All posts by Siree

Review: First Impressions 3CE Nail Lacquer Haul

March 6, 2016 Siree Leave a comment

Yes, another 3CE haul. How can I not go to Seoul and pick up a little something from my favourite brand?

In truth, I love going to a salon and getting my nails done especially when the weather is not looking so crash hot outside. Killing a few hours waiting for the rain to stop? Go to a nail salon, especially if they offer a free message in the service – ahh heaven.

Unfortunately, I have yet to experience a nail art treatment since moving to Japan but I hope that will change someday very soon!

In the meantime, I thought I would road test 3CE’s Nail Lacquer polishes when I stopped over at their Garousgil store since I’ve been eyeing them for a while to see how well they stack up.

For colours, I picked up these two staple colours which will suit any occasion, Beige (BE05) and Pink (PK08).

The texture was great on just one application – not too water with good pigmentation. Apply two coats and you’re good to go!

The drying time is on the average side if left alone but I always use a quick drying top coat so I can get on with life without worrying about damaging all that hard work. Who can possibly stay focused to make sure these babies set for a good hour nowadays?!

The next ones I also wanted to try was the Grey (GY01) and Ivory White (IV02) since the formula was like a milky tone which was exactly the shade I wanted.

The grey was super cute! I underestimated how nice grey could look on tanned skin but I love it!

One of the bonus samples was some stick-on nail art stickers which thought I should test them as well!

According to the instructions, after sticking the seal sticker on to your nail you should use the file to file the excess sticker in a downwards motion to cut it to shape. The set also came with a small file which was really helpful!

Here’s the finished result! To be honest, after trying these on I’m not a big fan of the nail sticker types. The sticker does not completely laying flat on the nail which created bubbles and just look like you stuck some coloured washi tape rather than actually giving that “painted” nails look. The glue on the back was good though! Very adhesive and stuck well even being underwater when I washed my hands.

I guess from far away it’s not too bad but it’s definitely a one day only sort of wear. As you can tell from the side angle of my right hand, I didn’t file the sticker perfectly which caused some rough teared edges to appear. In the end I just took it off haha.

Final Thoughts: I love these nail polishes! They are really good quality and I love their shades!

I’m a bit sad about how nail stickers look in real life. The images on the internet make them look like a great substitute for inexpensive nail art but after seeing what the results were in the flesh, I definitely prefer a painted nail look.

Until Next Time!

Siree

Japan, Travel

Finding Animal Doughnuts in Japan for Neko no Hi!

February 26, 2016 Siree 2 Comments

A Day for Cats?!

It always surprises me how the Japanese phonetic and kanji writing system can be bent in some unusual yet cool ways that it makes, in my opinion, one of the most interesting and most enjoyable languages to learn!

So far I was able to enjoy the hidden meaning behind 11.11 (Pocky Day because of the way the chocolate sticks and date look like || ) and 01.05 (Strawberry Day because the sound “Ichi” for “One” and “Go” for “Five” also can be used to say “Ichigo” which is “Strawberry”), but little did I know that the 22nd of February was Neko no Hi (Cat Day) in Japan! Why you may ask?

It’s because the number “Two” is pronounced “Ni” in Japanese and because the 22nd of February can be written as “222,” the Japan Pet Food Association in 1987 decided to call this day “Cats Day” because the day can be read as “Nyan Nyan Nyan” or “Meow Meow Meow,” just the way a cat sounds! Cute right?

(It’s also Ninja Day on the 22nd as well WTF?!)

To mark the day I ventured to Jiyuugaoka again in search of the instafamous “animal doughnuts,” which was as you may have guessed, doughnuts that are shaped into cute animal faces. And no unfortunately, you cannot find these at just any doughnut shop like Mister Doughnuts or Krispy Kreme. I’ve been dying to try one since appearing on our instafeed almost two years ago and now, the wait is over!

If you ever stumble to Jiyuugaoka, I highly recommend a stop over to La Vita at the top of the hill from the north exit of the station as well. When can you go from traditional Japan…

… to a Venice canal just around the corner?!

Ok so it might be a bit small to be a “real” canal but it’s such a pretty little place to just sit and enjoy the scene. Be sure to bring a camera at night as well as it’s also lit up!

Back to the subject of these doughnuts, where did I end up finding them?

Just near the station’s north exit gate is a shop called Izumi Mama’s Animal Doughnuts, a franchise chain that creates these cute creations!

