumn break so when you are reading this.....we will be in Beijing, climbing the Great Wall of China (长城/万里长城 Wàn Lǐ Cháng Chéng) !

The Great Wall, built over 2000 years ago, stands for the wisdom, tenacity & spirit of the Chinese people. I was pretty emotional the first time I stood on that Wall, one spring day, many years ago.

Legends of the Great Wall : Many died during the construction & they were buried under it. These "convenient" burials save funeral expenses, save building materials (good, environment friendly bones) & also, bones help "deep fertilize" the wall, making the roots of plants go deep, thus protecting the Great Wall foundations. And I thought roots would wreck foundations but what do I know!

Most all, according to Chinese beliefs : the spirits of those who died for the Great Wall, made it stronger. The Wall is 6400 Kilometres, about 4000 miles long.

And contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall cannot be seen from the moon. It is hardly recognizable from 65,617 feet high. It is totally invisible at a height of 196,850 feet, not to mention from a space ship whose orbital altitude is on average 1,312,333 feet high. So sadly, to say that an astronaut can see the Great Wall is merely an exaggeration.

Click HERE, to see a dizzy 360 degree

panoramic view of the Great Wall.

Sewing : While preparing for this trip, we were sidetracked so many times! I am in the middle of an exciting swap with a fabulous crafty blogger-mom (hi Laurie!) & as she wished for Japanese fabric scraps, I had to start organising my messy lots of scraps.

While sorting, we were so distracted by the colours & made these patchwork items instead of packing. And now, we have new colourful cushion covers to replace the boring old yellow ones, more fabric houses & other cheerful things!

12.

2009-10-15T10:31:00.005+09:00

When anyone asked Niklas where he's from, he used to say "Hongkong". We had to explain to him that such a brief answer is misleading. Instead, he must always say "I am a German & a Singaporean Chinese but I was born in Hongkong & now live in Japan".....yes, quite a mouthful but how else could he answer then?

Niklas was born in Hongkong, in 1997 - the historical year, when the British returned Hongkong to China. He spoke at 7 months & spelled by the time he was 18 months old. Now, he learns German, English, Japanese & French at the German school here.

My baby is 12 years old, today. His name "Niklas" comes from an old book that my husband used to read each night to the "baby" when he was still in my tummy.

His middle Chinese name "Quan" (pronounced with the Q sounding like "ch") means "power". When he was a baby, every sound or movement he made.... he had the power to make his parents come running!

The years of fertility treatment & injections was worth all the pain & agony. As a big brother & true to Chinese tradition, he looks after his sister. Lots of responsibility but he's used to it...so he does things, like making sure her shoelaces on her football boots are not too long. She loves him a lot. We too.

生日快乐，权权！Shen ri kuai le, Quan Quan.

A special time for the Chinese.

2009-10-03T05:38:00.009+09:00

Today, the Chinese celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, our 2nd most important event after Chinese New Year. We shall have yummy dimsum lunch in Chinatown Yokohama & enjoy the atmosphere there!

If we were in Singapore, we would go to the Chinese Gardens which will be decorated with hundreds & hundreds of lanterns!!! But we are in Japan & sadly, this is not as hugely celebrated here.

Tonight, the children shall take their lanterns through our neighborhood's Komazawa Park. We shall eat "mooncakes" because the moon is at its roundest & fullest. So tonight, go gaze at your moon & see how much rounder & brighter than usual it is !

This year, we made this "moon" lantern. However, we chose the crescent because of it's interesting shape, instead of the full moon - yes, we're weird! This was made in the traditional way, using string, wire, bamboo sticks & rice paper.

Today too, I have my Chinese birthday. Most Chinese do not remember their Chinese birth-dates but my family & friends remember mine because long ago on one Lantern night, I was born.

There's the regular calendar (as most people know & use). Then there's a Chinese lunar calendar based on the phases of the moon. So I had my regular birthday in late September but in the year 19xx when I was born, it also happened to be the 15th day of the 8th lunar month - today - Mid-Autumn or Mooncake or Lantern Festival. Are you confused yet :) ?

Each year, whichever city we live, I would get a mooncake! In addition, I had these wonderful things from my wonderful family :

- Gorgeous flowers in a pretty hand-painted "fishy" vase.

- Colourful cheery card by Niklas & a door-hanger by Annika for my busy sewing/crafting days.
- Lovely chopsticks for my collection.
- Really cute green fabric with rows of children in traditional costumes & all sorts of sweets. I love the adorable Chinese girl in red, with a mooncake!

- 2 books Emma Hardy's "Quilting in no time" & Kaffe Fassett's "Passionate Patchwork" . When these 2 books did not arrive as expected, Annika made 2 little mock-ups for me to have first.

Mooncakes are traditionally golden-brown pastries with fillings of dark brown lotus paste & a egg yolk.

Nowadays, they come in various shapes, shades & flavour too! Some pics here are from magazines since I couldn't find many actual mooncakes here in Tokyo!

And here are the children when they were very little, with more home-made lanterns.

My Minis & others too.

2009-09-16T09:28:00.005+09:00

I decided to do a mini quilt - my first! It was hard deciding what theme to do. It was even harder deciding on which fabrics to use!

And after lots of undecisions & rummaging & unnecessary mess everywhere, I made these 2 ; one would be for my own sewing room & one would be suitable for anyone who likes to sew.

A combination of hand & machine stitches, various types of fabrics, buttons & charms from my jewelry supply & ta dah!!!

Still a few more finishing touches here & there but I can't resist posting these here already :) .

Also in the works are these Kawaii Keystraps.

And Flexi Pouches. They are flexible since they have Flexi-Frames for easy "squeeze & open" closures.

They are versatile as holders for not only coins, but iPods with ear-plugs, sweets, supermarket coupons, lipstick & compact powder, tissues, medicines to take around, sewing needles & thread, and anything else other stuff you can think of.

And where's more of the summer-travelling pics & posts? ... errr...coming soon :) .

Sand, surf & sewing too.

2009-09-08T11:27:00.008+09:00

To those who asked "What happened?" refering to my absence since the last post.....no, we didn't get lost. Just that it is quite hard to get back into blogging after all this time! And even harder, to select from over 2000 photos that we took!

We traveled for a few weeks & am now home safely to Tokyo. Did take turns being sick but & are all happily healthy again. School has started as did the usual morning frenzy & day's hecticness. Annika is now in 4th Grade & Niklas is in 6th.

First, we were in Germany. In Hamburg where we had excitement in the Miniature Train Museum ito see the biggest collection in the world, of mock-up railways (see previous post).

Then we were in Sylt, the northenmost German island, off the coast of Denmark.

To get onto this island, we had to put the car (with us in it) onto a railway built on a dam linking the island to Germany, as there are no direct roads.

Sometimes, we put the car on a ferry, from the coast of Denmark. We zoomed past horses, sheep, hay rolls & the North Sea. A few days ago, the winds in this area was so strong, it blew a truck (yes! truck!) off this railroad!!!

On Sylt, you can explore.
Moto-crossing on cute bikes.
Jump off dunes.

