Japan trip 2013 summer part 1

Soooooo, I haven't write on ameba for ages due to the reason that I simply just don't have the time to do so. I have no idea where to start so I guess it would be best to just start from my trip to Japan this summer. The summer was 3.5 months long started from mid May, and I didn't decide to go to Japan until late June. It was a sudden decision I made with my gf. I spent abt a month in Tokyo and abt a month in Sapporo, and I got there by train. 

Above is the bag I got for myself in the JFK airport duty free shop. I loved the color and it's light weight. Used it through out my entire trip in JP. 

After I arrived at Narita airport, I had to take bus to get to my apartment in daikanyama. And that bus ride took me 2.5hrs to get to shibuya. 

How I missed this place......shibuya station. Where there were tones of people and I had to fight my way through crowds with a huge language to get a taxi. 

 My apartment is this compound called "Century Forest" and was near to this book store called 鳥屋. Walking would take around 5mins. I don't have my apartment photo in my phone so I will upload them in the next blog or so. 

First meal or breakfast in JP. It was in this pretty big cafe inside the bookstore area. Apparently they were pretty famous and lots of housewives love to enjoy their afternoon tea there. Ever since we bought the apartment, my parents had been staying in JP more often. My father ended up going to that cafe so often that the manager knew him like a friend.....

2011 Summer Shanghai 01

2011 Summer Shanghai 01

This was 2011 Summer,
right after I left Tokyo with my Baby.
She came with me to Shanghai for the first time in her life.

This was the first day night,
My dad insisted to take us to The Bond,
which was a really famous sight along the 黃埔 river in Shanghai.
It was famous for its unique sight;
One side of the bond were all pre-WWII buildings,
while the other side were completely modern buildings.

My baby did not look well in this photo,
She suffered from environment shock that time,
which was completely understandable for someone to visit a place for the first time.
New bacterial structures in water, air and food could get you really sick..

Really had to thank my dad for driving us there after work;
a busy business man who had a tired day.
My hair style was completely fucked up by the salon on 表參道...

The other day we went to the 鼎泰豐 in Shanghai.
WE were waiting for the time we booked,
so My mom and my sister wanted to walk around in the mall.
My baby took this with my sun glasses while we were waiting for my mom to finish shopping.

I also called a few friends too, 
David was also in SH at that time,
I actually drive to visit him while we are in US,
his place was only 3 hrs drive from mine.
I like how this photo showed his shinny bald head. lololol

From this photo you could clearly see our relationship hahahaha.
Perfect portrait of our personality..

鼎泰豐 was famous for 小籠包
They were also good at noodles and other Chinese cuisine.


This was shrimp dumplings if I remembered correctly...
very good..



to be continue 

Baby Christmas in Taiwan 2011 03

Baby Christmas in Taiwan 2011 03

One night we went to the Tong Hua night market,
Maybe I talked abt this in my last blog,
but I had not written anything for a long time due to no time so I really could not remember.
We were in one of this new shop that opened while I was in US,
they were specialized in 四川 food,
you see the paper in the photo, that was for ordering. 

I knew that not a lot of Japanese people were willing to try new food,
Specially ingredients that sounds disgusting...
I grew up to be adventurous, so I would try any food before judging them.
This is a spicy duck blood with pig intestine.
Those blood were made into jelly by a special process, and I loved them. 

This was what they looked like.
Duck blood did not really had any flavor or taste.
They were like jelly with a little saltiness.
I love the texture when I bit into them.

This was the drink I was drinking,
I believed it was 金桔 juice.
I really liked the design on the cup,
as a graphic designer myself,
I thought they really did a good job in bringing out the culture and style. 

I then came to another shop for a different food,
That bubble tea was my baby's,
I was just trying them since I did not like bubble tea at all.
This shop was owned by a grandma that had been there forever.
I ordered her oyster pancake,
which was a really delicious Taiwanese cuisine. 

This was what the pancake looked like,
The sauce on it gave it a little bit of sweetness which brought out the flavor of egg and oyster.
Perfect, Perfect, food;
Not even a Michelin restaurant cuisine could compare with this little food from the side of the street.

