helianthus

Itohkyuemon, Uji

Aramaki-19-3 Todo, Uji, Kyoto 611-0013, Japan 

Yes, matcha sweets only in Uji city, amongst the Uji tea plantation

Issen Yoshoku
Japan, 〒605-0078 Kyoto, Higashiyama-ku, Tominagachō, 141 ＳＡＫＩＺＯ祇園富永町ビル
The first and okonomiyaki I've had was Kyoto okonomiyaki, not Tokyo, not Osaka, not Hiroshima..

Izuju
292 Gionmachi Kitagawa, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, 605-0073, Japan

Cray cray Kyotoite sushi

3rd year
pâtisserie TATSUHITO SATOI
Harmonie ¥480
Tatsujin Roll ¥350
Honey Hunt ¥490
Japan, 〒606-8224 Kyoto, Sakyō-ku, Kitashirakawa Oiwakechō, 2Ｅ フラット北白川 1Ｆ

Bel Amer
Matcha Souffle ¥1080
Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto, 604-8111, Japan

KISSHOKARYO KYOTO
Matcha Cake Roll ¥378
Kinako Cake Roll ¥378
306 Ishibashichō, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, 605-0066, Japan

4th year
Jouvencelle
Matcha Chocolate Fondue ¥1350
306 Ishibashichō, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, 605-0066, Japan

Awomb
Teori Sushi Jou ¥1680
189 Ubayanagichō, Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto, 604-8213, Japan

The ice cream shouldn't be called 'caramel biscuit & cream', it should be named 'Speculoos' because it tasted just like.. Speculoos? I tried to lend a detailed description of what Speculoos was to my unsuspecting plane passenger, but ended up having to look up on search engines the origins, what it means, etc.

Yoghurt (SYD 11.50)

The espresso butter and honey-infused mascarpone which got me ranting every day when I'm back.. 

Salted Caramel (SYD 7.50) and Brownie (SYD 4.50)

We are in for a treat! Having a slice of banana bread, salted caramel tart, popcorns, and brownie with walnuts and pure dulce de leche(caramel?) for breakfast. 

When we were almost done, the staff recommended the fresh from the oven matcha cronuts to us. No! Resist ourselves. Tastes more like creamy kaya.

Petal Met Sugar is a florist cum bakery, one of the lesser seen concepts in Singapore's cafes, and I reckon to be the mother of inspiration for cafes all around the globe where every meal can be high tea. 

Exceptionally green lawns in eastern Australia. 

Loving the vibes at Calabur Café & Diner by Bondi. Maybe it's the staff, the neighbouring diners, or just the location.

An orthodox on its own, western setting, exotic orient, japanese brews. 

Vermicelli Noodle Salad (w raw salmon) (SYD 18.00)

Poke bowl with rice swapped with vermicelli noodles and swathed in a tasty homemade peanut sauce. 

Uncle Ray's Salad (SYD 17.00)

Sydney Calabur Cafe & Diner attempts to feed me like a rabbit! With its fresh and modern outlook, the restaurant incorporates sous vide cooking in all its food- sous vide prawns, sous vide salmon, 75°C egg, and sous vide chicken breast here. Ugh, and more oranges.

A smoothie made out of kale, spinach and mint. And more slices of orange.

That made sense when I could not recollect how the day started out in Tokyo, because we did not get out of a hotel, or waking up from one, but rather, caught the first train from Morioka to reach Tokyo at 935am. (Or second train, as the conductor at Morioka station would guide me, 1st train was at 6am, if I mind, second was at 615am.)