Ride horses.
Bury your sister while she sleeps.
Be just plain silly!

Hand-sew applique placemats,
these patchwork scarves
& a couple of hexagon-cosy/mousepad.

From Germany, we went to Singapore (photos later) before heading home to Tokyo.. where this parcel (wrapped up in a pretty paisley fabric) was waiting - a wonderful gift from wonderful Eileen - it was like Christmas!

One of the "problem" about living here is the difficulty in getting English magazines like this. I do have quite a good collection of Japanese craft books & magazines but still, it is fabulous to be able to read & not just figure out from the pictures & diagrams!

We are enjoying Eileen's goodies so much, even the "junk mail" which I love!

...choo...choo...!!

2009-07-05T08:30:00.003+09:00

This was the umpteenth time we have been to the Miniature Train Museum in Hamburg - the biggest collection in the world, of mock-up railways in incredible mini landscapes. It is located in one of the historic red brick riverside warehouses (Old Storehouse City), all built in the 1700s - that alone is an amazing visual treat!

We have been coming here since the kids were too small to see the exhibits & had to be carried around. Now, we are dragging each other all over the place exclaiming "Look at this! Oh wow!..did you see that!".

There are fire scenes with houses emitting smoke & little fire trucks dashing to the scene. Teensy houses & figures, cars & trees, hills & valleys, night & day, lots of tracks, over 800 trains, more than 500 moving cars & ships,

You can see a football match (left), mini people gambling in Las Vegas, hiking in the alps or Grand Canyon, or rowing on Norwegian fjords. Even a CSI scene complete with a teensy dead body in the river (top pic)!

Photos don't really do the place justice so do take time to click on this video to see what I mean.

This place was created by 2 brothers with a big passions for trains. It covers over 4000 sq metres (43,000 sq ft) from Scandinavia to USA, from coasts to mountains. And it is still expanding! The lighting also changes to depict day & night! Yes, I am beginning to sound like the brochure as I am referring to it.

Let the fun begin!

2009-06-24T12:09:00.006+09:00

We are hectically preparing to leave for a few weeks' traveling. Our annual summer vacation to Germany to visit one German Oma & to Singapore to visit a Chinese Po-Po.

When the children were smaller, you don't need to wait for summer & travel with the crowd. Now that they are learning serious stuff in school, we can only travel during their school holidays.

Besides Hamburg where Oma lives, we'll go north of Germany, to the island of Sylt with its endless white beaches & enormous sand dunes. Here, as babies, the children were christianed in a 800 year old church, St Severin. There are no roads linking Germany to this island. To get there, you put the car on a train from the German coast or a ferry from Denmark. This journey by itself, is already quite an adventure!

Before we leave Tokyo, a message to both grandpa who are watching over us. Many times, Annika wishes that her Grandpas would live again. When I explain the unlikelihood, she tells me "But Mama, you say there's always a first time for everything".

Meanwhile, she writes to them via balloon-mail, wishing them well & telling them that we will be away. I told her that heaven is getting quite congested with balloons from children.

Annika wears a homemade blouse made from curtain fabric. I couldn't resist buying 3 metres (!!!). It has delicate leaf-prints, scallop edges & big cut-out holes for curtain-rods to go through. Makes it easy for me to loop green cotton cords through. Simple to make & finished in 30 minutes!

So goodbye too, to our neighbourhood, to this pretty mailbox, couple of restaurants & a teapot/teacup shop.

And these expensive fruits :

US$15 for one watermelon.

US$6 for a rock melon.

We will be stuffing ourselves full with reasonable-priced tropical fruits in sunny Singapore!

Goodbye, little pretty sweets which look better than they tasted.

And before we fly off, I finished & delivered these custom-ordered aprons.

Happy Summer everyone.

We might be missing

from here, for awhile.

Stay cool !

This last pic is from last summer.

In 2008, enroute to Germany & Singapore, we had a smashing RV adventure in beautiful parts of Arizona, Utah, Nevada & California.

My first hand-piecing !

2009-06-14T09:29:00.007+09:00

Since I became interested in quilting, I am visiting mostly sewing & quilting blogs. And...I found Eileen's Attic. Within hours, we were yakking like old friends!

The problem of being self-taught & in a foreign land is that, I can't ask the sewing shop staff for help. But now, I have Eileen to run to, if I need answers!!! I used to think that you can only do basting with a chicken. Now I know better :) .

Eileen is so nice & talented & I do admire her for her handmade creations, from Raggedy Anns to beautiful quilts.

With Eileen's encouragement, I tried hand-piecing for the first time.

MK & Tracy, this means hand-sewing pieces together to form something :)

The hexagons were quite fun to do. But don't look too closely as you can see the stitches!

These stacks of fabric will eventually form a "Coin Stack Quilt". It was very difficult deciding which fabrics to use. I think the hardest part for me, will always be the selection of fabrics!

Soon we will be traveling. I look forward to the cities but I dread the thought of not sewing or crafting for weeks. So I am planning & cutting stuff to bring along. Small projects to occupy me when flying over 15 hours in a plane or relaxing by the sea & sand dunes.

Eileen suggested mini hand-sewn quilts. What else can you suggest? I shouldn't take up too much luggage space, heading out as I prefer to load up with goodies, coming back.

And a pic of 2 crafty kids :

Annika, stamping a bag, with our home-made stamps.

Niklas, doing free-motion stitching.

A mini sewing room in a messy sewing room.

2009-06-05T10:32:00.009+09:00

This week, for the first time, both my children are away in the countryside. Annika (3rd Grade) is with her class for "roughing it out" at a YMCA, near the base of Mt. Fuji. She's coming home late afternoon today - yippee!!

Niklas (5th Grade) & his Japanese-speaking classmate, Raimon, are at a Japanese child's home in the countryside. This is an exchange program where children from the German school stays with families from the Japanese school, & vice-versa. We will see him & hug him to bits, tomorrow!

While missing my kids, I have these to cheer me up whenever I look up from my sewing machine : A pair of lovely Kokeshi dolls carrying satchels, a pretty red porcelain container for pins. This was a present from my kids - the red pinbox, not the pins! I do love the little handbag on the lid. The green thimble of pins help shows the size of these dolls.

Next to these dolls are my very adorable Owls which can be used as pincushions, ornaments or just simply "I-got-to-have-this!" kind of thing. Keeping out the glare are these beige curtains with tiny scissors print.

My favourite is this mini "sewing room" in my sewing room! The little drawers & cabinet doors open like the real things. The cabinet was from Annika's doll-house. See the mini iron & sewing machine?!!! Kawaii !

And here's part of my fabric collection. Yes, part. The rest of my studio is not fit for sight now, since I'm in a frenzy sewing up stuff for a sale this Sunday - just imagine the mess!

I use a hanger for men's ties, to organise ironed fabric straps. Cheap, functional & keeps the straps wrinkle-free while waiting for their turns to be sewed onto aprons.

Kokeshis & Kimonos...

2009-05-28T11:53:00.004+09:00

I took part at another mini, mini bazaar organised by Linda, a friend & customer :) at her home.

