There Is No Beauty Without Some Strangeness.

My sister’s foxy dog – taken at Halswell Quarry Dog Park. 
The Persian Life chose me.
Sugar-free banana, turmeric and blueberry muffins. No recipe because I’m boss like that.Though if you’re looking for a muffin recipe you could try THIS or THAT.
Last of my Japanese sushi bandaids! 
G is for…Grapefruit. Had the opportunity of getting in on some behind-the-scenes action at C1 Espresso and proud to tell you that this shizz is hand-squeezed, people. Like, by actual human hands. No wonder it’s so delicious! I taste the LOVE, C1! I taste the love!
Almond milk drinks with my no1 bishes. Actually with my sister and mom…
Lovers in Paris. Or Riccarton Race course. Tomato, tomato, I say.
My sexy bestie and our 17 year old dog! 
One of these is not like the other…#problemsolving101
Chur NZ! Drinking Maori herbs!Last but not least, made my sweet mama spicy spinach, mushroom and black bean enchiladas. Guacamole recipe HERE.

Blessed is The Spot

Friends, I am SO happy to be home, to be with my family, to be driving, to be drinking pure tap water, and to be in an English speaking country! I am so grateful. NZ is truly magical! But I dearly miss Soroosh :(


A beautiful rose in my parents’ garden.

Back to where it all started (this old picnic table)! My momma’s homemade muesli with blueberries, bananas, watermelon and unsweetened almond milk.

Oh how I missed Rapaki! Gosh I love NZ’s nature walks!

“Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow, where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified.”~Baha’u’llah

A personalised freshly squeezed juice from Green Spot at South City Mall.

Vegan Dinner With A Side Of Deer Meat

Vegan followers don’t be offended! And meat-enthusiasts don’t run away! (Or do-what are you doing here? I joke I joke). Last night I had the most delicious vegan dinner prepared by my dear sister and yoga sensei Akiko Tanabe. And after, I almost hit a deer. These animals are taking over.

Turmeric couscous
Eggplant and green-bean tomato medley
Cucumber tomato and mint quinoa salad
Carrot ribbon, walnut, raisin and soft-dried apple salad
Lettuce, dried figs, toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds green salad

Mazel tov!

Nothing Beats Persian Food

Nothing. Nada. Nil.

In addition to all of the other food, I have been eating some LEGIT Persian food. And not any Persian food but Persian food made with love by my loving mama and talented sister. And, with local and organic ingredients. Oh my, how I wish you could taste it too!

From top to bottom: Persian breakfast featuring a wholemeal fruit and nut loaf from Vic’s Cafe, khoreshteh gheymeh bademjoon (a lentil, eggplant and beef dish) with saffron rice, salad, yoghurt and pickled vegetables. And last but best of all, ghormesabzi (a green stew made from beef, red kidney beans and a combination of herbs and vegetables). Yum to the freakin’ O.

The Christchurch Food Crawl Continues

Top to bottom: Lunch with my dear friends Ellie and Kate at The Lotus Heart Vegetarian Restaurant. I had an amazing Peace Bowl and oh baby was it peaceful. And, pumpkin, courgette, chard and brown rice-full. Also, nice gift store with good health products too. Next, coffee with my mama at Terra Viva garden cafe (where I used to work). We ordered a chocolate raspberry mousse, a chocolate, coffee and cinnamon cake and two americanos followed by a visit to Raeward Fresh, a top-notch grocery store. Top-notch because of its huge selection of health and organic foods. So good. I wish to live between its plastic-free, fresh fruit, isles.

My future house

All those flowers you paint
I want them in my future house
In the library room
cookbooks, Roald Dahl
in the kitchen
secret chef mouse
pretty herb pot-plant
colorful spice rack
and a kind husband
returning home to his favorite
muffins
rising in the oven
sweet jams
In the living room
a barefooted dance
on sun-warmed Persian carpet
the one my grandpa wove
especially for us
soles
souls
gently loving
slow caressing
cat

My Japanese Winter

 

“My heart is in a constant state of thanksgiving.”
― Abdu’l-Bahá

Before the snow…don’t be fooled, still V V V cold.

Keeping warm with healthy Japanese food. This is actually a summer noodle (somen) chicken and vegetable soup prepared by my lovely friend and neighbor, Hiromi-san.

The first snow. That’s my house and car in the foreground.

Prayers under the kotatsu.

The calm before the storm (literally).

Take two.

Heater allows for smoothie-bowl breakfast obsession to continue. This one is simply 3/4 cup of yogurt blended with 2 tablespoons of freeze-dried blackcurrants and topped with banana and cereal.

This one was more sorbet than smoothie: 1 cup of frozen mango chunks blended with 1/2 cup of freeze-dried blackcurrants and 3/4 cup of coconut water finished with strawberries.

More ingredients in this one: 1 banana, a big handful of spinach, a few frozen mango chunks, 1/2 cup of soy milk and 1 strawberry, blended together and topped with QIA cereal, ViBERi blackcurrants and an additional strawb.

And for dinner? Pre-cooked edamame. These cuties are so good. They’re sold everywhere in Japan and just require you to pour hot water over them (to defrost) and they’re ready to eat!

Last but not least, a super appropriate painting in my JUNIOR high-school, to close.
And now, a warm bear hug to my new and old followers for the continuous support.
Chuu! (Japanese kiss noise).

the truth behind living alone

As in, one house – one person. Which actually seems quite the luxury when put like that (and I guess in many ways it is, especially with the state of the world today) but it’s not all glamorous dinner parties and extravagant breakfasts (as seen on my Instagram). Several people have congratulated me on doing so well in Japan but actually, the reality is far from that. Here’s the truth about living alone: it actually sucks. The truth is and we all know it, that humans are hard-wired to connect.

Every morning I wake up to an eerie silence. No kind mother preparing breakfast, no noisy father reading the paper and no inconsiderate flatmates. Just me and myself and maybe a stink bug (but let’s not think of that). Which is all well and good for personal growth and all that jazz but as I said, in reality, it actually sucks ass.

Worse than a lonely morning though, is a lonely night. Especially when living in an apartment with paper-thin walls. Every night I hear the couple next door, talking and giggling and engaging in God knows what and you know, I’m happy that they’re happy but I’m also not. Hearing their joy while I kill time on the internet is literally like Nelson from the Simpsons pointing with his fingers inches from my face, his breath the stench of salmon and screaming his iconic: HA HA!

Then there’s the food problem. Cooking for one IS rocket science. It is incredibly difficult to cook for just one person. I usually end up cooking for 2 or more and either eating the whole thing (accidently hahoheha) to avoid spoilage and in turn putting on weight or just letting it spoil which is just shit. Also, cooking for one is not enjoyable. What’s the fun in cooking a fancy meal and eating it on your own? In fact, while I’m at it let me just say, travelling is amazing and the world is amazing and the adventures I’ve had and the places I’ve seen are unreal but deep in the fabric of my soul, I yearn to SHARE what I see, hear, eat and do with PEOPLE. In particular, my mother, my father, my sister and my brother-in-law. For one thing, I’ve lost count of the number of dishes I wished they could taste, too. Charlotte Bronte once said, “Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste,” and I couldn’t agree more (in every sense of the word).

So I actively engage in day trips and dinner parties and so on and so forth but not because my life just happens to be so. Lest we forget, there are two sides to every story; a hidden truth. A midnight fight behind the happy couple. A chocolate binge behind the acai bowl.  A lonely home behind the group photo.