pinku

Crafty update!!

So far I have completed a couple of wristbands, my crochet blanket, one madonna glove (aka Voodoo wristwarmer), a hat for darin and have just about completed my first scarf.

Here is the madonna glove. It was my first circular project. I really enjoyed working with double-pointed needles. I used 3mm needles and 100% merino wool from Nikke Victor Yarn called DLM. One glove took less than one 40g ball (60m). I am a bit disappointed that it has already started balling. Had a few problems with the buttonhole, but I have practiced a few times since and I think I have mastered it for the second glove...

Here is the crochet blanket. The pattern was taken from the book, Simple Crochet, therefore it is REALLY simple. I never thought I would get it finished and I can't believe that I chose a blanket as my first project. I was very excited once it was all stitched together though...

Here is a photo of Darin modeling his new hat. I knitted it using the hot head pattern out of the stitch and bitch book. I think I'll be knitting hats in the round from now coz I suck at knitting up seams!!

Currently I am knitting my first scarf. It is a present for a friend and I love the wool. It is called Polar Color from Lang Yarns in Switzerland. It is 100% new wool and I decided to knit the whole thing in seed stitch. I really want to finish it today as I am getting kind of bored of the monotonous knitting.

I have a billion new projects that I want to get started. I think I will knit a scarf for myself next out of some lovely blue alpaca that I bought at a sale. It came with a Japanese pattern which is just basic ribbing...I think I am going to branch out and attempt some cable knitting. I think I will also knit on circular needles this time and I prefer not getting the needles stuck in my clothes and other places??!!!

Another project that I am eager to start is to crochet a bag out of some hemp that Darin bought me for Christmas...

Until next time....

Nogawa and Musashino Park

To make the most of this beautiful weather, Darin and I hired bikes (a necessity after mine was stolen...) and headed towards Nogawa and Musashino Park (two big parks side by side) yesterday. The parks are about a 30 minute bike ride from Kichijoji and Musashino Park is were the Harappa Matsuri is held every year. Of course, we love our local park, Inokashira, but these parks are different - being pretty far from any station they are pretty empty, they are BIG and the river that runs through the parks is NOT concreted!!! Yes, it's true. Well, there are a couple of concreted spots but it is hard to believe that you can sit on a green grassy riverbed right here in Tokyo.

We had a lovely picnic, then I knitted and Darin skated in the sunshine. We plan to have a skateboard/bbq day here next spring or summer - YEAH!!

Here are some pics:

Happy Boxing Day!!

It is hard to believe that Chirstmas has been and gone. Our festive period began on Tuesday at the 5678s/Mad3 show, then continued at our friend, Amanda's xmas eve party - we enjoyed some xmas champagne, listened to some xmas carols, and ate some delicious traditional Japanese xmas cake (??!!). On xmas day we ate lunch at a beautiful restaurant in Nishi-Azabu, and then we went home and opened all our xmas presents - my favourite part of xmas!!!

On holidays now until the 5th of January!!!

daz and myself on xmas day

first course appetizer

xmas pheasant

xmas dessert - hot ginger bread

5678s

mad3

Japanese xmas pie!!

more Japanese xmas pie!!

I can't help it...

...the spirit of Christmas has hit (even though I am in Japan where xmas means a work day and sharing a sponge cake with your family later that night). It has truly set in. We have been building up to this day - setting up the tree, burning a xmas cd with some of my family's favourite xmas songs by the likes of boney m, roger whittaker, etc...

I guess it really hit though when I spoke to every one of my family members today on the phone (everyone but my little brother). They crack me up, and they are the ones with whom I share all of my Christmas memories. Very vivid and special memories. I won't be at home this year to celebrate xmas, but I am really happy that I can share a day that means a lot to me with someone very special - that's you, darin.

There is a great op-ed article by Zadie Smith, the author of White Teeth among other books in today's New York Times. I loved her piece about xmas and has been a great way to end my last day at work for this year.

Pinku sends much love to her family and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Birthday Mr Emperor!

Yesterday we celebrated the Emperor's birthday (public holiday in Japan) by listening to some good ol' rock 'n roll. I love nothing better than to see girls (especially Japanese girls) knocking down some songs with an electric guitar. We saw the 5678s and MAD 3 play at the Shimokitazawa Shelter. The 5678s have been around for quite a while but have gained a little bit more recognition having recently appeared in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. The three girls came out on stage in 50s style sexy dresses and matching hairstyles, and put on a good warm-up show for MAD3. The girls I feel rolled a little more than rocked, but they rocked too. They had some really fun songs and having recently seen the Wedding Singer again (TWICE) I thought that they would be a great band to have at a wedding.....

