The Perry Amber Story

Look Ma, it's me!

White dress with pearl embroidery from Perry Amber

O hail Shanghai Tang

It's no secret that I like Shanghai, with its colonial architecture, self-absorbed haughtiness and larger than life people. The way the city is evolving never fails to fascinate me, and I find myself looking forward to visit the place every time.

But I'd be the first to scrunch my face when it comes to chinese inspired clothings, or outfits with "a touch of the orient". Mandarin collars, silk screen fans and butterfly embroidery are not something that you'd see on a fashionista. When you see someone wearing a silk blouse with chinese buttons, the person either works at a hotels, a Chinese restuarant, or he stole the ensemble from the Chinatown masseuse.

But the latest ad-campaign from Shanghai Tang - the unlikeliest of brands, took my breath away.

This season, Shanghai Tang place presents a contemporary collection with accents, embellishments and colours from the Miao culture. The Miao people are an ethnic minority living in the hills around south China.

Juxtaposing antiquity and modernity, the intricacy of Miao elements dovetails beautifully with clean fluid lines to create visuals that redefines Chinese beauty.

The placement of sleek models against the majestic mountains is both romantic and bold; and the use of jade on navy star embellished silk blouse is just crazy beautiful.

Gone are the days when the notion of Chinese beauty is identifiable only by the iconic red lips and thigh high slits. O hail!

Dear Hong Kong,

Guess what, I miss your face. You are beautiful like a beautiful place.

When I was hungry, there was great food.From Agnes b. Le Pain Grille at IFC, to Fung Shing Yum Cha at North Point and Four Seasons' Caprice.

When I felt dumpy, there was crazy partying.

So I can't wait to see you soon! (like in 1.5 months)

Chillaxing at Isola, IFC

SoHo! My favourite place to shop

Onsen

You can Onsen with your mother

if you can accept that nakedness is just a state of being.

And it really helps if you are extremely short-sighted.

@ Toya-ko

Snow capped town

Just outside our cottage - Log Yukari

Ningle Terrace - 1km from the cottage

白い雪が街を染める頃にも
君の側にいさせて
私これからも
困らせてばかりかもしれないけど

白い雪が溶けて街が
鮮やかに彩られる頃も
こうして君の事が大事で仕方ない私でいたい

XOXO,

Isabelle

Fall is the season for Hairy Crabs

Fall means different things to different people, the crisp air, the turning leaves, Halloween, and if you're really lucky, pneumonia. It's also the time when even I have the common sense to put some cloth over my bare shoulders and swap my tank tops for a cable sweater.

To the Shanghainese, Fall is the season for eating hairy crabs.

I have always assumed that the Shanghainese' love for hairy crabs, like their obsession with powerpoint presentations and their preference for women with hairy armpits, was just part of the many fascinating and complex cultural traits that a Singaporean like me will never understand.

I was in Shanghai in October, when the palm-sized crustaceans with bushy claws from the Yangcheng river matured, and I witnessed how the city went wild with cheer after 8 months of anticipation. There wasn't a chinese restuarant who didn't offer this not-to-be-missed delicacy.

Served with chopped ginger and vinegar, the hairy crab is prized for its rich and creamy orange-coloured roe. A lot of effort is spent shucking open the shell to suck out the roe, and the meat though sweet, it is thin. Bad ROI if you ask me.

But savour it with a group of friends over a few rounds of Chinese wine or sherry, it's not hard to see why they make a culture of gathering together each year during fall to have hairy crabs.

Sometimes it's easy to overlook simple joys like the change in season. And perhaps Fall is simply the season to celebrate friendship.

I'll be back before the winter chills. Till then ~

Blue is the colour of Good Taste

Ariel: Have you ever seen anything so beautiful in your entire life?
Flounder: Wow, but umm what is it?

Ariel: I don't know
Scuttle: It's a dinglehopper!

(excerpt from Walt Disney's The Little Mermaid)

Who said that money cannot buy happiness doesn't know where to shop.

Some styles are timeless; some colours become legendary.

Nothing sings pretty like a lil' something from the trademark blue box.

But nothing excites me more than a thoughtful gift that captures the pulse of my personal and professional life.

