295. local treasures, singapore

On Monday, little sis and I went out for lunch and also, I needed to get some art materials before I return to Japan. We had lunch at Paragon and took a bus down to Plaza Singapura. I got my art supplies and we just roamed around Dhoby Ghaut. I somehow managed to find Over The Garden Wall and Adventure Time comics, it was pretty cheap, so I decided to get them.

Since The Little Drom Store was nearby, we decided to drop by there as well. I've been wanting to visit the store since I found their Instagram. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed in the store. I really love the amount of detail they put into the store, what draws me in the most is that they make Singaporean-inspired merchandise. They sell Polkaros and other artists' products there as well.

In the end, I got 6 earrings. A Pierrot themed 3 set by Polkaros, and three other Singaporean goodies by the store itself, I bought Ice-Kachang, Packet Teh and The Dragon. I also bought a small gift for H here because he told me he wanted something that reminded me of my childhood. I had such a hard time deciding what to buy because I wanted to buy too many things.

the lighting sucks.

I bought Fionna & Cake instead just because...

Walking around Dhoby Ghaut really made me feel nostalgic because it has been forever since I've been in that area. I used to walk to school every day from Dhoby Ghaut Station to Lasalle. There were a lot of flashbacks this time around while I roamed around Singapore with little sis.

We met up with mom and dad later on for dinner. We went to a Chinese restaurant that we have been going to since I was 10 years old. Even though I always say that I really hate Singapore because of all the bad memories I have there, I can't hate it entirely still. I did spend most of my life here afterall. I will never call it my home but visiting for a couple of days once in a while is nice.

----------------------------------------------------

On the day before I returned to Tokyo, little sis and I went to explore some new places. But first, we made our way to Tiong Bahru because I really wanted Plain Vanilla cupcakes. They're my favorite cupcakes in the world.

Little sis and I had lunch at Ah Chiang's porridge. I really miss Chinese porridge and especially this one because it's so nice and fluffy. Plus century egg? Yesssssss.

Tiong Bahru is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Singapore because of the cute shops, cafes, local food and old houses. It is one of the oldest residential estates in Singapore, I really love looking at all the old houses. I've never really appreciated things like this until little sis started working at a cafe here a couple of years ago.

We went to walk off the food by searching for Curated Records. Their collection of vinyl weren't impressive to me because they didn't have any of the bands I like. Mostly mainstream music. Only for a couple of exceptions like Dimmu Borgir, if you don't count Norwegian black metal mainstream.

After that, we did the usual and went to Books Actually, Woods in the Books and finally Plain Vanilla! To be perfectly honest, I like the back of Books Actually more than the books itself, haha.

More after the cut (+40 photos)

275. monuments & shopping, taipei iv

Day 5 : January 14th, Thursday.

Little sis had a little bit of time left before heading to the airport so we headed to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Dad really wanted to go because it is a Taiwanese national monument. It took about an hour to get there by train.

There was nothing much to do there, it's the usual tourist spot where you just go there to take photos and that's it. I don't like doing touristy things but my dad, on the other hand, loves it. When I travel with little sis, all the national monuments or typical touristy places are always last on our list (unless it's really really worth going).

My face in this photo is priceless, hahaha.

First family selfie.

More photos after cut >>

274. dots & bottles, taipei iii

Day 4 : January 13th, Wednesday.

It was yet another cloudy day in Taipei, it was little sis's last day here, so we decided to go to the places she wanted first. As always, little sis's number 1 love is coffee. I don't know how but she found this pretty popular and picturesque cafe called Cafe Chamber located near Gu Ting Station.

We headed straight towards there and had a little trouble finding the cafe, luckily it was just drizzling so it wasn't too bad. We finally found the cafe after about half an hour of walking but the cafe was busy and closed. There was a shoot or filming going in the cafe so we decided to just explore the area since White Wabbit Records is just nearby.

Lucky for us, we stumbled upon a street aligned with cute cafes and we decided to try the one that had a ton of Yoshitomo Nara artwork. I was impressed with the amount of his work they had in Dot dot Cafe, even the menu had a small biography of Yoshitomo Nara. It made me not want to go to A to Z Cafe in Aoyama anymore. I like it there but after going to this one in Taipei, I don't think I could ever look at it the same way. Dot dot Cafe wins, hands down.