Clearly the headlining act were MAD3. I had never really listened to any of their stuff before, but they were TIGHT. All of them (except the drummer - he wore a shirt that just said 'fuck') were in tight black leather. I had been expecting rockabilly but these guys just ROCKED. I had heard that a lot of there stuff was instrumental, which is true, but they are just tooooo busy playing to sing. There was a lot of energy on stage. They used a lot of 80s metal riffs (i picked up on the acca dacca...) I liked that they played the crowd - it was a SHOW! The lead guitar player by the end of the show ended up with no shirt on, but I loved it when he did the 'back to the crowd, comb my hair really slow 50s style' move - N.I.C.E!! Their xmas present to the audience was an original song called 'I hate christmas'....

WE WANT MAD!

Kyoto Report Number TWO

by Jitka Zelenkova

Woke up this morning and opened my windows - to the sight of neighbour's roofs covered in a thick layer of snow!! My landlady was poking her head out at the same time and we both exchanged gasps of appreciation at the sight! Having lived in Kyoto for almost 5 years, this is the most snow I have ever seen in the city centre. Therefore as soon as my private lesson finished at 11:30am, I rushed off to Nanzen-ji Temple and the Philosopher's Path to try and get some temple snow pics. Unfortunately I was a little too late and by lunchtime, much of the snow had melted. Nevertheless it was still most picturesque and some remaining red leaves made for striking contrasts against white snow-covered roofs. Next time I'll try to get up earlier!!

Some photos

Pink Fix for the week - cute little corner shop in Shibuya

Beijing from the sky

House made out of milk cartons at the Edo Tatemono Museum

Beer fairy at the Beer Museum in Ebisu

Chuo train line at night

Happy Birthday, brother!!!

Oh what a beautiful morning! Oh what a beautiful day! The sky is blue in Tokyo this morning - it is chilly (WIND.SO.COLD)but the sun is warm. Today is my brother, Stephen's birthday, so I want to send out some warm, sunny happy birthday vibes towards the southern hemisphere. Um, 'bout your present....it's gonna be in the mail tomorrow!!!

Tokyo Walker - December 16 - 23 edition

Since I bought the latest Tokyo Walker to read on the train this morning - thought I would share some of the information found within its shiny 300 yen pages. For those unfamiliar with the Tokyo Walker - it is another weekly Tokyo magazine that includes various events, restaurants, interviews and the all important tv guide.

Things you might be interested in knowing:

* Animation character exhibition 2004 is on at Spiral garden in Omotesando. Features Dollymode (Blythe), Chara-Depa (which includes my favourite, Monchichi), and Wallace and Grommit among others.

Date: 12/17 til 12/28
Time: 11 am to 8:30 pm
Fee: Free, but entrance to the small animation theatre costs 500 yen
For more information: Character Expo 2004 Official website

* Yahoo Auction Fleamarket is on at Odaiba (Big Sight) this weekend.
Touted as being the largets fleamarket in all of Japan (twice as big as the yoyogi fleamarket). There will be about 1000 stalls on each day.

Date: 12/20 and 12/21
Time: 10 am to 5 pm
Fee: 600 yen, free for elementary students and younger (100 yen off for each person that shows a copy of Tokyo Walker)
For more information: Weekly Fleamarket Information website (Japanese only)

* Nathan's the Hot Dog chain opens its first store in Harajuku

The first store opens today in Harajuku on Meiji-dori just down from the GAP store on the 1F/B1F of YM Square. They will offer four types of hot dogs:

hot dog - 270 yen
chilli or cheese hot dog - 340 yen
chilli AND cheese hot dog - 400 yen

* Win a private night viewing of Tokyo for two on either the roof of Roppongi Hills or Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower private viewing for five couples on Dec 23 between 11pm and 11:15pm
Roppongi Hills private viewing for five couples on Dec 24 between 8pm and 9pm

I'm going for the Roppongi Hills private viewing.

How to enter:

Send in one of those official postcard things listing the following 13 items:

1. which draw you want to enter
2. post code
3. address
4. name
5. occupation (or school year)
6. age
7. sex
8. phone number (or mobile phone number)
9. who are you going to spend christmas with?
10. what are you going to give that person for christmas?
11. what do you want for christmas?
12. where are you going to spend new year's eve?
13. who are you going to spend new year's eve with?

