LuvlyMint: January 2012

Monday, January 30, 2012

My Japan Trip: Day 3

I didn't get any jet lags this time fortunately, but my husband had a little bit hard time adjusting himself here, in Japan.
He's been tired whole days, having headaches. Maybe because of this coldness.

I've been waking up early morning since yesterday, and I woke up around 5:30 this morning.
I just couldn't go back to sleep, and felt rested so well.

Day three, since I woke up early, I planned out what we were going to do today searching which subway we needed to take and direction to the places.

We were going to have breakfast somewhere in the morning, but because my husband woke up around 9:30 and took shower and bath, we skipped the breakfast and bought chicken nuggets for him and nikuman (pork bun) for me at a convenience store.
He loved nikuman.

Then we headed to "Sweets Forest" where some sweets shops were in one floor, like food court for deserts.

I was disappointed bit since this place was full off sweets and more choices, but there were only 5 shops and not as many choices as I expected.
Here is one of the shop. They look so good and cute :)
I guess this shop's theme was strawberry.

Then we went to Omotesandou (表参道).
I just wanted to check out the Omotesandou Hills which was designed by the famous Tadao Andou (安藤忠雄) who I admire so much.

It's just a huge shopping mall where you get high end clothes, shoes, and more.

                          Then we ate lunch at a tiny cafe/bar
                          where I found from a Tokyo guide book.
                                  MADOSH! CAFE

After being full, we headed to Roppongi (六本木).

I, again, found a park in the guide book, and thought we could walk around or sit relaxing..
But since it was winter, the grass was dead and they were using the grass area as an ice skate rink....
So we just walked along the grass area.

Desert Time!!!
I found the chocolate shop, Le Chocolat de H ルショコラドゥアッシュ in Roppongi Hills which, this desert place is produced by one of the Japanese leading pastry chef.

My husband went crazy with cars...

Now today's main event, DINNER!!!
We went to this teppan yaki place "Teppanyaki Ten"
My friend recommended to us.
And they had the best beef I've ever tried.
Wagu beef is the best!!!!

For more info about this dinner, please click HERE!!

Teppanyaki TEN, Ginza

My friend recommended to us.
And it became the best place to eat in Tokyo for us!!!

We loved it so much!!!!

It's located close to Ginza station.
http://www.teppanyaki-ten.com/

My husband picked "Raifuku Course", I picked "Tenshou Course".
The difference was just you get abalone for Tenshou, and lobster for Raifuku.

1. Snow Crab Salad

2. Uni (Sea Urchin)

3. JagabataMentaiko (Potato and Mentaiko(cod roe) Yaki

4. Abalone or Lobster Teppanyaki

5. Ten's Specialty (Takoyaki(Octopus ball) on a teppan)

6. Foie Gras on Teppan

7. Wagu Sirloin Steak

8. Rice in Dashi Soup

Sorry...I only took a picture of last sip...

9. Desert

The best one for me was definitely the wagu beef steak, and the abalone was so tender too.

But everything we ate was soooooo delicious!

Definitely worth the money.

But I tasted the lobster my husband got, I liked my abalone better than the lobster, so maybe you might wanna stick to the "Tenshou Course" which is the cheapest one.

Madosh! Cafe, Shibuya

We had a lunch at Madosh!Cafe in Shibuya, Tokyo.

I found this place in a Tokyo guide book that my friend lend me.

There are cute utensils and decorations inside.
It has a unique ambiance.

And what's cool about is that they use ipads to show their menu.

Me checking what they have on the menu...

I came here for Avocado and Spam Carbonara.

This pasta dish was too heavy for me.... creamy egg sauce and creamy avocado...
Double creamy... I couldn't finish it....
It looks delicious though, I would get something else next time if I have to come here.

My husband picked Seared Bonito and Avocado Rice Bowl.

He liked it.

Sweets Forest

There is some kind of food court for deserts in Jiyuugaoka.
It is called "Sweets Forest".

I love sweets and chocolate, so why not go there?? right?