Adorbs overload! Look at their winky expressions and cute ears! As you place your order, the staff will also let you pick which face you want to eat your favourite kaomojis/emoticons (>.<)!

With so many types to choose from, I decided on MiKe (cat) and Usagi-chan (rabbit). Unfortunately the lady before me took like 4 of the MiKe cat doughnuts including the last winky face one so I chose the sleepy face instead.

So we all know how cute it looks but what about the taste?

Unfortunately taste wise, it was a bit dry and didn’t have that “cake” spongey or cake taste to it. It was more like a bread texture but thank god for coffee to save the day. I was hoping that the rabbit one would be strawberry flavoured since it had that kind of look to it but it had the same normal base as the cat doughnut. Sad face :(

FYI, the little ears of the cats are almonds so nut allergic peeps beware!

In any case, it was a good experience trying these little animal doughnuts out after two years of waiting!

The Details:

Where: 1F Jiyugaoka Department Store, 1-28-8 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo

Opening Hours: Mon – Sun 10:00 am. – 7:30 pm (closed Wed)

Website

Until Next Time!

(=＾● ⋏ ●＾=)

Siree

Greatly Terrific Food Outing, Japan, Japan Food Guide

V-Day Girl’s Day at the Alice in Wonderland Restaurant, Shibuya

February 18, 2016 Siree 2 Comments

You’re Late for Tea!

It seems that Valentine’s Day is a bit upside down here in Japan.

Rather than being all about the girls (let’s be honest), here, all the chocolate and hearts go to the fellows. If you happened to have walked around Shibuya on Sunday you might have spotted some lone hearted guys holding signs saying “Free Hugs” and “Chocolate please.”

Being in single town myself, I turned V Day into Galentine’s Day and went to the Alice in Wonderland theme restaurant for a girl’s day out. Girl Parties or 女子会/joshikai in Japanese is a pretty popular social gathering activity for gal pals here in Japan with hotels and venue restaurants offering lunch, dinner or dessert courses for some Sex and the City female bonding. But don’t worry boys! You have your own 男子会/danshikai version as well here!

Technically this restaurant chain is called Alice’s Fantasy Restaurant and each location has its own “version” on the Alice in Wonderland theme eg. Alice in a Labyrinth, Alice in a Fantasy Book and so on. The one in Shibuya is called Alice in a Dancing Land – 舞踏の国のアリス – and has a cute as hell carousel right in the middle of the restaurant where you can sit surrounded by lights and porcelain ornaments with a giant chandelier dangling from the center.

Pretty right?! Everywhere you looked each ceiling panel or even the fabric used for the chairs remind you of a character or page from Alice in Wonderland. Even the floor staff waitresses wore Alice’s signature blue dress with at least one girl wearing bunny ears for the March Hare and the waiter at the front wore an outfit similar to the Mad Hatter. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take any photos of the staff but if you visit their Facebook page, you can see some photos of their staff :D

But I digress, to the food!

To mark the special day the restaurant offered a special event course at ¥2500 (roughly $25) per person which includes 2x entrees, 2x mains, and dessert. Considering it was also an all-you-can-drink with unlimited juice, coffee and tea it was a great price!

Look at all these tea types! I tried to make it my personal mission to drink each and every one of these tea flavours but could only drink three: maple, chocolate, and grape kyoho black tea. Although at a lot of places these types of layouts usually mean lackluster and bad quality teas, all the ones I tasted were really delicious and tasted exactly as they said. I especially liked the maple flavoured tea!

The first course was a small amuse-bouche which was I believe some kind of cream cheese spread with “rose” shaped smoked ham and toast.

The waitress explained that the dish represented the scene where Alice finds the “eat me” cookies.

The next dish was a salad with a cute avocado face for the Caterpillar in his “garden” which was a Caesar Salad.

On to mains, the first was a pasta dish with a simple tomato style sauce with cute mozzarella cheese cut into a spade, club, diamond, and heart. The second was a consommé/nabe style soup filled with veggies, chicken, and sausage with some tasty bread and mustard for the sausage. I love the clock plate for the soup! It’s unfortunate that this restaurant doesn’t have a gift shop on site to buy souvenirs as I’m sure there will be many people who would love to buy some of the items here.

Finally, the last dish was these cute blueberry mousse tarts desserts shaped like bunnies! The taste was quite interesting as it was sweet but also a bit tart, I liked it a lot!

