Japan Files: Food Edition (May trip)

When we went to Japan in October last year, one of the things I asked Keiko was, "What is the #1 thing you want from Japan?" Her response was, "FOOD!!" ^__^''

One of the great things that we actually do manage to do is eat a lot and well in Japan. A lot of people think it's an expensive country for food, but really it's not. Many things are reasonable priced and can be excellent in quality and taste! Of course, if you're out to eat Sukiyaki or Kaiseki in expensive and exclusive areas/restaurants, you're going to paying top dollar for that! 

However, if you do splurge and spend the money on expensive meals, it is really amazing.

You don't tip in Japan because they find it highly offensive, so don't insult them and you can also save a few dollars every time you eat!

Sadly, Keiko couldn't come on our most recent visit to Japan in May, so all she got were pictures and a bunch of new flavored Kit Kat bars!

Here's a small food diary of the things we ate or drank on our trip~!

Ochazuke

Unagi-don

On the left is Bosu's Ochazuke and my Unagi-don is on the right. We like to go to a unagi shop on the first night when we land in Japan because it's close to where we're staying and very cheap. My Unagi-don was 500yen!

Another place we found was Ramen Jiro. It's a chain ramen restaurant that's all over Tokyo and the easiest ones to get to in my opinion are the locations in Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. We went to the one in Shinjuku a couple times. 

The soup broth is amazing, it's really fatty and full of flavor. Lots of garlic and is a heart attack in a bowl...but so worth it!

I got the small size ramen which was 700yen. (Portions are very large at Ramen Jiro...but I was so hungry that day I probably could have ate a medium.)

Pork, cheese, curry

Kimchi, bacon, egg, veggies

A place really near our hostel is an okonomiyaki restaurant. Last time we were there, Bosu, Keiko and I went to eat there on one of the last days of the trip. We went there towards the beginning this time. Becca took the roll as being our master chef after the girl who was helping us disappeared. The place was quite small and the fumes from the grills are sometimes very over powering. However, they do have many windows and they had them all open. You can choose from a lot of interesting combinations to eat, and we decided on 3.

2 of our Okonomiyaki done!

  The fun thing about okonomiyaki is that you can cook it yourself and add as little or more toppings. I really love mayo and bonito flakes on my okonomiyaki, so I told Becca to go crazy with it! Depending on which combo you eat it can range from 900-1200 yen each. (Even with 4 people, we barely managed to finish 3.)

Festival Takoyaki!

Since we went towards the end of Golden week, there were many festival food stalls set up in Asakusa. On the last day, Bosu and I went to grab some brunch there so that we wouldn't miss it. (The rest of the group never ate some, sadly u__u'' ) There's something different about the taste of festival food, maybe it's the freshly cooked aroma or the atmosphere of the celebration that makes it unique. We got some Takoyaki to share at a stall, and each ball had a full baby octopus in it! It was so good and each takoyaki was huge! We also had some freshly grilled scallops and octopus skewers too. Each item was 500 yen each.

One of the best taiyaki I've ever had! Bosu and I found this shop in front of the subway entrance of Alta at Shinjuku station (exit B13). We were waiting for the rest of the group so we decided to get the green tea red bean taiyaki. 

I believe it was 180 or 230 yen each.

Uni!! (sea urchin)

We went to a sushi train restaurant for brunch/breakfast on a Monday, and it was a good idea because the fish was fresh from the market. The uni was on a special for 189 yen, and the texture and flavor was so good. I slightly resent not eating another one..but I had ate many of the 'special' tuna dishes. Sushi train is probably one of the best ways to eat on a budget and quickly. Each dish color has it's own price, so you just pick according to your taste/price point. The cheapest is usually 100yen for 2 pieces and it's either a tuna or salmon combination.

The so-so ramen at Diver City in Odaiba. We just needed food...and the miso-ramen was one of the cheapest and easiest options to order. Since I had ate from Ramen Jiro, this couldn't compare at all...but when you're hungry, your stomach doesn't care for quality. >3<

The seaweed in the ramen was really amusing! It had thank-you printed on it in many different languages. Odaiba is a popular tourist destination and it helps that the 1:1 scale Gundam and Gundam cafe are there to bring in a crowd at Diver City.