Takehara-san was also there with his incredible collection of hundreds, maybe thousands of Kokeshi Dolls.

In the 2nd collage, bottom left - these 5 are "Sayonara Dolls" which has a paper scroll around the body, so that people can write farewell messages & then give the doll to the one who's leaving.

Yes, I came home with quite a number!!

My bags were displayed on a wooden stand, normally used for hanging kimonos.

Sold aprons, oven gloves, potholders, & cards made by my kids - hand-stamped with homemade stamps!

Also received my biggest order for 36 placemats, in various colour & fabric combination! Thank you Kristina for this order!

And when you live in Japan, you can see on a daily basis, kimono-clad ladies shopping in the supermarket or in the park or at your local MacDonalds!

Fries kudasai.
Arigatogozaimasu!

The story of Annika, who is 9 today.

2009-05-15T08:00:00.024+09:00

Annika was conceived in Vienna, born in Singapore, in 2000. Yes, when you are trying for years...you remember stuff like that! She likes to say "I used to live in Singapore alllll my life, till we moved to Japan".

Her first name came from a Swedish children story in which the main character (Pippi) has a best friend named Annika.

The funny thing is that while growing up, I was reading the exciting adventures of Pippi Longstocking in English while my husband was reading Pippi Langstrumpf in German. That's why Annika is Annika.....well, we couldn't really name her "Pippi"!

When she was 10 months old, she went into a coma. After 15 hours, she woke up & we spent the next few years, observing if she would reached all the milestones - walk, talk, all the normal things. Those were long agonizing years.

We think she is totally normal now! And like Niklas, she started reading at 5 years old. (sorry!...I am a very proud mama!).

Today she turns 9, speaks/reads German, English & learns Japanese in school. Her Chinese is not very good but she wants to learn more in later years.

She likes to craft & cook & sew & draw (just me!). Her birthday presents are : a rag quilt, fancy-edged scissors, sewing book, sewing machine, drawing stuff, more books! Everything perfect for a sweet girl who likes to sew & draw & craft here & there!

Her middle name is also "Xue" & I call her Xiao Xue - "Little Snow".

She also tells people "When I grow up, I want to be like Mama", which makes me emotional but in a good way.

Shen ri kuai le, Xiao Xue!

In this merry month of May ...

2009-05-06T12:54:00.009+09:00

Hot out of the studio!!!
I combined my love of sewing, quilts & bags & made this quilted patchwork bag. This is now my latest favourite bag, inspired by someone on the streets of Japan, carrying a similiar bag!

I love it so much....I've started to make 2 more versions!

A 2nd rag quilt for Annika's birthday. It's in her favorite shades of green.

This time, Niklas chipped in, snipping the edges.

This month, we have many things to be happy about.....

1st May : My very wonderful, very traditional Chinese mother who lives in Singapore, celebrated her birthday. She found me when I was 4 days old. Read this post.

3rd May : My husband & I met 18 years ago, in the Australian Consulate in Shanghai, during Happy Hours...and I don't even drink! You can read more in this post.

15th May : Our Annika will be 9 years old. She was born in 2000, Year of the Golden Dragon, in Singapore.

Fun in the sun :
It was Golden Week in Japan (a series of public holidays linked together). We went away to Shimoda in Izu Peninisula, Japan. The children had a great time exploring on the beach. Come back soon to see more pics for this outing!

First quilt !

2009-04-23T07:58:00.005+09:00

I have always wanted to make a quilt. Then I look at all those incredible quilts & imagine the intricacies & calculation & precised sewing it would take!!! So I gave up on that lofty dream & settled on this instead - my version of the rag quilt.

A "Rag Quilt" is one with raw edges of seam allowances are exposed & then cut/snip to form a fringe. Last steps consist of washing & tumble drying, till the edges fray for a softer look.A fabulous project for a beginner quilter (that's me!). No detailed mind-boggling patterns to follow, like a traditional quilt. Just squares of different patterns & straight lines to sew.

We love it! Warm earth tones with splashes of red - all Japanese fabrics of course. It helped a lot that the kids were making sandwiches for us while I sew this!

These 2 collages show the working progress. Because of the size & bulk, I sew & snip the 2 halves separately, before finally joining both halves together, to form the complete quilt.

Recently too, I found Gayla from Jubilee Homespun, who makes & sells quilts & patterns for over a decade! After making this, I have greater admiration for her work since she does this professionally. Thank you for the encouragement, kind words & good tips, Gayla!

And if you want to make one but can't stand cutting those squares... Gayla has squares - all cut & bundled up, ready for your own quilt project!

This cosy quilt (about single-sized) now lies folded on the sofa, in the living room, ready to be used for a comfortable nap. Niklas, back from a 4-day camp, couldn't resist doing just that!

Next on the rag quilt agenda, will be a blue-themed one for Niklas & a green one for Annika.

I have painted/made many T-shirts for them, which they can’t wear anymore. I always think that one day if /when I make a quilt, I'll cut up those T-shirts for part of the design. When I'm long gone, they'll have these to remember me by.

row, row, row, your boat...

2009-04-16T08:16:00.037+09:00

The Imperial Palace (built in 1888) is right in the heart of Tokyo. Kind of like the Belvedere Castle is located in Central Park, New York except that this is way bigger & more grand.

The Palace consists of beautiful gardens & massive stone walls & of course...moats!
On Easter Sunday, we went to admire the sakura in the gardens of the Imperial Palace. We rented 2 boats to row in the moat. Something which was more difficult than it looks.
Niklas & I took turns. We couldn't get the boat to go straight! Kept going in circles or whatever direction depending on who is rowing since Niklas is left-handed & I, right.
Occasionally, we crashed into the lowbranches of cherry blossoms, that were hanging down into the moat. We now have great admiration for anyone who rows!
Then we strolled through the gardens & rested while the kids hunt for their Easter goodies which we hid in the bushes & trees. More Easter goodies than Easter eggs!

Sadly, the cherry blossoms have almost reached their peaks & most petals were on the ground. We now get "pink snow" whenever ther's a breeze.

From top left & clockwise :

1) A drinking fountain with fallen blooms.2) Giant dumpling sold by a vendor, along the moat. Really yummy!
3) One of the many various designs of manhole covers in Japan.
4) Sakura designs on iron border, around the trees.

If you are not tired of seeing pics of flowers, here they are!
It was the first time we saw green cherry blossoms. Can you see the white swan on the moat?

Click on any pic for an enlarged view.

Sakura Sakura

2009-04-08T12:43:00.006+09:00

Hanami (flower viewing) is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers (hana).

In this case, it is normally refering to the cherry blossoms (sakura). From mid January to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan. It reaches us here in Tokyo, in late March.

Hanami mostly consists of having an outdoor party beneath the sakura during daytime or at night.

Each year, we would go for a nice relaxing walk & bicycle ride, along this beautiful path, which is right in our neighbourhood.

Some dramatic sakuras.

Good day! G'day!

2009-04-01T10:38:00.003+09:00

This has been a good week. First, I sold these 3 items within an hour of uploading on my empty-for-so-long Etsy shop. They will be going to a new owner in France. Thank you, V !

