visions of clarity...do as infinity

Friday, June 29, 2007

The Wonders of Japanese Snacks!

Hello

I happened to read Urban and what do you know! xD There was a special on POCKY! And Pucca, as well as the Japanese langue de chat.=D =D =D

Let's just say Pocky fanatics are everywhere... And no wonder. Have you seen the fabulous flavours they come up with??

Just to prove my point, Pocky has some things you have to learn... ;)

Click HERE to see the newest Osaka POCKY DANCE DANCE CM! [Quicktime]

or Click HERE to see the older POCKY DANCE DANCE CM! [Quicktime]

or Click HERE to see the original POCKY DANCE DANCE CM! [Quicktime]

Click HERE to learn the POCKY DANCE DANCE Moves! [Click on the various "lessons" to learn the different parts]

Everything loads quite quickly and it is absolutely AMUSING. Ahahahaha.=P The poor girl has to keep a HUGE smile on her face throughout!

The Pocky website even has Pocky games! xD Click HERE to choose and play.=)

Another cute but unrelated game: click HERE to play! =D It's very cute. Trust me.

So ANYWAY.

Let's see.
- Honey Lemon Pretz
I have to try this.=D I love the honey-lemon combination!

- Honey & Milk Pocky
Courtesy of Joyce! ^_^ This was yummy.=) The honey flavour was pretty strong though I thought it was a little too sweet.
- Coconut Pocky
Shudders.
- Creme Caramel Pretz
Shudders again.

What she hasn't tried:

- Tahitian Vanilla Pocky
We found this at the 100yen store in Japan.=D =D =D It's actually pretty good, with a nice and robust real vanilla taste.^_^ It's a little plain though, in comparison to the other variants in the Pocky family but I'm sure that if you like vanilla, this would be a good pick! ^_^

Other items:
- Pucca New York Cheesecake
I have no idea why she likes this. O__o The shell is WAYY too hard and brittle, the filling is a little too rich and sweet and overall, it makes for a bizarre snack. I much prefer Hello Panda.=D =D =D
- Couque D'asses
The Japanese love all things French but of course, nothing escapes that Japanese twist. I LOVE langue de chat, the light, buttery biscuit of joy.^_^ I've tried the one that's like a cigarette which is actually pretty good and I've tried this one as well! We bought a variant at the 100yen store.=D The white chocolate one was a little too sweet and milky.O__o I haven't yet tried my milk chocolate one but I'm sure it'll be better.^_^ Yay for langue de chat!!!

I really must learn to make it. Or get the recipe.O__o

When she pointed out the Waitrose Cloudy Lemonade, all I could think of was.. LEEMOONN WATERRRR!!! [*coughs* Lemon Water in other words..] (T_T) My lemon water!!! *weeps*

Last night I bought some glorious Lemon Cookies [low-fat too! xD and yes. I love all things lemon.xD] from The V Tea Room which will soon be undergoing renovations to become The Cookie Museum.=) I truly support their ideas which are quite refreshing though a little expensive.X__x

We need to go on a Japanese snack shopping spree soon.=P Urhhh. Healthy snacks that is. *coughs*

And what an absolutely RANDOM update.O__o

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Studio Ghibli OST Main Themes]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : LEMONNN WATERRR]

Labels: edibles, Japan, The V Tea Room

Back from Shanghai!

Hello!

We came back from Shanghai on Wednesday but since I've been trying to catch up on Gackt & alice nine. news, I didn't update. Plus I've been watching anime madly.xD Oh! And I also met some people who'll be going to Umich with me.^_^

Because my camera generally doesn't have people in it... I'll have to wait to get Calissa's photos.=P Hehe. But! I can post images of Shanghai! And it's food!!! xD Haha.

On our first day, we arrived around 4pm and because we had to clear immigration and all that nonsense, we couldn't really do anything. So my uncle brought us to 小南国 for dinner!

The place is huge. This is just ONE section of one floor. And there are six stories in that building!!! And the whole place was PACKED. It's crazy! Coupled with a few sittings a night, that place does very well!

And no wonder.=D The food was GREAT. I'll save more photos for the food blog but! I shall post some food photos throughout this post.^_^

^_^ This was yummy! It's a kind of river prawn that's available all year round in this region of China. It's lightly stir-fried and should be eaten with vinegar. Absolutely yummy! It's different from deep-sea prawns but not in a bad way.

