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3:32 pm

IN RESIDENCE | the Briand family


images from style me romy

Recently, our creative director Brenda opened up her home with husband Ben (the writer of this month's top 10) and daughter Milla to Romy Frydman of Style Me Romy. The shoot was to celebrate the upcoming launch of Benah Be Mine - our new jewellery range (join our mailing list to find out more information). You can see a few of the must-have pieces in the photos, including the Pyramid cuff, rose gold diamond ring and gold bracelet with glass pyramid bead and blue beads.  The shoot was also a chance for Milla to show off, in her signature vintage vest and a fairy skirt. Thank you for the beautiful pictures, Romy!
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12:40 pm

JUST IN | How to tie a scarf

One of the most common questions we get asked is how to tie a scarf. And the answer is endless. You can fold it in half and let it hang loose around your neck, you can wrap it around your head and knot it twice as a turban, you can twist it into a necklace... the list goes on. We love all of these different ties, and we jumped at the opportunity for our creative director Brenda to give a few tutorials on her favourite ways to tie scarves for our friend Xiaohan, the amazing street style photographer. You can see all the video and step by step instructions on her site, but here are some of our favourite images from the series... Thanks Xiaohan! 

All of the scarves are from our current collection; Sunshadows, and will be available on our site for purchase soon! For more information on any of the scarves email info@thebenah.com 





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1:01 pm

BENAH LOVES | Raf Simons


The best kind of beginnings are fresh. They are a break - but not a clean one. They are a new start, but not a complete departure. They are fresh like one million beautiful flowers. They are fresh like a fitted corset and pantsuit for an evening gala. They are fresh like hair slicked wet back and a free, unadorned decolletage. They are fresh like a modern spin on a classic, a new set of eyes presenting an old set of values. 

We have always loved Raf Simons, the Belgian designer ex of Jil Sander, and currently the saving grace at Dior. We loved what he did at the Milan-based brand, we loved each ode to minimalism and modernism that he sent out, refined and clear and composed. We loved his final Jil Sander collection - the one with the models clutching the coats closed at their chests, a fragile, vulnerable gesture that spoke volumes about how big the change to Dior would be. Dior is one of the biggest fashion houses - it still does haute couture - and to take the job on would have been a hefty task. We were so excited to see this video pop up that gives a look inside Raf Simons' mind as he was preparing for his debut as the new creative director at Christian Dior. Everything he says resonates with us as designers and consumers of fashion, the idea of 're-adapting the attitude' and 're-shaping the psychology', the idea of bringing your own sense of vibrancy and dynamism to the world of high fashion and luxury, the need to combine radicalism with history. That's what luxury is all about. As we discovered when we first read these gems of luxury wisdom, heritage is the combination of history and innovation. We can't wait to see what Raf Simons does at Christian Dior!

Benah is inspired by:
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8:55 am

THIS IS MY CITY | Jessica's London

London has always been the place of Australian dreams - the land of opportunity, and beer, and boys, that you kick back to after slugging it away at home for a few years. London is where you can go to find a fashion scene more vivid and out of control than anywhere else, a music scene that is so vibrant and fiercely individual, and all this thriving alongside one of the oldest metropolitan cities in the world. We've always loved London for this combination of history and modernity - but modernity as it seems in books and poetry and movies, it's not quite the modernity of, say, Tokyo or Hong Kong. And we love that Jessica agrees with us. A Melburnian relocated to London, Jessica is an incredible freelance writer and strategist with a fantastic blog, and we are so pleased to have her writing a travel guide for us. This is London, by Jessica.

