Conversation Pieces

November 2008.
I’m standing in Tokyo
as a huge parade comes up
a street in Asakusa.

I can barely breathe with excitement.
(I am in Japan! I am in Japan!)

I stand at the back of a crowd and try to peer
over people’s heads to see the parade…

Someone glances round, smiles at me,
says something I don’t understand,
then gestures for me to move forward,
then another person does the same,
and another, and another…

Until I’m right at the front,
with people smiling at me,
nodding, being so lovely
that it almost distracts me
from taking pictures.

******

It’s now 2012. And I can barely breathe with
excitement… because we’re going back to
the land that invented washi tape!
And I can’t wait! Here’s why:

If you’ve ever seen Lost in Translation,
you’ll have an idea just how magical,
mysterious, zany, crazy and cute Tokyo is.
Except in real life, it’s even better.
It’s overwhelming but in a brilliant way.

There’s just so much colour everywhere in Japan…
from old shrine gates in Kyoto to paper
cranes in Hiroshima to this little girl in Tokyo.

Even the signs are cute…
yes, those are helpful raccoons
telling you not to get your hand stuck!

And the randomness… a calendar based on brushing your teeth?
Well, of course! Diet tights? Yup, you can get those too.
And an arcade game based on zombies… and eh typing?

As well as Tokyo, we spent time into Kyoto…
with its cute trains, Golden Pavilion, and the Geishas.
Wherever we went in Kyoto, I seemed to attract lots
of school children who wanted to take my picture…
We suspected this was because of my 2008
inclination to dress like a children’s TV presenter!
I have never been so excited to go back somewhere…
Honestly I’ve been causing myself near heart failure
while trying to plan this next trip.

My number 1 tip for Japan is to wear slip on shoes,
not Converses. I swear I spent 1/3 of our last trip,
lacing and unlacing my trainers.

Oh and this time, if I can, I’m drawing a fox wishing plaque
at Fushimi Inari (possibly the most magical place ever)
and buying a giga pudding. (It has the craziest video ever
and was everywhere we went in 2008!)

*******

Maybe once I’m back from the trip
I might do a proper guide?
If anyone has any recommendations
of places to go, I’d love them!
Or if you share my love of Japan,
do let me know! *Super excited!*

*******

{P.S.} Ok, not so much of a P.S.
as an extra bit of this blog post…

[...]

Yup, it’s me. How fricking cool is that?

When Mollie Makes asked if I’d like to do
a feature for them, I was like ‘hells’ and ‘yeah’…

Well, I actually said something way more polite
but that’s what I thinking in my head.

So it was set – I was doing a tour of my Edinburgh,
my favourite places and must go-tos.

Now some of you may already know that
I work as writer (a copywriter and freelance writer)
but this one was a biggie… as I love Mollie Makes
AND I’d be taking the pictures for it too.

Eeeek. (But in a good way.)

So me and my trusty SLR hit the streets,
invaded some shops and tried very hard
not to just buy things while I was at it!

(This is not actually me in Edinburgh.
This is me in New York, snapping in the Met
but it’s the only Zoë as photographer shot I have.
So imagine this but colder and with less hat!)

Check it out if you can, let me know
what you think… or if you ever need
any Edinburgh tips, well, I’m your gal!

*off to do a happy little dance now*

On Sunday, this cowgirl and her cowboy headed out West…

Well, sort of…

You see, there’s a little lane in Edinburgh
with an abandoned Wild West set.

Not too many people seem to know about it.
And despite having lived here for years now,
I only heard about it a couple of weeks ago.

On Sunday we decided we’d go and check it out
before doing a spot of charity shopping (more on that later).

{Check out how happy I am with my Wild West find!}

It’s tiny but rather brilliant… and we spent
the best part of an hour, snapping pics…

I adored all the signs… especially the one below.

There was no-one else about which made
it feel both creepy and rather exciting…

Then we decided to take some ‘cowboy’ shots of each other…

{I adore my ‘jail’ shot of the other half.}

Bang bang…

Turns out the other half is soooo much better at cowboy posing
but I’m guessing as a boy he’s had way more practice!

********

So how you all? Is there a secret cool thing near where you live?
Isn’t it strange how you can live somewhere for
so long and still find secret little places? Do share!