Address to send completed postcard to:

kakugawa-shoten TW49, TW Private night-viewing present, 102-8077

Postcards must be sent on or before dec 19 - that's tomorrow. Winners will be notified directly by Dec 22.

Don't know if you can enter in English, but why not try??!! I can't post in Japanese so......oh well.

Other features in the mag

* Onsen and snowboard day trip special section - interesting, but if you don't have a car forget it.
* Mitaka city (that's where I live) special on cafes where you can read childrens book while sipping a coffee
* Christmas lights special - where to go and see the prettiest xmas lights....this was kinda boring.

Do you like Japanese cute??

ok. sometimes it is annoying and sometimes it is too much, but if you like some Japanese cute stuff sometimes, then visit Tricoteur. It is a site run by a 27-year old Japanese girl, Miyuki, that makes and sells very cute little knitted animals. There are also a bunch of links to similar sites, I particularly liked one where a 74-year old grandmother makes and sells cute little knitted animals. I am not a big fan BUT hell, they're cute....

Couldn't you fall in love with this little bear??!!

More Japanese knitting sites

If you can't get to one of the FEW stores that stock Rowan or Jaeger yarn, then buy it online at Rowan and Jaeger - an online Japanese distributor.

If you spend over 5000yen (which you probably will) then shipping is free, otherwise it costs 525 yen, which is great when compared to overseas shipping. You can also order Rowan magazines for 2000 yen. They also have a bunch of english knitting books BUT they are way overpriced - my advice is to buy any books here in Japan on Amazon Japan.

You pay after the goods have arrived at the post office - totemo benri ne!!!

Other sites

Puppy - a great site with some cute crochet and knitting patterns (however, only in Japanese), you can also buy yarn on-line and some items that have already been knit up! Including a pattern for the crochet caps pictured below! Shipping is also free on this site if you spend over 5000 yen, otherwise shipping in Japan costs 525 yen.

Noro yarn - terriby designed homepage for Japan's Noro yarn - very multicoloured! Kind of reminds me of bright coloured Ken Done designs in the 80s as well as those really expensive technicolour woolen jumpers avaiable in Australia (can't remember the brand). Think it would make a nice pair of Voodoo wristwarmers.

Finger knitting - you heard right!! Can't be bothered buying needles and all that other stuff then knit with your fingers - gotta try this one!! (Japanese only BUT does have nice pictures)

Tezukuri Town - here is a link to Tezukuri Town's knitting page. Tezukuri means 'handmade' in Japanese and this site covers most handcrafts (Japanese only).

Knitting Japanese Style

One of the hardest things so far about knitting here in Japan is that the size of the needles are different from the US (where most of the patterns I have been using are made), and the fact that I don't really understand inches and yards all too well. Another problem is picking out similar yarn for US patterns. It makes knitting for a beginner harder than normal.

Anyway, I have found a GREAT site called The ABCs of Knitting. The site is in English and Japanese and it contains REALLY useful conversion tables for yarn weights, needle sizes, etc and a great Japanese-English knitting dictionary. It doesn't look like the site has been updated for a while BUT everything you need is already here. It also explains the way Japanese knitting patterns work, etc.

Great for the native English speaker in Japan who wants to take up knitting!!!

Another great site is an online yarn shop in Kobe called Keitoya.net where you can purchase imported yarn such as Rowan. Only in Japanese.

Love at first sight!

Started and finished my first knitting project tonight - am very excited. It is a variation of a pattern for wristwarmers in Debbie Stoller's book, Stitch 'n Bitch: the knitter's handbook. The original pattern inlcuded a knitted image of a star, but I decided to include an eyelet stitch in the middle to thread ribbon through. I used extra fine Merino wool in dark brown!

close-up

Happy Birthday Jitty!

I love google image searches! This one's for you, Jitty!

In happier news...

I was tempted to buy this sexy hat on the weekend.

Daz and I won 1900 yen at a local lucky dip on Sunday!!

The autumn leaves in Inokashira park are coming to an end, but are determined to go out in a blaze of red!!!

Smoking in Japan

I work for a Japanese company - we have an open plan office and unfortunately there are a lot of older men in my section. They love to smoke - they are not allowed to smoke at their desks, but they are allowed to smoke in a designated room (I have only poked my head in there once to talk to someone and it was DISGUSTING)! People are also allowed to smoke at our monthly meetings - I hate this. The meeting room has no windows and is air-conditioned.

The 'take-up smoking' lobby is alive and strong in Japan - does such a thing exist anywhere else in the world (except China)?

