Cuisine Paradise | Eat, Shop And Travel

Exploring The Convenience Stores and Bakeries In Tokyo, Japan

2013-05-23T10:58:00.000+08:00

Whenever we travel to a country, we love to visit their convenience stores to see what special food/beverages or stuffs they offered in it. And since Korean, Japan and Taiwan all have convenience stores like Seven Eleven (7-11), Lawson and Family Mart it makes us thrilled whenever we visit these stores because we could often find similar stuffs that we tried and miss having it.

I am not sure about your habits, but for us we always like to stock up some bites and beverages from these convenience stores for our bus journey as well as supper in the hotel room. And as you view through this post, you could find all kinds of food and beverage they offer in the stores as compared to what we have in Singapore.

Assorted Onigiri (rice balls)

Most of the convenience stores has wide range of meals, snacks and sweets, such as onigiri (rice balls), sandwiches, bread, chips, candy, obento (lunch boxes), instant ramen and hot foods like steamed bun, oden and etc. Microwave is also available to heat up cold food like onigiri and microwave meals by the store staff.

We even bought raw eggs from the convenience stores to cook in the hotel room because my kid just simply love eggs. To our surprised their eggs taste different from what we had over here and indeed they are much fragrance and tasty too.

Array of Beverages

Some of our favourite beverage such as coffee and smoothie.

Nothing beats a bowl of hot Oden (おでん) which is a popular Japanese winter dish that consist of ingredients like hard-boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku, processed fish cakes, sausages and etc in a light soy-flavoured dashi broth. You can also find similar things like this in Taiwan known as 関東煮. in my Taiwan travelogue here.

Mum loves their steamed bun and surprising it taste good like our Asian steamed bun which assorted fillings like red bean, chestnut, meat and etc.

Array for Waffles, Donuts and Snacks

Other than those bread that we usually grab from their bakery in the mall, these from the convenience stores also taste great for breakfast or supper too. My kid loves their chocolate swirl bread which is soft and fragrance.

BAKERY

I always heard good reviews about Japanese pastries and it's always my dream to try as many as I could if I have a chance to visit Japan. But when I was there last November (2012), instead of having cakes I ended up munching with their bread and pastry which I could not resists. And my favourite are their Japanese Steamed Cake, Pumpkin Bread, Curry Bun and etc.

SNACKS FROM JAPAN

Always love their packaging which makes it a great gift set.

[Must Try] Tokyo Banana (東京ばな奈)

[Must Try] Limited edition Giraffe Print Tokyo Banana

Tokyo Banana (東京ばな奈) is consider as number 1 souvenir choice when you are getting something back as a gift from Japan. These cute banana shaped sponge cake is filled with banana flavored custard which is sweet ans soft. The one shown above is the limited edition Giraffe Print Tokyo Banana which cost ¥ 1,050 (SG$12.80) per box of 8 pieces.

I also bought this Kyoho Cheesecake (¥550 / SG$6.70) during our visit to the Chateau Kastsunuma Winery (株式会社シャトー勝沼 ) on a day trip. Although it does not taste as good a those freshly baked cheesecake but it does make a decent gift with it beautiful wrapping and local flavour.

[Must Try] Assorted Flavour Crispy Rice Crackers from Nakamise Shopping Street (Nakamise-dori)

Yuzu Honey Sweet which I bought from 7-11 @ ¥198 (SG$2.40) per packet

[Must Try] Hokkaido Milk Candy

Okinawa Black Sugar Candy

As for local candy you could easily get it from any supermarkets or even convenience stores like 7-11 or family mart. You would be surprised with the varieties of candy available some are really too cute to be eaten too. For me, I love their milk candy and matcha kit kat, what about you?

Sakura Matcha Kit Kat @ ¥157 (SG$1.90)

[Must Try] Matcha Kit Kat is one of my favourite grab whenever I spot them in supermarket or convenience stores in Tokyo despite from wide range of kit kat they have in store. And before catching our flight back to Singapore, I was thrilled to spot the above Sakura Matcha Kit Kat from the Duty Free Shop in the airport.

When compared, the matcha taste was lighter and it was also infuse with a light Sakura fragrance which is something new and rare to find in Singapore.

Assorted Nama Chocolate from Royce @ ¥695 (SG$8.50)

[Must Try] Another must buy souvenir from the airport before flying off is their well-known Royce, Nama Chocolate. I bought the Nama Chocolate [Au Lait] which is a blend of milk chocolate and fresh cream that makes it rich and smooth and Nama Chocolate [Champagne Pierre Mignon] which are name chocolate with fragrance of Champagne Pierre Mignon. Each box cost around ¥695 (SG$8.50) with 20 pieces and it contains Liquor in it too.

With this post, I conclude our travelogue for Japan trip and if you are keen to read more about our experience in Japan. You can refer to the links shown below.

[Day 6] Shabu Shabu @ Shabujo, Shinjuku

2013-05-21T11:04:00.001+08:00

Japan trip won't be satisfied if we did not try their sushi, sashimi, omurice, shabu shabu, takoyaki and etc. So on the last night of our trip, we decided to go for Shabu Shabu which was perfect for that cold and wet evening when everyone needs some hot food to keep warm. So after searching around for a decent Shabu Shabu restaurant near our hotel at Shinjuku ( 新宿), we finally settled for Shabujo which is listed in their recommending food good guide. For your information, Shabujo is about 6 minutes walk from JR Shinjuku Station, East Exit.

Shabujo offers both ala carte and set menu for patrons to choose from and since we have 12 pax, we decided to go for their set menu which we ordered combo meat sets (¥6200 / SG$75.60) plus a meat set with seafood (¥9000 / SG$ 109.70).

For each set menu, it comes with the following items:-

- Beer/Wine/Plum Wine/Soft Drink
- Japanese beef on special breed (about 100g)
- Amakusa-plum pork meat (about 100g)
- Assorted Seafood (such as scallop, snow crab, prawns and etc depending on the set selected)
- Assorted vegetables and mushrooms
- Sliced green onion (leek)
- Pickles
- Rice/Udon/Dumplings
- Salad shabu-shabu
- Ice cream

Mum and I shared a glass of Japanese sweet plum wine to keep ourselves warm from the cold weather (about 8 degree that night).

Shabu Shabu Salad with Cucumber, Lettuce and Japanese sesame dressing

Dipping Sauce for Shabu Shabu such as ponzu, goma (sesame sauce), chopped green onion, grated radish, chili oil and etc.

Their delicious pork dumplings (水餃子) were made with yellow chives and dried shirmp from Okayama Prefecture together with the sweet and juicy pork. Each ala carte serving of the dumplings cost ¥530 (SG$ 6.50) for 5 dumplings.

While waiting for the vegetables and meats to be served, we started off with some pork dumplings and hot soup broth to warm our tummy.

Amakusa-plum Pork Meat (about 100g)

Amakusa Plum Meat Pork Loin is pricing at ¥950 (SG$11.60) per plate and it is also one of the popular pick among women who is after healthier choice of meat at shabu shabu. Other than pork loin we also ordered the Amakusa Plum Meat Pokubara at ¥850 (SG$10.30) which has a beautiful texture that you won't regret having those fat just for once.

Japanese Beef on Special Loin (about 100g)

Sorry for the poor quality photo captured on this Japanese Beef on Special Loin as it suppose to show the beautiful marbled Japanese beef that will melt in your mouth slightly. A plate like the above cost about ¥2800 (SG$34.00) which is quite premium for Shabu Shabu.

Our group of 6 pax are more of meat eaters so we choose the Combo Meat Set (plus additional plate of Amakusa plum meat Pokubara ) instead of the meats and seafood that the other 6 members ordered.

After meal, we were served with some ice-cream of our choice on either Matcha or Vanilla and it was indeed a great dessert to end our Shabu Shabu dinner.

新宿歌舞伎町しゃぶしゃぶ専門店
Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo 2-22-5
2nd Shinjuku Building 1F
Telephone: 03-5272-8817
Website: http://www.shabujo.com

Capacity: 88 seats

Operating Hours:-
Monday - Thursday: 5:30 - 11:00pm (LO 23:15)
Friday, Saturday and PH Eve: 5:30pm - 3:30am (LO 2:45)
Sunday and Public Holiday: 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm (LO 22:15)

Singapore Navy Open House 2013

2013-05-20T12:50:00.002+08:00

Over the weekend, I believe many of us has visited the Singapore Navy Open House 2013 (NOH) at Changi Naval Base. The open house starts with long queues over at the Singapore Expo Hall 3 where visitors go through some security screening before boarding the free shuttle bus to NOH. Even though we were there early like 8.10am on Saturday, 18 May we still waited for about 30 minutes before we get into the bus. But thanks to the well-organized queuing system (to and back from the open house) as well as the navy staffs who help up to maintain the flow, the queue do move pretty fast and in order too.

The crowds at Singapore Expo go through the security screen and waiting to board the shuttle bus to the Navy Open House on Saturday, 18 May 2013.

K-Ster expendable mine disposal system (EMPS) on display

Navy Open House held at Changi Naval Base

With the given brochure(s) at the entrance, visitors would be able to redeem a limited edition Navy Open House Badge plus submit a slip to join their ballot cruise ride on one of their display warships too.

There are a few zones to explore at the NOH like Mission Zone, Heart Zone, Experience and Family Zone. In the Heart Zone, there are many navy personnel around to share they stories as well as a photo booth to provide free photo taking and instant print for visitors and after which these photos would be uploaded to their Facebook here.

Souvenirs and information booths are also available in Heart Zone too.

At the open house, visitors could also experience ear-bursting dynamic display on how the members of the elite Naval Diving Unit dropping into the water from hovering Chinook helicopters to overcome terrorist threats at sea as well as conducting a hostage rescue.

Rescue in process.....

RSS Valiant from 188 Squadron

Ships at Navy Open House which opens to public access where visitors could go for an on board tour.

RSS Swordsman at the Navy Open House. Too bad submarines are not open to public access and viewing.

Thanks God, we won balloting tickets for a 60 minutes cruise ride on board the RSS Vengeance from 188 Squadron.

We sail off from the Changi Naval Base and start with an hour of exciting cruise ride along the coastal line.

On board we get to experience the Corvettes travel at amazing speed of 30 knots which is about 50kmh. And during the ride, we also given opportunity to understand the function of the warship and the life of the crews on board through exchange conversations.

Beautiful view along the coastal line while on board the RSS Vengeance.

At the open house, there was also an Food and Beverage Zone where you could take a rest, have some bites and occupy yourself with performances that are prepared by the navy staffs and school students.

As you could see from the over, the food zone was over crowded even before the lunch hours which I think they could have bring in more stalls or bigger area to cater for the crowds in future events. For us, we just grab some pastry which has the shortest queue of all but I think it would be good to bring along some bread or sandwiches which would be great in term of cost and quality.

RSN S70-B Seahawk naval helicopter

Other than the naval ships, visitors also has the opportunities to see other assets from the Army and Air Force too. For example, Seahawk naval helicopter, Tankers, Top Gun and etc.

Out of all the exhibit warships, the queue to visit the RSS Endurance [207] never seems to get shorter than the 90 minutes wait. This ship is fitted with a well dock which can accommodate four landing crafts as well as a flight deck which can accommodate two medium lift helicopters too.

Lastly we also explore some of the foreign warships that participate in this year Navy Open House such as the :- ) USS Freedom [LCS-1] – Freedom class Littoral Combat Ship from United States of America; INS Satpura [F48] – Shivalik class Frigate and INS Kirch [P62] – Kora class Corvette from India.

Although the weather was pretty hot that day, but I am sure all those who went definitely had an enjoyable time with the cruise ride, warships tour, experience at shooting range and etc. We shall look forward for the next Navy Open House in 2016.

[Day 6] Tokyo Ramen Street

2013-05-16T10:07:00.000+08:00

On second last day of our Japanese trip, we went to First Avenue Tokyo Station (東京駅一番街) which has a three-floor commercial and retail featuring 120 stores and restaurants with the first floor connected directly to the Yaesu exits of Tokyo Station (東京駅).

And with the two main attractions like Tokyo Character Street and Tokyo Ramen Street, we decided to go there to try their well-known Ramen shops in Tokyo as well as shop for some cute souvenirs back too .

