Japan – laa laabi

Hokkaido, Japan, Sapporo, Travel

japan hokkaido, day 5 – lake toya . fresh soba koyo-tei . sapporo . suage

October 27, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

Breakfast at the resort!

And I tried natto for the first time. The taste is alright, just the slimy texture is quite difficult to accept.

—–

It’s raining again.

Heading to Sapporo!

—–

Stopped by Hoheikyo Dam but it was closed due to gale. The place around the carpark is still pretty though.

—–

Lunch at Fresh Soba Koyo-tei. Their menu is hand drawn! So pretty!

So good! The texture of both hot and cold soba is really different. Cold soba has the al dente bite while hot soba is soft and breaks easily. I prefer cold soba.

—–

Snacks on the go.

—–

Finally in Sapporo! First we stroll at Odori Park.

—–

Wanted to take a break at this cafe but there wasn’t any available seats.

See! It’s so pretty inside!

—–

Went to Oniyanma Cafe instead.

They roast their own coffee beans.

—–

Our airbnb for 3 nights.

—–

Rest and then it was time for dinner. Going to try Suage’s Soup Curry.

I opted for fried chicken. It was so fragrant and juicy. Fried chicken will never go wrong when in Japan.

The soup curry tasted like minestrone soup though. Hahahaha! Nothing like our usual curry.

Hokkaido, Japan, Random

japan hokkaido, day 4 – lake toya

October 26, 2018December 4, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

Buffet breakfast in the hotel. This is different from the other buffet breakfast that I’ve had in Japan. There’s more focus on seafood here.

Mini squids stuffed with glutinous rice.

Shio ramen.

Items I have picked out. Things with milk and cheese are not included.

Not forgetting to add more fibre.

Off we go to our next destination. Lake Toya!

Have more vitamins, our body is not used to the cold and dry weather.

One last time.

—–

Check in.

We’re pretty much devastated after we saw our rooms.

Too sweet for one person to finish.

—–

Dinner buffet at the hotel.

—–

Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan, Random

japan hokkaido, day 3 – hakodate asaihi (morning market), red brick warehouse, motomachi

October 25, 2018October 26, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

Starting our day at the market.

There are loads of seafood sold here but we do not think the prices here are good. There are stalls that mark up the prices and when you pass by, they will offer you the original price and claim it as a discount.

We bought a slice of melon to share and I almost dropped it. 😅

Cool drain cap.

Found a place for lunch.

I had the scallop, uni and fish roe rice bowl! It was good but just somehow not as good as the one I had at Tsukiji Market.

—–

Hakodate Bay’s Red Brick warehouse.

It’s a really beautiful place for picture taking.

Most of the shops here sell home decorative items or gifts, like musical boxes, dream catchers, famous cartoon characters collectables…

Ice-creamed at Lucky Pierrot.

Headed to the Motomachi area, went pass a few pretty houses.

Visited an owl shrine, the view here is pretty.

Continued walking to a church.

It’s very very pretty inside the church but do keep very quiet and no photography is allowed.

Going back to the car.

Lunch at Kantaro Sushi.

Many choices to choose from.

Green tea powder.

—–

Back in hotel for a nap.

—–

Dinner at the restaurant opposite our hotel, The Very Very Beast. The rating looks good.

—–

Moved to Hakodate Beer Hall next.

—–

Ice cream again!

—–

Up we go to Mount Hakodate!

Be careful went going up or down the hill, there was a fox in the middle of the road while we were going down.

Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan

japan hokkaido, day 2 – airport . hakodate . lucky pierrot

October 24, 2018October 25, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

Friends are coming over today, so we have to go meet them from the airport, collect the car and head to Hakodate.

We had initially planned to have breakfast at the McDonald’s opposite our hotel but we were too tired and overslept. Needed to get out by 9.40am to catch the last free shuttle provided by the hotel to the airport.

It’s going to be a rainy day.

Took the shuttle.

Cute plushies displayed around the airport.

Decided to have breakfast in MMC Organic Cafe.

No-cream carbonara which tastes better with each bite. There was a bottle of grated parmesan to add if you like but I prefer mine cheeseless.

Honey toast was heavenly, sweet with salty butter and a good tinge of vanilla flavour from the ice cream. Mmm…

—–

Friends are here!

Friends had lunch while we went to Royce Chocolate World.

Chocolate bar bun. 😅

Bought some pralines for myself, this is only available in Hokkaido. Dark chocolate but it’s still very sweet.

Cute!

Collecting our rented car.

Then we had to take the shuttle bus…

To their main car holding area.

Our car for 11 days.

On the road!

Pictures don’t do any justice to the scenery.

Jigokudani aka Hell Valley.

Cute little shop.

Hell Valley is beautiful. Good thing we arrived while the sun is setting too.

Clear water mixing with murky water.

Even demons to represent genders at the toilet.

