Last week I went to central London with my mum. We did shopping then had tea with cake. First we went to Westfield White City. First we had cake with tea at the new John Lewis store. After that we went to knightsbridge then Piccadilly Circus.
Near Piccadilly Circus there a store called Japanese Centre. Japanese Centre store has loads of Japanese foods and Japanese gifts. They also have Japanese books and learning materials. I brought a children book Snow White in Japanese and Japanese flash cards. It a little of taste of Japan in that store. I did not take photos inside the place but it was getting late. Next time I will take more photos of inside Japanese Centre.
You can check out their website. They also have a Japanese snake monthly subscription box.
I am going to attend the Hyper Japanese Festival this summer July coming. It at Olympia London, near Kensington High Street. I hope to take lots of photos of the event there and ask more question about visiting Japan.
Quick watercolour painting on ‘The Pink Pig’ Watercolour Sketchbook. I had not used it for years and i have thought out using a watercolour sketchbook to do quick watercolour illustrations. It handles the water and colours very well.
Sketchbook watercolour drawing of my original character, Demetrious. by Rebekah Joseph 2017Quick watercolour drawing on Watercolour sketchbook pad.
During the weekend, I was chilling out, doing the garden and house work. The weather is getting warmer 27’C-30’C. I really like it when the weather get very hot. It does not happen often in Britain, so I make the most of it by spending more time outdoors to absorb Vitamin D from the sun. I used this opportunity of good summer weather to read old book or manga comics.
I found a new love for gardening, Before I never liked gardening because it is very labour intensive. Now I have the time and energy to do the garden work. I found a flow and zone through gardening. The insects do not bother me. I felt a connection and calmness with nature.
Yesterday was the hottest day, 33’C temperature. I went for a casual walk in my neighbourhood and to my local library. I want to go back into reading this summer. To spend time reading outdoor in the heat. However the weather does drain a lot of energy, it was very difficult to do simple task such as cooking, cleaning or moving during a heat wave. London is more hotter because of the air pollution. It made me wish I could go back to the Caribbean to really relax and swim in there gorgeous beach.
Thursday I am going shopping in Kingston for more watercolour supplies such as paints, paper and brushes.
Last Friday I went to Hyper Japan Festival at Olympia London. The weather was nice and I manage to get to the event easily. I went to the event last year at the London O2. This time it was a little different. The event was much smaller and has not got many stalls. the culture area was small, not much verity on Japanese culture. more on the pop culture. which is fine but it would be good to have a balance on pop and traditional culture. I did got information on holidays to Japan, I had a conversation with one of InsideJapan travel teams, Tim Grisbrooke, about their package tour. He was very friendly, informative and gave a lot of advice and information on the tours. It has really gave me an idea to do a tour guide travel to Japan which is much safer and better way to explore Japan.
I walked around the place, being very friendly, I was very chatty and bold ( I am normally very quiet, shy person). I manage to get a picture with Super Mario! At the Kawaii section I meet Suga Dust at her stall selling her handmade iPhone cases. The iPhone cases have cute Kawaii animals, foods on them. She was very friendly and is very talented in her craft. (see @Suga_dust on Instagram)
Later on, I watched a few performances at the live stage. Airly Momoco was the best on stage, she was very good singer and entertainer. I really liked her princess dress she was wearing on stage.
Airly Momoco. Hyper Japan Festival 2016
After watching the live performance, I walked around again to look at the stalls. I was looking for something to buy at the event but I could not see again worth getting. I only brought a Gudatama stickers and badges for £1 each.
Tofu Cute stall , Hyper Japan Festival 2016
Gudatama stcikers, 2016
Gudatama
Gudatama, 2016
Overall it was a nice day out. I was a little disappoint that there was not much stalls and traditional things at the event. I would go there again nest year. I am thinking of visiting different events in London for example Food festival, homes or tech expo, something completely different, new and interesting.
