Life stuff, one thing I bought during the sales + a very tiny gift-away
And what I missed out on, plus everything I got at the Tokyo Art Book Fair
A more casual, life-centric newsletter this week. Plenty of images in this one; please read in the app or browser because it will probably cut off in your email. A couple of brands mentioned at the end, which will be for paid members only, no affiliate links below. Please support if you can.
I have been craving biryani. I think it’s because most Indian restaurants in Tokyo cater to the Japanese palate; the curries are much sweeter, and they use short-grain rice. So having the chance to eat spice-dense, basmati-based biryani feels special.
Last Saturday, I wanted to go to Nishi-Kasai, a neighbourhood in Tokyo that has a lot of Indian restaurants. But my partner convinced me to go to a much closer restaurant that combined South Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine. Most importantly, they had biryani. Then I got biryani takeout again throughout the week. Then this Saturday, after a dentist appointment, I went to another South Indian restaurant, and one guess what I ordered? Now that I’ve typed this out, I want biryani again…
I went to the Tokyo Art Book Fair. It’s a mix of independently made, small-scale, and community-driven zines with more expensive and flashy-looking art books. I tend to skip the art books just because all I’d end up buying is one book, instead of being able to support and experience lots of different artists’ work. There was a lot of pressure to buy quickly because it was so intensely crowded, and you couldn’t do several laps. So you either had to buy then and there or miss out.
This is what I got:
Two stunning risoprints. Love the colours in both (risography ink colours tend to always be beautiful, though).
Lots of postcards, including another postcard to add to my Asian Food Design collection (the one with all the fluro food art, I have 3 different designs from last year)
Cat zines and stickers from Aiko Berry, a Taiwanese artist living in Japan.
PAPER. This is so important for my own art practice. You might recognise the familiar pink hues; I use this coloured paper set a lot when I draw, and I first bought it last year at the same fair. There was also this amazing deal of ‘kamihoudai’ (roughly translates into a paper buffet) where I was given a folder, and I could put as much as I wanted in there. I actually started to feel guilty at how much I was taking, and the staff member stuffed even more in there!
A darning and mending guide that had visuals on how to darn, which is something I want to learn (it’s on the list).
A purchase that I’m unsure about. I bought these Mr Bomer comics for pure nostalgia value. I watched the Simpsons at 6pm almost every day growing up and those early episodes are ingrained in my mind. But the very first comic had a fat shaming joke and I felt instant regret.
A purchase I definitely don’t regret. A cute funny little zine on how to deal with supernatural encounters and a postcard from the same artist, Lisha Jiang.
Two short and sweet zines about small things that bring happiness and that trying even when going slow is enough.
How did I do?
Ok, the very tiny gift-away. Look, dogs are cute, but there is a reason my algorithm shows me 90% cat reels. When I bought zines at Aiko Berry’s stand, she had these cute mini-zine packs where you get a cat one and a dog one. And when I asked her if she had them with only cats, she proceeded to try and convince me that dogs were really cute and I got a pack. And although I don’t disagree, I just think that there’s someone out there that would get more pleasure in owning and reading the dog-themed mini zine. So if you are a dog fan, just comment below literally anything that signals you want it before December 31st, 11:59 pm JST.
Examples include:
I can’t believe you hate dogs; let me have it.
I want that zine.
I also prefer cats, but I want it.
If there’s more than one comment, I’ll pop everyone into a random number generator and then pull out the number and reach out via DM in Jan. This is not a creativity contest; any kind of comment that signals you want the zine is OK. No global restrictions as long as I can send a letter to you from Japan.
I tried to take some videos to show what I bought for the Art Book Fair. I know a lot of people want me to do more video or voice note content.
I know some might disagree, but it’s a skill to master video content. To feel natural and confident in front of the camera. To edit (not filters but to trim etc), but also to know how to film and record to make editing easier. To know where the best lighting is. I spent a couple of hours recording in terrible lighting, occasionally stumbling over my words.
The end result is very circa 00s beauty guru era before the big lights, and everyone was just recording in their bedrooms, sitting on the floor, but worse? I do take peoples’ suggestions to heart, and maybe more video content will happen in the future, but it’s something I’d have to put more time and energy into alongside writing this Substack (which I already put substantial time and energy into).
Stills from one of the videos I recorded
I met an old high school friend from Australia who came by on a family trip. It reminded me of a post I wrote in the early days of my Substack about old body anxieties. At my second wedding in Australia (I had a registry wedding in the UK), I was already fat. So this particular friend had seen me in this larger body, and I was less anxious about unexpected body-focused comments and how to navigate them. However, I felt like I was also in a better headspace all around.
Part of it was seeing body diversity in the super sento. Part of it was my thrifted red turtleneck that has been giving me so much fashion confidence. Part of it was feeling more embodied because I went to the local gym recently. And no, I don’t mean that I miraculously got thin after a workout, but movement separated from diet culture or pursuing weight loss helps me feel like I exist within my body. I can feel my heart pounding, I can hear my breath, I can feel my muscles, and I can feel my flesh jiggling. It also helps that, despite being an all-around crappier gym in terms of space and equipment than my previous one, it is often completely empty on work nights, which gives me the safety to feel that embodiment outside of the public gaze.I finally went to Mt. Takao, a popular day trip destination outside of Tokyo with plenty of hiking trails. I have been planning to go there in autumn for three years, and it never panned out. So this year I put it in my diary again and noticed how it kept shifting to the following week until I finally made plans to go with a friend rather than solo. We took a chairlift up to mid-summit. I have no photos from this part because there was no safety bar, and I didn’t want to drop my phone. From there we hiked the rest.
Every single article I came across kept saying it was a relatively easy hike, but there were still plenty of stairs and steep slopes, and it wasn’t that easy in my opinion. Going with a supportive friend really helped me respect my pace, and I took breaks to catch my breath.
Outfit-wise, I did have a mishap. I had just started my period and planned to layer cotton leggings underneath a pair of black and white pants with my red turtleneck. I knew this would look amazing. Then, just as I went to put on my pants, the cord had become stuck inside, and I couldn’t remember how to get it out with a safety pin. And I was running a few minutes late and didn’t want to miss my train, so I had to improvise and wore a skirt and yellow tights instead.
I’m going to a music festival for the first time in forever (I think it’s actually the first time in my 30s?!), and so I’m pretty sure I’ll just replicate the outfit I had in mind for that.Speaking of getting the cord out, this is the safety pin method that has helped in the past.
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