Asian: New and Old



Blue on blue... a perfect setting for homemade egg drop soup.



 The wonderful  thing about this table setting is how it combines the new with the old.  The inspiration for this tablescape is the relatively new set of beautiful blue bowls, a gift from friends in Hawaii.  What I also love is the way I used old 1950s hand-sewn, hand-embroidered, hand-appliqued paper lantern motif tea towels as the place mats.   The Japanese decorative squares of red and blue were a gift to me in the 90s from a friend who had family and business ties to Japan. 

 The little Lladro figurine is marked on the bottom "1984" and was a gift from my husband to his mother who loved all things Asian.

Wonderful, delicious and hot chicken & vegetable egg rolls right out of the cooking oil complement perfectly the egg drop soup.  So tasty!  Like all things homemade, they take time but they are worth it!

 The hand-stitched napkins were my mother's, purchased in the late 1930s or early 1940s, imported to the Dutch West Indies, straight from China. 

 The small book about walking meditation was a very recent gift from my forever friend, Barbara.

The old Sake set was my husband's, purchased long ago, possibly in Viet Nam during the war or on a later business trip to Asia in the late 80s. 

The Asian-inspired table and chairs set, with it's inset of Chinese characters painted on tile, the cain-backed chairs and the real bamboo table and chair legs, were a favorite of my late mother-in-law.  The little blue Japanese dishes were a splurge of mine when I lived in Hawaii.  The orchid in the blue vase, a reminder of Hawaii, too.  Aloha `oe, lyrics and music by Queen Liliuokalani. 
Chorus:

Farewell to you, farewell to you

The charming one who dwells in the shaded bowers

One fond embrace,

'Ere I depart

Until we meet again

Sweet memories come back to me

Bringing fresh remembrances

Of the past

Dearest one, yes, you are mine own

From you, true love shall never depart