If you love tobacco too, then you might enjoy visiting the Tobacco and Salt Museum in Shibuya.

I did like this photos of old Japanese tobacco ads though...

Peacock cigarettes

Tengu cigarettles

Wow, the more I look around on the Japan Tobacco (JT) website, the more they convince me to take up smoking....The Japanese site contains sections called 'tobacco wonderland', 'JT delight world', and a special section called 'smokers' files' where smokers can submit special memories related to smoking. Oh, how nice!!!!

Remember that time when you coughed up a bunch of phlegm coz you've been smoking too much....yeah, the good times. Oh how about that time on the time, when the smell of your tobacco-soaked body and internal organs made the people sitting beside you on the train retch....oh yeah.......

Google Loves Pinku too

Pinku finally comes up on a google search - it feels nice...a warm fuzzy feeling! Go on - type in 'pinku' and 'tokyo' and....there she is. Will get around to updating the site soon (are you telling the truth, kat??!!), add an about page, galleries etc. yeah, anyway I have great visions!

Weekend in Kichijoji

So, I didn't end up completing any of my projects that I had planned to, but did think up a bunch of new ones. I am determined though to finish all of the current ones before starting any new ones.

The crochet blanket is near completion - I hope to get it done by Wednesday. I have a feeling that stitching it together and crocheting the edging will take longer than that, but we'll see. Photos will follow once done.

The weather was beautiful on Sunday - a perfect day to wander in Inokashira Park and of course throw back some beers with good company. I love to look at the stalls out on a Sunday morning in the park and we were actually so impressed this week that (drumroll.......) we have decided to set up our own stall next week. It is our backyard after all and instead of being daily visitors, we are gonna be participators. Darinwill be doing sketches and I plan to knit some really cool armbands with pretty ribbon and other stuff. If you've got something to sell or just wanna hang out in the park, why not join us??!!

Biggest idea in the works

kay. I am really motivated at the moment to start up a Stitch and Bitch group in Tokyo. Any other interested parties out there??!! I don't wanna limit the group to only knitting (as some are not that keen on knitting), but would rather have a bunch of girls doing anything creative.... So far there are a couple of girls I know that are interested. Have been thinking about a venue and the Pink Cow seems like a good option on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. I have contacted the owner and she is supportive of the idea. Now just gotta get people to come. Have also been playing around designing a logo - well, actually I sketched a basic idea on Friday and then Darin has sharpened it up (quite a lot!!!!) - thanks!! Take a look and let me know what you think. Email to pinkurocks@yahoo.com.

A little embarassing....

Just bought the new edition of 'Tokyo isshukan (weekly) - it has a really dumb cover saying stuff like 'Tokyo and Yokohama love illuminations for you and your lover' 'Top 20 heat-up spots' - it also contains a detailed pull-out love hotel guide. However, I bought it because it does contain detailed listings of movies, events, art showings, restaurants, and general new cool consumerism news THAT can't be found in English anywhere.

Anyway, darin knows my dirty little secret, but now I will publish it on the Internet. I really want a new mobile phone...there, I said it. And I really want one with chaku-uta, a ringtone that plays like a REAL song. Up until now, only AU users have had access to chaku-uta, BUT this wonderful magazine says (and I believe what I read), that Vodafone now have a chaku-uta phone - it is known as the V801sa. The features of this phone are awesome - video tv, can send text messages when overseas...etc, etc.... I'm happy (I'd be very happy if it came in pink...) - will check it out this weekend. Isn't owning a cool phone one of the true Japanese experiences??!!

Weekend plans

* To try and finish my first crochet project - a pretty rug using natural cotton, sparkly pink and dark chocolate brown wool!!

* To visit the Plastination exhibit in Ginza. It was only meant to run until the end of this year, but due to its popularity they have extended the exhibition period until the end of February....no need to rush. It costs 1500 yen to get in, but if you go to the exhibition between 5pm and 8pm, access some website on your keitai and show them when entering then you get a big discount of 200 yen!!! Important money-saving information.

Meet Jitty - Pinku's Kyoto Correspondent

Well, I wouldn't want Pinku to be East Japan-centric, so I have begged my sweet friend, Jitka (a long-term Kyoto resident) to share her insights and photos from Kyoto. I have lived in Tokyo for just over a year, but my heart remains in Kyoto. For all of her new ugly concrete buildings and masses of tourists, Kyoto will always be beautiful to me.

