Friday, July 25, 2014
Japan, Part Two
Ohayou gozaimasu!
Top of the morning to ya! After a much needed deep, long sleep we awoke for day 2 which involved a trip to Kyoto. First thing's first, though: I'm the realest. Just kidding, breakfast. I am the realest though.
We found a convenience store downstairs. One thing to note about Japan, they love their fried food & white rice, but for the most part, they're pretty healthy. They have a lot of raw food on offer & their packaged juices & smoothies are more real fruit than additives. Breakfast involved this green smoothie (which to be honest, didn't taste that great) and these fresh rice paper rolls; carrot, lettuce & prawns. Yuuuuum.
After breakfast, we hopped onto a train and headed off to Arashiyama, Kyoto.
My noble steed.
We actually came to Arashiyama in search for the Bamboo Forest, so a bit of cycling & getting lost later, we finally found it. If you decide to rent a bike, but want to walk to the Bamboo Forest, you can park your bike just before the entrance. No locks, no passwords, no worries! Just park your bike there, it'll be safe.
While I do love bike-riding, I would recommend parking your bike & just hiking. There's a lot of people about, so it may be hard to get through. It's a long walk to get to see everything but at least you can be snap-happy about it. A word of warning however, don't make the same mistake I did - wear walking shoes or sneakers!
Amongst your walk, you may find this cemetery...
Or this love-letter station...
After a LOT of walking, we decided we were too hungry to go on so it was time to say goodbye to our bikes & find food!
We found a restaurant called Aux Bacchanales which was meant to be 'French cuisine'. Don't really know why we chose to eat French food whilst in Japan but it happened.
I ordered an orange juice & a nicoise salad.
This may be stupid to admit but I didn't know that a nicoise salad was just tuna salad? Sounds a lot fancier! To be honest, I only know what it is because of the movie White Chicks though... hehe.
Patrick ordered a ham & cheese sandwich that I didn't get a photo of.
Shirley ordered an orange juice & quiche.
Dessert was found just next door where we ordered (to share) a berry mix waffle with cream & a baked cheesecake. The cheesecake was one of the best I've ever had. *drool*
Day 2 in Japan was so much fun. Shirley says bike riding was one of her favourite things we did in the entire holiday! Happy & food-filled we made our way back to Osaka to do some shopping at the Pokemon Centre & KiddyLand then headed back to the hotel for rest to be up & ready for day 3.
I ordered an orange juice & a nicoise salad.
Patrick ordered a ham & cheese sandwich that I didn't get a photo of.
Shirley ordered an orange juice & quiche.
Dessert was found just next door where we ordered (to share) a berry mix waffle with cream & a baked cheesecake. The cheesecake was one of the best I've ever had. *drool*
Day 2 in Japan was so much fun. Shirley says bike riding was one of her favourite things we did in the entire holiday! Happy & food-filled we made our way back to Osaka to do some shopping at the Pokemon Centre & KiddyLand then headed back to the hotel for rest to be up & ready for day 3.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Japan, Part One
Konichiwa, from Japan!
I couldn't tell you why we decided Japan was to be our next destination without telling you how weird I really am, but let's say it started with my obsession of saying the word 'kawaii'.. From that stemmed our adventure across the pond to wonderful land of Japan, all of which started in Melbourne...
Patrick & Shirley! My cousins who thought they could survive with me hanging around them every hour, for two weeks.
A 10 hour plane ride, a handful of Japanese/English conversations & a three hour train ride later, we arrived in Osaka. We stayed at Hotel Monterey Grasmere, which was only a 5-10 minute walk from Dotonbori.
Arcades everywhere! Very loud, very colourful & very fun.
I know Japan is not known for being the land of love, but I couldn't help but notice more people than not were walking around in two's. Made me so happy!
Patrick decided he was feeling both hungry & adventurous, so he ordered one of these, of which numerous stalls across the strip were selling, but we had no idea what they were! Upon taste, we discovered it was octopus... Not for me, but they enjoyed it!
Friday, May 02, 2014
Organic Buyer's Group
Organic food is difficult to come by around where I live, and when I do, it often comes with a hefty price tag. Until I came across a little website, a small business that delivers organic food of all sorts to your door, at a lower price. I don't really remember how I found this gem, but discovering Organic Buyer's Group was the most thrilling event to happen to me in a while. If you live in Sydney, you're more than likely to be eligible for free shipping as well. Score.
My purchase consisted of Loving Earth's Caramel Chocolate & Coconut Mylk Chocolate.
Alter Eco Pacific's Dark Chocolate & Dark Cacao Nibs
The Carob Kitchen's Carob Almond Bar
And my personal favourite, Pukka's Peppermint & Licorice Tea.
Yes, I did buy all chocolates. But I wanted to experiment! Don't judge me.
Anyway, you do have to spend a minimum of $35 on all orders, but that just gives you an excuse to buy more goodies! Not to mention, my order came in only three days! I've tasted a little bit of each of the chocolates, and to be honest, it doesn't really compare to a Caramello Koala. Nonetheless, it curbs my occasional chocolate cravings and I'm hoping I will grow to LOVE it. If you do put through an order, please share what you purchased, or if you already shop here, let me know of your favourites.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)