Then today, I woke up to this wonderful post over at Hey Harriet. I find it touching as even though she is so terribly, terribly busy, Tracy kindly compiled this for me & we all know how tedious all those uploading, editing, writing posts can be at times!

You have truly made my day, Tracy. I can't wait to show my kids your post when they get home. They will get a kick out of seeing their names in a fabulous Australian blog!

And heeding your encouragement, there are more stuff like these (lower left pic) on the Etsy shop ... all homemade & handmade by us.

Spring Colours

2009-03-26T09:43:00.004+09:00

These past weeks, I've been having spring/hay fever. My eyes are hurting & I've been sneezing my head off! Meanwhile, the cherry blossoms are starting to bloom in Tokyo & soon, I'll be taking hundreds of pics of these blossoms.

These are things we like in spring :
- Annika's new felt purse for school

- Egg-shaped Kokeshi dolls displayed in a restaurant.

- Egg & Chick. A felt-sewing craft with Annika's 3rd Grade class.

- This pair of bunnies "walk" when you squeeze fingers into its legs & make them walk - which you can't tell since I didn't take any pics of the back.

A stamping frenzy!

2009-03-15T20:38:00.007+09:00

Yes, we are really going crazy with our homemade stamps! I combined my sewing with this latest craze of ours & ta-dah!.....personalised aprons.

The first one was for Annika who is having fun in her cooking class at school. A mother there saw her apron & ordered one, so here's a custom order for Michael, a super 4th Grader who enjoys cooking.

This is for a friend, whom I hope, will enjoy her colouring set. This "Colours in a Wrap" will be a suitable gift for anyone (young, old, big, small or lopsided!), who loves to get creative anytime, anywhere.

The same beige cotton wrap can also be used for crochet hooks, cutlery, carving knives, brushes, anything...& Willow suggested knitting needles!

If you like anything on my blog, do email me for details. Or check in my Etsy store.

An order & an award

2009-03-11T09:16:00.004+09:00

Yippee!
My first custom order for a stamp. This design is for a very talented Etsy photographer & artist & popular blogger, Hey Harriet, of sunny Australia. Say "cheese!".

I carved it with my wonderful carving tools in a cotton wrap, with my own "Xue" stamp (naturally!).

With encouragement from Tracy & MK, I am also making cute stamps of Kokeshi dolls & maybe some other stamps too, for my Etsy store so come back sometime later to check on those ok?

AND...an award from Mel, whose blog I visit because of her ongoing journey with her 2 girls, who came all the way from China to start their new life with Mel & Garry.

This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day.

I can't post as regularly as some because life gets in the way at times. I am a mother, I am Chinese & I am quite handy to have around :) so I write about things that is quite normal in our life in Tokyo. our latest "homeland" after 18 years of living overseas.

The best part about blogging is the surprise personal emails that pop up every now & then, & the friendship that follows. Thank you, Mel for this & thank you everyone for visiting.

Cut it up & stamp it out!

2009-03-04T18:24:00.012+09:00

It's school holidays for us at the moment. It's also been raining mostly with only a very slight sprinkling of snow.

So with lots of time on our hands, we did this - our latest craze! Handmade stamps & homemade cards.

We made lots of rubber stamps, got lots of little cuts on our hands..... & then made these cards & stickers!

Annika made a lot for her own little "shop". We stamped on cards & bags to sell to anyone out there. Hmmm...I ought to load them onto my Etsy store which has been empty for so long.

If you are interested in handmade cards, totes, postcards, tags - with our hand-stamped designs.....please do email me directly, if I have not gotten around to uploading them on Etsy.

An apron for a little cook

2009-02-18T19:10:00.012+09:00

Last week, my daughter joined a cooking class. Last week, we dabbled with home-made stamps.

The result was this apron. The green ice-cream cone was Annika's first stamp & she is so excited with it. We have since made about 50 stamps!

A custom order came about when a mother in school spotted Annika's apron. So now, I have for sale : full aprons for children & half aprons for adults. Do email me directly (see left sidebar) if any of my work interest you.

Home sweet home

2009-02-16T11:23:00.003+09:00

After being away, it is always good to come home, especially to this - our beautiful ume (plum) tree in full bloom!

These flowers means spring is really here although on some days, we still need the down jacket!

The plum blossoms (ume) have 5 oval shaped petals. Most range from white to dark pink & have a fantastic fragrance.

The cherry blossoms (sakura) has 5 round petals with a split at the edge.Though looking fantastic, there is no scent.

See, I didn't know these before living in Japan!

So many people, not so many flowers

2009-02-16T11:22:00.003+09:00

Hanegi Park in Setagaya, is known for its 700 plum trees, although you can't tell from these photos here.

We saw more people & straw mats than anything else. There was also a trio of old men, renting out mats for your picnic.

By the time we visited this park, most of the blossoms were gone, due to the unusual warm but brief summer temperature. The following days, we were back to wearing jackets - really strange weather!

The walk to & fro our home to Hanegi Park was enjoyable as usual.

There are always eye-catching moments!

Gong Xi Fa Cai ! And a mother on a break . . .

2009-01-26T09:00:00.019+09:00

As you read this, I'm in Singapore!

This past Christmas, a present from my sweet family is : one week's holiday & air ticket to Singapore, to spend Chinese New Year with my mother!

My husband is taking this week off from work, to do my "mothering" duties as the children still has school here in Tokyo. Meanwhile I will not drive, clean nor cook for a week! The last time I had a 4 day break was about 7 years ago when the kids were in Kindergarten & Annika was a toddler. Then, it was a 4 days & a ticket for Hongkong & I had missed my family so much, I called my kids 5 times each day!

Annika who has waist-long hair that needs to be tied or plaited on sports & swimming days said "who's going to do my hair?". We told her "you'll just have to get your hair cut!". Ha! Ha! In reality, my husband has been practising on Annika's hair - first, spray some oil to detangle the wavy hair, comb through starting from the ends, comb please & not yank, tie firmly & not loose.

Year of the Ox : 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997.

The Chinese Zodiac Calendar is based on a 12 year cycle. Our Niklas who was born in 1997 will be 12 years old this year. So will Mary Kate's daughter, Emilea, over in Malaysia!

Those born in the Ox years are : reliable, sincere, cool, patient, meticulous, tireless, dedicated, obedient, neat, unpretentious, modest, fond of solitude, faithful, good listener, traditional, systematic in a conventional way. Yep...amazingly, this pretty much describes my son!

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Xin Nian Kuai Le!
Wishing you luck & prosperity! Happy New Year!

How many "hongbaos" did you get?

2009-01-26T08:59:00.012+09:00

These "hongbaos" or red packets are every child's delight at this time of the year!

On this 1st day of Chinese New Year, parents give "hongbaos" containing "lucky" money to their children. These are given by married people to unmarried people. We give to my mother too.

On this day, Annika & Niklas greet us in the traditionalway - on their knees, hands clutched closely & greet us, "Gong Xi Fa Cai, Mama & Papa". And then, they will receive their "hongbaos".

