How close can e-commerce come to a real shop?

 The other day, I decided to buy a pair of shoes for A/W. I usually go to the city to shop but I was in the mood to buy them on the Internet this time. In Japan, as far as I know, there are two websites for purchasing shoes. One is Javari.jp and the other is LOCONDO. Both offer almost the same service so I chose Javari.jp.

 Javari.jp started its business specializing in shoes and bags in 2010 by Amazon.jp. It seems like just an ordinary online shopping site but what is epoch-making about it is they don't charge shipping fee and they accept returning of goods regardless of the reasons within 365 days (except for some goods) under specific conditions such as the tag hasn't been removed or the shoes haven't been worn outside, which means "return them in the same condition as they were delivered." Moreover you don't even have to pay return shipping fee!! So it's like this; you order some pairs of shoes like different colors or size, or similar shoes, then you try them on (inside your house!!) and you buy shoes that you want and return the others. How convenient is that!

 Buying stuff online is sometimes very difficult since you cannot actually see it until it is actually delivered. And in Japan, it is almost impossible to return it unless there are damages. So what Javari.jp does is quite new. They brought the concept of "try-on" to e-commerce. 

 I checked some chukka boots on their website and I selected three pairs of shoes; two with the same styles but with different sizes and one with a different style. I ordered them before 4pm so they were delivered the following day!! That's so fast!! The box was this big.

and inside...

I also took a picture of the shoes in a box so if I return them, I wouldn't get any trouble packing them back again. LOL. (because they said "pack them the same way as you received it")

I bought 26cm and 26.5cm of this pair...

and 26cm of this.

 Unfortunately, all of them were too big for me even though I usually wear 26cm shoes. So I returned them. Bye Bye. The way to return was easy too. You can use the postal service from Javari.jp and they will come to collect the goods at your preferred time. Or you can bring them to a convenience store just like I did.

 After sending them back, I ordered two pairs of shoes again. This time I chose the 25cm and 25.5cm shoes. As expected, they were delivered the following day. (Even if it was Sunday) Then I decided to buy '25.5cm size' pair. Although the other pair was more my favorite, 25cm was a little too small. And I used the pick up service by the post office. I chose the pick up time online and gave it to the post man the next day. I also got an email from Javari.jp that said my return goods were accepted and they would be refunded.

 So after all I only bought one pair of shoes out of five and the others were returned. I felt a bit bad because I just ordered and tried them on. I really wasn't so serious buying them. I was just curious how I looked If I wore them. Also, I wanted to compare them. But that doesn't mean I will never buy shoes at a real shop but it might get often that I choose to buy them online (like after I check similar shoes at a real shop!!)

 I regret to say that there's no overseas shipping service. But I think Amazon.com has it. I don't know if they accept returning goods from abroad though. I'm thinking about getting shoes (again!) via Amazon.com next time so I'm a bit worried. It's better I'll try them on at a shop before I order.


Javari.jp: http://www.javari.jp/
LOCONDO: http://www.locondo.jp/

and there's Javari.co.uk which has international delivery.
Javari.co.uk: http://www.javari.co.uk/ 

health nut

 Yes, that's me. I don't know since when I became so health conscious. I always remind myself "You are what you eat". But I try not to go too far with it because I know too much "healthy" is also not healthy and some impurities are necessary (which reads "I can't deny fastfood") 
 Around 5 years ago, the word "superfood" was heard from the media and I became curious about it. According to the media, superfoods are foods with high nutrients that are expected to have good health benefits. So what kind of foods can be "superfoods?" I checked some; any kind of berries, avocados, pomegranates, nuts, oats, broccolis, spinaches, soy beans, seaweeds, honey, cacaos etc. And even oranges and tomatoes are in too. It seems most of dark green vegetables and fruits are likely to be superfoods. I've tried avocados, oats, nuts, soy milk, fermented soy beans (which is "natto"), honey (especially, manuka honey), 80% cacao, and even kimchi. And now I'm into açai and barley leaf juice.

