While I'm in Japan...

Only one more sleep (and a very short one at this rate) before I leave for Japan!

While I'm away I'll try to do regular photo updates on my Facebook page.

On behalf of a dear friend that I know misses them, I'll have a bath or two like this, but I'll probably skip the electric bath this time.

I'll catch up with this old friend and this lovely man as well as a number of other good friends over there.

I'll certainly be visiting lots of my favourite craft shops for fabric, paper and vintage kimonos.

In Kyoto, I'll have a little more free time and would like to try my hand at a few traditional crafts.  There are so many to choose from!  I'm considering maybe one at the Kyoto Handicraft Centre, or over here both the yuzen and furoshiki wrapping workshops look fun, and it's been years since I last visited the Nishijin Textile Centre.  I'd also love to try some shibori dyeing if I can.

I'll be staying in normal hotels, not ones like this or this.

I'm planning to buy some books and really hope there are some more recent issues of this one.

This will be my first time eating gluten free in Japan and with multiple food allergies, will be a bit of a challenge.  This sweet friend was kind enough to give me a lot of advice from her own experience.  I'll also be carrying one of these around with me or you can get a free version over here.  I chose to buy the first one as it specifies soy sauce, which is a very common ingredient in Japanese cooking.

So, the next time you hear from me, it will be from the land of sushi, sumo and kimonos.