Ibaraki Prefecture is located in the Kanto area, about 1-2 hours’ drive away from Tokyo. It is one of the closest places from Tokyo (apart from Chiba) that has great surfing spots, which is the reason why we were there in the summer this year. The danna was really itching to reach for the waves.
It is not a very popular tourist destination, but you may have seen pictures of the Hitachi Seaside Park (ひたち海浜公園), famed for its super dreamy and surreal seasonal scenes.
(image from Google)
Have you seen these scenes before? It’s real!! A floral ocean of pastel blue Nemophila in spring and flaming red Kochia in autumn. I was there 3 years ago but it was tulip season back then.
Oarai
We settled down at Oarai coastal area after driving since 4am in the morning.
It was bright and sunny at 6am in the morning!
The danna built a small tent for us and ran off for the sea with his surfboard haha. Oniichan played with sand and his empty R1 yogurt drink bottle for hoursssss.
Sakura’s first beach play.
Hi^^
I’m totally not a beach person omg😯 In fact beach holiday are probably the last vacation choice for me. And if I can choose I would even probably choose not to go😅.
I just cannot understand what is so fun about getting sand all over yourself and every. freaking. thing. around. you. Your clothes. The towels used to wipe your body and clothes. Your slippers. And car seat/carpet which you step on with your sandy shoes. Your butt creaks. Just thinking about it stresses me out…
I remember I posted IG stories about this on that day haha.
I must be the danna’s true love lol. I mean, for someone who cannot live without the sea waves, how much happier and easier would it be if he had married an ocean enthusiast, who wouldn’t get irked by keep having to adjust the shades of the tent as the sun moves higher and the shadow gets narrower lol.
But we are here, so we must take all these beachy beachy omg-i-wish-i-could-live-here-forever shots.🙄
I dislike the beach so much I haven’t bought any swimwear in like, 5 years 😅.
But as long as he comes back fulfilled and content as a surfed man. Haha. Only good things can happen if your husband/wife is happy.
Lunch
We went for lunch after at this humble little canteen-style restaurant.
If you travel out of Tokyo, you will be surprised how insanely cheap you can get a meal for. A grilled fish set meal at 780 yen!!!
This is… zhap cai. Hahha. Stir-fried mixed vegetables.
Squid and onion.
Pork intestines. This was sooooo gooood!
My 800 yen set meal.
Kanpo No Yado
We decided to stay a night in Ibaraki instead of rushing back to Tokyo. So the danna can surf again the next morning. We checked in to Kanpo No Yado, a ryokan in Oarai town.
View from our room!
Naka River of Ibaraki.
There’s something very comforting about tatami. I guess it always feels a lot cleaner than carpets, and very children friendly, especially for crawlers and toddlers. You eat, sit, sleep on the tatami, there’s no worries your little ones will fall over, drop off the bed, etc.
The ryokan’s onsen bath!
Love ryokan that have cribs for baby when the mommy changes. There was no one in the bath so I could snap this photo. Please don’t do it later they bring you to police station hahaha.
Dinner
Dinner time!!
When we checked in, we could choose whether to include dinner+breakfast, for maybe about 2000-3000 yen extra. Out of convenience we did! We always love to dine in the ryokan.
Fish cake nimono.
Fried oyster in red wine sauce.
I don’t have pictures of the rest of the food because Sakura started toddling around (she juuust started walking back then!) and I had to chase after her the entire time haha.
Sunset view from our room.
Breakfast
Ahhhh I looove ryokan breakfast!! Nothing beats warm, comforting Japanese-style breakfasts. T_T. I remember when we traveled to Europe for our weddingmoon, I was feeling so miserable every morning because nothing served on the breakfast table was vaguely warm, except coffee, which I don’t drink T_T. My tummy just feels a little sad when I had to feed it cut fruits, cold milk & cereal and stone-hard bread haha.
This is my breakfast plate to share with Sakura! White porridge, miso soup, nori seaweed, tamagoyaki, atsuage tofu, grilled fish, wieners, braised daikon and siu mai.
To go with porridge – jyako and… jeng jeng jeng… mentaiko!!!
The danna’s plate has so much more green XD.
That’s all for today! Did you know that there’s a Mentai Park in Oarai where you get to see how mentaiko is made and also taste the freshes mentaiko straight from the manufacturer? 😀 Up next!!
I also still have Nagasaki, Aomori, Hakodate to go.
Recently I have allowed them to snack as much as they want, as long as they have finished a proper meal. It’s also a good plan to load them up with extra calories that they really need and to fill any nutritional gaps.
So here are some of the perfect timings to dish out those yummy snacks!
1. Hunger fix
It is not yet lunch/dinner time, but your little munching machines are getting fidgety. Junya will usually start whining that he’s hungry when he comes back from school, and I have yet to cook dinner.
For weekends, I typically serve them a plate of snack at about 10am, after they have had their breakfast. Cookies and fruits are the quickest and easiest!
This is Nestle Gerber Graduates’s newest Graduates series – Cinnamon Graham Animal Crackers and Arrowroot Cookies!
Both Junya and Sakura loooves the Yogurt Melts from Gerber Graduates, and now I can have a cute and fun snack platter for them!
Here are my super quick and fun-looking snack plates!
Cinnamon Graham Animal Crackers comes in adorable animal shaped designs and is made with 29% of whole grains, fortified with Vitamin E, Zinc and Iron, and flavoured with a dash of cinnamon to add that little complexity of taste for those little tastebuds. these crackers are the ideal choice for a wholesome snack! They are recommended for children from 12 months old, or children who are accustomed to chewing solid foods. Both Junya and Sakura can have it!
Arrowroot Cookies has a slightly softer texture that mashes quickly for easy chewing
and swallowing. Just like the Animal Crackers, the cookies are also fortified with Vitamin E and Zinc that are essential for our children’s growth and development.They are recommended for children from 10 months!
Our snack menu today:
Cinnamon Graham Animal Crackers, Arrowroot Cookies, Mixed Berries Yogurt Melts, Australian Strawberries and Gerber 100% Apple Juice.
These Nestlé Gerber Graduates New Bakery Snacks do not contain any artificial flavours, colors or
artificial sweeteners, so mommies who are concerned with additives can rest assured.
They are selling in all leading stores in Singapore at S$8.90 for Cinnamon Graham
Animal Crackers and $7.90 for Arrowroot Cookies per pack!
2. Movie Time!
We adults love movies and popcorn, cheesiepetits love anime time with cereal puffs.
Our Gerber Graduates Puffs collection. I have 6 flavors on rotation so that they don’t get bored of it.
Honestly I think that these wholesome little puffs taste a little mild for Junya and Sakura’s age as it is designed for crawlers to practice self-feeding, but the both of them looooove the puffs, I think because they grew up with it since they were little crawlers themselves.
Junya loves banana flavor while Sakura prefers her apple-flavored puffs.
Honestly, this mini movie session is so so so so useful for me the mama who needs an uninterrupted 30 minutes to fix a quick lunch!
It’s indeed everybody’s favorite time of the day! Fun movies, tasty treats, free time for mama, who doesn’t love it?
3. Meal Rewards
Sometimes when I know that the kids have low appetite, this is where their favorite snacks come into play.
The Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts are their meal rewards when they have finished their food. (For Sakura I won’t put it on the plate because she will dive her little hands straight for the sweet treats first lol.) It works quite well to motivate Junya to empty his plate!
Happy meal time! ^^
I hope your little ones will enjoy their snack time!
In mid September, I went over to FairPrice Xtra at JEM for MamyPoko’s Love is in the Air Fit event, where 1000 lucky winners from MamyPoko’s giveaway get to redeem their Love Gift Packages.Wow that’s a really generous giveaway!
The redemption starts 1pm, but by 12:30 there were already winners queuing up at the MamyPoko booth!!😲 Haha look at my Boss Baby lol.
Singaporeans are really gung-ho when it comes to gift redemption!! 😁
Most of them came with their young children, which I really respect because I don’t think I wanna be in such a long line for anything at all if I have cheesiepetits with me haha. They must be really excited to receive the Love Package!!
I finally made it to the photo wall with Sakura (who was falling asleep), when the crowd was mellowing down. Very happy to support a brand that I genuinely love and also am currently using!
Check out that life-size diaper! Please remember this packaging ok! This is the one you will look out for next time at the shopping mall aisle!
By the way, MamyPoko Air Fit pants type has two variants, pink one for girls and blue one for boys. I guess toddlers start to develop a preference for colors and MamyPoko is thoughtful enough to cater to that. So now they all get to wear their favorite colors! Hehe.
Anyway, the MamyPoko video crew were there to film the event, and they had to do an impromptu interview with a few mommies about the concerns they have regarding diapers.
I think maybe some mothers were too shy to go on the camera, so I volunteered to approach the ladies as a fellow mommy, and surprisingly every mother that I asked agreed to be interviewed!! Wa you Singapore mommies very very sporting!!👍🏻
I guess they realized that a mother who has a baby strapped to her chest just like them can hardly cause any harm, haha.
I found out that a lot of mothers on that day were new to MamyPoko Air Fit, so I was asking them what made them want to try this new brand and if they had any concerns regarding diapers and the previous brand they use.
Most mommies that I have interviewed told me that their biggest concern is nappy rash, which is understood due to hot and humid weather in Singapore. Sakura had it worse because on top of the climate, she also has very sensitive skin that makes her extra prone to rashes. Of course now she is nappy-rash-free! 😀
Other mommies told me that leakage is definitely a major pet-peeve, which I could strongly relate to. One mother with a newborn child who is using MamyPoko Air Fit now told me that the previous diapers she received from hospital for her newborn wouldn’t stop exploding!!!! I had the exact same problem with the hospital diapers, and I was cursing so much during the first few days after Junya was born. I practically feared for my life. Like, this is the s**t (literally?!) that I have to deal with every day for the next few years?!? But alas, I was too giam to waste any diaper that time as a first time mama. If only I knew about how life-saving and worthwhile it is to invest in a reliable brand!
