Shopaholic in Kansai

I enjoy shopping in Japan, mainly because the items are exquisite, unique and can't be found readily in Singapore. The zakka culture in Japan is strong and with many styles and designs available, I'm spoilt for choice and never fail to bring back a luggage full of zakka goods. Not to forget cakes and snacks as the Japs are also well-known for being creative when it comes to bake goodies.

Like to share some of the items brought back from the Kansai vacation.

DoubleDay is a zakka shop selling furniture, furnishings, kitchenware, stationery and general lifestyle goods.
Chanced upon this shop in the vicinity of Kiyomizu-dera. If we hadn't took that particular route out of Kiyomizu-dera, we would never have discover this shop. Lots of accessories, clocks made from colourful glass beads.

Zakka shop selling all sorts of stationery, tote bags, kids' stuff.
Renown cosmetics brand in Japan. I love the lip balm with yuzu smell, as I like yuzu very much.
Zakka chain with online shopping, sells everything from kitchenware to crockery, cutlery, accessories, clothing, stationery etc. A must visit for me.
Yuzu honey - my favourite! First discovered this honey brand during my vacation to Nikko in Dec 06. For this trip, I search its website for branches and was delighted to find a few stores in the Kansai region. Needless to say, I must bring back a few bottles of my favourite yuzu honey which can't be found elsewhere in the world Besides yuzu honey, there are other flavours like grape, maple, lemon as well as the usual flower honey.
Dolls, creatures, keychains, pouches etc made by Chirimen crepe. Soft wrinkles are a unique characteristic of Chirimen crepe. The wrinkles are created by alternating two types of silk threads, twisted in different directions, by turns in the weft. The woven cloth is at first flat but the wrinkles suddenly emerge after rinsing dirt out of yarn. It is an elaborate technique that was created in the late 16th century and passed down for generations.



Now looking at the food souvenirs - meibutsu 名物 (famous regional products).
Baked Yatsuhashi 八ツ橋 - made from rice flour, sugar and cinnamon.

Raw Yatsuhashi 八ツ橋 (also known as Hijiri) - has a soft texture and is often eaten wrapped around red bean paste or other flavours.Made from wheat flour, carbonated water and tasted of sugar and salt.
Assortment of financiers, madelaines, pound cakes and tea.

Specialty food items of Osaka are as colourful as Osaka, and often come in extra large sizes.


Lastly, our prized catches from the "UFO" catchers. These were our loot over the 11 days from Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. Impressive wasn't it? Some of these didn't come cheap as we attempted several times (and spent a sum) before finally getting them. It was the trial and errors and jubilation of getting the prizes that kept us going. Yep, we were a little obsessed but we noticed many Japs also did the same, some of whom looked even professional!