This was what a night market food shop looked like,
I knew they might not look that good,
but trust me,
I shitted from just drinking Chinese water,
and all these years I lived in Taiwan,
none of those night market food gave me one.

Another view of a random shop.
This shop was special in fried 肉圓.
They also had other food,
It was too much to talk abt and I am very lazy.

My baby's absolute favorite food from night market.
fried shrimps with special thousand island sauce.
small box was only 50 NT which was 150yen

This was the small box,
there were like 10 shrimps in it with pineapple under them.
The next time we visited we bought the large box lololol.

Night street view of 信義路.
I had to walk this street to get to the night market from my apartment.
I did not drive because first, the night market was pretty close,
and second, it was hard to find parking space.

Few days later we had this family trip thing.
we took entire day of train just to get to the place we dad wanted to go.
However, the train had its famous 台鐵便當.
They were famous for its old time classic taste that would remind you of your grandmother.. 

This was what the 便當 looked like inside.
Ham, pork chop, egg, tofu, and some veggies. 

LOL
Just me sleeping with my baby's scarf......

I got this for my baby's parents as gift,
but her mom ended up giving it to grandma and uncle.....
I should have had got more of them...

Baby Christmas in Taiwan 2011 02

Baby Christmas in Taiwan 2011 02

Probably had introduced this in my previous blog already,

but I am short of stuff to write so bare with me lol.

This cafe was located in the B1 of Taipei 板急 mall.

It was owned by a Japanese guy,

so naturally everything taste like Japan..

Those strawberries on the cake were actually imported from Japan..

At the entrance there were those different flavor teas.

I thought I bought one for my baby,

Did not know where it went..

This was a lunch inside a hotel that I could not remember the name..

I only show you guys this photo because I did not want to spam my page with one blog.

This was a dandan noodle,

The style and taste was very different to either Japanese or Chinese one.

It was very light with very nicely cooked broth.

After the lunch they served us those mochi covered in peanut powder

and a small cup of woolong tea...

The power on the mochi was not the one they had in Japan..

My baby's favorite bubble tea.

The shop was located next to a club..

They used nice milk with I did not know which tea,

and the tapioca was made of black sugar.

Few days later my sister took us to this cafe in a area famous for shopping.

I thought the shop was really nicely decorated..

But pink was not my favorite color lol..

The eats and tables were pretty cute too,

I liked their sofa, they were really comfortable..

Cute decorations on the counter,

Wonder where they got all those stuff from..

I thought girls would definitely like it,

nice drink, nice cake and nice atmosphere.

2011 Summer Tokyo Trip 5

2011 Summer Tokyo Trip 5

Ofcourse I did not forget about Omotesando.

My favorite place in Tokyo,

It was fairly new and clean,

also had a lot of nice brand shops and foods.

The Omotesando mall,

When I first went there, the mall were just built.

It felt really weird visiting that place again after many years..

The ramen on the top floor was pretty good,

the size was fair enough.

Shibuya,

Personally did not like that place too much,

too many people, too noisy, and too dirty.

Realized a lot of young people loved to go there,

but I prefer Omotesando.

That night we found this Indian curry place next to the apartment I rent (Nishi Shinjuku).

The restaurant was hiding inside a business building,

We actually took some time to decide whether to go into this sketchy shop..

It turned out to be fantastic! everything was original.

The little shop was packed with foreigners,

which was also a good sign for foreign cuisine. 

Next day went shopping around Tokyo station,

Found this oyster bar in a mall,

tried some uni pasta and oyster.

the pasta was not good; over cooked and lack the flavor of uni,

the oysters were half good and half disgusting; forgot where the bad ones were from...

The best thing about Japan,

You were allow to smoke in cafe.

No other countries I had visited allowed this.

Pop a smoke after eating was the best thing you could do.

This restaurant was next to the Akihabara station.

I was there for shopping that day.

I am pretty into anime manga and games,

although the interest level kinda decreased recently..

I did collect figures and pillows....I stopped after realizing it was a waste of money...

I was a fan of Monster Hunter,

bought those cute little cat dolls..

They were so cheap in Japan..

Went to the American street the same day.

To me it was just a market with a lot of random stuff.

Nothing interested me there so I left after circling around quickly ..