Tokyo Station (東京駅) is a railway station in the Marunouchi (丸の内) business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo which is near the Imperial Palace grounds and the Ginza (銀座) commercial district.

Model of the Tokyo Station

Tokyo Ramen Street opened in April 2011 featuring Ramen stores operated by eight renowned names in Tokyo ramen such as:-

1. Rokurinsha Tokyo (六厘舎) where there is always a line and they are well-known for tsukemen (noodles with dipping sauce);

2. Hirugao (ひるがお) is a branch from the very popular ramen restaurant call Setagaya which is specializing in shio ramen (noodles in salt-based soup);

3. Kani-senmon Keisuke Kita no Sho (蟹専門けいすけ) is created by a ramen innovator and their ramen is served is a special design bowls. They even have outlets in Singapore too;

4. Ramen Mutsumiya (むつみ屋) is renowned for its popular miso ramen (noodles in miso-based soup) and this is the restaurant that we had our ramen from;

5.Tokyo Station Ikaruga (斑鳩東京駅) is one of Tokyo's most famous ramen restaurants, whose First Avenue location represents its second restaurant after the flagship restaurant;

6. Ramen Honda (麵処ほん田) is consider a new and popular eatery among the rest of 7 which is consistently draws lines;

7. Junk-Garage (ジャンクがレッジ) is known for it's genre of maze soba (noodles topped with a dollop of thick, tasty sauce); and

8. Menya Shichisai / Tokyo Miso Ramen Edoama (麺や七彩) is famous for it's soy sauce ramen that extracts delightful flavor from its noodle

Menu from Mutsumiya

Side: Gyoza @ ¥100 (SG$1.20) for 5 pieces

Mutsumiya origin from Hokkaido and they have typical topping on their ramen such as sliced pork (chashu), green onion (negi), seaweed (nori) and boiled egg. Although they served both the red (spicy) and white (miso) ramen, we tried only their Signature White Miso Ramen (¥1000 / SG$12.20) which served in thick rich miso soup broth.

If you have time, perhaps you could try more than one ramen restaurant to compare their soup broth and noodles; but generally the waiting time for each restaurant will be around 30 minutes to an hour or more depending on its popularity.

Mutsumiya (むつみ屋)
Tokyo Station Ichibangai #B1
Tokyo Ramen Street
Telephone: 03-5520-6558
Seating Capacity: 32 Seats (non smoking)

Opening Hours:-
10.00 am - 11.00pm (LO 10.30pm)

At the Nijubashi Bridge seeing the Imperial Palace

After lunch we took a short walk to visit the Nijubashi Bridge which we could see a far view of the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace buildings and inner gardens are not open to the public except on every year, 02 January (New Year's Greeting) and 23 December (Emperor's Birthday). On these dates, visitors are able to enter the inner palace grounds and stand a chance to see the members of the Imperial Family making public appearances on a balcony.

Beside that, during the rest of the year there are also guided tours of the palace which are offered in Japanese (English pamphlet and audio guide are provided) and it must be reserved in advance with the Imperial Household Agency (reservation details here).

After which we took the train to Kamiyacho Station (神谷町駅) which is the nearest station to Tokyo Tower (東京タワ). It takes about 5 - 10 minutes walk from the station exit to the tower ticketing area.

The structure of this landmark is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations. Although most of the tourists are attracted to the newly open Tokyo SkyTree tower but we could still see crowds queuing at the ticket counters to get their entry tickets to go on top of the Tokyo Tower.

Another view of Tokyo Tower from far.

Admission fees to the observatory

Tokyo Tower (東京タワ)
４-２-８, Minato
Tokyo 105-0011, Japan
Telephone: +81 3-3433-5111

Opening Hours:-
9:00am - 10:00pm (daily)
(entry until 21:45 to main observatory, until 21:30 to special observatory)

Fujisoba (名代富士) At Akihabara, Tokyo

2013-05-06T18:22:00.000+08:00

We had long day out for "Day 5" starting with Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場), lunch at Tsukiji Sushi Kiyoshi (築地寿司清本店), more shopping trip at Ginza and sightseeing over at Kaminarimon (雷門) plus getting the famous Dorayaki (銅鑼焼き) from Kamejyu (亀十). In the evening, we took the train over to Akihabara (秋葉原) which is a district in central Tokyo, that is famous for its many electronics shops because cousin wanted to find some Anime figurines.

In addition to shops there are also various other cosplay restaurants in that area such as the well-known "maid cafes" where waitresses dress up and act like maids or anime characters, and manga kissaten (comics cafes) which is a type of internet cafe where customers can read comics and watch DVDs in addition to having access to the internet.

Anime design posters and Electronics shops around Akihabara area.

Before exploring more around Akihabara area, we decided to settle our dinner at Fujisoba (名代富士) which was on the first floor building of Takarada central street that is near the Akihabara Station. This 24 hours eatery has two ordering vending machines outside the shop which enable customers to purchase "meal ticket(s)" base on what they want and later on collects the dish over at the serving counter after making the payment. (At that point of time, my kid was fascinated by this food ordering machine which we don't get to see in Singapore.)

Tempura Udon @ ¥360 (SG$4.50)

Curry Rice @ ¥420 (SG$5.20)

Katsudon @ ¥460 (SG$5.70)

Even though the capacity of the shop can only cater less than 20 diners but one thing we learn from their culture, they don't usually spend more than 15 minutes eating at the shop. So whenever they finished they would vacant the seat(s) for the next waiting customer which in a way you don't even need to wait long during lunch/dinner crowds.

Fujisoba (名代富士) is also one of those food chain outlets in Japan serving economic and decent Japanese food which are less than ¥550 (SG$6.80). And we also feel at least the quality are still much better than those Japanese food that we have in Singapore foodcourt if comparing the price that we are paying. So perhaps if for a quick bite or budget food, you could give it a try if you happen to walk past the shop

名代富士そば
秋葉原駅前店
千代田区外神田1-14-1
宝田中央通りビル
営業時間：24時間営業
Website: http://fujisoba.co.jp/

Din Tai Fung Limited Edition Canvas Tote And Red Bean Rice Dumplings

2013-05-05T21:02:00.003+08:00

Photo Credit:- Din Tai Fung

For the month of May, patrons who dine at Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) would be able to receive a complementary Limited Edition Canvas Tote (worth S$12.90 each) to encourage dinners to go green. These totes featured calligraphic inspired prints of the restaurant's award-winning Steamed Pork Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao) and it will be available in four different colours each week starting from 1st May.

Photo Credit:- Din Tai Fung

This complimentary Canvas Tote is entitled for diners who spend a minimum of S$100.00 but the totes can also be purchased at S$7.90 each with any S$50.00 spend at Din Tai Fung. Furthermore, to reward dinners for their go green efforts, they will receive a 5% discount off from their total takeaway bill when they use the tote at Din Tai Fung between 01 May - 31st December 2013.

My Instagram Photo @ http://instagram.com/p/YPI-mzBEZr/

In June in order to celebrate Dragon Boat Festive (端午节), Din Tai Fung's popular Red Bean Rice Dumplings (豆沙粽) is back upon demand too. Same as previous years, these dumplings are specially air-flown from Taiwan and there are made using top grade Taiwan pearl rice together with generous filling of fragrant red bean paste in a pillow-shaped.

Photo Credit: Din Tai Fung

Just for your information, OCBC Cardmembers will receive a complimentary Red Bean Rice Dumpling (worth S$4.80) with a minimum spend of S$80.00 at Din Tai Fung between 01 - 30 June 2013. Whereas for non-cardmembers a minimum of S$90.00 spend will be required in order to entitle the complimentary treat .

Mother's Day Cake From Icing Room plus Giveaway

2013-04-26T22:29:00.001+08:00

Photo credit: The Icing Room

This coming Mother's Day, The Icing Room introduce two special design cakes to pamper all mothers who plays the most important role in their family. These two elegance cakes are known as Perfect Mum (top) and Say It with Love (bottom) at a regular price of S$29.00 each which can be served up to 6.

And if you place your pre-order of the Mother's Day Cake(s) mentioned above from 02nd - 09th May 2013, you could also enjoy a 20% discount off plus received an adorable lollicake from The Icing Room.

Photo credit: The Icing Room

Perfect Mum - Strawberry cake made from classic vanilla chiffon and layered with strawberry mousse and jelly.

Photo credit: The Icing Room

Say It with Love - Made from light and fluffy vanilla chiffon that filled with cocktail fruits and heavenly Chantilly cream which represent the tender sweetness that a mother showers on her children.

On top of that from 12th April 2013 onwards, lovely treats from The Icing Room would be made available from their new delivery website @http://theicingroomdelivery.com.sg/ so that it would be a breeze to order your cake(s) and get it delivered to your doorstep.

MOTHER'S DAY CAKE GIVEAWAY

Thanks to The Icing Room, we are giving away a voucher worth S$29.00 to 1 Lucky readers/followers of Cuisine Paradise to redeem the "Prefect Mum" Cake starting from 02 May - 09 May 2013.

To participate:-
1. LIKE and SHARE this photo on Facebook. (remember to leave a comment that you have liked and shared)

2. Leave a comment at this post sharing one of your favourite homecook dish that you wish to learn from your mum?

Terms And Conditions
* This giveaway ends on Monday, 29 April 2013 (2.00pm, Singapore time).
* Only for readers living in SINGAPORE.
* Participants must follow the instructions mentioned above to be eligible for the giveaway.
* Please leave a valid email address when filling out the comment form so that we can contact you immediately if you are the winners.

[UPDATED ON:- 30 April 2013]

[Day 5] Kaminarimon (雷門) @ Asakusa

2013-04-15T10:08:00.000+08:00

Asakusa (浅草) is located in the center of Tokyo with Sensō-ji Temple (金龍山浅草寺) as its main attraction. Kaminarimon Gate (雷門) or also known as the "Thunder Gate" is the outer of two large entrance gates that leads to the Sensō-ji Temple. With its Giant Red Lantern and statues this attraction is popular with tourists as well as hot spot for photos taking too.

Asakusa is accessible by the Ginza Subway Line, Asakusa Subway Line, Tsukuba Express and etc. And from Asakusa you could also take a 20 minutes walk across the Sumida River to the new Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー) attraction.

From Tokyo Station
Take the JR Yamanote Line to Kanda Station (2 minutes, ¥130 Yen) and transfer to the Ginza Subway Line for Asakusa (10 minutes, ¥160 Yen).

From Shinjuku Station
Take the orange JR Chuo Line to Kanda Station (10 minutes, ¥160 Yen) and transfer to the Ginza Subway Line for Asakusa (10 minutes, ¥160 Yen).

Since we were at Ginza area after visiting the Tsukiji Market (read more HERE) , we decided to take a 10 minutes subway ride to visit the well-known Kaminarimon gate.

Kaminarimon gate was built more than 1000 years ago and it is the symbol of Asakusa. Cross the gate, there is this Nakamise shopping street that leads from Kaminarimon to the temple grounds.

As you could see, Nakamise Shopping Street (Nakamise-dori) stretches from the entrance of Kaminarimon gate to the main grounds of Sensoji Temple. Along the stretch it is lined by more than 80 over shops which offer local specialties, food and array of souvenirs for tourists.

BBQ Rice Crackers

Matcha Mochi Manju with red bean filling @ ¥80 (SG$0.80) each

Osenbei (rice crackers)

Ningyoyaki

Pastry master making Ningyoyaki which is small cake filled with red bean paste. These small cakes various in shaped like hello kitty, animals, traditional lanterns and etc.

View of Tokyo Skytree from Nakamise shopping street

About 100m towards the entrance of the Sensō-ji Temple, on the right, you would be able to catch a view of the magnificent Tokyo Skytree. We are unable to go up to the Skytree tower due to the festive crowds (Thanksgiving Day Holiday in Japan, 23 November) and tourists who had already pre-purchased the tickets.

History of the Sensoji Temple

Main entrance of the Sensoji Temple

Sensoji (金龍山浅草寺) is a Buddhist temple located in Asakusa. It is also one of Tokyo's most colorful and popular temples that was built in 645 making it the oldest among all. Often there are various events held throughout the year in the Sensoji Temple area. The biggest of them is the Sanja Matsuri which is an annual festival of the Asakusa Shrine that helds in May.

