Mt Fuji Climb

Sandwiches! I climbed Mt Fuji! And here is my certificate to prove it.
I can't say it was exactly 'easy'... But it was certainly amazing.








I took off on Saturday morning armed with my oxygen can, Japanese map and strange jelly sports 'drink' and up the mountain I headed.


Oh my! The Japanese have the best outfits - the mountain was dotted with bright colourful specks of flammable tracksuits!





No one really tells you, but it's actually a teeny bit tough trekking up in the freezing cold. It also rained on my way up and silly sandwich didn't pack a rain coat. It wasn't long before I started spotting climbers who were either breathing out of oxygen tanks or feeling poorly.







This poor lady threw up a moment after I took this photo :( poor petal!



After four hours of climbing, it's time to rest over night. And the accommodation half way up isn't exactly 'luxury'! ha ha! I have never ever slept in something quite like this. A giant communal bed with pillows the size of laptops, and one giant sleeping bad cover. The beds were triple stacked too so it was, well, let's use the word 'cosy' shall we? ;) For your own comfort, I'll leave out the 'bio' style toilet information, and get on with the trek!






So after a few hours sleep in said communal style beds, it was now time (4am) to rise and shine to continue the trek up to the top of the mountain. Everything that you have been through is worth it for the very moment of seeing the sunrise above the clouds from Mt Fuji! It was AMAZING!





There is nothing quite like being 3700m high and viewing the sunrise!







The other climbers LOVED it too, and in true Japanese style, a million photos were taken by all! The sound was beautiful too, people 'oooooooo'-ing each time the sun peeked out through a cloud. It was a little foggy unfortunately, so probably not the clearest of views :(









After reaching the top, I bought a can of hot green tea to drink with my salmon breakfast bento. It's not everyday that you get to eat breakfast at 3700m high on Mt Fuji!

If you ever have the chance, climbing Mt Fuji is an amazing thing to do. It's so rewarding! The mountain huts are open only two months a year during July and August. There is some more information here. Ah, well now it's back to hot Tokyo and getting some work done :(

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Love Love
Hello Sando
xoxo

Banana Dada Toilet Typography

Funny post title isn't it but I have too much to tell you. Starting with what a silly Sandwich I am! I can't stop buying design books from Shinjuku's Kinokuniya. But look at this beautiful typography book I bought yesterday! It's meant for embroidery I guess, but I think the letters would look so adorable hand drawn too no? I've been a bit type obsessed lately (more than usual) because time has come where I can no longer exist in Tokyo without a meishi! It's been a great excuse to buy design books and some new fonts for 'inspiration'.


Yesterday, while in Shinjuku, I had lunch with the super talented and lovely Jordon. One of the best things about moving to a new city is meeting lovely new friends don't you think? Jordon is a radio producer, band extraordinaire, runs no less than three websites, and is an all round cheery, creative and charming person. If you don't believe me, just take a look at his live performance on a Tokyo train.



Adorable isn't it?! You'll be singing 'banana' for at least a week after watching this. Trust me! ;)

Jordon took me to Dada Cafe which is a sweet little cafe in yoyogi set inside an old Japanese house. It reminds me of two of my favourite cafes here in Tokyo...Aoya in Nakameguro and Mois cafe in Shimokitazawa. If you are around Shinjuku area and need a break from shopping, it's a nice cosy little hideaway.

Jordon's band 'Baron and Jordon' are playing here this Friday night. If you are in town, make sure to pop in and say hello! Or if you are not in Tokyo, you can buy their first CD, Swingset, online here.



P.S. Oh My! I fell in love with Naoko Ogigami's new film 'toilet' when I saw the trailer for it at the cinema in Shibuya on the weekend. And just a day or so ago Make it Easy posted about another Naoko Ogigami film, Megane. And you might have also seen Hiki's post about Kamome Shokudo which also looks beautiful. I can't wait to watch these films.



There are just too many beautiful things in Japan! I still can't stop smiling that I live here. One last thing...Gracie tells me this interactive exhibition is one not to miss if you are in Tokyo.