********

{Update:} I’ve had loads of people asking for the set’s location,
so I thought it would be easiest to put it here.

It’s off Springvalley Gardens, past the Morningside charity shops.
It looks like an unassuming driveway so keep your eyes peeled!

Do let me know if you go and visit it!

Back in September
I uttered those exact words
(without the asterisks).

We’d just discovered that the other half
had not one but two weeks less holiday
than we’d thought. So any idea of a big
long honeymoon/sunnymoon/whatever
was totally fubarred.

Then I started thinking… where can you go
for a week that will be blooming brilliant?

Simple. New York City.

So we went. We ate, walked, laughed.
We got a little sunburnt. We got blisters.
We had what we called ‘the best holiday ever’.

Here’s part 1 of my favourite snaps.
They make me want to go back
there right now. Oh f*** it.

View from the top of The Rock.
(Much shorter queues and a better
view than going up the Empire State.)

Loved the design of this coffee place.
Can’t imagine it would be good with a hangover though!

One thing I remembered from previous NYC visits
was how good the thrift/junk is… I’d been stalking
Brooklyn Flea on twitter before going. And then Thriftola
said it was a must-visit so it would have been rude not to!

Owl cookie jars, vintage suitcases, retro pots…
all sitting on a wooden door table!

The vintage crates which I was seriously considering
trying to put in my carry-on luggage to take home!

The oh so covetable blue Mason jars…
for only a couple of dollars each. Sob.

Vintage milk bottles… I had to buy something
so I bought one of these. Oh yes, I went all the
way to NYC and bought a milk bottle!

He he… didn’t see any puppies though.

So many letterpress blocks…
so little room in my suitcase.

Was quite taken with this old movie poster…
even though I plan on living until
I’m rather old thank you. 

The best veggie hot dog ever… Honestly.
This one had spicy ketchup, jalapeno mustard
and crushed salt and pepper crisps on it!
We came back for seconds later in the day.

A little hipper than the usual ‘I <3 NY’.
Or a little more hipster?

More graffiti… including a slightly scary fox.
I also so loved these big frogs!

One mighty strange thing about this trip
was that I drank coffee… every day.
Which is more coffee than I’ve ever
drunk in my entire life. Ever.
But how could I not when the logo
is so darn funny?!

I love NYC. Word.

Next time… a bit more of Manhattan.
Plus maybe some Diana shots if they come out!

Happy Weekend everyone xx

*****

First image by junkskull

So this weekend past I was in London.

I was down to see my sister’s play,
do some work and have belated birthday fun.

Here’s this weekend in pictures,
including the most amazing
vegan Ferrero Rocher cupcake.

Yup, with this weekend,
London was really spoiling us!

My belated birthday cupcake from my sis…
bought from the amazing Ms Cupcakes.
(I found this recipe for non Vegan ones
if anyone fancies making me them too!)
 The Turkish Delight cupcake
which was rather delightful too!
A birthday trip to Drink Shop Do for afternoon tea. (This was
after a session of hot yoga so cake was more than deserved!)
We had proper afternoon tea for the girls…
and man’s afternoon tea for the boys:
beer, pies, scotch eggs and pickled onions!

I also slightly fell in love with this camera illustration
by faiiint… I want this camera in real life!

And how I managed to leave without purchasing
this yellow teapot is a bit of a mystery.
I did buy myself a badge though I’m not a total martyr!
We stayed at this amazing little hotel,
very exclusive, not very well-known
filled with old wartime prints…
Otherwise known as my sis’s new flat!
This was my favourite print and it seemed to go
perfectly with one of my birthday presents…
my fake fur fox stole!
(Excuse the pjs, I opened this pressie at 1am)
I wore my stole all Saturday…
It was so cosy – and it did seem to make people smile!

On Sunday, we went to Bread Etcetera for breakfast.
They have little toasters on each table
for you to make your own toast. Yum!

Then we popped into a super cute book shop
and went to see the John Martin exhibit
at Tate Britain which ended with a light and sound show!
Brilliant, bombastic and lightening bolt-tastic!