The Chinese "hongbaos" are normally red with lucky symbols or Chinese characters. The symbolic giving of the money represents a wish for fortune & wealth in the coming year.

This tradition is derived from the legend of "Nian", a monster that used to terrorise a village. Then, children are given red papers to protect themselves if they ever come into contact with the beast.

I have been stocking up on these pretty Japanese money envelopes as each year, I "supply" these to my mom & sis to use. Somehow our traditional Chinese ones, doesn't look as nice as the colourful Japanese ones.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, this is what we do.

2009-01-25T09:00:00.023+09:00

The "jiaozi" (Chinese dumplings) signify family reunion. Chinese families traditionally spend New Year's Eve together, preparing the dumplings. Crescent-shaped "jiaozi" are a symbol of wealth and prosperity because of their resemblance to ancient Chinese money (silver ingots). I have taught our children how to make "jiaozi" as per our tradition, so that they can in turn teach theirs (ok, ok...hopefully decades from now!). But honestly.....these taste so good, we make them even when it's not Chinese New Year!

Today is Chinese New Year Eve. Tonight, all Chinese will gather for a special meal, known to us as THE Reunion Dinner. This is “Tuan Yuan Fan” in Mandarin, or literally ”reunion rice” – rice being the main staple of the Chinese. It’s similar to the important Christmas Eve dinner, where family members get together.

Most Chinese living away from their homes would make special effort to attend this meal with their families. On that day, everyone is expected to do his best to return to the main family home by Chinese New Year's Eve. In all my years of living overseas, I’ve made it back most of the time. This year, I will be in Singapore & will have reunion dinner with my mother. Sadly, my kids & husband cannot come along as this event is not a public holiday event in Japan & so there is still school to attend.

So instead of having our reunion dinner on CNY Eve (Sunday), we had it earlier as a Saturday lunch, hours before my flight. We had steamboat, a sort of Chinese fondue except with the regular Western fondue, I get very impatient threading stuff one piece at a time, onto little skewers, so I prefer our steamboat! Everything is thrown in to cook & then, you fish them out!

(Left) This was our lunch, our “tuan yuan fan”. It was a yummy meal & of course our homemade “jiaozi” was gobbled down enthusiastically!

This is where we sew & get crafty

2009-01-18T11:55:00.008+09:00

My sewing studio is a corner room with a big bay window on one side & glass sliding doors on the other. You can't sit on the bay window as it is now a "shelf" for lots of fabrics.

When the "organised" mess-piles grow too fast & get too overwhelming , I can just close the door to this room ! There are colourful mobiles & traditional Chinese lanterns hanging here & there.

My completed bags hang from the slats of an antique slatted Chinese cupboard that used to be a pantry cupboard but now stores craft & jewelry supplies. Have to tidy that before I can post a pic of it!

My kids like to hang out in here too, amidst the piles of sewing projects. There are 2 tables - one for sewing, one for cutting & ironing. The pic here, shows the laptop in its former position, on the lazy susan & on my cutting table. It is now on a small corner table by itself.

In summer, I had a little Kenmore sewing machine, which came all the way from the Sears centre in Phoenix, Arizona.

With the increased workload, I then moved on to this machine, a slightly more advanced Brother model. This was first, just on loan from my friends, Alison & Andrea. With some negotiations & pleading, & trading, it is now mine...yippee! forever & forever! (Update : From February 2010, I started sewing on my dream Bernina QE440 & now this Brother machine, belongs to my daughter, Annika.)

You can also see my "strap-handles that I pre-made to go with the bags.

My wonderful collection of fabric is growing. These are some of the pretty fabrics that you can go crazy over, in Japan. Some are costly but truly beautiful to look at.

The good part about sewing is that when you have to wait for the children to finish their activities, you can bring along stuff that needs hand-stitching, to be completed!
And here's some of the Japanese fabrics that I am so crazy about :

First buds, first bloom!

2009-01-18T11:52:00.008+09:00

You never get tired of seeing these - our "ume" (plum) tree slowly coming into bloom.

Today, this tiny bud bloomed.

Soon, (bottom last pic) it will bloom more & this is what I will see when I look out of my sewing studio, which is right behind those glass doors.

Soon, it will be spring!

And the year starts ...

2009-01-09T09:35:00.000+09:00

Happy New Year everyone! This past holiday season, we didn't do much except bake, cook & eat alot like everyone else does at this time. We went away for a few days skiing, in Sugaidaira in Nagano. Annika & Niklas enjoyed themselves, skiing with friends & zonking out in the hotel-tatami room.

And of course, I sewed a couple more bags & something just for me! A simple brown skirt with elastic waist (because zippers give me headaches!). And yet not too simple because I'm spending hours & hours sewing buttons & crystals onto the front.

Recently I made these 2 pleated bags (Blushing Pink with Pleats No 1 & No 2). Both have been sold & I am making version No. 2 (with the hair-shaped handle) for me too! Chinese new Year is coming up (25 January) & every Chinese needs a couple of new items to start the new Year of the Ox!

We got married...

2008-12-24T08:01:00.008+09:00

...on a Christmas Eve, 15 years ago, at the German Lutheran Church in New York City. We got married in the morning then immediately went to the Post Office, to mail off our 150 handmade wedding announcement cards.
The announcement (a Xue-Original ;-) design ) consists of a card bearing an actual pair of chopsticks, tied with gold string with these words, "Lily & Martin. We tied the knot".

It was a very small wedding with 5 people - Pastor Schmidt-Lange, us & our 2 witnesses (good friends Katrin & Gerald who were visiting from Germany). Actually Katrin & Gerald didn't know then, that they were to be our witnesses. We only told them to "bring something proper to wear as we will be going to a formal place on Christmas Eve". And we did, we went to the church to get married!

Martin & I met years ago, in the Australian Consulate in Shanghai. Shortly after we met, he left for his next job posting in New York City. I stayed on with my job in Shanghai & joined him later, in NYC. where we then lived for a few years.

Our son, Niklas was born in Hongkong (1997) & our daughter, Annika, in Singapore (2000). Now, we live in Tokyo in this cosy home & the children attend the German school here, where they learn English, French, German, & Japanese.

Happy 15th Anniversary to us!
Merry Christmas to you!

Christmas at home

2008-12-24T08:00:00.018+09:00

When Annika & Niklas were 3 1/2 & 5 years old respectively, they started to make these paper gingerbread boys & girls. I had pre-cut these from 3 shades of brown paper. Each day when they got home from kindergarten, they would completed a couple. Trust me, if you start in June, you will get hundreds by the time it is Christmas! Each Christmas, we put these up somewhere - their work, when they were so small.

On our tree, besides twig-stars, gold & red tinsel balls, we have hand-painted mini clay dolls from China, kawaii painted wooden clogs from Japan.

Beneath the tree is part of our Brio trains, a collection which started when Niklas was 1.

Here & there too, are craft made by the children, like this Christmas mobile which Annika made in Kindergarten.

And as in most family with kids, we have the traditional Christmas photos over the years.....from 1999 till now.

Let it snow!

