Some of you might have wondered where I have gone! Thank you so much for e-mailing me to ask if I was OK. I just came back from visiting my family in Japan!! It was a hard schedule which was made even worse by me being really ill for a week – but I am OK now!

This visit was mainly for my husband to meet my family (specifically my mum) for the first time. The meeting went very well and all my family including my nephews and nieces loved him (phew!).

It was also nice to go back to Japan after the horrific Tsunami. Everwhere we went, people were collecting money for charity to donate to those who suffering in the region. All building had minimal air conditioning (actually that was fine by me because I am a forever-cold person anyway). We left Japan really happy but at the same time praying that all will go back to normal soon for those in northern part of the country.

So here are some happy photos.

A view from the plane - lots of clouds.

My nephew specially asked someone to do a Union Jack to welcome our visit.

My husband and my nephew really got on. I think my nephew thought Wesley was amazing because he could speak a different language.

Some random funky Japanese stuff. This was at the window of a Japanese restaurant. I thought it was cute.

My sisters (me on the right). We kind of all look alike...

Coming back to the UK, I am feeling refreshed and energised. One thing I was sad about was that while our visit to Japan, my friend who I got to know through knitting had gone back to Australia and I wasn’t able to see her just before she left the UK.. Although we are far away, I hope that we can be in touch through online.

I will do a part 2 of my Japan visit. Next one will be the knitting-related stuff (and some kitty issues) to prepare you for Knit Nation event this Saturday.

Until then, cherrio!

How are you all? I have been back in the UK for about a week now. Sorry for the scarce posts. I have actually been feeling a little blue. I miss my nieces and nephews so much!! Speaking on Skype is not enough and I am already thinking when I would be free next time (which is not until next year really…).

I played origami with my niece and nephew. From the top left, my niec's creation, my nephew's creation (a ship). From the bottom left, a space ship (I made it), a beetle (I made it) and a ghost (my sister made it).

I think kids in general are super inspirational. Right now I am creating lots of swatches and design samples to submit to several publishers. When I think of my nieces and nephews, I can think of loads of great ideas.

A visit to a park was really fun. Kids are so energetic!

I am nearly done with two designs which I am praying that they would be accepted…

Super naughty niece. What she does really makes me smile (afterwards).

It’s a grea incentive for me to create more good knitting patterns so that I can save up money to fly to Japan again!

There is nothing special like a new born baby. I miss cuddling her the most!

BTW, I have loads to update you on the world of C&C. Firstly, I have a nice bread recipe to share with you sometime soon (I perfected it). Then I should be able to show you my latest knitting designs…

Yep, this is the bread recipe I want to share with you next time.

Hope you have a great week ahear!

It’s nearly the end of my stay in Japan. Baby sitting my niece and nephew, and doing the house chores for my sister while she recovers from complicated childbirth has been hard work but also rewarding.

This weekend, we took the kids to the near-by seaside.

Every weekend, my brother-in-law and I take the kids somewhere while my sister rests with her newborn baby.

We also went to a natural history museum.

My nephew is so into dinosaurs at the moment. He learnt how dinosaur fossils are made and how they became extinct.

A very traditional Japanese room. This is actually a "mochi" cafe.

I love the area where my sister lives. There are so many places to go to: both modern and traditional. My favourite is the traditional Japanese cafe where you can eat fresh mochi.

Fresh mochi. The one on the right is with sweet red bean paste, and the one on the left has Kinako powder. Extremely yummy indeed.

I was amazed to see so many 3D TV available in the electric shop. If you are ever in Japan, you must go to one of the famous one like in Akihabara. It’s definitely worth it.

One thing anyone must go when you are in Japan is the electric shop. This is where kids can run around and round and round, watch 3D TV and play 3D games....

I am already missing my family here. Although it was such a short while, I hope my sister was able to recover as much as possible. For the next few days while I am still in Japan, and with a slightly melancholic feeling, I will continue to help my sister…

After I get back to London, there will be a busy schedule but that’s all in good time…

I hope you are all well ;D

It’s 36 ℃ (96.8℉) here. I went out once today but since it was so hot, I decided not to go too far. Wouldn’t it be better if Japan started having afternoon off and open shops in the evenings and nights like Sardegna?

Local man fishing and cockel picking at the lake Hamanako.

My knitting is going slow because of the heat. Also between the time when kids come back home to when they sleep is absolutely no rest for the adults. Sometimes it’s just better to take them out and let them run around in the mall…

They took ages chossing the ice cream... Of course they want the biggest and the most colourful ones.

I get so thirsty chasing around the kids so I go and buy a nice cool iced tea with tapioca inside.

The iced tea with tapioca (above pic) had colourful tapiocas inside. So I asked the shop person to give me the black ones so that kids won’t want to drink my stuff. But of course, when they see me gulping and quenching my thirst with this iced tea, they want it. Within a few seconds, my precious iced tea was in the kids stomach…sign.

They run around the mall and find Sanrio shop... (OMG!)

When they are tired of running around, they are hungry. So we decided to go to a giant sushi bar.

I have never been to this huge sushi bar before.

It’s huge and everything is automated. There is a TV touch-screen where you order food. You sit in a room with tatami floor. The main belt conveyer that bring the sushi has branches that leads to individual tables.

When your sushi is ready, our table data is scanned in the barcode. The plate is then delivered to our table.

It’s never wrong. The food is amazing. I was gobsmacked.

A big HELLO to you! I am finally back from Japan. It was amazing and I had a fantastic time.

After almost 3 weeks of break, I have so much to blog about, but today is for me to show you some photos from Japan It was such a long-waited holiday because I had to renew my passport in Feb when I was supposed to have gone. The thing was that it was really complicated as I am still Japanese and hold a British residency. Anyway, because I waited for this holiday for so long, it made it even more special. Enjoy the photos!

Cherry blossom - It was full bloom on the day I left!!! (this pic is 80% bloom)

The world famous bullet train. It was sooooooo fast!!

Check out this super eco bins! Everything has to be thrown away separately and you can see the inside so that people can see what you are throwing!!! hehe!

One of the craft shops I visited called Hobbyra Hobbyre. I fell in love with all the yarn and designs there.

Not sure why these white raddish are growing out of the ground... Is this the normal way they grow? I thought it was quite sweet.

There are so many types of tofu in any super market. I want to live in Japan!

THE real bento box. This is a two-layered bento box (there is one like this with rice below). Super amazing stuff.

Yep. This is THE real Japanese food. Check them out, they are like toys!

This is the ground of my junior school (age 6-12). So many fond memories!

Visiting a farm with family. My nephew was too scared to be so close to a goat... I miss my niece and nephews already!

Got my childhood friend (right) to knit together... (me on the left) drinking plum sake (not drunk though!). Do please excuse lots of washing behind me... (LOL).

I realised that one should really see the family at least once a year. My mum got much older and my nephews and niece are growing so fast. I just don’t want to miss them change. May be in winter…? who knows!

Just a housekeeping notice…: There will be some more nice knitting treasury books from Japan to be listing in the shop in April (yay!), but they are not here yet. However, there are few new items in the shop including the new knitting patterns which I will blog about soon, so do check them out

See you on Friday!