Amazake (甘酒) @ ¥300 (S$4.00) per cup

Along the way back due to the cold weather, we decided to try this Amazake (甘酒) which is a sweet Japanese drink made from fermented rice. It tasted slightly sweet fragrance which makes it a best hot beverage for cold winter night.

Due to winter, the street gets darker earlier like what shown above even though it was only around 5.30 pm in the evening.

Opposite the main entrance of the Kaminarimon gate, there is a famous Dorayaki (銅鑼焼き) shop know as Kamejyu (亀十) which is just seconds away from Tokyo Metro station and Kaminarimon has being serving Dorayaki for more than 80 years.

Most people come for their Dorayaki but other than that, the also have Kintsuba (Sweet red bean paste), Monaka (Sweet red or white bean paste in wafers), Mamemochi (Sticky rice cake with beans), Candice Blackbean/Chestnut and etc.

Above shown is their signature Dorayaki (銅鑼焼き) which comes with either sweet red or white bean paste at ¥315 (SG$4.00). These are definitely the best Dorayaki that we had which is soft and fluffy, filled with refined fillings that made with beans from Hokkaido.

KAMEJYU （亀十）
2-18-11 Kaminarimon, Taito-ku, Tokyo
(東京都台東区雷門2-18-11)
Telephone: 03-3841-2210
Website: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3004.html

Opening hour:
10.00am - 8.30pm

MELODY, the latest Automatic System by Nescafe Dolce Gusto

2013-04-12T12:57:00.000+08:00

NESCAFE Dolce Gusto is having a roadshow plus launch of New NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® MELODY from from 11 - 14 April 2013 at Marina Square level 1 Atrium! At the roadshow you could also be among the first to own a MELODY and enjoy exclusive machine and capsule promotions plus sampling of their three new variants such as Cafe Au Lait, Espresso Intenso and Grande Intenso.

NESCAFE Dolce Gusto roadshow @ Marina Square level 1 Atrium

At the roadshow there are a few service counters where you could make enquries on the different types of NESCAFE Dolce Gusto Automatic Systems like MELODY (Retail Price @ SG$279.00), Genio, Circolo and etc. On top of that, there are also THREE newly launched single capsule variants such as:-

3 NEW Variants: Espresso Intenso, Cafe Au Lait and Grande Intenso

1. Espresso Intenso produce a 50ml short black coffee with an extra strong intensity which similar to 8 on the strength scale of Espresso range to give you that perk-me-up effect.

2. Cafe Au Lait which is the first and only capsule product that offers coffee with frothy milk in one single capsule in less than 1 minute.

3. Whereas for Grande Intenso, it has an intense and bold flavour that makes a 180ml long black coffee for a slow slips enjoyment.

Making Latte Macchiato with NESCAFE Dolce Gusto MELODY

Delicious Hot Chococino in less than a minute.

With the convenience of the NESCAFE Dolce Gusto single capsule variants and their automatic machines, it is so easy to prepare a premium cup of cafe-style beverage at time of the day either at the comfort of our home or office and create enjoyable moments with family or friends.

Other than launching of MELODY and new variants flavours, there is also a "member's lounge" area whereby NESCAFE Dolce Gusto members (to register, refer to this link here or you could register manual at the roadshow) can access and get to try the Tiramisu Cupake made using Espresso Intenso or some Mocktail using Vanilla Macchiato or Peach Tea variants.

Espresso Intenso Tiramisu Cupcake by Tiramisu Hero. The cupcake is light, not to sweet nor creamy but with a hint of lovely Espresso flavour that perk up your afternoon. Best to go with a cup of Cafe Au Lait or Chococino.

For non-coffee drinker or something light to go with the cake, you could try Tropical Spritzer which blend with NESTEA Peach Tea, Apple Juice and S Pellegrino.

Beside the Cupcake and Beverage, we also get to try the Baci Chocolate which is one of the Freebie given when purchasing any 8 boxes of NESCAFE Dolce Gusto capsules.

Capsule variants are available at the roadshow

Some of the freebies given for the exclusive capsule promotion.

Just for your information, if you are not able to visit the roadshow this weekend, NESCAFE Dolce Gusto MELODY Automatic System and the range of Beverage Capsules are available in all electrical chain stores, selected departmental stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets too.

From 15 April - 31 May 2013, there are some SPECIALS gifts for customers who purchase the followings:-

1. Receive a complementary Parco capsule holder worth S$55.00 for any Automatic systems purchased - Genio Automatic (SG$259), Circole Automatic (SG$339) or MELODY Automatic (SG$279).

2. Received an additional 2 boxes of Capsules (Latte Macchiato and espresso) with purchase of MELODY Automatic.

3. Receive a complimentary Latte Macchiato Glass with any 5 boxes of capsules purchase.

Lastly I would like to thanks NESCAFE Dolce Gusto and Emily from Asian PR Werkz for the media invite.

*Photos taken using Canon EOS M, M18-55 lens on Manual mode

[#sgmemory Project] Nostalgia Tour with My Home, My Library Project

2013-04-09T22:22:00.000+08:00

Talking about #SGMemory, what is the first thing that come across your mind? Is it the old school "Zeropoint" game that you used to playing during recess time, 30 cents fishball noodles from the school canteen or trying to set record for the pokemon games on your "Gameboy"? For me when I think about it, I could recalled many wonderful childhood memories which I would love to share with my kid.

Last Saturday, my kid and I were thrilled to join in the Nostalgia Food Tour (together with DanielFoodDiary, Keropokman, Camemberu and Melicacy) which was conducted by the Singapore Memory Project as part of this year event to capture and document precious moments and memories related to Singapore. During the nostalgia tour, we visited 4 heritage eateries and delicacies where our host Daniel (danielfooddiary) shared the history and food culture of these places.

Our 1st stop was at Singapore Zam Zam Restaurant which established since 1908 (about 104 years old). It is one of Singapore's best-known Muslim restaurants running by the 3rd Generation of Mr Abdul Kadir (founder of Zam Zam). For your information, Zam Zam is named after the well that provides the water to billions of people from throughout history especially during the Hajj pilgrimage.

Zam Zam occupy a 2-floor dinning area where the second level provides air conditioning for customers who ordered their Murtabak and Briyani only.

They even put up a notice at the drinks counter showing the ordering requirements.

Friendly speaking it was my first visit to Zam Zam and I was surprised to see the large crowds even after lunch hours on a drizzling Saturday afternoon. From a glance around the tables we could see most of the customers were having their famous Murtabak which comes in either beef, mutton or chicken fillings.

Personally I prefer their Murtabak more than the Chicken Biryani and I would like to drop by another day to try other items on the menu too.

Singapore Zam Zam Restaurant
697 North Bridge Road
Singapore 198675
Telephone: (65)6298 6320

Opening Hours:
8:00am – 11:00pm (daily)

As a cake love, I fell in love with these awesome soft, fluffy and delicious Kaya Swiss Roll from Rich And Good Cake Shop. This 20 years old bakery is managed by Mdm Lily Liu and the shop offers items like cake and biscuits but their specialty is on Swiss Roll which comes in a wide variety of flavors like strawberry, orange, durian, coffee, chocolate, kaya, green tea and blueberry @ S$7.50 each.

Alternatively you could try their Mango Swiss Roll which was not as sweet as compared to the Kaya Swiss Roll which I think is good for those who don't have sweet tooth. And I also happened to see one my Instagram friend, Celest bought their Chocolate Swiss Roll after we featured ours in the #sgmemory. Would like to try their Chocolate and Durian Swiss Roll during my next visit.

Rich and Good Cake Shop (裕佳西饼店)
24 Kandahar Street
Singapore 198887
Telephone: (65) 6294 3324

Opening Hours:
08:30am - 17:00pm (Mon - Fri)
08:30 - 16:00pm (sat)

3rd stop was at Seow Choon Hua Restaurant which is a 70 years old street food eatery located at Sultan Gate. And according to Daniel, their specialty is Red Wine Chicken and Foo Chow Lor Mee.

First time trying Foo Chow style stir-fry rice cake which consists of ingredients like chicken liver, fish cake and some Chinese cabbage. For me this dish is has a very homely feel combination which I would like to try replicating it at home soon.

Another interesting and must try dish is their Foo Chow Fishball and Yan Pi. The fishball is made using four types of fish like; Ikan Parang, Grouper, Red Fish and Yellow Eel together with some seasonings, flour and mixed together to form a ball and then stuffed with minced meat.

Seow Choon Hua Restaurant
33 Sultan Gate
Singapore 198481
Telephone: (65) 6298 2720

Opening Hours:
10:00am – 10:00pm (daily)

Last stop we headed to Tiong Bahru Galicier Pastry where they have a wide varieties of homemade Nonya Kueh like Kueh Dadar (sweet nonya pancake roll with coconut fillings), Kueh Lapis (steamed layer cake), Layer Sago Kueh, Kueh Kosui, Lemper Udang, Ambon (honeycomb cake) and etc.

Other than Nonya Kueh, they also have pastries and bread which are worth trying too and my kid loves their milk bun which is so soft and fluffy. Aunty Jenny (shop owner) also mentioned that Galicier actually started as early as in 1975 near Killiney Road selling only western confectioneries and cakes. It was only when they moved to Tiong Bahru around 12 years ago when they started off with Nonya kuehs kuehs which was taught by their Uncle Tan’s Nonya grandmother.

Tiong Bahru Galicier Pastry
55 Tiong Bahru Rd
#01-39
Singapore 160055
Telephone: (65) 6324 1686

Opening Hours:
09:00am - 9:00pm (closed on Monday)

Other than the Nostalgia Food Tour, from 25 March to 29 April 2013, in conjunction with the Singapore Memory Project there will be a a My Home, My Library exhibition held across all the libraries island wide which you could find the location here.

At the exhibit area, there is a memory submission stand in the shape of our familiar carnation milk tin whereby visitor could penned down their memories on the special design postcard and depositing it into the tin too.

These Memories are split into 2 themes such as My Home and My Library featuring memories from residents who are living in the neighborhood which I am sure you already spotted them in the "huge" Tinbox during your recent visit to the library. If you have not being to the library recently, perhaps you could drop by anytime before 29 April and take a look on at the exhibition which might even bring back some old memories of yours or your family too.

Apart for finding back those old memories, there is also a SNAP AND SHARE contest where visitors could snap a photo(s) of anything related to the exhibition, post the image with #sgmemory on Instagram or Twitter and stand a chance to win a weekly draw of S$200.00 worth shopping vouchers.

My collection of #sgmemory over the years...

Lastly, on top of the SNAP AND SHARE contest mentioned above, you could also do your part to contribute your #sgmemory thru Instagram Photos towards the Singapore Memory Project like what we have done above. The photos can be from your past memory on Singapore food, heritage places, buildings, things or etc which you would love to keep it as part of #sgmemory gallery. So remember to hag tag your photos with #sgmemory and if you like you could also tag "@cuisineparadise" and share with me your photos as well.

Lastly I would like to thank Daniel (DanielFoodDiary) for hosting this tasting; Singapore Memory Project and Joy from DDB for the invite.

[Day 5] Tsukiji Sushi Kiyoshi - 築地寿司清本店

2013-04-08T08:38:00.002+08:00

[Continue from Tsukiji Fish Market post] After walking around the Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場), we decided to settle for a sushi brunch and there are quite a number of well-known Sushi restaurants or street stalls selling all kind of assorted sushi, sashimi and etc too. Before my trip to Japan, I have saw some clips and introductions about this famous fish market from a few Japanese sightseeing programmes on television. So when uncles marked down a day to visit Tsukiji fish market we were pretty excited to see their wholesale seafood market as well as a chance to sample their freshly made sushi.

After roaming a round to find a place which could occupy the 11 of us, we decided to settle our lunch at one of the recommended sushi restaurant known as 築地寿司清本店. Although they have 2 outlets (main and subsidiary) along the same street with two story dinning area, we still had to wait around 30 minutes before we could get our seats.

The interior of the restaurant was rather packed and narrow where the seats are pretty close to each other giving you a squeezes feel.