One of the girls has food allergies and we were unsure if she could eat the planned dessert so she ordered the Cheshire Cat Parfait off the menu which was equally adorable!

The main menu at this Alice in Wonderland is actually different from the food we ate off the planned course meal but the food quality was quite nice and somewhat affordable. I believe there is an entry fee of ¥500 or so which was included in our course price. If you do decide to come I recommend coming a bit earlier for lunch as the place can be quite busy but if you come after the rush hour after 2 PM, you’ll find it’s a bit quieter and you might get a better seat.

I definitely recommend coming here if you want to have a unique experience with your friends for afternoon tea.

The Details

Where: Zero gate B1, 16-9, Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 150-0042

Opening Hours:

Monday – Sunday

Lunch 11:00am – 2:00pm (last order 3:30pm)

Dinner 4:00pm – 11:30pm (last order 11:00pm)

Website | Facebook

Until Next Time!

Siree

Japan, Travel

Going to the Studio Ghibli Museum, Tokyo

February 6, 2016 Siree Leave a comment

Escaping into a Fairytale

It may not have flashy gates or a mascot roaming around to greet every guest but the Studio Ghibli Museum is such a beautiful site nestled in nature you feel like you have stepped into a fairytale that only the signature creative minds behind Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Spirited Away could imagine out of thin air!

Definitely, a must go if you are an animation or anime fan, the inside not only displays the works of Studio Ghibli over the years but also acts as a teaching ground for animation principals with interactive giant zoetropes, projectors and hand painted dioramas. My favourite had to be the animator’s workspace layout with every nook and cranny filled with illustrations, model airplanes, book, etc. It felt just like the scene where you see Howl or Arrietty’s bedroom for the first time. Everything was so eye catching and had a child-like spirit to it, it was definitely inspiring! Unfortunately, the museum has a no photography policy inside, but luckily the outside patio areas were photo friendly should you feel the urge to savor the moment on camera.

Ok I lied, there is a big Totoro ready to greet you at the entrance haha

If you start to feel hungry, there’s the cafe on site but since it was the only place to get a proper meal, the line was so long and had people constantly lining up I couldn’t be bothered waiting and went to the side which sold hot dogs, ice cream and soup. The best finds were the Studio Ghibli ale beer and the hot apple cider drink! I took the beer bottle home as a souvenir since the label was so nice! But I definitely recommend bring some bento or onigiri if you plan to come.

The whole site had such attention to detail! I want a cat tap now!

At the rooftop garden stands the full-sized robot or “BFG” as I like to call him from the film Laputa: Castle in the Sky which makes for a cool photo before heading to the gift shop for some final gifts and finally an ice cream… or two haha

The loot of the day! The cute little dog is from their in-house short film “Goro’s Big Walk” which is a cute story of a puppy (Goro) who escapes his house to follow his owner (a little girl) but gets lost on the way. The souvenir goods were a little expensive at the gift shop so I ended up getting only a Kiki’s Delivery Service card and the postcards of the museum’s courtyard, the animator’s work station and the Museum building drawn in true Studio Ghibli style!

If you plan to visit the museum, you will have to purchase a ticket in advance as they don’t sell tickets on site.

You can check out where you can buy a ticket in your country via their official website.

The Details:

Where: 〒 181-0013, 1 Chome-1-83 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka, Tokyo

Website

Until Next Time!

Siree

Japan, Travel

Akiba Fukurou – Owl Cafe

January 29, 2016 Siree 2 Comments

Owls for Muggles!

I’m pretty sure everyone has heard by now, Japan has some pretty exciting and interesting cafe culture in the form of animal themed cafes. While cat, rabbit and dog cafes are some of the well known types, I always wanted to go to an owl cafe! Before coming to Japan, I never thought owls could be kept as a pet so what a treat to see one up close and personal!

Just a few minutes walk from Akihabara Station is “Akiba Fukurou,” a super cute owl cafe with 28 owls inside!

While researching on what owl cafe to choose, I found that most owl cafe services require you to order a drink as the minimum “entry fee” with the food area being divided by a glass window in which on the other side, is where the owls are kept. An extra fee is charged to go into the owl room and the experience is around a 10 minute session to hold and take photos with your feathery friend. When I did the math, it ended up being a bit too pricey and since I had my sister and her bf joining me, I wanted them to experience “being” with an owl rather than just being able to “see” an owl through a glass panel. The difference with Akiba Fukurou is that it’s not your usual owl cafe experience as it’s more of an aviary in the form of a stylish cafe. There is no drink or food menu and the whole time you are there (around 1 hour) you get to experience bonding with the owls in the room. You can walk around freely, pat and hold as many owls as you want! Woohoo!

