Krispy and Kremey

I was a tad disappointed we werent able to visit the Krispy Kreme at Shinjuku before we left Shinjuku for Sheraton.

Alas we saw one in Shibuya and went in to "drink some coffee" even after our heavy lunch at Gonpachi.

Check out the throngs of happy people at the outlet.



So many memorabilia you can buy! cups, caps, shirts. I tried to buy one but they didnt have an XL. :(



Queued up to buy some donuts (duh!) and saw the production process. Snapped a picture of the most important process. Moving from unglazed to glazed. Can you see? Moving from right to left. Unglazed to glazed.



The wonderful thing was whilst you're waiting and deciding, the nice sweet japanese servers hand you a hot glazed doughnut so you end up eating one even before you pay up!@! This was just like when i was in Seoul!

Decided on a chocolate-topped and custard filled one.

WHEEE!

Didnt buy much things but started to stock up on equipment for skiing!

Bought an Oakley skimask as well as Burton ski gloves.



Heading to Beijing tomorrow to buy some chiong ski jackets and pants

Yay!

It's new year's eve here in Tokyo!

We are packing for our flight to Beijing tomorrow. 1030am flight and we need to leave at 6am cos it takes 2 hours to get to the airport. =(

On a brighter note, I decided to give myself a treat today cos it's new year's eve by wearing proper underwear instead of the disposable kind i have been wearing for the past 5 days.

Hotel

I havent mentioned which hotel im staying. This time, Im staying at the Hilton Shunjuku. Actually i stayed in this hotel before but that was back in 2007. Gosh that was a long time ago.



Because Someone is a Hilton Platinum member, we got access to the Executive Lounge and got free internet. Executive Lounge means free breakfast! More money saved! w00t!

Managed to get a small korner with my lappie to read the news, facebook and check mails.



Free breakfast means japanese rice, eggs, fish cake, fish for the Asian palate and scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon for Western. I added sausages to my rice. Hee hee.. Any angmo or japanese who saw me might be grossed out. Haha




The spread in the evenings isnt very good. Some savory stuff and free drinks. One night they had scallops served in small dishes. We took a total of 8! Wahahaha. Here's half of them.



We are moving to the Sheraton tomorrow cos the rooms here double or was it triple during the new year crossover. So i decided to use my points to redeem two nights.

Heading to Tsujiki market tomorrow for the fish.

Random Pictures

Took this when i was queuing for food.

Not very sure what it means..I think it means you should queue up for your own food.



Took this when i was bored at H&M.



Nothing funny about this sign but i just wanted to highlight to everyone that it doesnt mean that levels two and three are simply changing rooms for ladies, unlike what Someone thought.

Shopping!

Shopping has never been a big thing for me in Japan. Really because of all the places i have been to, i think shopping in Singapore is still the best! Haha.. i know that's a little weird but in Singapore, i know when the sales is, etc.

Nonetheless, we went to the big Takashimaya in Nihombashi. I was quite excited.



Alas, it was quite disappointing. Nothing interesting at all.

It was therefore with some trepidation that we approached Isetan the next day.



My worries were unfounded. It turned out that Isetan was huge! And they had a separate building just for men! 8 levels of stuff for men. I didnt really go crazy but it was just good looking around.

I hadnt mentioned that before Taka and Isetan, we went to the factory outlet outside Tokyo. Getting there meant waking up at 6am, reaching the bus terminal by 8am to by the tickets for 8:30am bus, finding the bus where we can take the bus, taking a 1.5 hour bus journey, reaching a bus stop and waiting 10 minutes for a free shuttle bus to bring us to the said outlets.

Going back was literally the reverse direction, shuttle bus then long bus journey back but the shitty thing was that we could only buy the return bus tickets only after all the ticketed people got up first and we scoop up any remaining. But that's cos we were silly and didnt buy the return tickets at 8am. Travelling is so stressful at times like these.

Flight to Tokyo

I'm bored on the way from the airport to my hotel so thought I'd spend some constructive time blogging.

Here's a shot of the usual things I take on my flight. Ipod, book and newspaper.



Some pre-flight drinks.



I was looking forward to the meals cos... Well I don't need a reason to look forward to food.

Starters - don't know half of what's served here. Tasted a bit odd.



Entree - some rice thing wrapped in paper and a small piece of fish and prawn at the side. Looks nicer than it tastes.



Dessert was two scoops of haagan daz. Boring.. Didn't warrant a picture.

We were hungry after a while with this paltry spread, so we each ordered an udon and an additional rice burger with bbq beef for me. I hate to sound like a groupie or squealing like a schoolgirl but the udon, even made on a plane, tastes nicer and chewier than some restaurants in Singapore. The rice burger was good too. I would have ordered another rice burger if I wasn't stopped.

So there you go.. More than 60 years ago, the japanese held us and many parts of asia captive with their military dominance. 60 years down, without having to spend much on defending their country, they concentrated on another form of dominance - cuisine and technology. And we are held captive all over again.

Japan

After much planning on flight and work availability, we finally managed to book our flight to Tokyo.

WHOPPEE! Going in the last week of December. If i didnt have a wedding lunch to attend on 3 Jan, I'd have stayed longer.

As a testament of how little friends I have, i only have one wedding to attend in 2010 and it'll be settled on 3 Jan. WOOHOO!

Inagiku again!

We had Inagiku for lunch yesterday. Whacked a Lobster/Wagyu Beef/Tempura set and a Chirashi set.

Check out the Chiarashi bowl..full of raw goodness.



Here’s the lobster maki with egg yolk sauce.



Forgot to take the wagyu beef and tempura cos I was too hungry and excited.

Hippo!

Someone sent me flowers cos she thought i looked like the hippo. Got teased by my colleagues.. Haha..

OUCH!

Its the end of the year and I haven’t used any of my dental reimbursement benefits.

I went to the dentist at the nearby mall last week cos I was a little lazy to go to my usual dentist. This place was pricier than my usual but it was still within my allotment, so I asked to see the dentist now. She said they were booked out until next year! Wow! Seems like there are a lot more people like me around with last minute dental appointment.

So I went today to my usual dentist. So to my dismay that I have 2 decayed teeth on my wisdom teeth and a third wisdom tooth that was growing out and needed to be extracted! Argh.. the nice lady asked if I wanted to extract or fill them out. As I was not mentally prepared to do so, I just told them to fill it up. It then occurred to me that I have never had a tooth filling before.

Worse thing is that with the filling of two teeth, it has now exceeded my quota so I have to pay the surplus myself.

Sigh it was depressing. Plus at some point, I should go back and extract the third wisdom tooth.

Off to buy an electronic toothbrush with a smaller head to get to the hard to reach areas.

Action Packed

Just got home after a late night range.

Friday night got late night mahjong.

Saturday got golf in JB!

Sunday got badminton. So many things to do on the weekend man!

Inagiku

We went to Inagiku that day and whacked a massive set and a mini set..

Appetiser



Sushi



Sashimi



Fish with Soup



Beancurd skin with sea urchin



Another soup.. not very nice..



Beef



Oops.. didnt take the tempure cos i was too happy and started whacking..

It was a good meal. The lunch menu looked good and quite cheap. Will be going this weekend.

w00t!

Adult?

I know i dont go to the supermarket enough but Adult cereals??

Haha.. means the boring kind of cornflakes with lots of fibre..