Monday, 8 May 2017

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]


Kamakura is a small town which was strongly associated with Kyoto. It is described as the Kyoto of Tokyo because of the huge amount of Temples, Pagoda as well as Shrines located all around. 

It took us about an hour from shinjuku to get to Kamakura station. Right at the exit of the train station was the famous street, Komachi-dori.

Komachi-dori

It was a really crowded day to be at Kamakura I must say. But there's no other way to indulge in Japan's Golden Week like this.

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Entrance to Komachi-dori 
GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Komachi-dori
As you stroll along the street, you will see people queuing up for famous street food stalls. You should jump into the bandwagon and try. Here's a list of things we managed to get!

Mashed potato Croquette -

The queue for the croquette may seem pretty intimidating, but it moves really fast. There are many flavours to choose from - chocolate, plum, black sesame, beef and red bean. 

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
The famous must have mash potato Croquette ¥200

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Chocolate Croquette (mashed potato)  ¥200 

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Black sesame Croquette (mashed potato)  ¥200



GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Beef Croquette (mashed potato)  ¥200

Inarizushi - sushi wrapped in tofu skin

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Inarizushi - sushi wrapped in fried tofu skin  ¥250

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Inarizushi - sushi wrapped in fried tofu skin  ¥250

Inarizushi - White bait egg roll

 From the same stall, you can also get the egg roll. Kamakura is known for its

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
White bait egg roll  ¥250

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
White bait egg roll  ¥250

Soy sauce Rice Cracker

Along the way to the great Buddha, you will also find more street food. 
It was the first stall we saw as we walked out of Komachi-dori and we thought it looked really huge and great so there we go ~ 
GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Soy sauce rice cracker  ¥300

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Soy sauce rice cracker  ¥300

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Soy sauce rice cracker  ¥300

Floresta Donuts

And....
We passed by Floresta Donuts and decided to got something sweet. Look how adorable they are.

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Floresta mini donuts  ~¥200

Cremia Ice Cream

Cremia Ice Cream can be found almost everywhere in Japan. But it was nonetheless my first time having cremia and i loved it!! It was super creamy and the cone was unique. 

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Cremia Ice cream  ¥500

Octopus Cracker

Last but not least, the famous octopus cracker at Kamakura!
I'm not sure if we can find this anywhere else in Japan, but it is my first time encountering this. Basically its a really thin sheet of freshly squashed octopus with some flour. It tasted like prawn cracker but I would say slightly better and more fragrant?? 

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Tako senbei (Octopus cracker)  ¥350

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Tako senbei (Octopus cracker)  ¥350
 This is them squashing the octopus in high pressure and heat.

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Tako senbei (Octopus cracker)  ¥350
 You can literally see the tentacles of the octopus.

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
My boyfriend excited to eat his cracker

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
Tako sembei (Octopus cracker)  ¥350

and finally, the Great Buddha

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
The Great Buddha @ Kamakura

GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
The Great Buddha @ Kamakura
GOLDEN WEEK DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA [TOKYO]
The Great Buddha @ Kamakura

The entrance fee into the Buddha Temple is ¥200. You can also get under the Buddha for an additional ¥20.

Overall, Kamakura is a really nice place to add to your itinerary if you are coming to Tokyo. However we do not need the entire day at Kamakura, so I would suggest only an afternoon there, and could possibly be paired with Enoshima or Yokohama.






Saturday, 6 May 2017

A HAPPY PANCAKE - TOKYO [OMOTESANDO]

Its Golden Week!
And look who decided to get a haircut in Japan?

A HAPPY PANCAKE - TOKYO [OMETOSANDO]

I've decided to go back to bangs again!
I thought I needed some hair to cover my forehead. Its always a cycle - I get sick of it, I love my long fringe, then I cut it back short again. But this time round I'm trying Korean bangs!!! Ok, but that's not the point of my post today.

We decided to spend our Golden Week in Tokyo after many rounds of consideration. We thus wanted to take day trips around Tokyo and get to know Tokyo even more since we stay at the suburbs.

On Thursday, we headed down to the all famous - A HAPPY PANCAKE store at Omotesando.

In general, Omoteando is nice place for a chill afternoon in a cafe. They have the biggest range of pretty good cafes for you to choose from! As you walk down the streets of Omotesando, you can see many people queuing up to get into cafes. So if you don't have time to do your research, just head on down to Omotesando and join any queue you see.

A Happy Pancake 


The menu is simple - you get a good range of pancakes from original to chocolate to berries to fruits.

We just needed a good pancake fix each thus only ordered 2 sets.


It took about 10 -15 minutes to serve. I find it fairly acceptable since they made the pancakes on the spot. A Happy Pancake's ambiance is also really nice and cozy.

A HAPPY PANCAKE - TOKYO [OMETOSANDO]
A Happy Pancake ¥1,100 

A HAPPY PANCAKE - TOKYO [OMETOSANDO]
Strawberry Cheese Fondue ¥1.480
The Strawberry Cheese Fondue caught our taste buds because it seemed really special. I think it is seasonal because it was in a separate menu. Look!!!! There's like cheese dip aside for you to dip or drizzle over the pancake. It's a combination of cheese (+ cream cheese), that wasn't overpoweringly salty or cheesy but was just right with the pancakes.

A HAPPY PANCAKE - TOKYO [OMETOSANDO]


I would say that the pancake were totally worth the hype!
It was fluffy, moist and fragrant. We had to queue for a good 30 minutes but I guess for what they called the best pancakes in town it is okay. Tokyo is known to serve really great pancakes and I can't wait to try more. Please let me know if you have any recommendations, and especially those great ones that doesn't have queues......

Thank you for reading!


Today's make up:
Etude House Face Blur Primer
Colorpop Lippie Stix in Cami 
Corsx Aloe Vera Suncreen
Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in Sand
Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in Light
Maybelline Hypercurl Mascara
The Body Shop Loose Face Powder
Innisfree No Sebum Loose Powder
Canmake Powder Cheeks PW38
ELF Highlighter in Moonlight
ELF Eyebrow Kit in Medium
ELF Mad for Matte Eyeshadow Palette