wonderful gift from Japan

Thank you for my dear friend in Japan, this is the set of beautiful coasters made of Japanese handmade paper with exquisite design. So beautiful. I am using them to put dried food such as candies and chocolate.

Borneo 1834

This is the beautiful limited edition bottle of Serge Lutens' perfume called Borneo 1834. I got the regular 50ml glass bottle. The scent is very complex, definitely reminds me of Indonesia.

Kiwano

This is the Horned Cucumber from Africa. It tastes like cucumber. So you can have it as a veggie or a fruit.
I scooped out the pulp, blended it with Vietnamese orange juice, then add melon jello with it to make a dessert.
Here is the fruits and my botanical painting of Kiwano.

Final Painting from Indonesia Trip

I just finished this painting started in Cibodas in west java.
The 3 different species of Ginger plants are all very beautiful.
A lot of the ginger plants are edible too.

reading new novel

I am reading Mori Mari's translated novel called Sweet Room.

new fragrance

Borneo 1834 by Serge Lutens
It is a very dark and strong fragrance. Smell like an ancient temple for me. Patchouli, camphor and cacao as mysterious as the Indonesian shadow play. A very different scent for me.
Now I have 3 unique different scents:
Datura Noir: intoxicating
Borneo 1834: mysterious
Fleur de Liane: wet rain forest feel

wonderful perfume

I finally found a place in Vancouver to have the perfume that I was looking for. A lot of exclusive perfumeurs brand.
I bought the new one from L'Artisan Perfumeur called Fleur de Liane. It based in woods and grasses with some white flowers and very light scents. It is very comfortable to wear, not heavy at all.
I am already using Serge Lutens' Datura Noir which is heavy in Datura intoxiating scent mixed with coconut.
I bought a new one called Borneo 1834, nice one quite beautiful, no coconut but still tropically composed.

Mandala