I've been shopping on internet auction sites, but I've decided to sell some stuff. I can't keep everything in our flat anymore! From now on I will upload some products, bit by bit, on Yahoo! Japan Auction. At the moment I recommend ARABIA Ego Espresso cups & saucers on my auction page. Now the Ego series are produced by Iittala, but this pair is produced by ARABIA. I guess some kitchen item maniacs will be happy to see this old crown logo. I have two sets, so I'm selling one set, which I've never used. The plates called Bersa are on auction too. They are very sweet. The biscotti on the plate was sweet too, they were made by C. I took this photo about a year ago, and C was cooking a lot at that time, but not these days...

I'm sorry that Yahoo! Japan Auction is Japanese only. You need to make an account in Japanese to use the auction system.

I've been looking for lacquered Kaiseki-zen trays with legs. This kind of tray is only used in traditional Japanese-style restaurants nowadays. I was happy to find a good antique set on an internet auction. Usually the mass-produced lacquer products I can afford are made of plastic or molded woodchip, but the base of these trays is natural wood. It needs more care but it's nice to have real wooden lacquerware.

I got a beautiful bowl (or gravy boat?) from an internet auction. This is from the Kilta series (relaunched as Teema later) by ARABIA, designed by Kaj Franck in 1952. I love the shape and position of the handle.

Since our bamix broke, C wanted to buy an Osterizer (now called Oster) blender and I found a good one on an auction.

I haven't bought anything from an Internet auction for a long time, but the other day I saw these antique bowls. They have beautiful, hand-painted decorations of paulownia leaves. They also look nice from the back. They are ø10cm and a little bit small for rice bowls, so they seem to be 'futa-mukou', which are used for Nimono (simmered vegetables) or Mushimono (steamed dishes) in order to keep the contents warm and aromatic until the lids are opened. I have no knowledge of antiques nor Japanese pottery, but I just loved the design. These days I'm interested in Japanese tablewares, but I keep telling myself that I have no storage space left in the kitchen, and no money!

I finally received a fondue pot which I won from an internet auction ages ago! This pot series is called Kobenstyle, made by DANSK and designed by Jens H Quistgaard in the 60's. I know that Kobenstyle has nothing to do with Kobe in Japan, but I want to know what it means... This fondue set turns up on internet auctions quite often, but usually the warmer stand is missing or the pot has wear and chips, or it's very expensive. Luckily this pot is in mint condition. I guess someone was given this pot and tried cheese fondue once and never used it again. But the iron warmer stand got rusty from a long time in a garage. Actually, the rust makes it seem more authentic to me. I'm not sure if I'll cook cheese fondue, but it might be good for keeping Oden warm on the table. ø16.5cm x H12cm (including a lid), it was $55 (¥5,735) including the shipping.

I got a pair of sake cups from an internet auction. They are meant to be a married couple. The sizes are different, so I can put the smaller one inside the other. Good for storage. There is writing inside the cups, it says 'you live to be a hundred' for the wife, and 'I want to live to be ninety-nine' for the husband. They were a bit freaky at first, but after finding these phrases, they look very nice. I hope we can enjoy drinking, even when our hair turns grey.

Yesterday, I got a packet from England. I won an orange enameled aluminium lamp shade from an Interenet Auction the other day. Louis Poulsen made this in the 1960/70's. I think Poul Henningsen's PH lamps by Louis Poulsen are famous, but they are not really our style (and pricey!). I don't know who designed this orange lamp shade, but I really love this design. The shade measurers 30cm at its widest and 25 cm deep. It was £23.40 (¥4,728) including the shipping.

I received a packet from US which I bid on an internet auction the other day. This Wilton Christmas cookie cutters were on my mind for a long time. I can make a Christmas tree stacking 10 star shaped cookies in graduated sizes. It was $14 including a Christmas tree shaped pan, a patty shell (i don't know this food, is it like a doughnut?) set and postage. Quite a good deal, I think. A tip for internet auctioning: 'get seasonal goods out of season'!

I just received a packet. I bought a plate with lots of holes from an Internet Auction. I can wash and serve strawberries with this plate, well I don't buy strawberries often though... I remember this kind of plate was on Japanese TV program for a few seconds about 10 years ago. Since then, I haven't came across plates like this, even in London or Frankfurt. The other day, I suddenly thought about this plate and searched for it. I found one which is made by French company called Degoin (never heard of it) and I bought it. It was very low priced but also super poor quality. The glazing is not even! Maybe French people are not picky? or is this from €1 shop?! Oh well, I still like it.

I baked German red wine cake (rotweinkuchen) for Valentine's Day. I used a Bundt Pan called Bavarian which is made by Nordicware an American company (Bavaria, Nordic and America... interesting naming). I always wanted to get it since I saw it online, and I got it last year because I found it on an internet auction. I chose a normal recipe but it wasn't enough to fill a mould. It is huge! American size!

It is getting cold and we started to use a heating finally. Same as last year, I am going to bake Christmas cookies with a Germany recipe soon. I did some shopping on an internet auction after a long time. It looks very American but I bought snowflakes cookie cutters. I can make different patterns with a combination of 5 cutters.

The 37th Tokyo Motor Show starts from tomorrow. There were nice posters from past years (by well-known designers) but this year' design is awful! Who desgined this?! This bag is from the 32nd show in 1997. I got this from an internet auction. Paid ¥600. I like the circles and font. I enjoy F1 but ... I have No interests about cars.

There were many events to celebrate Space Invader's 25th anniversary this summer. This lovely bag is one of the memorial goods. The makers assume that limited editions will be sold out in a day so there is no chance to get it for slow adults. Indeed, I missed it. I know it is very foolish but I got it at the auction. Oh well, I am a space invaders generation.

Here is another Mac story, it is also happy mac. I started to collect McDonald's happy meal toys since 1995. We sometimes went to Mac, even while dating! Mac has been stopped making toys with Mc characters for about two years and I am having a quiet life! I have moved 7 times in these eight years, and all toys are in boxes at the moment. Some day, I want to build a shelf using a whole surface of a wall (or 2 walls) to put all my toys up. If any toys which I do not have are rolling in your (or your nephew and niece) room, please give it to me!

I received pair of vintage enamelware bowls from 60/70's by Finel (was a division of Arabia) in Finland. I won them on the auction the other day. All different kinds of stylized mushrooms are very kawaii. There are a few of the typical tiny flakes to the enamel along the rims and a few scratches. But nothing deep. The bowl measures about 5.5" tall and 8.25" round at the top. It's a nice tall shape (apparently, Kaj Franck designed the bowl).

I've been dreaming about this Bamix. I finally bought it last month. I chose a blue handle Bamix which is produced by Tupperware. It has double logos (Bamix and Tupperware) on it and nicer than the original one in gray. (the older version from Tupperware had a yellow handle which was even nicer!) I got a new Bamix on an internet auction and payed so much less than the original price. Yesterday, we made improvised smoothie just mixing of some frozen melon + pineapple, yogult and fresh juice. It's great for hot summer.

I've been crazy about this Dansk tray designed by Quistgaard, after I found it on an internet auction. I've never seen the real one yet, but I'm sure it's so cooool. A Bidding has ended for the tray today with $256.00 of a winning bid (the final price which finished yesterday was $202). The measuring is 51.4cm L, by 22.9cm W, and it is a boat shape. Awesome!