Mr Robin Egg Blue is a passport holder

(Although The Little mermaid and her silly little friends wouldn't know what it is)

And the prettiest one I've ever seen.

Besides what better way to brighten the day of overworked immigration officers at airports

than a dash of colour and a bit of stylish inspiration from NY's Fifth Avenue.

Bangkok - The land of unexpected adventures

Thailand is a land of smiles for tourists, and they say that if you know how to exercise your tourist rights, you'll never be bored or alone. Whether you are revelling in the company of with a bewitchingly beautiful woman with a strangely deep voice, or feasting on authentic Tom Yam Gung, more often than not, a traveller would stumble upon an adventure that wasn't quite planned.

Now, there is no better way to experience Bangkok than to take its mass transit system or the BTS. In fact, it is the best way about Bangkok, because one would have to be living in Siberia for the past decade to not have heard of the famed rush hour traffic jam that makes double boiling chinese soup seem like fast food.

So it all started with me losing my way after I alighted at the Chidlom BTS Station.

I must have looked really sweaty and lost in my 4 inch spikes and black Karen Millen dress after walking for about 300 meters in the Bangkok humidity, when a guy stopped me in my tracks with a smile playing at the corner of his lips. He is clearly not local.

"Hey beautiful, whatcha doin? Are you lost? Where you from?" he asked with a thick accent that I couldn't quite place.

I stared at him dumfounded. English-speaking people are really rare in this country and when you see one, the last thing you want to do is to say something dumb and fuck up your chance of ever finding your way around.

"Yes I'm a bit lost. can you please point me to Ploenchit Road?"

"Yes, I'm lost, can you point me to Ploenchit Road?" he mimicked.

"I'm sorry? Do you or do you not know?" I quizzed, my annoyance slightly rising. There I was, late, lost and alone with this dude who was obviously trying to be funny.

"I'm sorry? Do you or do you not know?" he mimicked again.

Annoyed, I threw my hands up in annoyance and tried to turn my heels to walk off, but he blocked my way and pressed on, "Hey beautiful, follow me I know the place that you want to go, follow me. Cmon, follow me. Are you going for a meeting? Can I sit beside you and watch you?"

"I want to follow you wherever it is - this place that you are going to", he urged.

This time, I was completely creeped out.

If it wasn't because he look like he is well-versed in tribal warfare and could probably outrun an Olympic runner, I might have unleashed my unfiled fingernails on his face or sprinted off in my 4 inch heels. But no, he looked like he could out-wrestled me even in a clown suit.

So being brilliant at figuring out situations like this, I did what any intelligent woman would do when faced with a confrontational man: I pretended to have period cramps and demanded that he help me to purchase a pack of sanitary pad from the nearest convenience stall.

So there I was standing in the middle of the road doubled over, clutching my lower abdomen in mock pain and shouting, "Quick, go get the Kotex pads with wings! I can't move, it's too painful!"

Needless to say, he was not amused. Barely a minute into my acting, he muttered a "dumb bitch!" and strode away, as if the episode never happened.

The moment he turned his heels, I straightened up, finger-combed my sweat streaked hair and sashayed towards the nearest building to get guidance to my destination.

The Crease-less Frequent Flyer

Please excuse me for not updating as I was busy trading my pillowcase for a suitcase.

As you might have guessed, a lackadaisical lifestyle never stood a chance against an adrenaline-charged, jetsetting one with me. So in a typical Isabelle fashion, packed 3 pairs of heels, stuffed my Blackberry into my Birkin, and then up and beyond, away I flew to where the market beckons.

For the next few months, I'll be weeviling through the thicket of Bureaucratese to master the legislature and economics of each country, and serving the diplomacy-pie with a smile to anyone who is willing to listen to my spiel.

But for a vain, busy girl like me who is constantly on the go, finding the time to take care of my skin and stay beautiful is one of the hardest, but necessary task.

In my never ending quest to find the right balance between simplicty and perfection for my skincare regime, I chanced upon Hada Labo's Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion, a miracle skincare product with a "One drop locks up an ocean" promise.