Soba at Jindaiji temple

Soba time!

One of Bosu's food adventures he wanted to do was to eat soba at Jindaiji Temple. Apparently it's famous for it's soba shops and usually if there's food involved, I'm all for it! So we went there together and the environment is very different from main areas of Tokyo. It's more relaxed and more of the suburbs of a city. The site recommended a certain restaurant (one with a big water wheel in front) so we went there to eat. 

Ichiban no soba desu!

We ordered the store's #1 Soba since the ladies there didn't speak or understand English at all. (How to eat: pour the dipping sauce into the bowl and add in the condiments; wasabi, daikon, spring onions. then dip the noodles in and enjoy...). We later discovered on the back wall they had the food displays of what the food and offered sets looked like. Unfinished business it seems! But I have to say, the soba was very good...and there's a reason it's #1! The special was 1000 yen.

As we were leaving the restaurant, Bosu also remembered that the soba-dango from this area was really good too. So...we went and ordered some soba-dango and it was a bit embarrassing because the lady insisted that we eat inside, but we were fine eating outside under the canopy. (It was raining that day.) She didn't give up and we went back inside even though we had just ate there! >3<;;

There's a different taste to soba-dango and we got the honey sweet sauce to go on it. I don't recall the price of the soba-dango, but I would think it was less than 500 yen.

Laduree tea room @ Ginza

We wanted to have some desserts at Laduree's tea room location in Ginza, but we arrived there a bit too late, so all the cakes were all taken away. We ended up getting some macarons with champagne. 

Eating or getting take out at Laduree in Japan is much more expensive than Paris or London. I was really surprised with the inflated prices...but it's nice to splurge on yourself for something that tastes good!

The macaron flavors on the plate are: Vanilla, Sakura, Pistachio and Almond Marshmallow.

The Champagne is Laduree's brand and it tasted very nice. The combo of 2 macarons and the glass of champagne was super pricey though. It was 1800 yen.

Coffee Jelly Frappuccino

One of the last things we got on our last day before going into the airport was to get a drink at Starbucks. The drinks there are insanely expensive (as per usual from Starbucks), but they taste better than the ones back at home. One of the drinks I haven't had in 4 years was the Coffee Jelly Frappuccino. I loved it 4 years ago when I first went to Japan and I was so sad when they didn't have it in October. It turns out it's a seasonal item.

Tall or Grande size will cost between 450-550 yen if I recall.

Oden

My last meal was at the airport, and Bosu and I had Oden. (I also got take out Yakisoba for the airplane.) Even airport Oden is amazing...I have cravings for that daikon now! This cost 500 or 600 yen. A lot of people would walk by and ask what we were eating and to get some suggestions. I thought we must have looked odd because we had all the food out and we were going through all our receipts and calculating our customs total.

That concludes a large portion of the food adventure! I forgot to take pictures at some places because I was too hungry but you can get a taste of what we ended up eating on our trip!

It was fun, and I hope my next trip will also have a food adventure! ♥

Project: KOS-MOS (Volks Dollfie Dream custom)

A long overdue post regarding the custom project I did for one of my sister's Dollfie Dream dolls. She has already blogged about the process extensively, she made the posts while I was working on the project.

This is a custom Volks DD - KOS-MOS made to resemble the character from the Xenosaga series.

The outfit is based off the artwork and renders from Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra, version. 4 outfit.

Photo credit: Archangeli

Check out more pictures on this Page link. Enjoy! ♥

Golden Bomber Live

So many things that I need to blog about that have happened in the past month! My computer has been acting up again so I was using the laptop for awhile and it's even slower than my computer. *sigh* 

Let's start with Golden Bomber! Last month, a bunch of us went back to Tokyo, Japan again and it was once again a really fun trip. Lots of shopping, fashion, and food adventures! One of the concerts that our friend Becca managed to get tickets for while we were there was Golden Bomber. I've heard of the group in passing because Becca and Bosu have mentioned how crazy their short live performance was at the V-Kei fest back in October. Becca couldn't come with us because she had to work, so it was up to Bosu and I to experience Golden Bomber live!