　Açai (sometimes people say açai berry because of its appearance but it's not a kind of berry at all!!)  is a fruit found in the Amazon and is often called "miracle fruit" or "natural supplement" because of its vast nutrients. Especially the amount of polyphenol contained in it is around 18 times than blueberries. Polyphenol of açai is mostly anthocyanin; a red  pigment known for antioxidant effects, which is good for eyestrain, liver function and anti-aging. Moreover açai has essential fatty acids like omega3 and omega9. I could only find açai products in certain cafes until I found I could buy a pack of  Sambazon's frozen açai pulp at Costco. 

And since I started buying it there, I make a smoothie with it everyday. When I make a smoothie, I also add powder barley leaf juice. I always felt I eat less vegetables than the optimum amount I was supposed to eat, which is 350g a day based on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan. 

This green juice tastes terrible if you mix it with water or milk (it tastes much better though) so i decided to mix it up with açai. Barley leaves are rich in iron (20 times than prunes), vitamin K, potassium and of course fiber. Fresh barley leaves also have SOD; superoxide dismutase, which is believed to have anti-cancer qualities.

 I make a smoothie with soymilk, açai, powder green juice and protein for breakfast. You might think I don't get full but I actually do. So it also might be good to lose weight.
 Just in case; those people who get dialysis or have circulatory disease should be careful for taking too much vitamin K or Potassium so ask your doctor before you have those kinds of smoothies.

 This is my smoothie. It looks ew but the taste is not so bad. It's a bit too sweet though. Sambazon has unsweetened frozen pulp so I just hope Costco will have it too. Oh and you might wonder if it really brings any health benefit. For me, I think so.

 Açai and barley leaves juice. what will come to me next? I give an eye to coconuts and moringa. Coconut water is a big trend in the US now. A lot of celebrities such as Madonna, Lady Gaga and Rihanna drink it when they jog or work out. What is so special about coconut water? coconut water, which is the clear liquid inside a young coconut shell (this is different from coconut milk which is produced by extracting the coconut meat), contains rich minerals and potassium and is often  more preferred than sports drink like Gatorade because coconut water has more electrolyte, which promotes proper rehydration. In addition, it has no fat, low calories and 100% natural. I can even drink it instead of water!

 And moringa. This plant is normally seen in tropical or subtropic regions and has other names like "tree for life", "miracle herb", or "malunggay in filipino." It is said that moringa is the only plant that has all the essential amino-acids that human beings need and also GABA and other minerals are contained. Not only are the most parts of moringa edible but also you can produce oil from moringa seeds. The oil from moringa seeds can be used for cooking, cosmetics, machine-oil and potentially biofuel. The leaves are the most nutritious part with rich vitamin A, which even WHO expects to help the children in the poor countries from malnutrition. And interestingly, moringa seed powder has the potential power that can clean up the water by absorbing the pollutants. It sounds much like earth-saving plant, right?

 I'm quite interested in both of them but it's hard to find them here in Japan and even if I can, it's much expensive. Hmmmmmmmmmm, smells business?
 Anyways, I'll stick with açai and barley leaves now. And I'll check how I can import those stuff.


Sambazon's açai : http://www.sambazon.com/

The breakfast queen of NY is coming to Japan

 It's been 4 years since Bills aka "The Best Breakfast in the World" opened in Japan; its first restaurant outside Australia. I haven't tried the well-known scrambled eggs or ricotta hotcakes yet. When the restaurant first opened, tons of people went crazy about it. It's kind of funny people had to wait for hours and when they finally got seats and were ready for the breakfast, it was already afternoon. I hope it's not like that now if I happen to go there. I'm a bit tired of hearing about "the best breakfast in the world" thing because there are already 4 branches in Japan, which are all located in Tokyo and Yokohama. I feel it has less rarity than before. But I admit I'm still eager to try it.

 And it's been 2 years since Eggs 'n Things aka "The Must Go Restaurant in Hawaii" came to Japan. It was 2010 when I went to Hawaii with a friend of mine and had pancakes with super tall whipped cream. (BTW, what is the difference between hotcakes and pancakes? It's the same, right?) And these are the pancakes...

