Ladies high tea and a whole lot of love

High tea has got to be one of my favourite things of all time! I think it’s just a fancy way of declaring my love for cupcakes and a hot cuppa…but what a good excuse for pretty décor and a chance to be spoilt. My bestie’s church held a ladies high tea meeting a while ago, and spoilt we were! Before we indulged in all the cakey goodness, guest speaker Jaci Mun-Gavin spoke to us about God’s extravagant love. It was so interesting to hear about God’s love for us from a mother’s perspective, and as a mom of six (how did she still look so gorgeous!?), she’s definitely an expert on love! These are a few things that popped out at me during Jaci’s talk:

1.       God’s heart must be MAAASSSIVE!

When Jaci had her first child she thought, “How could I possibly love another child as much as I love this one?” and then she had her second, and instead of her love dividing, it was as if her heart grew in size enough to love each child with as much of that extravagant love that she had for her first. She likened it to God’s love for us; that His love isn’t divided between all of us, but rather his heart must be so massive that he has enough love to make each and every one of us feel absolutely special and complete.

2.       God wants all His kids at home.

She spoke about how when her and her family leave church, people joke and ask her if she’s sure she’s got all the kids. Of course she wouldn’t be happy to arrive home with 5 out of 6! And that’s how God feels about each one of us. Just because he has some of his kids in relationship with him, doesn’t mean that He’s not longing for the others. He says it over and over in Luke 15. He compares himself to a shepherd who has 100 sheep and loses one. He says in verse 3,

“Does he not leave the ninety nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

And then just in case we don’t quite get what he’s on about he gives us two more examples in the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son. It’s clear that God wants all his kids with him.

3.       God waits for us like the groom waits for his bride.

Isaiah 62:5 says “as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” Can we even fathom that kind of love? We’ve all been at a wedding and watched the groom, so nervous as he awaits his bride. And when he sees her he’s beaming with a heart full of joy and excitement.  The entire room can see these two love eachother with their whole hearts, and that’s how God waits for each one of us, with joy, excitement and absolute adoration.

4.       We are changed when we realise the fullness of God’s love.  

Jaci put it so well that as women, we’re often quick to rebut a compliment from someone, or question whether the people in our lives really love us as much as they say they do. This kind of thinking and insecurity can absolutely affect the way we see God’s love for us. We may believe He has that kind of love for a leader in church, or someone smarter or more beautiful. But do we really know that God has that kind of extravagant love for us? I think it’s a process of continuously renewing the mind with God’s Word, reading and speaking about just how much he loves us, meditating on it over and over until it becomes part of our hearts and who we are. We must begin to define ourselves by God’s love.

There WILL BE change when we realise God’s love for us, because when we are filled with His unconditional love, we look at other people differently, we look at our life’s purpose differently, and we look at ourselves differently. My prayer for you and I is that we not only begin to see ourselves the way God sees us, but we begin to see others the way God sees them.

Japan diaries: Ladies’ High Tea and Fashion Party

A few weeks too late, but better late than never! These are some pics we snapped at the ladies’ high tea I held at the apartment a while back. All in the name of fashion, food and fun, it was a fabulous afternoon of chit chat, shopping, eating and drinking. Thanks to all the lovely ladies that came to support Trixie and Flo! I have two very important recipes to share with you: The best carrot cake, the best cream cheese icing recipes IN THE WORLD!
1 high tea

Lunch in Harajuku – Salvatore Cuomo

After a morning of shopping and wandering through a drizzly Harajuku, a lunch hunt began as we tracked down the ever swanky Omotesando Hills shopping complex, designed by renowned architect, Tadao Ando. The hunt led us up to the top floor, to Salvatore Cuomo, a gorgeous Italian restaurant that offers a daily lunch buffet between 11am and 3pm. For just 2200 yen we could each order a main dish pizza (highly recommended) or pasta, and then help ourselves to the appetizer, dessert and drinks buffet. It was an absolute pleasure meal for sure and as the sun peeped in, we felt full and refreshed, ready to head back to Harajuku’s streets for an afternoon of sightseeing.

Hot cross buns!!!