All photos by Jessica Stanley


one. Best thing about London? The best thing about London is that it's the physical manifestation of the world in which so many of my favourite books are set. I had visited just twice before I moved here, but because of Conan Doyle, Woolf, Murdoch, I felt like I knew it.

two. Worst thing about London? When I lived in Australia I used to say winter was my favourite season. But the winters in London go on for months, and they're not just cold, they're grey. It's takes some getting used to, and careful holiday planning too.

three. Favourite secret spot? I have two. The best walk in London is from Bethnal Green to Islington along the canal. You can stay by the water and look for baby swans, have a coffee at the Towpath Cafe, or nip up the stairs and do some shopping as you pass by Broadway Market or Dalston. My second secret favourite place is Hackney City Farm, especially during lambing season. It's open to the public and there is nothing more relaxing than looking at some farm animals/dodging hens then retiring to the cute cafe for a jam tart. Plus they have a children's menu of dishes that are only £5 but are big enough for an adult's lunch - bargain.


four. Favourite everyone-knows-it-but-it's-still-good spot? East London owns my weekends. There's nowhere better. On Saturday: Broadway Market for a egg and cheese roll, a Climpsons coffee, vegetable shopping and a browse. On Sunday: a walk through the Goldsmith's Row book market down to Rospo for vintage clothes and furniture, on to Columbia Road flower market then a late brunch of buttery, bubbling baked eggs at Leila's Shop. If you look on a map, everything I just mentioned is in a straight line probably less than a kilometre long. It's magic! 



five. What is your newest discovery in London? My newest discovery is probably Toppers of Hackney in Wilton Way, where I get my hair done. It's a walk through London Fields from my place, and they are just lovely in there. They don't use any specific line of products, so they've got Morrocan Oil, dry shampoo from Boots, MOP volumiser, beautiful smelling shampoo - whatever they love the most. They always have the newest Vogues and Elles - and also a small salon dog called Scout. What about somewhere you've been going forever but can't quite give up? A place I've been going forever is the London Buddhist Centre's charity shop, Jambala. My boyfriend used to live down the road in Bethnal Green and when I first moved to London in deep winter it was about as far as I could walk without getting too cold. Their selection of art books and fiction is excellent, and the staff are very kind.  

six. Where is the best place for.... morning coffee/pick-me-up? meal with friends? romantic rendez-vous? late night drink? even later-night boogie? The best coffee is definitely Climpsons in Broadway Market. Nothing else comes close. The most beautiful food in the entire city is at Railroad Hackney in Morning Lane. How can I describe it? They have three entrees, three mains and 2 desserts on every night, each is locally sourced and freshly made in their small kitchen… I don't know what else to say except they are the best dinners I've ever had. The chef is a very talented woman called Lizzie Parle. I can't recommend it more highly. If you'd like a pub meal I love the Coach and Horses in Clerkenwell. For drinks I like Off Broadway in Broadway Market: well-mixed cocktails, an aperol spritz with both a wedge of orange and a green olive, and Mexican food if you get hungry. 

Railroad cafe - source

seven. Where are London's style spots? Where is the best shopping? The best book and record shopping is Dalston Oxfam. Books are only 99p so if you're on holidays and need to restock, drop off your old ones and pick up new ones for almost nothing. Then continue up Kingsland High Street: go to Pelican and Parrots for tightly-curated vintage, and Beyond Retro for vintage that's completely unedited but lots of fun. Otherwise - and I'm almost embarrassed to say this because it's so unlike me! - I've developed a strange love for the huge new Westfield in Stratford. Imagine Westfield Bondi Junction but with English shops. It's really fun and very convenient. Even though it's not very cool.

eight. What is something you can get/read/experience/eat that you can only do in London? England definitely do the best newspapers. A perfect Sunday experience would be to buy the Observer and then take it to Violet Cakes in Wilton Way; order a cinnamon roll or slice of Victoria sponge and get a big pot of tea for reading with. Hopefully someone will have left their Elle UK or copy of The Gentlewoman up there. It's a perfect way to spend an afternoon.



nine. You can tell a lot about a city from their airport. Describe London's. London's airport is completely nondescript. Apparently one of the terminals has been recently tricked out to be very posh but I can't recall seeing it. One nice thing about Heathrow though is that even though they take security very seriously, the passport men and women are always ready to laugh a bit meanly at you if, after a 24 hour journey, you say something silly. That's very English, and very nice.

ten. How would you describe London to someone who has never been there before? Lots of warm, exciting little villages inside an immensely old and sometimes cold city.