More photos after cut >>

273. a road to somewhere, taiwan ii

Day 3 : January 12th, Tuesday.

It was a cloudy Tuesday morning. We were heading to Jiu Fen today, it was little sis's and my number 1 place on the list to visit when we were in Taiwan because it's the "Spirited Away Town" that Hayao Miyazaki got his inspiration from. Knowing me, Spirited Away is my most favorite animation film of all time so I had to go.

We made our way down to Zhong Xiao Fu Xing Station by train to wait for the bus to take us to Jiu Fen but ended up taking a taxi because my dad is an impatient man. It started to rain when we were on our way to Jiu Fen. It rained almost everyday when I was in Taiwan.

I loved the scenery while we were driving up to Jiu Fen, you could see temples, old houses, the sea and the mountains. It was so cloudy and misty that really felt like we were on the road the somewhere out of this world.

More photos after cut >>

272. feels like forever, taipei

I can officially put a tiny tick next to my number 1 resolution this year and that is to travel.

Last week was spent in Taipei and it was a much-needed break for me. I was getting sick of Tokyo and thought I was starting to hate it, but that is all untrue. I just needed to get out of Japan for a little bit to spend some time with my family. I was getting homesick (though I wouldn't call it homesick because I don't miss Singapore one bit), and was craving for all sorts of Chinese food. I really just wanted to see my little sister honestly. It felt like forever since I last saw her.

Day 1 : January 10th, Sunday.

I couldn't get any sleep the night before so I just left my apartment early and headed to Narita airport. I still fucking hate how far Narita is by the way. I arrived in Taipei at 3-ish in the afternoon and my sister was the first one to hug me once I was out of customs. Mom and dad hugged me later on and our family vacation began.

We checked into our Airbnb apartment in Neihu district and went to a small restaurant that the host recommended. It was just a 10 minutes walk away. Our Airbnb host, Summer was really nice and she recommended so many restaurants.

My first impression of Taipei was... it's not what I expected it to be. For all these years, I always thought it'll be a kinda glamourous city and somewhat like Tokyo but it's far from it. There were many small food stalls just outside our apartment and I could smell Chou doufu (smelly beancurd) on the way to dinner. It reminded me of the wet markets in Singapore. Also, much dirtier than I expected it to be. It's not disgustingly dirty but when you live in a country like Japan known for cleanliness, almost everywhere else in the world is dirty.

We had dinner at Hei Mei Lin Xiao Chi (omg it feels weird writing hanyu pinyin on my blog). It was one of those restaurants where you order dishes and rice. Man, I really do miss it. Chinese food in your neighborhood at some run-down building, those places normally serve better food than expensive (overpriced) restaurants in shopping malls.

This was when little sis and I were wracking our brains on ordering and reading the menu, haha.

After dinner, we walked around the neighborhood but got back to the apartment early since we were all tired. I really loved our Airbnb apartment! Little sis and I found it and immediately knew that my dad would love it because of the break walls! AND there was cable television, exactly the same as Singapore's. Also, there was Takashi Murakami's work in the room little sis and I shared. There was a Kaws Simpson print in my parents' room. I picked the right apartment. :)

Day 2 : January 11th, Monday.

We all got up really early and decided to get a local breakfast at a small place that Summer also recommended. It was also near the apartment, 15 minutes walk. My dad ordered too much, as usual. We had Xiao Long Bao, You Tiao (omg I've missed it so much!!! and the one in Taiwan is nicer), some wraps which were pretty good as well, Tao Ling and something that tasted like fried carrot cake (No, not the western carrot cake but Singapore's carrot cake). I can't even remember now. But it was just 11am on the first day and most of my cravings were satisfied.

After breakfast, we headed to Zhong Xiao Dun Hua to go to Eslite bookstore, we spent quite some time there because my dad was doing some research for work. It was raining quite heavily that day but we decided to walk to get lunch anyways. We went to get some Taiwan-style beef noodles. Lin Dong Fang beef noodles are supposedly one of the most famous beef noodles in Taipei. You can smell the beef about 5 minutes away from the store. 