That night, we urmmm tested my uncle's karaoke machine. *coughs* Then we watched Perfume: Story of a Murderer. It is a BRILLIANT movie! And it really stuck to the book!!! xD Loads of artistic nudity [hence the R21 rating] and really bizarre scenes just like the book. It was a really good movie though. We enjoyed it very very much.

So with very little sleep, the next day, we went to this HUGE building filled with shops that specialise in tailor-making clothes. It's 3 floors of tailors and seamstresses making anything from suits to Chinese silk dresses and so on.^_^ It was a little mindbloggling really. And I made a jacket. That was a horror.X__x One reason I'm not terribly fond of looking for cheap deals to make clothes.xP

To recover, we headed for retail therapy at 淮海路 [Huaihai Road].^_^ There are tons of departmental stores there and a huge H&M! ^_^ Now THAT was brilliant stuff. Haha. We did shop quite a bit though I think that if we had gone to 南京步行街 [it's a pedestrian road at Nanjing Road], there'd have been even MORE stuff.X__x And everything was pretty cheap! Which was even better. Haha.

After that, we headed for 新天地 [Xintiandi] which is a popular night spot for expats, full of restaurants and bars.^_^

Hehe. We went to 鼎泰峰 [din tai fung]!!! ^_^ I know I know. We have it in Singapore. But REALLY. You cannot even begin to COMPARE the one in Shanghai to the one we have here. *_*!!! We had to queue for about 20 minutes before getting in.=P It was really worth it though.=D =D =D

小笼包 [xiao long bao]!!!!!!!!! *squeals* It was amazing!!! The skin was SO thin yet it never broke and held in the soup and gorgeous filling very well.=D Brenda claims the branch at 浦东 [Pudong, on the opposite side of the river] is even better. But seriously. This xiaolongbao was amazingly good.xD xD xD The skin impressed us the most though.^_^

We also had other stuff of course.^_^ It was all good!! Beams.

After a hard day of shopping, we headed to Dragonfly for a foot massage.xD xD xD That was fabulous. My feet were floating for the rest of the night.xD xD xD And the pain was all gone the next day!!! *_*!

As we were walking out the next morning to grab a cab [the cabs there are SO CHEAP. Seriously. After you divide the fare amongst us, it costs as much as a bus ride here.], we saw this!

A heavenly rose!!! Ahaha. Okay. Just kidding. My camera lens had fogged up but ... it created quite a nice effect right? ^_^"

We headed for 豫园 [Yuyuan], which has this famous "house" so to speak where this organisation was based during the revolution. Or something like that. It's got beautiful gardens and outside, there are a ton of shops selling souvenirs, random gifts and lots and lots of food.

This is the famous "curvy" bridge, so built because ghosts can't fly in a zig-zag pattern. They can only fly straight! Haha. So every path in the place is curved.xD Somehow, thinking that ghosts can only fly straight is quite hilarious..

The beautiful gardens inside! ^_^ You have to pay 40 RMB to enter the place to see the famous buildings, trees and rocks. *coughs*

We had lunch here at 南翔馒头店 [Nanxiang Bun (?) shop] which is famous for xiaolongbao. ^_^ It was SO crowded. *faints* We waited a little more than half an hour for a table I think? I can't quite remember.X__x

We didn't think much of the xiaolongbao which had REALLY thick skin and kept breaking [though the filling for the crab and pork one was actually pretty good] but we all loved the 蟹黄灌汤包 [Crab roe soup dumpling]. You drink out of it with a straw and it's pretty hot but cools down quite quickly.=) The soup was SO flavourful and the dumpling [when we pried it open] was filled with crab meat! ^_^ Yummy!! I don't normally like crab but crab soup is fabulous stuff.xD

We wandered around more after that before taking a cab down to the 上海博物馆!

It's filled with lots of information about Chinese culture and we visited only a few exhibits because it was closing. We went to the Chinese calligraphy, Chinese seals, Chinese jade and Chinese minority exhibits.^_^ Very very informative, especially when the information is available in both English and Mandarin.xD Hehe.

One example of the gorgeous calligraphy on display! ^_^

Raffles City Shanghai! In China, it's called 来福士广场.^_^ Quite a nice place with TONS of shops but we visited quickly before zooming off to 上海书城 which is on Fuzhou Lu and is a HUGE building with like, 7 stories FILLED with books.*_*! Most of it is in Chinese though. I was quite tempted to buy some books but ... HMM. Didn't know which ones I could read so I didn't buy any.xD Hehe.