Taking the train on Yamanote line to Shibuya, it was reiterated to us that Japanese are one of the most graphical people. How can their SMRT allow them to paste stickers? Any example would be as this: 1. Gari Gari Kun plays with a most fashionable jigsaw puzzle, drawing out his rectilinear popsicle from a whole, round aged cheese. 2. A background Gari Gari Kun distends to an exaggerated, unthinkable size, his mouth and lips framing the entire poster and food. 3. Gari Gari Kun, kun being honorifc for guy in Japanese, is a hungry child with spiky hair, grey shaven head and bald spots- portrayal of the archetypal male image in Japan? 4. And the popsicle flavour advertised is none other than rare cheese. 'Nough said. It took half an hour for us to get to Shibuya from Tokyo, means we will reach Shibuya at 1005am, and we have 15 minutes to get to the hotel for check-in and vice versa. Oh no, does this mean we will be late to meet my old friend? 

Thankfully, my friend was late too, arriving around the same time as us at 1040. While we were at the east exit, he was waiting at the west exit instead- how could I have misinterpreted his text message of west into east! What an ungraceful entry for our first reencounter in a foreign land! This is not the first time already, 1 year ago we had landed at the east exit of Kamata station instead of the west exit to get to Nishitetsu Inn Kamata, as my mind had mytifyingly registered the west as the east. So, how did my old friend look like? He appeared not tall nor short, not old nor young, not unhurried nor hastened, just the same in an A&F-esque/Gap white Tee along with dark blue denims, trying to be an L-wannabe, ey.

Even my brother had not trodden on Ebisu station before. While I take it to account that your first visit to Tokyo you would have to cover Harajuku station, Asakusa station, Akihabara station, Disneyland/Centres other stations which I had not known of, however my kind of Tokyo is to stop at Ebisu station, Daikanyama station, Omotesando station, Roppongi station of the lot. Taking the Skywalk to Ebisu east, we came across a bunch of glossy posters acclaiming the Greater Glory of Sapporo brews, beers and Sapporo itself. Is it because they knew we just came from Sapporo, or purely because Sapporo is just great? Exiting from the Skywalk, I thought I had to walk under the blazing Tokyo day sun again, but instead, Yebisu Garden Place was filled with lush trees and pleasant lawn walks. There was almost someone walking a dog everywhere, and tinkling sounds of water from fountains could be heard all over the place. I almost had to exclaim, Sapporo, when I noticed the familiar red bricks and European inspired architecture. No wonder the Garden Place was strewn with horticulture and dainty pots of flowers hither and thither. Yebisu Garden Place was the headquarters of Sapporo Brewery, where the name of Sapporo Beer was disseminated to all over the country including Hokkaido island. A sign lists the group of restaurants under Yebisu Garden Place, Lawry's The Prime Rib, Gastronomie Joël Robuchon, Shake Shack, and another cluster of French restaurants, which will happen to be one of my French cafe.

MODE Cafe GAMIN was a situated in a breezy alleyway, with elderly diners relaxing away in the late morning. Everyone seemed to have ordered a glass of wine on the table! We, however, preferred our teas, and this was the first time I seen a male majority group caught sitting amongst teaspoons and teapots!

Another of our old friend met us at GRAIN BREAD and BREW, a cafe beside a shrine called Hikawa shrine after we walked from Ebisu to Shibuya via Meiji Dori. The second cafe focused on healthy eating and minimalist decor, which gave off a different feel from the first. I can't believe that the 4 of us had reunited in a cafe, but this time in Tokyo, miles away from Singapore or Johor Bahru, all good and well, doing our thing again what you call cafe?! hopping.

Although this was not my first encounter with Harajuku, having searched for Gion Tokuya previous years ago, and patronised Pablo Cafe last year, this was my first year to walk down Takeshita Dori, where I could finally examine the activities of this place and observe its workings. How a giant rainbow candy floss offered by two companies can win the hearts of customers and pedestrians, how an outer wall of a St Valentine's Church can become Instagram worthy and a symbolic image even, beautiful in their own aesthetics to become timelessness in itself.