Sample of their Menu

Chef was preparing the Chirashi Bowl

Chef was preparing our TAKUMI set

TAKUMI (Assorted Sushi) Set @ ¥2,500 / SG$32.00

The Takumi Set consists of 11 items such as Toro, Sea Bream, Red Tuna, Squid, Mackerel, Red Shrimp, Herring Roe, Salmon Roe, Sea Urchin, Eel and Egg Omelette. It was such a blessing to enjoy a platter like this with tuna that just melts in your mouth, mackerel which is so fresh that it's not fishy all and most of the items taste great and rich in flavor too.

Tamago Sushi @ ¥320 / SG$4.15

Tamago sushi is one of my boy's favourite. He just simply loves this even though it might not be worth spending SG$4.00+ to have this in Japan.

Salmon Nigiri @ ¥160 (SG$2.00) per piece

Oh my! I have weakness when it comes to Salmon. I simply love anything related to salmon like Salmon Nigiri, Salmon Sashimi, Salmon Belly and etc. So for this Japan trip it definitely satisfied my tummy with all those fresh and mouthwatering salmon.

築地寿司清本店
Tsukiji Sushi Kiyoshi (Head office)
4-13-9 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Telephone: 03-3541-7720

* 3 - 5 minutes walk from the Tsukiji Market Station or walk from Tsukiji Tsukiji Fish Market access.

Tea Cappuccinos From The Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf

2013-04-07T17:11:00.000+08:00

This coming 08 April, all The Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf outlets will be launching their new Tea Cappuccinos which consists freshly brewed tea concoctions layered with silky milk foam and drizzled with delicious vanilla bean sauce. For your information, the Tea Cappuccinos are available in three flavours such as Chai, Scottish Breakfast and Anniversary Blend Tea.

To start with you can choose either the tasty Scottish Breakfast to perk up your dull morning or some soothingly spicy Chai to relax your day. Whereas for a more heritage flavour, perhaps Anniversary Blend which combines white, green, oolong and black premium tea that infused with natural Acai Berry would be great for you. So fo a short period between 08 April 2013 - 25 May 2013, you may want to pick up a cup of the Tea Cappuccinos with your choice of from any of the 3 mentioned flavour at S$6.00 each.

For me I would definitely like to go for the Chai Cappuccino because I am a big fan of Chai tea!

[Day 5] Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場) @ Tokyo, Japan

2013-04-05T09:58:00.001+08:00

Visiting Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場) was listed as one of the "must go" places in our Itinerary. Although with kids in our group and we could not managed to be at the seafood auctions as early as 4.00 am in the morning to witness the show. But we were still able to reach there around 9.00 am in the morning for some fresh sashimi and sushi for brunch.

Other than selling seafood, there are also groceries stalls, marinated products, Japanese kitchen tools (such as plates, bowls and knives), restaurant supplies as well as street food, sushi bar and restaurant for visitors too.

And from what I have Google before visiting Tsukiji Fish Market. This fish market is consider to be one of the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world as well as largest wholesale food markets of any kind. So you could imagine the crowds and tourists visiting there each day.

If you are a fan of Katsuobushi (Bonito Flakes / かつおぶし), remember to look around for this shop, try some of their samples and maybe consider to grab a pack too.

Fresh Vegetables Stall @ Tsukiji Fish Market

From the above, you could see that we do find similar vegetables like what we have in Singapore such a enoki mushrooms, white radish, Chinese cabbage, spinach and etc.

Fresh Wasabi

It's not difficult to spot these fresh Wasabi (わさび（山葵） at Tsukiji Market. And these were sold in different pricing due to their grades and sizes ranging from around ¥600 (SG$7.80) to ¥1,200 (SG$15.60) per piece. To be frank it was also our first time seeing fresh Wasabi and my kid was very excited about it.

Along the way, we found these cute little packaging which excite me. From the look and label shown on it, these seems to be dried puffer fish but we have no idea on how/what these goodies are used for. So at that time I was quite hesitated to get a packet, but to recall about it now I do felt a bit regretted for not getting one.

Above is one of their fishmonger stalls that sell fresh salmon, mackerel, shellfish and etc. And while walking passed the fish stalls mum commented that it would be good if we are staying in those service apartment with kitchen so that we could buy fresh seafood to prepare some dishes.

Other than fish, you could also find a lot of Crabs such as Hairy Crabs, Flower Crabs, Snow crabs and etc ranging up to ¥6,800 (SG$88.00) each.

Further down the lane, we were amazed by the "long knife" used to slice the tuna so we stopped to see how he do the cut. On top of that, we were also blown away by the fresh tuna and it's beautiful texture and colour.

Cooked Abalone which could be consumed straight from the packaging were sold at ¥1900 (S$25.00). Wonder is it ¥1900 per piece or per box of 6. Anyone reads Japanese word can give us some idea?

These were some of the cooked sardines, mackerel, nuts and etc which you could grab a packet or two to go with rice or porridge like most of the Japanese does. Each packet is roughly about SG$3.00 - SG$4.50 depending on what you choose. I bet this could make some good souvenir pack too!

Along the street you could find some interesting street food such as grilled mushrooms, salmon and squid which you could buy and try. Although these street food are much cheaper as compared to those served in the Japanese restaurant but taste wise they are surprisingly good and worth trying.

Tamagoyaki (玉子焼) from Takeshi (玉子焼丸武)

Takeshi (玉子焼丸武)
４丁目-１０-１０ Tsukiji, Chuo
Tokyo 104-0045, Japan
Telephone: (+81) 3-3542-1919
Operating Hours: 4.00am - 2.30pm (Daily)

Tamagoyaki (玉子焼) from Tsukiji Yama-Chou

There are a two famous stalls along the back street of Tuskiji Market selling Tamagoyaki (玉子焼) that draws crowds queuing outside their stalls. One of the stall at the corner which is known as Tsukiji Yam Chou (築地山長) has around 6 different flavours such as plain, kani (crab), anago (eel), ebi (shrimp), Japanese pepper and etc.

As compared, Takeshi (玉子焼丸武) draws a larger crowds than Tsukiji Yam Chou (築地山長) even though both selling their Tamagoyaki (玉子焼) @ ¥100 (SG$1.30) per piece. Personally we prefer the Tamagoyaki sold at Takeshi which is less sweeter and yet more fluffy to our liking. But if you are there, do try both instead of one so that you could do your own comparison.

After exploring around the Tsukiji Fish Market, we decided to pamper ourselves with some fresh Sushi (寿司) and Sashimi (刺身) for lunch at Tsukiji Sushi Kiyoshi (築地寿司清本店) which I would update more on the next post.

Beanstro by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf‏ @ Takashimaya

2013-04-03T12:30:00.000+08:00

About two weeks back during the March school holiday break we went for a tasting at Beanstro which is a casual American-sytle dining restaurant by The Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf. Beanstro is at a convenience location at Basement 1 of Takashimaya Shopping and with it's halal-certified menu, Muslim friends are also able to enjoy their range of food too.

Other than the main course, you can also get to enjoy delicious and freshly prepared breakfast all day at Beanstro too. And they have a interesting menu like Muesli and Oatmeal, Buttermilk Waffles, Bagel with Smoked Salmon and etc.

Menu of the Main Courses and Sides from Beanstro

Beanstro's menu comprises a selection of American cuisine and hand=crafted beverages which you will definitely find something that suits your preference.

The usual drinks that are served at The Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf are also available at Beanstro but with additional items like Frozen Swirl Yogurt with Affogato, Parfait and etc. And due to the hot afternoon we decided to have Ice Cappuccino Frappes, Ice Double Chocolate (SG$6.50) and Double Chocolate Smoothie (SG$7.30).

Seafood Velet @ SG$9.50

For soup range, other than the usual Soup of The Day (SG$8.00) Beanstro also offers Seafood Velet (SG$9.50) and French Onion (SG$8.50) which give you more choices to match your main course. Since we love seafood base soup, we ordered the Seafood Velvet which has a light creamy texture that resemble chowder. The soup also comes with a slice of cheese toast plus some peach compote to enhance its flavour.

Tuna Nicoise @ SG$19.00

For greens, we ordered Tuna Nicoise (SG$19.00) because I am craving for Tuna and I think it would be great to start of with something light and refreshing before the main. The salad comes with generous serving of Yellow-fin tuna loin coated with sesame and lightly sealed. As accompany there are also some baby potatoes, hard-boiled egg, raw onion and etc that toss in tangy vinaigrette sauce that awake your palate.

Seafood Wrapped in Cartoccio @ SG$26.00

Mum loves seafood pasta so without hesitate we ordered the Seafood Wrapped in Cartoccio (SG$26.00) which served with fettuccine and seafood like spiny lobster, scallop and blue mussel toss together in spicy tomato sauce (you can request for less spicy sauce too) and wrapped in parchment paper. Overall the sauce and taste was quite decent but we felt that the noodle was a bit hard rather than al dente texture.

Sirloin Steak (200g) @ SG$24.00

I always love to have either Sirloin or Rib Eye Steak that is cooked till medium rare. Upon recommending by the serving staff, I ordered the Australian grass fed Sirloin Steak (200g, SG$24.00) that served with baby potato, sauteed greens in garlic rosemary sauce. Overall the meat was tender and juicy to our liking but somehow or rather we find there sauteed greens a bit salty perhaps due to uneven seasonings.

Tiramisu @ SG$10.00

Warm Molten Chocolate Cake @ SG$10.00

For those who love to have something sweet after meal or for afternoon tea, Beanstro offers quite a range of all time favourite desserts like as Bread and Butter Pudding, Creme Brulee, Cherry Clafouti, Warm Molten Chocolate Cake, Tiramisu and Warm Apple Crumble.

Chocolate lovers like us, ordered their Tiramisu (SG$10.00) and Warm Molten Chocolate Cake (SG$10.00) which we prefer Tiramisu over the other. Although the Molten Chocolate Cake taste good which is not too sweet but it seems to be a bit too dry (over cooked) which I would prefer it to be a little softer and perhaps with a pudding-like center would be great.

Currently Beanstro has two outlets which located at Marina Bay Sands (Canal Level, B2-20) and Takashimaya (new outlet). And with their local and global expansion, they company has also plans to open another 2 more outlets in Singapore which brings to a total of 4 under the Beanstro brand soon.

BeanSTRO Takashimaya
Ngee Ann City
391 Orchard Road
#B1-37
Singapore 238872
Telephone: (65) 6235 1610

Operating Hours:
8am - 11pm (daily)

Lastly I would like to thank Beanstro and Ms Agnes from AT Marketing Consultancy for the invited tasting. *All opinions expressed in this post are my own and there is no monetary compensation received.

[Day 4] Tokyo Disneyland (東京ディズニーランド)

2013-04-02T10:39:00.000+08:00

Visiting Tokyo Disneyland is always one of my dream theme park which I would like to bring my kid to enjoy the fun and family time together. So when uncle Hock Cheng includes Disneyland as one the main highlight for this Tokyo trip we were all excited about it till the date we arrived at the park. As you could see from the above photo, we even bought the "open date" tickets way before hand at JTB (ION Orchard) to avoid the crowds and queuing time just to make sure everything is on the right track.

There are a few ways to get to the Disneyland such as taking the JR Line or Subway to Maihama Station (舞浜駅), you could also board the complimentary Good Neighbor Shuttle Bus Service (reservations required) if you are staying in one of the Tokyo Disney Resort Good Neighbour Hotels (hotel list here) like what we did.

Walkway towards JR Maihama Station (舞浜駅) and Bon Voyage

As we board the 7.30am shuttle bus service, we were early before the park opens at 9.00am so we take a short walk around Bon Voyage which means "Have a good trip" om French. In the store, you could easily find large selections of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea merchandise under one roof. Bon Voyage is also conveniently located next to JR Maihama Station (舞浜駅), at the gateway to Tokyo Disney Resort.

Opening Hour:
7:30 am - 11:00 pm

Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is about 8 minutes walk from JR Maihama Station (舞浜駅) or board the Disney Resort Line from "Resort Gateway Station", and get off at "Tokyo Disneyland Station" which takes about 1 minute walk.

Walkway towards Tokyo Disneyland Hotel and Tokyo Disneyland Themed Park

The crowds at the ticket booths at around 8.30am on a Wednesday morning.