It was almost 3pm but there was still a line. I actually miss going to places like this to eat because I don't do that in Tokyo at all. It's always cafes and I'm getting sick of cafe food. This place is located next to the roadside in a run down building as well. Maybe that should be the new trend, going to places where they actually sell good food instead of all these "I'm a foodie" people who only go to cafes.

We didn't wait too long to get seats and I ordered 4 small bowls of beef and tendon noodle soup for the family. If you know me well enough, I LOVE LOVE LOVE beef noodles soup. My favorite one is the one back home in Melbourne. But this one comes in a close second now. The beef is so tender, not flaky or too firm at all. It was also bursting with flavor. The soup was soooo smooth, it was not too beefy and you can taste the Chinese herbs, it was a nice clear broth. Never had anything like it and the next time I am in Taipei, I will get a big bowl of this.  I know it's good when my dad finishes every single drop of soup in that bowl, hahaha. There's even a Youtube video for this!

After lunch, it was raining even harder so we decided to take a cab down to Huashan 1914 Creative Park. I immediately fell in love with this place. The first store I stepped into was filled with so many things that I like. It was honestly such a nice change for me, discovering new artists again and getting so excited over the smallest of things.

In the end, I bought a sticker set from this egg character called Shock Mama, it's a parody of things. Since Gudetama is too famous for me now. Also, got a really weird shaped ruler. I wanted to get so many things but it would probably be a pain to carry it back here since they're fragile so I decided to give it a miss.

There were several shops and exhibitions going on the park, so we took our time exploring the place and taking photos. I didn't go to any of the exhibitions because none of them were to my liking.

Huashan 1914 Creative Park is actually an old winery opened in 1916 located in the Zhong Zheng district, which explains the old rustic, abandoned feel to it. I personally liked it a lot, it felt like you went back in time. So it's like a old meets modern thing. Also, it's very good for OOTD shots if you're into that.

More photos after cut >>

263. sugar, spice & everything nice ii

Last Saturday, December 5th, I decided to bring my mom to Kichijoji because of the Momiji in Inokashira Park. She hasn't been to Kichijoji before either, so I thought it was a good idea to bring her since it's near my place.

We went to get curry for lunch and slowly walked to the park after that. There were an a street art fair and performances going on and mom seemed to have enjoyed herself. The park also wasn't too crowded which was nice, actually.

I always see this guy with his 8 cats walking around Harajuku and Shibuya, so I was surprised to see him in Kichijoji that day. Mom thought the cats were stuffed toys. We also stumbled upon a little cafe in the middle of the park. The coffee was alright, but I really liked their Autumn Latte, pretty sure it's maple flavoured.

Snufkin being the hipster he is, of course, drinks coffee.

We went for some window shopping once we got out of the park. I was waiting for the sun to set so that I can take her to see the winter illuminations in Sagamiko, not too far from my place. It didn't take too long by train to get to Sagamiko Station but from the station to the illuminations took about 30 minutes due to heavy traffic. 

It was crowded at the illumination place because it was a Saturday. Not too bad though, there was enough room to move around and take photos. It was really really cold there because it was up on a hill, near a forest. The name of the place kinda put me off, it's called Pleasure Forest. Kinda suggestive, don't you think? When I told mom she couldn't stop laughing. 

This year's theme is Great Britain. So there was a replica of Buckingham Palace,  and obligatorily, they were selling Fish and Chips. Mom and I were a little hungry so we ate before walking around. There was a Ferris Wheel and several rides. Honestly, I don't think anything I've seen so far is better than Nabano No Sato in Mie but this place is good because you don't have to go too out of your way. 

We took our time walking around and enjoying the sights and I took too many photos.

More photos after cut >> 

262. sugar, spice & everything nice

The last week was spent with my mom, her trip to Japan was really last minute and I hardly had time to prepare. It was just a phone call a couple of days before her arrival, my sister called and said " I booked a ticket for mummy to Japan because she misses you."