Cacti for sale at Colombia Rd Flower Markets

Benah's This Is My City guides:
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2:47 pm

ART | Aurel Schmidt



We've always loved Aurel Schmidt's work, which uses composite sketches of disparate thing to evoke something - cigarette butts making up a flower, banana peel and bandaids to create the logo for her collaboration with Opening Ceremony. We are so inspired by the way she can create beauty out of trash, and take everyday, mundane elements and bring them together in her artworks to make something quite sublime. We just stumbled upon her book on the literature section of LN-CC (worth a peruse if you have a second, not only is it one of the best online fashion stores in the world, it's also got an amazing book department), which brings together her images with the poetry of Pullitzer prize winner Franz Wright. His poetry is similarly stark and unassuming - utilising everyday imagery, a really, almost forcefully minimalistic tone and an overarching sense of the harsh reality of urban life. His characters, like Schmidt's characters, are the cognoscenti of the everyday; postmen, car drivers, farmers, matching Schmidt's donut rings and toothpaste smears and cigarette lighters. We couldn't think of a more perfect match, and can't wait to get our hands on this book.

Schmidt inspires us not only because of the breadth and force of her vision, but also because of all her side collaborations. We mentioned the one with Opening Ceremony, which sees tee shirts emblazoned with her images (We want one! we want one!!!) but we also like the work she does for Tiny Vices. Tiny Vices is an online gallery that curates the work from artists all around the world. It was started by Tim Barber, the incredible fashion photographer, in New York. Tiny Vices is one of those amazing creative hubs that the internet has made possible, for which we can only be really, truly grateful. What do you think of Aurel Schmidt's work?

Benah is inspired by:
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1:47 pm

BENAH LOVES | Dom x David



David Lynch has designed a limited-edition champagne bottle for Dom Perignon. As if that wasn't major enough (necessary use of valleygirl terminology here), Nowness have just premiered a short film shot by Luke Gilford that celebrates the launch - and Lynch - and it's fantastic. Gilford adopts a lot of those Lynch trademarks in what is evidently a heart-felt homage; party scenes, smoke machines and - our current obsessions - neon lights. We love this video, and we love what it represents. The ultimate in branded content. Nowness is owned by LVMH and LVMH owns Dom Perignon. What could have happened was some half-baked advertorial like you see across so many websites nowadays. Instead, the result is far more exciting and creative and full of integrity than most non-branded content. We don't see a problem with having branded content when it is done really well. Branded content often lets you re-evaluate how you perceive a product, showing you a side to it that you might not necessarily have noticed from plain old advertisements, campaigns and even personal experience. And, we have to say, this video makes us want to go straight out to the bottleshop (classy) and buy some Dom Perignon, which, really, is the whole point.

In fact these liquor company / film maker / Nowness collaborations have been on our radar for a little while, but we've only just got around to putting something together about them. We first noticed the trend when we saw a short film by Dustin Lynn about a journey to Shanghai to reveal the new bottle for Hennessy VSOP. All the elements of the Dom Perignon video are here too: slick, polished branded material, a clear creative vision, and a final product that slides effortlessly both into the realm of short film and into the world of advertisements. It makes you want to drink Hennessy, yes, but it also makes you wanna find out more about Dustin Lynn and watch movies and spend hours clicking through on Nowness sites until you emerge, 3 and half hours later, ebullient but completely at a loss as to what you just did with all your time. We call that the Nowness black hole, and after watching this video you might just get a taste of it yourself.

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1:36 pm

BENAH LOVES | Gray Gardens



Speaking of people who inspire us... We've decided to make this a permanent fixture, sharing the work of people who inspire, within the fashion industry and outside of it. It seems like the last couple of posts we've done have been about celebrating all the fantastic, creative ventures of people that we have stumbled upon, or know and love, and we'd love to keep this going. Another incredibly inspiring woman? Meg Gray, formerly of Vogue Australia, now a freelance stylist who runs a blog called Gray Gardens. We love the pun on Big and Little Edie, we love the riot of colour and print and patterns in her styling work, we love that Meg has branched out into the digital realm. Her new site is every bit as exciting and graphic as her work - and her personal style, if any of you know of Meg, you'd know that she is reknowned in the industry for her pink hair and love of Marni and Prada - and we love it. It inspires us to be more colourful, take more risks, embrace change and be open to new things. We can't wait to see what Meg does next!


