Tag: festival

Festival Asiasie at Time Out Montreal

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Last weekend I had the pleasure of dragging Lynn and Sophie to the Festival Asiasie Pop-Up at the Time Out Market here in Montreal.  The market was great, but incredibly crowded. I suspect they got way more foot traffic than initially anticipated, and I hope the vendors all made some fantastic sales. I just hope that they find a larger venue if they do this again next year! I tried to capture the vibe and the chaos without focusing too much on strangers, but it was nearly impossible.

My initial plan was to share all the amazing goodies I brought home as soon as possible. Unfortunately, along with those goodies I brought home some miserable virus or other. I’m still sick but semi-functional, so I wanted to make sure I took the time to recommend all these amazing small businesses and craftspeople bringing both modern and traditional Japanese (and other Asian) goodies to us here. Wherever possible, I have linked to their socials and online shops as well!

 

Atelier Tsubaki

Atelier Tsubaki focuses primarily on gorgeous, handmade origami jewellery, but when I saw this necklace I fell in love. It’s an actual ume & uguisu (plum & warbler) hanafuda card coated in resin so it’s nice and sturdy and durable, and I already have the perfect outfit in mind for it, but it’s currently in California. I’ll be sure to take photos when I wear it!

If you’re looking for some unique handmade pieces, definitely check out their works.

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Bask Hour

Bask Hour make some incredible, elevated scented candles and diffusers focused around a variety of Asian fragrances. They’re made with soy, coconut, and beeswax for a nice clean burn and have crackly wooden wicks.

I know my mother is a huge fan of bright, citrusy smells so getting the Yuzu for her for mother’s day was a given. It’s deliciously balanced with grapefruit and rounded out with hinoki cedar to prevent it from being too sharp. I also love the mini paint can packaging, and their branding in general is great. I can’t wait to try out a few more of their fragrance offerings.

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Boutique MeiCo

The owner of MeiCo takes the beauty of kimono and transforms pieces that are too small, too fragile, or too damaged and turns them into stunning, wearable and useable items for modern life. I selected a keyring strap for my mum and a little lip balm holder for myself, since I am forever losing lip balms in the depths of my purse. But these are just a very small sampling, she makes absolutely stunning bags, hats, and my personal fave, bomber jackets. They’re out of my budget at the current time but hopefully one day I can splurge. She’s even offered to make some using pieces in my collection that are unuseable, and I am very tempted.

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Brasserie San-O Sake

Brasserie San-O focuses on using koji, or the fermented rice used to make sake amongst other things. They have a wide offering of drinks, condiments, and products and starters for making your own fermented goodies.

They were offering samples of their non-alcoholic ume sake and it’s absolutely delicious and refreshing. Please ignore the weird-looking cans, they were selling these at a discount due to a technical hiccup with the can-sealing machine. It had no impact on the flavour, I assure you!

I also grabbed a jar of their shoyu koji condiment, and it’s added a delicious salty umami balance to chicken so far and I intend to put it on a pork loin as soon as I have the energy to cook!

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Eliane Oba Ceramica

Since I live between two households at the moment, I am trying to avoid buying large housewares, especially fragile ones, so my original plan was to buy two handmade hashioki, or chopstick rests. These lovely black fan-shaped ones have an imprinted seigaiha design and I thought I was set. Until this teacup called my name. “Diaaaane,” it said. “Look at my beautiful glaaaaze. Taaaake me wiiiith you.”

How could I say no to such a gorgeous cup? I’ll just have to make sure to pack it well when I bring it to California! Eliane also included two sets of lovely bamboo chopsticks, which I don’t need but still appreciate!

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KotoAn Wagashi

I’ve had KotoAn’s wagashi offerings before, and they never fail to impress. They typically make a variety of nerikiri sweets with different flavours of filling, from anko to yuzu to raspberry. They’re always a pleasure to eat – the only negative is cutting into the beautiful designs!

I shared this box with my folks, don’t worry, I did not eat them all by myself in one sitting!

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Lam Atelier

Kat, the artist behind Lam Atelier, makes adorable prints, shirts, pins, stickers, and all sorts of merch based on traditional and kawaii imagery from all over Asia.

I of course selected this adorable maneki-neko pins, but I was very tempted by the hilarious Buff Sanrio character stickers.