—–

Chicken cutlet sandwich as a tea break snack. Yums.

Pit stop. Food stations close at 6pm. 😅

—–

First thing we do right after reaching Hakodate is to have dinner at Lucky Pierrot. It’s only available in Hokkaido.

Wacky decor and also snacks sold.

Menu. Chinese chicken is number 1.

Wow. The chicken is well-flavoured, tender and juicy. Thumbs up, will recommend.

—–

It was really quiet.

Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan

japan hokkaido, day 1 – chitose

October 23, 2018October 23, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

The day I’ve been looking forward to is finally here! Haven’t slept during the night because flight is at 6am.

Breakfast comes first, hunger at 4am is no joke.

In-flight meal (Singapore to Taipei), this looks more like boiled chicken than roasted. 😅

Transit at Taipei.

In-flight meal (Taipei – Hokkaido), this is one of the better meals I’ve had on Scoot. Beef was tender. Be careful of splatters though.

—–

Finally here!!!

Took bus 66 to our hotel but got down too early. *facepalm*

So we took the train and got down at Chitose Station which is just one stop away.

Quiet town.

Hotel is not bad, a little more spacious than the usual hotels.

TC rushed in to work.

I shall have a good bath tonight.

Going to settle our dinner at 7-eleven, their food can hardly go wrong.

This oyako don. 👌🏻 How is it that the egg doesn’t get cooked in the microwave? The rice was in a separate bowl stacked at the bottom.

Condiments provided too, didn’t have the need to use it as the dish was flavorful enough.

Meat ball nabe. It was alright.

The breads. Sandwich was yums, anything related to eggs is good.

Curry pork bun was heavy on the spice and herbs but good in a way.

Desserts! Shall not comment on the sweet potato, it’s not the first time we’re having it. I don’t mind bringing a batch of it home.

I see black sugar and it’s only the last one left on the shelf, I take it. Just look at the whole chunk of red bean paste inside. Better share as it’s quite jelak to have it yourself. The red bean paste wasn’t as sweet as those I had in the past, the thin layer of black sugar cake around gives a very nice fragrance.

Drinks. Bought the Kirin Lemon because packaging on point. Coffee tastes okay, doesn’t have the sour note that TC likes.

Food, Japan, Osaka, Pipi Labi, Travel

japan day 8 – osaka . yukari okonomiyaki . printoss . umeda sky building

March 3, 2018March 8, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

TC prepared breakfast today! Mostly from Lawsons.

Soup again, different brand but still good! Lesser meat in this though.

Simmered flounder, I think the one we had at Kuromon Market is better. This has a plastic-ky smell?

Hmm… Van Houten Cocoa drink is quite legit.

Plan today is supposed to be Sagano Romantic Train Ride in Kyoto but I felt really tired to travel and there’s not much flowers or autumn leaves to see anyway.

It will just be a shopping day then. We traveled to Umeda.

First, HEP FIVE because I need to check out the Disney and Sanrio stores.

Why the Disney stores in Osaka don’t have Beast? 😧 I already have mine but my Sister wanted one too.

Okonomiyaki and yakisoba – checked! Found this place via Foursquare, Yukari.

Condiments.

I’m having a ginger ale.

Kimchi pork. *facepalm* Can’t read menu, so just point.

Yakisoba. Yums!

There are two significant types of Okonomiyaki. First, the Osaka style, in which the ingredients are all mixed into a batter and then grilled. Second, the Hiroshima style, which a small crepe-like pancake is grilled and then other ingredients are layered on top. The Hioshima style uses much more cabbage than the Osaka style.

I prefer the Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, so here it is!

Went Yodobashi!

Got myself a Printoss! It’s limited to one per pax and blue was the only colour left. No batteries or ink needed. All you need is your instax mini films, sold separately.

You can watch the video here, it’s in Chinese.

Hahahahha!

So pretty! But need to pay ¥1000 per pax for entry which is too expensive for a flea market style place, where people are selling their plants. Pay to get in to buy plants? Weird logic.

Umeda Sky Building

It’s only like 40 floors high?

Got the tickets. Went up and sat at the cafe.

Nothing much to see now. Going to wait until night time.

Ufufy bunnies!

Too cloudy to see the sunset.

So we went up.

Look at the ground, it’s glowing.

That’s all. Going back down.

Fairylights on trees!

Hungry and we decided to just for Indian curry because no queue and rating looks alright on Foursquare.

Depending on the combination that you are getting, you can choose from four different kinds of curry; beef pork, pork, chicken and veggie. Add on soft-boiled egg too.

Meal came with a tiny spicy soup, was told to pour it over at the later half. No idea what it really does.

There’s a lot of herbs and spices, like too much. 😂 Very herby. Even the egg does not do anything to enhance the flavour because the herbs just covers the taste of everything. A very unusual Indian meal.