That just happened! I’m so excited I had to post this immediately. Yes, I’m at home at 10pm on a Friday night baking, but I’m smiling from ear to ear. My friend mentioned hot cross buns the other day and the craving got me and I just HAD to try. We can’t buy them in Japan so homemade is officially the new “Woolworths”. I used this recipe (thanks Sarah!), and have (of course) already sampled the final product…only thing I’d change is to add more spices. It may have been because I had to make my own mixed spice concoction. I used a teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkling of nutmeg and ginger but they definitely need more. I also left out the peel because peel just doesn’t rock my boat, sorry peel.  My little toaster oven is such a trooper, it’s so tiny I could only bake three at a time! If you’re in Japan and want to try baking them in a toaster oven, cover the top with tinfoil for the first 10 minutes and then let them brown for the last five…else they’ll burn ya’hear. Happy baking, and Happy Easter everyone xoxo.

Korea diaries: Seoul food

(well…Busan as well, but that would’ve ruined my play on words)
I love Korean food but why oh why was I born with such embarrassingly weak taste buds!? Some of the kimchi even had me shedding a tear or two. It makes me a little nervous for any future Asian travels because I absolutely love trying new food but I just can’t handle the spice. Living in Japan hasn’t exactly helped…with the exception of wasabi I can’t think of a single food here that packs a punch. Better start on operation taste bud spicy bootcamp. I think a couple of Durban samoosas would be a good start.
Busan fish market
 
The first thing that struck me about Busan fish market was how clean it was…until I witnessed the most horrific sight of a woman skinning live eels. I think I’m still having nightmares about it. After some recovery time and leisurely meandering we headed upstairs to the open-plan restaurant section. We were led to a table and ordered (well we weren’t really sure what we had ordered) but ended up with a table full of seafood dishes and sidedishes. We left full and happy, beaming at the success of our first Korean meal.
Korean barbeque (Gogigui)
The gogigui meal we had in Seoul was possibly one of the best meals I have EVER had!! I love food that involves experience…and sitting together at a grill, with plates of meat and a multitude of sidedishes, while cooking it up ourselves and chatting about the previous night’s antics all seems a sweet memory to me now.  Our looks of apprehension had the very pushy/disguisedly sweet Korean waitress picking up our food for us and showing us how to wrap the meat, rice and sidedishes in a perilla leaf and then gesturing to eat up with our hands.  It was glorious, and I even tried one with a whole clove of garlic in it, which no doubt led me to tears again. Gogigui places are everywhere, so just ask your hostel/hotel to recommend a good one. 
 
  Bibimbap
 
 A great meal in Myeondong before a shopping marathon! We were beckoned into a restaurant, which at first I was apprehensive about entering. I assumed if they were desperate for business their food wouldn’t be so great, but  we obliged, a little out of fear (I’d be scared to ever say no to a feisty Korean woman), and ended up having a perfect bibimbap meal. It’s a rice dish mixed up mainly with seaweed, vegetables and a fried/raw egg. They served up the gochujang (chilli pepper paste) on the side so my weak taste buds and I could add it in moderation.
I wish I’d had more time to taste all that Korea had to offer! The food there is a travel experience in itself and I hope I’ll be back someday to try more. Recommendations are most welcome!

Would you like a crumpet?

 Crumpets, pancakes, flapjacks, whatever you want to call them, this is possibly one of my favourite recipes from childhood. We’d help our mom make the batter and then watch in anticipation as she cooked them up, until finally, she’d give us a chance to pour crazy shapes into the pan at the end. What a nostalgically apt post this is, seeing as my mom and dad have just arrived in Japan and I’ll be meeting up with them in Osaka tomorrow. Excited desu.
Ingredients
2 eggs
5 tablespoons sugar
1 cup milk
1 ½ tablespoons melted butter
2 cups of flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Method
Beat the eggs, adding the sugar. Add half a cup of milk and the butter.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and add this to the egg mixture.
Gradually stir in the remaining ½ cup of milk to form a smooth batter.
Recipe makes about 25 small crumpets.