It was A for Awesome… ok this isn’t John Martin’s work
but Paul Thurlby‘s illustrated alphabet (which I saw in the shop)
but it’s just gorgeous… especially the E!

And then it was home to Home Sweet Home.
(Thankfully not Home Sweet Homicide!)

Of course after a weekend like that,
I could do with another weekend now.
And I may have to lay off the cake for a while!
Happy Monday everyone xx

*******

P.S. If you were the lovely girl who said hello at Drink Shop Do,
thank you for your kind words and sorry if I was a little bashful!

I’m not from Edinburgh.
As a city it wasn’t my first love.
In fact, Glasgow stole my heart first,
then I cheated on it with Copenhagen.

But by god, I have learned to love you Edinburgh,
you crazy cool be-castled city.*

(Spot the deliberate mistake in this pic!)

And every August, I fall a little more in love
as the Festival takes over and forces me**
into the streets to go and explore, laugh,
think, meet, and generally not sit on my sofa.

This year was no different.
Except I went to more shows than ever before.
And also to 3 weddings and a 90th birthday too.

Here’s a few snaps that sort of sum up
a little of my Edinburgh in August…

Hanging out in the Mirazozo Tent…
and playing my new iphone!

The Speigeltent… one of my favourite venues.

Animals took over my local gardens… 

The re-opening of the Museum…

And finishing off the Festival
with a gig at the castle itself…
Oh yeah and some silly snaps from the 3 weddings…

Thank you Edinburgh, it was great.

Now I need a lie-down…
and maybe a cat nap too!

Happy Friday everyone xx

****

So what about you? Do you love where
you live? Or do you dream of living
somewhere else?

****

* Yes, be-castled is not a word.
** Forces me without the need
for a cattle-prod or other threat!

I love London. I really do.
It’s the place I escape to
for a whirlwind weekend.
It’s where I got engaged.
It’s where friends and
my little sis live.

Watching this week unfold has been
so desperately sad. And so sad
that things can get this desperate.

But rather than add to the debate,
(though there is a very good article here),
I thought I’d do a sort of ode to London.

About my two recent London trips.
One pre-wedding. One post-wedding.

*******

Trip no.1…

…all the family fun you can have with free signs.

 You know how I sort of have a thing for foxes?

This is me doing my impersonation of the Southbank fox.

And yes… being a fox again!

(They have whiskers right?)

 My super, super gorgeous little sis.

The next day was her graduation
from acting school Italia Conti.

Me busking… with my harmonica necklace.

Where I would live in London if I could…

Ok, not really. But I do have my eye on
a ‘if I ever win the lotto’ flat down there!

*****

Trip No.2

Yup, he’s still there… had to check!

Then off to see my little sis’s play…

Then on to see a friend’s dad’s play…
this is where we got lost.

Which is fine because getting lost is (eventually) followed by ice-cream…

Bubblegum ice-cream!
(Tablet ice-cream feels healthy now.)

And after ice-cream, you must sit down…
at a fake beach of course.

The best of getting lost? Finding old signs…

Love this tea and coffee sign.

But this one won me over completely…

I’ve actually started designing a print based on it.
That’s just how much I love it.

Also seems somewhat relevant to right now, doesn’t it?

*****

Hope you all have safe, happy, relaxing weekends.

I’m off to a 90th birthday party.

Yup, 90! How amazing is that?

The second week of our mini-moon…

Sun-soaked days. Me with my cameras. Him with freckles on his nose.

Going nowhere fast… just wandering, wondering, pondering.

Watching the waves rise and fall…

Rolled up jeans and bare feet, shoes dangling from our fingers…

Playing the 2p falls without a care in the world.

Seeing the sun set on the sparkling sea…

Strange how much brighter everything seems.

*****

After leaving the Isle of Wight, we went to Brighton…

And there I did some more snapping with my Diana.
I’m still getting to grips with my little plastic wonder
but I have to say I’m rather pleased with these shots…

The next one is my favourite I think and
my first attempt at double exposure…

Ok, maybe this is my favourite shot…
my now husband silhouetted against the sun.

I picked up these Diana shots on Friday
and if you could wish yourself back somewhere
we’d have been there in the blink of an eye.

Think the time has come to start
planning our actual honeymoon.

*****