Hada Labo & the Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion

Hada Labo's Super Hayaluronic Acid Moisturising Line, is one of the hottest skincare product with a cult following in countries like Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Hydrating Lotion, in particular, is supposedly so popular in Japan that one is sold every 4 seconds!

The star ingredient, Super Hyaluronic acid, has twice the moisture retention capacity of Normal Hyaluronic acid.

It goes on like a toner but with a much thicker consistency, and a slight initial stickiness to it. But worry not, for the lotion gets completely absorbed with no traces of stickiness after I gently pat my face with my palm after application.

While the term "Hayaluronic Acid" conjures up images of skincare for old women with dry skin, the Super Hayaluronic Acid Hydrating Face Lotion by Hada Labo, was absorbed easily into my skin without much of a struggle. My skin feels so well taken care of that I don't even get the 'oily saucepan face' when I wake up in the morning.

In a world where we go for the niftiest gadgets, smallest credit card and all-in-one makeup kits, I found that the Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion is the perfect skin hydrating companion when I travel. Just 2 drops is all I need to keep my entire face supple, hydrated and nourished - through the night and in the day!

Being busy and keeping pace with your new lifestyle is not an excuse to neglect your appearance and disregard your usual skincare regime, because life is too short to waste time on being ugly. But you can keep it easy and fuss-free by investing in suitable skincare products.

Till the next time. XOXO.

PS: By the way, the KL Hilton is awesome in an omfg way.

Mid-Year Resolutions

Having New Year's resolutions is like the Thais declaring a war against their state, or Linsey Lohan announcing that she found a cure for cancer- there is a lot of fanfare but nobody actually takes them seriously.

Remember my one of my earlier resolutions to go to New Zealand to pick apples? Well, like any New Year's resolutions, it never materialised.

But Mid-Year's resolutions are goals that are precipitated as a result of observations and experiences from the first half of the year, and then forecasted onto the next half a year. Simply said, they are the more realistic and trustworthy brothers of New Year's resolutions.

So here are my top 4 and I can assure you that they are not your usual run-of-the-mill list:

1) Learn Bahasa

I am seriously thinking of signing up for the Bahasa classes at the Community Club.

Already I hear guffaws from all you fancy schmucks. But what's the point of learning French and fancy German when I'm probably only going there once, at most twice in my entire life. When I took up Japanese, it was because I used to travel to the country a lot with my dad, and hence a basic grasp of the language was useful.

Nevermind the 'Hellos' and the 'How do you dos', I need to at least learn how to swear, say "I understand what you're saying" or act blur with a "I don't understand Bahasa" when I want to amuse myself with the kind of things that people say aloud when they think you do not understand their language.

Besides, coming from someone who made a boo-boo in Indonesia when I ordered "Selamat satay" and the guy just stared at me like his face would crack.

I only found out later that while I wanted to buy 10 satays, whatever I said actually meant something like "Greetings satay!" which not only doesn't make sense, it made me look really stupid. It's going to be a fantastic face-saving language if I travel out into the region in the next couple of months, and I expect to be doing that quite a bit.

2) Pick up Poker and be damn good at it
I wanna hold em like they do in Texas Plays, fold em let em hit me raise it baby stay with me, luck and intuition play the cards with Spades to start...

Alright, I'll admit that the Gaga fever got to me, but what with the 2 new casinos opening in Singapore at the Integrated Sentosa Resorts and the Marina Bay Sands, I think it's time I do my part as a proud Singaporean to win back some worthy "foreign investment" - One. Game. At. A. Time.


3) Learn to play golf
Like snorting noodles through your nostrils or bungee jumping, I'll bet that learning to play golf is one of those evergreen items on everyone's list of "Things to do before you turn 30". Well, it is on mine.

Who cares if Mark Twain once said that golf is “a good walk spoiled”, and nevermind that I'd probably golf a grand total of ONCE a year. Golfing is just one of those things that at the ripe young age of 24, you don't really know why you want to do it, but you simply have to have the badge on your sleeve.

Besides, it's way cooler than telling people that you have the Certificate of Achievement for scaling the Great Wall of China, which nobody actually gives a fly about.