Upon entering the park, most of the visitors started to scatter around the park into the different themed land area to queue for the rides or grab hold of some Disney Fastpass (advice to grab hold of a few Fastpass ahead from different attractions to cut short the waiting time) which allows guests to avoid long lines at the attractions.

Photo Credit: ©Disney

Tokyo Disneyland is made up of seven themed lands which features seasonal decorations and parades.

Amazed by their patience and queuing system. Even their strollers are so neatly arranged outside each attractions.

Enjoy a 15 minutes ride on the Western River Railroad

Adventureland includes attractions such as Jungle cruise (above) that brings you through a 10 minutes ride to the Amazon, the Nile, the Irrawaddy and the Ganges…. Or you could explore the Swiss Family Treehouse, ride the Western River Railroad and even sail with the Pirates of the Caribbean (we love this ride which was quite thrilling and makes you hang there in suspend).

Exploring Tom Sawyer Island

12 minutes ride on a three-story Mark Twain Riverboat

Westernland is a theme made after the US western frontier along the Rivers of America and it is also the home of the popular roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain (too bad it was under renovation last year during our visit). In the middle of the river lies the Tom Sawyer Island which is accessible by hopping onto a log raft to cross over.

Another highlight of Westernland is the 12 minutes leisure ride on the three-story Mark Twain Riverboat which we are excited about. It was so beautiful when we spotted it from far during the autumn morning and you get to enjoy the sights and sounds of the old frontier from the ornate decks of the Riverboat around the Rivers of America.

In Tokyo Disneyland you could easily spot visitors especially young kids holding a buket of popcorn with Disney Characters Bucket design that comes in a few flavour such as honey, caramel, original, salted, curry and etc. Each bucket of popcorn cost around ¥1400 - ¥2000 (SG$20.00 - SG$26.00). My boy was disappointed when they went out of Winnie The Pooh Bucket whereas on the other hands I saved S$26.00 for not getting one :p (note: Hunny Popcorn can be enjoyed near the Winnie the Pooh attraction and Curry Popcorn can be found in Adventureland)

Other then popcorn, during the lunch hours everyone was also running after the Turkey Drumstick which was available at ¥500 (SG$6.50) each in conjunction of their Thanksgiving Day on 23 November.

After a quick bite we moved on to Critter Country as my boy wanted to try the Splash Mountain ride. The 10 minutes ride put you on a hollowed log boat through the waters of the South to visit all the little critters living in the area. The highlight of the ride was that 16-meter high waterfall that brings you straight down to a 45-degree dive ending with a big splash.

Tokyo Disneyland provides two parade showtimes to delight their guests. The "Daytime Parade" takes place around noontime whereby you could see the crowds sitting down at their best best viewing locations way before the parade starts. And for second parade, "Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights" usually starts quite late which is around the closing time where it marks the highlight of the theme park.

If you have a strong heart and daring enough to go for a 8 minutes spooky ride, head towards the Hunted Mansion at Fantasyland. Upon entering the mansion, you would be taken into a mysterious, dimly lit room. From there, board the eerie "doom" buggy and starts the journey through the library, music room and more leaving you getting more and more heart throbbing on each venue.

For family with little kids, do consider taking this 10 minutes relaxing boat ride and enjoy a vision of world peace and happiness in all the countries of the world at It's A Small World.

We had lunch at Huey, Dewey and Louie's Good Time Cafe (Toontown) where we get a set meal which consists of Micky Ham and Sweetcorn Pizza, Fries, Sweetcorn Soup, Salad and Apple Juice @ ¥1370 (SG$18.00). Although food at themed park is usually not cheap as compared with normal eateries but this cute Mickey Pizza Set is still quite worth the price.

Further down to Tomorrowland, we tried the Grand Circuit Raceway which gives us a chance to get behind the wheel of a small racecar and test our skills in a challenging course of twists and turns. Between my boy was the driver whereas I am just the passenger sitting beside him enjoying the ride. He had so much fun driving the racecar on his own and it seems that 5 minutes are too short for that ride.

It's a pity that we did not get into Pooh's Hunny Hut at Fantasyland due to the overwhelming crowds that makes the queue seems impossible to get through. Guess if we could stay a night at the Disneyland Hotel it would be good that we might be able to complete ALL the rides within a day or two.

Night view of Disneyland Tokyo

Tokyo Disneyland (東京ディズニーランド)
１-１ Maihama, Urayasu,
Chiba Prefecture 279-0031, Japan
Telephone: 0570-008-632
Website: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/en/index.html

Opening Hours:
9.00am - 10.00pm (weekday)
8.00am - 10.00pm (weekend)
*check park operation calender here.

[Day 3] RAKERU （ラケル） @ Shinjuku, Tokyo

2013-03-30T17:28:00.001+08:00

[Continue from Exploring Shijuku (新宿) post HERE] There are many theme restaurants/cafes in Japan such as RAKERU (Alice in wonderland), Vampire cafe, Hello Kitty Cafe, AKB48 Cafe and etc. And with RAKERU as one of the nearest themed restaurant near our hotel at Shinjuku (新宿西口店), we actually went for a dinner to try out their mouthwatering Omurice (egg omelette with rice) and waffle desserts.

The restaurant is located at Basement 1 and the concept of RAKERU is based on English lakeside country house design where woods and fabric are used to create a cozy dining atmosphere.

One of the Menu @ RAKERU

In Japan, almost every family loves cream corn soup and it is not difficult to find them in most restaurants or supermarkets. RAKERU served a decent Cream Sweetcorn Soup which was smooth and not too sweet with homely taste that was not being too creamy. On top of it there were also some crispy bits of garnish which makes it quite different from the usual accompany garlic bread or toast.

KUKU Mozzarella Cheese Omurice (¥1,029 / S$13.50) @ Rakeru

KUKU Mushroom Omurice with Demi-glace Sauce (¥1,134 / S$15.00) @ Rakeru

Cross Section of the KUKU Mushroom Omurice

Creamy Egg Omurice Demi-Glace Hamburg (¥924 / S$12.00) @ Rakeru

Mushroom And Cheese Omurice @ Rakeru

The ordering menu was quite straight forward with either set meal or just the omurice itself. With the any set meal ordered there would be some accompany sides such as RAKERU famous Butter Bread, Salad and Baked Potato and a bowl of their signature Cream Sweetcorn Soup too.

Although their Omurice serving is not as big as CoCoICHIBANYA Curry House but with the additional sides and soup, it was actually very filling for one person if you are not a big eater.

Raspberry Parfait @ Rakeru

Chocolate Banana Waffle (¥ 608 / S$8.00) @ Rakeru

Waffle with Fruits And caramel Pudding (¥ 756 / S$9.80) @ Rakeru

After the main courses, we also ordered some of their signature waffle desserts to share among the group of us. The waffle had crispy outer skin and yet soft and moist texture which goes well with the accompany sauce, ice cream and fruit.

In total we spent about ¥7,896 (SG$102.00) for 8 persons which 6 main courses and 4 desserts plus 2 beverages which we think it's quite cheap when dinning out is concern in Japan.

RAKERU （ラケル）
1-12-7 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku
Tokyo Prefecture 160-0023, Japan
Telephone: 03-3348-1385　
Website: http://www.rakeru.co.jp/

東京都新宿区西新宿１‐１２‐７第２清新ビルＢ１Ｆ
新宿駅西口徒歩4分

Opening Hours:-
11：30am - 22：30pm （Last Order: 22:00pm）

[Day 3] Exploring Shinjuku (新宿)

2013-03-28T11:19:00.001+08:00

Last year during our trip to Tokyo, Japan. We stayed at Keio Plaza Hotel (京王プラザホテル（新宿）公式サイト) which was just about 5 minutes walk to Shinjuku (新宿) Station and shopping districts with department stores such as Odakyu, Takashimaya Times Square, Kinokuniya and etc. Although there might not be a lot of sightseeing around Shinjuku area but indeed there are plenty of shopping, cafes and eateries which could satisfied both your sight and appetite.

On the 3rd day of our trip, we were on a more relax itinerary while taking a break from yesterday's Day Tour (visiting Mount Fuji and Grape Farm). And before Uncle Hock Cheng's family move on to meet up with their Japanese friends for lunch and sightseeing, we decided to explore the food counters and supermarket located at basement 2 of Odakyu Shopping Mall to grab some quick breakfast.

Above is the Shinjuku (新宿) area map which I took from our Hotel lobby. From the map, I had highlight and number some of the places and shopping malls which we explored in "red" for your interest. Most of the places marked could be easily access by the basement walkway which links from Shinjuku Station but for first timer if you are not familiar with the area, perhaps walking on ground level would be a better choice.

Mouthwatering Bento Box and Rice Bowl

We were there around 9.00am and were surprised to find many freshly made bento set, rice bowl, sandwiches, dumplings, croquettes, tonkatsu, noodles, cakes and etc which we do not know what to choose from.

Meat and Shrimp Dumplings (siew mai), Steamed Bun with red bean / vegetables

Rice Balls (O-nigiri - お握り) with assorted fillings like tempura, tuna, egg mayo and etc

This is one of our favourite rolls during our Japan trip. I love these "sticky rice sushi" which is made with glutinous rice and assorted toppings like chestnut, shrimp, azuki bean and etc. You could also find this in Singapore, at the basement food area located in Takashimaya too.

I have weakness when it comes to cake or pastry. So during my trip to Japan, I tried quite a number of their signature cakes from different cafe and bakery shops which leaves me with good memories and impression of their delicate desserts. Above are some cakes which are available from Wittamer at their outlet located at basement 2 of Odakyu.

I always love those typical type of cakes like the above which look clear and elegant. Imagine just pick up a few of each type or a whole loaf together with a pot of freshly brew tea for afternoon snack. I am sure it would be a great passed time to hang around with family or friends.

Fresh Sashimi with Mackerel, Shrimp, Yellow tail and etc.

Fresh cut salmon slice at ¥315 (SG$4.10) each or you could get 4 at ¥1050 (SG$13.80). How I wish I am staying at a service apartment where I could whipped up some dishes using their fresh ingredients.

Fresh fruits seems to be expensive in Japan as compared to their seafood. For example, a box of strawberry shown above was selling at the same price as 4 slices of salmon for ¥1050 (SG$13.80) too. Emmmm guess you either go for fresh fruits or seafood.

Assorted plump and juicy grapes plus huge apples and persimmon

Fresh milk, juice and yogurt drinks were our daily beverages and for me I just simply love their fresh milk which taste so creamy, smooth and fragrant as compared to what we have in Singapore. And my love is those available from "glass bottles".....

After getting our breakfast and beverages we went to the sitting area at 9th floor which is the rooftop playground at Odakyu (Shinjuku). As you could see above, the weather was pretty cooling at around 13 Degree Celsius so it's experience to enjoy breakfast outdoor despite of the sunny morning.

Assorted Sushi

Chirashi

Steamed meat bun at ¥157 (SG$2.00) each which had a similar taste like our local "Da Bao (大包)". And it taste extra flavorsome especially during cold weather which makes us enjoy each and every bites.

Chilling out at the rooftop playground area enjoying our breakfast. While eating the steamed bun, Mum was quite worry that the meat might be beef (as she don't really fancy beef) so she took extra careful look before eating it.

Shinjuku Odakyuhyakkaten
No. 3, 1-chome, Nishi-Shinjuku
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 〒 160-8001
Telephone: 03-3342-1111
Website:

小田急百貨店 (新宿店)
〒160-8001 東京都新宿区西新宿1丁目1番3号

Opening Hours:-
8.30am - 10.00pm

After about 2 hours shopping around Odakyu department store plus a few shops around it, we went for a quick tea-break at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (クリスピー・クリーム・ドーナツ) which is located at Shinjuku Southern Terrace (refer to the Shinjuku area map above, marked no. 4). All the cousins and us (me and my boy) were eying on their irresistible doughnuts since the first day we arrived in Tokyo while exploring Shinjuku area. Moreover all of us love their doughnuts and we hope they would be available in Singapore soon.

Aunty Grace bought a box of 10 Assorted Doughnuts such as Glazed Chocolate Cake (¥180), Caramel Walnuts (¥200), Chocolate Iced with Sprinkles (¥180), Glazed Cruller (¥180), Glazed Green Tea Cake (¥180), Cookie Vanilla (¥200) and etc.

