so excited!

Tomorrow I'm going to Taiwan for two weeks! I'm super excited because my mom and sister are also coming (from California) and so it'll be a real Christmas for me unlike last year (by myself in Japan).

So little or no posts for the next two weeks. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! Hope you have a wonderful time with your loved ones this holiday season.

frijoles...chipotle knock off?

Was craving Mexican (more specifically Chipotle, which isn't really Mexican I guess), so when I heard about Frijoles, I knew I had to check it out. It's in Roppongi and it's seriously just like Chipotle in all respects except one. The taste! Sadly, it tasted rather bland, but for a quick fix, it's enough.

polka dot tights

For some reason, this past weekend was a little warmer than usual, so I took the opportunity to wear my new polka dot tights!

As you might guess from the expression on my face, it was still pretty cold.

I wore my pink skirt from Ozoc, a cropped cable knit sweater from Uniqlo, oxfords, and a ribbon necklace.

Unfortunately, it's become super cold again, so I probably won't get to wear these tights again until spring. It's too bad, because I love how cute they are!

marukame udon

Another staple in my life out here in the boonies of Japan is this chain udon shop called Marukame Udon. It's fairly simple; you choose the udon you want from the menu and tell the server who will promptly plop said udon onto your tray, then pick out tempura that you want. It's one of the cheapest meals you can get in Japan (a regular bowl is around 3-400 yen!) and really delicious! There's one really close to where I live and I confess, I go almost every week. In any case, if you're in Japan, and you need a quick and cheap meal (and don't want to go to Yoshinoya), I recommend this place!

patisserie

You don't have to be in Tokyo to find great patisseries! Even out in the boonies where I live, we have some really great bakeries and patisserie. This one is one of my favorites, called Kinseido. They sell everything from cookies to cakes! My favorite thing is their cream puff. To die for!

counting down

In a week, I'm going to be in Taiwan! To say I am excited would be an understatement. Besides all the obvious reasons (seeing family, eating food, etc), it's going to be warm! Definitely sick of winter and it's only barely started!

What are your Christmas/New Year's plans?

living in a winter wonderland

mindy gledhill at shibuya!

She is so amazing! I'm so happy I got to see her. I wish I got to go to one of her real concerts, but I live quite far from Tokyo, so I wouldn't have made it home at night. Please check out her songs if you haven't already.

fangirl moment

I am so, so excited for tomorrow! Am taking a trip down to Tokyo to see...

Mindy Gledhill! She's playing a couple of shows in Tokyo, and she'll be in Shibuya Tower Records tomorrow at 3pm.

This is one of my favorite songs by her:

But all her songs are wonderful, feel-good songs, so please give her a listen!

pink and brown

Holiday deals get me every time! I know I just bought a Love Liner set, but this one was an extra 500 yen off! The mascara retails for 1600, so I couldn't resist--it's like getting it for sale AND the eyeliner free. The Dolly Wink was also 500 yen off. Got both at Don Quixote (this huge, Walmart-like store in Japan)!

I don't need it though, so I'm giving it to my sister. I got her the black version instead of the brown!

Hopefully I'll have a review of the brown eyeliner and mascara up soon!

hokkaido trip day 4: sapporo and going home!

Our last day in Sapporo started off with some more ramen for breakfast! I know, it's kind of gross, but we hadn't had ramen in Sapporo yet, and it's supposed to be wonderful, so we hit up a ramen alley that happened to have one 24 hour shop!

I got scallop ramen, but my friend got butter corn miso ramen. Both were really good!

It was sunny when we went for ramen, but when we came out, we were greeted with a snowstorm! I'm from California, and the area in Japan I live in now doesn't get much snow, so this was my first real snowstorm. It was kind of traumatizing because the snow wasn't fluffy...it felt like needles attacking us! Then our flight was delayed for 2 hours due to the heavy snow. At least it wasn't completely cancelled like some of the other flights. But I have learned my lesson--visit Hokkaido in the summer!

hokkaido trip: day 3 in sapporo and otaru!

On day three, it snowed! (This was the view from our hotel.) Our hotel was right next to the fish market!

This is a famous radio tower in Sapporo, and a famous clock tower! Both underwhelming, to be honest.

Then we were off to Otaru, a seaside town famous for glass products and music boxes. It's only 30 minutes from Sapporo by train.

It was really beautiful and quaint!

They have awesome sushi.

Back in Sapporo, we had really yummy gelato from Milkissimo...twice! Yes, even in the cold weather.

For dinner, we had soup curry from Samurai. Soup curry was supposedly invented in Sapporo--it's really rich, comforting, and filled with delicious spices, veggies, and meat. Yum!

hokkaido trip: day 2 in sapporo!

We left early in the morning from Hakodate and took a 3-hour express train to Sapporo.

First stop--the Sapporo beer factory! I don't really drink, but it's a must-see in Sapporo since it's so famous!

We had "Genghis Khan" Mongolian lamb BBQ there!

Then we went to the Shiroi Koibito Chocolate Factory, which was amazing! Shiroi Koibito is a really famous chocolate/cookie brand from Hokkaido.

The attention Japan pays to detail is astounding.

We sat in the cafe and watched the sunset and...

had ice cream parfaits! Yum!

Then we wandered around Sapporo at night and saw some winter illumination. Next up, Otaru!

hokkaido trip: day 1 in hakodate

We left Haneda really early in the morning and made it in time for the Hakodate morning market (the real one, as you see in the photo...is there a fake market somewhere?) right next to the JR Hakodate station.

It was amazing! Crabs, scallops, fish, sea urchin roe, everywhere! So, so delicious (the miso soup had crab in it!)

We also went to these historic red brick buildings that had a bunch of shops and cafes.

Then we were off to Goryokaku Park. You can't see it here, but the park is in a huge star shape! We were in a hurry so we didn't go up the viewing tower to see it.

Apparently Hakodate has one of the most famous night cityscape views in the world, and it was really breathtaking! It was also really crowded, which was a turnoff, but that was expected.

We had dinner in a cute little alley with a bunch of restaurants. Hokkaido is famous for its ramen so we got some yuumy miso ramen!

Next, Sapporo!