Last Tuesday on December 1st, I made my way to Narita to fetch my mom from the airport. I was really happy to see her even with such short notice. I thought she would never visit me in Japan again after her surgery so I was really glad to spend some time with her.

We took the bus back to my place, had dinner and went home. She really likes my apartment, she said it's much better than the last. The next day, we got up early and I brought her to ShiroHige's Creampuff Cafe. We went earlier in the year and she loved it, so I decided to bring her back (also because she's crazy for creampuffs).

We had an early lunch, mentaiko pasta with mushroom and lotus root and the little Totoros for dessert!

This time we shared chestnut, custard and raspberry with cream cheese.

After lunch, I bought a couple of Totoros for some of my classmates (okay, only for 4) and headed to class. I left my mom at Starbucks, I wanted her to roam around Shibuya on her own but since her head is still not so good, we decided it's best if she waits at just one place. Obviously, I rushed off to meet her after class.

We made our way to Aoyama under the rain. She really wanted to go to the Agnes.b store, it's also another of her favourite things to do in Tokyo. After shopping for a little bit, we went to A to Z Cafe for dinner. I haven't been there in a long time since I'm hardly in that area, I really do miss it. I haven't been to any cafes lately because of my busy schedule. 

After dinner, I was craving for coffee so we walked down to Roastery in Harajuku. I really miss Roastery as well because it's my favorite coffee place in Tokyo. Though, Shimokitazawa's Coffea Exlibris has the best coffee (to me), Roastery is my favorite place to chill plus the staff are really nice to me all the time. I brought H there for the first time the week before and I'm glad he likes it as well.

The rain lightened as the night progressed, so we decided to walk around Harajuku. 

My mom decided to stay in on Thursday since it was raining. She cooked dinner!!! You have no idea how happy I was, if there's any thing in the world I could eat forever is my mom's or dad's cooking. She cooked my favorite soup and chicken adobo with rice. It was good timing too, since I had a test the next day, I had time to study.

On Friday, we got up early and went to get sushi in Shibuya. The line was still long, we waited for about 45 minutes to get in. We both ordered their special December sushi set and scallops. 

After lunch, I rushed to class. My mom is slow now because she is still recovering from her surgery, so I have to hold her especially when she walks down the stairs. It does slow down everything we do. I don't mind honestly, it's just that when I have class, I have to literally run to school after I find a place where she can be for a couple of hours.

I fetched her from Starbucks after class and we went back to Shibuya for dinner. We both didn't know what to eat and I know she really wanted to go to Silkream so, we just decided to have dinner and dessert there.

After dinner, we walked to Parco for some shopping. I managed to find pants that actually suit me, I was so happy. Mom was looking for wallets and bags but didn't fancy anything. Later on, I brought her to Pablo because I wanted her to try their cheesecake. In the end, she probably bought too much souvenirs from Pablo and I had to carry all of them for the rest of the night. 

We didn't stay out to too late because mom gets tired really easily nowadays, so we left Shibuya at close to 9pm. She fell asleep so quickly once we reached home. 

If it wasn't for my mom visiting, I don't know when I'll go to my favorite cafes again. Lately, it seems like I always go to new places to eat but I'm actually the kind of person who always goes back to the same place. But then again, there's too many cafes in Tokyo to try out so... 

I've been even busier lately. I feel like December will just go by so quickly without me even realising and it'll be 2016. I don't even feel like Christmas is coming soon. I've never really liked Christmas that much anyway. Halloween over any other holiday. So much more to write, but so little time. 

The week before my mom came to visit, I met up with my darling H because he insisted that he wanted to see me. We went to the Snoopy Cafe in Tower Records one night, and the next day, he took me to a nice place for dinner since we haven't seen each other in a while. After dinner, we went to the skatepark in Harajuku because I really do like to watch him skate. This boy really does surprise me in too many ways. 

I'm happy which also shocks me because I was so set on painting and being on my own through the holidays. I'm really really really not in a festive mood this year. I might have to change plans now because of H but I'm not complaining. It would be nice to snuggle with someone on Christmas eve and countdown together. Maybe then, I'll hate Christmas a little less.