The view from The Bund! It's referred to as 上海滩 outside of China usually, but in China, they call it 外滩.^_^ I have no idea why but that's just how it is.=P

That's Pudong and on the Puxi side,

You see this! ^_^ The grand buildings with European influences now house banks and famous landmarks like the Peace Hotel or 和平饭店.

As we were walking down The Bund, we saw this for sale! It was called 冰糖葫芦 [Sugar Hu Lu] but I think it's a variant because they used plums.xD Haha. It was really yummy though! ^_^ And for only 2RMB, an extremely cheap snack.=)

The Bund is most beautiful when it's lit up at night.=) Hooray!

Because we were curious and just wanted to peek at Pudong, we took the Tourist Tunnel which has an EXTREMELY cheesy lights show while you travel over to Pudong from Puxi. This is the little pod you take to cross over.-_-" It was quite painful but *coughs* we took it anyway. And on a return journey too.X__x

Remember I mentioned we ate at Dintaifung twice? This was the second time. Haha.xP We ordered this 烧卖 [shao mai] which had prawns with the pork filling. The skin was too thick though.X__x

After that, we went for the River Cruise! ^_^

A view of Puxi from the boat.=) It's pretty nice when you are passing the areas which are lit up. But once you pass those, it gets pretty boring [and dark] so we just sat in the airconditioned room and chatted.=P Haha.

That night, we went for a shampoo + massage at a hair salon.=D Their hair salons open till REALLY late!!! Then because I got a salon blow-dry, my hair was at its nicest since... well. My haircut. Ahaha.=P

^_^ There was ONE stubborn bit though, that refused to cooperate. Haha. We had a nice time chatting with the people there and telling them about Singapore though.^_^

The next day, we went to 七浦 to shop. Now THAT was a horror. The touts there followed us around for FORTY-FIVE MINUTES. OhmyGOD I was SO irritated. Even after we went into KFC to attempt to escape, he planted himself near us and announced really loudly that he'd SIT THERE AND WAIT FOR US. Like what the hell?!?!?!?!?! -______-" That almost killed my shopping mood but we FINALLY managed to shake them off and headed to another building. Thank goodness for that. After negotiating the crowds, the crazy amounts of goods and the prices, we spotted interesting snacks! xD

This is just one of them.=D Some shaved ice thingie that everyone was eating? You put in the toppings yourself. It looked horribly dubious though.O__o I refused to try it but my friends told me it had absolutely no taste at all so I didn't miss out on anything.=D Good thing too. Haha.

After that we went to collect my jacket [or rather, do a fitting since the idiots forgot about my jacket and were hurriedly making it..-_-"] and then went back to Xintiandi to look around in the daytime.=) It's really nice and there are tons of upmarket shopping centers around that area.^_^

Oh. And we ate at Crystal Jade, ordering a whole TON of food.=D And omygosh! China has no service charge or tax so the meals are really cheap.=D =D =D We ate SO much at Crystal Jade and only paid about S$20 a person. Brilliant stuff!!! Haha.

After that, we went to this shop near my uncle's house to buy DVDs then we went to this Hong Kong style cafe where we ate a few desserts.=D This was my favourite!!! It was ordered because of it's really weird name: 糖不甩 which literally means you can't get rid of the sugar.xD Hehe. It's a mochi soaked in sugar syrup then covered with a peanut-sesame-sugar mixture. VERY YUMMY. Seriously. xD They had really bizarre names for the desserts and we ordered another weirdly named one.xD Haha.

After that, we headed back to pack.O__o There are too many embarrassing candid shots of me to count.X__x *stabs friends*

In the morning, we went to the wet market to see what it's like. Hmm. How about.. It's dubious at best? =X There were HUGE amounts of EVERYTHING though. The mountain of eggs was quite scary. Haha.