Another mommy with leakage problem. It’s ok, you are not alone. But you no longer will have to face this problem, now that you just brought home your MamyPoko Air Fit. Hehe.
I have even encountered a few mommies who told me that they were using MamyPoko Air Fit since the baby was born!! (lucky them T__T) And they never considered switching because they are just very happy with it (their babies have grown into toddlers now!). That’s some true loyalty that deserves an applause!
You could watch the full video here:
I realized I said “exactly” so many times hahaha paiseh… but it was really because I could so relate to all your mommy woes about diapers!! Seriously, how miserable our mommy lives would be, if we have to live without the support and empathy from other fellow mothers? 🙂
Thank you again, all you friendly mama who accepted the casual interview 🙂
As for myself, of course I am loving my MamyPoko Air Fit all the time!
Whether at home when Sakura is just happily playing as usual…
Or when she goes to school while MamyPoko Air Fit gives the teachers zero leakage trouble. (I’d be sooo embarrassed and sorry if it does!)
Or to keep her dry throughout the whole flight and even a whole day out…
And still remains nappy-rash-free under the super hot and humid weather!
#LoveisintheAirFit, for mothers who got interested in MamyPoko Air Fit and want to see other mommies’ reviews, you can check out this page! Do give it your support too if you love it, with the hashtag #LoveisintheAir Fit!
What are you doing this Halloween? Cheesiepetits and I had an early Halloween celebration last weekend at the Westgate Wonderland Halloween Party!
From 29 Sep to 29 Oct, Westgate would be having lots of exciting events for the shoppers, especially families!
When you spend a minimum of $120 at Westgate, you can redeem one entry ticket to Westgate Wonderland Halloween Party or one Home Decor Craft Workshop!
Westgate Wonderland Halloween Party
The party starts 6PM every weekend, on the rooftop playground, and there are many activities for kids to enjoy! Junya, Sakura and I joined almost all of them, and here’s what we did!
Halloween tattoo
Upon entry, you will receive 2 temporary body tattoo for each participant, shopping and dining vouchers, and a pumpkin lantern as door gifts!
This pumpkin lantern lights up when you switch it on, and it will laugh devilishly non-stop! Perfect for Trick or Treat.^^
Halloween Special Guests
Boo!!! Spot all the Halloween characters in the wonderland! They may look a little scary but all of them are actually very friendly haha. Kaonashi promptly posed for a photo with us.
When Junya met this gentle Frankenstein, he asked me, “mama, why he angry.” HAHAHA.
Feel free to take photos with all the friendly characters!
Interactive Game Booth – Laser Tag
There was a laser tag game which was very popular!! Your goal is to collect all the medicines from random metal boxes while shooting down your enemy. Junya, my team member was in charge of shooting and my mission was to hunt for those bottles.
Halloween GIF Photobooth
This was my favorite! You can take photos at the photo booth right at the entrance, and the printed version is a GIF photo!!! Soooo awesome!
Playground
Kids being kids, it’s a great way to have their energy spent on the giant tree house!
Junya had great fun at the playground. I was so happy to bring him out because I had been not very well for the past week and had to be grounded at home. It was his special day!
Best Dressed Contest
If you are into Halloween costumes, you can also dress your kids up to the party, as there will be fabulous prizes to win at 8pm – $50 Resorts World Sentosa vouchers for top 3 winners! Simply register with the staff when you arrive at the party!
The dress-up effort was no kidding on that day!! There were the draculas, peter pan, pirates, little witches…
Too cute!!
One of the winners of the day!
Halloween Felt Bag Workshop
This was one of the highlights of our day!
This handmade craft is super simple, perfect for those little hands to work on! So you can choose your favorite felt bag from all the different colors and shapes, and then decorate it with all the cut-out parts provided!
Junya made his friendly Frankie (which ended up looking more like a Japanese Kappa lol), and I made a cute pumpkin baby haha.
Here they are!
Haha cute or not!!
By the way, you can take the Halloween Felt Bag you have made to receive a sweet treat at all the participating stores in Westgate for Trick Or Treat!
Home Decor Craft Workshop
For the adults (16 years old and above), you may also join the home decor craft workshop, where you get to choose between canvas painting or string art, at L1 Fashion Highstreet, every weekend from 3PM.
I picked string art because it looked so interesting!
Junya couldn’t get one for himself, but he was an excellent assistant by helping me roll out the thread!
You will probably need a lot of patience and time for this, but the more I do it, the more I feel that it is a very therapeutic craft.
The purple one is done by me and Junya, and the one on the right is a sample of how the end product could look like!!
Here’s a video of our fun and thrilling experience at Westgate!
Junya turns 40 months today and Sakura is 17 months old. And it’s been almost two weeks I haven’t updated, that’s quite a record.
Last week I started sending Sakura to school together with her oniichan, and I thought that would be the end of my mommy jail time, (and that I would have time to update my blog EVERY TWO DAYS!!!). Erm… apparently it was quite the opposite.
I got so unbelievably exhausted with all the school-prepping, school visits, at the same time down with a bad flu.
But I have never missed a single monthly update before, this is the 40th, so here it goes!
He has grown 100cm tall now! This is the height chart inside UNIQLO. Haha.
First rainy day
Ok so. The school is about a 10-minutes-walk away from our apartment, usually I will walk them to school, go back home, then walk to pick them up, then walk together back home again. I take it as my daily exercise haha.
When it occasionally rains, I use the taxi because it is just too impractical to be pushing a stroller and watching out for a 3-year-old who doesn’t completely understand traffic rules yet, in heavy rain. That’s also fine with me.
BUUUUUUT. About a two weeks ago it started raining every. freaking. day. And the Grab Taxi fare is, guess what? For a short 10mins walking distance on a rainy day – usually between 9-14 dollars WHAT THE HELL??? We can’t use Grab Car because I have two young kids. So my only option is taxi. Grab Family don’t even say. Even more expensive.
If it rains the whole day, I have to spend average $40 to and fro (twice) just to send and pick up?? Ridiculous ok. No thanks.
So yes, rain coat, rain boots and brellas to the rescue. Heng it’s usually not super heavy rain so it wasn’t too bad.
Fragile little heart
He has always been a very sensitive little man. Although he doesn’t always show it. Maybe he was trying to appear strong, but inside him has this very fragile little heart.
On Sakura’s second day of school, his class was having some activity in the common area so he got to meet his sister for the first time. We talked a little and he seemed happy.
And then we said good bye because I had to accompany Sakura back to her class and Junya had to go back to his own class room.
After school, his teacher sent me a video of him sobbing over lunch. I think this was the first time he cried in class.
The teacher asked him what happened, and he said “mama is not here.”
Then I remembered how he kept asking me earlier, “mama can you come to my classroom?” but I told him I couldn’t. He was very upset and couldn’t understand why I went to Sakura’s class but not his…
My heart..😭😭😭
After that I explained to him, and the next day I picked him up early so that we could all go to Sakura’s class to bring her home. He seemed very happy with this solution.
Because I am baby right?
Nowadays, whenever someone asks him how old he is, he always answers “one”. Then if someone corrects him and tells him he is older, he argues, “No, I am one year old. I am a baby.”
And he is serious about it.
I guess most elder siblings go through this at some point. Lucky you if your child did not. He is serious to want to be a baby again. I mean, who wouldn’t, think of all the perks being a baby!! In Japanese they call it “Akachangaeri” – becoming baby again.
Here’s how our daily conversation goes:
Mama: Junya, eat your lunch please.
Junya: No. Mama feed me.
Mama: Why?
Junya: Because I am baby right?
Mama: Yes you are always my baby! Alright, finish your udon Junya.
Junya: No my name is not Junya. I am Sakuwa.
Mama: Okaaay. Sakura, are you hungry? You wanna eat udon?
Junya: *in baby voice and a pout* pai… pai…
Mama: You want oppai?😒
Junya: *in baby voice and a pout* ter… ter…
Mama: Ok ok. Water. Fine. There you go, Sakura.
Yeap.
Junjun says
1.Junya intentionally walks in an awkward way.
Mama: Junya why you walk like an old man?
Junya: No I am new man.
2. Junya was upset with papa for not allowing him to do whatever.
Junya: I don’t like papa for a while. *sulking*
Papa: Oh means after a while you will like papa again?
Junya: Yes. *sulking*
Papa: Ok. For how many seconds?
Junya: Hmmm. Seven. *sulking*
Papa: Ok. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. You like papa now?
Junya: Hmmm. Yes. *sulking*
Papa: Thank you Junya.
Junya: You are welcome. *sulking*
3. Mama tells Junya that his sister loves him very much.
Junya: Sakuwa do you love me?
Sakura: Nu.
Junya: *facepalm and walks away, dejected*
It is so much easier and so much harder at the same time, now that she can clearly let me know what she wants and doesn’t want to do.
Easier – I no longer have to guess why she is upset or cranky. I just need to ask, and she will give her clear answer, by saying “nu” (no) and “yeh” (yes), or shaking and nodding her head. (I looooooove to see her nod. It’s really the cutest thing ever! She’ll be crying out loud and then I’l ask her “do you want a snack?” then she will stop crying and nod passionately. It’s just… 😍😍😍)
Harder – Now that she knows the power of “nu”, she sometimes just “nu” me all the way. Sometimes just for fun. Sometimes testing water. Sometimes just… emo.
Piiiii and Tatu
She also knows Piiii and Tatu now!!
Mama: Sakura do you want a snack?
