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visions of clarity...do as infinity

Sunday, December 31, 2006

2nd Last Day in Washington

Hello

Hope everyone didn't like, die of alcohol poisoning or anything like that thanks to new year partying.^_^"

I'll be flying home tomorrow and reaching Singapore on 4th January.. Stupid time difference [have I mentioned this? HMM.]..

Today we went to Bethesda and Friendship Heights after a luxurious brunch at home [foie gras and expensive cheese at 11 in the morning?! -_-" Thank goodness I don't eat either.=P]. Bethesda is a neighbourhood with loads of office buildings, eateries and.. not much else.=X We went back just now for dinner. Then we went to Friendship Heights where my brother could indulge in his Cheesecake Factory.

I did take photos but thanks to the laborious packing I had to do just now.. =X Ahem. I haven't been able to dump them in the computer. BUT! I have to say.. The cheesecakes were quite good although I definitely can't finish one slice by myself [too rich..too big..too scary]. We had the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake, Toblerone Swiss Almond Cheesecake and Chocolate Oreo Mudslide Cheesecake. If it sounds rich to you, it was. Really.

Anyway, I came to blog because..

I just read that Miyavi might join the Yoshiki [ex-X Japan] - Gackt [ex-Malice Mizer] - Sugizo [ex-LUNA SEA] band. Like. OMG SO EXCITING!!! xD So many people to drool over in the same band!!! xD Hahaha.=P But urh. That's if the rumors are true of course.=X

Also.. I CAN'T BELIEVE THE TOP 100 SINGLES OF 2006 ON THE ORICON CHARTS HAS SO MUCH JOHNNY'S BOYS. It is insulting!!! (T_T) Poor people who actually have talent left to rot in the cold. *pokes wall miserably* KAT-TUN has like.. the Number 1, 5 and 13 spots and I don't think that's all.. Sobs. Poor unappreciated artists..

At least I like some songs there.. Like SMAP's Triangle! ^_^" *embarrassed* And GLAY's Natsu Oto.xD And loads of Yuna Ito. ORANGE RANGE's Sayonara has a very sweet video too.(T_T) Very sad. But OOH. What's this?

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least Gackt is there.xD xD xD At *coughs* a miserable 83rd place. Ahem. But nevertheless.xD xD xD And HYDE!!! xD xD xD YAY!!!!

Ahem.

When I get home I need to catch up on my favourite food blogs.xP I can't remember the urls so I haven't been reading. Eeks. It's quite a horrifying thought. So much food, so little time!!! (T_T) And then I have to clear my room and find a nice spot on my table [maybe on top of my printer! Hmm..] for my darling Gackt desktop calendar! xD

Bleargh. I have got to buy more mascara when I get to Narita.. xP

Anyway.. A few final thoughts on this trip.. It's been really great although we're having an incredibly warm winter. I'm a bit sad at having to leave.. Washington DC is a nice place to live in plus I'm in this hopeful state [hah!] that snow will come eventually. O well. ^_^ And Tokyo was wonderful to go around although really.. It's very fast-paced. Still.. I love holidays. I'm always sad when they end. At least one can see one's friends soon enough.

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : I can just imagine all the jrock I'm going to be listening to on the plane.xD Yay!]
[mood : a bit sad at leaving]
[food : --]

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!

Yay. 2007 is here. No school to look forward to till AT LEAST a couple of months later.xD Yay. Of course there are those little money problems.. having-a-life problems, etc. etc. But hey! 2007! Hello. ;)

Of course, it's not actually 2007 in Washington DC yet but I'm pretty sure it's 2007 for everyone else I know in Singapore.^_^"

ANYWAY.

Been shopping..eating..shopping..eating..sightseeing..and urm. Not generally doing much else.^_^" We went to the Smithsonian museum, the Natural History one and the National Gallery.=) Took great photos of amazing artworks that I'll put up on Flickr [because I'm too lazy to upload to blogger right now.xP] when I get home.

The weather has been pretty mild which has left me VERY upset because it means no snow. Sigh.

Gackt's new single cover looks amazing. ;) My brother was very unimpressed but hello. What did I expect. xD *bounces off in happiness alone*

Right. There's a dinner tonight. Yippee.

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : --]
[mood : --]
[food : Vietnamese.;)]

Jiamin: I got a 30ml bottle of Lulu Guinness for you. And no they aren't JAPANESE boots.. I got the Cole Haan boots in the US.^_^"

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Thursday, December 28, 2006

Day Thirteen: Williamsburg and Jamestown

Helloo!
Sorry for not updating for.. three days.-_-" Anyway! Recap!

26 Dec: Shopping! =D Taking advantage of post-Christmas sales is one of the greatest joys in life.*nods* I got Cole Haan boots! xD BEAMS. They were like.. Half-off or something.xD xD xD Beams. I was *obviously* very pleased. Hehe. Nothing like gorgeous amazing beautiful Japanese boots of course but quite pretty too.=) I also bought jeans and my mom bought a lot of stuff. My brother and father escaped to the memorials.=P

27 Dec: We went to the Zoo! xD xD xD Well, first we went to this huge Korean supermarket where I found loads of Japanese Pocky and *Beams* POARE!!! xD Hooray! There was so much stuff! Haha. After that, we spent the day at the zoo where we saw Pandas! xD And Red pandas! And so many many many adorable animals! Haha. It was great too because the weather was wonderfully sunny and not too hot. It's been a pretty warm winter so that was a let-down.. But pandas! Haha.
One of them. It was bloody active and crawling all over this log and omygosh. SO CUTE! xD xD xD BEAMS.
It's playing with its ball! xD

Ahaha. SO CUTE.

