I have a slight (well possibly severe) obsession with dishes!!! When we lived in London we made two trips to the potteries at Stoke-On-Trent. I bought 30 Spode Christmas plates for about $2.50 each and 12 Spode Blue Willow Plates for about $5.00 each, a fraction of the cost if purchased in a department store or china shop. I have a set of modern square white plates from Germany that I got from the rental company when we moved here. I also have an assortment of Japanese bowls and serving dishes. Many of my Japanese dishes have been acquired as parting gifts at the sumo tournaments we attend 3 times a year. The point is I never spend much on the dishes I have, but I love them and love having a variety that I can use together. I really like dishes, looking at them, shopping for them and using them. I love eating my cold cereal out of this bowl:
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Last night, I got an email from my good friend Nori suggesting we go shopping in addition to our plan to have lunch today. Although, she lives a long way from here by car it only takes 20 minutes on the the train. This morning at 11:00 Nori picked me up at this quaint station by her house.
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We drove right to the Dirty Dish Shop. We heard that some friends were headed there too and we didn’t want them to buy all the good stuff. Everything in this place is 40% off everyday. They have great Japanese dishes, teapots, cups… The shop is really a small warehouse with shelves everywhere. It is not really named the Dirty Dish Shop, but the foreigners started calling it that because everything is covered by a thin coating of dust and you can get pretty dirty looking around. I am not sure if anyone knows the real name of the shop. Well, maybe, my friend Rika does since she is Japanese. This is what it looks like inside (I borrowed the picture from a Tokyo friend’s blog:
Nori and I started talking the minute I hopped in her car and didn’t stop until she dropped me off at the station 6 hours later. We didn’t stay at the shop that long! We stopped at a little deli and picked up lunch and then went back to her house and continued our visit. She delivered my purchases when brought her boys in to the church for scouts. I didn’t really need new dishes, but sometimes one just needs a change to brighten things up.
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So I bought 8 plates, 8 pasta dishes, 8 small square salad plates and 8 medium ramen bowls. All for around $30. It will be a fun change for us. This is what they look like:
Then I bought two medium ramen bowls in my favorite rabbit pattern. They are the same as my favorite rabbit cereal bowl, just bigger. I’ll use this size for my oatmeal and ramen, of course!
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Finally, my favorite purchase was a very high quality lidded Japanese box. I love all things blue and white, as you can see from my purchases. This box was not cheap at full price but a bargain at 40% off. I plan to wrap it up and put it under the Christmas tree! So you’ll have to wait until then to see it!
oh that looks just like the plate shop in singapore – how fun!
I am really excited to get to eat my cereal out of those super cute bowls…it is just 6 days until I get to Tokyo! But then it’s not like I have a Christmas colored paper chain counting down the days or anything?! Your dishes look supercute!!! I love you and am sooooooooooooo excited to see you!!!
I want to go to the Dirty Dish Shop. I’d like to have my things delivered the next time you come to London! I love your dishes. See you in a week! Love you!
I love your dishes! There is always room for more dishes!
I still need to find a bento box for JJ. I found a small one but I think she wants a bigger one…
We went together to Stoke on Trent to get some dishes, was it the ones you have-seems familiar…I love that place and have several treasures from there but no sets.
I love your dish set you just got in Japan–makes me want to go there…sounds far away though.
Lucky you to have Alison and family and Kristina for Christmas! We will be flying to the states and will be on 10 planes b/f we come back to Russia…ugh.
Have a Merry Christmas Vanalee! Enjoy the two grand kids! Tell your family hello!