Taiwan Foodie: Introducing Tai Yang Bing (Sun Cake)

Tai Yang Bing or sun cake is my favourite pastry from Taiwan. The pastry is originated from the city of Taichung. It gets its name because it has the shape similar to the sun. My friend is kind enough to bring me this all the way from Jiufen when she went there with a group of colleague. Yay! 

Tai Yang Bing has flaky crust and sweet filling. I did buy tai yang bing from Jiufen before but have never seen the Hello Kitty one. The dessert is best eaten with Chinese tea. Some people even dissolve them in hot water to make a porridge-like dessert. 

Do get yourself one when you are in Taiwan. 

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Cute Chick Cookie and Last Meal at Haneda Airport

If you are talking about those snacks which are too cute to eat, Japan has plenty of them. For instance, there is this sponge cake which looks like a chick. A box of 14 chicks costs JPY 1,500. This chick cakes can be found in Haneda Airport. 

On second look, this chick seems to be pretty popular because right next to the box filled with sponge cake, there is a different variety of the chick. This time, they are in the form of cookies. The price tag is cheaper at 1,000 JPY however, do note that there are only 10 pieces of chick cookies inside the box. 

After we had fun checking out the cute sweets and snacks, my travelling buddy and I were pretty much famished. So we checked out a small restaurant which sells demiglace omurice and ordered for a plate each. I felt pretty sad as I needed to board the flight soon after eating this last meal at Haneda Airport. 

Until next time I guess, Tokyo!

Jakarta Foodie: Paradise Dynasty, Central Park

Good morning peeps! Hope all of us have a great beginning of this lovely Sunday. I love Sunday morning because there are still half a day left before the Monday blues come haunting me again. I just need to go up pretty early to catch the earliest Sunday service today because the rest of the day is pretty much filled. And do you know what's the best thing to do after you have fed your soul from the Sunday sermon? It's to fill your body (after all, your body is a temple) with yummy food. When I was in Jakarta, my mother and I have a habit of immediately hunting for good food after church service because after all, the church is inside a shopping mall named Central Park. This particular Sunday, we went to Paradise Dynasty to have our brunch, Shanghainese style.

Say hello to the lovely xiao long baos. Paradise Dynasty's xiao long bao are quite yummy, and I have to say on-par with Din Tai Fung's version.  

In addition to the main star, we ordered a plate of fried vegetable spring rolls. Their spring rolls are decent but not really fantastic, unlike their xiao long bao. 

The last but not least dish is very cute in appearance. They are the three little mantou penguins. These penguins are filled with green bean paste. Cute and tasty goes hand-in-hand in this dish. =P

Paradise Dynasty's address:

Central Park outlet

Jakarta Central Park

Level LG unit 139 - 140

Jl Let Jend S Parman Kav 28

Trading hours:

10AM - 10PM daily

Singapore Foodie: D'Good Cafe, Holland Village

Situated in a hip area of Holland Village, D'Good Cafe has always been popular with the locals especially the students. When we visited the cafe, it was 80% occupied with students who come for a good meal, a discussion or just a nice good chat on a weekend afternoon. The cafe is not that big but I guess it has managed to utilise every nook to maximise the seating capacity. 

Oh right, by the way the seating area is located at level 3 of the cafe and you need to self-order your food at level 2. The weather has been quite wacky in this tiny island and I need to dose myself up with some vitamin so for once, I decided not to order coffee and stick to apple fruit blended. It has a hint of tinge-ness which I did not really know from what, but I prefer the usual fruit juice, to be honest. 

Collecting food proved to be a challenge if you are alone (my friend guarding our seats and belonging upstairs) as you need to collect your own food. When my hands are full holding the plates, I suddenly wished I had extra hand to open the door leading to the seating area. Thankfully, a not-bad-looking angel helped me to open the door. Once my omelette toast landed safely on the table, it's time for some photo-taking and finally, eating time! I love eggs so I seldom have bad experience with whatever brunch items involving eggs. This one is not an exception.

