Since the earthquake and tsunami...

While we are far from the disaster area we are still a little affected by it.  Last week we went to a big supermarket but they were out of tissue (kleenex) and it can be difficult to find bottled water here. People are panic buying for themselves and to send to family up north.

Because of the disaster, there are rolling blackouts in the areas and prefectures (states) surrounding Tokyo. My friend lives in Tokyo and she was talking about this. It is not so bad now as it is spring but in the summer this could be hell as it is extremely hot and  humid in Japan in the summer.  Of course, it is hard for her to find some things as well...bottled water, some foods etc though apparently it is getting better.

 And in Urayasu  city-best know for Disneyland- they are having many problems. While they are quite far from the epicenter, because the city was basically built on reclaimed land the ground basically liquefied causing all kinds of problems. They don't have running water, sewer pipes have just popped up and many building are not "attached" to the ground anymore. This video is amazing...but it won't let me embed it so here is the link.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rVDKK3yoWs

One thing that I found to be strange is that on TV there are almost no commercials (companies feel it is in bad taste to advertise their products-even after 3 weeks). Instead they have these "good manners commercials". They talk about things like don't be mean to  people,  help people etc. My younger students are quite unhappy about seeing them all the time and complain to me every week (they are starting to get on my nerves as well). Here are a few that are on all the time.

This first one says not to forget that touching says more than words. Touching people is not part of the Japanese culture so I think this one was interesting to watch.I might have mentioned it before but I once had a student who was embarrassed to admit that she still  hugged her grandchildren who were 8 and 10. And I have never seen my husband hug or really touch his parents.

  

This next one is pretty easy to understand.

This one is about remembering to be polite and say "hello", "bye", "thank  you", "I'm home" etc.




Well...that should give you some more ideas of what is going on here in Japan. My friend in Tokyo is very optimistic and told me that she  believes Japan will come out of this stronger. I think she is right.

Thanks everyone!

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't commented until now.We  appreciate all the  comments and well wishes!

While we are safe it has been just heartbreaking to see the news....to hear the stories. I finally got in touch with a friend in Tokyo...she is ok as is her family in Chiba but they live near the oil refinery that was on fire so they had to evacuate for a while.

It sure makes me grateful for everything/everyone in my life. I've been hugging my husband a lot and didn't let him out of my sight on Saturday as I have to admit I was/am a bit freaked out by it all.

My mom, needless to say, is freaked out not only by the earthquake and tsunami but also because of the nuclear reactor issue going on. We are far away but still....and also by the volcano that went off on our island-we are also safe from that but it is all a bit much for her.

I repacked and added to our earthquake bags we have prepared (since the earthquake we had here a few years ago). I hope we never have to use them but I sure felt better after I added more items to them.

Anyway, thanks again everyone! We really do appreciate you all!

So Sad.

I'm sure most of you have heard of what has happened here in Japan. We are in the southern part of Japan so we are fine but it is unbelievable what is happening up north. Watching the news ....I almost have no words...it is strange to see houses both on fire and in the water. It is surreal to watch full 2 story houses, which appear to be intact, being swept along the "river". There are now worries about some nuclear plants. It is dark here now so the full extent of the damage is yet unknown.   Here are some videos from  Japan.

In this second video you will see Sendai airport being hit with water.




Our  prayers are with those affected by this tragedy. And thanks to those of you who emailed us to see if we are ok.

Where can you buy bananas in Japan? From a vending machine of course!

For banana lovers living in Tokyo or Fukuoka (the big city near me)  you will be happy! Dole Japan Inc has installed vending machines that sell...bananas! Yep...that's right. Just put in your money (390 yen), push a button and out comes a bunch of bananas! 

And just so you know, the interior of the vending machine is kept at 13 degrees Celsius which apparently is the best temperature for bananas!  

And in case you were wondering, the vending machine that was set up in June in Shibuya district in Tokyo sold 9,000 bunches of bananas in the  first month!

Too cute to eat!! Warning...don't look if you are hungry!

I love browsing online sweets shops to look at what is available since it changes according to season etc. So, I decided to share some of the little cuties with you!

Tired but happy!

I  always have good intentions when it comes to this blog but then I get busy and I just can't squeeze it in. At least this time it is because of a good reason!  Starting about 2 weeks ago, I started receiving emails from international media groups wanting to interview me about the rings I make! For one of the groups I took new pictures and of course answered the questions etc and because of this we were featured in The Telegraph (one of the U.K.'s biggest newspapers). You can see it here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/8315733/Miniature-food-rings-created-by-Sofia-Molnar.html



We also are waiting to hear about 2 other big opportunities...one for our ring store and one for our vintage store so we were busy preparing for those as well (as they say...when it rains it pours!) . If anything comes of these I will share but please keep your fingers crossed for us!

So....like the title of this blog says we are tired (and if you see a chicken running around without a  head say hi as it is probably me!) but super happy and very grateful!

Curved Pinkys

I get many emails everyday and some make me very happy for example when  a customer tells me how much they like the items that they bought. But this last week, I got an email that really made me smile.

Vadim from Russia wrote to tell me that he saw my rings and while he thought they were great, he emailed me for  a completely different reason. He wrote to talk about my pinky. Yep, my pinky finger. In all his life, he had never seen another person besides himself and his son who had the same curved pinky finger.  He was really excited about this because he said that  people were always asking him if he had broken it and it hadn't been set properly etc.  He now had proof that others were out there!  He even sent pictures! You can see that we do indeed all have the curved pinky!

He suggested we start a club and he named it INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF OWNERS OF CURVES Pinky! ! 

Reading his emails really put a smile on my face and it also made me wonder.....how rare (or common) are curved pinkys?  Before this email, I really had never thought about it. Even growing up, it wasn't anything I thought about. My dad's are also cuved so I just thought it was his fault! :)  Anyone else have curved pinkys?