- BIT OF BACKGROUND -

Jitka (an Aussie but with Czech blood!!) and I met in 1999...I don't remember the month but I remember where. It was outside the front of the "Tani" - a now defunct gaijin house in southern Kyoto - I had just moved in there as I had just moved out of my ex-boyfriend's place and had nowhere to go (a sad story I know). I have not stayed at any other gaijin houses, but I am confident that the "Tani" would rank as the worst in quality and management in Japan. My four and a half tatami mat room was...unfortunately located next to the crazy 'Hello Kitty' woman's room who apart from wearing all Hello Kitty motif clothes and TOTALLY designing her room with Hello Kitty goods, would regularly start wailing at early hours of the morning and talk to herself constantly. It didn't help that our rooms were only separated by a thin Japanese sliding door. On the other side of me was a man from the Middle East (can't remember what country) - his job in Japan was collecting chicken eggs in the very early hours of the morning - he was also very proud of the carpet in his room that he had brought from home. AND, the only window in my room was located right above a car body spray painting business - oh those beautiful fumes!! Best of all was the cockroach infested kitchen and the police raids to take away illegal foreigners from the Middle East. Yes, it was an experience. And it was one that I would not have survived without Jitty. Despite her strange ways (you know what I'm talking about) and her constant bragging about having the best room in the "Tani" - (she had the luxurious eight mat tatami room on the top floor with roof access, view of the shinkansen line and the mountains of Kyoto, but best of all NO crazy neighbours!!!) she turned out to be a great friend.

Check out her page on virtualtourist.com. She is a traveller with extensive knowledge about India and ......other places. Other than that - she can sketch people really well (look at this drawing of me), speaks Japanese, German and Czech, takes great photos and is not afraid to push around a Japanese grandma when necessary (all you Japan residents know what I mean). Oh yeah, and although her name will sound weird to some supposedly it is as common as SUSAN in the Czech Republic!

Nuff about her. Here's her report on DAIMARU in Kyoto

Daimaru basement foodcourt has a new and improved layout! Nevermind the already disadvantaged position I find myself in, living BEHIND the damn department store, but today being my little end of year bonus day and I wandered in just to grab a little something for dinner.... half a dazed hour later I found myself stumbling out with yuzu tofu, some fancy prawn croquette, pumpkin and cinnamon salad and autumn mixed rice in two flavours. Over 1000 Yen for this quick meal! :Ｐ The new improved layout means I can't find anything and am so overwhelmed to find so many neeew things. Restrained myself at the freshly ground coffee section, and luckily couldn't find the wine cellar anymore.....

Kansai Girls Know How to Rock

The YMG show on Sunday night was hot (pictures to follow later)! The concept for the whole night was ummm.....interesting: the merging of techno/drum 'n bass and good ol' hard rock. Personally I did not witness any merging, but I tend to like both - dance music when I feel sexy and wanna dance and hard rock when I wanna punch someone in the stomach or just break something. Depends on my mood.

We didn't end up staying long at the WOMB - the name of the club - but it was super fun hanging out in the roped-off VIP lounge. The following night we had a bonenkai - otherwise known as a Japanese end-of-year party with the girls. Around 9:30 pm I convinced everyone to continue the party at an all-you-can-drink karaoke place - for this I paid the price the following day. Yes, I did. I'm glad that my camera didn't come along to that partay!!!

Next YMG show will be at the Shimokitazawa Shelter on Jan 9, and then we'll have a shinnenkai(new year's party) at our place afterwards (or maybe the following night) if you're interested.

Site I have been playing on today:

BUST - web version of the magazine which touts itself as the "Voice of the New Girl Order"

.....think I'm gonna subscribe

Friend in town!

Every now and again all of us have friends in town. You have to work out where you should take them to give them a true Tokyo/Japan experience. Darin's friend, Cary visited us over four days last week on his way back to the US from Thailand. Cary was suffering a little from Thailand belly (you know like Bali Belly), so our list of things to do ended up a little shorter than expected.

What we did:

* Trip to Kamakura
* Ate: ramen, kaiten sushi, the most delicious wings from toriyoshi (highly recommended), yakitori, izakaya fare, lots of mikan
* Visited: tallest building in Shinjuku, piss alley in shinjuku, crazy Christ-themed cafe, Christon in Shibuya, Inokashira Park on Sunday morning, crazy Japanese bookstore, Village Vanguard (where Cary managed to purchase some seriously hot blowup doll key chains), big electronics store
* Saw: fight between old Japanese man and younger Japanese man on the platform of Shinjuku station - no real punching the old guy just had the other guy by the throat and just kind of pushed him a lot (that's after we'd just explained how Japan was all about harmony!!), crazy Japanese man wearing pink outfit with white beret running in Shinjuku (actually it looked more like he was floating), lights of Shinjuku, lots of dogs dressed up as santa
* Did: purikura (shown below), played taiko drumming game

Print Club fun!!

