When you think about a shop selling cosmetics and toiletries what comes to mind? Something clean and white? Or perhaps slick and black? Or the bright busy interior of a drugstore? Well this is what my kind of beauty shop looks like…
HEADSPACE + HEARTSPACE Page 13 of 22
Kinkakuji
Kyoto cafes 4 – Italian bar + café air
Things a brewin’
Have you ever bought someone a present that you just knew they were going to love, and had that feeling that you might just burst if you don’t give it to them right now? Well that’s how I feel with some of the exciting things going on behind the scenes here at Do What You Love.
A little piece of history
Just a few minutes’ spin of the bicycle wheel from our little place here in Kyoto stands a World Heritage Site, “a place of exceptional and universal value; a cultural heritage site worthy of preservation for the benefit of mankind”.
This astonishing city actually has 17 sites deemed this magnificent. Today I wanted to share Nijo Castle with you.
Hiroshima remembered
The A-bomb Dome – this was a trade hall when the bomb was dropped almost directly above it, and it was one of the few buildings left standing after the blast
We took ourselves on a little trip West last week. Our first stop was Hiroshima, the city where, on this day back in 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped. Since that horrific day Hiroshima has become a beacon for peace, and is home to a museum that hit me harder than almost any other place I have ever visited.
Kyoto cafes part 3 – Togenkyo
This sweet little find in Nishijin is not far from my house and serves the best coffee for miles. The characters used in its name ‘Togenkyo’ mean ‘escape from reality’, and the friendly café owner tells me that was essentially what he was trying to do when he set up his café. One wall is stacked floor to ceiling with old LPs, which get cranked out on the crackling record player all day long, and no one is ever in a hurry.
Ryoanji
Kyoto cafes part 2 – Infinity Cafe
I just had to introduce you to this little gem… Infinity Café is tucked away down a leafy lane off a residential street not too far from Sanjo Market.
Just a few minutes from a very busy road, it is like you step into some kind of bubble as you enter through the wooden sliding doors into what is essentially someone’s house.
You are greeted with a tinkling bell and the nutty aroma of freshly baked bread. This is both a local bakery and a front room café which holds no more than six customers at a time, sat around a low Japanese-style table with a view over the luscious garden. That’s what I call close to my kind of perfect.
The quiet moment before the crowds come
Final preparations are made on this boat-shaped float, just before the parade begins
The Gion Matsuri is one of the most famous festivals in Japan. It is over a month long, and on the three nights leading up to the main parade, the main streets are closed to traffic, allowing tens of thousands of people – many in summer kimonos – to wander around soaking up the glow from the floats adorned with lanterns. (Night pictures to follow soon…)
We got up early to go downtown and get up close to the Gion Matsuri festival floats before the crowds decended. Here is what we found…
Exquisite paintwork on the gold leaf ceiling of the float