If you prefer something smaller, you could grab a pack of this Mini Box (ミニミニボックス(3個)) which comes in 3 mini doughnuts at ¥380 (SG$5.00). These mini doughnuts also available in box of 10 pieces (¥1,100 - SG$14.50) and 20 pieces (¥2,000 - SG$26.50) too.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
2-2-2 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku
In Shinjuku Southern Terrace
Telephone: 03-5333-0560
Website: http://krispykreme.jp/index.html

クリスピー・クリーム・ドーナツ
東京都渋谷区代々木2－2－2
新宿サザンテラス内

Opening hours:
8:00am - 22:30pm

With a quick 45 minutes break at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, we moved on to Takashimaya Times Square, Kinokuniya and Tokyu Hands which offers anything that you want from DIY materials/tools, housewares, stationery, clothing and etc as well as Duty-free products.

I was thrilled when I spotted these Bento Tools at Tokyu Hands, housewares sections. They are really much more cheaper (half the price) than what I ordered from online as well as those sold at Takashimiya (Singapore).

We had early dinner at RAKERU which was very near to our hotel at around 6.30pm to avoid the dinner crowds. I would shared more about this place on another post soon.

[Day 2] Day Tour to Katsunuma Winery, Lake Kawaguchi and Koyodai In Narusawa

2013-03-26T10:51:00.000+08:00

View of Lake Kawaguchi from Mt Kachi Kachi Ropeway

We arrived at the meeting point at about 7.30am to join the local Club Tourism Yokoso Japan Tour to Mount Fuji (富士山) and Yamanashi (山梨県). It was a beautiful Monday morning and we all look forward for our trip to visit Mt Fuji. But due to the early snow that covered almost half of Mt Fuji, the tour guide mentioned that we might not be able to go up to the Kawaguchiko 5th Station ( 富士山河口湖五合目) depending on weather in the afternoon.

Day Tour by Club Tourism YOKOSO Japan Tour

Our 1st stop is at Chateau Kastsunuma Winery (株式会社シャトー勝沼 ) whereby we were given roughly 30 minutes to shop around plus having some wine tasting. Upon entering the shop, each visitor is given a plastic cup where we could help ourself with the wine from the specific wine barrels.

Although the shop area was not very big but it was still quite fun going around trying the local wine plus getting some snacks and souvenirs.

Katsunuma Chateau Ltd
4729, Katsunuma-cho Hishiyama
Koshu-shi, Yamanashi
Zip: 409-1302
Telephone：0553-44-0073
Website: http://www.chateauk.co.jp/

株式会社シャトー勝沼
〒409-1302
山梨県甲州市勝沼町菱山4729

Vising time:
8:30am - 5:00pm (Weekday)
9:00am - 5:00pm(Weekend)

Second stop was at Fuefuki City which is known for producing peaches and grapes that is of exceptional quality and taste within Yamanashi (山梨県, the Kingdom of Fruit). Many farms and orchards there are open to the public and visitors so that they could pick their own fruits from blueberries, cherries, plums and strawberries to persimmons. The picking seasons are available from April to November, with more variety in the summer months from July - August.

Misaka Farm is one of those fruit farms that are open to public which has a space capacity for 1200 guests under the trellis of grape tress and guests can also enjoy BBQ in summer as well as Yamnashi’s local cuisine Hoto in winter amid nature.

After the grapes or fruits picking, you can also pick up some other seasonal fresh fruits which are available as well as some local snacks as souvenirs. We bought some Yuzu and Chestnut sweet cake which resemble pudding.

Misaka Farm Grape House (御坂農園グレープハウス - 山梨県笛吹市)
６５６-１ Misakacho Natsumehara, Fuefuki,
Yamanashi Prefecture 406-0804, Japan
Telephone:+81 55-263-3111
Website: http://misakanoen.co.jp/

Opening Hours:
8:30am – 5:00pm (Daily)

Lunch stop was at Lake Kawaguchiko (河口湖) which is easily accessible of the Fuji Five Lakes with train and direct bus connections to Tokyo. And also the best views of Mount Fuji can be seen from the lake's northern shores and are particularly breathtaking during the cherry blossom season which is around mid April and the Autumn colors around the first half of November.

Beautiful Maple Leaves near the Lake area.

Some of the souvenir shops and eateries around Mt Kachi Kachi Ropeway Station where you could enjoy your meal or beverage together with great view of Lake Kawaguchi.

Our complimentary lunch was at Lake Kawaguchi Rest House Funatuya (レストハウス　ふなつや) and each one of us was given the Houtou Hot Pot Set which cost ¥1050 (SG$13.70). For your information Houtou is a Japanese one-pot dish with vegetables, meat, and noodles/dumplings that are simmered in miso broth.

Houtou Hot Pot Set from Rest House Funatuya

Lake Kawaguchi Rest House Funatuya
4036 Funatsu Fuji Kawaguchiko-cho Minamitsuru-gun
Yamanashi Prefecture 401-0301
Telephone: 0555-72-1062
Website: http://www.rfunatsuya.com/index_english.html

レストハウス　ふなつや
〒401-0301
山梨県南都留群富士河口湖町船津4036番地
予約専用: 0555-72-1062

Opening Hours:
8：30am - 18：30pm

After lunch we took a short walk up to Mt Kachi Kachi Ropeway (天上山公園カチカチ山ロープウェイ) station which was about 5 minutes away from the Rest House Funatuya Restaurant. Along the way, our hearts were captured by the beauty of the autumn laves.

The cable car departure every 5 - 10 minutes depending on the weather and it takes up to a maximum capacity of 36 passengers on each ride. This ropeway connects Kawaguchi-Kohan Station and Fujimidai Station at mountain top in about 3 minutes journey.

Upon reaching the top, everyone of us were amazed by the magnificent view of Lake Kawaguichi in it's autumn look. It is so beautiful that almost all the tourists wanted to take a photos with it as the background.

From the observation deck which sits more than 1000 meters above sea level, visitors are able to get a panoramic views of the lake below as well the beautiful Mount Fuji (富士山).

View of Mount Fuji from Mt Kachi Kachi Ropeway

If you have time, other than photo taking you could also try the different trail that leads from the observation point which is 300 meters uphill to a small shrine at the summit of Mount Tenjo. From there the trail continues on to Mount Mitsutoge which is a popular day hike with good views of Mount Fuji.

MT KACHI KACHI ROPEWAY
1163-1 Azagawa Fujikawaguchiko-machi, minamituru-gun
Yamanashi 401-0303 Japan
Telephone: +81-555-72-0363
Website: http://www.kachikachiyama-ropeway.com/

天上山公園カチカチ山ロープウェイ
１１６３-１ Azagawa
富士河口湖町南都留郡
Minamitsuru District
Yamanashi Prefecture 401-0303, Japan

Opening Hours:
9:30am – 4:45pm (daily)

Due to the bad weather at Mount Fuji, we could not visit Kawaguchiko 5th Station (富士山河口湖五合目) which was indeed a regret for us. But to compensate for the changes on the itinerary, we get to visit Koyodai in Narusawa (紅葉台) as well as the Narusawa Ice Cave (鳴沢氷穴).

Koyodai (紅葉台) is one of the smaller mountains at south of the lake which is famous ad named after its autumn colours (koyo). And before we could get to see the magnificent view of Mount Fuji in Autumn look we need to go through a roughly 20 minute hike from the car park area. Along the way, there were steep slopes, rocky paths and etc so one has to be extra careful and be well prepared with good walking shoes and a stick to support/balance while going uphill or down slope.

View of Mount Fuji (富士山) in Autumn from Koyodai

Each and everyone of us went jaw dropped when we saw the stunning view of Mount Fuji with its colourful Autumn leaves outfit. I am sure this beautiful scenic view would be a lifetime memories for all of us. Hope we would be back to Japan soon during Winter again so that we could visit Mount Fuji and Kawaguchiko 5th Station (富士山河口湖五合目) soon.

Last stop of the tour was at Narusawa Ice Cave (鳴沢氷穴) which is a cave formed by Lava from Mt.Fuji (富士山), located in Aokigahara Jukai (the Sea of Forest). The average temperature is about 37°F (3 degree Celsius) for all year. The cave is covered with ice all year, and you could also find icicle every where in the cave which sometimes grown up 90ft. long and 1.5 ft. wide. The entire cave is 450ft and it is also one of natural monuments.

Entrance of the Narusawa Ice Cave

After passing through the entrance gate, it takes about 10 - 15 minutes to complete the walk in the cave. Beware it would be very cold in the cave even in the summer months so remember to take along gloves and warm clothing. And due to the steep stairway, and narrow slippery path, one has to take extra careful steps while moving around the cave.

Above is the only decent photo that I managed to capture in the ice cave. Although it was a bit too dark to spot any icicles within our sight but along the way out we did see and feel some ice formation shown above. Between entrance fees for the ice cave is at ¥280 (SG$3.60) for adult.

Out of the cave, we headed back to the gift shop entrance to grab some Japanese soft serve ice-cream as well as shop around for some gift. And we spotted some cute Mount Fuji design plush and assorted flavour cookies which are great choices to pick up as gift. We grabbed two boxes of that triangle Mount Fuji cookies (top, right) which cost ¥530 (SG$7.00) per box of 12 cookies.

NARUSAWA ICE CAVE
8533 Narusawa Village Minamitsuru-gun
Yamanashi Prefecture 〒 410-0320
Telephone: (0555) 85 2301

鳴沢氷穴
〒410-0320
山梨県南都留郡鳴沢村鳴沢

Opening Hours:
9:00am to 17:00pm (Daily)

After a long day out, we decided to settle for a quick dinner around hotel area before heading back for a good rest. So after looking around a few restaurants, we set for Negishi (ねぎし) which is a beef tongue restaurant about 8 - 10 minutes away from Shinjuku (新宿) station. Overall Negishi serve quite good quality food at very reasonable price ranging from ¥900 (SG$11.70) to ¥1500 (SG$19.60) depending on your choice. And their signature dishes are grilled beef tongue (red or white portion) and beef stew which you could order as a set meal together with barley rice, clear oxtail soup, pickles and Japanese yam/Tororo (山药 /淮山).

For us, since Mum prefer chicken and pork over beef, we settled for their Spicy Chicken and Pork Set above @ ¥1340 (SG$17.50). Just to share, the bowl of Tororo sauce (grated Japanese yam flavoured with soy sauce) is very nutritious which could helps to combat fatigue and it produce a better result when mixed and eaten together with the mugimeshi (barley rice). Whereas the the clear oxtail soup is made by placing a sliced of sliced beef tongue placed into a soup and simmered over long hours. It helps promote longevity and strength as well as collagen that helps to restore beauty too.

To cool down the heat plus add-on some greens to our meal, I ordered our favourite Caesar Salad @ ¥470 (SG$6.15) which was fresh and crunchy. Love their Caesar sauce which perfect this salad and goes well with our main above.

NEGISHI (ねぎし)
月光荘ビル店
東京都新宿区西新宿1-12-6
新宿月光荘ビル3F
Telephone：03-3348-1730
Website: http://www.negishi.co.jp/

Opening Hours：
11:00am - 23:00pm (daily)

[Day 1] Exploring Harajuku (原宿) and Takeshita Street (竹下通り)

2013-03-20T16:38:00.000+08:00

[Continue from previous post HERE] After about an hour of rest and relax (unpacking, shower and etc) in our hotel room, we were out again to exploring Tokyo city. And since we need to wake up early for tomorrow's day trip, Uncle Alan suggested we should just explore somewhere nearer to our hotel such as Harajuku (原宿) where the famous Takeshita Street (竹下通り) is located.

From some of my read up, it is best to visit Harajuku on a Sunday because many young people would gather around Harajuku Station and engage in cosplay (costume play) where they dressed up in excentric costumes to resemble anime characters, punk musicians, etc.

And since we were only heading towards Harajuku (原宿) area, we do not intend to waste our 2-Days Metro Tickets. Instead we bought their single-trip ticket from Shinjuku (新宿) station to Harajuku (原宿) Station which is about 2 stations away at ¥130 (SG$1.70; Adult) and ¥60 (SG$0.78; Child).

