Wednesday, December 19, 2012

NOODLES ANYONE?

The Cup of Noodle Museum is located two blocks from the Quilt Festival venue.  I walked over one day and joined groups of families to make my own cup of noodles.  Then I wandered around the museum and enjoyed reading about the history of the cup of noodle concept.

 A wall of noodles that looks just like strip piecing.
 A very true statement for us all.  This is the noodle company founder with other visionaries.
                                                 Cup of Noodle sculpture.
                                                          Noodle founder sculpture.

Since I'm talking about food I want to mention that the hotel had a delicious daily buffet ranging from traditional Japanese food to specially made omelets.  I will say the Japanese prefer their eggs cooked much softer than I like so I had to have them  cooked a bit longer.   I enjoyed all the baked goods, fruits, fresh juice and lots of green tea.  The hotel restaurant also had a nightly Indian buffet that included Ballywood videos.  The Queens Mall had numerous Italian restaurants.  You can find any type of food you want and we tried our fair share of many of them.

This is a sample of one of the lunches we had during our lecture break.

                                                                      The yummy goodies.
                                                               The great packaging.

According to our host Yokohama has the largest Chinatown outside China.  We had an absolutely wonderful multi course meal our last night there.  The seasoning was nothing like Chinese near me and I'm across the bay from San Francisco.  Unfortunately I was too busy eating to take photos but these are glimpses of the streets.


                                            Cab interior enroute to China Town Yokohama



                                                                 Narrow city streets



                                                          Sidewalk dragon sculpture



                                                    Sidewalk art and utility cover

                                                                     It time to eat.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

STREET VIEWS

Utility covers and street stencils attracted my attention as usual as I walked along Tokyo streets.  I had fun walking and snapping industrial and informational art.  Following are examples street life.










I like the tile work sizes and shapes, colors and bumps.  Because it had been raining earlier there are a few wet fallen leaves here and there.




 





The stencils indicate clearly municipal governments don't want pedestrians walking and smoking but you can find cigarette vending machines on sidewalks. 

Bicycles are a frequently used method of transportation and signage on sidewalks are providing information for their use.




These street signs, vending machines and traffic all provide a glimpse of Japanese city life.





 This peeling paint has such an abstract quality to it.
 Don't you just love cultural language--Daddy Express!
                                                  Tokyo Tower in the distance.


                                 Officer controlling evening commute traffic near Shinigawa Station, Tokyo.






 


IN FASHION

There were an assortment of fashions at the show.  The special design exhibit couldn't be photographed.  I confess to doing a poor job on the garments that were available to photograph but you will still get an idea of some the Japanese quilters inspirations.

Basic Black
Lace
 Felted.
 Pieces of my heart.
 Sheers and flowers.
These are among my favorite garments that were in a range of colors and styles.

                I love this outfit and it makes me want to be young again.  Check the double collar.  the strip pieced shirt, vest, hat and bag in the back looked great too but sorry to say the photo didn't do it justice.

                                        I might be able to get away with wearing the blue lace.

                                                                      Paris anyone?