Japan diaries: Cafe in Fukuyama

If it weren’t for friends’ recommendations, I’d probably still be sitting at the same café week after week doing the same old same old.  It often just feels like mission impossible when you’re wondering around back alley Japan in hopes of stumbling upon something incredible. I’ve often found that a lot of cafes and restaurants here are so unassuming, so hidden you’d never find them unless you had the inside scoop. Or if you did, there’s sometimes an unexplainable intimidation preventing you from peeping in somewhere that looks cute and cosy, as if you’d be interrupting some intimate moment behind a restaurant curtain. Well, I’m here to share…and I’m really excited to be blogging about this place. It’s called “&S” and is a beautiful mix of creepy, gorgeous and cosy. I could’ve sat there all afternoon, though considering the size of their set lunch, it’s as if they want you there all day. This is possibly the first time I haven’t been able to finish a restaurant meal in Japan. I loved the price too, for just 850yen you can choose between four set lunches that includes soup, salad, main meal, dessert and drink. The dinner menu looked gorgeous too so I’ll definitely be back! Their attention to décor detail is impeccable and the chef in top hat just adds to the whole charm of the place. So no excuses, use this map and go, go, go. 
The lunch sets pictured in order above are: muffin sandwich set, one plate lunch (a delicious, chicken, veggie, egg mix with salad and rice) and the coconut curry lunch with extra mixed beans. All of them come with a drink of your choice and a set dessert (last pic).

High Tea at the Oyster Box Hotel

I think I’m nearly two years and about 20 blogs too late on this trend, but Durban’s Oyster Box Hotel High Tea was all I dreamed it would be and more. Possibly one of my best days out, it was one filled with laughter, gorging and more gorging. For just R150 (1500yen) we started off with our afternoon cuppa, and then helped ourselves to the wide selection of savouries and desserts. Make sure to call a few weeks ahead (especially during holiday season) to avoid disappointment xoxo.

Japan diaries: It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Yatta! In exactly one week I’ll be touching down on South African soil in the hopes of defrosting this Christmas. But before then, I have a few exciting things lined up. For one, I will be squeaking some takkie in Seoul, South Korea for a few nights of freezing city fun. In the meantime I’m enjoying crazy parties with the co-workers and fun end of year lessons with the students. My English club girls and I devoured this batch of cupcakes yesterday for our little Christmas party. I’ve never heard the word “amai” (which means “sweet”) used that many times in one sitting before. Every time they took a bite they’d say “amai” which I’m hoping meant sweet and delicious and not “Is my teacher trying to kill me with this rich chocolatey cupcake?” I used this recipe from Kim’s gorgeous foodie blog, but I added a slab of grated dark chocolate to make it taste just like the cake that Bogtrotter eats in the movie “Matilda” … “Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!” The recipe makes about 20 good size scrumptious cupcakes. The buttercream icing is from allrecipes.com but it is reaaallly sweet so beware!
Japan has taken Christmas to all sorts of commercial levels: they made it cute! I unfortunately couldn’t resist the cuteness and picked up these felt Christmas gift bags at Daiso (Japan’s number one 100yen store) probably while tapping my foot to some cheesy rendition of “Last Christmas”. I love that Christmas Eve is Kentucky Fried Chicken’s best night for business and that the supermarkets are selling fresh strawberries displayed with their own personal tubes of condensed milk (I’m yet to try that lethal combo). From what I’ve heard from my teenage students, Christmas here is not a big family affair, but a time to spend with your special someone. New Years on the other hand, is when Japan shuts down and everyone returns to their home towns for a few days of family time, traditional food and shrine visits. 
I’m looking forward to some friends and family time of my own, and although I loved the winter wonderland that Japan’s Nagano Prefecture presented last year, I’m definitely ready for some South African summer sunshine. Hope you enjoy the pictures! Take care this festive season xoxo.

Japan diaries: Markets, tea and obligatory cake

Some late November sunshine drew me up those Onomichi hills to Hodoji temple, where the annual handicraft market was being held. My first thought was: “I have never seen this many well dressed kids in one place before.” The items for sale were all true to the quirky, artsy, cute vibe that seems to emit from every nook and cranny of this little town. All I ended up leaving with was a tasty miso and sesame muffin and a big smile. I later ended up at a gorgeous wooden table with a lovely group of ladies at Pontefract, a cute little tea shop near the water.  Herbal tea, cinnamon cappuccinos and great conversation were the orders of the day.  A day out in Onomichi is never complete without a glance into the donut shop and a cake at the always cosy Yamaneko café.