Crisp & Sweet Vegetable Mix

We miss Waitrose's vegetable crisps and when we stumbled upon something similar in Sapporo, we just got to grab it! ;)

There's a greater variety of veg in this Japanese brand as compared to Waitrose's. There're slices of carrots, lotus roots, long beans, lady's fingers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bitter gourds & pumpkins. :D I like the tinge of sweetness in these crisps & I think they are healtier alternatives to potatoes chips which have a much higher salt content. If you chance upon it at your next visit to a supermarket, do pick it up & have a try! ^.^ Crunch...

Koka's Turning Three!

Koka's turning 3 on 1 Sep. From a timid little furry ball, she has grown to a confident, bossy and ultra spoilt lady. We threw her a b'day tea party on a sunny Sat afternoon. :)

Koka was kind of lethargic until her friends showed up! ;)

We didn't prepare any fancy stuff for tea. There were only fried bee hoon, otahs, crispy seaweed chicken & chin chows. The star dish was durians. They are Koka's fav! Lol! :)))

There was also a basket of goodies for Koka & her friends! ;)

It's ironic there wasn't interaction among the furry friends except for Mocha's persistant barking. An over friendly Mocha had to be carried as he drove Yogi to the corner; Koka didn't wanna play with them either. So each took its own area. It became a catching up session for their owners instead. :)))

An adorable En En was happy feeding herself & Koka. A pity she didn't really enjoyed herself cos we didn't get a b'day cake for Koka! :))) To 4 year olds, birthday cakes are a MUST for birthday parties! :))) Now we know...

Koka says a big thank you to all jie jies & uncle for the pressies. She was picking toys while the guests were leaving. :) She had a soft spot for the piggy's head. :D

We like the striped bag Serena got. It matches Koka's dress! ;) And the red apple with a yellow worm. :)

Our birthday wishes for Koka:
1) Stay healthy
2) Stay happy
3) Stay lovey dovey
4) Less spoilt? ^.* - Might be a little difficult cos of her mom & beanie's constant pampering.

Lavender Snacks

We fell in love with lavender ice cream when we were in Tomita Farm. ;) However we were not able to bring the icy goodness home. So what did we do? We bought home some lavender snacks instead. :D

The one I really love is lavender struddel or filo like pastry coated with sugar. :) The pastry is crisp & sweet with mild lavender aftertaste. Mom tore the packet to reach into them before I could snap any pics... *.* Oh well...

Lavender wafers tasted quite good too. The wafers had lavender cream sandwiched between them. :)

I wish I'm on vacation still...lalalalala....

Day 9: Bye Bye Japan, Hello Singapore!

It was Aug 9. The day we returned home, just in time to celebrate Singapore's birthday! :) Did I mentioned the other bready reason why we chose to stay at Arietta? Well Arietta serves its guests complimentary breads for breakfast every morning! :D Beanie loves bread. Japanese bread tends to be on the sweeter side, fitting my palatte to a T. You can have the bread on its own without any spread. ;) Due to space constraint, breakfast's served in the hotel lobby.

I love Arietta's green tea bread. A pity there wasn't any for me to capture a shot on our last day there. : ( Oh well, at least I was better off than Wendy. :))) She hasn't even tried them! Wahahaha... She woked up too early every morning before the hotel staff could  serve them.

Bananas, cereals & yogurts were also provided.

There was a selection of juices, teas & milk. :) I love the apple tea!

Here's a pic of Lin & myself, in our just woke up look. We were up exceptionally early that day cos we had a flight to catch!

Cheers to our summer vacation! I love everything I've seen & tried! I marveled at God's creation especially when we were in Hokkaido. And I'm already counting down to our autumn vacation. It's gonna be more tiring as it entails intensive floral training for me. But I'm keeping an open & spongy mind. ^.*

Details of Arietta Hotel Osaka:
W: http://www.thehotel.co.jp/jp/arietta_osaka/

Day 8: Guilty Kushiage Dinner at Daruma

We indulged in a guilty Kushiage dinner on our last night in Osaka. *.* It was deep fried food on skewers at Daruma. :)

I couldn't remember how long we queued. It was probably 30 mins to an hour. :O

We are not very original people. Lol! :))) Everyone ordered the Dotonbori set.