Playboy Covers

So, while playing around in the fun Geisha Asobi blog, I came across the link for Playboy magazine's cover gallery. It showcases every cover from their inaugural issue in the 50s to this month's cover. I am pretty proud to be a product of the 70s - I took a look at most of the covers and the 70s stand out as the sexiest, most natural, and definitely the most provocative covers over the years. They get straight to the point if you know what I mean. Here are two covers, they are not the one's I liked best but one is for the month I was born and the other one is for when darin was born. Interesting.

January 1975

June 1973

Yellow Machinegun

Wanna see three very cool Kansai girls rock out?!! Then come see our friends Kyoko, Kaori and Tama (aka Yellow Machinegun) play a show in Shibuya at Womb on Sunday night. The energy at their shows is amazing. If you can't make it Sunday, then their 10th anniversary show is on Jan 9 next year (details below).

Date: December 7, 2003 (sunday)
venue: shibuya womb
bands: Yellow Machinegun, O2D1 (secret star), wiggle
djs: starscream (slipknots's dj), shabushabu
time: 5-11pm
cost: adv 3000 yen / door 4000 yen (w1d)/ with flyer 3500 yen (can print the flyer from the following link)

Date : January 9, 2004 (friday)
Venue: shimokitazawa shelter
Bands: FROM HELL, SPANAM, Minor League, Yellow Machinegun
Open/Start: 19:00 / 19:30
Fee: adv 1,800yen / door 2,500yen
Pia: 03-5237-9966 (P-code159-493)
Contact : SHELTER (03-3466-7430)

YMG on stage at Shelter in April this year!!

The girls backstage at the BEASTFEAST 2002!! (from l to r: Kyoko, Kaori, Tama)

Akebono Vs Bob Sapp

So, my posts have been missing a little bit of Japan lately. ok, I admit that I am totally addicted to craft sites at the moment:

* knitty.com - a free e-zine about knitting
*craftster.org - a great on-line forum for hip craft-minded people
* getcrafty.com - great feature stories and visit the glitter board!

ok. back to Japan. so as most people (in Japan) know Akebono, one of Japan's greatest and now retired sumo wrestlers has taken up K1 fighting - combines kung fu, tae kwon do, karate and kickboxing...(is Akebono going to kick??!!). K1 is really big in Japan and is regularly aired on tv - it is actually very watchable. So, Akebono's first fight is going to be on New Years Eve....I just hope he makes it to 2004.

If you wanna know more,read it here

Here is a picture of the mean beast in action:

Crazy Japan website

Check out some crazy stuff from Japan and other places around the world at the Geisha Asobi blog. Some people really do put a lot of effort into their blogs!!

Christmas ideas?? Internet shopping??

It really surprises me everyday how many people I know, meet or discover on the Internet that love pink!! It is quite funny as the colour is always associated with girly girls, sweet things and sugar??!! Barbie has given pink a bad name, except the Barbie clothes shop (for human women) in Venus Fort did have some really cute clothes. All of the girls I know that love pink really ROCK - they are interesting, feminine, independent, great girlfriends (for girls and boys) and have opinions about things that matter!

So, I was prompted to write this when I came across a site called I buy D.I.Y. It is run by a girl, Tracy who is 28 (like me) AND she lists pink as one of her 'loves'. Besides this wonderful fact, the site is hot - it is a collection of craft sites (mainly in the US but also a couple in Australia) that make and sell their own products.

Having some trouble deciding what to buy your friends and family for Christmas - well, take a look at one of these sites - it makes me want to pull out my credit card and start clicking. A lot of the stuff is way cheaper than in the shops and many of the stores do ship internationally (which is great news for us here in Japan!!!).

Enjoy!

Weekly Pink Fix Updated

So, I finally updated the 'Weekly Pink Fix' section and added our two contributions. The first is from the talented Kinki of 35 degrees fame - a hilarious blog about the JOYS of living in Japan. Our second contribution is from Eddie (who should definitely start writing his blog again!!!).

Check out their submissions here! Or click on the yet to be renamed pink square in the top right-hand corner of this page.