Aren’t they the cutest?! Even the biggest owl was so sweet when you gently stroked its face haha. The owls are very well trained and the staff are also knowledgable and skilled at handling them should you have any problems. The staff will give you an intro on how to hold the owls as well as which owls you can hold or touch etc.

The owl I picked was called “Charles Xavier,” a Black-Banded Owl. Such a looker, I liked him the most haha!

At the end of the session, you get a photo as a souvenir which was really nice! If you are looking into a owl cafe to visit in Tokyo, I definitely recommend this place!

The Details

Where: 〒101-0022 67, Neribeicho, Kanda, Chiyodaku, Tokyo

Website

Until Next Time!

Siree

Greatly Terrific Food Outing, Japan, Japan Food Guide

GTFO: Jiyugaoka Sweets Forest

January 2, 2016 Siree Leave a comment

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THE VERDICT

Setting & Atmosphere
Food
Service
Value for Money

OVERALL SUMMARY

Quality dessert to satisfy the sweetest of teeth

While exploring Jiyugaoka, a beautiful little neighbourhood in Tokyo known for its stylish shops and more importantly, sweets I found hidden to the south side of the station a place called Jiyugaoka Sweets Forest.

It’s a dessert-themed restaurant experience where Alice might have stumbled upon on her way to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – a dessert made forest wonderland!

Let’s explore the delights this rabbit hole leads to…

SETTING AND ATMOSPHERE

The interior is adorable with the pink cut out trees and cute picturesque shop fronts. As you can see, this forest is not just one restaurant but made of many individual patisserie shops offering their own signature dessert experience. Want something with strawberries? Look no further than the cute ‘Berry Berry’ shop. Maybe a fluffy soufflé? ‘Le Soufflé’ is where you can get your fix! There’s even have a Hong Kong style dessert house selling not only traditional Chinese desserts but also Yum Cha dumplings if you want some more savoury. Ah, I miss home~

While theme restaurant’s don’t always get the best rep as the food is more “style over substance,” each shop’s head patisserie chef is a professional in their field and the store’s creations are almost like their trademark so the desserts are not only pretty, but you feel like you are eating something that was well made and special! They even have seasonal rotations of their creations on display at the front of the store to admire their craftsmanship and hopefully get your hands on later.

In Japan, there is a term called 「旬/shun」which describes the moment of seasonal food at its peak. The term has a bit more meaning than simply saying “it’s in season” as it’s more like a celebration of the time the ingredient is at its most flavourful state during the harvest. Currently, strawberries are in season so I had to try Berry Berry’s creations which just so happens to be all strawberry based for December. Japan’s strawberries are the best!

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FOOD

Sweet and girly to the “G,” I went with Princess Tiara Roll and the Strawberry Mont Blanc with a basic black coffee for a set. Though the coffee wasn’t anything special to rave about the cakes were very nice indeed. Not too dry or overly sweet. The Mont Blanc had the special touch of a raspberry jam in the centre which was a nice touch to add some tartness.

Though I can’t comment on all the desserts available at Sweets Forest this time, I was pretty happy with the taste of these cakes at Berry Berry!

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SERVICE

At first, it was a bit disorienting to figure out the “system” if you will at Sweets Forest for a first timer.

It’s a theme restaurant but with no wait service except for Le Soufflé with “general” staff who are stationed at seating points to help bust tables (but in Japan, it is polite to also bust your own table as well) and also welcome you to space.

The seating areas are shared amongst the shops meaning that no matter who you order food from, you are still able to sit at any area with the exception of Le Soufflé.

The staff are friendly though and very prompt to help you if you need some guidance or to take the tray off you when in the bustling area. The experience is sort of a stylish cafeteria Starbucks vibe if you will.

VALUE FOR MONEY

Great value for money to sit down and enjoy a light snack. The desserts are really not too expensive and with no entry fee which is a norm for the themed restaurant sometimes.

THE DETAILS

Where: 2-25-7 Midorigaoka, Meguro, Tokyo 152-0034

Opening Hours: Mon – Sun: 10AM – 8PM

Run by two travel and lifestyle bloggers, The Hidden Thimble focus’ on creating truthful and in-depth travel guides, food & beauty reviews. Enjoy drool-worthy photography from around the world!