The JR Yamanote Line to Harajuku (原宿) @ Shinjuku Interchange

Harajuku (原宿) refers to the area around Tokyo's Harajuku Station, which is between Shinjuku and Shibuya on the Yamanote Line. It is the center of Japan's most extreme teenage cultures and fashion styles, but also offers shopping for adults and some historic sights too.

At the corner of the shopping mall at Harajuku, we saw The Gindaco (銀だこ) which is a popular chain of restaurants specializing in Takoyaki (たこ焼き) and they can be easily found in many shopping centers and train stations in Japan. You could either takeaway the Takoyaki or eat it at their limited seats counter while looking at how their prepared the takoyaki.

We bought this Mentai Cheese (チーズ明太子) @ ¥600 (SG$7.80) for 8 pieces or you could order a smaller pack at ¥500 (SG$6.50) for 6. Those piping hot grilled octopus balls were topped with plenty of cheesy mayo together with Hakata Mentai. Super addicting and it taste so much different from those we had in Singapore too. After this we also bought their だんらんパック16個入り (16 pieces pack) at ¥1000 (SG$13.10).

THE GINDACO (築地銀だこ原宿店)
日本〒150-0001 東京都渋谷区神宮前１丁目１４−２４
Telephone: 03-5775-1788
Website: http://www.gindaco.com/

Opening Hour:
11:00am - 22:00pm

Takeshita Dori (竹下通り - Takeshita Street) is the symbol of Harajuku (原宿) and birthplace of many Japan’s fashion trends. Although Takeshita Street is quite narrow but it includes major chains such as The Body Shop, McDonald, Daiso, 7-Eleven and etc as well as boutiques, cafes and fast food outlets targeting Tokyo’s teenagers.

Crowds at Takeshita Street during Sunday night around 5.30pm (18 November 2012)

Pasta Viking (バイキングパスタ) is an "All-You-Can-Eat" within 60 minutes buffet restaurant that consists dishes like; pasta, pizza, salad, pancakes, ice-cream and etc for around ¥1050 (SG$13.80) for lady and ¥1155 (SG$15.10) for man (pricing might be changeable). So if you could finished your meal within an hour, this could be a great steal to pay less than SG$15.00 for buffet meal.

Pasta Vicking (バイキングパスタ)
B1F, 1-8-3 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
東京都渋谷区神宮前1-8-3 石川ビルB1F
Tel: 03-3404-3740
Website: http://tabasa.vacco.net/Dish.aspx

Opening hours:
11:30am - 21:30pm

The main reason for Cousin Calvin and Wilson to visit Takeshita Street was because of this Official AKB48 store and they were to there to find some CDs and books.

Spotted a 4-story Daiso (¥100 shop) outlet at Takeshita Street but we only managed to walk around the 1st level as we are heading off to somewhere else. Now I felt a bit regretted for not looping back some props for my plating and etc :(

While waiting for cousins to get their stuffs at AKB48, I was surprised to see celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck's causal dining Wolfgang Puck Express right opposite. Wolfgang Puck Express is located in Takeshita street, right across the train station and their menu mainly focuses on burgers, pizza, pasta, salads, and other fast foods.

WOLFGANG PUCK EXPRESS - Harajuku Takeshita Street
1-17-1 Yoshitomi Building 1F
Jingumae Shibuya-ku
Tokyo 150-0001 Japan
Telephone: 03-5786-4690
Website: http://www.wp-japan.jp/shop/ex_harajuku.html

Opening Hour:
11.00am - 11.00pm (Daily)

Along the way we could hardly see any fastfood restaurants in Shinjuku area or around the streets that we went as compared to Singapore. So when my boy saw his favourite fast food chain at Takeshita Street (near AKB48 and Daiso stretch) he was very excited to go in and have a look at their menu.

From a glance above, you would notice that their value meals were slightly more expensive than us like example, McChicken Meal is pricing at ¥650 which is around SG$8.50 per set. Sad to say their McChicken was not very up to standard with soggy and oily deep-fried meat between the sandwich bun. And also with ¥650 you could get a bowl of decent Tempura Tendon shown below too.

After an hour and a half of shopping around Takeshita Street (竹下通り), we were all tired and hungry so we decided to grab a light dinner before heading back to the hotel to rest for the night. While searching for some bites, we stop by Tendon (天丼てんや) which is a famous tendon chain stores in Japan selling Tempura Tendons and soba noodles in less than 1000 yen.

Since we had had rice earlier that afternoon, we decided to go for soba noodles for dinner so we ordered their Soba All Star (オールスター天そば) @ ¥780 (SG$10.20). It consists yuzu fragrant hot soba plus assorted tempura like green beans, bamboo, lotus root, shrimp, scallops and squid. But if you prefer udon, choose their Ten Udon Star (オールスター天うどん) @ ¥730 (SG$9.60).

Love their handmade Soba which is so springy when bite and soup broth is light and refreshing with hint of yuza flavour. This light noodles goes well with the deep-fried tempura which balance the greasy aftertaste of the fried stuffs and also the pipping hot broth warms our body from cold night.

天丼てんや (原宿)
原宿TKビル 1F ４丁目-３１-１１
Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan
Telephone: +81 3-5474-1618
Website: http://www.tenya.co.jp/index.htm

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and to have a good rest in order to prepare ourselves for the Mount Fuji Day Tour on the next day. [To be continue........ Day 2 (19 Nov 2012): Day Tour to Mt Fuji and Grape Farm]

[Day 1] Our Family Trip to Tokyo, Japan

2013-03-19T12:28:00.000+08:00

2012 was indeed a blessing year for our family to have 3 traveling trips such as cruising with Royal Caribbean International, Voyager Of The Seas during June (read more here), flying off with Japan Airlines to my dreamland at Tokyo, Japan in November (will be sharing our 8 days trip in subsequent posts) as well as a short weekend getaway to shopping paradise at Bangkok, Thailand in December (will update the trip after Japan posts).

Traveling to Japan was an impromptu trip because we had never thought of planning another trip for that year after our cruise trip in June. It was only less than 2 months before departure that we decided to join Uncle Alan and Uncle Hock Cheng's families on their Free And Easy trip to Tokyo, Japan in later autumn (mid November).

It is always my dream to be able to travel to Japan, especially for destinations like Hokkaido, Osaka or Tokyo. But due to the impression of having to pay for both high expenses and traveling fees, Japan trip has never come true for us until last year.

Although we are on free and easy trip around Tokyo city plus a few outskirts sightseeing the whole 8 days trip cost around SG$3K per pax including air ticket, hotel stay, food, transport and etc.

Japan Airlines (JAL) to Narita Airport

View of beautiful sunrise from the plane

Above were some of the snacks and breakfast set served on board Japan Airlines from Singapore to Narita Airport. Love their snacks which consists of assorted Japanese rice crackers and nuts that are very addictive when pair with cold beer and their inflight movies.

Arrival Hall @ Narita Terminal 2 Airport

Upon arrival we went to purchase the Airport Limousine Ticket at their "Limousine Bus ticket counters" at the Narita Airport, Terminal 2 (Tokyo, Japan). If you are unfamiliar you could make enquiry and select your preference alight destination on either the train station or hotel where you stay. We bought their Limousine and Metro 2-Day Pass which includes:-

~ 2 Airport Limousine Bus Tickets between Narita Airport and downtown Tokyo; and
~ 1 Tokyo Metro’s Special Combination 2-Day Open Ticket for two consecutive days of unlimited rides on all Tokyo Metro lines.

Tokyo Metro’s Special Combination Ticket

Airport Limousine Boarding Ticket

The pricing for each set of ticket is:-

~ ¥6000 (SG$78.500) for Adult ticket with Limousine and Metro 2-Day Pass (via Narita Airport); and

~ ¥1500 (SG$19.60) for *Child (6 - 12 years old) with Limousine and Metro 1 Day Pass (via Narita Airport).

Just present the boarding tickets to the attendants at the mentioned "gate" number they would be delighted to help you sort out and tag your languages and bags as well as advise you on the boarding time and procedures. The Airport Limousine bus ferry us from the Narita Terminal 2 Airport to our hotel at Keio Plaza Hotell (Shinjuku) via the highway and the whole journey took about 90 minutes with smooth traffic flow.

Our accommodation for the 6 nights trip was at Keio Plaza Hotel, Shinjuku. The hotel has an ideal location to explore the delights of the city with is only about minutes away from the most popular shopping and entertainment spots. Furthermore it is only 5 minutes walk from the west exit of Shinjuku Station.

Ours was a triple sharing room with 2 single bed plus a sofa bed located at their South Tower. All the rooms are with complimentary high speed internet access (both wired and wireless) and Television (with CNN, BBC ,ESPN, Discovery and movie channels), Two line phone jack, International direct dial, Japanese bathrobes (Yukata), Mini bar and Tea making facilities.

Bathroom amenities includes shampoo, conditioner, bath and shower gel, toothbrush, razor, shower cap, comb, hairdryer and etc which were the few common items.

After settling our luggage in the room, we went out to explore around Shinjuku Station area where there are a lot of shops, eateries and malls. We were fascinated with most of their local food like sushi, omurice, ramen, tempura and etc. And my boy, as a kid is attracted to their mouthwatering fried stuffs like Ebi, Pork Cutlets and Korokke (or croquette). He bought a Ebi Fry (海老フライ) @ ¥340 which is about SG$4.50 each and the prawn was really "huge" as compared to the usual Ebi that we had in Singapore.

We also spotted Beard Papa there which cost around ¥200 (SG$2.60) each but we didn't get a chance to try it as there are too many interesting food around that draw us away from this.

Above are samples of their Food Ordering Machines which I have heard friends mentioning about them when they were in Japan. So when we spotted them along the way, we were quite excited to stop by seeing how the local place orders for their food via this "food ordering machine".

Takashimaya Times Square @ Shinjuku

After walking around to familiarize the area at Shinjuku (新宿) shopping districts, we decided to settle for a quick bite at Mai Hanano Seafood Tavern (海鮮居酒屋はなの舞) which is about 2 minutes walk from JR Shinjuku Station (ＪＲ新宿駅).

{LUNCH} Upon settle down, everyone was busying flipping through the menu. Overall the price is quite cheap at about ¥600 (SG$7.80) for hotplate set with either beef, chicken or pork together with miso soup, side and rice.

Hotplate Chicken Set@ ¥600 (SG$7.80)

Assorted Sashimi Set @ ¥650 (SG$8.50)

Since I am sharing with my kid, we took the Tempura And Sashimi Set @ ¥850 (SG$11.10) which consists of assorted tempura items such as prawn (ebi), carrot, capsicum and pumpkin plus fresh salmon and tuna sashimi. Although they don't served the best tempura in town but for the price of SG$11+ this set was still quite a steal.

Mum on the other hand, prefer something light to go with her rice so she ordered the Hotplate Omelette @ ¥504 (SG$6.50) with sandwiches a generous amount of shredded cabbage and top with some sweet sauce and seaweed flakes.

MAI HANANO SEAFOOD TAVERN (East Shinjuku South Exit Shop)
1.2 F Commercial Building
Yonghe 3-35-9 Shinjuku
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 〒 160-0022
Telephone: 03-5367-8973
Website: http://www.chimney.co.jp/shop/hananomai/chubu/kofu/index.html

海鮮居酒屋はなの舞新宿東南口店
〒160-0022
東京都新宿区新宿3-35-9
永和商事ビル1・2F

Opening Hours:
Lunch - 11:30 to 15:00pm ; Dinner - 17:00 to 04:30am (Daily)

Egg-citing free breakfast with McDonald's National Breakfast Day

2013-03-17T15:52:00.000+08:00

Photo source: McDonald's

On Monday, 18 March 2013; 121 McDonald’s restaurants in Singapore will participate in National Breakfast Day (a regional McDonald's initiative) by giving away over 100,000 FREE Egg McMuffins, as part of Singapore’s (and the world’s) largest ever breakfast giveaway.

Each participating McDonald restaurant in Singapore will be giving away 1,000 FREE Egg McMuffins to customers on a first-come, first-served basis. So that's a total of about more than 100,000 free Egg McMuffins plus another about 5 million Egg McMuffins will be given out free in 5000 other McDonald restaurants in Asia, Middle East and Africa to celebrate this first McDonald National Breakfast Day activity.