4) Join a gym/ dance class
Before my ass sags like a duffel bag and before I get thrown into TAF club. Nuff said.

Latest Fashion Trend in Hong Kong

If intelligence is a determinant of one's sex appeal, then there is no clearer indication of one's brain size than the size of one's glasses.

While I am not a big fashion experimenter on a daily basis, sticking to slim-cut basics and 4-inch heels, the same way Tiger Woods stick to blond women, every once in a while, I go overboard experimenting with new looks.

A while ago it was the Blair Waldorf look, for which I bought a headband that came with plumes of feather and a ribbon so huge that it will put the headgear of a Qing Dynasty princess to shame. Even then, I only enacted scenes from the Case of the Siao Overaged Teenager within the confines of my own room.

In Hong Kong, it was the studious, preppy look. The main ingredient of this look: huge, thick-rimmed vintage spectacles. Students wore it, the working class wore it, bankers walking towards the Central subway wore it. The trend was said to have started in London, then spread to Hong Kong, Korea and Japan. While the geeky-specs appeal got picked up in Singapore, the more conservative local dressers did not adopt it in a big way.

So I while in Hong Kong, I went all out, and treated myself to a giant pair of cow print spectacles. And in my understated geeky glamour that is both intense and uncontrived, I reigned the streets of Hong Kong, charming people into divulging their most well-kept dimsum enclaves.

After all, like all things related to sex appeal, the bigger the better, isn't it so?

4 things you must do when you visit Phuket

1. Bring a pensive little companion.

2. Take a ride on the real Songthaew.

Take a public bus ride from Kata beach to Phuket town just for the sake of it. Those come in intervals and you ride for a flat fee of 30 baht (about S$1++). They are really slow though. Don't be conned by a Tuk Tuk which will rip you off for 200 baht for a distance that you can easily walk.

3. Eat Italian food
Don't know where I've heard this or from whom, but legend has it that the best Japanese food outside of Japan can be found in Brazil; and the best Italian food outside of Italy can be found in Phuket. While I haven't tasted any orgasmic Italian food during my stay in Phuket (probably because I haven't found it and because I can only eat 3 meals a day) there are so many authentic eateries there that

4. Show off your bikini and frolick in the sea.

Phuket: The land of excess

An excesss of masseuse, nail parlours, tailors and Italian Restaurants.
Day after day, from the beach side to the secluded soi to a makeshift push cart.
No differentiation, no diversification.
It's an excess of the same things.


Too many saggy white whales populating the beaches,
Frolicking in the sun with their young Asian wives.
The image is somewhat disturbing, so ermm
'nuff said.

Too much unfulfilled promises of the beautiful underwater world,

and pristine white beaches nestled against the Andaman Sea.

The stark seabed and piles of dead corals destroyed by the Tsunami

That bore no vestiges of its glorious past as a paradise on earth.

Too many dark skinned girls or "girls" in miniskirts gyrating clumsily in Go-Go Bars

Luring the lone White traveller with alcohol and their not-so-nubile body

"But look, we are Oriental and exotic.

We can show you our tits and we love you big big."

It doesn't matter if you have a big belly, or if you look so old that the excitement from a blowjob will kill you.

It's okay as long as you are White and have the money.

A beach resort that is an excess of a beach resort.

Everything is built to look like a resort, and everywhere sells bikinis and sun block.

But it is a place where you get overwhelmed by the theatrics of its excessiveness,

And you forget, and you really do,

With the heat from the sun, the tranquility from the sea and the loud music;

With the pain from a sun burn and the distraction from too many hot bodies.

You momentarily forget...

(even whales forget that they are still whales)

How to politely refuse a Tuk Tuk ride in Phuket

During one of those long random walks along Kata Beach in Phuket, I fell in love with a T-shirt that says:

"I f*cking do not want a Thai massage,

tailor a suit

or ride a Tuk tuk,

so leave me alone!"

I bought it but regreted doing so also immediately because I don't think I'll ever have the guts to wear it.

"What Girls Think" of Amara Sanctuary Resort

Catch me in my bimbo moments with SauceInk's series of "What Girls Think?" - as we tour Singapore to bring you the very best (and candid/unrehearsed) review.

