It’s been a long time since I last posted anything.
I have been really busy at work and with other things. That left me little time to write but I’m back!
So what have I been up to during all this time? Seriously, I can’t remember. Have you experience one of those periods where time seem to just fly by and you just can’t remember what you did or what you achieved? Well, I had one of those moments. Before I know it, it’s already June and half a year has gone by.
Anyway, I had a good break from work and re-charged myself recently. I had a holiday in Japan! Yeah! I went to Osaka and Tokyo with my mom and my daughter. Unfortunately, hubby can’t join and my dad doesn’t like travelling. So it was just us, the ladies.
I planned a rather ambitious itinerary and did not manage to complete all of it. I thought I was still young and have the necessary energy when I did the planning. It turns out I wasn’t any longer. Anyway, it rained really heavily for a few days when we were there. That affected our itinerary as well.
We still had a great time with a few adventures along the way. One of it was a deer trying to eat my daughter’s cardigan. We had a tug-of-war with the deer and manage to get the cardigan back but the deer chewed a hole in it. Another adventure also involved a deer. This time the deer ate my map!
You must be thinking that Osaka and Tokyo are filled with deers. The deers are found on Miyajima island (near Hiroshima) and in Nara. There are free-roaming deers every where near the temples as they are believed to be messengers of god and they are very used to human. So it’s easy to go near and pet the deers.
Feeding deer in Nara
Japan is heaven for crafters. The craft stores are so well stocked with everything related to every type of craft and craft stores comes in all sizes. I really love this particular craft store in Tokyo. If you are a crafter and happen to visit Tokyo, you should really visit this shop. It’s called Okadaya and it’s near the Shinjuku metro and JR train stations. It has several floors and each floor is dedicated to a different craft. I love the knitting and crochet section as that was where I found all the tatting supplies. Lots of threads which I don’t find in Malaysia. I would have bought more if I had more luggage space.
My loot from Okadaya, Tokyo
Initially, I thought I went to the wrong shop as the ground floor looked like a cosmetic shop with fake eyelashes, wigs, cosmetic, etc. However, the floor directory shows that the upper floors are dedicated to all sorts of crafts. For those who likes to sew, Okadaya also have another building just opposite for textiles – all sorts of textiles. My mom loves to sew dresses for my daughter. So she bought quite a bit of materials from there. I think it’s a great alternative for those who don’t have time to visit Nippori Textile Town in Tokyo.
I really would like to visit Japan again. Hopefully, I will get to do so again and I’ll make sure I have enough luggage space for all the tatting supplies.
Tatted Tales 
