Lavender field in Hokkaido, Japan

Furano, Hokkaido is famous for their lavender fields. My parents live a couple of hours away from this area. 　From right: Lavendar, California Poppy, Sweet William Catchfly, Spearminnt, Barley, Baby's Breath, Peppermint and Poppy.

Photo by my Mom at Farm Tomita

Unplanned trip to Japan

I had a short trip to Japan last month and stayed there for 10 days. It happened so quickly that I had to pack up and leave panicingly.

Approaching Oita Airport, in Kyushu. The moment I realized what a beautiful island country Japan is.



Guess what they are lined up for - A long queue to get into a famous sushi restaurant in Tokyo! The purpose of every single person in this photo has is sushi. You have to get there one hour in advance if you want to sit down when they open at 11am.


It was actually nice to see the younger generation working behind the sushi bar. Sushi restaurants used to be a kind of scary place for me when there was a quiet old man making sushi without any eye contact, and I got even more nervous when the check came as many places didn't have the price written anywhere!



Well, this is the reason people line up in front of this restaurant. Huge fish with a tiny bit of rice underneath! You can barely see the rice.



Beautiful shrimps - but they got caught in the tank behind the sushi chef right before they were cooked, and in fact, they were still slightly moving when they were served... yikes!

What I can't miss while I am in Japan...

During summer time, Japanese enjoy jello-like sweets. This is a red bean paste wrapped in kuzu mochi, and wrapped again in a bamboo leave.


Matcha jello with mochi and ice cream - yum! I can go to this cafe everyday...


You can find beautiful French-like pastries and cakes anywhere you go. In fact, a lot of patissiers go to France to learn how to bake.



This is what cake shops look like in Japan, and I miss them soooooo much!

Tokyo at glance

One of the most exciting, fasionable, fast paced cities in the world, and this is where I have spent most of my life.

PRADA building - They make a fortune in Japan

CARTIER - Same as above. Right next to Prada.

ROPPONGI MIDTOWN - 6.1 milion sq. ft mixed-use development opened last year. $3 billion project includes office, residential, commercial, hotel, and leisure space.



KANDA YABUSOBA - A buckwheat noodle shop which has been serving noodles since 1880.

KAPPABASHI - A kitchen equipment district in Tokyo. This is the place to go if you want to buy Japanese dishes for bargain price.

KABUKI-CHO - An entertaining and red-light district in Shinjuku. A location of many hostess bars, host bars, love hotels, restaurants, shops and nightclubs. Often called "Sleepless Town" and "Lost in translation" was filmed here. It was almost midnight when I took this photo.