While my friend's plate looks kinda like a mess, but that cannot be helped because the dish is called Banger & Mash. The sauce itself is pretty good but I don't really like the filling of the beef sausage (the other one supposedly pork). 

Maybe I should try their coffee next time because reviews say that D'Good Cafe serves a pretty good caffeine-fix. Oh well, until next time then.

How to go to D'Good Cafe:

1. Take MRT to the nearest MRT station, Holland Village

2. Walk for 1-2 minutes from Exit B to 273 Holland Avenue #02-01

Operating hours:

Sunday to Thursday: 10AM to 10PM

Friday & Saturday: 10AM to 11PM

Jakarta Foodie: Depot 369 Shanghai Dumpling and Noodle

10 minutes to 10PM on a weekday night and here I am, munching chips which I brought from my hometown happily. I really love this chips named Chitato which I bought in supermarket in my hometown, Jakarta. You should give it a try if you see one.

Oh wait, but that's not what this post is talking about. I wanna shared about my experience eating green noodle which turns out not made from green tea after all. It was 8PM on a Saturday evening (yeah, my brother loves to go dining out at this timing because everywhere is crowded at 7PM) ad we did not know where to eat so our mum suggested to eat at Depot 369 Shanghai Dumpling and Noodle, which has a branch near where we reside. The restaurant have red and green dumpling and that kinda amazes me so I ordered the green one which colouring supposedly comes from spinach. Aesthetically, the green noodle looks so pretty.

But how about the taste? I kinda like the taste of the green noodle to be honest with you. The taste goes well with the minced pork and I really hope this noodle is healthier than the usual egg noodle (yellow colour noodle). 

Since we had consumed a supposedly healthy dinner, we continued our journey that night to eat one of the traditional Indonesian dessert, iced cendol. If I can describe what is "cendol" in simple terms, I would say that it's a dessert made from green rice flour which is shaped like green jelly mixed together with sugar and coconut milk. Don't forget the ice cubes.

Just talking about iced cendol makes me want to have this dessert again, really. 

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Favourite Japan Souvenirs in Haneda Airport

1. Tokyo Banana

Whenever there is someone going to Tokyo, chances are that person has to bring back Tokyo Banana with her or him. Tokyo Banana is a famous souvenir to bring back from Japan and it has since evolved to different variety from the original light and fluffy sponge cake with a banana custard filling to smooth caramel custard flavored banana cream sponge cake with giraffe design.

A lot of people prefer the original to the caramel ones though so if you receive order to buy the original Tokyo Banana, go for this box. The price for one gift box depends on how many pieces included inside (8 pieces JPY1,029, 12 pieces JPY1,543, 16 pieces JPY2,057). The expiry dates for Tokyo Banana is pretty fast because the snack only lasts for 7 days. You can probably make it last longer by keeping it in the fridge.

2. Shiroi Koibito

The next favourite item which is usually requested by loved ones back at home is the famous Hokkaido Shiroi Koibito cookies. The cookies are so famous until the brand opens a Shiroi Koibito Park in Hokkaido where visitors can see how the cookies are being made.  I, for one, am very interested in going to the park because Shiroi Koibito cookies are so yummy. There are two varieties offered, white chocolate and dark chocolate. The varieties refer to the filling inside the cookies. Both taste good but I personally prefer the white chocolate.

3. Kitkat

Another favourite item to check out in Haneda Airport is definitely Japanese Kitkat, which is different from Kitkat in the rest of the world. Don't ask me why but Japanese has the best variety of Kitkat. The taste itself range from the normal strawberry to the wacky wasabi. Everyone will surely welcome Japanese Kitkat as a gift. 