A rule we needed to adhere to while dining at Daruma...

We were given cabbages to munch. They were refreshing alternatives to the fried yums we would be having throughout the evening. For starter, we chose doteyaki (beef stew). :)

and our guilty dinner began...the first bite was really yummy! ^.^ The second bite was still good. But the subsequent bites were getting a little too much for us... : I I needed coke to help me finish everything on my plate! hahahahah...

Xueyi resorted to undressing the fried yums....hahahaahha

This was perhaps the only time we rejoiced the train station was quite a distance away. We needed to walk off the excess oil & grease. :)))

Shopping to the rescue. There was a museum shop opposite Daruma where Xueyi bought some pretty souvenirs. :)

And we headed to Rainbow City for more shopping before returning to Arietta for major packing! ;)

Details of Daruma:
W: http://www.kushikatu-daruma.com/

Day 8: Umezu River Tour

We went for a complimentary Umezu river tour with our coupons. :) Our guide was very animated, making our 20 min trip a very pleasant one. :D

The sun rays enhanced Umezu river's view. ^.^ Pretty. :)

Lin made sure we took a pic of Glico Man. She said he's the icon of Osaka. Hhahahah...:)))

If you have some time to spare from shopping and or would like to rest your feet, do give this river tour a try. ;) The river tour booth is just round the corner of H&M. It's also the place you board the boat.

Day 8: Kogaryu

We shopped at Shinsaibashi-suji while searching for Kogaryu. ;)

Kogaryu is a seatless storefront kitchen in the hip Amemura district. It has laid claim to the takoyaki crown for 34 years. :D We just gotta try them! ;) Ten nuggets only cost JPY 300.

These octupus nuggets were yum! I'm not a takoyaki person, but these from Kogaryu were so different from those we had elsewhere.

Details of Kogaryu:
2-18-4 Nishishinsaibashi, Chuo-ku
Osaka 542-0086
Situated in front of Mitsu (Triangle) Park in Ame Mura (American Village)
T: +81 06 6211 0519

Day 8: Shopping & Lunching at Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai! :D

Day 8 was the last full day of our summer vacation! As in all trips, we gotta allocate one day for shopping! ;) Beanie prefers shopping to visiting places of interest such as shrines. Hahhaha... :)

Our 1st destination for day 8 was Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai. :) It is the longest covered shopping arcade in Japan, covering 2.6km. We like the place because it has many JPY 100 or JPY 105 shops! A shop not to miss is Realize. They sell pretty stuff at JPY 105. :D

I did not take much pics here cos well...erm...I was busying shopping...:)))

There were long queues at certain spots in Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai. People were waiting for Pachinko centres to start operation for the day....

We spotted this cutie outside one of the shops. ^.^  It had skin allery around its neck. Poor little fellow.

There was a Hanamaru at Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai. Lin & I like Hanamaru very much. It is Japan's largest udon franchise chain. We did lunch at Hanamru when we were in Toyko last year. :D Hence we decided to introduce it to Wendy & Tina. :)

You just have to pick your choice of sides & udon & pay at the cashier after making your selection. It's similar to having your meals at nian tofu shops in Singapore.

Wendy & Tina like it too! ;)

Details of Hanamaru:
W: http://www.hanamaruudon.com/top.html

Day 7: Umeda Sky Building

I was so excited about sharing the Naniwa Yodagawa Firework Festival that I missed out a post on Umeda Sky Building. :))) Prior to watching the fireworks, we were on the "Floating Garden Observatory" - 39th floor of Umeda Sky Building. It gave us a great view of the city, for a JPY 700 admission fee. We made use of our coupons for a free admission. ;)

We had some time before heading to Yodagawa River for the fireworks. Hence we checked out Takimi-koji Restaurant Mall, on the basement level of Umeda Sky Building. :) It is a replica of a Japanese street in the early Showa period.

Details of Umeda Sky Building:
W: http://www.kuchu-teien.com/english/