Sakura: *nods*
Mama: What do you say?
Sakura: Piiiiiiiiiiiiii~.
Mama: Here you go. What do you say?
Sakura: Tatu.
Doh, doh, doh, dohhhhh~!!!!
I think she picked this up from me (bad pun, wait for it).
So every time she drops her food, I’ll tell her “oh you drop it! Let me pick it up.” So now every single time her food falls over her bowl onto the floor, she will go “doh, doh dohhhhhh!”, until I pick it up. Which was fine, I mean, good table manners and all that.
BUT.
She started doing it when we eat out. Random bits of food crumbs on the floor left by the previous patrons, “doh, doh dohhhhh!” So the whole time I was just busy volunteering to clean up for the entire restaurant. 🙄🙄🙄
I suspect she is a clean freak. She doesn’t like to make a mess with food and if her fingers are stained, she demands “wai wai!!” (wipe wipe). And every now and then she will pass me imaginary dust to throw away. 🙄🙄🙄
Poo Poo
She can now tell me “poo poo” before she does it. But I have yet to succeed with having her do it on the toilet bowl. I’ll quickly carry her to the bathroom when she tells me “poo poo”, and then she will do the fake straining poo poo face (lol), but never really does it. But I have a feeling she will be soooo much easier to toilet train than her oniichan.
Appetite
Ok she eats much, much better now, but there’s a problem. When it comes to soup/milk/juice, she will insist to hold the bowl/cup herself. When I try to assist her with it, she will complain and try to swing the bowl/cup away with full force and I’ll be like omgomgomgnonononono because it. always. spills.🙄🙄🙄
So I gave up and just let her hold her miso soup, milk in cup, yakult, food with gravy… and then just change her after. My laundry piles nowadays is no joke🙄
First days of school
So Sakura had her school debut at 16 months. My initial plan was to send her after 18 months to toddler class, actually as late as possible because IMAGINE THE MONEY I CAN SAVE ON CHILDCARE… But I guess I am running out of fuel… and money can be earned back if I have more time to do my work.
I sent her in September into infant class and accompanied her for 3 days to slowly help her transition to new environment. There was two things about the school that really surprised me.
First, upon entering the infant class, I was appalled to see that every. single. baby’s nose was like a waterfall. E-I-E-I-O. With a sniff sniff here and a sniff sniff there, here a sniff there a sniff everywhere a sniff sniff.
One toddler girl sneezed a her bi ti + sticky yellow bisai was all over her mouth and chin. T___T. The teachers were busy so I had to wipe it for her lol.
At that point, I resigned to the fact that the moment you allow your kids into childcare center, you just have to dig out those medical cards on standby.
I loaded both cheesiepetits up with vitamins and immune boosters right away when we got back home, they were fine, but guess what…
I was the one who caught the bugs. Badly.
The second thing was… well it wasn’t the first time I knew about this (I blogged about it here before), but I really still could barely contain my shock.
This was breakfast. For toddler.
I mean… Ok I think it is a great school, but this, no matter from which angle I try to see it, is a snack at best. Not breakfast. No way. Honestly most mothers (Malaysian/Singaporean/Japanese) I showed this to had a shock, so I really don’t know how this became a widely acceptable food as the first meal of the day for toddler across the whole country.
Obviously I’m not in a position to complain about this since this seems to be the norm, so I just had to do the same as I did with Junya – wake them extra early, feed them proper breakfast before sending them to school.
Other than that I am quite happy with how she is adjusting to her school life.
On the fourth day, I wasn’t allowed to stay anymore, so I sat her down with some toys, told her goodbye, kissed her on the cheeks and left swiftly. She seemed so distracted with the toys that she didn’t even respond to me.
So I didn’t leave her in a sobby mode and it made a whole world of difference! The teachers told me that she was fine the entire day, and only cried when she was tired during nap time.
I was so so so so surprised. With Junya it took waaaaaaaay more effort.
First art and craft.
Something I will never everrrr do with her at home. 自己拿苦来辛 just… no thanks.😅
Second day papa dropped by for a quick stay.
Lunch time.
Baby, please enjoy school time (and make mess if you must lolol). Mama still love you very very very much even if the hours we spend together will be lesser now. Be kind to your teachers, be kind to your friends. Be brave and just know that at the end of the day, mama will always always appear at the door to bring you home. ❤︎
For Mama
Mini Holiday
We went to Bali for a short break in September.
We travel so often that I’m wishing there’s a preschool that would charge according to the days we attend. This trip was also the reason why I delayed sending Sakura in any earlier. Because a few days away is like a few hundred dollars wasted for preschool!!!
God-size bed
So. Just when I thought they could finally sleep in their own room, we have moved them back in to our room. ALTOGETHER. The reason is… they want to sleep with us all the time anyway. And I’m done waking up groggily in the middle of the night to walk over to the kids room and pick up a crying toddler back to my own bed to nurse her. What’s the point -_-.
Yeap.
Even so, Junya will insist to sleep next to me. So we would start off by sleeping all on the big bed, all 4 of us. Then I move one by one over to their own bed after they fall asleep. -_-
As for their own room, I have turned it into a toy room where I can just throw the both of them in when I need to do some cooking or housework.
Worm Out Glue
This month, I tasted the fruits of my labor (no pun intended. It’d be too weird). The whole three years of being a full time parent for the kids.
But this month. I can be myself. I get a few hours a day to be myself. To watch any TV shows I like without being asked to switch to Shimajiro and Anpanman. To eat super spicy food to make up for all the mild-tasting food I usually cook. To lie down on the bed without having small little human creatures climb all over me. To blog this post, at one go, uninterrupted. (You’re welcome.)
Anyway. Brb. Imma go enjoy my new found freedom. Massage? Or eyelash extensions? HAHAHHA.
I know, I know… I can’t even remember the last time I did a make-up post. It’s been too long. It’s definitely before my pregnancy T_T. Many of you told me you missed it, and here’s one! 😀
In recent years, my make-up style have changed, where simplicity and time-efficiency is the most important keys.
And I am very happy that I am able to recommend to you today, THREE Cosmetics, a skincare and make-up brand from Japan (spark-joy!!) that emphasizes on holistic care and effortlessness, which perfectly suits my lifestyle.
THREE COSMETICS SINGAPORE STORE
I have seen many international make up bloggers rave about THREE, and some of my personal friends from Malaysia have also become fans since the counter in KL opened a couple of years ago, now THREE is finally in Singapore!
They have just opened their first ever store on the 4th floor of Tang Plaza, and I was very honored to be invited to the store opening party.
Thank you, the kind people in THREE for inviting Sakura too. I will make sure I teach her the proper way to do make up hahaha.
Thank you!
Beautiful, vivid make up colors to lust over…
I have tried their Balancing skin care range too and am totally in love. The use of essential oils really does give the whole homecare experience a spa-like feel, calming the mind and soul.
There are also limited edition sets and promotion going on, please don’t miss it out!
This is the THREE Starter Kit, consisting of their best selling items, is all that you need to start your holistic care at home! I also think that it is perfect for travel ^^
Consisting of:
1. Flawless Ethereal Fluid Foundation – A foundation that serves as your second skincare.
2. Balancing Cleansing Oil – a cleansing oil that removes makeup and excess sebum from your face.
3. Balancing Foam – a cleansing foam that easily foams gentle to your skin.
As for this blog post, I will be focusing on creating the daily look in the simplest, fuss-free steps, and also a glammed-up look for that special occasion with just a few extra touches.
These are my essentials now, and I will be introducing the products I use one by one.
Here’s a comparison of the make up looks:
Completing with hair and outfit:
Just a few different products can make a totally different impression, whether soft and feminine or edgy with a strong impact.
BASE
For base make up, I am using the THREE Ultimate Protective Pristine Primer and THREE Flawless Ethereal Fluid Foundation, honestly one of my favorite ever.
The texture is very much like a regular moisturizer, it spreads smoothly over and is ever so light you could barely feel anything!
DAY MAKE UP
Let’s start the Day Look. The ultimate goal is to look fresh and natural for even the most ordinary day!
Here I am using only 4 make up products in total when the base make up is done (foundation + eyebrow).
THREE Whisper Gloss For Eye 04
This is a magic product, I’m not kidding. Honestly I don’t even use make up brushes nowadays because finding 5 minutes to do make up is already a luxury for me, so this Whisper Gloss eye shadow comes as the perfect savior for giving my eyes a dash of natural colors.
“A glossy veil whispers softly over the eyelids.” True to its promises, I find this so incredibly easy to use! I own lots of eye palettes usually with 3 or 4 different shades, but I am surprised that even with just one single color, this dewy gloss creates a soft radiance and dimensional depth to the eyes!
Simply glide it over your eyelids and smooth it out with the warmth of your finger. No brushes whatsoever needed.
THREE Epic Mini Dash 02
“Whipped airy gel cheek tint for creating a radiant smile.” I’m all for cheeks. I just love delicate colors that gives that healthy, vibrant feel to uplift one’s energy.
Just dab a small amount on cheek and gently rub until it creates a soft, airy tint on your cheek like you have just blushed.
Love how natural it looks!
THREE Shimmering Lip Jam 22
A lip jam is all you need for the lips.
it’s juicy and rich, even without first applying lip color, the lip jam alone is enough to give a long-lasting, luscious shine to your lips!
THREE Mesmerizing Performance Eyeliner Pencil 08
The last step is eyeliner. I always keep this step last as eyeliners make the biggest impact on the whole look, so I want to make sure it matches the rest of the make up without being overdone.
It glides over ever-so-smoothly I was amazed. I usually am not a fan of pencil liner because most of the time you are required to apply some pressure on the lids, which I think is part of the reasons why we develop eye wrinkles, but this cream-gel like pencil really does make drawing eyelines quite effortless!
