Month: January 2015

The Sound of 50s

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When you first hear the name of coffee shop like LC-1A, it does not stuck to your memory straight away. The mystical letters and numbers do not give you a clue what it is all about. You make a guess, such as LC-1A might stand for ‘Love Coffee – First Aspiration’ but actually you have no clue. It is much more simple than that and this complicated name is a coffee master’s big life passion – vintage speakers.

Home, Atelier, Cafe ー a space for inspiration

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“It is rather the building fits our lifestyle than we fit the building.” – with this kind of approach Takeuchi family designed a space where they can live every day with happiness and inspiration. The aesthetic world of two people are not shut between white walls. They are a big part of community through a cup of morning coffee and a love for art. The space is a combination of studio, cafe, living space and even museum, which they recall as ‘Museum of Art’.

The simplicity of MUJI

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The most famous Japanese ‘No Brand Quality Goods’ company, MUJI, cooperating with Japanese architects created a spacious design house in Tokyo. The house itself looks like a small and narrow building from the outside, but thanks to to clever solutions applied by MUJI, the design fascinates with its light and airy space.

Most Unique Starbucks in Japan

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Even if most of us quietly blame Starbucks for being too capitalistic mass production and materialising the precious coffee culture, that is where we go first if quick refresh caffeine needed. In cities like London a great number of independent coffee shops is rapidly growing and Londoners will rather choose their cup of joe in there. However, Starbucks does not seem even a little bit less crowded no matter where it is located. In Japan the image of Starbucks has still not been conquered by local coffee shops. With its great popularity, it is a place of relax, study, meeting and one of those rear places for free Wi-Fi around Japan. Sometimes Starbucks’ ‘fast coffee’ space with just stools and tables transforms into artistic design space. Here is the list of 3 stores in Japan that particularly stand out of the crowd with their uniqueness.

Curiosity’s Day Planner: London

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London is praised as the greatest city in the world. Stop here. Been there, done that, boring. If you are a keen world traveller, you probably think of London as a very ‘normal’ city with too many tourists and too many queues. However, London is so much more than that. Big Ben or Tower Bridge are not the things that make London special. Unfortunately, there is no single answer why this city is worth living/visiting, but The Curiosity has a possible solution of spending a great day in London.

Minimalism through the eyes of TATO

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One of the favourites of simple, modern and esthetic design, Tato (タト), is a fine example of modern interior decorating. Japanese based architecture office currently have had projects only domestically but there is a huge potential for international expansion as Tato designs are being introduced in English publications. The main architect, Yo Shimada, said: “I keep trying to create freedom in rooms as if all of [the furniture] is just randomly placed and used by chance”. His interior design is a combination of minimalism, wabi-sabi and a touch of Scandinavian design. White clean surroundings, spacious rooms and a lot of bright wood – that is the combination that prevails in all Tato projects.

Where Flowers Go Wild

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It is hard to find anyone who do not adore fresh flowers. And it is even harder to find a human-being who will resist a great cup of coffee or tea. But let me tell you what is the most difficult – to find a good coffee shop in West. But here it is, Wildflower Cafe, which popped up in my eyes and painted my whole day in vivid purple.

A bouquet of sunshine

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Where to start and where to finish. Let me begin by saying that PIPIPI is the most adorable and personal cafe I have ever been to. Japanese are well known for their madness for cute things, also known as kawaii culture. However, when you take a train from Tokyo towards South, the understanding of ‘cute’ is absolutely different. Colourful clothes, hand-made decorations, vintage teaspoons, flowers and anything basically related to beach – those are some of the things that are highly appreciated and referred as cute in Shonan.

SURFING WAVES AND COFFEE

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Caffeine addicted Tokyoites make their way towards Southern Beach in order to fuel themselves with positive energy and great coffee. Surfers and locals beloved coffee shops’ popularity is growing on a national scale with those who are craving for summer vibes. Let me take you to surfing and beach inspired hidden coffee shop and gallery – YUYU atelier gallery café.

I don’t know coffee. Do you?

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Sunny day in Chigasaki. I was walking down the beachside, wandering in the narrow streets of this city and looking where I could have a cup of coffee. And suddenly very strange question appeared in front of my eyes – Do you know coffee? The owner of that shop and coffee-pro Nii answers this question instead of me “I don’t know coffee” (it’s the name of this coffee shop). And only after having his made coffee, you realize “Maybe I don’t know coffee, but whatever it is, give me one more cup”.

Selected. Winter edition.

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Winter is warmer than we expected but there is always a room for some clothes to snuggle ourselves into. I am excluding all those amazing Christmas sweaters and stick to clothes that can be adjusted to any outfit (classic never dies, isn’t it?). A few my favorites from high street shops this season. ALLSAINTS WOMEN’S LOOKBOOK // OCTOBER 2014 All coats £298 STRADIVARIUS ‘IT’S WINTER’ CATALOGUE// 2014 ZARA WOMEN’S LOOKBOOK // NOVEMBER, 2014 ZARA KNIT// Warning: This is not fashion blogging! (So fashionistas, no need to judge my choices).

Caffeinated generation goes green – Suzunoki Café

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This one I should say is a smart layout coffee shop. In front of big cafe’s windows small trees are being grown mainly for two reasons: first, as exterior detail and second, as a hideaway for customers. While you are having your coffee, reading a book or just relaxing, you are invisible to others outside as they cannot see you. Despite that, you can see every person walking by. So, basically you can observe people closely without being called weirdo.

LAMACoffee / LAMASpace （ラマ珈琲）

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Shonan has to offer the great variety of coffee beans as well as art. It is becoming more common to combine coffee shops with art space. LAMACoffee is a good example of it. Owner seems to be an extra creative guy as his outfit stands out of the crowd. The interior of this place is also unusual. The coffee shop is divided into 3 spaces: front, back and the second floor (room used for exhibitions). In order to choose your seat to have a cuppa, ask yourself how do you feel like.