For your information, they told us that watermelons, peaches and 杨梅 [yangmei, no one can tell me the English name for it] are in season now.^_^

Because the fruits were covered in flies and such, we urhhh headed for Carrefour where we assumed there'd be fruits in a better state.^_^"

The Carrefour was HUGE! And FILLED with all sorts of weird and wonderful things.=D

They had TONS of sausages and lots of roasted meats, prepared foods, raw foods, etc etc etc.*_*! Amazing. Haha. I was trying to control my photo taking. Haha.=P

We bought a few fruits to try. Like this! 蟠桃 from 山东 [Shandong]. It's simply called "Peach" in English but it's flat! Not like the usual 水蜜桃 [Honey Peach] that we see.=D Haha. It was really sweet and nice but the skin was a bit weird so I peeled it off.=P

This was BIZARRE at best. Haha. It's called 人参果 from 海南 [Hainan]. It's literally called "Ginseng Fruit". When you bite into it, it's got a very very subtle sweetness and according to Brenda "tastes like cucumber". Haha. And no. It doesn't really taste like cucumber but it does have a funny taste.O__o We didn't finish it.=P

We took a bus to the airport. At only 19RMB a person, it was REALLY cheap!!! Haha.=P The bus was SO stuffy though. We either were laughing at this stupid singer on the TV or we were falling asleep from lack of oxygen.X__x Not a very good combination. The highway was also EXTREMELY bumpy.X__x O goodness. But we got to the airport within one hour and for such a low low price, who's complaining?

The airport is pretty nice though.=) Which made up for the busride.X__x

The last memories of Shanghai would be the HEAT. Which carried into the flight. For a grand total of FIVE HOURS.-_-" So we were fanning ourselves madly throughout. Seriously. Have they EVER heard of air-conditioning or even a ventilation system?!

Shanghai was fun though.=) Even though it was REALLY HOT and REALLY MUGGY and REALLY HUMID. But it was a great experience.=) The service staff at most eating places were really nice to us though the touts did spoil the service aspect a little.X__x I'm glad we went though.^_^ It was fun! And I learnt a lot about my friends in the process. Also, big thanks to my uncle and aunt for letting us stay for those few days.^_^

Gosh that was a long entry. I was planning to squee about alice nine. and Gackt but I think that will have to wait.. *bops along to alice nine.*
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : RETURNER single! Gackt + HELLO, DEAR NUMBERS alice nine.]
[mood : ^_^ but hot]
[food : --]

Liu-Yi: Sure!!! I'd love to bake them again.=D The chocolate cookies are really easy to throw together as long as you have the time.^_^ Oh. And they are even easier to eat.;) Haha. If you can give me a definite date, I'll bake them for you! ^_^ And that's a really confusing name for such a pretty flower. Haha.=D Thanks though! I don't know what electronic dictionary to get!! *flails* X__x I know they sell them at Kinokuniya though.=P Haha. I'll research first!!! Thank you!!! xD

pixiezdust: It was GREAT fun!!! =D And at least now we know that going to Japan on a budget IS possible.^_^ Haha. That should be a relief to most people.=) And yessss!!! The cosplayers in Japan are AMAZING!!! So dedicated and everything.=) And they really bleach their hair and cut their hair in the same way! Except that this was the best Reita I think.=P Haha.

Labels: edibles, misc, photo journey, shanghai, shopping

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Japan Photos

Hello!

Because I still miss Japan [I know. I'm insane.], I decided to try and post what I thought were beautiful photos that we took! ^_^ Oh. And because I finally got Simin's photos, I can finally post photos of humans. Haha.=P

I do miss Japan because.. well. They have the most random variety of fabulous snacks you have ever seen! And have I mentioned that I adore the 100 yen store? ^_^ It was our BEST friend! Hehe. So to top the list, we've got great snacks:
- Lemon Water!!!
Not a snack but GOSH it's refreshing. Literally, one sip of it and you feel all refreshed and happy.^_^
- Hichew Yuzu Sweet!!
^_^ The full bodied goodness of yuzu, that sweet yet slightly sour and citrusy flavour that is unique to this fruit, condensed into a fabulous hichew candy for maximum chewing pleasure.=D
- Castella Cake!
We had this on the very 1st day when we were wandering and around and dying of hunger. It was so good! Light, fluffy and sweet, it made a fabulous snack.=) It was cheap too! We could never find a replacement though..
- Bread
I love Japanese bread.^_^ 'nuff said.

I don't have photos of any of those though. *fails at life* See. The best things in life are best left in ones memories... *coughs at cheesiness*

Anyway. Photos!

As I've mentioned before, the flowers were in full bloom in summer!!! ^_^ Oh joyous!

