Showering kitten

Imagine a kitten in shower cap having a bubble bath? It's ok if you can't.. Here is video. Check it out!

https://www.facebook.com/tastemadejp/posts/1559064591059332

Have a coffee with Hello Kitty

How many of you know what is Hello Kitty's last name? And nope.. its not Kitty :p It is 'White' - her full name is Kitty White. She is probably one of the most famous cats in the world (well.. there have been debates as to whether she is a cat or not but lets not go there). Though she is a Japanese creation, she is of British nationality. Boy, I can still recall the unbelievably long queues when McDonald Singapore was launching the Hello Kitty toys. I'm also guilty of catching up in the craze... but hey! Which girl can resist the charm of Ms White :) I shall not reveal how many hours I spent queuing up for one of those fluffy plush. I probably won't do it again though. Ha.

My time will probably be better spent having my favorite cappuccino in one of the unbelievable adorable character based cafes. I'm going to introduce you to some of these cafes that you definitely should visit when you are in Tokyo.

First of all... I give to you... Cafe de Miki . Cafe de Miki is a Hello Kitty theme cafe where decorations are kitty based. Even if you are by yourself, you can enjoy the company of a Hello Kitty plush :)  The menu here is make up of typical cafe food like pancakes, scones, cakes etc. Almost everything is laced with the face of Ms White!

You can see Hello Kitty face on the froth of your coffee:

Photo credit: Cafe de Miki

Pancake printed with the face of Kitty (Photo credit: Cafe de Miki)

Ice cream! Photo credit: Cafe de Miki

I feel pretty just using the cultery. Photo credit: Cafe de Miki

There are also a range of  Hello Kitty merchandises available in the cafe. So Hello Kitty fans will not be disappointed :)
The cafe is located inside Driver City Tokyo Plaza at level 4(one of the shopping malls in Odaiba). Exact address as follow:
1-1-10 Aomi, Driver City Tokyo Palza 4F, Koto 135-00Phone: +81 3-6426-0516Opening hours: 10am to 9pm

Taste of sakura

Time flies.... It is sakura season again.... I always think of my Japanese memories around the cherry blossom period.

Hauntingly beautiful memories....

Japanese love their sakura. The country comes into celebration with each sakura season. Family and friends come together and enjoy each other company under the sakura trees. Some even plan trips to follow the trails of the blossom. I think this is one reason why I enjoy the noodles markets in Australia (they always happen at the Hype Park in Sydney where there are various food stalls and people gather around in the evening with their friends to have a meal under the trees in the park.)

Around this time, you will see a lot of sakura related products and snacks. Example, sakura seaweed rolls, sakura chocolates like Kit Kat etc. Guess what now you can also enjoy your coke in sakura flavour! Pepsi has launched its first ever sakura flavor coke in Japan this year. The drink itself is pink in color, completed with the whole cherry blossom packing.

Look how pretty the whole package looks :)

I heard the drink has a light flora taste to it. Those of you who are travelling to Japan should definitely give it a try!

Delicious Singapore laksa - Love of Japanese Youtube star

As some of you might be aware, Singapore is my motherland.. Totally love everything (almost) about her. Whenever I travel overseas more than 2 weeks, I will usually start to miss the local food. Japan is less of an issue cos the food there is sooooo amazing. I usually start missing local after 3+ plus. I still recalled  there was once YY and I were started to looking for Yong Tau Foo (a local cuisine - a of the few healthy yet delicious options that I miss in my overseas stint) in a food court (around Shibuya area I think).

Hence it made me happy to know that Japanese Youtube food celebrity Kinoshita Yuka loves Singapore laksa! She often upload videos of her food conquest - dishes she has never tried before. In the following video, she is trying out a Prima instant laksa (Prima is framed for its chicken rice paste and laksa paste). Yuka included prawns, egg, onion and seaweed in her instant noodles like what she saw on the package. She cooked up a mega portion of 4.3kg of noodles and cleaned it off. Apparently she loves this dish :) Watch the video below:

https://youtu.be/UDue-GxXSAw

I know my Japanese friends love our chicken rice and one even likes the taste of durians! Here is another dish to  bring them to try :)

P.S. To Yuka, you should really try getting the Prima laksa paste and cook the laksa from scratch. It is so much nicer! That is what we have been doing to curb our craving for laksa from Down Under :)

Wanderlust Sale.....