Ahem. After that, we went to see the film, The History Boys. It's about a bunch of guys preparing for the Oxbridge exam. It was REALLY GOOD. *nods* I enjoyed it very much.=D You should catch it. Really! xD Haha. And if it helps.. There're a gay guys in it too. Quite a few of them.*winks*
Today we went on a day trip to Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown, where the first colonists from England landed in USA. They're located in Virginia and they were the first capitals! xD Haha. Very cool. It's about a 3hour drive out of Washington DC.

We had lunch at the Williamsburg Inn, it had a beautiful interior and even more picturesque grounds.=)
One of the rooms inside!

Then we had a guided tour around the Palace, the governer's house back in the 1700s. The place is set in around 1775 or so and they have tried to recreate the whole place as it was in those days. They have people in costumes and everything.=) It was pretty educational.
Part of the Palace.^_^

Then we went to Jamestown, where the colonists first landed. They recreated the fort the English had and the Indian village of the Indians that resided in that area. It was horrifying. They had.. they had.. WOLF PELTS. I almost DIED.(T_T) [I also found out my aunt has a fur coat.*runs wailing for the poor chinchillas*]

One of the pelts. *points shaky finger* TOO MANY OF THEM. *sobs* And I LIKE wolves! O sigh.

The fort!
All in all, it was pretty educational.=D And we had lovely weather so it was a great plus point! ^_^ Yippee!
Loads of stuff accomplished here so far.=D Watched The History Boys, read Garlic and Sapphires [Ruth Riechl], False Impressions [Jeffery Archer] and reading Perfume [the new movie coming out].=D

My mom, aunt and I are going shopping tomorrow.^_^ Hooray! Jiamin! Maybe I can find your perfume.*crosses fingers* Then we're going to a great French restaurant.xD Yay!
In case I don't get to update [or am too lazy to] Happy New Year everyone! =D
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : emu~for my dear~ Gackt + Binetsuka ... Rentrer en Soi + Filth in the beauty Gazette]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : hairy gourd! =D]

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Monday, December 25, 2006

Day Ten: Pentagon, Arlington, Chinatown, U of Maryland

Hello

Merry Christmas!!! =D =D =D May you have a great and fun party like this one! =D
Before I begin..
Kyaaa!!!!!!! The concert reports of Gackt's concerts!!!!!!!!! *fans self vigorously* Omg faints! You sang?! And Gackt played the drums?! *faints again* And.. And.. HE LOST WEIGHT AGAIN?! -_-" And listen to this: "He did explain the "drug party" thing. Some people guessed right. He's supposed to be the drug and asked the audience to please refrain from getting addicted to other drugs, lol." -_______________-" Omg. Retarded. But omg. So much juicy stuff.xD
Okay. Back to reality! *bounces away*

Yesterday [Christmas Eve] we flew into Washington DC and rested pretty much the morning away.. Then we went for a walk in the afternoon! =D
Pretty berries! I think it's either holly or mistletoe. I'm not very sure.=S

We walked from my aunt's house through the forest to the National Cathedral where people were queueing to go for midnight mass [or Christmas mass].^_^

It's beautiful in the sunset.

Later we went to the Bishop's Garden and the cherry blossoms were blooming!!! =D Not as lush as spring but a native guy told us that this is the earliest he has seen them bloom. He's sad though, because it probably means the cherry blossoms won't bloom again in spring.
Cherry Blossoms! xD Sakura!

We went to a Vietnamese place for dinner and at night, I watched Pride and Prejudice [starring Keira Knightley] as well as House which is really interesting!! xD Haha. I HAVE to borrow it from Vivion..xD

Today we went to Arlington Cemetary, after dropping by the Pentagon. No photos are allowed at the Pentagon now and I was like, omg don't try don't try!!! What if some scary and huge security guy suddenly runs up and arrests you?! xD Haha.

Pentagon was.. no big deal.xD Haha. I'm the unappreciative sister who unwillingly follows.xP I mean.. okay. I appreciate that a lot of government stuff goes on but urh... What's the point of looking at the building? O.o
It was raining hard so I was soaked as we walked around Arlington cemetary. The bodies of servicemen are buried there.
The number of graves is amazing. They range from those who passed away during the war, to those who died after and then there's Kennedy's grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There are loads of memorials too, like 2 for people who died in spaceship disasters.

We went to Arlington House that had some kind of significance in the Civil War and also has exhibits of how the previous inhabitants used to live.

The Tomb of the Unknown Solider.
We witnessed the changing of the guard ceremony that's rather solemn and all I could think was: So organised! And the poor dudes are getting wet.O.o Ahem.

We then took a train to Chinatown where we had some averagey Chinese food [apparently, real Chinese living in the city don't go to Chinatown. Oops.].^_^"

Chinatown! It's a very sad one-street affair.=X Nothing like New York or Yokohama..

Then we took the metro to College Park-U of Md [University of Maryland]. It was pouring and the campus is pretty far from the metro stop so we took a cab and told the driver to drive around the campus.

All the buildings are concentrated together in one area, kinda like NUS. And the campus looks pretty nice. Only problem would be that if you want to eat other food that isn't available in the dining halls, you'll have to take the train to the center of Washington DC.=P

There's a reception/dinner tonight with all sorts of important people.*deep sigh* These affairs are tedious since I'm not exactly the chattiest person alive.-_-" Time to get ready.. *trods away*
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : Memories Gackt]
[mood : -__-]
[food : --]






Fel: Urm. As you can see.. I'm in Washington DC. I was in Tokyo for a few days, Ann Arbor for a few days but now I'm in Washington.^_^" And no. I didn't change my handphone number BUT I didn't bring it with me so if you messaged me, I can't reply...=X Sorry! And yes. My brother's in UMich studying Political Science. I don't know if I've told you before..=X Probably not. Heh.