The first few matcha products we tried for this trip (not green tea, not sencha) were matcha tiramisu, matcha softserve in waffle, and matcha softserve in Urasando Garden, a 裏/hidden/Ura garden in the backstreets of Omote (front)-sando (route). Perhaps we stayed a tad long in Harajuku, the angelic Angel Tear was sold out by the time we made our visit there. This was when I realised Urasando Garden comprised of 5 stalls, "foodcourt" style, Ujien, Migan Club, Gokaque, Coffe Diary and Margaux, the sitting area commanded free seating and each stall differed in menu and operations wise. The second level of the traditional teahouse was accessible by a dangerous flight of steep wooden stairs, bare except for a washroom, and perfect for a photoshoot.

Scramble in Tokyo isn't just restricted to the Shibuya scramble, as I can tell you today we transited from the Omotesando scramble to Shinjuku scramble. I happily recounted to my brother we had to rub shoulders with Shinjuku station every day for 3 days during my first stay in Tokyo, the first being to find WiFi router without having WiFi (using free WiFi at Akasaka restaurant laughs), the second to rehearse walking to Willer Express pickup point from Shinjuku station, the third actual departure from Willer Express pickup point (a night without shower laughs). This year we were going for tempura and tendon, as last year during our search for legendary Kaneko Hannosuke Google Maps brought us to its franchise stall in a foodcourt within a mall laughs. While Funabashiya Honten opens from 6pm, we took a small detour around Shinjuku to revisit the familiar sight of Godzilla and electronic stores. Funabashiya Honten retains the atmosphere of an old Taisho era, and the shop was not occupied with too many people nor too many tourists when we returned. I ordered a vegetable tempura set while the rest ordered tendon with 7 pieces. Tempura was freshly made upon order, and the tempura master elegantly frying tempura with giant chopsticks was the perfect embodiment of a Japanese chef as depicted in televisions and Japanese media. As usual, I had kept a copy of the restaurant's brochure with photos for future reference and keepsake.

Were we trying to forage something of a Japan of a lost year, walking into the largest Don Quijote in Shinjuku, passing by the Taito Station which was included in my itinerary for the very first year but abandoned due to time constraints.

My brother left us, and on the way back to Sakura Fleur Aoyama from Shibuya, the scaffolds obliterated the road junctions and we set foot on the wrong track from the station. Air had turned chilly, and I was immediately reminded of my previous rendezvous in Quebec, where I seem to wander off and off from my destination, holding nothing but a scrunched up piece of paper for direction, and the looming central business district is but a ghost town at nightfall, with not a soul at sight, even cars do not bother to sound at me when I eat into the lanes of the massive flyovers. Similar as to how a 5 minute walk to and from the hotel became a late entrance to meeting an old friend in Ebisu station in the morning even if Shibuya station was one station away, we skewed off a bit, then found our way probably 15 minutes later. Up the final few steps to Sakura Fleur Aoyama Hotel, we stumbled upon a Tokyo Evangelical church with soft lighting- how could we not has seen it earlier, or how could we have not attended the service on Sunday, a tide of sentiments came to me and this was how it ended the free, unplanned, spontaneous first day of my third time in Tokyo.

(Hokkien Prawn Mee and Law Mee) (Mixed) (Large) (RM 5.50) 

Charcoal Battered Onion Rings (SGD 3.00)

Charcoal Fish And Chips (Dory Fish) (SGD 12.00) (Scottish Salmon) (SGD 16.00)

This year, someone invited me to stay at Ritz Carlton, an experience with the trademark octagonal windows(, just nice the 15 days of chinese new year weren't over), soaking in the auspicious factor and its lounges. Instead, we went for Pink Afternoon Tea Buffet at Chihuly Lounge. Pink-themed pastries, pink-themed desserts and pink-themed sandwiches with your loved one(s), under the dome-shaped Ritz Carlton lounge. 

Pink roses, to replace the daises used in the ongoing spring-themed season buffet. And Moët & Champon Grand Vintage Rosé 2006 poured exclusively for Valentine's Day.

Pink Afternoon Tea Buffet (SGD 58.00)

Sakura toast with honey, and vanilla ice cream poured over the berries compote, a bold and tangy customised dessert.