For our debut, we visited the Amara Sanctuary Resort.

On a separate occassion, I had the good fortune of visiting their two-bedroom villa (image) below: Featuring an outdoor bathroom, and 2 rooms adjourned by a pool. Being a sucker for outdoor bathrooms and idyllic living, I thought the place was so beautiful, that I think I teared a little when I left for the day.


Nestled on the hillside of Sentosa's Palawan Beach offering its guests great seclusion, the Amara Sanctuary resort bears vestiges of Singapore's rich colonial past. Tastefully blending old-fashion romance with chic modernity, it's hard not to fall in love with the place.

Although it's not my maiden visit here, this was the first time that I was given a VIP tour of the place, and here're the highlights that makes the place oh-so-worth your buck.

Upon arrival, we were hosted at Shutters, a casual fusion restaurant with an open-concept kitchen. Amara Sanctuary doesn't only have 1, but 5 dining areas, including the ever-famous ThanYing Thai Restaurant, which (unfortunately) we didn't go to :(





The Infinity Pool
The sky Infinity Pool on the rooftop overlooks the South China Sea and it seems to stretch endlessly over the edge, and here's the best part. The inifinity pool area bans children from entering - That sounds like paradise to me


The courtyard suite
You would never believe it, but the 2-storey colonial-style Courtyard Suites were created from former British Sergeants’ quarters from the 1930s. It features an outdoor courtyard with a sunbed (that I am sitting on), a sumptuous four-poster bed with super high-thread count bedsheets (gasp!) , and a Jacuzzi in its own private garden.


The Jacuzzi in private garden was a winner for most of the girls.

Enough of my boring ramble...catch me on sauceINK's "What Girls Think".




*An early bird who caught the preview texted me the following,
U r so not you in the "What Girls Think" video! Ha...I can see you are struggling to keep the real you from surfacing! :-D

What can I say, except that even bimbos have their shy moments lah.

Eating too much in Japan PART II

Now I'll try to complete my Eating Too Much in Japan chronicles.

The ride Northwards from Hakodate to Toya was about 2 hours, and after spending the entire morning in a wild goose chase for sleeping Sakura trees, we were almost late for the train, and we were dying from hunger (considering how well-fed I'd been the past few days).

So I bought an extremely expensive sushi bento set (550 yen) of rice to munch on the train, couple with some heavily marinated fish that I grabbed on a whim but couldn't finish the night before.






Then you eat it Mr Bean style...like this...


Toya is basically a sleepy quiet little town with hidden treasures of its own (The International Summit wouldn't be held there if it was a blah). Famed for its genuine volcanic Onsen (Hot Springs) that the Japanese prized, and the Uzusan (A Volcano), that is curiously both a private possesion as well as a national treasure.

It was a dusty and cold SUnday late afternoon when we reached Toya, and all the small noodle stands were closed. So we were left with convenience stores like 7-11.
I think I might have mentioned previously that their 7-11s are not to be belittled, because they stack up pre-packed food with standard that can beat our Sakae Sushi/Genki Sushi hands down, feet bound.


This is just SNACKS, and I am so greedy. Dinner is just in 2 hours, but the strawberry Yogurt is calling me, the peach drink is talking to me, and so is the sponge cake that I'm about the grab before some Kukunaden snapped this picture.


Soaking our freezing feet at one of the many public HOT foot baths....


...WHile eating!!

Soon it was the ostentatious affair called dinner which was delivered to our room... Stonepot rice with scallops, scallop pie, sashimi, Oden, chawanmushi, Some vege, and I don't really know what the rest are called...



Okie fine I exaggerated a little for there was no geishas carrying tea pots dancing before serving us tea, nor were there elaborate little bows that we had to make before eating. And it wasn't some fancy hotel food that are commonly seen plastered all over the blogosphere. It was just quality, heart-warming traditional Japanese food that normal families eat on celebratory occassions. We just tucked in, but the spread was really fine, and the quality was good.