Starbucks!

I like the Earl Grey Tea Cream Frappucino! Very nice with a touch of coconut syrup.

TC had the Sakura Strawberry Pink Milk Latter, I die also don’t want to try because milk.

Pudding as a late night snack, more like clearing the fridge since we’re leaving tomorrow.

Food, Japan, Osaka, Pipi Labi, Travel

japan day 7 – osaka . todai-ji . shunie

March 2, 2018March 8, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

Prepared noodles as breakfast, we shared a big cup which I think it’s just nice for both of us.

Bought Nissin’s new nugget and fries cup noodles. Looks interesting. The little pieces of meat really taste like nugget, whereas the fries… hmm… not so much. It’s like Jagabee potato sticks in soup. Nothing amazing about it, soup is just normal chicken soup.

The strawberries we bought the last time was sweeter. This has the sour note.

My favourite chocolate cake from Family Mart!

Out shopping and TC wants to get a Cremia to try, I had a little bit, it was soooooooo milky. I cannot.

So I got a chocolate waffle to wash down the milky taste.

Shopping got crazy when we were at Muji. Everything is so much cheaper than Singapore! some of them are even like 40% lesser because got sales. We bought things like cutlery, flooring mop, portable diffuser… Click here to see what other interesting Muji items that you can only get in Japan.

So we had to travel all the way back to our Airbnb to drop the stuffs, wouldn’t want to be carrying the bags around Nara.

Dropped by Coffee House Abuki for some food.

Fluffy egg & ham sandwiches, honey toasts and coffee. Simple fare but sooooo good.

Heading to Todai-ji Temple!

Pick acorns and see deers.

Enjoy the scenery.

Almost there!

Shunie is not at the main temple. We have to travel up to another site.

I guess these will be the bamboos that the monks will be using for Shunie later.

Always arrive early to get a good view! Shunie starts exactly at 7pm, so it will be good to reach at least an hour earlier.

Remember to prep some food and drinks too, just in case.

The crowd.

Oh. Let me give some background information first.

“Shunie, a series of events held annually from March 1 to 14 at Todaiji Temple. This collection of Buddhist repentance rituals has been held every year for over 1250 years, making it one of the oldest reoccurring Buddhist events in Japan.

Omizutori is performed at Nigatsudo Hall, a sub-complex of Todaiji, which stands not far from the temple’s main hall on the slope of a hill. Nigatsudo literally means “second month hall”, referring to the second month of the lunar calendar, when Omizutori has traditionally been held. The second month of the lunar calendar roughly corresponds to March of the solar calendar.”

You can find more information here.

The fireworks is so awesome, ‘wow’ every single time.

It has been a good day.

Onigiri to fill us up a bit before dinner.

Although they are salmon cooked in different styles but very salty.

Beef don at Sukiya!

Food, Japan, Osaka, Pipi Labi, Travel

japan day 6 – osaka . universal studios japan

March 1, 2018March 8, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

We are going to Universal Studios today! Weeeeee~!

TC getting a hot drink for me and the vending machine sells hot soup too. 😮

We have people complaining about getting toxicated by heated plastic and here I have a hot drink kept warm by the vending machine.

Here we are! It was crazy when walking over from the train station, I almost got blown away by the wind. Many girls were screaming and all I know was that I was struggling to keep myself on the ground. I gained quite a lot of weight leh!

I bought our tickets from Klook, so no queueing for them! Just need to scan the QR code on the printout to enter.

Took a picture with Charlie Brown! Snoopy lookd a bit distorted, so I don’t want to take picture with it.

So paiseh! I waited too long until my phone locked itself, so when it was our turn… I had to let Charlie wait. 😂 Sumimashen! 🙇🏻‍♀️

I’ve never watched any Shrek movies. Erm. Ya. Hahahhaha.

Minions! Omygawd. I think I got too excited.

And look what I got! So cute! 😍

Eating Bob’s brain. 🤣

Snacks first! Shared a hot dog and snoopy meat bun. It was not bad, in fact so much better than all the food sold in Singapore’s Universal Studio.

This is a very cute place to visit!

Sesame street section, such happy colours.

Going into the Wizarding World! Anyone could easily spend 3 to 4 hours in here.

So many fun things to see!

Late lunch at Three Broomsticks. Luckily we shared a main and a side, if not we would not be able to finish the food.

Chicken & pork BBQ platter, soda bread and butterbeer.

Soda bread tastes like biscuits.

The platter was not bad, the corn was a little tad dry but still very sweet.

Butterbeer does not have butter smell! Phew. It’s like ice-cream soda with cream on it.

You want some too?

“Kelvin, where are you? 😯”

The castle. Went in for the ride, queued for almost an hour. Ride was fun, except the 3D parts. Makes me dizzy.

In Ollivander’s shop of wands. If you are lucky to be selected as part of the show, you may get a free wand.