Benah is inspired by:
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10:00 am

BENAH LOVES | Murray Bevan



Murray Bevan is a friend and fellow New Zealander who works in the fashion industry - or should we say, dominates the local fashion industry. We loved reading this insightful interview with him on Aych blog. It's hard trying to break into the fashion industry, and even harder trying to do it in a small industry, like New Zealand's (if you think Australia's fashion industry is small, you're in for a shock). Murray tells it like it is and shows how imagination and innovation and inspiration always go hand in hand. It's easy to have ideas - everyone can have ideas - but actually having the guts to go out and achieve those ideas is another thing altogether. We love hearing about people who go out and make things happen in their respective creative fields... It inspires us! What inspires you? 
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10:00 am

BENAH LOVES | Gregory Crewdson


Gregory Crewdson

We've always been fascinated by beginnings; where did we come from, who made us, how did we get here, what does it mean... And we love thinking about how things start and how they become what they are and will be. Even looking back at our own beginnings it's hard to see exactly what made us into the person we are today, but we can see glimpses of them in the way we dressed or what we studied at school or where we used to go on holiday. That's why we love this video on Nowness by documentary director Ben Shapiro about photographer Gregory Crewdson. It stops enigmatically just as Crewdson begins working on the kinds of photographs that he is known for today - cinematic, large-scale panoramas of suburban American life. This little clip from the longer documentary, entitled Brief Encounters, is maybe all the more powerful because of that. All you can see are his beginnings; a holiday house in Massachusetts, a psychoanalyst for a father and two little kids with foppish blonde hair.

We love Gregory Crewdson's work and we have all of his books. There's something very eerie and dramatic about what he sees. We loved seeing him work in the clip - watching him taking the photos from way up high in the cherry picker was poetic. There is a power and also a sense of creative urgency from placing yourself at such a high vantage point. We want to see more from this documentary - hopefully it gets released in cinemas here! Check out the short clip, beginnings, here.
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10:35 am

THINGS WE LOVE IN | July

 It's high time we got a man's opinion on this blog, and we thought who better to give it than our favourite person, Ben Briand. Filmmaker, writer, director and photographer (see his work here!), Ben Briand is a man of many talents, as well as the husband of our creative director Brenda. So, without further ado, here are Ben's top 10 things this month.

one. Ridley Scott's Alien

 
The lens flares. The lens flares! In the early days the man knew how to create a perfect marriage between considered aesthetics, atmosphere and story. The cast, the style and the clean story structure still make this one of the great films. I'm only just now realising the influence his early films had on me. 

There are 24 books in this set. I own 21 of them. The only thing more fascinating than the covers are the mind bending myths that reside within the pages.


three. Crystal Hunting at Markets
 
That sounds far more hippy than it actually is. I'm searching for nice, old pieces of glass to create optical effects like the ones that David Bellemere achieves in his work. I've been doing it for a while in my commercial work, but never owned the glass pieces myself.


four. Record Vinyl Collecting (even though I don't own a record player)
Some friends gave us records for our wedding a few months back. Now I have been bitten by the bug. Sabbath, Bowie, I even found Prince's super rare 'Black Album' the other day for 5 Bucks! Prince pulled the release of that album one week before it's release in 1987 because he believed the record was possessed by an evil presence. How a copy turned up at Rozelle Markets is anyone's guess.


five. Random emails out of the blue from strangers.
I love an email out of the blue. And this month there seems to have been a few. If there is one thing that cyberspace and the interwebs has done it's bringing strangers much closer together, much more than they could have before we all had our own websites. In L.A. they call it "reaching out." It's nice when like minded people do some reaching. 



Finding more of something that you know so well is very beautiful. Films always have deleted scenes that end up on the cutting room floor for one reason of another. A lot of the time it is because those scenes, although they enrich the world of the film, don't propel the narrative forward in a crucial way. But for those that have taken the thrilling and sexual journey into Lynch's Wild At Heart and love that world - here are some more of Sailor and Lula's antics.


 
I had the pleasure of directing the soon to be released video clip for The Preachers. Their gothic blues style is more than I can possibly describe to do it justice. You will just need to listen and then you will just need to go and see their live act. There is much buzz about these beautiful souls. 