Jiamin: Urm. Actually. I just found out that I'm flying off from here on the 2nd. And I'm reaching Singapore on the 4th. Stupid time difference. So you'll have to go for the Deathnote marathon and tell me ALL about it.^_^ Then I'll wait impatiently for the DVDs to come out.xD Beams. Merry Christmas to you too! =)

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Friday, December 22, 2006

Day Eight: Ann Arbor + The Henry Ford

Hello

Today we drove to Dearborn in the afternoon to go to The Henry Ford museum where they have displays of cars, all kinds of transportation, pieces of history, etc etc. We also went to the farmer's market in the morning.=D

They have an amazing selection of apples. O.o I was like, WOW SO MANY KINDS! *takes photo* Ahaha.=X But it was cool because all the farmers brought their produce from the surrounding farms in Michigan so you get a lot of fresh, organic selections. And since they are the ones who produce these fine fruit and veggies, you get loads of passion from them about their stuff.^_^" A LOT of passion.

Ahem.

Crazy coloured pumpkins!

After that, we acceded to my poor brother's request for dim sum and went to Great Lakes, supposedly one of the better Chinese restaurants in the area.

It looks extremely forbidding and scary. O.o The food was okay I suppose.. It wasn't fantastic but then again.. I wasn't expecting very much.^_^"

After that we took the freeway [it's called that here.O.o] to Dearborn, about half an hour or so from Ann Arbor, to visit the Ford Museum. Dearborn is the home to Ford [the car manufacturers] and there are tons of Ford factories and such there. Unfortunately, the Ford factory is not in operation today so we just walked around the museum.=)

There were tons of things to see.. Like the different car models, train models, airplane models.. Even the plane the Wright brothers used! =D You can see them on Flickr once I upload everything.^_^"

While on the drive, I realised that Rentrer en Soi's melancholic tunes are quite suitable for winter weather! Haha.=X Their songs kept playing in my head.. Basically, depressing, melancholic and relatively slow music is perfectly suited to winter weather.=)

The Wave Field designed by Maya Lin [same person who designed the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC] at the Michigan North Campus.^_^
We're flying back to Washington DC tomorrow. And just when Ann Arbor was getting cold too! Oh well. The winds here are freezing..

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Anima Mundi + Binetsuka de Shajitsu shita Shinso wa Atesaki Fumei no Tegami to Naru Rentrer en Soi]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : mashed potatoes! =D]

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Day Six: Ann Arbor

Hello

I did this really bizarre quiz: What if Livejournal were an anime?
LiveJournal Username
Do you watch anime?
Do you speak Japanese?
Do you read Japanese?
What if LiveJournal were an anime?
Pick a Beach Boys song.
The performer of the opening themepixiezdust
The magical girlka_dono
The talking animalsevter
The lecherous old mansurfingsaint
The teenager who uses ancient magic to win gamesgroovy_walls
The fifteen-year-old Japanese girl with blond hair and a D cupka_dono
Number of seasons it would last27,462
This Fun Quiz created by Elizabeth at BlogQuiz.Net
Sagittarius Horoscope at DailyHoroscopes.Biz

at DailyHoroscopes.Biz

Ahaha. So retarded! =P

Anyway, today we reached Detroit at 2+pm and drove to Ann Arbor in about half an hour. It's much colder here than Washington or Tokyo and I was freezing after dinner thanks to the wind and rain.-_-" Plus I was freezing in the restaurant too [and dozing off at the same time] so that wasn't exactly helpful..

Urmmm. Well. Today.. We urm. Walked around the University of Michigan campus! ^_^" It's rather nice actually.. And the buildings are located relatively close to each other unless you're up in the North campus [you've gotta take a bus then].

My brother's dorm room is dreary..and..depressing..and..dreary.-_-" I can't think of any other words. O.o The grounds are nice though.


The outside of his dorm!

Okay. I'm too lazy to upload the other pictures but rest assured, the rest of the campus is quite similar in architecture.^_^" Heh.

Ate Maine lobster for dinner.xD Yay!

Alright. Sleep calls.-_-

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Without You YOSHIKI + Rain Gackt]
[mood : sleepy]
[food : lobster.*_*!]

Jiamin: I'll be in Washington DC.*stabs* I WANT TO WATCH DEATHNOTE 1 & 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *sobs*

pixiezdust: ^_^" It's packed very well. Haha. Taking up a LOT of space in my bad..xP

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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Day Five: Flight from Tokyo to Washington DC

Hello

Today has been a VERY long day thanks to the time difference.. -_-"

At least I got to watch 3 movies on the plane and finish my book and listen to my Neeon! =D *beams*

My mother is secretly enamoured with Pocky. Le gasp. She fell in love with the "5 hei (black in Chinese)" version because it tastes strongly like black sesame. ;) See. Even my mother can't resist the pleasure of Japanese Pocky! =D Even the new Winter edition of Chocolate [semisweet chocolate coating with a cocoa powder blanket] has caught her by surprise since the chocolate is very fragrant and leaves a nice aftertaste.^_^
The boxes don't make for an exciting photo but at least you know what I'm referring to now.^_^