So here we went...
Taking Tokyuu Touyoko Line, get off at Jiyuugaoka Station.
Walk for 5 minutes.
Here it is....

I was expected more for this place, but there are only about 5 shops.

One of some shops where I got a cake from

But all of the deserts looked delicious.

My husband picked this,

I forgot the name of this, but it's chocolate cake with diced ginger kind of cake...

And I got this,

Strawberry Tiramisu

The tiramisu was not too sweet and good, but I wish it had more strawberry in it...

Overall,
The city is little bit off of Tokyo main area and it took more than 30 minutes for us to get there from main area.
So I wouldn't go there again.

My Pregnancy 21~24 weeks

My tummy and baby are getting bigger and bigger!!
Every week, no even every day I feel like my tummy is bigger than the day before.

21 weeks

24 weeks

Wow!!
It is a big difference between 21 and 24 weeks of pregnancy.
For one month, I've gained 5 pounds, that means I've gained 12 pounds total.

Jan 25, I took glucose screening test and the result was abnormal......!!
I need to take another 3 hours test later.....

Probably I was eating handmade chocolate chip cookies for a week before I took the test..
Hopefully I will pass the next glucose test.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

My First Family Trip: Day 2

Due to the jet lag, I woke up around 4 in the morning today.
But I felt refreshed, maybe because of the hot bath I took last night.

We left the hotel around 9 am.
We shared Chinese dish for a breakfast, and walked around Nihon Bashi, Tokyo.
(It was Saturday so we had hard time looking for a place to eat breakfast.
Of course coffee shops were open but I didn't wanna go to a coffee shop to get a breakfast....)

And we visited Akihabara which is the place for electronics, computer, comic, and costumes that Otaku (nerd) would love.
If you wanna know more detail about Akihabara, click HERE :)

Then, we met up with my great friend, who used to study in SD and now works in Tokyo.
We went sightseeing in Asakusa (浅草).

Sensoji (Buddhist temple) has a shopping street that provides
visitors with traditional and local snacks and souvenir.
We ate some snacks there which were delicious!!
**If you wanna know more about Asakusa, click HERE (^o^)

Then we stopped by at a cafe and take a break.
After that, my friend and I went shopping at two jewelry parts and tools warehouses while my husband was just chilling at a Internet cafe.

I will post what I got at the jewelry parts shops later.

Then we went to this city called Tsukishima where Tokyo's famous dish "monja yaki" restaurants are.

Monja yaki is a type of Japanese pan-fried batter with various ingredients.
My friend and I thought my husband would like it because it's entertainment to watch the food is made.
More detail of this dinner, click HERE!!

My husband loved monja yaki!!!
We had a wonderful day :)

Of course I took a bath at night while my husband was too tired even to take a shower and was sleeping.
Tomorrow will be as fun and interesting as today!!

Monja Yaki at Tsukishima, Tokyo

My husband, my friend, and I went to Tsukishima, Tokyo to have dinner.
Tsukishima is famous for Monja Yaki which is a pan-fried batter with various ingredients, similar to okonomiyaki.

There are full of Monja yaki restaurants.

We decided to go to Oshio where my friend, Megumi has been to.

We ordered nankotsu (chicken cartilage) for appetizer.

Megumi is cooking chicken cartilage

And we ordered mentaiko(spicy cod roe) and mochi (sticky rice) monja.

Before cooking.

Cooking, we asked a server to cook it for us since we didn't know how to cook.

Delicious!!

And pork okonomiyaki, too!!

We had such a delicious meal and fun!!
I really recommend this Oshio restaurant.
Everything they had was delicious and service was great!!

Monja Oshio

1-21-5 Tsukishima, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

03-3532-9000

http://www.monja.gr.jp/monja/oshio3/oshio3.htm (Japanese)

Asakusa, Tokyo

Asakusa is a part of downtown in Tokyo, where is famous for temples, especially Senso-ji.

Senso-ji (浅草寺), also known as Asakusa Kannon, is a Buddhist temple.
Inside of the temple as arcade that is full of little shops for souvenirs and snacks for visitors, and they lead to Honzo-mon (宝蔵門).