Fresh, white and playful. After having some very enlightening experiences during VIVID Sydney (especially Screen NSW screen writing intensive course) I have returned to the MCA more in the last month than ever before. With the Sydney Biennale (http://bos18.com/) currently on and a 2 year old with an over active imagination it seems to be the perfect fit. A beautiful building on the edge of an amazing location.


Need I say more? (PS. this is not a paid advertisement. Well. Kind of)

The Not Reuben Sandwich.

You can read our previous lists for June, MayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuaryDecemberNovemberOctober and September here.
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10:00 am

BENAH LOVES | The Blues


We've got the blues here at Benah. Some things we love that come in blue: Denim shirts. Denim overalls. Denim anything, really. Mini and Medium Taras in navy blue and croc. Interview magazine. Teeny, tiny flower pots. Blueberries. Alice Hobo in navy blue. Pea coats. Poolside with Slim Aarons. Ryder sandals in navy blue.
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10:00 am

BENAH LOVES | Feyt

shop ghost - Mirrored sunglasses!!! Ok we won't say anything more...


We love the slew of online shopping guide websites that have popped up recently. We guess you could see them as an appropriation of those lovely shopping pages - the domain of the Market editor - at the front of a magazine. Those pages are always the best, the ones that you flick straight through and dissect immediately. What theme are they doing? What pieces have they picket? What do you want? (Answer: always something, probably everything). These websites seem to have taken that idea and evolved it to suit the internet. There's Shop Ghost, the "online zine" started by ex-RUSSH editor (and Aussie expatriate) Stevie Dance, bringing together the kinds of things that everyone loves; having a little sticky beak into other people's closets (especially when those people are Emily Weiss, Phillip Lim and Garance Dore) and shopping online. Dance scours the internet for the best shopping picks which she then curates into themes. Like Mad Men, or Tortoise shell sunglasses and has even started doing mini photoshoots, like this one with baby-faced model of the moment Meag West, featuring cool-girl things like bandanas, silk bomber jackets and the perfect white tee shirt.

And then there's Feyt. We recently stumbled on this one and it was love at first sight. There's something a bit more sophisticated about this site - if Dance's Shop Ghost is all teenager making collages in her bedroom, Feyt is a Vogue America-reading woman getting blow-outs at the salon every 13 days. Feyt, too, works around themes, the kind of themes you always loved to see in the pages of glossies but never actually got to experience yourself. Such a what to wear to the Frieze art festival, and how to work head-to-toe blush colours. It's a super slick site that instantly draws you in, and there are plenty of shopping picks (around 40 for each theme) to choose from. Co-founders Ferebee Taube and Eleanor Ylvisaker say that their aim is to act as personal shopping guide to their favourite stores - Kirna Zabete, Net-A-Porter, Barneys and La Garconne, to name a few. Except here is the difference; their services are completely free.

We're not really sure what this trend means, but when it comes to online shopping, it's clear that the game is changing. From sites like Moda Operandi where you can pre-order straight off the runway, to the personal shopping services of Feyt (and you could even see Shop Ghost as offering a bit of that, too, albeit a lot friendlier, like that hip friend who always dressed so well sharing her favourite things over an afternoon chai tea), online shopping continues to grow and grow and grow. It makes us think, what's next?
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11:16 am

BENAH LOVES | Paisley



The menswear collections always seem to be more on the pulse. They've been all over whacked-out floral prints, paisley and crazy, club-kid gingham prints in fluoro for years before the womenswear designers picked it up. Maybe because you can make even the most out-there ensemble seem reasonable in menswear if you use high-quality fabric and a classic cut (although, having said that, this article about "real dudes" reviewing the decidedly 'crazier' mens collections was pretty hilarious). Which was why we weren't surprised to see our number one trend of the season - camouflage print - all over the menswear runways at Dries Van Noten and Comme des Garcons. Camo blazers, Camo trousers, Camo shirts, Camo hoodies (sign us up for one of those, please, to wear underneath an oversized denim jacket!) and, kind of bizarrely, camo jumpsuits. We'd probably still wear a camo jumpsuit if the right one came along. 