As the sun sets, the fireworks came, and amidst it's splendour, we ate again. Ice cream this time. I'm sorry, but we are THAT greedy. I'm certain that there were some more other food, and Sake and Beer, and I was warm, heady and overwhelmed (and pleasantly surprised) as well, that nothing else mattered.

When we awoke the next morning, breakfast was already there. Breakfast in Bed. :p


If I were a man, I'd want to marry a Japanese wife, judging by the typical breakfast that she'd prepare for me.

After scaling the famed volcano Usuzan in Toya, we attempted to eat to past time because buses pass by that area only 5 times a day, and we had about 3 hours to kill before the next bus came.

Food in Toya was relatively pricey because the bulk of the people made their livelihood out of tourist money. It's not that the prices there are massively inflated, but rather they just didn't have cheap food around. Eg, 1 bowl of Miso Ramen would cost 700 yen in down town Tokyo, it probably costs about 750 yen at the VOlcanic Site in Toya; and that was the cheapest item on the menu.

But amidst mulling aimlessly down the alleys trying to avoid the rain, we came across a make-shift stall with a huge crowd of Japanese School girls. Naturally, I had to take a look.



That stall sold these...


Pretty random and common Goreng Pisang look-alikes. But the stall owner also sold Big hot fluffy Hokkaido Potatoes that are baked in the Jacket, and topped with creamy HOkkaido Butter. On such a cold day, THAT spoke to me.

I also wanted this Goreng Pisang thinggie (it actually said Potato Croquette on the board), but it looked nothing like the measly pimply overfried looking one that you get at Bugis junction. This one is huge (about the size of my face), with a generous and creamy potato center and a tinge of banana taste in it (???). I swore I tasted banana.



Then the stall owner proceeded to intrigue the bunch of Japanese girls with bottled Hokkaido Fresh Milk that was actually creamy and thick, which sent them (and me) into fits of excitement. You can't blame me because I've just been whipped dizzy by the cold wind up in the mountain and warm creamy milk to go with my a hot potato sounded extremely enticing.



And because there was still time, we went to eat the Shio Ramen (sea-salt Ramen that was supposedly famous there)

I guess we probably didnt pick the correct noodle shop to eat in.

And the famous Toya confectionary... of rum-soaked raisins in soft cream, sandwiched between 2 layers langue de chat biscuits.


On the train bound for Sapporo about 2 hours later, I ate again.




Looking terribly pissed with my smashed Tiramiu...It's not Pre-taye anymore. *Pouts*

Plus some other random food that Zy grabbed from the convenience stall at the last minute despite my protests.

It says seafood noodle. But see that prawn on the chopstick that's smaller than my nostrils??? That's about the only piece of condiment in that noodle that can be remotely considered to be a seafood.

Upon reaching Sapporo, we followed the Inn owner's suggestion to try the famous Yaki Tori shop nearby.


Look at the look of the waiter in the top left corner. I tried to ask him what was the raw daikon (grated radish)in the plate for, and he proceeded to tell us that it was "OISHII!" Yay...so much so...

But the price of barbecued sticks of meat and veges are a bit high for us 5 backpacking travellors... cheapest was like 130 yen for the basic egg omelette thinggie. And the worse part is, you need to order at least 2 portions of every type of things that you order which means 130 * 2 = 260 yen = $3.50 to eat an omelette. And for me to make a meal out of eating the little nibblies like that, I'd prolly need to eat like 20 of them, of which the average price is about 200 yen each. Which means i'll hafta spend 4000 yen for a dinner.

So what we did was we ordered the bare minimal to prevent the cooks from emptying their pots of cold raw daikons on us, and went to the mao cow's favourite place on earth again. THE SUPERMARKET!!!


Extra cookie point for Daiei for slashing 50% off all its cooked food by the time we braved the cold to walk there.





Home Sweet Home...
Dinner Cheap Dinner

Awoke to breakfast lovingly prepared by ZY from last night's left overs.


As if insufficient, we set off to the Ishiya - the famous Shiroi Koibito Chocolate factory.

With Chocolate coated walls...Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Style.



Remember this famous advertisement in the 70's with a girl biting into this delicate confectionery made of white chocolate sandwiched in between 2 layers of langue de chat, and then spring seemed to have arrived around her???