I also especially love how the brush attached to the end helps smudge the end of the eyeline to create a very natural and soft finish to the eye.
And the day look is all done!
The whole look takes less than 5 minutes, I promise. The more I use the products, the more familiar and efficient I become and my make up routine is done in just a snap.
GLAM LOOK
We all want to look extra nice on that special day, be it for an event, your anniversary or a romantic date night.
For this look, I am actually using the exact same steps, only with different products.
THREE Whisper Gloss For Eye 07
I was trying to give a hint of autumn colors to the look, so I picked an earthy brown tone for eye color.
I added it on top of the day make up to give the colors a bit more depth.
Blends just perfectly!
THREE Epic Mini Dash 07
For cheeks, I’m adding a tad more color to the natural pink I already had on for a more defined, sophisticated look.
This shade may look shockingly dark for cheek, but if you just use a very tiny bit and soften it out, it could give a more contoured look overall.
Miraculously blends into the skin as if the color comes from within!
The best thing about the Epic Mini Dash is that it could also be use on the lips for a soft matte finish! So I applied a layer for a more alluring, glammed-up feel.
THREE Captivating Performance Fluid Eyeliner 02
I am going to darken the eye line with this liquid eyeliner for a sharper, more captivating gaze.
Since liquid-lining is very precise, you can adjust the liquid flow to apply the eyeliner boldly and elaborately as you like
And the make up for glammed-up look is done!
And that’s all for today’s make up review!
Overall, I love how easy it is to use the products especially with their innovative texture that even first-timer could handle with ease.
Many of us love visiting combini (Japanese convenience stores). I can’t live without combini when I am in Japan. The onigiri, sandwiches, snacks and seasonal drinks… There were days I just live off the combini completely for days!
So I have blogged many times about the wonders of combini food. I also try to put together a meal as healthy as possible. But a few times I got lashed for “falsely promoting combini food as healthy when they are bad for our body”. So today I just want to share a few latest information on conbini food in Japan, especially for those who are in doubt and unsure whether the onigiri you are eating from 7-11 is killing you slowly.
So before that let’s look at some of my favorite buys from combini!
Our breakfast spread usually. No guilt. Fruit juice, banana, milk (Junya finished it), sandwiches, onigiri, and a couple of snacks.
I like Japanese sausages (the mini ones! Schau Essen.) , and kanikama (crab sticks). I once saw a documentary on how the sausages are made for the skin to stay extra crunchy (it literally pops when you bite it into half!) and how juicy it is…. it’s all extra effort and advanced technology. Also love buying all the seasonal onigiri, like this Ugani Mabushi. Very yummy!
Another thing I’m obsessed with is all the seasonal juice from Yasai Seikatsu! This time it is Kiwi from Ehime prefecture.
I love all the combinis all the same – 7-11, Lawson, Family Mart, they all have their own yummy specialty. Lawson is the nearest to us most of the time, and I especially love their character sticker collection:
This time it was the Snoopy plates.
You can buy all the food items with the stickers, collect them (usually a total of 40), and you get to redeem a limited edition merchandise. I’m a sucker for all these haha.
I love to buy Meiji Camembert cheese, LG21 yogurt, fried shrimps, and Matsutake Chawanmushi (sooo good!!)
I do think about nutrition balance so when possible I choose healthier options such as
Tororo Soba that comes with okra, nameko (mushroom), natto, tororo (grated yam).
For protein I go for the grilled fish section, and today I picked sardine in plum sauce.
That’s a meal.
So yea, some readers saw these and told me I am murdering myself (and my kids) with all the additives and preservatives by eating combini food all the time, and I should stop promoting combini food.
I am not saying combini diet gives you immense health benefit, and if it is indeed guilty, it’s probably just as unhealthy as your regular bak chor mee. Kids can eat bak chor mee, right?
No doubt, most combini food are processed food, but at least you know what exactly is in your food (labels, labels!), so feel free to self-filter according to your level of junk tolerance. Plus you know that it is hygiene and safe to consume with all stringent safety measures. Whereas you’ll never know what’s in your plate of Nasi Kandar or chap cai bng or when they have been cooked. Just saying. 🤐
So recently (July 22 2017) I watched an episode on Japanese TV featuring 7-11’s food clearing some of consumer’s doubt about food safety, I’m going to share a little here!
Many years ago, most food from convenience stores are heavy on preservative and other additive to keep the shelf live longer, after all, combini food is for convenience. But in recent years with the strong competition and the increasing need for convenient food, lots of efforts are made to create healthier, safer and yummier products, even for combini lifestyle.
The featured combini chain store is 7-11, which has over 20,000 outlets in the entire Japan. Twenty thousand!!
ONIGIRI
So some of the biggest questions when it comes to onigiri are:
Q. What kind of rice do they use?
7-11’s onigiri uses only premium local (Japanese) rice, such as Koshihikari and Hitomebore.
Next question, which is also the most important one –
Q: Is there any preservative used in the product?
Answer: NONE.
Huh then how do you keep the onigiri fresh since it has to be displayed in the combini stores for quite some time, and we all know rice goes bad rather quickly.
The biggest effort made was to have a 24-hour production system. Meaning that they produce small batches of onigiri and have it delivered in batches according to demand to keep them at their freshest. Meaning that in order for us to enjoy our favorite Mentaiko onigiri fresh and safe, somebody was working in the factory at 3am!!! T_T
To solve the freshness and safety issue, first they explained that rice that’s room temperature (25°C and above) are prone to the growth of bacteria, while anything colder than 19°C makes it hard and unpalatable.
So what they did was they kept the temperature from manufacturing to delivery to display, all at an exact temperature of 20°C.
By the way, trivia time!
Do you know what are the top 5 best-selling onigiri fillings?
1. Tuna Mayo (omg I looooove)
2. Red Salmon
3. Kishu Ume (preserved plum)
4. Hidaka Konbu
5. Karashi Mentaiko (favorite!!)
What is your favorite? 🙂
SANDWICH
Most Malaysians and Singaporeans I have talked to, said their favorite food from the combini is their sandwiches.
I always buy the Tuna&Egg combo because I think it’s just SO PERFECT???
For people who are crazy about eggs, there’s even this sandwich (I think from Lawson) that has four different type of egg sandwich – scrambled, Tamagoyaki, boiled egg and egg mayo.
Indeed, I couldn’t figure out why on earth when we use the same ingredient, combini’s sandwiches are forever more delicious???
Q. Why is the bread so moist and soft all the time?
Right. The sandwiches that we make at home become dry and hard after a while. What’s the secret?? There must be some crazy poisonous additives they used in the bread??
Apparently, it was the way they slice the bread. Using a special round roller blade, it allows the sliced surface of bread to remain even, so that it keeps the moisture better.
Q: Is there any preservative in the fillings?
Fillings, especially with eggs are super tricky. AND WE ALL LOVE THEIR EGG SANDWICHES!!! There must be additive in the filling to lengthen the shelf life?
7-11’s answer: They use only absolutely fresh eggs and there’s no preservative used at all.
And to make sure the quality of the eggs, 7-11 even produced their own eggs from a designated farm, and the egg yolks are extra creamy with a darker color as the hens were fed paprika and herbs. Ah, I do see lots of “Carrot Egg”, or “Herb Egg” nowadays in the market!
Q: But there must be some kind of secret/unspeakable ingredient like MSG added into the egg fillings??? If not how can it be so delicious???
It showed how they added a gigantic bag of white powdery stuff into the egg mixture. Hmmm fishy.
But apparently it was the mixture of salt, sugar and white pepper. No other flavorings or additives were used.
…. this is very anticlimax lol. And my question is still dangling. Why…
Also, everything is made manually because machines will not be able to do the job of the human’s hand, for example placement of filling so that when it is sliced half it looks presentable from the packaging.
RAMEN/NOODLES
While we thought instant noodles are the most instant food available, Japanese combini took it to the next level by producing ready-to-eat ramen, soba, udon, pasta… and in many variations.
This is the cold ramen for summer that I had. It was very delicious.
Q. Why doesn’t the noodle go soggy???
I had my fair share of doubt when it comes to combini noodles. When I cook pasta at home, it goes all sticky and dry after a mere 5 minutes if I just left it there.
So seriously, how can combini noodles stay moist and al dente all the time? This one confirm got use suspicious ingredients right?
Answer is, special efforts are made to the noodles to make them stay as yummy as freshly served noodles. This chinese noodle for example, is made with 3 layers of different texture, so that even if it stays in the shelf for some time, it still remains moist and chewy.
And in order for the noodles to be available at 8am in the outlets, the productions start in the middle of the night. Which means again, somebody is kneading the dough (or operating the machine that kneads the dough) at 3am so that I can have that bowl of ramen for breakfast!!
FROZEN FOOD
Frozen food is one of the most popular items in combini, although tourists often won’t buy them. But it’s a great way to save money – I mentioned it in my blog post “How to survive Japan on $10 a day”.
One of my favorite is their fried rice, usually from 100-200 yen (CHEAP RIGHT???). 7-11 has this fried rice called the Gokujo Chahan (super premium fried rice), and I was watching how it was made in the program.
Usually, for those who cook and is familiar with chinese food, you know that the single most important thing of fried rice is the “wok hei“, which could only achieved with a super power stove, a very experienced chef with super strong arms.
There’s no way machines can replicate this crucial process that essentially makes the best of fried rice.
Well, wrong. Apparently now they can. The factory uses actual chinese woks, using this flipping method to quicky fry the rice on high heat to achieve that much lusted wok hei.
And using this method, apparently they could only fry rice for 4 pax each time, which is super cost-ineffective compared to other method that makes like a hundred each?? But those are the compromises they are willing to make in order to provide high-quality fried rice for their customers.