While I'm not crazy about the sesame one, I really really really like the chocolate one.=D Japanese Pocky = Very Very Satisfying.=D The chocolate is creamy without being rich and has a nice semisweet chocolate flavour so it isn't too sweet nor too bitter. The cocoa powder covering the chocolate adds interest to the overall product and the thick biscuit sticks point to a more filling snack. On the other hand, the sesame Pocky is surprisingly strong on real sesame flavour. The roasted taste of the sesame reminds me strongly of black sesame ice-cream.^_^" Hehe. It's quite sweet but not unmanageable. The sticks are comparatively slimmer and the coating not so smooth. But still, my mom likes the sesame flavour and that's saying something.=D
Yay! 3 movies!
- The Illusionist
Quite smart and not bad but the twist at the end could have been elaborated more on I think.=P They had the occasional cheesy line but it was quite forgivable overall. =) Jessica Biel's role wasn't exactly large and I thought the fake accents they gave them were weird. However, Mr Eisenheim [the lead actor dude] was quite a good actor, except for the "I-am-suffering-when-I-do-magic" bits where he has this bizarre expression on his face.=P But then again, I'm nitpicking on small details and the overall plot was rather engaging.=D Time to watch The Prestige! And drool over Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, 2 fellow magicians. ;)
- Udon
A film about a guy rediscovering his hometown through the local delight, udon, is touching and funny all at the same time. ^_^ I was almost in tears at one point which was so sweet omg! xD Haha. Not in the usual sweet way but it really revealed a love between parent and child no matter how unspoken.^_^ Of course, the closeups of them slurping udon with relish were highlights and made me feel like gobbling a bowl myself. The film explored issues like the effect fads have on small towns and customer loyalty, etc etc. It was really quite a good film to watch and was enjoyable to say the very least. The lead cast also worked well together.^_^ The DVD comes out in Japan in March 2007.
[By the way, I saw in Japan that the Deathnote DVD only comes out in Japan in January 2007. No wonder it isn't out in Singapore yet.xP]
- Step Up
Okay. I know. I kept dissing this film because I just KNEW it would be stupid, retarded and oh-so-predictable. I was right. But it was a fun, brainless movie to watch where you can predict everything [almost] that's going to happen. Plus the dancing was pretty cool so that was a plus, although I thought Save the Last Dance was better. It was typically feel good and all that stuff.=) Interesting? Not really, since there weren't many new elements in the show. I chose to watch it because it was short. Otherwise, I would have watched the 2nd instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean.;)
Washington DC has been sunny, with marvellously warm weather [about the same as Tokyo although Tokyo is now getting colder.-_-"]. Tomorrow we head for Ann Arbor where the weather is brilliantly cold! [Ok. Not really. It's currently 2 degrees apparently.]
I'm still basking in the warmth of the joy I have when I own Gackt stuff.xD Yay! I was flipping through the magazines just now and beaming at them.^_^
At least it's distracting from the stupid Online Status Checks that the universities have.-_-"
Omygosh. I am so sleepy. I am dozing off as I type this..
*falls asleep*
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : Lust of blood Gackt]
[mood : sleepy.so sleepy.]
[food : char siew!]
Jiamin: O good. I was right about the Lexus. Haha.=X I was like, HMM is this it?! *contemplates* =P Haha. No I didn't feel his presence. *sad* I think he wasn't there yet! *flings self out of queue to throw self on door to concert hall* So jealous omg. All those LUCKY LUCKY Dears members!!! (T_T) Sobs. Wait till you see the tour pamphlet!!! *dies* It's like. xD xD xD xD xD
Wendaye: You were in HK! Land of good cantonese food.=D Ahaha. I'm in USA. Land of not-very-good Cantonese food.=P
cch: O puhlease. Like I have money for anything in life.-_-" As long as Dad has money we are both a-okay. Ahaha.=P

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Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Day Four: Roppongi Hills, Odaiba, Drug Party

Hello

xD xD xD BEAMS. One of most satisfying days ever!!! =D =D =D Not only was there wonderful food, I got to buy Gackt's 2006 Tour goods!!! xD xD xD SO EXCITING!!! I was beaming to myself since I seemed to be the most excited person in the queue.xD xD xD Teehee.

Ngyahaha!!!

*composes self*

Right! So we went to Roppongi Hills this morning, one of the newer shopping complexes in Tokyo [the other being Omotesando Hills]. ^_^ It's a beautiful shopping complex that is spaciously laid out and is home to hundreds and shops and eating establishments. The stores there have beautiful clothes!!! *bounces about* My mom and I were drooling over them.xD And Tokyo isn't as expensive as I thought it would be. Sure it's expensive, but not completely utterly totally terribly unaffordable.^_^

We made a reservation at L'atelier de Joel Robuchon for lunch and I swear.. The food there is superb. *beams to self* We had a fantastic lunch!!! Hehe.

After wandering around the shopping complex and buying some gifts, we went to L'atelier de Joel Robuchon for lunch and were shown to our seats by the black-clad staff. The restaurant is beautifully designed with a long row of counter seats as well as tables for four. The good use of space and minimalist decorations make the place feel warm, yet classy. The colour scheme is red, brown and black, accentuated by the use of food items as decorations. The seats were very comfortable and were just the right height for the table.^_^ Top marks for decor!

Once you're seated, you are presented with the menu that is in French and Japanese. The staff can sort of speak English so it's not really a problem if you don't quite understand the menu. [Seriously, if you just know what the main ingredient is, that's quite good enough..xD Hehe.] There are 3 sets as well, the 3000 yen, 6000+ yen and 12000+ yen menus. While my dad had the 6000+ yen menu, my mom and I ordered a la carte.^_^ Due to my irritation with Blogger's picture upload, you'll only get to see my meal, everything else will be up on Flickr eventually.^_^" Gomen ne?

Right! On to the food. I was all tempted to get the 12000+ yen menu because they had EVERYTHING I wanted!!! xD Haha. But that would obviously be far too much food so ahem! My dad suggested I order a la carte instead, something I gladly did.^_^ Beams.
Amuse Goule [spelling?]
Thin slices of baguette topped with pork rillete [spelling?]. ^_^ Quite yummy with the wine.

Bread Basket
Ohh.. LOVELY bread basket. The bread was really good.=D And so nicely presented! And so generous! My favourite was the brioche [the round little buns in front], it was so light, fluffy and buttery. YUM. I kept eating it..xD Hehe. But omygosh. So good!