Hydrangeas.=D This was taken in the gardens of Shitennoji temple in Osaka.

Gorgeous red flowers I don't know the name to.=) [Edit: my aunt says they are called つづじ or ひづじ] I took this outside Osaka-jo, at the main gate of Osaka castle.^_^

My mom got very excited about these flowers but I have no idea what they are called. Something about hanging upside down? In any case, she was very excited because they are double-coloured.^_^

A beautiful iris in the grounds of Ginkajuji.^_^ Or was it the Heian Jingu Shrine? I forget.

The elegant Japanese forest as seen from the Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto.^_^ The temple is set on a hill and thus has beautiful views.=D

Beautifully green maple leaves on the grounds of the Kiyomizudera Temple.^_^

Red maple leaves or 红枫 growing on the grounds of either Kinkakuji or the Heian Jingu. I can't really remember. But it gives you this wonderful feeling of almost-autumn just looking at that gorgeous red! ^_^

Besides the wonderful flora we saw, there were gorgeously appointed temples and buildings.^_^ Gosh I wish I were a feudal lord's daughter!!! *_*! Oh to live in those beautiful surroundings!

The gorgeous Ginkakuji. Or was it Kinkakuji? In any case, its the Gold pavillion.^_^ Pretty, ne?

The magnificent path of torii gates in the Inari Shrine in Kyoto.^_^ If you can ignore the various mossy growths and cobwebs, it's really quite beautiful and provides fabulous shade in the forest.^_^

Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto is one of the most famous and is an absolute must-see sight.^_^ The main temple body overhangs a cliff/hill and is magnificent amongst the greenery.=)

Osaka-jo! The main Osaka Castle overlooks a grand view of Osaka.=) We were too poor and stingy to buy an entrance ticket so we decided to hang out at a wonderfully shady and breezy corner that offered an equally marvellous view of Osaka.^_^

The main part of Meiji-Jingu shrine in Harajuku, an oasis of historical calm amidst the havoc of youth.^_^ You're actually not allowed to take a full frontal photo like this but I urm... Didn't know that till after I took the photo. Ahem.

The famous Wako exterior at the main Ginza crossing. We actually entered Wako and it's forbidding air of expensive porcelain and antique furniture quickly ushered us back outside into the muggy heat..X__x

Night-time in Shibuya! ^_^ This is the scary main crossing where hundreds of people cross everytime the light changes to green. It was mind-boggling to say the very least... I've never seen so many people in one place at one time. Not even Omotesando on a busy Sunday afternoon!!

From inside Tokyo Midtown, Tokyo's newest shopping complex. If I'm not wrong, that structure outside the building is part of the 21_21 design museum that opened at the same time as Tokyo Midtown.

Our last scenes of Japan in the train to the airport.^_^ There were rice fields and other such agricultural lands to be seen on the way to the airport, as well as numerous dwellings of commonfolk and many many train stations.=) It was a lovely last look at Japan, where nature and the forceful course of change live side-by-side.

With absolutely no relation to buildings or flowers, I must draw your attention to this picture:

Oh gorgeous jellyfish at the Osaka Kaiyukan or the huge Osaka Aquarium! =D They also have a HUGE tank with a whale shark in it but as you can guess, no one can ever get brilliant photos of THAT.=P

Now time for photos of humans in picturesque surroundings! ^_^

Osaka Jo! ^_^ Pretty flowers!

Hehe. It's quite cute.

Coughs. Hmm. What can I say? ^_^"

Finally! A group photo!! ^_^

When you're cold, wet, miserable and dripping, a steaming bowl of ramen does the trick nicely.=D

Yay! Thank you to lovely Reita and friend.^_^ You were so kind to us!!! And absolutely dashing too.xD xD xD *cheers for friendly cosplayers!*

Tokyo Banzai!!! I really have to thank my travelling companions for making it oh-so-enjoyable.^_^ So thank you to Jiamin, Simin and Jason!!! ^_^ Yay! Thank you for the great itinerary, the very random phototaking, the great food [*coughs* not all the time though.=X] and most of all, thank you for inviting me along for the ride.^_^

Yay Japan! ^_^ Does this count as a Japan post Wendaye?

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Mugen no Hana alice nine. + The Snow Queen music]
[mood : ^_^v]
[food : cheesecake!]

Labels: flora, Japan, photo journey

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