Golden Bomber

I'll admit I don't know too much about Golden Bomber except for their most popular song, Memeshikute. So I had to brush up some of their music before went. They're a bit of a gag band because the singer sings live and the rest of the group doesn't play their instruments. With an 'air band' concept at first, all of the music is pre-recorded by other musicians, but the group has moved on from that and correct me if I'm wrong, I believe they have started to learn to play their instruments. :3

They have become really popular right now in Japan and getting tickets to their live proved to be difficult for Becca. Bosu and I had to raise our limit of how much we wanted to spend on tickets for Becca to find us some good tickets! 

Row 17, seats 46 and 47

The row and seat got cut off in my picture, but Becca managed to get us seats in row 17! The venue was Chibaken Bunka Kaikan which was about a 15 minute walk from Honchiba station. Becca gave us a visual map to follow so we wouldn't get lost. It isn't super easy to find, but thankfully we didn't have problems thanks to the directions!

Bosu and I set out to Chiba early so we could avoid getting lost and have plenty of time to check out the area and venue. There's not too much around Honchiba station and a lot of the shops were closed or not open yet for dinner. We ended up getting an early dinner from the convenience store! Not ideal food...but good enough! I ended up getting an omurice and Bosu got some gyoza and crab meat sticks. Hilarious! I bought some random kitkat bars to keep my sugar and energy level up for the concert too.

Romantic dinner? LOL

When we arrived at the venue after we finished eating and checked out the inside and got some swag, I really noticed that we were getting stared at a lot. I think it was partially because everyone there was surprised to see a Caucasian person at the concert and a lot of the girls there would point and glance at Bosu and whisper to their friends. Another reason was because we were dressed really similarly and had leopard hoodies on, so we matched. I borrowed the hoodie from Bosu to complete my outfit (and he actually gave it to me after because he admitted it was a bit too small for him! XD ). So, I suppose we just stuck out a bit from the rest of the concert goers. So we wouldn't get stared at for the entire hour before we could enter the theater we decided to find a place to sit, and the venue has a nice park next to it with some benches that is very secluded.

Golden Bomber time!

 They started to let concert goers at 6pm, and they had everyone line up in 2 pairs to make it easier for the staff to check the tickets as you were going in. So organized and civilized! I forgot to take a picture of the venue layout, but the theater was most likely intended for traditional plays because there were side areas that the band members could walk to that ended around row 12. So, sometimes we could see the members quite close!

View of the stage from our seats.

It's common courtesy to not take pictures or videos at the concerts in Japan, so before the hall filled with all the people, I snuck a shot on my camera of the stage. We were off towards the right hand side, but it was still close enough to have an enjoyable experience!

The concert was a blend between a gag act, theater play and concert. The beginning and end had lot of energy from the band and the audience, and in the middle they introduced some skits that tied into their music. Unfortunately, it was a bit lost for Bosu and I since our Japanese isn't that great so we didn't understand much. They also had some pre-recorded videos at the beginning and end to set the overall mood and tone of the concert. A usual concert is about 1.5 hours, this one was 3 hours long! 

We were a bit concerned with the time because we had to get back to our hotel before the last train for the lines we were taking! The next day we were leaving Japan, so we were a bit nervous about that. (However, we made it back with time to spare!)

Golden Bomber has some really intense furi moves to some of their songs! The band will teach you some on the spot during the concert, but otherwise, if you're a true fan, you should know all the moves that coordinate with the songs. Since Bosu and I have had experience with GazettE furi, it wasn't too hard to predict or pick up. I had to watch the audience at points to know what to do though. ^__^"

The best gag was towards the end when they rolled out a 1:1 scale R2D2 replica, and had brought out a mini inflatable pool. The guitarist then proceeded to pour and coat himself with gold paint and turned himself into C3P0! Then they pulled out a podium and became an Oscar. It was really amusing!

