"Smiley Face"

Cold Lunch

Lunch (and dessert) is best served cold on a hot day. :)

Hiyashi Cold Ramen

Don

A wonderfully delicious bowl of Tori Soboro Don from Nana Green, especially when one is hungry!

Marinated minced chicken served over millet rice and poached egg

Japan Trip 2016: Day 9 Part 5 10 Dec 2016 Sat - Eating Ramen & Drinking Starbucks, Kyoto

We arrived back at Kyoto Station at 5pm. We decided to have an early dinner as we had been snacking since after our heavy breakfast in the morning. We headed straight to Kyoto Ramen Koji over at Isetan side. We were spoilt for choice! We walked one round, browsing at the menus of the 9 ramen restaurants before finally choosing to dine at Araumado for the variety it offers. :)

Top bowl: Miso pork bone broth
Bottom bowl: Chicken broth
Sides: Fried rice and Gyoza

Juliane ordered ramen in pork bone soup while I ordered ramen in chicken broth and our sides of fried rice and gyoza. We FINISHED everything haha. 
We watched the Christmas lights at Kyoto Station for a while before it got too cold for us, only about 7C. As we made our way back to the other side of Kyoto Station through the basement, I saw Starbucks. I was finally able to get my Baked Hot Apple Christmas drink after eyeing it since day 1 in Japan! It was deliciously sweet and a great drink for a cold winter's night. :P

We didn't buy much today as it was mostly postcards and charms from the different temples.

Donburi

Left work late today and had a late dinner. When one is hungry, everything tastes good. But the donburi was really delicious!

Food in Disguise

Can you believe that this Japanese bento set is vegetarian?! 

Although it is vegetarian (I wouldn't be able to tell it is vegetarian if I weren't in the restaurant), everything tasted absolutely delicious!

Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year! May all your aspirations come true in 2014! :) 

Today also happens to be the first day of the 12th lunar month. We went to the temple in the morning to pray for the new year and to pray for wisdom for the girls in their new school year.
We went for an early dinner at Kuishin Bo Japanese Buffet Restaurant to celebrate Marieann's birthday in advance. Her birthday is tomorrow which is also the first day of school. Marieann chose the restaurant as it is her favourite. :) 

Grilled lobsters, complimentary from the restaurant

Oden

Delicious desserts

Lavendar Milk ice cream - enjoyed it!

It was a sumptuous meal. :) A good start to the new year. :)

Day 4 in Taipei 2013

Tomorrow, we would be going to Jiufen for three days and two nights. But as Taipei Hero House doesn't allow us to store our big pieces of luggage with them, we had to store them at our relative's place for the next three days. After breakfast, we brought our luggage to my cousin-in-law's place for storage. We left to shop at Sogo which is 5 minutes away from her place. I bought some clothes for the girls as Sogo is now having summer sale and we had lunch at the food court at Sogo. :) We took the shuttle bus from Sogo to the MRT train to go back to our  accommodation.

My mother's Dan dan noodle

My grilled pork bento (value for money!)

Juliane's kid meal

Marieann's Katsu don

An unexpected passenger taking the shuttle bus to the MRT station :)

We took it easy for the rest of the afternooon until 5pm when we went to Ximending. Marieann was determined to do something lol. And she did! :) We went for dinner after that at a Japanese restaurant which the oldest (and popular) restaurant in Ximending. 

Can you guess what Marieann did?

Marieann pierced her ears!

The oldest Japanese restaurant in Ximending and extremely popular with the locals.

After dinner, Marieann and I continued to browse around at Ximending while my mother and Juliane went back to the accommodation to rest because Juliane had a headache. We had a great time exploring Ximending and Marieann said she wanted to come back again lol.

A peaceful protest at Ximending

The Red House and the craft market in the daytime

Boutique shops inside The Red House

Adorable shop mascots inside The Red House. This one seems to be staring inappropriately haha

A really talented artist who makes very unique T-shirts