Boiled down, Ikebana is floral arrangement. However, it is much more than that. Ikebana is an ancient Japanese tradition of floral arrangement, often thought to have started when excess gold and treasures were no longer popular with the royals.
The main belief behind Ikebana is to focus on harmony and nature when arranging. Simplicity is the key, so if you ever see an arrangement, it’s quite minimalistic. There are three focal points needed in Ikebana – Shin, Soe and Tae. Some ikebana philosophy states that these three focal points represent heaven, earth and man.
We had a couple of snacks while we were there, Dorayaki was one of them this is basically a pancake with red bean filling inside. Noriko mentioned that it is a favourite of Doraemon (:D). Anyway, I loved that Noriko takes the time and effort in everything she does – not only displayed by her amazing Ikebana skills but also even cutting up this pancake, she was very meticulous.
We were also treated with delicious hand made chocolates by their chocolatier. Beautiful and dusted with rose, how very fitting for a pre-Valentine’s Day treat.
We also got to sample a little bit of the teas and also the bitters they sell there. My most favourite bitter was the lavender, but they also have interesting flavours like celery and orange. I’ve never really heard of bitters other than being in cocktails, but it was simply served to us with some nice hot water. It was very relaxing.
I had a lot of fun at this class and learned a lot about Ikebana. Noriko encouraged us to come back again as they do this and calligraphy writing every Monday at O5 Tea Bar.
For more information on the events and the wonderful tea that they have here, check out their website here.
