Bag Week: Wallet and Point Cards Focus

My beautiful fox wallet from Urban Outfitters is my loyal shopping companion. It contains the secrets to bargain shopping and special extras. Let me show you inside!

New Zealand, American and Japanese money are but some of the currencies I have acquired on my travels with this wallet.

1. Plaza Pass: Plaza is the best makeup/international food/cute goodies chain of stores in Japan (in my opinion). They recently started stocking Essie nail polishes so YOU KNOW I gotta whip my point card out for a new summer colour and a bag of whitakers chocolate.

2. Nitori: This store is Japan's answer to Ikea... although they do also have Ikea. It's affordable clean and simple, DIY furniture and my house is full of it. In fact, I'm sitting on some of it currently. If you're moving to/living in Japan you have to get yourself a card.

3. Chiku-ya Stamp Card: My favourite lunch stop for a reasonably priced but gourmet packed lunch (bento). It's usually packed but for good reason. They have everything from salads to fried foods to rice and noodles. Plus, they claim to be healthy. I choose to trust them.

4. Sephora VIB: I am a VIB and I am not ashamed that I achieved this in a week away in Hawaii. Maybe a little. But it definitely worth it because their numerous samples and freebies only available to VIBs is the perfect extra to a basket full of goodies. If you love makeup, you need a Sephora card. They deliver to Japan too!

5. Afternoon Tea: Afternoon Tea is not, in fact, a food store. It's a beautiful kitchen/house store with items ranging from mugs to furniture to clothing. They are pretty expensive so getting savings where you can is important. This is my favourite store in Japan, hands down. 

6. Fine Stamp Card: Fine is on of the local supermarkets. It's perfectly placed on my route home so even though it isn't the cheapest I always stop by after a long day of work for a sushi platter and some snacks. Because it isn't cheap I make good use of my stamp card with regular 500yen ($5NZD) savings.

7. Mercato Mabuchi: The best international food store in Hamamatsu. I love Mercato. It's right down the road from me and caters for wine and cheese lovers on the most part (aka. not me). My favourite stock is their local, hand-made gyoza (potstickers) and their wide range of different snacks, pasta and drinks from all over the world.

I hope I've put you in the shopping spirit... I certainly am. So I'm off to Mercato for some tacos! 

See you all later!

Bag Week: The Indestructible Bag

This beauty is also from Parfois (why oh why don't you send to Japan?!). Whenever I go out with this bag I always get compliments. Part of its beauty is that even though I got it on sale 2 years ago in Kraków it still looks shiny and new.

Most of my most beloved bags break zips and wear out long before that but this one is still perfect as the day I bought it. 

It's also deceptively big and carries a lot. When traveling Europe with it I had spare clothes in with my toiletries and all the essentials and it still zipped up.

Tomorrow will be my last bag of bag week that isn't actually a bag. Look forward to going through my wallet and all my point cards...

Bag Week: Sturdy Black Shoulder Bag

For casual, formal and business this bag is the master of all bags. I got it from H&M Japan last season and since then I have seen numerous bags in their lines since of different shapes and sizes all with one common factor - the material.

It's almost like plastic in toughness but has the look of hardened leather. This being H&M I'm sure it is some kind of plastic but it does do wonders. 

Both shoulder and hand bag this gorgeous thing has purple lining and plenty of pockets for all your secrets (or perhaps lost pens and lip balm).

I intend on taking this with me when handing out my CVs and filling out applications at a career fair I'm attending next week so I'm hoping for not just style...

but luck!

Bag Week: 'Let's Go Creeping' Canvas Bag

Everybody needs and eco-shopping bag. Something reusable that can carry a lot. Something that will not begin to tear when you purchase too many milk cartons and potatoes.

This is mine.

Two years ago (OH GOD, has it been THAT long?!) I went on a Europe/Dubai trip for two months with my good friend. You can watch the vlog series for that here. While we were on the trip we came up with the perverted fun game of running around and touching people when they weren't looking...

Wow...

With that description you can see why we called it 'Creeping'. It's really not that bad(?); check out us in Amsterdam for a demo.

When we got home my good friend Maxine Young (also featured in the above vlogs) made me this canvas bag. 

If you want to see more of Maxine's awesome designs check out her Behance or Maxine's Daily Dot.

Bag Week: My Work-Appropriate Backpack

Let's start Bag Week with my favourite and most practical bag. Initially I bought it because I needed a new work bag that was appropriately formal enough for business but also comfortable and easy to carry. I knew, as soon as I started my search for the perfect bag, that it would need to be a backpack.

I ride a bike five minutes or walk fifteen minutes to work, I carry heavy groceries back from the supermarket and I am often out on business trips.

This bag meets all those requirements without making me look like I'm still in school. 

It's a classic black bag with gold accents which keeps it tidy and presentable but it carries plenty of weight and can fit A4 folders and files for work.

It has plenty of pockets for keeping makeup to touch up after traveling or pens for when I need to jot down some notes. 

That front pocket is perfect for easy access to my vlogging camera too!

No more sore shoulder from favouring one over the other. However, you do still have the option to make it a shoulder bag by changing the straps around.

This particular bag is from Pageboy, a Japanese fashion company and although it is no longer for sale you can find many similar and equally as enjoyable bags, clothing and accessories there.

If you're looking for your next work bag, I highly recommend considering a backpack.

January 30th 2015, Friday