2008-12-13T08:29:00.006+09:00

It was the season for our latest issue of Grade School magazine.

3 times a year, I would bring my materials to the school's library, where I work on the latest cover. As usual, the cover is inspired by my kids & their friends - this time, it was Elina & Raimon.

Can you smell the cookies?

2008-12-13T08:25:00.003+09:00

It's the season to be hectic! One of the things we do each year is to bake Christmas Cookies at home. Yes, this is probably the norm for many of you but normally, Chinese tend to cook rather than bake. So this past week, we bake!

We made the traditional cookies with lots of colourful sprinklers on them. Then we made our favorite, Crunchy Cereal Cookies! These is now part of their breakfast & lunch box to school, every day!

And we baked again in school, where I had volunteered to organise Annika's class' annual baking morning. Luckily a couple of other mothers were there to help as well !

Some goodies & a scary thing!

2008-12-01T13:24:00.005+09:00

We always love going to flea-markets & thrift shops & seeing what treasures that we can find there. So this past Saturday, we went "treasure-hunting" & found these :

1) Annika found a mini piano box. It is a musical box but no longer play tunes. It cost $1, all of her week's allowance.

2) An old knitted bag as I like the wooden handles with hand-carved sakura.

3) A sewing box, filled to the brim with buttons, threads, needles, zippers, ribbons, webbings...& a scary-looking pincushion. It is totally well-worn out & if you look closely at the filling, you'll see that it is black hair. Sure doesn't look like fake hair from a wig!

We felt like we were in a scene from a Hitchcock movie so I quickly snap this pic & then threw it away! Have you ever come across anything like this?

A tale of 4 bags

2008-11-22T06:00:00.005+09:00

I started sewing (& selling!) bags recently. Yesterday was a memorable day as 4 bags went out to new owners. I received a very encouraging email from M.Kate, who lives in Malaysia & blogs fabulously about mixed cultures. We both have a lot in common - being Chinese, being a busy mom, loving bags & cherry blossoms!
Bag 1 : The MK Bag "Sakura Pink with Rice Bowls in Blue" was mailed off just this past Monday & she received it on Friday, 5 days from Japan to Malaysia - I am so impressed with the Japan Postal Service!

This was my first official sales order for my bag & I'm truly grateful. MK waited ever so patiently. She trusted me even though she knows I have never sold nor sown any bags before this, never had bag-making lessons & make bags without patterns.

While transferring her belongings into her new bag, she wrote me a very positive email with kind comments & wonderful feedback that made me quite emotional.

The MK Bag : Spacious, with key loops & darted pockets for everything you want to bring along.

Bag #2 : "Blossoms overs Colourful Grass" was mailed off to Sydney . It's really on the way, Amy!

Bag #3 : "Blossoms overs Colourful Grass" was also ordered by Ally for her good friend, Andrea, who will be moving to Germany. Andrea had seen this bag when I was making it for Amy. She liked it very much & even offered to buy it then.

Now, she has it as a farewell present from Ally & she got quite emotional too! Andrea had a new baby not long ago & she also has a 4 year old. This bag has enough pockets in various sizes to fit all the stuff when she takes the kids out.

Thank you too Andrea, for your advice & for listening to me go on & on excitedly about sewing projects. You were there right from the first time I started on sewing all these. It's as shame that I only got to know you for such a short time. I too, will not forget you. I will miss you.

Bag #4 : "Red Dragonflies over Lotus" is almost like my own bag. When Andrea saw me sewing a Button & Loop on my bag, she ordered the same design as a Christmas present for her mother.

How wonderfully funny, that both Andrea & her mother now have "Bags by Xue" as presents!

Thank you all for giving me my first breaks. I hope you will enjoy using your new bags.

Ghosts, Waffles & Dragons

2008-11-19T11:26:00.001+09:00

This past week in school, Annika & her classmates were busy, busy, busy!

First, they made ghostly lanterns for the annual Lantern Night to celebrate St. Martin's Day, a German tradition.

Her brother, Niklas, who is 11 years old, couldn't resist being goofy with luminous goggles & going along with Annika's class, with his own handmade lantern.

Then, it was the Winter Flohmarkt (fleamarket) where the 3rd Graders raised money for their class by making & selling yummy waffles. Many little fingers were burnt that day!

Annika sold a waffle to a lady whom I had sold a bag to! In the corner pic, bottom left of the collage - that's Linda (from the home bazaar) carrying the "Red Kokeshi with Green Chillies" bag!

It's always a good feeling when you spot a sold product somewhere!

And besides the usual books & DVDs, we found this brand new pair of shocking pink shoes with embroideried Dragons on it. Very befitting for Annika, who was born in the Year of the Dragon.

She doesn't like pink but she likes this pair of shoes & put them on immediately!

Kokeshi Dolls everywhere!

2008-11-17T09:00:00.004+09:00

Also at Linda's home bazaar were hundreds of Kokeshi Dolls; beautiful, wooden handcrafted Japanese dolls.

There were so many that it was so difficult to choose which to buy!

Aprons & Bags

2008-11-14T11:22:00.016+09:00

Previously, I wrote about "being discovered" by Linda, a fellow mother from the kids' school.

I took part in my first sales (selling bags) in a mini bazaar she had organised in her home.

Sold a couple of bags & took down a
a couple of orders so I’m quite happy. That was on 3 Nov & since then, I have sold a few more & took down more orders!

My display was not so spectacular as it was my first time. I used an old bamboo screen to display the bags. And a folding table , where the MK Bag was on prominent display (scroll down to see earlier post on this bag). I had offers for this MK Bag, which of course I couldn't sell so I took down orders for it. I also brought along some earrings & only a couple of necklaces.

During the whole sale, I wore this apron, into which I stuff my calculator, money, pencil & notebook & mobile phone. People took note & now, I'm selling Aprons too.

For my own apron, I used a Blue Calligraphy fabric bought in Beijing, about 18 years ago. Yes, I was collecting fabrics that long ago, when I have not even sewn anything. AThe beige pocket on the far left, has little "sewing-room" motifs on it.

These are really cheery aprons, all reversible, with enough pockets for your mobile phone, scissors, keys & M&Ms!

Wear these to the playground & supermarket.....in Japan, mothers do that!

Please kindly contact me if you ware interested in anything seen in this blog (aprons, bags, buttons, placemats, jewelry).

You can contact me via my email i(see sidebar, on the left of this blog).
Thank you.

Autumn in Hakuba, Nagano, Japan.

2008-11-11T10:12:00.003+09:00

Belated postings from our autumn vacation :

In 1998, the Winter Olympics were held here in Nagano, Japan.

Last winter, we skied here & this autumn we came back here!

I took about 1000 pics in just a few days so there's more to come!

Even sandbags looks pretty in Japan!

One of the best things to do is jumping onto heaps of leaves.

Bazaar, Friends & a special bag

2008-11-03T15:24:00.008+09:00

This is what happens when you have a mother who sews & need someone to model the bags!

A Mini Christmas Bazaar : The good thing about sewing is that you can bring projects anywhere to do hand-stitching ! So one day, while I was waiting for my kids in school & just happen to be sewing...Linda (a fellow Mama waiting for kids) came over.