Le Coquille St. Jacques

Scallops!!! xD xD xD This was made with herb butter and served on the [reused] shell. ^_^ They looked marvellous and tasted even better. I was swooning over the scallops. They were just cooked through so they weren't raw or overdone at all. While the scallops with probably seared and broiled with a herbed butter, an extra scattering of salt over them gave a wonderful crunch and enhanced the flavour considerably.xD Beams. So. Good. Scallops should always be like this! Words fail me when I want to say how good this was.. YUM. I've had very few fantastically good Western-style scallops in my life and this definitely makes it to the list. *drifts away on a scallop shell*
Le Caille

Quail with Joel Robuchon's famous mashed potato with 2 slices of black truffle. xD DELISH. This was like, swooningly amazingly good. On the plate are the quail legs as well as quail meat that had foie gras wrapped within. Then a slightly sweet [honey I think] sauce was drizzled over the quail to make the whole dish so. absolutely. amazing. The greens on the plate were spicy and complemented the quail very well. They were dressed lightly in a dressing that didn't clash with the sauce. My parents commented that they had never seen such meaty quail before. Ahaha.xD Beams. It was perfectly cooked as well and the mashed potatoes were creamy and so smooth. Eating the gorgeous puree with the truffles gave the mashed potatoes an amazing flavour that was slightly tinged with the scent of mushrooms. Omygosh! I think I like truffles.xD BEAMS! I loved loved loved this dish. It was a wonderful followup to the delish scallops.=D
Sorbet
Basil and lime sorbet with berries in syrup. This had a lovely and slightly pungent basil aroma that was very sour and cleared the palate nicely.=) I think basil and lime make for a yummy and interesting combination. The intense acidity from the sorbet was calmed by the very sweet berries.^_^ Yum. I love berries! They put in blueberries and sliced strawberries.=) Yum.
Millefeuille
Joel Robuchon's version of millefeuille, the noodley layers were fried and filled with fresh cream and the yummiest raspberries ever.xD Beams. It was a bit of a let-down after that fantastic meal and is the one fault I have to say for this meal. However, the raspberries saved the day and smooth, creamy vanilla ice-cream was yummy.^_^

We also had a Pinot Noir with the meal.=D The first red wine that doesn't taste funny after I eat something! Haha.=D

Hmm. My parents and I agreed that the meal was really amazing and passed with flying colours on all counts except dessert. The service is wonderful, they are attentive without being irritating. While the staff hover, they do it subtly and appear at magical moments with food! ^_^ The open concept kitchen also allows one to watch the chefs at work and despite the huge number of staff, they all seem to be busy at every moment. When we came in, the hostess also made sure we were seated, had ice water and took our coats for us. We noticed that they even take your shopping bags for you! xD That's what I call service. The staff were also very polite and tried their best to explain what was in each dish.
Yay for L'atelier de Joel Robuchon! =D I would HIGHLY recommend it if you go to Tokyo. While at lunch it is possible to get a seat if you walk in, dinner is a reservation thing.^_^
After that lovely meal, we dropped the shopping back at the apartment before heading for Shiodome where we changed to the monorail to Odaiba! =D Odaiba is the new development in Tokyo Bay with 4 mega malls, Aqua City, Decks, Venus Fort and Palette Town. Aqua City has rather nice shops, Decks is slightly tackier but with shops for young people, Venus Fort is an Italian-themed mall that reminded me of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas [and apparently Gackt had a performance there! xD] and Palette Town is home to the Toyota Showcase, Zepp Tokyo [!!!] and a giant ferris wheel. To get to Odaiba, your train will pass on the 2nd deck of the Rainbow Bridge so you get a nice view of Tokyo.^_^

Odaiba is rather..nice I suppose. I bought my gloves! Yay.=D Finally. And they were very affordable too! =D Beams. However, it wasn't that big of a deal. The highlights were the Toyota Showcase and Zepp Tokyo where Gackt's Training Days 2006 Drug Party is held.xD xD xD BEAMS.
The Toyota Showcase is HUGE! And they've got tons and tons of cars for display from every line that they have.=)

Jiamin's dream car.. I think? She has about 3 thousand dream cars.. But this was a Lexus sports car and I remember her saying something about it..xD Haha. It's a nice car actually in real life.^_^ There were these foreign people hovering around it just before I snapped the photo.^_^" Obviously attracted to it...


My future car [unless a better one appears]! =D The Toyota Prius is a hybrid car that is environmentally friendly [relatively more so than a regular car] since it can run on hydrogen and fuel.^_^ Yay.

After the Toyota Showcase, I zoomed over to Zepp Tokyo and the Training Days 2006 Drug Party venue!!! xD xD xD
Isn't it exciting! *feels the power of Gackt calling her* =D Beams. There were TONS of Gackt fans milling about, mostly carrying at least the tour pamphlet or the tour bag [it looks like a damn plastic bag.-_-" It looks worse in real life. Really. O.o].=D Very easy to spot. ^_^ I joined the queue for the tour goods.

Me in the queue for Gackt's tour goods. My dad insisted on taking a photo.-_-" He thought it was ridiculous that people were queueing to buy this useless stuff.xP Hrmph. Nevertheless, I was all excited and happy just to be in the queue [and THAT much closer to Gackt! xD]. There were women of all ages around me and many obliging boyfriends.=D Haha. The older women tended to be dressed quite normally and looked quite classy while the younger set tended to veer to the gothic clothing side. There were people promoting the Gackt Card for Upty and DARTS. I saw some people carrying giant Uptys and others with Upty swinging from their bags! xD Brilliant stuff. Anyway, the queue moved pretty quick and I was soon lining up for the tour goods. SO EXCITING! xD
I finally reached the start of the queue! xD And yay!!!! Bought:
- the Tour Pamphlet [am flipping through it now]
- the double poster set
- the postcard set
- Gackt's Desktop Calendar 2007, I won't have to look for Lawson anymore! Ahaha. I'm still a bit sad that I can't get the completely gorgeous and to-die-for Giant Calendar though..
Do not even ASK how much I spent. *faints* [Pictures below, at the bottom of the post.] I was completely BROKE after buying all that stuff so I didn't even buy extra to sell!!! *sobs*
After walking through Palette Town and Venus Fort, we went back to the apartment before hitting Roppongi Hills for dinner at Katsukara, a place that specializes in Tonkatsu! =D
Amazing dinner again. Yay!
The decor was simple and minimalistic.=) The staff were pretty attentive too and very helpful at attempting to explain what we, the useless foreign tourists, didn't know. [Stuff like what the sauces were for and all that..xP Haha.]
Curd Salad
It's really just tofu salad. Haha.=P Dressed with plum dressing.^_^ Refreshing!

