Year: 2015

Kayaking in Palau

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Hello there.
It’s been forever since I’ve posted. This year has really gotten away. And my life is consumed by work and overtime. Work has been taking over my life, leaving little time for blogging, which is a shame, because I have soooooo much to blog about.

Recently, I went on a holiday to Palau under the guise of an open water swim race. I did actually did the 5km swim race even though I didn’t do any training. It was more an excuse to go to Palau. Such an amazing holiday. Am tempted to go back there. It truly is a spectacular water paradise. Although I will admit it, it kind of didn’t feel like I was getting away from Japan as such. Most of the tourists are all Japanese. All the tour operators and day tours are all in Japanese. And the menu’s everywhere were in Japanese.

Day one, I joined a kayak tour and it was run by a Japanese tour operator. Everyone in the group was in Japanese except myself, so they seemed to always get me a separate English speaking guide. The Japanese tour guide, led the Japanese people in Japanese and I kind of got my own local Palauan tour guide who spoke English.

The morning started off with a very gentle, not at all strenuous kayak through Nikko Bay.
We took a boat out through some waters to a floating dock where we got into some kayaks and then leisurely paddled through the crystal clear waters.
It was amazing.

From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau

The floating dock:

From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau
From Nikko Bay kayaking – Palau

The water has to be seen to be believed.

Naoshima Diary: At Uno Station

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The Cliff notes of my long weekend trip to Naoshima:

Friday night: Depart Tokyo station after work. Board 7:30pm shinkansen to Okayama station. Arrive Okayama station at 11pm. Check into hotel for the night and crash out into bed.

Saturday morning: Early breakfast. Check out of hotel at about 8:10am. Board the 8:24am train departing Okayama bound for Uno station. (Change at Chayamachi enroute to Uno). Alight at Uno station about an hour later.

Destination Uno reached. A most awesome name for a train station and a small port town.
I was quite excited to be at a place named after a card game.

From Uno station
From Uno station
From Uno station
From Uno station

At Uno with numero uno!

From Uno station
From Uno station

Okay, let’s try that again and let’s try to not get hair obscuring the face.

From Uno station

That’s more like it.

Outside Uno station are two giant monuments. This one….

From Uno station

And this one: the Goddess of the Sea:

From Uno station

And now it’s time to smell the cheese:

From Uno station

And incidentally, ticked off another prefecture – Okayama prefecture done. Only another 8 (?) to go!

Hello Kitty dim sum

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I was in Hong Kong in May for a work trip. Whilst there, I had to visit the Hello Kitty dim sum restaurant.

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Little dumplings that were too cute to eat.

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If you’re a hard core kitty fan, this is the place to eat at.

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And if that is too much  food, you can the leftovers home in not a doggy bag, but a kitty bag!

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Simply purrfect.

Tokyo brunch venue: Cicada

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Finally got to check out Cicada (a mediterranean cuisine restaurant) for brunch, which is more like a lunch menu rather than traditional brunch items. They are part of the same food group that runs other great dining establishments like Ty Harbour, Ivy, and Beacon (which also does a great brunch).

Cicada was pretty packed on the day we went which happened to also be Mother’s Day. You generally need reservations to get a table. The front part of the restaurant is a bakery cafe BreadWorks under the same company umbrella, so you’ll need to proceed to the back where there is also an outdoor terrace dining area. The food was delicious and beautifully presented. Our group of 6 shared quite a few dishes so we got to sample a bit of everything.

I can’t resist scallops:

There’s something so meaty and satisfying about good chunky scallops:

And beetroot salad was not quite what I was expecting, but still tasty nevertheless – thin slices of beetroot with ricotta cheese in the middle.

And for mains, I went with the lamb which didn’t disappoint.

It was a lovely Sunday feast.

More like a lunch than a brunch.

We didn’t try the dessert menu but we did end up going to Blue Bottle coffee instead afterwards for coffee and beignets.

Bluebottle coffee and Beignets in Tokyo

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If you haven’t had beignets, you haven’t lived.

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Soft, light deep friend pastry goodness dusted in powdered sugar. The only beignets that matter are those from Cafe du monde (and yes, I’ve had them in both Tokyo and New Orleans).

But Bluebottle Coffee (now in Tokyo), do their own take on beignets. They were more doughnutty, than actual beignets. But they were incredibly light. Like eating air despite their calorie density. And they were come with butterscotch sauce instead of the coating of powdered sugar. Much prefer the powdered sugar.

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And recently, I’ve taken to liking coffee. I don’t mind the odd cappuccino or cafe latte – ie lots of milk and coffee to mask the actual taste of coffee. Will never be able to do straight black coffee.

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They take their coffee very seriously at Bluebottle coffee.

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Their two new joints in Tokyo are always crowded having only recently opened in Tokyo.

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Bluebottle coffee: Minami aoyama branch:

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Naoshima red pumpkin

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Ugh, I have a huge backlog of blog posts, or rather photos to upload.

Here are some from about 9 months ago. I never finished that Naoshima diary.

In addition to the giant yellow pumpkin found near the Benesse art park, there is also a red pumpkin sculpture by the ferry port, the main arrival point onto the island.

From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin

Mercer brunch in Tokyo

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I’ve written about Mercer Cafe before having been there for dinner.
The food is really good there and the stylish cafe is sophisticated and cozy. Who doesn’t love a big open hearthen fire inside the cafe.

The place is famous for its french toast so I had to go back and try their brunch menu.
The brunch plate menu comes with a serving of french toast. I went the salmon and scrambled eggs option.

The food is well presented and it was lovely enough. Not sure that it was french toast to die for, but yes, it made for a nice brunch and I am slowly running out of new places to visit for brunch in Tokyo. The scrambled eggs though were divine. Very creamy.

From Mercer brunch
From Mercer brunch
From Mercer brunch
From Mercer brunch
From Mercer brunch
From Mercer brunch
From Mercer brunch
From Mercer brunch
From Mercer brunch