I bought it immediately after watching the tv show, and it was really, really yummy!!! Super value for money too.
I’m sure the since this is a feature on 7-11, they won’t talk about anything negative, but I was just very touched to see how much effort they are putting into constantly better the taste and quality of their products.
I admit, I am a big fan of health supplements, and we have a cupboardful of tablets, chewables and capsules. Probiotics is an essential, but usually I’d buy the chewable and tablets separately for the adults and kids.
Duo B, a high quality synbiotic (combining probiotics and prebiotic) supplement product in the market, is suitable for the all ages especially developing kids, so you will need just this in your home to keep your entire family’s gut health in check!
Many of you may still be wondering what’s the difference between probiotics and prebiotics. They are equally important when it comes to improving one’s gut health. And to put it simply, Probiotics are “good” bacteria that help keep your digestive system healthy, whereas Prebiotics are not digestible by human body, but are the food for probiotics. When probiotics and prebiotics are combined, they form a synbiotic.
And Duo B combines the best probiotics and prebiotic to provide excellent digestive support and gastrointestinal improvement to ease irritable bowel syndromes (such as abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, bloating, flatulence), as well as immune enhancement to fight allergies and infections.
Duo B contains Japan’s top selling probiotic – Morinaga BB536, one of world’s most effective probiotic strains.
Duo B is in a convenient sachet form, and to consume it, there are two methods.
Method 1
You can just pour the powder into your mouth and consume directly.
It tastes like berry-flavored candy powder, it’s very pleasant so confirm the children will love it!
However for young kids, powder form may be difficult for them to consume, so you may use the second method.
Method 2
Mix it with any cold beverage/water.
This is for Junya. I mix it in his milk and told him today we are having Berry Milk.
He loves his flavored milk (strawberry/chocolate… which I usually try to avoid haha) so he has no problem drinking this.
Yum yum.
And for Sakura, I just pour it into her water bottle and have her sip it throughout the afternoon.
She loves it too!
A super easy and effortless way to strengthen the kids’ immunity! Duo B says that lactating mothers *raises hand* could also benefit breastfed babies through consuming Duo B, so that breast milk will be produced to include probiotics and immunoglobulin A (IgA).
It’s recommended to take 1 sachet a day to support intestinal flora balance and protect your family against infections.
I don’t want to jinx it but for the past few weeks… suddenly he was surprisingly obedient. I’m not sure if it’s just a phase for me to feel very very lucky or… could this be… I don’t dare to say it… the end of the Terrible Two/Three? Well the truth is most mothers I have spoken to said there’s no such thing as an end. Our own children are challenging no matter how old they are. There’s the 2-year-old rebel period, the 4 year rebel period, the 6… tween… teen rage… Never ending. They are rebels in their own ways no matter what age they are at.
But I am so thankful. I mean he still want things his ways sometimes but he could be soooo much more reasonable, and even a tantrum does happen, it’s muuuuch easier and quicker to end one.
Sometimes he is so good boy that the danna and I were in shock. The danna will ask, “Junya, why you so good boy today??” Haha.
Whenever I feel that a flare-up is imminent (he’ll typically sulk and say things like “I don’t want to eat anymore. I don’t want anything.”), I will simply tell him, “I know you are upset now. When you feel better you tell mama ok.” And then just walk away and do my stuff.
Initially I did that simply because I didn’t have time for his nonsense (broccoli can’t get burnt!! I can’t leave Sakura in the bath tub!!), and also because I don’t want to start yelling so I’d better walk away when I’m still calm… but it miraculously work..😱
So when I tell him “please let me know when you feel better”, he would usually reply with “no, I don’t want to feel better” at first (🙄), but he will always call out to me after a while:
“Mama. I feel better.”
And then I’ll immediately come back to him, and talk lightly to him about what went wrong just now.
Sometimes when there’s a long silent, I would get curious and ask, “Junya, are you feeling better already?” and he’d say, “no I’m not better yet. You wait for me to tell you ok.”
Wah wah wah. Ok lo. Hahhaha.
Please please please please let this last.
Confession
Maybe it’s a boy thing, but he has never kepoh about anything that happened in school. Because most girls I know like to gossip since 2 year old!!!!! (“Emily didn’t finish her rice today.” “Jayden push Brayden and Brayden cry.” etc etc) Even when I ask about his day, he never say much, to the point I was worried that he didn’t enjoy school (thankfully that’s not the case).
But one day, when I tucked him to bed, he suddenly told me, rather sleepily, “today I hit (classmate’s name) with lego.”
My heart skipped a beat, and immediately all the school drama scenes flashed in my mind and I was seeing myself bowing to the student’s mother apologizing in tears with my evil bully son standing behind refusing to budge, in the principal’s room.
I pretended super casual and asked him, “oh really, can you tell me what happened?” He couldn’t really explain it and just told me that he hit the classmate’s hand with lego, and that teacher told him to say sorry to the friend.
I felt a little uneasy and worried, but at the same time I was also very touched that he shared this incident with me. It was the first time. After he fell asleep, I texted the teacher and asked what happened, so apparently the classmate pushed him while he was playing his lego, he got upset and hit the classmate’s hand with a lego, in the end they both apologized to each other.
The next day, I took the opportunity to talk to him again about it after knowing the details.
“So (classmate) pushed you and you felt upset?”
“Yea and then I put fire on (classmate) and then (classmate) die.”
What?!?
And then he laughed. I also laughed. Seriously where did he learn all these from??
“Okay you can only do this in your head ok. Cannot do it for real.” I told him.
“Hmm? Do it to my head??” he asked.
Pistachio
So there was the pistachio incident that almost gave me a heart attack.
So after dinner, I was snacking on pistachio and Junya wanted to share, so I gave him one (deshelled). And then Sakura cried so I went into the bedroom and gave her oppai.
And then Junya cried for mama. I went out to check on him, apparently he has stuck the freaking pistachio up his left nostril. I could see a huge bump on his nose like a filler job gone very wrong. And it was so deep inside that I had no confidence to have it taken out.
I panicked and I called the danna (really really really thank god he was in the same country that day 😭😭😭), and then we sent him to KKH.
It was 9pm at night and the average waiting time was 4 hours. Singaporeans! How do you guys do this???
To cut long story short, he had to lie down on the operating table, velcro wrapped like a mummy, and had the pistachio vacuumed and tweezed out. To me who was standing next to him, it was like watching a Mel Gibson torture movie. And the whole time he just closed his eyes and didn’t make a sound at all.
The doctor was so surprised, he said that he takes stuff out from children’s nose on a daily basis and Junya was the first child that did not cry.
Even I couldn’t be as brave as him. The danna and I gave him lots of candies after, and told him these are strictly for the mouth only.
Breaking out of cocoon
He is definitely not a social butterfly. But recently I could see him slowly wiggling out his very tight cocoon.
He started to play (for real!) with other kids, and also started to become very friendly to everyone – older kids, adults, taxi drivers… random strangers…
To Sister
More importantly, he and his sister communicate, for real. He gives her a pretend bus and tells her, “you take this, you cannot take the small bus ok?” Then Sakura will nod happily. Then sometimes when I’m washing the dishes I see him feeding his sister the stuff he’s eating “take this, you can eat one bite. One bite ok?” and then Sakura will open her mouth big big (she doesn’t even do that for me!😡)
I just feel like… it finally pays off. The effort of keeping them close together despite all the initial jealousy… He no longer see her as a pet (put stuff over her head like she’s a doll) nor an enemy (Only Junya! Sakuwa cannot!). Although he still sees her as a rival in some way, but that’s okay.
He’s also acting super big brother in regards of his not yet verbally-skilled little sister, whenever she fusses- “Mama!! Sakuwa wants that cup!! Not this bottle!!” “Mama!!! Sakuwa tired! She wants oppai.”😅
Wah wah wah now he knows her better than the one whose womb stored her for 9 months isit!!!
Social life
Suddenly he is into boats so the danna brought us on a cruise ride.
And then Gondola at MBS. Oh I mean sampan. Hahaha.
Junya’s personal hair stylist. He requested a hair cut from Amy.
He also has more friends now. And every day is his birthday.
This is my least favorite topic. Honestly. I think a child’s appetite can make or ruin a parent’s life.
So her food strike is over and she is eating again, but.
I don’t really know anymore. She eats whatever she likes when she likes it. Basically. She eats a little better when she can feed herself. A sharp dessert fork from Daiso does the trick. But you still can’t poke a spoon of rice into her mouth.
There are days we survive on chawan mushi and nori (seaweeed).
Speaking of nori, that’s her favorite thing in the world. She has never refused a nori before, but a sheet of nori is probably like, I dunno, 2kcal?! It can’t make a meal!!
When you show her seaweed she goes like this:
When you show her rice…
That’s the story of my life now.
And I got so frustrated I tried to use nori to bargain with her. I told her she has to eat a spoon of rice before she could get a (tiny) piece of nori. She understands it is a negotiation. Usually she would give me the above face at first, then when I insist, she will very angrily gobble it down as if to protest..😳
Mood
She has like mini PMS nowadays.
One moment she’s all sunshine happy.
All smiles.
Then suddenly nothing pleases her…
Please don’t continue this 小姐脾气ok, I very scared you 嫁不出去 next time.
Nu.
When she is moody, everything is nu. She will just sit down glumly on the floor refusing to budge.
“Come here, Sakura.” “Nu.” “It’s ok. We take a snack?” “Nu.” “I hug you?” “Nu.” “What can I do for you?” “Nu.”
Yosh yosh
When she is playful, she will kacao me. Usually by hitting me in the face -____-.
The moment she hear me say ouch and look upset, she will yosh yosh (pat pat lightly) my face. Or sometimes put her mouth on my face (with mouth open lol).
And then she hit me again.
Poo Poo
She can sometimes tell me now after she has pooped!
Oniichan Daisuki
She loves kiddy rides…
But she loves her oniichan more.
Really. She just loves being around him. Whenever she sees oniichan when we go pick him up after school, she would be so delighted she squeals. But she doesn’t do the same when she sees me -_-.
Until doesn’t want to leave her oniichan…
Haha依依不舍。
Not all sweetheart
However she can also fight her oniichan now!! She’s not just all sweetheart.
She can’t use her words very well yet, but she can use her voice. When her brother doesn’t allow her to do stuff, or doesn’t give in to what she wants, she will yell at him.
“Jeberjeberjeberjeber!!!!”
Well… I guess that’s where “gibberish” came from.
Also, now she likes to 借刀行凶, and usually her 刀 is my hand. Cannot press a button? Pull my hand to press for her. Don’t dare to touch something scary/hot? Pull my hand so I can hurt myself. Not allowed to push oniichan when she’s angry? Pull my hand to commit this vice. Smart.
For Mama
I was very very very busy this month because I was catching up all the work that piled up during our Japan trip.
But somehow I feel like I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I see freedom. I see a lighter me. I see relief. I see dreams.
Firstly, since the both of them are able to be in each other’s company quite happily now (which I know it won’t last long before I have to google articles on how to solve sibling quarrels), I feel more relaxed to not have to glue my eyes to Sakura’s every motion. Well, although I probably still have to hide all the pistachios in the house.
I also recently discovered that Sakura enjoys watching the TV now so that helps ALOOOOOOT.
When I need to fix a quick dinner I’ll just switch to the kids channel and I’ll have a good mess-free, scream-free, tears-free, trouble-free 20 minutes to put together that yakisoba.
Thanks, TV.
Secondly, I have decided to let Sakura go to school together with her oniichan. My initial plan was to wait till 18 months for toddler class but the freedom was too… tempting. Plus I also have lots of work trips starting this month!! *excuse excuse*
Just imagine… two kids, gone. Yet I don’t have to worry because I know that they are in good hands (thank you Singapore childcare!). From 8am-4pm… that’s NINE HOURS A DAY.
How much can I achieve in 9 hours??? I don’t even dare to dream about it… For someone who functions between intervals of 10-15 minutes among chaos, screamings and an eternal of mess, 9 freaking hours in a completely uninterrupted stretch???
My god, I think I can be super woman god.
That, or I may just be a complete sluggard. Being a sluggard is a luxury that I’ve just only come to understand post-cheesiepetit.
What do I want to do when I regain my child-less freedom? First thing first, a hard core massage.
If this blog is my offspring, she is now a teenager with her emoness on full blast, and slightly out of control. I apologize in advance for her inappropriate behaviors.
So while nothing dramatic happened in the past year of my life, something very dramatic, even life-threatening happened to this blog.
This blog was hacked.
It happened last September, which was a year ago, where it was infected by a malware that messed things up on and off. I fixed it, it came back, I fixed again and it came back again. And then it started to happen more and more regularly. I’m sure some of you remember this because for months, every other day I received comments and emails of concerned readers who told me that they couldn’t access my blog or that every time they accessed my blog it jumped to a spam site.
I also want to take this opportunity to apologize to readers who got affected by it. I actually received a few angry emails that demanded me to fix it immediately because they said my blog was trying to steal their credit card info.😭 I’m sorry for all the trouble.
So one day in April this year, my blog just went completely apeshit. It kept redirecting to spam sites and the server team had lost a good backup that could even roll back to. To make things worse, Google had flagged my blog as hacked, Facebook had banned my URL from appearing, and since Instagram is now under FB, EVEN MY INSTAGRAM WAS SUSPENDED. So basically I just could not exist on the internet anymore.
The truly worst thing was, I had pending sponsored posts to publish and I had not a cheesy idea how I was gonna explain this to my clients – missing deadlines for important campaigns, and not delivering what I was compensated for. I was prepared to do full refunds to them but even then I would have caused them more inconvenience than I imagined.
My god, I felt like it was… death.
The death of my blogging life. Like, it was time, finally. I did nothing for a few days and I thought, maybe it is a sign. Maybe this sign is telling me that I should end this path, and focus on being a better wife and mother instead.
Honestly it was a very shitty few days. Until the first angel, Haze, my webmaster since this blog was a preschooler and who spent days losing sleep fixing this hot shitty mess, suggested that I change my server host because she suspected the malicious code was injected into the server’s database, which… we couldn’t do anything about.
So here’s the thing, I’ll come clean.
My server was sponsored since the day I got my dot com. It had never crossed my mind that paying for my own server would be an option. I guess sometimes as a vaguely successful blogger, you really take so many things for granted because you are so used to not paying shit in your life. The danna lectured me for not even wanting pay money for a professional, reliable server host, which now that I think of it, is the life-support of a blog. It was like you aspire to become a Michelin chef and then you buy your cooking ware from taobao. Who can you blame?
Long story short, it turned out that the hack was indeed from the server’s database (although they denied it and were not being very helpful at all). One lesson learned – free things (or taobao cooking ware) sometimes really can’t be that good. I mean there are really good ones, but chances are when you gian bng, usually is just… 没有好下场。
I was quite vexated that the ex server has caused me so much inconvenience and loss, but at the same time I was really thankful for them having hosted my blog for so many years. So let’s consider it a good, clean breakup.
So… moving on. Now I had to get a new server. I got a quotation from a Malaysian hosting company, and it turned out that for my traffic volume, I would have to pay at least RM500 a month just for hosting fee.
… Ok I mean am all responsible to foot my own server bill, but RM6000 a year is indeed a very ineffective investment judging from the amount this blog makes nowadays.
Then the second angel appeared right on time. It was the danna. He told me that paying for server rental is such a last decade thing. In Japan, most servers are free, and even if they are not, they charge a very minuscule amount.
So then he recommended Lolipop.jp to me. I quickly signed up and did a migration…
AND IT SOLVED EVERYTHING.
THANK YOU, JAPANESE SERVER.
Japan saves my life again and again.
And you know what. Guess how much I’m paying for server rental?
¥500 a month.
That’s $6. RM19. A bowl of ramen is more than that.
And that’s the standard plan for a website with decent traffic. The economy plan is only ¥100 yen. A can of cola is more expensive than that.
And guess what? It’s speedy as hell and SO EASY TO USE. It makes all the complicated, befuddling FTP blah blah blah comprehendible even for a hopeless tech-idiot like me. And then Haze, my webmaster herself immediately also migrated from her shitty local server to Lolipop.jp lol.
This is of course, not an ad but I just want to shout out so loud to the whole world – STOP PAYING RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR SERVER RENTAL. USE JAPANESE SERVERS.
Good (Japanese) things must share ok. And this company is hosting MORE THAN 2 MILLION SITES. That itself explains everything.
Ok so before you rush over and sign up, here’s a catch – the website is completely in Japanese…So when you sign up you’ll be like..?!?!??! And they only accept AMEX as payment method, I think. But… honestly, with Google auto translate, what cannot be done nowadays?
Exactly. You do not have to worry!!
Maybe a little english-awkward, but… hell, that’s the best thing I’ve done for my blog this year.
So yes, migrating to Lolipop has solved the hacking issue, clean and clear. I have not gotten any security issues since then (Japan quality)!!! Then, I wrote to Google to clear my name, and I had my virtual life back.
And the best thing? My blog is supported by (virtually) made in Japan server. Talk about sparking joy!!! I wish I knew about this earlier!!
But now I had one more problem.
Instagram has lifted the suspension, but I was still not able to publish any links that contains my blog URL because apparently FB still thinks that it is a malicious website (fml). My blog is forever a shit website that’s trying to kill everyone’s computer and cheat everybody’s money now. I couldn’t even have this link in my IG bio.
So then I thought of a perfect solution. I’d change my domain.
Guess what? Joy-sparking domain.
cheeserland.jp
My blog now virtually resides in Japan. (I also bought cheeserland.tokyo, just for the sake of it.)
It makes me so happy. Just looking at this new domain makes me happy.
It was the best gift for my teenage-blog.
Wait.
I also gave her a plastic surgery as her 13th birthday present HAHHAHA. (Actually, surgeon Haze sponsored it.)
So yea, new life-support, new name, new face. She’s now a reborn, brand new person.
Here’s the 遗照 of the old blog template as keepsake.
The layout is a lot simpler now, although I’m still tweaking stuff a little here and there. I hope you like it, and if you find anything missing or not working properly or you have a brilliant suggestion, please let me know.
So…
HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY, BLOG.
So every year I have a typical way to end the post.
Instead of the usual blogniversary questions, which I think many of you are tired of answering after repeating for a whole decade, I’m gonna something completely different this year.
Since this blog has always been all about me, today, this blog post is about YOU.
I want to know you. Tell me about your story. Tell me why you are here. Tell me about your dreams. Tell me what makes you happy. Tell me what makes you angry. Tell me what your passion is.
I want to know more about what makes this blog. What inspires the content of this blog. What keeps this blog alive for 13 years. And that’s you. (And you are awesome.)
PS: If you are shy to say anything about yourself at all, you can also ask me a question!
The last time I did eyelash extension was right before I gave birth to Sakura, and it was a bit like a motivation treat for myself for having to bring another human to this world lol.
So… it has been more than 1 year, that I had not been able to step away from her for even that 2 hours to make myself look pretty. I know that there are a lot of good eyelash salons in Singapore and I have been meaning to visit one… so one day I requested the danna to watch Sakura for a couple of hours so that I could get dolled up with some nice lashes.
And I went to Lucieo Tokyo!
The very first Lucieo was started in June 2011 by 2 bestfriends Keiko & Meiko in Omotesando, and it made its debut in Singapore, right in the very convenient and happening Robertson Walk.
I know… I know. In the end the danna had to go for a meeting so I had to take Sakura anyway T_T. I bring her to the salon when I get my hair done with no problem, but eyelash extension is indeed… a bit challenging…😅. I mean… I had to have my eyes closed the entire time!!! So basically when it comes to taking care of a baby, I was as good as a fainted vampire.
But thanks to Leona (in white), my eyelist and her friend Steph, Sakura was very well taken care of until my session was over.
Anyway, this is Lucieo! You can trust the Japanese technique when it comes to beauty. The main difference of their technique is the care and art.
Care and Art
One of the reasons that I was hesitant to go for lash extensions is that I feel that they tend to cause damages to my real lashes. I tried it once many years ago in KL and I ended up having my real lashes all fallen off.😭
The clients’ eyelash health and eye comfort as Lucieo Tokyo’s utmost priority, and they apply the eyelash, with a 1-2mm distance away from the skin, to ensure that the extension and glue do not touch the skin at all to prevent complication like infection and ingrown eyelash problems.
UPwardlash Skill
Lucieo Tokyo has launched this new technique in March 2017, dedicated for client’s with droopy lashes ( like me!!) Right now in Singapore, they are one of the two salons that are certified with this technique.
There are no chemicals or perming involved, and a plus point in this technique is that, it stays neat longer and the extensions lasts longer!
Here’s my experience:
Can see the difference???
Ok this before and after picture is damn drastic haha. How can I live without lash extension now..😭
And yes, they can provide extensions for lower lashes too, which I did!
Look at how curled up it is!!
The entire experience was also pleasant without any discomfort. You can even opt for an under eye pad mask (at additional $10) during the service so you can have some pampering for your eyes at the same time! And then when it’s finally done, you wake up to bigger, brighter and more beautiful eyes! Awesome.
Love it soooo much!
If you are wondering how different it looks with different amount of lashes, here’s a comparison photo for your reference:
And if you are wondering how the UPward skill looks compared to normal skill, here’s a comparison picture:
Quite a big difference!
The prices start from $130 but they are having a first timer promotion for 130 lashes using the standard skill at only $100!!
Single lash packages:
2 sessions of $190
5 sessions for $450
As for upwardlash skill, the usual price is $160 and first timer can enjoy it at $130 for 130 lashes.
Also also, you may request for manager eyelist for Leona at extra $20 on first visit, $10 subsequently per visit.
Collagen Red Light Therapy
Another service that Lucieo Tokyo offers is the currently very popular collagen red light therapy in Japan for ladies who want to look younger and have better skin.
Red Light Therapy is extremely safe, all-natural and UV FREE process that encourages your body to naturally produce enzymes, elastin fibers, and collagen that support the skin’s structure, thus producing a younger, smoother, firmer looking skin.
This is how the machine looks.
Yes, it’s like a capsule where you lie down inside with all your clothes off, which means… it’s a treatment for your whole body!
I know there are lots of treatment for different part of your body, for example facial treatments, lasers and body scrub that specifically targets problematic areas, but this is the first time I’m trying an external treatment that targets to improve the wellbeing of your entire body.
This Red Light Therapy was actually originally developed by NASA to help heal tired, fatigued astronauts on their return to earth, as well as improve wound healing and tissue growth in space. Sounds like rocket science, right? (ha.ha.) Now they found it beneficial for every regular beauty-loving people like us!
The Red light is able to easily penetrate the skin to a depth of 8- 10mm, encouraging the cells to naturally stimulate the production of Collagen and Elastin.
For those who has done lasers and other light therapies like IPL, rest assured that for Red Light, there’s absolutely no pain or discomfort during treatment, it is UV FREE, no medical risk, and no recovery time. It’s one of the latest and most advanced anti-aging treatments to look younger and healthier without the need of surgery.
What you do is that you remove your clothes, cover your eyes with a pair of goggles, lie down in the machine and press start. The treatment will take 20 or 30 minutes, and you just relax inside the capsule. It feels warm and by the end of the session I sweated quite a bit. Basically it’s like a mini sauna but a lot more gentle.
This is taken directly after the therapy, no make up, and I get this natural blush that looks like I’ve had my cheeks tinted!
By the way, best to come with freshly showered skin without any make up or sunblock. Lucieo provides make up removers just in case you come with make up on. There are also facial toner, moisturizer, sun block and bb cream after you finish your collagen therapy, how thoughtful!
With regular sessions, you can expect firmer and younger skin, it also helps heal damaged skin. And other than external improvement, the therapy also works on improving your body’s immunity and blood circulation (hence the flush!) and even to relieve joint and muscle pain.
Recommended frequency to come is 2 times per week, and to see results, you will need to go for at least 10 sessions.
These Promotions exclusive to Cheeserland’s readers, Lucieo’s Instagram (@lucieotokyo) and Lucieo’s Facebook (Lucieo Tokyo) followers only. Visit lucieotokyo for the latest eyelash designs!
I drafted this post since 2 weeks ago, and I can’t believe I only had time to type one line… T_T. Every night after the kids go to sleep, my brain tells me that how nice if I could do the same… so I respected my brain lolol. And in the afternoon, somehow there was ZERO time to even flip open my laptop. IKR??? Even when Junya is in school and Sakura is napping, I can’t fully relax knowing that I will be disrupted anytime. Plus there’s so much distraction… hair on the floor, toys here and there… laundry to be put away… SCARILY ADDICTIVE JAPANESE TV SHOWS….. Blogging is sort of a very holy ritual that requires lots of focus and peace haha. It’s not something you can do while entertaining a grumpy toddler who is pulling your shirt.
I see that many mommies blogger have slowed down blogging or stopped altogether. WELL NOT ME!!!!😤 So yea today I made myself promise to myself that I’ll complete this blog post!!
Ok, food now.
Abe Sushi, Roppongi
The usual! We had this as our first meal for lunch.
Junya was having a bowl of Oyako Don. I mean Ball Ball Don.
Ichiran
Tokyoites don’t even bother with Ichiran because it’s now like a tourist attraction. Wanna find Chinese, Malaysians and Singaporeans? Go Ichiran. Lol. I mean, there are 89782346284 other equally delicious (if not better) ramen hangouts in Tokyo, why bother with the long queue right?
Most Japanese won’t even rate Ichiran in their Top 10. But somehow it has become a comfort food for me. It’s just so… comforting haha. Especially on the first night. Plus there are sooooo many branches everywhere. And the one in Roppongi has literally no queue. Not only no queue but empty inside.
After the kids slept, I went out for my first night supper ritual as usual. Alone. That’s probably why I can never live without Ichiran in Tokyo.
Dominique Ansel Tokyo
So happened Pxdkitty Rachell was in Tokyo at the same time, so on the second day we had a gourmet date in Omotesando! Her Tokyo mission was… can you believe it? An angmoh bakery lol. But give her fiery passion in baking, I can understand why.
My New York mission might as well also be finding American Gotochi Kitty version lolol.
So yea this was our first stop!
The apparently world-popular grilled marshmallow on a twig?! And some milk in cookie cone thingie. And juice.
Junya insisted having a green macaron. His favorite color now is green.
This Rachell was smiling like she has just discovered a gold mine.
I think the pastries are nice, but I’m really not a sweet person (taste wise, not personality ok), so I’m not the best judge. Everything was too sweet for me😂.
Happy Pancake
After all the appetizers (lol) we were going for dessert at Happy Pancakes, which was just a block away from 76CAFE.
Wa I’ve never tasted pancakes soooooo fluffy before!!! I actually won’t even call it pancake, it’s literally just naked souffle.
After appetizer and dessert, of course we walked over to 76CAFE for real food omg. I’ve had like a week’s worth of sweet stuff lol. I NEED SAVORY!!!
First I also need to bury my lips into some bouncy cheeks.
76CAFE now has ramen!!!
And is also now fully non-smoking. Welcome, all the family with kids!!!
I love the basement because it’s always very quiet <3
First time having Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen in 76CAFE! Super rich and flavorful!
Maze Soba (soupless noodles). So special with a mix of different flavors, a tad of spicy, a hint of tanginess… Love this!!
^^
This Rachell super spoils Junya by spending $50 on a UFO catcher to get a Charmander for him, and then letting him play with all her things including cameras!!
You see you see. Now he thinks he is full time photographer.
You see you see you see.
And Sakura was waiting to eat.
Still playing.
OMG he thought he was photographer then the next day he quit cuz he thought he is now a super model lolol. He was choosing the backdrops and posing and conducting the whole photoshoot… 😂
AND ANYHOW SAT ON THE FLOOR AND JUST WAITED FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER TO SHOOT HAHAHA.
You think street magazine isit.
Even this background was chosen by him lol.
Sakura was like… yeap, got better things to do!
Nishimura Fruit Parlor
This atas fruit shop in Shibuya has a sweets cafe upstairs, and I did this just for Rachell haha.
I ordered a seasonal parfait which was the most expensive thing in the menu. My plate was special ok. It’s gold and even the fork is gold.
The danna had crepe.
This peach cost like 2000 yen. It’s sweet and soft until…
This is peach shaved ice, where a less expensive peach is used. This one is slightly sour and I actually loved this peach more!!
Singapore Bak Kut Teh
I blogged about this before but you probably think srsly, go to Tokyo eat BKT?
But actually there were a few readers who went after seeing my post and they told me they liked it!!
And you know what’s funny? I had craving for Singapore Bak Kut Teh. Not the one in SG but this one. That’s why I came back here again haha. It was opened by a Japanese friend who stayed in SG many years before.