They are shifting rocks. 😞 Hmm… let’s not bother them.

Jaws. Ride was closed for maintenance.

Hey! You’re not supposed to be there!

TC says I need a hot drink.

Guys. Tell me why their whipped cream so nice? Why? I feel like I was eating ice cream even though it’s warm. 😍

Old movie. There were 3 parts, first 2 parts are just boring because it’s mostly back story of how the film was made… all in Japanese. I understand nothing.

The actual thing was quite fun. Tip, try to leave the place last, so you can see the things shifting back in place and also… I think this is the best place to warm up if you’re feeling cold.

Minions! Didn’t take the ride because we need to go to the other ride before the park is closed.

You kiss Spiderman here.

Oh yes! Final Fantasy!

Cactuar churro, apple flavoured. Tastes like I’m having apple pie. Nom nom.

Went in to queue 2 hours for a 5 mins ride. 😂

Time for a break warm up break. Croissant brulee was yummy.

Didn’t try this but looks nice if you like Sailor Moon.

Going back to take a look at the Wizarding School, for night scenaries.

TC found this highly rated and affordable sushi. Minimum ¥100 per piece. I ate so much.

Supper.

Food, Japan, Osaka, Travel

japan day 5 – osaka . kuromon market . dotonburi . namba . matsusaka m

February 28, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

At our next Airbnb!

There’s a little kitchen.

Washing machine and a separate shower room.

Underused wardrobe and balcony.

Hungry. Grabbed food at the nearby Kuromon Market.

Wolfed these strawberry mochis down our tum tums.

Unagi tastes quite standard. Scallops are quite good but not as good as the ones we had at Nishiki Market.

Came to this stall to get their delicious oden and fish. Everything is sooooo delish. 😋

Didn’t get these pufferfish.

These strawberries are so huge, it’s like a small apple but the price…

Meal for two!

Although this fatty tuna sushi looks good… Don’t get them. It’s too big and thick. Not fat enough to melt in your mouth too. Very difficult to chew. I have once again lose faith in tuna.

They are better eaten microwaved and dipped in the leftover fish sauce.

Shopping happened at Dotonburi.

This melonpan with ice-cream is popular but I didn’t get it because there’s a very strong butter lingering around the area.

Dessert before dinner at McDonald’s!

Oreo McFlurry is ¥290, a little more.expensive than Singapore’s but they are way more generous with the oreo bits.

Tried the new premium hazelnut chocolate pastry pie. It’s soooo good. There’s like two dollops of nutella. 😋

Yakiniku at Matsusaka M. Finally back to satisfy my craving.

Ordered a 2 person share fatty beef platter, and I’m the only person having it because TC doesn’t eat beef.

TC’s fatty pork, pork kalbi and chicken.

Scallops! (We had so much scallops during this trip. 😋)

Almost forgot the hotpot garlic rice.

Mmmm…

Together with beer and highball.

We were just in time to watch a praying a progress, at the little shrine right outside the restaurant!

The horn that they are blowing is actually a huge conch shell.

All the while wondering is the paper garlands hanging at the top will catch fire or not.

Slow-roasted sweet potato for supper. I saw a lot of people queuing to get it, so I joined the queue. (Singaporean’s logic; got queue means got good stuff)

Then realise that it isn’t cheap leh! Approximately $10 for a large sweet potato.

It really is huge. We couldn’t finish it. 🤣

Please work your magic! Help me lose weight!

Food, Japan, Kyoto, Travel

japan day 4 – kyoto . sanjusangendo . hisago . ichiran

February 27, 2018March 7, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

Quick breakfast from Family Mart before we rush down to the shrine. Got the braised pork onigiri which was from the premium range and a chicken & egg sandwich. Both are very nice! Very filling.

Soymilk smoothie with fruits. Waaaa… I really like this leh! Why Singapore don’t have? Smoothie is very thick due to the bananas, had to wait a while for it to come out. 😆

Sanjusangendo. It was closed when we came yesterday.

Let me just go somewhere to steal some pictures first, so that I can show you how amazing this place is. We’re not allowed to take pictures inside. ☹

Tadaa!

Some brief history from Wiki.
The main deity of the temple is Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokiteśvara or the Thousand Armed Kannon. The statue of the main deity was created by the Kamakura sculptor Tankei and is a National Treasure of Japan. The temple also contains one thousand life-size statues of the Thousand Armed Kannon which stand on both the right and left sides of the main statue in 10 rows and 50 columns. Of these, 124 statues are from the original temple, rescued from the fire of 1249, while the remaining 876 statues were constructed in the 13th century. The statues are made of Japanese cypress clad in gold leaf. The temple is 120- meter long. Around the 1000 Kannon statues stand 28 statues of guardian deities. There are also two famous statues of Fūjin and Raijin.