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Miya Candles

Miya Candles is a one-woman operation, and she makes the most charming variety of hand poured, scented candles. I could not resist the funny little  Daruma face here. The scent throw on these is excellent – he’s been sitting on my dresser since I bought him and the fragrance is still noticeable in my entire bedroom.

All of her candles are at least this adorable, if not cuter, definitely worth a look!

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Sakao Tea

This tea could not have come at a better time! I’ve purchased from Sakao before and am always happy with their offerings, but this yuzu-pepper-sencha blend has been a gift from the heavens with my congestion this week. It’s bright and crisp without being uncomfortably spicy. I would drink this by itself, especially as a sick-day pick me up, or with a nice spicy meal. Something it could stand on its own with. I would bet it would also be lovely used in a rub or marinade!

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Thé Gurus

Thés Gurus is another brand I have tried before and know I enjoy, but when I saw this little set of pre-measured matcha and cute little shaker, I was influenced, as they say. As someone who spends so much time travelling back and forth, it will be really nice to have an in-transit option that isn’t an over-sweetened coffee chain matcha latte. This is proper, high-grade ceremonial matcha, just packaged for convenience.

Admittedly I’m not a huge fan of single-use packets but at least they are recyclable!

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Tokusen.Store

Tokusen is a high-end direct-from-Japan importer of sauces, marinades, and cooking products. I’ve been wanting to review a selection of their offerings for quite some time now and never got around to it, so when I saw they were going to be selling at this market I made a point of grabbing a variety. I will be doing a proper review of these all when I’ve had the opportunity to use them all a few times. The products I purchased are:

This entry will be updated once the full review is live!

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There was also a booth with tons of gacha machines, and I’m proud to say that I did not succumb! I also stopped by Kimono Yuki‘s booth but behaved and only bought a fan because I was overheated, no textiles. Mostly because I just have no dang space at the moment.

After shopping we grabbed dinner at the Time Out market. I just had to share how beautiful this dang poke bowl from Le Blossom was. Look at it! So fresh and bright, and the flavours absolutely lived up to the aesthetic.

Please forgive any typos or nonsense in this entry – I read over it and spell-checked multiple times but I am still very sick and also incredibly distracted by a hockey game.

Hina-Matsuri 2021

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Typically for Hina-Matsuri I do a somewhat thematic coordination or DIY a set of dolls. This year, however, my motivation hasn’t been where it should be, and I was worried I’d let the day go by without anything. But then I remembered that somehow last year I managed to get not one, not two, but three separate sets of Obina & Mebina dolls! I’ve posted some of them on Instagram previously but this seemed like the perfect time to share better photos and details.

First, I have this lovely traditional hakata ceramic set. These were totally unexpected – I found the Emperor on a shelf mixed in with the other “decorative clutter” at the local Goodwill-owned thrift store. I nearly didn’t take him, since he was alone, but then it occurred to me the Empress was likely somewhere nearby so I went hunting. I found her a few shelves over and I’m so happy I was able to reunite them and give them a home where they can be appreciated and treasured. Unbelievably, they were only $1.50 each! I don’t think they’re particularly old or “valuable”, but they’re incredibly charming and were such a treasure to find.

Next up is this cute (and slightly ridiculous) cat set by Decole Concombre. They’re quite tiny and made of resin, so they’re nothing fancy and not particularly elegant, but they are adorable and I love them to bits. Like all of Concombre’s figures, they look a bit like they only have one brain cell to share between them, which only adds to their charm, I think. I also have a kimono-clad bride and groom set that are very similar, and I think if I were ever to get married, they’d make a hilarious cake-topper.

Last, but certainly not least, my favourite anime power-couple, Haruka & Michiru (Sailor Uranus & Sailor Neptune). I actually ordered these quite a long time ago and had them shipped to Keith’s, so I was finally able to get them when I went a few months back! They were absolutely worth the wait; they are too cute for words. It’s my first time seeing a lesbian couple as Emperor and Empress, but it totally works with these two! Their outfits are accurate to typical hina dolls, but include references to their characters and Sailor Senshi powers which is a really nice touch. I also love that they also came with the little raised dais and byobu screen backdrop.

I know you guys want more kimono coords, and I promise I’ll have one sometime later this week!

Happy Hina-matsuri!

