HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2023!

Happy New Year, Sandwiches!!!

I hope you had a wonderful start to the year. This year I defo want to be more active on this blog! I miss the old blog days. Even a fun newsletter, perhaps!

I am so super excited to be teaming up with Setsugekka and IITO on a few fun things this year! If you love all things Japan, head over to Setsugekka! They're an online store featuring beautiful everyday Japanese products with a minimal style. Also, how cute is my fiend Andy wearing their super soft 100% cotton IITO hoodie!

Oh! And my Antwerp and London friends! Don't miss their exhibition this month! Click through for details here!

Love Love

Hello Sandwich

xxx

Hello Sandwich Japan

Hello Sandwiches!

I just got the advance copy of my new book!!!

And I woke up to a message from an American reader letting me know it was #1 Best Seller in three categories! OMG!

Get your copy here!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

Tokyo Virtual Art Book Fair

Hello Sandwiches!

My booth at the Tokyo Virtual Art Book Fair is now live! No matter where you are in the planet you can visit with this link! Come and say hello and check out my new zines!

オンライン日本デートしましょう！

はちゃめちゃなGoogle翻訳についてのジンは日本でのオンラインデートの一部です。しかもコロナ自宅待機期間中にどうして私がティンダー利用禁止になったかも載ってます。 変なことはしてないから心配しないでっ！

A zine about the odd and random google translations that are all a part of online dating in Japan. Also includes the story about how I got banned from Tinder. Haha. I promise I didn't do anything wrong!

See the zine here!

The VABF is so cute, each time you visit they change my ‘furniture’. So cute! I want that pink arch in real life!

隔離東京ジン

アートワークと写真のコラージュコレクションはコロナ自宅待機期間中に東京で撮られたものです。

A collage collection of artworks and photographs taken during coronavirus isolation in Tokyo

See the zine here!

Please enjoy the Tokyo Virtual Art Book Fair!

Let's chat on zoom or via DM or email! All welcome by appointment! Stay tuned to my instagram or twitter for the LIVE zine showcase and zine making workshop!

ズームかDMかメールでおしゃべりしましょう！どなたも大歓迎ですので是非ご予約して下さいね！

インスタグラムやツイッターなどの詳細はライブジンショーケースとジンメーキングワークショップで公開するので是非見て下さ〜い！


Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

Self Isolation

I came across this cute Shrine near my house on instagram where people tie their wishes to the blossom tree on pink satin ribbons. A couple of friends and I made it just in time to see a few of the last of these blossoms. So incredibly pretty. If you’re in Tokyo pre-Sakura sometime I’d definitely recommend a little visit to Sakura Jingu.

We went and had some beers by the nearby Tamagawa river afterwards, and watched the sunset flicker over the water as the 5pm bell rang.

My Japanese teacher has always said that it just as it starts to get warm after winter, and you’re on the verge of packing away your winter coats and scarves, it suddenly gets cold again. She was right this year, too. It snowed the other day. Beautiful Tokyo snow. On snow days I like to open all of the blinds, play my snow day playlist which has a lot of Lullatone, and stretch out on my bed resting my chin on my hands looking out the window just behind my pillows. Coming from Australia where it’s so rare to see snow, I always like to take a moment to watch the slow flakes fall and think to myself ‘it’s snowing - just outside my bedroom!’. Dreamy.

The perfect way to end a snow day is a milk bath.

Wintery mornings with mikan, beautiful sun and a stash of zines.

On some days, when I’m on the search for toilet paper in the shops in Shimokitazawa, I’ll stop at Frankie Melbourne Espresso for a flat white and a chat with Saori-chan. The feeling of chatting with shop owners about the last supermarket toilet paper sighting just makes it really hit home that I’m a local here. It will be ten years in a few months. How did that even happen.

Years ago I added some herbs and lettuce to my plant collection, and I’ve tried the Goya green wall a few Summers. But with the price of parsley in this country, it just makes sense to give growing herbs another shot. Last time I planted them I just popped some seeds into a pot plant and they grew fine, but this time I did a tiny bit of research and found out that it’s best to start the seedlings off like the below pic, and then once they sprout introduce them slowly to sun each day. I only planted them a few days ago but the baby leaf lettuce is already starting to sprout. Ganbare! Ganbare!

How cute is this sugar bow packaging! Oh, Japan. I hadn’t made bread since 2013 so I thought another good self isolation activity could be to try my hand at baking again.