This is the pestle and mortar to grind your own sesame seeds fresh before adding the Tonkatsu sauce for dipping. There's a separate sauce for the lettuce and pickles provided with your barley rice and miso soup. Very cool.=D Haha.
Chawanmushi
OMG. This was SO GOOD. I loved it. The egg custard was soft, wobbly and so flavourful from the wonderful broth they used. It had the perfect consistency and was so so smooth. With a generous amount of ingredients [chicken, prawns, naruto (fishcake), gingko nut and coriander], the chawanmushi was even lovelier.xD
Prawns
Do not even start comparing this to the ebi fry you find in Japanese restaurants in Singapore. Those are absolutely horrendously bad. This however.. The crumb was so loose and crunchy, thanks to the lovely batter that held it all together. The prawn inside was fresh and juicy, lovely and crunchy. It went brilliantly well with the katsu sauce.xD YUM.
Pork Fillet
O my gosh. I've never tasted more delicious tonkatsu. xD xD xD Again, the batter and crumbs were lovely but here the pork shone! =D Juicy and tender, it had a lovely yielding quality when you bite into it. It had a wonderful aroma and had just enough fat to be juicy but not overpowering.xD YUM. Again, this went fantastically well with the katsu sauce.
Pork Sirloin
This had a large amount of fat in the meat and this made it really juicy and melt in your mouth.=D Yay! Very yummy too.
^_^ Wonderful meal. Wonderful! =D I have a changed impression of Tonkatsu.xD
After that we walked down the street near Azabu-Juban.=) There was a huge LV store there and the streets were lined with trees decorated with Christmas Lights!
So beautiful.^_^
It's been a lovely 4 days in Tokyo.=D Wee! I haven't yet eaten everything I wanted to so that WILL change! =D Haha. Beams.
The stuff I bought today! =D

The makeup is the eyeliner recommended in Urban while the mascara was recommended by YX.^_^ Yay! I can finally experiment with liquid eyeliner. All the girls here use a lot of mascara.=P Goes to show that Japanese mascara mustn't be too bad right? Hehe.

^_^ We're off to Washington DC tomorrow and then Michigan after that.=D I'll update when I can and take more photos! With my brother around, photo opportunities should be plentiful.=D

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Cherry Girl Koda Kumi + that new Mika Nakashima song]
[mood : =)]
[food : xD]

PS: Cherry Girl by Koda Kumi is annoyingly catchy!!! I found myself singing it to myself one day. *dies* The video is so wannabe Ayumi though. O.o I keep watching PV channels. Haha.=P Food and music: 2 things that cross language barriers.xD

Zeelei: I didn't see KAT-TUN calendars at HMV actually.=S But they keep showing the new KAT-TUN PV on TV. Sigh.

cch: Lobster tails!!! *bounces around*

Jiamin: Yay HYDE! xD Haido? AHAHA. I had to pronounce it like that at the record store before they understood me. So embarrassing.=P And Gackto. Ahaha. I didn't see much Keita or w-inds. or KAT-TUN stuff you know. Except for the photo thingums like the ones at Mise? =X Gomen nasai!!! xP

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Monday, December 18, 2006

Day Three: Tsukiji, Yasukuni Shrine, Shinjuku, Ginza

Helloo

Was pulled out of bed by very grumpy parents this morning.-_-" Apparently I must shape up my sleep habits or suffer and DIE when I get to America.*sobs* Anyway! We went to Tsukiji Shijo [Tsukiji Market] this morning.=D Then we had breakfast-cum-lunch at a sushi place before getting lost in Kanda and eventually ending up safe and sound at Yasukuni Shrine. Then we went to Shinjuku, bought tons of pastries and stuff before going back to Roppongi to enjoy them in relative comfort. Finally, we went to Ginza before returning to Roppongi for dinner.^_^

Omg. I was so trigger happy today that my camera is now out of battery. Out of battery! My camera has never been out of battery till.. today. (T_T) Ah well. Loads of photos for your viewing pleasure. ;)

Wee! So this morning, we went to Tsukiji and hit the External Market first.=)

It's full of stores selling everything from fish to slippers to steaming hot bowls of ramen. There were tons of people out and about, buying groceries and being tourists.^_^" Heh. The old ladies in Japan are very scary. They push past you with no remorse whatsoever. O.o And of course, you can't quite retaliate.. xP

We spotted interesting vegetables! [My mom was fascinated, repeating over and over again how gorgeous the vegetables were.. =S]

Here's the.. thing we ate at the tempura restaurant that I said was like a potato! My mom says it's available in Singapore too but instead of being blueish, it's brown and huge. O.o Being the strictly-supermarket girl that I am.. I was like Mmhmm! *pretends to know what's happening* Coughs.

Fresh wasabi of many different grades and sizes! Ooh. *interested*

Freshly shaved bonito flakes! =D It was cool because this was right in front of the shop that was shaving the bonito flakes from bonito fish!

There was this old lady grilling shellfish in their shells with a shoyu-based sauce. My mom and I shared the scallop:

Fresh and lovely, scallops should never be allowed to be anything worse.xP

And my mom had this queer shellfish.^_^

Then my dad spotted this place that was recommended by a TV show according to a sign outside so we trooped in for the set menu. My mom and I had the 3000 yen set while my dad had the 2000 yen set.