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Airport Limousine Bus to Haneda Airport

If you are looking for a convenient and yet, affordable, way of transportation between Shinjuku and Haneda Airport, you may want to check out the airport limousine bus provided by www.limousinebus.co.jp. They offer a lot of picking up points in Shinjuku (complete list here). We chose the one nearest to our hotel, Shinjuku Station West Exit. 

The reason of why we chose to go to the Shinjuku Station West Exit is because the ticket counter for the airport limousine is situated right opposite the picking up location. In order to avoid disappointment, we bought our tickets the day before. We did not have to pay when we made our reservation but we need to reserve the pick up timing. The ticket costs JPY 1,230. 

Once the bus has arrived, you need to show the airport limousine ticket to the driver. The driver will then help you to keep your luggage at the luggage compartment under the bus. He will give you a ticket with number for baggage collection. Once he has done keeping all the luggages, he will then collect the payment from you and you can board the bus. The travel time between Shinjuku Station and Haneda Airport is more or less 30 minutes.

Welcome to Haneda Airport. We were pretty much tired and felt a bit sad when we reached Haneda Airport because that means we were leaving Japan in a bit. But nonetheless, we were pretty relieved that we managed to reach the airport and settle the check-in without any hassle.

But wait, don't go pass the immigration just yet because there are chocolates waiting for you to buy. Japanese airports are the best places to buy Japanese chocolates like Royce and Kitkat since there is no GST charged here. Yeah!

The variety of Kitkat sold at Haneda Airport is pretty huge. The rum and raisin taste so yummy. Do note that the flavour offered here may change time to time depends on the season. 

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Ramen Vending Machine and McDonalds in Japan

Japan in famous for its vending machine and you will see a huge varieties of items sold by Japanese vending machines from the normal drinks, chocolates and chips, socks, cigarettes to ramen. Yes, you can order ramen via vending machine. If you can't speak Japanese, ordering a ramen via vending machine is the best way because you just need to select the kind of ramen that you wish to eat, make payment, take the order slip and bring it to the counter. 

The buttons on the vending machine has number which corresponds to the dishes displayed in the display cabinet. All of those food look good, really.

After we had fun ordering the ramen, we saw a McDonalds nearby our hotel and my friend feels like trying Japanese fast food because it may be different. Agreeing to her request, we made our way to McD and oh wow, if Japanese McD gives out this kind of toys, I would end up buying Happy Meal everyday. The Doraemon toys are so cute. 

I ordered Ebi-Fillet-O, which is pretty similar to Fillet-o-Fish but they use fried shrimp patty instead of fish. 

Nom nom nom, happy eating!

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Hokuo Bakery, Shinjuku

One thing that makes me enjoying my stay in Japan is the unlimited choices of bakeries. There are so many Japanese bakeries and most of them are not that big in sizes and situated near major train stations. However, these Japanese bakeries sell a lot of variety of Japanese breads and patisseries. In a way, it kinda reminds me of the anime, Yakitate Japan. Hahaha.

This time, my choice fell on Hokuo Bakery which is situated at Shinjuku Station.

Hokuo is apparently a Scandinavian bakery and it provides a lot of European breads. 

However, Hokuo also provides my favourite bread, Melon Pan. There are two varieties of the melon pan. One is plain (which I think is the original melon pan) while the other is mixed with chocolate chip.

There are other Japanese favorite buns too like the fried curry bun and the maple bread. If you come during spring, some of these bakeries serve limited edition bread like sakura matcha bread.

I stick to my original melon pan and yum, it is really good.

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Tokyo Disneysea Store

One must not leave Tokyo Disneysea without paying a visit to the Disney Store. To be honest, I did not really buy a lot at Disney Store in Tokyo Disneysea compared to the one situated at Hong Kong Disneyland. With that being said, it does not mean that Tokyo Disneysea's Disney store is lousy or anything. It sells a lot of stuff which I don't use very often. For instance, there is Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck towel. 

If you love Disney snacks like cookies and biscuits, Tokyo Disneysea has a ton of them. The packaging for each snack is so cute on its own. 