Twice a year, Linda organises mini bazaar featuring only Japanese handicraft. She likes my bags & thought they are suitable as I used Japanese fabrics with Japanese motifs. So tomorrow on 4th Nov, I will be selling (something hopefully!) at Linda's home , just walking distance from our school !

There will be wooden Kokeshi dolls, Japanese fabric collage "paintings", washi wrapped boxes & Kokeshi musical boxes - really kawaii! There's even a Kokeshi "bank-doll" with a cut-out slit right under its fringe for coins - can you imagine that! And I'll be there with my bags!!! I'm very happy & feel honoured that Linda has included me in this! Want to come?

These are Christmas tote bags - pretty ones with denim, Christmas fabrics & sewn-on designs (similiar to the Autumn bag which is in my shop). So far, only one bag on Etsy as I'm still working on the pricing for the rest - the worst part of this whole fun thing!

I went to the Post Office to check on postage with boxes & almost fainted! Maybe bags should go out in bubble-packed envelopes after all they are fabric & can't get dented. I hate to have to pay so much in shipping so I'm trying to cut down shipping cost in general. What do you think?

Special, Special People : Blogging means you get to know truly nice people - some who even think my bags are wonderful. I have been keeping Hey Harriet & M.Kate up to date, on my sewing adventures & they have always been there with their encouraging comments & wonderful emails. Thank you both, for always taking time to write amidst your own full agenda!

M.Kate once said "put them up for sale - I promise to buy one!" - she's just being kind, I thought. My previous post was about my own customised bag (Dragonflies over Lotus), which drew compliments from her & guess what - I'm now working on the MK bag, with "lots of pockets like yours". She ordered when I haven't even priced it!

The MK Bag, Sakura Pink with Rice Bowls in Blue. She loves cherry blossoms even more than the lotus. The Rice Bowls makes me think of a typical quaint Chinese greeting which is "chi pau le ma?" ("have you eaten?".), a familiar phrase to M. Kate & I. I'm almost done with her bag now but before it goes to Malaysia, where MK lives, I will show it at Linda's bazaar, with a tag on the bag stating proudly, "SOLD".

With these load of sewing to do, my poor little sewing machine was beginning to feel overworked! I had bought this simple model from Sears in Phoenix, Arizona just this past summer. It states "for 8 years & older" so it's perfect for my 8 yr old Annika & I. Well, it was...now I think my little Kenmore machine cries each time I sew over layers of fabric!

Sewing more means you get to come across Mamas in school who also sew. And amazingly, Alison (an Australian Mama) & Andrea (a Polish Mama) came to my rescue - they loan me their Brother sewing machine, a more advanced model, to cope with more sewing!

Big hugs & big THANK YOUs to wonderful supportive friends like Linda, Alison, Andrea, M.Kate & Tracy!

Sew far, Sew good . . .

2008-10-20T09:00:00.006+09:00

Over the weekend, I was busy trying to take pics of the bags that I made!!!

Also made fabric covered buttons & buttons ponytail holders (which was my Annika's idea as she loves them). She said "Mama, make more...other mamas will buy these". I hope so! She thinks everything I make is wonderful. If only others think the same as my little #1 fan!!

I told my computer-savvy husband that I want my bags on a slide show, on my side bar so here they are (see left). Thank God for him!

Among these bags is one which I custom made for me! "Dragonflies over Lotus" reminds me daily of a good friend who loves lotus.

The interior of this bag has
- pockets for my slim mobile & carpark coupons.
- sectioned pocket for my sketch book & pencils.
- hooks for car & house keys.

That's the nice thing about making my own bag - it can be any size & anything I want! But I forgot to sew any lining...ooops! I am lucky to be living in Tokyo as Japanese fabrics are simply the best!

Our firstborn.

2008-10-15T07:55:00.005+09:00

In 1997, our son was born in Hongkong - a historical year as this was months after the British handover. His name is Niklas Quan Sager.

We found "Niklas" in an old book that my husband used to read each night to the "baby" when he was still in my tummy. "Quan" (pronounced with the Q sounding like "ch") means "power" in Chinese as when the baby cried, he had the power to make his parents come running!

It took 3 years of fertility treatment & injections before Niklas came along. He is a good son.

When he was 2 1/2 years old, he would come home from the nursery & run to me, saying "Ok Mama, I'm home now. You can rest. I'll take care of the baby." And he did.

Today, he is 11 years old.
Almost as tall as me (or taller!).
Does this mean I'm short?

sheng re kuai le, Quan Quan!
ma ma ai ni.

Oktoberfest in Japan

2008-10-12T07:17:00.014+09:00

Over the weekend, there was the popular annual Oktoberfest celebration held in Deutsche Schule Tokyo Yokohama, the German school which our children attend.

Oktoberfest originates as a wedding celebration, then beer festival in Munich, Germany. A prince had married his beloved & ordered days of merry-making!

As this was now in school, there were lots of fun, entertainment & stalls for everyone in the family.

Both Annika & Niklas were decked out in Bavarian costumes (although the Sager family is from northern Germany). Sometimes with shoes, sometimes with roller-blades.

In between lots of games & fun, they had duties with their classmates, at their respective classes' stalls.

A little red bird for a kind teacher.

2008-10-10T10:25:00.006+09:00

Recently, Annika stayed home from school, for a week because she was sick. So what do you do when you can't leave the house...you sew, of course!

She learned how to make her first pocket design , filled with these pretty rainbow-coloured buttons, "musical" buttons & a cut-out bird. She positioned them with fabric glue - a very sticky situation!

Then the sewing begins, with many "ouches" in between. After she finished her pocket design, we made this bag with matching "music sheets" fabric for the bottom part. Annika then made a card with a coffee-filter & yellow ribbons.

This bag is for Hamase Sinseh (Teacher Hamase), who teaches piano lessons to the neighbourhood children, who speak Japanese. Mrs Hamase speaks little English & Annika knows little Japanese. She put together a little book with instructions in English & Japanese that she now points to, when she needs to tell Annika something.

Because of her kindness & patience, my little girl is happily learning to play the piano. Domo Arigato Gozaimasu Sinseh!

He dances all over the world !

2008-09-25T09:50:00.011+09:00

A slight variation from my regular posting. This video footage makes me so happy, watching Matt Harding (an American) dances. He quit his job a few years ago & has been traveling around, dancing all over the world! It makes me smile & yet emotional at the same time.

It's my first attempt to post videos only because my super husband wrote out the instructions in details, print them out & put it right by my laptop. And I still don't know how to do this correctly so he ended up doing everything!

MK, this is for you, for our rantings, to brighten your day & hope you get well soon! And to Tracy because he danced in Brisbane too! Please click on the video footage. And if you enjoyed it, scroll right down for more of Matt's dancing!

Blossoms & Dragonflies with Colourful Grass !