Love Love
Hello Sando
xxx

Hanna and Hana Exhibition

Yesterday Hiki-chan and I saw the lovely 'Making a home' exhibition by Hanna and Hana at Biotape in Gakugeidaigaku. It was such a beautiful exhibition with finely delicate works painted with gouache in the most adorable colours. The two Han(n)a's made a series of complimenting works on the same subject on the same size paper. You can see an example of what I mean in this last picture above where the girls have taken the subject matter of a bird and each drawn it in their own original way. It's worth clicking on these girls websites for a peek at their other beautiful work.

The exhibition has left me inspired to get to work drawing and recording my daily life in Tokyo inside these new notebooks I bought from Itoya last week. Aren't they pretty notebooks!? I bought all of these for under ¥2000! P.S. If you love Japanese stationery, you'll love Justine's round up of Tokyo stationery shops.



Oh did I tell you I've joined the local gym here and started to do aerobics lessons (in Japanese!). Wow it's really like the water aerobics scene from lost in translation! I can't really understand much at all!

Yonkai!
Hidari!
Aruku!

Occasionally however, the instructor will call out something like 'stepu tachi' which is something like a 'step touch / tap'! And at one stage she glanced over to me when I was doing my mambo and called out 'Suteki!' so I think i must not be doing too bad! I'm happy to be taking aerobics classes in Japanese! It kind of kills two birds with the one stone, I can get fit and learn Japanese at the same time!

Also, there is a little interview about me over here at Daily Imprint *blush*. Special thanks to Real Living Magazine's Natalie for the sweet as pie words!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xxx

Zipper Magazine

I am most probably too old to be buying this magazine, but I just can't resist buying Zipper each month! I enjoy the layout. Something about the mix of thousands of fonts and patterns on each page and the range of super cute graphic devices. Wouldn't it be fun to layout out pages like this all day! Dear Zipper Editorial team, if you would like a gaijin Deputy Art Director, pick me!

Love Love
Hello Sando
xxx

Japanese Packaging

It's always fun going to a new country and enjoying the packaging of everyday basic items. They always look so fresh and appealing!

Above are a few Hello Sandwich everyday essentials. Okay, I'll be honest - I usually use another margarine brand but I had to try out this one because I fell in love with the typeface and packaging. Hope it's nice!

Hello Sandwich Tokyo Guide in Inside Out Magazine

Weeee! The lovely people over at Inside Out magazine were kind enough to include a little Hello Sandwich Tokyo Guide mention in their latest issue on sale today in Australia.



Shucks - thank you lovelies!




I haven't received my copy of the issue yet but I had a sneak peek at these gorgeous images of Beci Orpin's home which is also in the new issue! I recently met the gorgeous Beci in Tokyo for a lovely iced coffee at Mois cafe.





I can't wait to see what else is in the issue when it arrives on my mini-me Tokyo doorstep! And isn't it so exciting that Richard Waller (former VOGUE Living Deputy Editor) is now Inside Out Magazine's editor!

Thank you so much Inside Outies! Love you all lots xxx

Zine's Mate Tokyo Art Book Fair Opening Night

The Tokyo Art Book Fair Opening Party was tonight and oh-my-lady-gaga it was fun! The standard of zines was extremely high, everyone looked like they had just stepped out of Fruits, the venue (3331 Arts Chiyoda) was brilliant (complete with it's own super cute cafe and garden lawn), and the booth set up was so so uber slick (think fancy trestle tables, A-frame hanging racks and even a spiral knee high magazine display maze)! Oh boy the design in this country is GOOD!

I'll be at my booth until the fair closes on Sunday so I hope you can come along, say hello and see my new Tokyo Scrap Book Zine. Each zine is handmade and unique and I'll be adding them to Hello Sandwich Online Shop soon.



I had my booth alongside Mogu Takahashi and Anna Gleeson. It was like the 'Quality Row' at Sydney's MCA zine fair! Here is kawaii Mogu drawing cute characters on her lemon drink!



This visitor had the cutest nail polish idea ever!

xxx