This no knead recipe worked quite well. It came out undercooked at first, and then I probably pushed it by leaving it back in for a bit too long. But overall, it could be worse. And that winter sun. So nourishing.

There’s a teeny florist just near my house and before self isolation I thought I’d get a tiny bunch to try and keep some lockdown joy in the home.

It’s a public holiday in Japan tomorrow and I’m thinking of making a little newsletter / zine thing with favourite books / favourite playlists / favourite podcasts / things to do in self isolation / maybe a little quiz or find-a-word. Did anyone sign up for The New Yorker trial subscription? $6 for 12 weeks of magazines. A magazine a week has been coming in my letter box and it’s so nostalgic. That thin gloss coated paper and the way the ink smells on the page…brings back memories of The Readers Digest, and how excited I used to be to read Dolly magazine. So, just for fun I thought I’d make a silly little zine to send to friends. Or if you want one let me know!

Sending love to you. And healing energy.

P.S. I have a virtual lunch date on zoom with some artist friends in Melbourne tomorrow. And it’s 2am here now, so this Sandwich better get into bed. Oyasumi! Ninight!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

Understated

Oh, Tokyo.

So understated!

I love you Tokyo!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

Hello Sandwich Tokyo Tour

Hello Sandwiches!

With the borders to tourists re-opening, the Hello Sandwich Tokyo Tours are back!

It’s a tour for those who vibe with the Hello Sandwich style and who crave the insiders tips to Tokyo. With so much to see in this city, and with many of the best places being hidden and off the beaten track, it would be my pleasure to show you the Tokyo secrets that I’ve discovered over the past 10 years of calling this amazing city home.

Wander down the backstreets without having to battle with google maps, zip around to all the Hello Sandwich hotspots without having to check addresses or opening hours. Have lunch at super cute izakaya without having to worry about attempting to decipher the menu. Pop into the best shops to pick up some souvenirs and stop for some cute shots as I wiz you around my favourite spots.

As I personally guide you around the city, I’ll point out some of my favourite bars and things like late night ramen haunts so you have some extra local intel up your sleeve for later on. Keen on finding out where you can do karaoke for just 10yen? I’ll let you in on the secret! And when the tour ends, if you would like me to recommend a local restaurant and make a reservation for you, consider it done. It’s all part of the service. ;)

For details just send me a little email (through the contact page on this website) and then leave the rest with me!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

Kitazawa Hachiman Shrine

Hello Sandwiches!

Happy New Year! 2020!

I go to this shrine every year for hatsumode, the first visit to the shrine for the year. It’s just short walk from my apartment in Shimokitazawa but I think even if I moved house I would still visit this delightful shrine. On a clear winter day you can spot Mt Fuji from the top of the shrine.

The light was just divine today. And I took my Fujifilm out for the first time in a few weeks. The shadows of these little blossoms on my way to the shrine were so special.

I spotted this gorgeous green installation on my walk to the shrine.

It’s best to walk through the side of the tori (entrance gate) as apposed to the centre so as to leave space for the gods to enter through the centre.

I adore this dreamy purification water situation. That dappled light. And the sounds of birds chirping and shrine bells ringing. Divine. To purify yourself before making your wish you can pick up the wooden dipper with your right hand and rinse your left hand, then swap hands and rinse your right hand. Next, swap hands again and rinse your mouth with your left hand, and finally let the water fall over the handle of the dipper. Actually this video might make more sense.

I always keep a lucky go-en (five yen coin) in my purse for offerings to the shrine. After the offering, ring the bell, bow twice, clap twice to signal your presence and after your wish, bow one more time.

In June I will have lived in Tokyo for ten years! I feel so lucky to be able to live in this incredible city. Look at that dreamy light!

The hatsumode queue at sunset on January 1st, 2020.

If you’re in Tokyo, and around Shimokitazawa, it’s worth a walk to Kitazawa Hachiman Shrine. There is a beautiful nature walk on the street just parallel to the shrine which leads all the way to Nakameguro. It’s lined with cherry blossoms, and come sakura season, is one of my favourite places to enjoy hanami. Pick up a hot lemon drink from the vending machine just outside the shrine, you’ll find it on the bottom left if they don’t change the layout, pop on your favourite dreamy playlist, and walk along the nature walk to Nakameguro. The perfect Tokyo afternoon!

Kitazawa Hachiman Shrine
155-0032
Tokyo
Setagaya-ku
3-25-3 Daizawa

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo