ゆかた

The time to put on your Yukata is here again in Japan... I miss those days! Sure, Summer was smoking hot! It was burning hot...but I miss the fun days of seeing pretty Japanese gals don on their Summer Yukatas and getting set for the Hanabi Festival! It was really quite fun, the boat trips, the drinking and the 1hour feasting of pretty fireworks in the dark blue skies! Sigh..miss miss miss Tokyo!

Thanks to a fun wedding theme party in August, I get to put on my Yukata once again! :) I could have just worn my old yukata..but me being VAIN.. decided to just get a new one!! And thanks to dear Cat, the wish of getting a new yukata is one step closer!! :) Thanks CAT!!

So here are my choices for yukata from trusty Uniqlo:

It's probably going to be quite a pain to wear the yukata..but I can't wait!! Ooh.. here is a step-by-step guide to put on a yukata... I used it before, so its really quite reliable!

http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/tourists/info/basic_info/basic/yukata/index.html

Enjoy!

Personal fave most romantic restaurant!

One of my personal favorite restaurants that is undoubtedly d most romantic, d most service oriented and d most amazing restaurant in Tokyo is Hilltop Casita!

We really love this place..for the food, for the service, for being constantly surprised throughout dinner, the ambiance, and for always being able to have a lovely time! I threw B a post birthday celebration in Tokyo as promised. The service at Hilltop Casita is really the best in my opinion. The staff there really take the time and effort to just bowl you over.

From the moment we stepped into the restaurant, we were warmly greeted by the staff, who all knew we came from Singapore and that it was our 2nd visit to the place. We had special napkins with our names sewn on it and also a short note with a hand-written greeting. Our waiter served us a special bottle of champagne... which he insisted we have to drink for our own good... On closer observation, it was actually a bottle branded with B's name on it! So adorable!

Dinner was promptly served thereafter! Yipee.... It was the winter set diner menu that we had and my was it delish delicous!!!

Fist course was a Flat Fish served with a dollop of creamy foam. I had the garden vegetable soup as it was too cold for something cold. 2nd was our fave! Caramelized Foie Gras with pear! Our last appetizer for the meal was Asparagus with Scallop.

Whilst we were chilling out, enjoying the wine, and me enjoying the warmth from the heated blanket, the staff SURPRISED with this for B...

Super happening right? They specially made this birthday surprise for B! I think he was pleased with this.. I mean it was passed his birthday, but we enjoyed ourselves so much that evening, it felt like it was the actual day! Hehe...

We then finished off our dinner with the Omiya Steak (I think), I can't remember what cut it was now :p

After dinner, our server whisked us up to the rooftop. I know it was freezing cold, but another of the highlights is having your dessert at the rooftop!! We were served with this delectable fruit and sweets platter. Too stuffed to eat anything else! But it's so pretty...

One happy fella celebrating his birthday a week later! :p Congratulatory cappuccino for us both!

And the last SURPRISE for thenight was this chocolate wording platter. Check out the detailing of the merlion..amazing!!

After this, we went back to the hotel a happy high!! And the next morning, there was a fax under our door by the management of Hilltop Casita thanking us for our patronage.. this is what I called outserve, going that extra mile!

豆腐やうかい

Tofuya Ukai - pne of the restaurants that we tried going before we left Tokyo in August, but this restaurant is always fully booked for some strange reason! So we tried our luck this time round! We got our concierge to help get us the reservations! kekeke

I woke up bright and early in the morning to go have my hair cut, whilst B went shopping at MidTown! We then went over to Tofuya Ukai near the Tokyo Tower! The Ukai chain of restaurants always boast beautiful gardens and traditional Japanese food.

The restaurant was huge! It looked like it could seat up to a hundred people! But I didn't quite understand why it was fully booked almost every night and every afternoon! 'Food better be good' I thought!

We were shown into a private little room that overlooked a pristine and peaceful Japanese Garden.

The 'Show-offs'! Me showing off my new haircut. B showing off his new purchase (if you can spot it!)
Our 9-course set lunch menu now begins!! It's always a grand affair eating in Tokyo. The food is always served attractively. One can tell that lots of attention has been paid in order to whet one's appetite!

(L-R): Grilled chicken and deep-fried rice cake. Great way to start the meal. I love fried mochi cakes, its gooey but yummy. Followed by deep fried beancurd with sweet miso sauce and egg custard. I liked the crispy beancurd skin minus the sushi rice! It was well complemented with the sweetness from the miso. Next up, assorted sashimi.

Fourth on the list was Komatsuna and meat ball. Mmm, the yuzu garnishing was the highlight for this dish! I loved almost anything yuzu! I even wanted to get Yuzu hand lotion.. okie am digressing. Next up, we had an assorted platter of more small dishes. Nothing really that great! I didnt liked the grated yam.. it was slimey! Ooh, the highlight of the lunch set is this Tofu in seasoned soy milk! It's kinda like soya beancurd but its more salty and the tofu was a little firmer! That was one huge pot! I can't manage seconds by now.

No 7 on the list was the yellowtail topped with grated yam. I don't like this grated yam. Its gooey and slimey!! So I didn't polish this off! The last of our savoury dish was rice with broiled salmon. This would be made better if I had it the green tea poured over the rice!! I am so in love with Chazuke! And the last dish for the day was this wine-simmered apple. Great palette cleanser in my opinion! Lunch was almost 2 hours! The thing I like dining in Japan is that the people really take time to enjoy their food. Food is served dish by dish. Everything is timed perfectly. We enjoy having meals like that, long, but we really get to relish each dish. Unlike in Singapore, its chop chop curry pok. Into the food court or restaurant, and we are usually out by 30 mins tops. We do chew our food of course, but I guess, we don't take the time to enjoy it whilst in Singapore.

After this delicious and lengthy lunch affair, B went back to drop off his shopping, whilst I headed to Shinjuku for more shopping with Cat!

Winter wunderland tales!

The lack of updates! Sigh..the house was in such a mess when we returned and as I am typing, I have winterwear, workwear and laundry strewn all over the place. It's rather scary! Oops..the woes of a 'desperate housewife'!

Anyway, here are some pics from our snowboarding trip in Niseiko.. more to come later ok..

Arrival at Tokyo Narita and waiting for our Airport Limo to send us to Haneda!

Our posh little hotel: Nook Annupuri! One of the best hotels that we ever stayed whilst snowboarding! The room was quaint and the facilities were all prefect with that woodfire lounge that we enjoy chilling around after snowboarding! We also enjoyed the free computer terminals..we managed to continue bidding for pets on Facebook.. heehee! We also loved the Jap restaurant and the credits they gave us for dinner. It was awesome!

Here is the yummy food we had during our stay in Niseiko!

And let's not forget the most important part of the trip, the SNOWBOARDING!!

And we found a pretty brown fox outside our window in the night and day! CUTE!

More pictures of Tokyo trip to come later okie..toodles!