Ring a bell??
:
:
:
Actually I don't remember seeing such an ad, but this stuff is touted as Hokkaido's most famous export.


And we not only get to watch the preparation process of the Hokkaidians' favourite chocolate biscuit, we get to eat at 90 minutes eat-all-you-can cake buffet.
I'm glad I've held back my cravings for all the pretty strawberry shortcakes and bursting fruit tarts, when I see them sitting prettily in Tokyo's Daimaru.


Our chiketto printed with the time when the 90 minutes is up


Cakes Galore!



And teas of all kinds...especially nearing the end of the 90 min, when you are just too stuffed to eat anymore cakes and pies


ice cream.


Oops...don't even think of asking me to smile for a picture when the soft serve here tastes like a dream.

Was so stuffed that I vowed not to eat anymore things for the rest of the day...

Even when we went to Sapporo Beer Museum, I just goofed around and didnt even take a sip of their specialty brew...


But as dinner time loomed near, we chanced upon this small alley at the entrance of Sapporo's Red Light district called "Noodle Alley", famous for its various types of noodles. DUH~


And we chose a quiet little hole in the wall shop Higuma that sells Butter Corn Ramen.




No pictures of how a buttern corn Ramen looks like, because I was sharing the noodles, and I had to fight for my share before ZY gobbles down everything.

The next day would be the day we moved our butts from Hokkaido back to Kyuushu
And this time, we'll be going to Kyoto. Via this route, with our by now Gi-normous luggage in tow.
Take a subway ---> railway station
Railway station --take a JR--> Sapporo Local airport
Local airport --internal flight--> across the oceans to Itami airport in Osaka
Osaka Itami airport -- Airport limousine bus--> Kyoto JR Central
Kyoto JR Central --subway--> Gion district where our hostel is located.

We had to prepare ourselves by eating a good breakfast. Of fat tomatoes, pizza, milk and Apple tea (They have the hot type in Japan).



Hokkaido is a land of many famously yummy food. Musk melons (I've seen one that cost more than my Levi's Lady's Cut jeans), asparagus, dairy products, cookies, and sea produce. I'll go back there again just to eat. And buy my Snuffles Cheesecake

The transporting and the waiting around took the entire day, that by the time we reached Kyoto, it was already 7-ish.

The Gion and its neighbouring area is heavily populated with over-priced restaurants, lussup (for adults only) bars hiding under the facade of restaurants, eat-all-you-can-for 90 min sukiyaki buffets; after parting our ways with the other 3 travellers because we were unable to reach a consensus on what to eat, we ventured into one of the small alleys, another quiet hole-in-the-wall place that sells Okonomiyaki, run by an elderly woman.



After which, we proceeded to hunt for other food. And we arrived at Wang Jiang. This has to be the cheapest place to eat out that we've seen in the entire Kobe-Nara area. With crudely advertised pictures of Mongolian Fried Mutton and long beans, an ugly Neon sign, and the sights of dirty-homeless looking people (probably lowly paid construction workers) entering and sitting at the counter of the eatery, it may be easily scoffed by the average traveller hoping to get as much out of their "Authentic Kyoto" experience. Because afterall, the Gion district houses some of the most exquisite tea houses and delicately prepared beef delicacies in Japan. Who has time for oiley Chinese food in such a dirty looking place with promises of leeching the stink of smoke and oil onto you the moment you step in.

Not big on Presentation, but big of taste.




On top of those dirty/homeless looking people, the place is also frequented by Salarymen. For the price of a set meal in some other eateries, they can get a spread here.




For the 2nd last stop in Japan, we decide to eat whatever we want, regardless of the cost.

First stop was at Mr Young Men, a Kyoto Restaurant that specializes in Okonomiyaki and Yaki-Soba (Fried Japanese Noodles), highly raved by a few Travller's guide book.
Apart from the more traditional versions of the Okonomiyaki with Pork and Beef (like the one I had the night before), they offer more funky ingredients in the Okonomiyaki with even Funkier names.