Photo Source: McDonald's

Date: Monday, 18 March 2013

Location: Across 121 McDonald’s restaurants in Singapore

(Click HERE for list of participating outlets)

Time: 5.00am – 10.00am, except these locations

Photo Source: McDonald's

So gear up yourself together with your friends or family members and make your way down to the nearest participated McDonald outlets on 18 March between 5.00am - 10.00am (consider to go early to avoid the crowds) and enjoy your FREE Egg McMuffin to kick off your Monday blue. More details can be found at http://www.mcdonalds.com.sg/

Video Source: McDonald's

Enjoy your Egg-citing Breakfast with McDonald!!!!

Peach Mango Sunshine From Emicakes plus Vouchers Giveaway

2013-03-15T12:29:00.000+08:00

Emicakes fans!!!! For the month of March, Emicakes has launched a new flavour known as Peach Mango Sunshine. With an elegant design, this cake is filled with juicy peach cubes in zesty mango mousse that sandwich between layers of light and fluffy vanilla chiffon.

And the good new is from now till 31st March 2013, you could enjoy a 15% OFF on any 15-20cm sizes (while stocks last).

Cross Section of the Peach Mango Sunshine

Thanks to the folks from Emicakes, we get to try their new Peach Mango Sunshine which has definitely brighten up our day. For your information, all Emicakes regular chiffon cakes have been replaced with their new Chiffon+ which is 30% less cholesterol and includes Milk Protein for a healthier choice. After trying we find that surprisingly the "thick" layer of mango mousse is not as creamy or sweet as it look and it does goes well with their new chiffon+ making it a refreshing afternoon tea cake.

Peach Mango Sunshine Cake
Available @ S$31.60 for 0.6kg | S$55.10 for 1.2kg | S$69.60 for 1.7kg

Here thanks to Emicakes, we have two set of Emicakes vouchers worth S$20.00 each to giveaway to 2 Lucky Readers. To win, follow the steps below:-

EMICAKES'S VOUCHERS GIVEAWAY

1. Like

AND

2. LIKE and SHARE this photo on Facebook. (remember to leave a comment that you have liked and shared)

3. Leave a comment here using your Facebook name or a valid email address, tell us one of the new features for Emicakes.

Terms And Conditions
* This giveaway ends on Monday, 18 March 2013 (NOON, Singapore time).
* Only for readers living in SINGAPORE.
* Participants must follow the instructions mentioned above to be eligible for the giveaway.
* Please leave a valid email address when filling out the comment form so that we can contact you if you are one of the winners.

[Updated on 18 March 2013, 3.30pm]

Congratulation to Oh Lye Choon and The Dead Cockroach. You both have won a set of S$20.00 Emicakes Voucher. Please check your email for more details.

Tampopo @ Liang Court Shopping Mall

2013-03-08T12:19:00.001+08:00

About two weeks back, we had dinner over at Tampopo, Liang Court outlet after our Bento Workshop which in-line with their Hina-matsuri Festival. Although Tampopo is well-known for it's Ramen and soup broth but we decided to go for something with more varieties such as their Black Pig (BP) Tonkatsu and my favourite Soba Noodles and Chirashi.

BP Loin Tonkatsu Set @ S$26.80

{MUST TRY} Their Black Pig (BP) Loin is so tender and juicy even after deep-fried where you could just finished the slice within a few chews. Each slice of meat is coated with a layer of crispy Japanese Panko and yet there are not too oily as compared to those I have tried before.

Super Deluxe Box @ S$24.30

Super Deluxe Box definitely worth the price with both noodle (cold soba noodles) and rice (chirashi) plus prawn tempura, chawanmushi, miso soup and fresh cut fruit. Although I am very hungry (had an early lunch that day) after the workshop I still cannot finished the prawn tempura and noodles. All I could get it down were the chawanmushi, chirashi and watermelon. Out of all the items, the mini Chirashi is my favourite.

Mini Chirashi Sushi

Love their mini Chirashizushi (Japanese rice with scattered toppings such as sashimi, tamgo, kani and etc) which comes together with the Super Deluxe Set. Although this small bowl consists slightly more than 2 tablespoons of sushi rice but with it was definitely quite stasifying with those fresh toppings.

Kid's Meal, Katsu Set A @ S$8.80

{MUST TRY} My boy was delighted with his Katsu Set which consists most of his favourite items. This set has quite a number of items in a plate like Japanese mashed potato salad, fried ebi, tonkatsu, halve hard-boiled egg, 2 rice balls and yogurt drink. On top of the two rice balls, my boy also ordered another bowl of rice to finish up the tonkatsu.

Display of Snowmans at Tampopo Restaurant during the Hokkaido Fair.

In order to celebrate Hokkaido Fair and Hina-matsuri Festival, Tampopo brings in 3 tons of snow from the very grounds of Hokkaido to Singapore which brings joy to shoppers as well as patrons of the restaurant on 23rd - 24th February 2013. Indeed my boy together with the rest of the kids enjoy making their very own snowman during the snow display time too.

Complimentary Snow (air flown from Hokkaido) that we got from Tampopo after the dinner.

Tampopo has 4 different outlets located in Singapore at Tampopo @ Takashimaya, Tampopo @ Liang Court, Tampopo Grand and Dulcet And Studio.

TAMPOPO
177 River Valley Road
#01-23/24
Liang Court Shopping Centre
Telephone: (65) 6338 3186
Website: https://www.facebook.com/TPPSG

Hina-matsuri Festival @ Liang Court Shopping Mall

2013-03-01T22:42:00.000+08:00

From 15 February to 3 March, Liang Court Shopping Mall is having a 2 weeks celebration for the tradition Hina-matsuri - Japanese Dolls Festival. This is the first time in Singapore, Hina-matsuri is celebrated in Liang Court in honor of all girls, with wishes for good health and happiness.

We are so excited to be one of the invited guest bloggers to join in their Bento Workshop as well as making our own snowman using "real snow" from Hokkaido.

Our Bento Workshop instructor is Shirley Wong (in blue yukata) who features all her Kawaii (cute) Kyarabens (character bento) at http://littlemissonigiri.blogspot.sg/ You can take a look at her website for more bento ideas if you are interested to make your own bento too :)

Material for the Bento workshop.

All the kids were excited and can't wait to get their hands on for the bento workshop.

First the kids were told to mix in green and pink Furikake (condiment for rice) into their cooked rice to form the HinaMatsuri Characters.

Although I am a bit worried for my boy to handle sharp knife while cutting the vegetables but afterall he did a great job on cutting and shaping the bento characters.

My boy's Hinamatsuri (Japanese Doll Festival) Bento.

Group Photo taken with the kids and Bento Workshop Instructor, Shirley (right with blue yukata).

Hina-arare (rice crackers/rice puffs)

Above are some of the traditional Hinamatsuri snacks that you get from Meidi-ya at Liang Count Shopping Mall. And they even have a mini Hinamatsuri food fair selling all kinds of festive snacks such as Hina-arare (rice crackers/rice puffs), Japanese candy, Mochi and etc.

One of the hit for Hina-matsuri Festival is snowman making which bought in by Tampopo restaurant. According to them, those are "real snow" which was air-flown from Hokkaido in support of the event. Although we cannot experience winter in Singapore but these "air-flown" snow definitely brings in fun and laughter between the kids and their family during they visit.

Other than the "snow" at the atrium area, there were also more inside the Tampopo Restaurant where they display snowman and snow play area for the dine-in patrons.

Without second thoughts, our dinner was at Tampopo (partly because of the snowman *grins) and my kid enjoy his Meal which consists all his favourite items from Onigiri, ebi tempura, Tonkatsu and hard-boiled egg.

Complimentary box of snow from Tampopo, Liang Court which they brought in from Hokkaido,

For this coming weekend, 2 - 3 March there are having 2 big events like:-

{02 March} Mega Chirashi Zushi (1.30pm to 3pm): For the first time in Singapore, you could join in the record-setting attempt at assembling a mega Chirashi Zushi (scattered sushi) with colorful toppings that is served during Hina-matsuri!

{3 March) Girls' Party (2 - 5pm) : Bring your kids to join in the Girls' Party at Liang Court's atrium with traditional Hina-matsuri food, non-alcoholic sake, and fun activities with live performances on stage!

So if you are free this weekend, perhaps you would like to bring your kid(s) down to Liang Court and join in the Hinamatsuri Festival too!

2013 Chinese New Year Family Gatherings

2013-02-28T16:50:00.001+08:00

Time flies, the 15 days of Chinese Lunar New Year(CNY) celebration had already ended last Sunday. During those two weeks, we had quite a few house visiting and food gatherings among relatives and friends. As usual every household would either cook or cater food for the gathering where everyone enjoys the food and bonding time.

Below are some of our family CNY gatherings foodporn for your viewing.

CHINESE NEW YEAR DAY 2 - OUR HOUSE

This year my mum decided to hold Chinese New Year gathering over at my place so that I could help her up with the cooking plus preparation. You can read more on this new year gathering plus some recipes over at this link HERE.

CHINESE NEW YEAR DAY 3 - UNCLE LIANG's HOUSE

Every year without failed, Aunty Irene (uncle liang's wife) and cousin Sharon will whipped delicious homecook food for the group of us during our visit to their house. I always love her signature dish which is the "Braised Sea Cucumber" that is loaded with ingredients such as clam, mushroom, black moss, roast pork and etc.

Cousin Sharon's homemade Sushi

{Dessert} Yam Paste (or nee)

{Dessert} Cheng Teng

As for dessert, Aunty Irene prepared Yam Paste with lot of ginkgo nuts and lotus seeds which makes it taste lighter and not so greasy with just only those gluey mashed yam. Her homemade Cheng Teng was also very refreshing and fragrance due to the Osmanthus flower that she added. Love all her desserts to bits.

CHINESE NEW YEAR DAY 7 - UNCLE ALAN'S HOUSE

This year due to one of my cousin taking "O" level and etc, Aunty Grace totally forgotten about pre-ordering the CNY buffet for family gathering. So leaving without much choices (as most of the caters already closed their CNY ordering), she settled with the buffet from eCreative.

The overall presentation and quantity of the food looks good but a few of the dishes were not up to our expectation perhaps due to festive cooking or mass production of the food.

As compared to their main dishes, most of us agreed that their high-tea items taste much better than their main. Love the Sweet Crystal Bun (水晶包) which is wrapped with red bean paste.

CHINESE NEW YEAR DAY 8 - AUNTY LAICHOO'S HOUSE

At LaiChoo aunty house, we were amazed by her Homemade Fruity YuSheng which was so colourful and nicely done that we can't bear to toss and eat it. According to aunty she added some fresh fruits such as Strawberries and Pineapples to the the pre-packed Yusheng kit to enhance the taste and colour .

Everyone gather together to toss the Yusheng!

After tossing this is how it look like. A mixture of fruits, shredded vegetables and fresh salmon slices.

The best thing I like about CNY gatherings is when all the relatives and friends get together around the table and enjoy the food and bonding time.

Above are 1/2 of the Steamboat ingredients that Aunty LaiChoo and Cousin Alvin prepared.

Other than those steamboat ingredients shown above, Aunty LaiChoo also cooks her signature Teochew-Style Braised Soy Duck which we all loves. The duck meat was tender and flavorsome plus aunty also add in extra firm beancurd and hard-boiled eggs to complete the dish.

Aunty who is very good in making desserts, prepared 3 of our favourite desserts which were Agar Agar, Yam Paste and Lotus Seeds Soup.

CHINESE NEW YEAR DAY 15 - UNCLE HOCKCHENG'S HOUSE

On the last day of CNY, Uncle Hock Cheng invited us to his house for a lunch gathering where they specially prepared some of their home signatures such for us. Love the Sambal Prawns and Fried Spare Ribs that his helper prepared using homemade sambal sauce and special marinade for the ribs.

Besides all the yummy food above, Uncle Hock also prepared his signature Fried Oyster Omelette (Or Luak/Or Jian) for us. I was impressed with his fried omelette dish and I even I asked him for the recipe so that I could try it out on my own. If you are interested in making some fried oyster omelette do stay till for the upcoming recipe soon.