2008-09-19T12:23:00.026+09:00

I completed another bag! This basket-styled bag "Blossoms & Dragonflies with Colourful Grass" was made for Amy, my closest friend who now lives in Sydney with her husband, Brendan. Amy & I go way back to first grade when we were 7 & we both have our birthday in September! She likes red & since she's normally dressed in earth-tones, this will add colour to her wardrobe! We both left our homeland to work & live overseas & the funny thing is at one stage, we landed in the same country, Hongkong!

And earlier this week, my Bracelet "Kaleidoscope in Red" left my Etsy shop & travelled to Utah!
Thank you, Christine!

Every Chinese has more than one birthday & Happy Lantern Night!

2008-09-14T07:00:00.048+09:00

Today is also the 15th day of the 8th Lunar month in the Chinese calendar. Today, we celebrate Mid-Autumn (中秋節, zhōng qiū jié). This is an important & popular Chinese celebration, the most important festival after Chinese Lunar New Year. It is also referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival.

The moon tonight, will be fuller & brighter than in other months. A full moon is a symbol of togetherness. As such, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunion. Traditionally, on this day, family members & friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, drink tea, eat moon cakes & pomeloes. Children would carry lanterns at night & get to stay up late too. In these old pics, Annika & Niklas carry German & Chinese lanterns which they made themselves.
In my family, no one remembers their Chinese birth-dates but they all remember mine because long ago on one Lantern night, I was born. This past August, we had visited my mother & she cooked the traditional birthday longevity noodles. She knows how much I like it so she made it way in advance since the last couple of years, I was not with her on Lantern Night. On this day too, my children & my husband will give me a mooncake as per my wish since I do not want anything else. Just a good old-fashioned mooncake.....even if we're living in the North pole!

And we will celebrate by going to our favourite restaurant, Ukai Toriyama, truly one of the most beautiful restaurants ever! Check back later for more on this incredible restaurant!

A Sewing Project : Dragonflies with rice bowls" - my first handmade bag (ever!) using the wonderful sewing machine that I brought back from USA.

I have added : a little transparent loop so that I can hook keys on it & not have to fish for keys at the bottom ; a pouch to hold a mobile phone ; little cherry blossoms covered-buttons (also self-made) because I love all these Japanese fabrics!

Do come back again for more belated posts on our past summer trip in America.....
"The Continuing Adventures of an RV in the deserts!"

Tarantulas & ZIon National Park

2008-09-11T07:35:00.008+09:00

And back to more belated, belated blogging on our summer adventure in an RV...

In Zion National Park, there were supposed to be tarantulas, the largest spiders in the southwest! We were assured that tarantulas are really docile & interesting creatures. They are nocturnal & stay mostly in underground burrows, Sightings are apparently common on park roads in late summer, when the males are out cruising for females.

If you do see a tarantula during your park visit in Zion, consider yourself lucky! .....we are quite content to be unlucky this time! These was what we saw instead :

A Shrine Festival & fun for all !

2008-09-09T07:42:00.019+09:00

This past weekend, we went to a Shrine Festival in Jiyugaoka, a quaint area known for a wonderful mix of old & chic shops & restaurants. There were processions if portable shrines (mikoshi) carried by local shop owners and trades people.

“The gods come down & go inside the mikoshi. Then we tour them around our local neighborhood, to show it to them,” said one. The wilder the ride and the rougher the mikoshi shakes, the more it is said to bring good luck to everyone.

In a secret ceremony before being sent out, the little doors in the shrines are opened, carefully veiled from the eyes of the public by a cotton curtain, and the town elders invite the gods inside.

There were vendors selling all sorts of colourful food! The kids were having a blast trying to win a fish or terapin or eel to take home to Mama!

A first project for her small hands

2008-09-01T10:31:00.020+09:00

Sometimes when I watch my daughter, I feel like I'm watching myself. She too likes to dabble her hand in many crafts. She was very fascinated by this petite sewing machine which managed to travel with us this summer.

After many, many hours of hand-sewing, I found a good deal at Sears in Phoenix, Arizona, last month. Doesn't matter that we were on holiday nor who buys sewing machines while on holiday?!!!

The other thing which I bought was a Rotary Cutter which can cut through layers of fabric & I love it! Till then, I have always cut fabrics with a good old-fashion scissors. Yes, we do have such cutters & sewing machines in Asia. If I had bought the sewing machine in Japan, the instructions manual as well as the indications on the machine, would all be in Japanese & that would be a real headache. Hence, this sewing machine travel from San Diego to Los Angeles, Germany, Singapore before settling down in Tokyo - & it still works!
Here is Annika, working hard on her first sewing project- a little drawstring bag for her swim stuff. She is so happy with it.

RVs, RVs, everywhere!

2008-08-31T09:00:00.008+09:00

These first 2 pics (top) shows our RV "Minnie". We didn't name her but this was clearly stated on her side. Also very appropriate once we saw how many other larger RVs there are out there! Our first overnight stop was at Zion River Resort, one of America's top 5 trailer park. This lovely park (our favourite) is located right by the Virgin River & is a base camp for the Zion National Park, the first national park in Utah.
Traveling in a RV, brought us in contact with many others who were exploring America in RVs too. In most places, ours (at 12 by 31 ft) was often the simplest model. We were in awe of many nicer models, with extensions sliding out everywhere! There were some people who had sold their regular house to live in these motorhomes instead. Those who have children, do home schooling. And they travel all over America!

We also found out that depending on your
location, RV Parks can be super (as in Zion River Resort above) to scary (as in one trailer-park on the outskirts of Bryce Canyon). For anyone planning to do this, do go online & check out reviews. We had to go to that scary one only because there was a computer error with our reservation & we were re-routed to a place, not of our choice. And we had no choice too because of peak season, traveling in the summer.

Off we went, in a RV !!!

2008-08-27T08:21:00.003+09:00

From Vegas, we collected our RV (recreational vehicle) & travel in the direction of Zion National Park. You know you're in Zion, when the roads turn red!

Our RV turned out better than we expected which was a relief! We have rented things online before & sometimes the results can be scary! Later on, at almost every trailer park, we realised that ours was always the oldest model on the lot! It could have been more modern after looking at others around us but luckily, it was good enough for us since we had expected worst.

Our first time in an RV! There were sleeping areas over the front seats, a small bedroom with a real bed in the back, a sofa bed. Also dining area, kitchenette with stove, oven, microwave, fridge, freezer. Plus, a separate bathroom & shower! Lots of cabinet space & aircon!!! And a slide-out section where at the push of a button, the living/dining area became wider!

We were simply thrilled to bits! Mostly, it was wonderful moving from places to places, without having to pack up the suitcases every few days!

2008-08-25T13:15:00.007+09:00

We took a bumpy flight in a Cessna plane, to see how vast Grand Canyon is.

The Skywalk is the highest manmade structure in the world (click to see how it was done) as it's 4000 ft high above the ground! For $35, you get to stand on it's glass base & have a very scary view of what's below!

Hoover Dam is 726 ft. tall. That's 171 ft. taller than the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. & twice as tall as the Luxor Casino (338 ft.) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Between 1931 and 1936 when the dam was built, 96 men were killed in industrial accidents. None were buried in the concrete (unlike the Great Wall of China!).