The cookie boxes are really attractive-looking. I ended up buying this vintage-looking box featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse on SS Columbia Cruise. I wanted to use the box to store my accessories. 

The cookies are actually so-so but at least they are still edible. I still managed to eat more than half of them. =P

I kinda like this box too but the snacks look pretty plain so I gave it a miss. 

Socks! Can't resist them.

If you are looking for items uniquely available at Tokyo Disneysea, you should get this cute Gelatoni Cat, who gets his name from painting an art with gelato. Okay, this is such a weird background story but Gelatoni is pretty cute cat.

I saw my friend bought this for her daughter. That kind makes me think if I will look damn funny wearing this around in Singapore. I won't be judged if I carry this cute Shellie May pouch bag in Japan though. Japan is such a cool country. XD

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Sunset at Tokyo Disneysea, Japan

When the sun goes down, it does not mean that it is the end of business at Tokyo Disneysea. In fact, a lot of popular rides such as Toy Story Mania still has a long queue outside its entrance when the sun has set. 

I thought I could have a chance playing this ride but I guessed we had to try it another time. U_U.

Mount Prometheus and the twilight sky. 

By the way, if you want to stay at the best hotel in Tokyo Disneysea, Hotel Miracosta is your best choice. The thing is, you are not the only one thinking that way, and the Japanese is really crazy about this hotel. I am not sure how early you have to make your booking here because whenever I am curious and check the hotel availability, it is always full. Crazy.

Before we knew it, we have reached the main entrance which also serves as the main exit of Tokyo Disneysea. 

Before we went home, we should at least pop by the Disney store and see a lot of fun stuff inside. 

Don't forget to get your Duffy bear here as it is only available at Tokyo Disneysea.

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Welcome to New York at Tokyo Disneysea, Japan

The New York area of Tokyo Disneysea...at one glance, it seems like a place where you can take a leisure walk looking at all those vintage Broadway-ish buildings in the surrounding.

You can also spot this Gothic hotel named Hotel Hightower which is also the starting point of the queue line for Tower of Terror. If you a line is formed here, that's pretty much means you are kinda doomed (even before you take the ride) because that means you have to queue for at least three hours. Sucks.

So yeah, anyway, we wanted to do something more relaxing here. In other words, an attraction that lets us sit throughout the ride. That's where we noted that there is a Broadway-themed show, the Big Band Beat, which is shown in the Broadway Music Theatre. The problem is...you need to get yourself a reserved ticket for an access to the show.

And in order to secure the reserved ticket, you need to go to the neighbouring building and test your luck at some lottery machine. If you are lucky, you will get yourself a reserved ticket to watch Big Band Beat.

If lady luck does not smile on you that day, you will see this notification box at the monitor of the lottery ticket. Bummer, I seriously started to get irritated by Tokyo Disneysea at this point in time, to be honest with you. XD

Even Cruella de Vil said that the machines are really ridiculous (okay, I was kidding, she did not say anything because she's busy shooing people). I wonder if the characters in Disneyland or Disneysea are expected to act like the characters that they are portraying. Hmm, I guess that should be the case. If not, Cruella de Vil will not be that bad towards visitors. Hahaha.

Well, if you are in the same situation as us, do not fret because after all if you are willing, they will be a way. Right in front of Broadway Music Theatre, there is an area dedicated for visitors who are willing to queue for the remaining available seats which are given to first-come-first-served customers. Yup, the lottery machines are set not to give out all seats in the theatre so they are bound to be some available seats to be allocated to the less-lucky visitors.

You just need to wait for 2 hours plus (in our case) and you can get yourselves in the theatre. The musical was quite nice but we were pretty tired to keep our eyes opened throughout the show. I admitted I slept in some parts of the show. Too tired.

I guess if you really want to catch this show without queueing like us, you should come early in the morning to try the lottery because there are more tickets to allocate earlier during the day. I suppose.