First up, eel! =D This was stewed and brushed with a lovely soya sauce based sauce.^_^ It was served over rice and was soft and delicious. Yum. I love eel!


Crab miso soup. This was very light and yet had this lovely flavour from the crab.=D It was surprisingly not fishy and served as a wonderful complement to the sushi [not least because I was dying at times from the wasabi..].



The sushi platter! =D

From top left [clockwise]:
Tamagoyaki: Firm, sweet and cold.^_^
Tuna [maguro?] and cucumber roll: The cucumber lent a wonderful textural contrast to the soft tuna.
Salmon roe: Salmon roe is usually marinated with soya sauce and this was no exception. It made the roe salty and slippery, while retaining the burst-in-your-mouth quality of fish eggs.
Sea urchin [uni]: Urm. Unpleasant and fishy. Why do Japanese love this so much? O.o
Sweet prawn [amaebi]: ^_^ As usual, amaebi tastes light and not too bad.
Tuna [toro I think, which is tuna belly]: ^_^ This was rather yummy.=) Firm and not too slimy, without the strong oily taste that salmon has.
Some white fish: The wasabi under this had me sputtering and choking.xP Not very pleasant. The fish tasted fine though.
Tuna [no idea which part]: This wasn’t too bad too! ^_^ I was quite proud of myself for eating so much raw fish since I usually don’t touch more than 1 piece. Abalone: I didn’t eat this but my parents reported that it was really tough.
Mackerel [hamachi? Or is that yellowtail..]: The ginger and spring onions added a nice touch to the fish.^_^

Then we had..
Ootoro! At 2500 yen for a plate of 4 pieces, this wasn’t particularly cheap but boy was it good.xD Hehe. The fish was as good as they say it is, like firmer butter that melts in the mouth.xD I was curious because Haruhi in Ouran High School Host Club constantly drools over ootoro.xD Haha.

This is really interesting:

Whale sashimi! =D The white slab on top of it is whale fat. Just like what I’ve read [and what I learned from Da Chang Jin xD], whale meat is a lot like red meat. While the fat tasted quite bad to say the very least, I felt the whale meat itself was good.=D Hehe. It was rather enhanced by the whale fat once it had sort of melted. Interesting indeed! ^_^


After lunch, we made our way to the main Tsukiji market where they sell fish and other seafood only. It was a nice change to see Japan messy and dirty [though it was still pretty clean, just very wet], pointing to how they are normal after all.xD Haha. There was tons of weird seafood but most of the market was closing so we didn’t get to see that much..

After wandering around the area, we made our way to Kanda, got lost and finally took a train to Yasukuni shrine.^_^” Sorry about that.. Yasukuni Shrine is located just outside Nippon Budokan, home to judo and concerts.^_^ If it sounds familiar, it is! Miyavi had his Last Indies Live there.=D

Look at the entrance! =D Isn’t it beautiful? There were loads of little elementary school kids about. Was there a ceremony? Or do they all walk through Yasukuni Shrine to get to the train station? There were also tons of ambassador's cars. O.o

The grounds of the shrine. There were gorgeous gingko leaves scattered everywhere. Beautiful yellow shade.=)


The main shrine! ^_^ Isn’t it beautiful and peaceful looking? [Forget about the symbolic value of the shrine to the Japanese for a second! *waves hand around for magic dust *]


There were loads of students praying to pass their entrance exams for university.^_^” Hehe. Perhaps it’s due to the universities in the shrine’s vicinity?

The beautiful gardens!

Can’t you just imagine sitting there, admiring that view, lost in contemplative thought?


The main doors to the shrine’s grounds with the royal family’s symbol of the sixteen petal chrysanthemum. I think the lighting in this photo is rather nice.=D Heh.

After leaving Yasukuni, we headed for the Shinjuku 3-chome station where Isetan Shinjuku is located. ^_^ We wandered around the food hall, lost and confused and while my mom bought some pastries from some other patissier from Paris, I checked at the information counter for the counters I was looking for! ^_^
Sadaharu Aoki! He’s a Japanese patissier based in Paris and is most well-known for his millefeuilles [a thousand leaves in French] as well as his fusing of Japanese and French influences. Unfortunately, there were no millefeuilles available so I got these instead!


Yuzu éclair: Mm. The cream had a lovely citrusy fragrance from yuzu and was very light and luscious. ^_^ It was sweet without being overly so. I love yuzu..*_*! It’s the citrus component in ponzu too!


Mont..Something: Chocolate mousse, marron glace, stewed berries, almond cake and a cookie base. This has a lovely chocolate aroma that left a nice lingering aftertaste.^_^ Yum.


Next! =D I’ve been DYING to eat his pastries ever since I’ve heard of him..=D Finally I can realize my dream.. *glares at brother meaningfully*

Pierre Herme! He was the head chef at Laduree and Fauchon before branching out on his own.=)

From left, anticlockwise
Macaron Plenitude: A caramel shell with a chocolate shell that sandwiches a dark chocolate ganache filling.^_^ His macarons are sticky and chewy, a distant cousin of Laduree’s light as air confections. It’s really a matter of taste which you prefer.. I like both! ^_^ Hehe. I thought the chocolate filling was a bit too heavy for the macaron though.

Ispahan: His signature creation, Ispahan is a heady combination of rose, raspberry and lychee. With a rose macaron sandwiching fresh raspberries, rose cream and lychees, it makes for a very interesting combination.=D The raspberries lifted the whole creation up with its wonderful freshness.^_^

2000 feuilles: A variation of the traditional millefeuille [filled with vanilla cream], this flaky, buttery pastry was a joy to eat. Filled instead with hazelnut cream and chocolate cream, the leaves of pastry were amazingly good. Mm… xD xD xD

Finally, Le Pommier Frederic Madelaine.