230. stomping ground

I have been back in Singapore for almost two weeks now but I'll be heading back to Tokyo later tonight already. Being back here this time have been the most emotionally draining experience I have had in years. My mom was emitted to hospital about two weeks ago, I received a phone call from my sis crying on the phone at 4 in the morning then, and tried my best to get back as soon as I could to be by my mom's side. 

She has been recovering really quickly and she will be in the hospital for a couple more days before she can come home. It has been really draining emotionally, physically and mentally. I hardly had time to myself because I would be by her side from 12pm - 8pm daily and when I get home, I will be busy doing house chores because both my sister and dad are busy. 

I'm really  grateful to have my friends, without them I would have still been a very panicky mode and not get anything done on the day after I found out my mom was emitted to the hospital. Thankful I have friends who look out for me, who take their time to console me and just be there for me. 

Honestly, after this experience with my mom. I'll like to say go give your mom a hug and tell her how much you love her. I've never realised all the things she has done for me and that she is actually the one that sticks us all together. My dad, sis and I are really lost without her. Dear mom, please get well soon and come home. We love you. (Also it's nice to know my dad has emotions, he teared when my mom was sent in for operation)

Onto a lighter note, I've never written about my favorite hang out spot in Singapore. Before becoming a flight stewardess, little sis was working at a cafe in Tiong Bahru. I would visit her very often because of all the other cafes and cute book stores closeby. I haven't had a Plain Vanilla cupcake in almost a year and was so glad we found some time while waiting for my mom to be done with her operation. My favorites are their Earl Grey cupcake and Salted Caramel tart.

Just next to Plain Vanilla are a couple of stores, clothes, bags, accessories, books... These two (first and last picture) are my favorites. The one pictured below sells Singaporean antique and books by local authors while Woods in the Books is a kids' book store. They even have Moomin books there! Too bad photos are not allowed in these stores. The middle picture is of the ground at another cafe nearby that has various types of imported beers. They placed bottle caps into the cement which I thought was pretty cool.

Like I mentioned earlier, I didn't get to do anything much this time. I hope to see my mom healthy and well at home when I come back in September. But for now, August seems like it's going to be a good month again. I always love August. I thought by now I wouldn't but I still look forward to every August.

you remind me of august

the way that i still care about

195. totoro hunting ii

Little sis arrived in Tokyo on the 7th, two days ago, and our first morning was spent going to Shirohige Cream puff Shop because the last time I brought mom on her birthday, they were completely sold out of cream puffs. To make sure, we went to the shop really early at 11am.

We had a salad to share and the three of us had red bream fish with mentaiko pasta. I love that the pasta here is homemade, definitely has a unique taste. Since the there was the three of us, we ordered one each of all the flavours of the cream puffs that were available that day. The last time I came with Laura, they had maron and raspberry & cream cheese flavour for autumn but now they have changed it to their winter special, banana caramel and strawberry. We ordered those, along with chocolate and custard cream.

The chocolate one was nothing special but still really yummy. The banana caramel had bits of banana in it, I think the banana overpowered the caramel a little but overall still good, my favourite one was strawberry! It tasted like Haagen-Dazs strawberry ice-cream, and that's coming from a person that doesn't enjoy strawberry flavoured things. By the end of our meal, we were so stuffed. We slowly made our way to Shimokitazawa by foot hoping to digest some of the food.

We spent some time at Coffea Exlibris, and roamed around Shimokita for a bit before heading to Shibuya. The whole day was spent walking from place to place, from Setagaya to Shimokita, Shibuya to Harajuku to Aoyama. We had dinner at A to Z and still walked back to Tower Records because it was still too early to head home.

In the end, we got home at 9pm and it's already 4am as I'm writing this. I'm definitely worn out. The last couple of weeks has been kind of hectic celebrating Christmas, going to 2 shows on the same weekend, then ushering in the new year. The next week is gonna be really chaotic again and I'm pretty sure by the time little sis and mom heads back home, I would be at least sleeping and staying in for a day.