Hah! I wonder if the pre-dominant genre of reading material in the shop has anything to do with the shop's name; or if it has anything to do with its popularity amongst the ANG MO Travel Book writers


Censored...if not later they say my blog is a "Porno" blog...Now it's just "R21". Hurhur.

After a round in Mr Young Men, we headed out to take a walk around the Teramachi Covered SHopping Alley, then we spotted some people crowding outside a stall eating Takoyaki, condimented with lots of green onion sprinkled at the top.

I must say it's the BEST Takoyaki I've ever tasted.
The mayonnaise was generous, but not overdone; the barbecue sauce added a right touch of tanginess to it, and the chopped raw green onion (it's actually the green part of what we call Leek) makes every bite of the Takoyaki somewhat crisp and refreshing, that you won't get sick of it even after eating 8 balls.

Kyoto, being Japan's capital for about a thousand years, is the cradle of many aspects of Japanese culture as we know it today. Undamnaged by the WWII, it contains some of the most well-preserved evidence of Japan's feudal history, more than 10 of which have been classified UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Having only about 6 hours left to sight see around Kyoto before we catch the train back to Osaka, I chose to visit the Nijo Castle, or the Kyoto Residence of the Tokugawa Shoguns, with its famous Nightingale Flooring, famous Zen Gardens, Ninja's Secret Chambers, the historically significant Ninomaru Palace, within which Tokugawa Yoshinobu declared that the Tokugawa family would return authority back to the Imperial Court.

I know this is supposed to be a food-centric entry, but I was dizzy with excitment seeing all the things that I've only read about in book, so spare me a paragraph.


Castle Entrace


Entrance to the Ninomaru Palace, decorated with elaborate wood carvings and gold leaves, to demonstrate the power and might of the TOkugawa family.


A pond created using Zen Principles...Too bad I didnt have time to sit down and contemplate the points in Zen.

Sadly, no picture taking was allowed within the interiors of the Castle.

Anyway, from Nijo-Jo, our group split up and we went off to see the famous Buddhist KiyoMizu-Dera (Loosely tanslated to be Pure Water Temple) and the very quaint Chawan-Zaka (Teapot Lane), which was along the way.




A very badly formed Kyoho Grape Soft-serve, to combat the terribly hot weather, while trekking up the mountain slope.




The gorgeous tranquil Surrounding...




Believers queuing up for a sip of blessing from the cold mountain water.


I joined in the fun, just to have a taste of mountain water.

Even Jap Monks are anal about cleanliness, because they used UV to disinfect all the common metal scoops used to catch the spring water.

Refresher before rushing back to catch the Bullet train to Osaka.


Finally, when we reached Osaka, we ended the day by treating ourselves to thick huge chunks of fatt Barbecued meat.


For the 2nd last day in Japan, running low in $$$$$$, we ate simply. We were hoping to conserve enough cash to visit the Osaka Castle, take transport to the airport the next day, and buy 2 of those sweet musk melons home.
Apart from the couple of Shaka Shaka chicken from McDonalds and a Giant Frankfurter in the late afternoon, we didnt really eat anything.


Oh and then we got detracted from our original plan when we spotted a flea market, and blew about 2000 yen (~$30 sgd) of unplanned money on toys and clothes because things were going for as cheap as 100 yen per dress (~$1.30 sgd), and 300 yen for a winter coat. *Jaw drop*


But alas, as we got to Daimaru for our Melon Shopping, the prices were way beyond budget. I thought of setting aside 2000 yen ($30 sgd) for 1 melon is crazy enough...but spot the price tag??? One melon costs about 8000 ++ yen (which is about 100+ sgd), and the cherry tomatoes are even crazier.




So we thought, what the hell, we will have a ALOT of food for supper.
Ta Da~


On my last day in Japan, we really didnt have alot of Cash left...
We made our own breakfast...Of Oranges and Vanilla Yoghurt, and a sandwich that we forgot to eat the night before. :X



By the time we reached the airport at 2pm, I was feeling a little rueful that the trip was coming to an end, and all I wanted to eat was those little Japanese rice balls that mothers would into the lunch boxes of little school children before they went to school. And we squandered away our last bit of money on buying vanilla flavoured cigarrettes (1 box each) for the people at home who smokes.