For those of you who are living in Australia, I'm pleased to inform you that Qantas is having a Wanderlust Sale to most of its international destinations! Yay!

Now.. what are we talking about?

Say;

- Return trip to Tokyo (Haneda) from $799
- Return trip to Singapore from A$689
- Return trip to Hong Kong from A$699
- Return trip to Honolulu from A$949
- Return trip to San Francisco from A$1,249
- Return trip to New York (JFK) from A$1,449
- Return trip from Santiago from A$1,299

and many more... Check out on the website today!

Wait no longer....

Photo credits: http://www.therussianabroad.com

Hiking fun in Japan - Mt Takao (高尾山)

I have quite a few friends who are living and working in Tokyo. As expats in foreign land, one of their favorite pastime is exploring the mountains and countryside near Tokyo. I'm very fortunate to have these friends who provide me with tips on these nearby trips. I am not a particular outdoor person but I'm always open for some short hiking trips to get closer to nature.

So early one morning, off we go to Mt Takao which is just over 1 hour train ride from Tokyo. It was a nice sunny morning as we set foot on our journey. Upon reaching the station of our destination, I did my usual ritual of getting my stamp of the station. Then we got a map and get into the serious business of determine the hiking routes to take. As the typical nature lover, I chose the scenic route denoted by orange colored in the map (See below). Plus the estimated time taken looks reasonable from the information provided on the board. My friend - YY once told me in much confidence that the hiking is easy at Mt Takao and she is really kinda walker than a hiker and she has no problem at all. Hence I was feeling rather confident.




Map of Mt Takao



Details of trails on the map board

We started our climb from the path and it was a nice breezy walk, taking in the tranquillity around us. It was a beautiful day...

Start of our trail

Nice and peaceful

Ray of sunshine on the water

The strange thing is that there is no one else on the same path despite of a reasonable sizable crowd at the station. Oh well..these folks probably just wanna go for the fastest path to get to the temple but we are the nature-lovers who wanna enjoy our hiking...or so I thought.

Make hay while the sun shines

 

Path up to the mountain top

 

 

Soon we noted that there are some old folks who were climbing down from the path with their hiking poles. They looked quite surprised to see us and started speaking to us in Japanese which of course we don't understand. We smiled nicely and proceed with our hike and the path got steeper and steeper. K turned to me and commented that those folks are probably trying to tell us that this path is for going down the mountain which was why there is no one else on the path in the same direction! I have done it again ... I have led us to a challenging route again ....sigh :p

Nature reserve!




View from the midpoint

 

 

The hike was pleasant despite of the wrong route but it was physically challenging as well. We got to a hut for resting in the mid peak and we were rewarded with a beautiful view and cooling breeze, causally messing our hair.  We rest for a while before continuing our climb. It was quite a distance up and by the time we reached the peak at where the temple is located, the sun was setting by then. Still we got to view the colours of autumn.



Soon it will be flushes of golden shower in the mountain

 

Japan National Tourism Organization

It is important to keep updated on any events that could affect your travel plans. Being the tourists-friendly country Japan is, their national tourism board - Japan National Tourism Organization provides timely update to travelers. They have weather information, maps, hotels and restaurants searches as well as suggested itineraries. Sometimes they have special deals and events for certain months or prefectures featured on their website.

Photo credits: JNTO.
See the racers at Kikuma Festival.

Enjoying the songs of Autumn in Mihara City.

For those who want some insider information on where to go for hot springs, where to view the colors of autumn, where to experience the true Japanese culture, you won't be disappointed. In short, it is a good source of information for your travel planning.

I also enjoy reading their Japan monthly Web magazine. It is a very useful tool to help you keep up to date on the latest trends in Japan :)

So what are you waiting for? Click on the link  and browse through the website now.