Summer turns and life changes YOCHA STUDIO |
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After a (hopefully!) fun-filled summer of sun, bright blue skies, colourful flowers and leafy trees, the tints of autumn are starting to show in the woods and forests around Uppsala. Everywhere, ever so slowly, glorious greens are giving way to mellower hues of yellow, orange, red and brown. Far be it from us to be the bearers of bad news, but - at least for those of you living in Sweden and points north - it won’t be long now before those days spent lounging outside Yocha with a cool drink in one hand and a dango in the other; those sensual summer moments squeezing lakeside sand between your toes; those endless, silent twilight evenings as the sun never quite takes its leave … before all these are just distant memories - lost in time like tears in autumn rain (with apologies to Rutger). Yes, you may not be deliriously happy about it; there may still be some warmth in the days ahead of us; it may be barely noticeable yet; but like it or not, change is on the way. Sorry about that … still, autumn and winter do have their charms too, they’re just a little hard to recall right now! (For any southern hemisphere readers however – and we do have at least a couple – welcome to summer!) |
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Autumn in Uppsala - it’s here! |
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And speaking of changes, along with the change in seasons we’ll also be seeing some changes in the menu at Yocha Studio as some of those cooling summer drinks just don’t hack it when the outside temperature, inevitably, begins to fall. So, sorry to fans of the Summer Breeze but nothing lasts forever. We also worried that selling a drink called Summer Breeze in wintertime Uppsala could have exposed us to charges of misrepresentation, but a return next summer should be fine! Sadly, Green Sakura is also getting the chop, for unrelated reasons. However, for devotees of colourful drinks, all is not lost - look out for something called “Over the Rainbow”, coming soon! |
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Staying with the theme of change, the end of August marked the end of an era at Yocha as veteran staff member, Momoko, took her leave of us after fifteen months. During this time, she covered everything from creating products, critiquing and tweaking our Japanese snacks to greeting and meeting countless hundreds of customers, who grew to know her and love her as we do. But life changes and Momoko’s is no exception, she’ll begin full-time studies at Stockholm University this semester. We, and we’re sure many of the customers she has so ably served over this time, wish her all the best in her academic endeavours. We also said goodbye to our Swedish señorita, Olivia, our perennial part timer who has also been with us for many long moons but is now moving on to her next part life adventure. Never was the Irish phrase, ní beidh bhur leithéidí arís ann (there will never be your likes again) more apt!! We will miss you both! |
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On the positive side, we have also welcomed two wonderful new members of staff who have already made their individual marks. Ever cheerful Japanese Masa-san will ensure that our Japanese offerings are always up to scratch as he beavers away in a flurry of movement preparing multiple dishes at one go – all while listening to classical music. Meanwhile unflappable Amy from the UK has brought her own calm presence to Yocha as she steers new customers through the many options on offer, whether it’s drink, food or delightful Asian designs. At the end of August, we marked these bittersweet comings and goings with a staff dinner at our local French/Swedish restaurant, La Ruelle, where - let it just be said - a good time was had by all. |
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But wait, there’s more! More changes at least, but this time as in changing clothes. Earlier this month, Yocha was proud to play host to a gathering of cosplay fans, most of whom also happen to be Yocha fans, for a well-attended multi-coloured, multi-faceted Cosplay lunch. In between admiring one another’s ingenuity at producing accurate (for the most part) representations of a wide range of cosplay characters, the varied participants managed to find time to down plenty of tea, Yocha speciality drinks and the odd bowl of ramen too. Their characters may have very different, weird and wonderful backgrounds, but they all at least seemed to share the same desire for a bit of scoff. And they’ll be back for more of that later in September, for the very good reason that their group was too large to all fit in one sitting. Pictures of ‘Cosplay Part Two’ to come next time! |
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Nothing like a bit of change |
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In other news, at the beginning of July, the Yocha team were delighted to take part in a cultural activity organised by our other neighbours from across the road, Korean restaurant, Keemchi. The occasion was an exhibition of the work of Swedish artist Sofia Romedahl, and visitors were spoilt for entertainment with a live DJ, tasty Korean snacks, stunning artwork on the walls – and, of course, Yocha’s unique Kung Fu tea demonstrations. Thank you Keemchi and Sofia! |
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As has become customary over the summer, we put our cultural workshops on the back burner for this couple of months as the holidays mean a more transient clientele with many of our foreign regulars returning home while many Swedish ones went away for holidays. In addition, the high number of tourists meant the logistics of organizing workshops were just not feasible. But the workshop drought will end on the 22nd September with a return of our ever-popular Kung Fu Tea workshop hosted by Yocha founder Zoe. And something else not to miss out on, of course, will be the autumn wildness that is Uppsala’s Kulturnatten(Culture Night) - widely regarded as Sweden’s finest! That all happens on the 14th Sept, when the city goes a little crazy for a day. Businesses and organisations across the city open early, close late and aim to promote some aspect of culture – something we actually do all year round here at Yocha! Finally, as anyone who is a regular visitor to Yocha Studio will have noticed, we have become busier and busier over the last six months, especially during the hours around lunchtime. Good news! However, this means our amazing staff - who are hardworking, friendly, quick and efficient, but have not yet mastered omnipresence - can often find it difficult to provide our demonstrations of how to serve and drink tea in Kung Fu style. Bad news! Solution: We have uploaded a video of our Kung Fu Tea demonstration, showing all the important steps, to Youtube. This is accessible by scanning the following QR code on your phone. Please feel free to try it out on your next visit - and let us know what you think! |
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And before we go, as ever, we understand that you may not have been able to make it to the Yocha Studio store in person (even to say goodbye to Momoko and Olivia!), but remember, you can still check out our website www.yochastudio.com or social media channels for the latest news on all our Asian design products available for purchase online – all with delivery to your door. Until next time, best wishes, from the (n)ever-changing Yocha Team. |
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