Apple Macaron: It was a bit disappointing as it wasn’t a true macaron since the halves contained flour and were a little like sponge cakes. The apple filling was yummy though artificial tasting..


Creole: Chocolate and banana make a classic combination and worked well here. Sadly, although it was good, the chocolate didn’t leave a wonderful lingering aftertaste.

After enjoying our afternoon tea in the apartment, we went to Ginza next to try the famous Toraya.

Toraya is famous for its specialty, wagashi. The exquisite Japanese confectionaries follow a strict seasonal calendar and are sold by many many stores. Toraya is special however because they supply the Imperial family. Only the main stores are supplied by their main factory that is located in Akasaka. Everyone else [like the department store counters] are supplied from elsewhere.

Notice: you’ll have to depend on my descriptions because I haven’t the faintest idea what these are called in Japanese..=X

Multi-layered cake that looks like sponge cake!
- I didn’t like this. While the middle layer was red bean and was nice, the other 2 layers were really weird.=S

Multi-layered cake that looks like jelly!
- This was very firm and was really nice. You could taste the subtle sweetness of the red bean in this wagashi but I have no idea what the other layers are made out of..^_^"

Kuzu “noodles” with brown sugar dipping sauce!
- I originally thought the noodles were made of konnyaku but a quick check with the waitress led us to find out that they were made of kuzu. I have no idea what kuzu is but.. It made the noodles translucent, springy, slippery and chewy. When dipped in the sugar sauce, it was lovely and light. I can imagine this as a wonderful summer dessert for cooling down.^_^

Each wagashi came with matcha and when we were first seated in the tearoom above the Toraya shop, we were served cold roasted barley tea in frosted glasses.=) Lovely teas I might add.=)

After leaving Toraya, we walked down Ginza and bought some stuff at Uniqlo, a huge chain of clothing stores.^_^ I finally got a cashmere sweater!!! =D Haha. I’m hoping I’ll find other pieces in the US, though it is doubtful whether they have cashmere or not..


However, on a completely unrelated note, I did walk into a record store and saw this!

Gackt!!! xD His platinum boxes are available at every record store I’ve walked into so far. OMG. TOO TEMPTING. (T_T) They were screening the Platinum Box DVD on the mini DVD player..xD Shall we cowboy?? Ahaha. Hilarious. I saw screencaps and stuff.. xD Gackt keeps laughing and smiling. So cute! ^_^ Beams.

My parents were obviously unimpressed. Although they were rather shocked at the cost.=S

=D =D =D The Secret Garden single is simply too pretty to resist! xD And HYDE’s ROENTGEN is just an amazing album.=) Wee!

Unfortunately, by the time I managed to bustle out of the record shop, Mikimoto [pearls!] was closed. We wandered around Ginza looking for a place to eat but eventually went back to eat at an izakaya in Roppongi.=) Then my dad and I had ramen before retiring to the apartment.

Note to self: Yoshinoya only serves beef bowls from 11am to 3pm. *deep sigh *

Okay if any of this post sounds stilted or anything, please forgive me. I typed out everything, uploaded all the photos and just as I was correcting all the BLOODY spaces that Blogger loves to throw in for FUN whenever you upload photos that causes the formatting to be completely RETARDED, everything, I repeat, EVERYTHING got deleted. I AM SO ANNOYED. Bloody Blogger. STOP DOING THIS TO ME. I AM WAY TOO TIRED AND IRRITATED TO DEAL WITH BLOODY FORMATTING YOU COW!!!!!!!! So I retyped everything as best as I could for you dear reader. Sorry for being not very descriptive but I was too tired and irritated. If anything sounds bad, do not hate me. *flings self off roof while sobbing in frustration *


Thankfully I saw Gackt’s Takano Yuri ad soon after that, which calmed me down CONSIDERABLY.xD Ahh!!! Gackt! Don’t look so good all the time! *faints*

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Yuki no Hana Mika Nakashima + Shallow Sleep HYDE]
[mood : irritated but slightly mollified]
[food : ^_^]


pixiezdust: I was hunting for Lawson stores today but none to be found.xP I shall try again tomorrow.^_^ But I really want the giant calendar!!! *sigh* But of course, the desktop calendars being all exclusive and everything makes them very appealing..xD

Jiamin: Yup. No Keita stuff to be seen. There's SMAP and Orange Range, Mika Nakashima, Koda Kumi and Ayumi but urm. No Keita. =S And yes I saw the GIANT Gucci flagship and Dior as well, but I was a bit too far away to take an acceptable photo..xP Gomen nasai! *bows apologetically* Gomen.. And yes! Totally boycott HMV. RAWR.

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Welcome

visions of clarity...do as infinity
by witchstone

My Emotible!
starry-eyed: filled with such youthful hope and optimism that one's eyes twinkle even when it's dark

Wish List

ie: motivation to save money!
- clothes
- shoes [heels! boots!]
- the perfect tote
- coats/outerwear! [Soïa & Kyo, Burberry...]
- Gackt - nine*nine
- Gackt Photobooks:
1 The Gift The Sixth Day & Seventh Night Tour Document (2004)
2 Crescent Photobook (out of print)
- Cookbooks!
1 Thomas Keller The French Laundry Cookbook
2 The Nobu Cookbook
3 Emily Luchetti A Passion for Desserts
4 Alice Medrich Pure Dessert
- Anime/Manga
1 Rurouni Kenshin
2 xxxHOLiC
3 Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-
- Proficiency at Japanese!
- Learn French for Food!

Links

My Flickr Page
spoonerisms*inc a food blog (by wendy & I)
my translation blog

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Checklist: EAT!

The Common Grill, Chelsea
The Black Pearl, Ann Arbor
Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes, Detroit
Bella Ciao, Ann Arbor
Craft, NYC
Momofuku, NYC
Alinea, Chicago
The French Laundry, California
Goto, Singapore

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