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Today is 雛祭り or Hina-matsuri! Literally translated as doll festival, it’s also referred to as Dolls Day or Girls Day. Dolls representing the Emperor and Empress (and, should you have the space and budget, also members of the court) are set out on a display and people pray for the happiness and health of any girls in the household.

Originally, I had planned to do a coordination on Tsukiko, something girly and pastel and princessy, but that idea got a bit derailed today. I might give it a shot tomorrow.

Instead, I remembered I had a new kimono doll post in the works, and figured what better day to finish it up and post it than today? These kimono dolls posts continue to be some of the most popular features on this blog if my back-end statistics are to be believed. I’m glad people enjoy them as much as I do. Especially with my health issues, and living in a country where it can go from -40 to +40 in the span of a few months, these dolls give me a way to enjoy coordinating and experimenting with kimono in a way nothing else can. Kimono and wafuku continue to grow in popularity and their presence is becoming more and more mainstream, which means lots of fun new dolls to play with! Here are a few recent ones I’ve found and particularly enjoyed.

cde-seikoSeiko Dressup - A very cute, chibi-style doll with lots of wardrobe options. She's got a selection of traditional and hime-style outfits, and the option to mix and match top and bottom halves. There are accessories to play with and you can change her makeup, but the doll base is fixed.
cherry bloom girlCherry Bloom Girl - A fairly decent selection of kimono, obi, accessories, and hairstyles. However, not all accessories fit with all hairstyles, and not all obi fit with all kimono. Still quite pretty and fun to play with though.
coupleRoyal Couple - Cute graphics, and lots of pretty options for the Empress, but I feel like the Emperor was an afterthought. He's got way less options, and most of his outfits feel more like yukata than courtly wardrobe, so there's a bit of a disconnect when the two are together.
japanese girlJapanese Girl - Despite the name, the doll in this game doesn't strike me as very Japanese-looking. She's pretty though. There are a few hairstyles to choose from, and ten kimono. However, the kimono and obi are connected, so there's not a huge amount of mix-and-matching here.
kitcuteKit the Kimono Designer - This is one of the best new kimono dress-up/creator games I've seen in a long time. It's got a very sweet hand-drawn art style and a ton of customisation! You can customise all aspects of the doll base and then create hundreds of possible kimono variations by mixing a huge selection of colours and patterns. Be careful with this one; it would be very easy to lose track of time while playing with it!

I also made my own origami Obina (emperor) and Mebina (empress) origami dolls. You may have seen them already if you follow me on Instagram, but here is a better photo.

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Montreal Japanese Language Centre Spring Matsuri

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Today I went to the Montreal Japanese Language Centre Spring Matsuri. Of course, I used the opportunity to wear kimono. I decided to pair up my new dusty pink iromuji with a gorgeous burnt-orange obi with irridescent pastel flowers Naomi gave me. The flowers feel like tulips to me, so it seemed appropriately spring-like. I know they’re probably something else, but shush! It was a little too warm for a haori, but too chilly for nothing, so I borrowed a cute shawl from my mother. I think I look like a dope in these, and a little rumpled, but they’re the only full shots of my outfit, so there you go.

I told my friend Nick, who I mentioned in this entry about it, and he came to meet me there along with several other friends. He wore his yukata again, and looked snazzy as always.

While there, I ran into Akane, a lovely young woman I met last summer at the O-Bon Matsuri. She’s always wearing beautiful, feminine outfits and always looks elegant and effortless. She actually remembered meeting me before, and I was quite chuffed about that! Isn’t she photogenic? Also, check out those great red high-top Chucks in the corner!

Here’s the photos of her from last summer – they were taken before I started this blog.

I also met a lovely woman named Serene and we chatted kimono for a bit. She had on a lovely komon and had a great personal style. She made her own obi, and it was adorable applique-work and I wish I’d thought to take a photo of it!

The festival itself was more like a garage sale than anything! Lots of tables with cute little things for sale. Sadly, no kimono or related items, but I did pick up a little fiction book with no relation to anything Japanese and a little handmade bag with a fish on it that I’ll probably wear with a kimono later. I also had a delicious hamburger bento, some umeboshi onigiri, and the most delicious strawberry mochi I’ve ever had, with half a fresh strawberry inside it!

Aside from the vendors, there was a great performance by Arashi Daiko and demonstrations of Aikido and Nunjutsu.

I tried to capture a video of the performance, but my phone is miserable. Watch at your own risk!

And a few photos.