My "When in Tokyo" series begin! Click here to see the map!
Let's start with Daikanyama (代官山), Daikanyama to me is a high class, fashion forward, hipster town. If you want to check out the famous "Shibuya", I recommend for you to check Daikanyama along with it! It's a nice walk - especially if you're interested in exploring (~25 minutes). When in Daikanyama, I usually check out:
Don't forget to check out my OOTD for this day here!
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Credits: Fyuse by Ryan Chua Japanese convenience stores, a.k.a "Conbinis" are famous to have *anything* you can think of. It's nothing like the Seven-Elevens here in the US. Employees are highly trained, the stores are lit, clean and well made making the stores more accessible and safe for all customers, even very young children. Products are very fresh as they are constantly stocked and replaced with incoming food. Some conbinis make fresh dishes on the spot. So what are my 5 reasons to love Japanese conbinis? 1. Beauty products. You can find anything. You don't need a makeup purse anymore!2. Well designed, attractive looking storefronts.I still carry around my purse, but no joke. You can find anything you need at the Japanese convenience store. I told you - it's nothing like the Seven-Elevens in the US. 3. All sorts of alcohol can be purchased for a reasonable price. Mixed drinks and beer in cans, whiskey, wine, sake, soju...4. Fresh Fried Food.The famous "Yamazaki" whiskey for $9 USD. 5. Finally, the best packaged pastries, sandwiches and bread.I usually pack 5 packaged breads the day I fly to Japan to have the following morning. They are fresh - so they only last 1-2 days.
So there it is! Why do you love Japanese conbinis? A quiet, relaxing and detoxifying evening with Japanese matcha, shipped directly from Japan.6/18/2015
About Matcha
In the recent years, Matcha has become a popular type of tea used for drinking and also for baking by people of all ages and backgrounds. So what is Matcha? How is it different to regular Japanese tea? Matcha is simply tea leaves which are steamed, dried, ground and processed to become tea powder. According to domatcha.com, "it was in the 11th century that the Zen priest Esai initiated the cultivation of tea in Japan. His famous book about tea opens with the sentence: “Tea is the ultimate mental and medical remedy and has the ability to make one’s life more full and complete.” In saying that, Esai was referring to Matcha, later to become Japan’s most treasured kind of green tea and the only tea to be used in the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony (Sadō)." Not only does it taste good; green tea has great benefits like:
Tea Tasting w/ Yunomi Last week, my friend Charles (my Japanese Tea Mentor) and I had a mini tea tasting session / ceremony. We had the tea which was delivered by yunomi, which is a Japanese Tea online store which delivers high grade tea directly from Japan to countries like the US. Not only do they sell tea - they also sell Japanese sweets to pair with your tea and provide users with information and knowledge about Japanese tea.They sell all kinds of Matcha powder so have your pick! Equipment On our tea tasting day, Charles brought some of his tea equipment for the ultimate Japanese tea experience. For this Matcha tea tasting he used a mini-sift, chasen (the bamboo sift), chashaku (the tea scooper) and tea pot to drink from. The Process and Experience The way he used all the equipment with the tea powder was beautiful. He started off carefully scooping out the matcha powder and sifting it. By sifting the powder, you can get rid of lumps which leads to a better texture. He then poured a little bit of hot water into the pot with the powder and whisked it with the chasen. You may want to check out the video above to see this yourself. After whisking a small amount, he added a little more water and whisked again. He then said that we were then ready to enjoy the tea. We skipped the ceremonial "Sa-do" steps at this time :) The tea was super rich, bitter, but also sweet at the same time. The soothing vegetal smell made me feel comfortable - almost like I was just about to end my yoga session. Charles drinks tea on a regular basis - he said that it gives him a different kind of buzz compared to when he has coffee. I personally have decided to incorporate quiet tea sessions at home for relaxation purposes after this day :) Thank you Charles and Yunomi.us! Matcha Recipes Don't forget to check out these Matcha recipes! Special thanks to: Yunomi.us (Use code "JPINSIDER" to get 20% OFF!) Charles, my Japanese Tea Mentor! Japanese Curry Bread, which we call "Curry-Pan" is a deep fried pastry doughnut filled with Japanese curry. It's not soupy curry - It's more of a curry paste. Since Japanese curry is sweet, the doughnut and curry combined are a perfect match. These pastries are known to be a Japanese creation - A bakery in Tokyo thought of it in the 1920s. You can get these beautiful pastries in most bakeries in Tokyo/Yokohama as well as conbinis (convenience stores)! They're affordable so you mustn't leave Japan without having a taste. One of my favourite bakeries in Tokyo/Yokohama is "Pompadour" - it is a popular bakery so you may find it at your closest station/mall. My advice to you is to put the pastry in the toaster oven before enjoying it. This makes the dough crunchy again....Mm! P.S. Yokohama city itself is also known for their curry-pan as well. My recommendation to you is to go to the "Red Brick Warehouse" in Yokohama to purchase one of these delicious pastries :) カレーパンって 1927年にはじめて作られたみたい。 結構新しいクリエイションだと気づいて関心。 アメリカにはないので 日本に帰るたびに買い漁ってます。 Japanese Quality: Even Italian tomato experts were surprised. This is Japan's tomato industry.5/17/2015 While catching up on my Japanese TV episodes, I ran into 1 which concentrated on Japan's tomato industry. Japanese tomatoes (and vegetables in general) are very high in quality where ever you go. The colour, shape, shine and taste turns out to be perfect even without "picking" at the supermarket. How do they do this? This TV program asked Italian tomato experts to discover the "How" and here's what they found:
Super detail oriented - right? But this careful Japanese detail results in great customer experience throughout the country. Customers know that they can trust Japanese tomatoes. I must say that this high expectation from customers can result in spoiled customers and in extreme negative comments if the products are not up to par, but this helps in a healthy competition! This may be why Japanese products are so high in quality. Passion coming from suppliers and trust coming from consumers.. More "Japanese quality" series comin' up! Let me know if you have a specific product/service you would like to learn more about in terms of quality. Kinokuniya in Japantown, San Francisco is my saviour! Small books, large books, magazines, origami and all sorts of little goodies. I go here on a monthly basis to pick my favourite Japanese fashion magazines. I have a subscription with them - so they e-mail me when the most recent publication is delivered. The photograph above is one of Japanese travel books. The ones above are for LA and San Francisco. Colourful, aren't they? Japanese magazines contain a lot of information. Blurbs, comments, images, you name it! Additionally, the Japanese language itself can portray information more than English given it's Kanji characters. The photograph below shows bilingual Japanese books, mostly on food. Have you read any of them? Don't forget to enter my first ever giveaway here! In Japan, "Donburi" is what we call a bowl of rice with goodies on top, it could be shortened to "-Don" too.