Ok you probably won’t waste time eating something that comes from your hometown in Tokyo, but let’s put it this way: don’t think of it as BKT. Change your mindset a bit, and think of it as, hmmm, as Tonkotsu based wantan mee with… pai kut and you tiao. lolol.
This is their “mee suah”. But the texture is much more similar to that of Hong Kong wantan mee.
This is the BKT soup!! It’s neither peppery and light like the SG version nor heavily herbal like the Klang version. It is… Tokyo version. That’s why I can’t even compare. It’s a different kind of food and I loved it.
Actually I hope they make a U turn and open in SG as “Tokyo Bak Kut Teh” instead lol. I think it will be a hit. 😀
Junya likes the noodles.
Congrats Chisato. Apparently it got really famous after some Japanese celebrity went for gourmet TV filming there.
Went for a walk with cheesiepetit.
Now that Sakura can walk, this is how my life is. My arms being tugged and pulled at different directions, allll the time.
Cozy Corner
After BKT, we went to a Cozy Corner (name of shop. Yes.) for tea.
Peach again!!! This seasonal thing is getting a bit too in-your-face lol.
Peach tart. Haha.
Ore No French/Italian, Aoyama
I have reviewed this before on Instagram during our trip to Osaka. So this “Ore No” chain restaurant, is a casual French/Italian dining (and they have many more genre too such as yakitori and steak). The concept is to provide really damn affordable “atas food” that’s just as delicious as those you have to book many months in advance for, but in a super casual bar-style dining atmosphere.
Come to think of it, I mean, unless you want to propose to your girl friend, this concept is perfect. We get to eat atas food, yet get to bring our hyperactive young kids along as the setting is quite relaxed. Oh, and YET don’t need to break our bank.
I’m so thankful.
Papa feeding Junya Ajillo.
A while ago I mentioned on my Instagram that some restaurants in Japan turn kids away because they were causing trouble/damage to the shop and other customers.
Well I’m really just so thankful that there are endless of choices in Tokyo!!
Everybody happy!!!!
Anyway back to the food.
Just to show you how crazy affordable the food is.
Appetizer starts from 380 ($5), including foie gras white mousse.
Pizza starting from 580 yen ($7).
Pasta starting from 780 yen ($9). And it’s not even some lame pasta, the 780 one is Crab Pasta in Cream Tomato Sauce and the 980 yen one was Truffle Risotto…?!?!!?
CRAZY OR NOT????
I really really really don’t get it when people say Tokyo food is expensive! Omg where have they been????
Sea Urchin Cream pasta. Ahhhhh.
This entire trip I’ve been overdosing on sea urchin because it’s in season now, and so, so fresh omg.
This dish is 1180 yen ($15). I think you go to Japanese restaurant in SG order one piece of uni sushi already $15 lol.
The danna’s red wine roast beef, 1680 yen ($21).
This. Is the restaurant’s signature dish = super tender steak with a huge chunk of foie gras. Guess how much??
1980 yen. $24.
#ilovetokyo.
Kakura Curry Shop
Miyabi brought me to her favorite herbal curry shop, which is now really popular as it has been featured on TV and visited by celebrities etc. I also want to have this celebrity power lol.
The pricing is a little high for a curry place but considering that each dishes is specially created by a careful blend of herbs and spices, it is said to have lots of health benefits and healing effects for the body!
Omg this salad was just SO GOOD. I don’t know what secret ingredient they used in the dressing, but the garlic fragrance itself won me over. I LOVE garlic.
This is the trio-curry. I was so greedy so I added everything – assorted fried vegetables and chicken!
This broccoli tempura was so good T_T. I think anyone in this world who hates broccoli have no problem eating this.
Date with RinRin at Roppongi Hills
I can’t even remember the restaurant name. Food was mediocre at Roppongi price. We went there only because the restaurant is child-friendly.
But it was RinRin’s birthday and my last few days in Tokyo so I just had to see her!
Non-naked souffle hahaha.
Basil Omelete?
Manten Horumonyaki
I blogged about Manten once, and actually I was very hesitant because it is already quite hard to book that place, and if it gets any more famous then we would be soooooo disaapointed to not be able to eat there.
But then I was laughing at myself – who did I think I was??? God?? Celeb??? Nope 😂. I no have such power so it’s ok! PLUS, no many people I know has eaten cow insides before or even consider eating… So I don’t think anyone will rush to this restaurant after seeing this post 😂.
So here’s the danna’s mostest favorite restaurant in Tokyo, so much that every single NALU dinner was held here, it’s almost like our secret cult club hangout.
Ah not this one. Next one.
This is cow tribes ? I think? It is the most. freaking. delicious. Senmai. I’ve eaten omg.
Anchovy onigiri. The only thing that the kids can eat haha.
Sunada san’s daughter was the special guest that day! The last time I saw her, she was Sakura’s age T___T. And Junya was still inside my tummy T___T.
Dinner was always late cuz we had to wait for all hardworking NALU staff to finish their work. Both cheesiepetits start to get sleepy half way through dinner.
Motsu ni. Very good.
Iijima san is the main person-in-charge of the BBQ lol. He does a perfect job grilling those cow morsels into divine happiness for the tastebuds.
Btw, in case you are curious, here’s a picture of the food before they get on the grill, just to put you off:
Yeap they all come from inside a cow. Some are the digestive parts, some from the womb, etc, I don’t even know/care. Now you don’t even wanna read anymore. Awesome. ^^
Lastly we always end the meal with cold somen. It’s the perfect refreshing end to the meal. No matter how full I get I had to order this.
And then celebrate papa’s belated birthday. Of course it was also Junya’s birthday, as always. Haha.
FOOD DELIVERY
You know? I am starting to feel like I am outdoing myself to live the perfect life in Tokyo. Each time I thought it could never get more perfect than this THEN IT DOES. This is so scary.
So, one of my #Tokyolife woes is that it’s hard to dine out lugging two cheesiepetits along, when I am all alone (while the danna works). Usually I’ll resort to combini or just put together some really crap (by crap I mean relatively crappier, but still good HAHAH) food over the mini stove and call it a day.
But recently I have discovered that I could… order food delivery. (I mean you always could do that since years ago but usually over the phone or internet, you so need to speak Japanese or read. But now there are so many food delivery service apps!!!)
And it was like I just opened a door to a whole new world Japan (Japan is better than world) omg.
IMAGINE THAT!!! YOU CAN NOW EAT ANYTHING YOU LIKE IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN APARTMENT WITHOUT FEELING SHIT THAT YOUR KIDS ARE TURNING YOU INTO AN EMBARRASSING, PATHETIC MESS IN PUBLIC.
Omg it was a solution from heaven/Japan. (Japan equals heaven).
I mean, ok let’s just stretch your imagination. What’s the most lavish meal to have? Let’s say truffles and foie gras, ok, two of world’s most luxurious food. Can you eat it without stepping outside your house, preferably in your milk-stained pajamas?
THE ANSWER IS YES???
This is insane.
Truffle TKG. Mine.
Foie Gras rice bowl. Mine.
Sigh Japan, please don’t be more perfect. I cannot take it.
But actually it wasn’t that perfect la cuz after eating those it only made me hungrier lol.
So I ordered Taiwanese right after. Usually truffle and foie gras are appetizer ma.
Fried chicken, smelly tofu, vinegar black fungus, Lu Rou Fan, oyster mee suah… this time more 平民 a bit ok hahaha.
The next day I was back to going all out. I mean, since I’m in Japan, may as well spend all my money here!!!!
SEA URCHIN PORRIDGE.
Haha that was really what I thought ok.
Then another day I ordered Lobster Roll. Don’t even need to queue.
This was I think 1400++ yen? I feel that it’s super cheap since there’s probably like a WHOLE lobster in it!!! Minus all the mafan de-shelling!!!
Cheat One™ Cooking
If I continue to stay in Tokyo I’m gonna turn into a lazy pool of goo. Life is too convenient.
As I was obsessed with uni, I bought this frozen Uni Rice from Tohoku before returning to Tokyo.
Looks like this when frozen.
So I created my own recipe by mixing this pack of Scallop Ochazuke with the rice. Double the luxury.
Defrost using microwave, pour Ochazuke dashi over.
Pour hot water.
Done. Am I genius. Hahhahaha.
Pokewife
I don’t even want to try to be a Japanese wife anymore. If my #pokewife level is 28, their level is 28².
So I was watching tv one day and one program was showing the life of wives of pro Japanese baseball players, of how they have supported their husbands throughout their successful career.
So this wife in Tokyo, who is 10 years older than her husband, is taking care of her son and her husband who is living separately in Sendai.
Her day starts 4:30AM.
Guess what she did?
After preparing breakfast and sending her kid to school, she goes back, cook again and…
travel from Tokyo to Sendai to cook for her husband…
while her husband is away from work.
Do you know how far Sendai is from Tokyo? Over 360KM. That’s further than from KL to SG. (although by Shinkansen it’s just an hour and a half).
Here’s her daily schedule:
4:30 Wake up
5:00 Prepare breakfast
8:00 Cook bento for husband
12:00 Leave house for Tokyo station
12:30 Travel to Sendai by Shinkansen
14:00 Reach Sendai station
15:00 Prepare dinner for husband
16:30 Finish cooking
17:00 Return to Tokyo by shinkansen
19:10 Reach home
19:30 Prepare dinner for son
20:30 Text her husband about his dinner menu.
And she did all these… without even getting a chance to meet her husband at all (he was at training). If I were to do all these I at least expect to get a cuddle T_T. IS SHE A SAINT????
She places all the pre-cook dinner in his fridge…
Clean his room…
Husband comes back from training and eat her dinner, made with true love.
（You may watch the whole episode here:)
I was just… speechless.
If I am her husband I will really love and be thankful for life. T___T.