Swag from Golden Bomber

We bought the face towel at the concert and I got a t-shirt that I immediately put on for the concert. They had lots of swag to purchase but I opted to get a shirt..it was a bit expensive, but I really like it! Towards the end during the encore, the members of the band decided to come out promote/sell their swag items. It was a bit ridiculous since it went on for 15-20 minutes...

I would go back to see Golden Bomber live again if I had the chance! They're extremely funny live and use lots of fun props, water and paint on themselves to create their comedy. I shall end this post with Memeshikute, check it out and try to learn some of those furi moves! Enjoy!
(and yes, we definitely did those dance moves at the concert!)

♥

Lolita Closet - Metamorphose March of Duck JSK and skirt in Black

My ultimate unicorn of a lolita dress has been found! I'm so happy I have been giddy for a couple weeks and I still like to look at the dress. I'm really happy it's a part of my collection. I've been really lucky that my friend Amy happened to come across it on Yahoo! Auctions Japan and she told me about it. I think I had a heart attack because I had pretty much settled with the two skirt versions of the print that I already have.

I had to use a proxy service to bid on the auction; since I don't live in Japan I am unable to bid. I went with Japonica because I heard the reviews for their service were very good and the commission prices are quite reasonable. It was easy to contact them and fill in the 'order' form. They always sent a response within 12-24 hours regarding questions or the status of your order. 

I waited for 2 weeks from when I first contacted them, winning the auction, and having it delivered to my door, so here we go!

A package arrives at my door!

You can see the print already :)

I went with EMS even though they give you the option of choosing airmail. I wanted to track the package and make sure it didn't get lost after the long hunt for this dress. Although they didn't under-declare the value of the dress for me, they wrote on the side, "Personal use, Used clothes" (LOL) and it was marked as a gift, so I wasn't taxed on the dress, which I was thankful for.

It was nicely packaged in a big sheet of bubble wrap and the shipping bag was also water proof.
 

Dream dress!

The dress was in another clear bag for protection and you can see the little slip of paper Japonica used to identify who the item belongs to, since I was assigned a temporary ID for the transaction.  

Metamorphose March of Ducks shirred JSK

I couldn't believe the auction when I saw it. It was the exact version and color of the dress I wanted and it still had the original tags. I thought the way the tags were attached were a bit odd though since the plastic tie isn't broken at all, but it is permanently attached to a safety pin so it can be easily removed. However, the dress looks and feels like it's never been worn. Still fresh! :)

March of Ducks front detail

Since this is the fully shirred version, the whole bodice is shirred which is actually really nice since it's quite comfortable and can also accommodate to many different sizes. There are 3 bows on the front that are removable. The large one has a transparent heart button sewn on it, it's cute and I didn't know it was part of the detail. The two smaller bows sit along the waist line.

There are dual straps on this JSK and all are adjustable if you reposition the button. Since it's fully shirred you don't need a zipper.

Back of dress

 

There aren't many details on the back of this dress. The waist ties are removable on this dress like most lolita dresses. The ends of the waist ties were finished with matching lace that is along the hem of the dress. There is a built in lining with some tulle to add some volume.

I actually noticed that the lace is different on this dress compared to the shirred skirt I have.

Laces are different!

Top one is the lace on the shirred JSK, it's more scalloped and subtle, while for the shirred Skirt it's a more of a square shaped pattern type of lace. I just thought it was amusing when I noticed it. Not a big detail as long as it's cohesive to the individual pieces. You wouldn't want many different types of lace on your dress...

March of Duck shirred Skirt

Ducks!! ♥

I've had this in my closet for a few months! This is the shirred version of the skirt! I just keep forgetting to blog about it since I had previously blogged about this print in the white version I have. It's lined on the inside but it doesn't have the built in layer of tulle like the Skirt version.


This print is so cute. I don't know if I am willing to sell off the skirt versions of this print right now because initially I was collecting what I could get of this print until I managed to find the JSK dress. We'll see how I feel about them in the coming months. :)
I really have to thank my friend Amy for finding the dress for me! I asked her to keep an eye out and she definitely came through ♥ My love for yellow birds continues and I can't wait to wear this dress out since the weather is getting nicer now!

Until the next closet post!
♥