JVlog #2: Doggy Prams & Sekichu Home Center

Good Day Everyone,

On the weekend we went to a home center store called Sekichu. If you're living in England then imagine a B&Q (DIY) store combined with a supermarket... that is Sekichu and we decided to take you along with us :o). You can literally find anything and everything in this store from DIY tools, makeup and toiletries, food, furniture, bicycles, electrical appliances and even doggy prams... That's right doggy prams, as well as puppies and kittens. You can actually buy pets at this store plus there is a pet parlour. Doggy prams are everywhere here. People in Japan seem to have a real passion for little dogs. Not a day goes by when we don't see a doggy pram and a well groomed and dressed puppy. This is Japan after all and everyone, including pets dress well ;o) There are stores in shopping malls dedicated to pets, selling prams, toys, clothes, and accessories as well as the pets themselves.

Lovely Japanese gentleman out with his dogs in their doggy pram

Most stores also have a pet parlour where you can watch pets having their hair and nails cut. We've noticed that it's mainly the older Japanese that tend to have these pets. Perhaps for the companionship and/or routine, as we often see them out in the evenings walking their little dogs. The Japanese gentleman in the photo above was kind enough to allow me to take a photo of him with his dogs in the pram :o)

Doggy Prams

Doggy clothes and accessories

We also show you a few other interesting things in the video. For example, in Japan people do not sign official documents with their signature.  Instead everyone has a 'seal' which is a stamp of their name that they carry around with them. At places such as banks and the post office you will be asked for your seal, where in England we'd be asked for our signature.

One of the things hubby and I miss most about home (England) is having are own garden and being able to grow our own fruit and vegetables. So when I came across a Japanese store selling 'grow your own tomatoes in a tin'  thing, there was no way I was going to pass it up, especially as tomatoes are my hubby's favourite food...EVER!

Tomato seeds planted

Some of the tomato plants at 3 months  

Inside the tin was a small bag of soil with some seeds. Whilst we couldn't read the Japanese instructions leaflet, it was safe to assume that the soil goes in the tin and the seeds into the soil. We planted the seeds in October and were surprised by the large number of shoots that came through. We've since bought a larger container and re-potted some of the shoots. However, these re-potted shoots don't seem to be doing as well as the ones in the original tin. So on the weekend, we headed out to see if we could get some sort of tomato food for the plants, and that was the reason for our visit to Sekichu.

I hope you enjoyed this second Japan vlog. I think our voices were a bit more normal in this video ;o) If you have any comments or questions, or if there is a particular aspect of our life in Japan that you would like us to vlog, just leave it in the comments section below and I'll see what we can do :o)

Garden Joy

 Good Day Everyone,

How a-mazing has the weather been lately in England?! I cannot remember the last time we had such a great summer, although I’m sure we (well not me as I’m now back in sunny Singapore but you get what I mean) will pay the price with an  equally bad winter, but for now lets enjoy and reminisce about how fantastically sunny and hot August was :o)

When I was younger I was never an out doorsy person or even a garden person. The bugs and creepy crawlies were enough of a deterrent to keep me tucked away safely indoors. I never had pets as a child as I struggle with anything that moves and I can only just about cope with fellow human beings ;o) I’m not quite sure what it is that scares me of other living / moving things but I just don’t like the idea of something pouncing / crawling on me when I least expect it. I think it might be a combination of my nervous disposition and over active imagination which results in me having a tendency to freak myself out!!!


However, over the last few years I’ve experienced, first hand, the satisfaction and pleasure gained from growing and then hand picking your own produce. In fact, one of the first gifts my hubby (then boyfriend) gave me was a beautiful plant pot with coriander and rocket growing in it. My mum has always grown some sort of herbs and vegetables for as long as I can remember, as well as her own flowers. When my hubby and I renovated our last house we had a small garden in which we grew our own potatoes, tomatoes, peas and strawberries as well as an array of herbs. Oh, the joy of picking tomatoes fresh of the vine and basil leaves straight from our garden to create our own salad was incredibly immense – I loved it!!! 

Spinach and garlic

Fresh coriander

A turnip poking through the soil

Being back home in England last week allowed me to spend some precious time with my mum in her garden. She’s been growing her own organic spinach, garlic, potatoes, turnips, rocket  and coriander in a makeshift vegetable patch. It was amazing to prepare fresh salads with spinach, rocket and coriander freshly picked from the garden :o)

My parents also planted several fruit trees this year and the cherry tree even managed a few cherries :o) Around one of the edges of my parent’s garden there are some wild blackberry bushes where local children come to pick their own blackberries. Whilst very sour, the blackberries make a great fruit crumble mixed with some green apples and honey.



My parent’s garden also has a few beautiful rose plants including a peach and red rose. The roses are amazingly fragrant and my mum tends to keep a vase of them in the living room as well as her bedroom as natural potpourri. In addition to the roses, she has a beautiful purple hydrangea bush, as well a lavender bush - oh, I can just smell it now, it's so relaxing :o)

There is large old tree in my parent’s garden where birds often nest and my hubby actually bought some bird feeders from the garden centre we went to the week before (click here to read that post) that he hung from the tree for the birds. I only wish I was going to be home long enough to watch the birds feeding from the heart shaped feeder.

 

The garden is an absolute feast for the eyes and I loved spending time in it with my mum, taking in all the different colours, fragrances and marvelling in nature’s beauty. It really does have a very calming effect on one’s mind and kind of helps you to take a break from the hectic pace of modern life and appreciate the things in life that we so often dismiss and ignore so easily.

What do you most enjoy about your garden? Do you grown your own flowers or herbs, fruit or vegetables? Do you get the same pleasure of handpicking fresh produce from your own garden as we do?

Love Sheen xxx