If it's Chicken on a bed of rice, we could say "Chicken-Don". With just 4 ingredients, here's what I whipped up for dinner. It took less than 15 minutes. Ingredients:
Steps:
I promise - it's going to turn out delicious! 有り合わせで作るどんぶりって 最高ですよね♥︎ This is not a *special* scene in Tokyo, Japan. This is very normal, actually!
You see employees line up to welcome customers in the morning just as the mall opens. You also see the same when the malls are closing. If you pass by, employees will bow and say "Irasshaimase" (welcome!), or "Arigatou Gozaimashita" (thank you!). This is your chance to feel like someone important! アメリカでは絶対目にかからない丁寧な日本のサービス ありがとう日本♥︎ Photo taken@Queens Square, Minato Mirai, Yokohama, Japan Hijiki!
Full of iron, fiber, calcium and VItamin A. It's a superfood which will help us for a better blood flow, healthier skin and a superb intestine! What is it? It's a brown sea vegetable, much like seaweed but chewy. For those of you who have not had a taste of it, and those of you who have, this recipe is a super-easy-must-try. All you do is throw in the following ingredients into your rice cooker. It'll turn into a savoury, warm Japanese rice dish. Ingredients
Sauce
Steps
Tokyo Skytree is the tallest structure in Japan, and is the 2nd tallest structure in the world (as of Jan 11, 2015)!
Not only is the architecture impressive - it's a fun place to go since there are so many shops & restaurants. Check out my past article for the most important recommendation I discovered :) 東京スカイツリー やっぱりまだ 大人気! Kimono rental in Kyoto is something every tourist should experience upon visiting!
I went to "Yume Yakata", located conveniently in the downtown area of Kyoto. For just $60 (USD), I was able to rent a whole winter outfit + perfect hairdo! The experience was one which was quite interesting...First of all, the rental place is located in a building - Surprinsingly enough, the inside of the building was a fully functioning factory! Here's how it went:
The whole experience was super efficient (Yep, we're in Japan) and my boyfriend ended up having to wait only 40 minutes. You can rent the kimono for the whole day (until 7pm) and they also have sets for men :)
Tokyo Skytree is the tallest structure in Japan, and is the 2nd tallest structure in the world (as of Jan 11, 2015)!
Not only is the architecture impressive - it's a fun place to go since there are so many shops & restaurants. Don't go to the dining area on the 6th and 7th floor though - due to the fact that the price range is rather low (~2,000yen for lunch) it's very crowded and when I went, every single restaurant had a 30+ minute wait. Instead, I highly recommend you to go to the 30th and 31st floor! The price point is slightly higher (maybe, 1000yen more), but no lines, good food and a better view! I visited an Italian restaurant called Brasserie Aux Amis on the 30th floor. An amazing lunch course (w/ all you can eat fresh bread) for just 2800yen! We also did not visit the observation deck (2000yen) since we thought that the view from the 30th floor was free & wonderful. :) Every New Year, most Japanese families start their first meal with "Osechi". Boxes of goodness filled with traditional Japanese dishes! These are traditionally made at home, however, now many families (especially those living in the city) pre-order and purchases these boxes from department stores and pick it up on the 31st.
The history of Osechi: Osechi boxes are originally for women to rest during the first 3 days of new years. People believed that a calm kitchen during the new years showed appreciation to the gods. The foods packed in these boxes are usually dried, simmered, grilled and are tasted with soy sauce and sugar so that it can be kept well during the 3 days. The food is packed in a fine box to wish for a great year. Some ingredients and dishes included in the boxes wish for a good year too - for example, the dish which includes fish eggs wish for good fertility within the family. Now, Osechi comes in all shapes and sizes. The one my family purchased from "Sogo", a department store included Japanese traditional dishes as well as Chinese ones for fun :) |
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