And, just to prove a point, there was plenty of camo on the streets as well. We love both the mens and womens look - the idea of throwing a camouflage print shirt over a plain tee shirt and a leather skirt is nothing new, but we love how much more vibrant that multi-hued, jigsaw-puzzle print looks rather than just a plain old khaki jacket. What can we say? We really did call it. Maybe we should have been trend forecasters.... (and please don't get us started on mirrored sunglasses. Again).
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10:00 am

THIS IS MY CITY | Talisa and Rohan's Tokyo

We love Tokyo. We're lucky enough to have some wonderful stockists in the city, and we'd love to jump on a plane and jet over to see their unique stores. We hear that everything from shopping to sightseeing, partying to relaxing is better in Tokyo. And let's not even get started on the food. We've never been, but this city guide is getting us dreaming just a little. And we've got our dearest friends Talisa and Rohan to thank for it. They are the talented graphic design duo behind Badlands Studio and Badlands blog, and we love them very much! This is Tokyo, by Talisa and Rohan.

All photos by Talisa Sutton and Rohan Peterson


one. Best thing about Tokyo? We went for Hanami (blossom season) and it was such an amazing experience seeing how beautiful the city is in spring. I also love Japanese culture and the fact that there are so many subcultures and a lot of cutting edge technology and fashion. 

two. Worst thing about Tokyo? Ro and I are both big breakfast people and that was something we missed while in Tokyo. You can find traditional Japanese savoury breakfast at most places but if you're muesli/pancake fiends like us it's a bit difficult. 

three. Favourite secret spot? In  Harajuku, one of the streets you see when you come out of the station is Takeshita-dori; about 50 metres in on your left (if you're walking from the station) is a really good little katsu bar - it has the best chicken katsu don. There's also lots of crepe shops around here - get crepes for dessert! 


four. Favourite everyone-knows-it-but-it's-still-good spot? Studio Ghibli museum and the Straw Hat Cafe. They have a drink called 'Looking at a Clear Blue Sky from a Field!' The only let down is I was too tall to get in the Cat Bus - oh well. 

five. What was your newest discovery in Tokyo? Not really new, but new to us, was the vending-machine restaurants where you order your meal from a big machine that spits out a ticket, which you give to the server inside. These places were on most corners and great for quick, inexpensive noodles! 

six. Where is the best place for.... morning coffee/pick-me-up? meal with friends? romantic rendez-vous? late night drink? even later-night boogie? For a great late night drink we loved the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku. Their New York Bar was made famous by Sofia Coppola's film Lost In Translation. Try the Scarlett Johansson cocktail! For a little morning tea we loved heading to the local corner  store. They have everything from red bean-filled doughnuts, cherry blossom Kit Kats and the most amazing white peach soda in existence.  We had great Gyoza and edamame from a little Izakaya right next to the entrance of Nakano Broadway - so good! 


 seven. Where are Tokyo's style spots? Where is the best shopping? Harajuku is great; it has all these cool little side streets off either side of the main street, Omotesando. If you walk all the way down Omotesando, and just keep heading straight, you'll end up in Aoyama which is where the Dries, Marni and Miu Miu stores are, and the Prada Epicentre (which is a huge glass tower) Shinjuku is great too, it has lots of big department stores like Isetan, which I think is the best department store in the world, and Isetan Men's which I think is the best men's store in the world. 

eight. What is something you can get/read/experience/eat that you can only do in Tokyo? It's a little bit out of Tokyo, but at Hakone, near Mt Fuji, you can get Kuro Tamago (Black Eggs), which are hard-boiled eggs that have been cooked over the bubbling volcanic mud pools of Owakundani. The volcanic gasses turn the eggshells black, and you can buy a bag of two with some salt, surrounded by swirling steam and smoke. It's pretty amazing, and as far as I know, it's the only place in the world you can get them. 


nine. You can tell a lot about a city from their airport. Describe Tokyo's. We got there quite late at night so it was a bit of a blur. All I remember is that it was quite modern and clean. 

ten. How would your describe Tokyo to someone who has never been there before? An exciting, beautiful and culturally rich city. 


Benah's This Is My City guides:
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