It is Friday and that means it is time for the World Famous, soon to be Intergalactic Famous, News Sushi from our very own, Hamish Downie. He brings us a decidedly different slant on Pop Culture as viewed through the lens of a non-native living in Japan. Thank you Hamish for your insights.
Today, I’m taking you on a magical carpet ride… (I better do a Disney one for Ben and Keith)
to lands far, far away… as Kitty in the Alien series would say, let’s fire up the iPod…
NEWS SUSHI listens…
“Planet Alpha OST” by News Sushi favourite Siddhartha Barnhoorn. Siddhartha takes again to faraway worlds with his newly released music:
The Music is from the soundtrack of the video game PLANET ALPHA:
http://www.planetalpha-game.com
The soundtrack is available for purchase on Bandcamp, here: https://siddharthabarnhoorn.bandcamp.com/album/planet-alpha
Also available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, Spotify and more…
speaking of faraway worlds… let me take you on a trip…
NEWS SUSHI watches…
The Beautiful World!
Sculptures that disappear!
Sculptures
that Disappear…
🌎#Art #Design #Innovation #Tech #FridayFeeling #NationalLazyDay pic.twitter.com/lzoyuyo4K9
— Tom Hall ☘ (@TomHall) August 10, 2018
Promise Land: LGBTQ fairy tale…
The Last One… an ABBA short film:
Before it was announce that they would do a holographic tour and have written some new songs for said tour, a few years ago, they got together one last time and made this very Swedish, very ABBA short film…
Link: https://youtu.be/8L6T6Yj5u4k (sorry it’s not letting me embed)
Do you want to dance with somebody?
Nina Bo’nina Brown, the drag queen and makeup artist (and News Sushi favourite – she did the look where she turned herself into a poodle) gave a beautiful performance as Whitney Houston circa 1980s, and it’s incredibly heart-warming, especially her interactions with the kids.
Do you have trouble sleeping?
Let me take you to dreamland… a student of mine recently told me about the theory of music at 528Hz. Now, maybe I’m late to the party and you all know about this, but if not, they say that this is the same wavelength as sleep! Now, I’m not sure about all the other claims, like healing your DNA, the love frequency, the miracle tone and all that… but, I thought, what’s the harm in trying? And my goodness, it really works! So, here’s a link for you to try this weekend:
Transition time…
Our magic carpet ride takes us to France! Let’s meet today’s interviewee!
NEWS SUSHI… MEETS: Aki
TGG: Today, I’m interviewing a former colleague of mine who has undergone a massive sea change [Aus. Eng: a significant change in lifestyle, especially a move from the city to a rural or seaside location] and I can’t wait for everyone to meet her. Aki, for our readers, could you please introduce yourself (and your husband)?
AKI: Hello everyone, my name is Aki. I’m from Osaka Japan. My husband’s name is Mark and he is from England. We met each other in Osaka.We’ve been living in Dordogne France for about 2 years now and we started our small B&B called ‘Sakura Guesthouse’ in July 2017.
We love traveling to other countries, eating different food and meeting new people.It’s always fun looking for places to visit for our next trip.
TGG: I really admire anyone who changes countries and starts a small business. What inspired you to open a B&B in France?
AKI: Thank you! The idea of starting a B&B was Mark’s idea and then when we were deciding on place to live, we wanted to try a different country, instead of just the UK or Japan. Since I was learning French as a hobby at the former company where I worked, I was interested in living in France. And then Mark agreed with me!
TGG: Looking at the facebook page, your B&B looks absolutely delightful, and the food looks mouthwatering. What kind of packages do you offer? And what can a guest expect from a stay in your B&B?
AKI: Thank you. We try to keep things simple, comfortable beds, tasty breakfasts and no crazy price hikes during summer.
Our breakfast includes local fresh ingredients, the fruits and vegetables from our garden depending on the season and fresh bread that we go and get from a local bakery every morning. From this year we are starting our new tours of the area, and airport transfers. We live close to a train station so it’s easy to visit many places by yourself. There are many other sights and castles where you need a car, so you can either rent one, or arrange a day tour with us! So it’s really up to the guest what kind of pace they would like for their vacation!
TGG: What are some of the local sights you recommend guests try out?
AKI: We are just in the middle of 2 big tourist areas, one is Bordeaux and the other is Sarlat. Especially in Dordogne, there are a lot of small medieval villages, and some of them are classed in a special group as ‘The Most Beautiful Villages in France’. If you love nature and beautiful houses that are hundreds years ago, we would definitely recommend you to visit these small villages. Also there are great markets around our B&B. One market was even chosen as the best market in France a few years ago. We recommend you to enjoy the local cheese, wine, fruits and vegetables from the great markets! Mark likes history and there are many chateaux, medieval castles and even roman ruins in the region!
TGG: It’s such a romantic idea to move to France and start a business with your husband. But, I imagine there must be a lot of cultural differences. What are some funny stories you can share from when you first moved to France?
AKI: It’s interesting to see the neighbours’ hobbies. Our neighbour grows pumpkins which weigh around 400 kg each and it’s all just for fun! He also grows hundreds of smaller pumpkins to decorate his garden around Halloween time. The local news and TV show came to interviewed him last year and there were always a lot of people stopping at his house to take photos of his vegetables.
TGG: We have a lot of creative readers, who are essentially running their own small businesses (eg. self-published books, films, comics, podcasts etc.). What advice do you have for anyone wanting to start out their own business?
AKI: Just make sure what you’re offering is something you’d be happy to pay for! Always try to improve or make things easier to understand for your guests. Laws and regulations are always changing here so it’s good to find useful message boards or networks of similar owners where you can share information and help each other out.
TGG: Finally, I just love the decorated cookies you used to make with our mutual friend, Michele. What’s the secret to making a good cookie? (Aki)
AKI: I just enjoy making them! It’s always more fun to decorate with friends too!
The time I made cookies with Michele was the memorable day for me. For making a good cookie, I leave the dough in the fridge for about an hour before I cut the shapes. I just follow the recipes! I also love cooking and trying new recipe as well as eating healthy.
TGG: Thanks again for agreeing to be interviewed today. I’m sure everyone is looking forward to taking a holiday in France and staying at your wonderful B&B! Could you let us know how and where we can book? (websites, social media etc.)
AKI: You can book through our website, Facebook page or email to us directly. We don’t like paying commissions and we don’t like our guests paying them too!.
♡ Website http://www.sakuraguesthousefrance.com/
♡ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sakuraguesthousefrance/
♡ Email sakuraguesthousefrance@gmail.com
♡ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sakuraguesthousefrance/
We look forward to your stay. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us!
Lastly, I would like to say thank you to Hamish for giving us this wonderful opportunity!
TGG: Thank you Aki! We look forward to staying with you!
NEWS SUSHI… Serenity Now!
After our long journey across the universe, let’s now achieves some mindfulness with Andy Van Scoyoc – our weekly Zen meditation…
Thank you everyone… by for now!
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