 It was...yeah it was quite sweet but I liked it especially when I ate it with an omelet with salted potatoes, you know, sweet and salty are always a good combination. I also liked sour blueberries, which refreshed my tongue.

 Exactly right after I came back from Hawaii, I heard the restaurant coming to Japan. I was partly happy and partly disappointed. I felt happy because I could eat it again in Japan and I felt disappointed because I could no longer say I exclusively tried it in HAWAII. Despite nagging that there's no point to travel and eat at famous restaurants abroad because most of them have branches in Japan today, I went straight to Eggs 'n things when I went to Tokyo. Of course, it was good. But it's better to go there in summer so at least you could recall how hot it was in Hawaii. Oh and I forgot to add...it's the must go restaurant in Hawaii...FOR JAPANESE! Because you will see few other nationalities in there!! maybe only the staff there?

 And finally...I got this news a couple of days ago. Sarabeth's aka "The Breakfast Queen of NY" will open its first branch in Japan. The restaurant is famous for brunch meals. The brunch there is quite simple; eggs with bread that you can choose from several kinds of muffins, scorn, croissant, or toast. You can also enjoy pancakes, french toasts and waffles. Sarabeth's is also known for supervising the movie "It's complicated" starring Meryl Streep. I remember I woke up early and walked to the restaurant alone when I traveled to NY. I felt like "OMG, I'm like a new yorker!!" HAHAHA, I was young. I think I looked weird back then. Anyway, the dish was really good but what I loved more is their other specialty; preserves. It's quite sad that I didn't take any picture of it (or maybe I did but I don't know where they are.) Their brunch was served with confiture and the confiture was just amazing. I think I had orange-apricot marmalade.

Orange-Apricot Marmalade $10

 The balance between sweetness and bitterness was perfect. I did like it so much that I brought two jars to Canada with me where I was staying at that time.

 And It's coming to Tokyo this November...I don't think the location is very Sarabeth's-like and I can easily imagine the restaurant would be packed with so many people. Let's wait and see...

 So now if I feel like having the world's best, then I can go to Bills. If I feel like Hawaiian, there's  Eggs 'n Things and I feel like some posh NY style, then there's nowhere but Sarabeth's!! What's next?? and When is Jamba Juice's turn??

More information

Bills:http://www.bills.com.au/

Eggs 'n Things:http://www.eggsnthings.com/

Sarabeth's:http://www.sarabeth.com/

Chicken wings

 When I was in the Philippines, I was able to try BonChon Chicken for the first time. There is no BonChon in Japan yet. I like the skin of their chicken wings, which is very crispy and has a soy garlic taste. It seems that BonChon Chicken is the best chicken ever. BonChon started in Busan, South Korea, then opened the first branch in New Jersey, US. Their chicken is fried twice so the skin becomes crunchier and less greasy.

 However, I highly recommend one restaurant that serves, in my opinion, tastier chicken. "Yama-chan of the world" was established in Nagoya, the middle part of Japan. Nagoya is famous for chicken wings and this restaurant (or you can say Japanese style bar) is the most popular chicken-wing restaurant.  Their chicken wings are made spicy not by chili pepper but by black pepper.

 A friend of mine and I went to a branch in Kyoto at 6:15 but it was already full of reservation. Only seats at the counter were available. We didn't have choice so we sat there. You can see staff woking so hard.

 It costs 400 yen for 5 wings. This is 5 wings but my friend and I already ate 20 wings. Hehehehe.

 I must say that these chicken wings are perfect with beer!! We drank three pitchers of beer. That was too much, though!!

 One thing that made me a bit scared there was that the restaurant had special menus which were cooked with ingredients from Tohoku region(northeast Japan). Hmmm, of course they use uncontaminated ingredients but still we have to be conscious about food to keep away from radiation, right?

Miranda Kerr on Japanese Lipton advertisement

 I've never seen Miranda Kerr sing/act like this! but She's super cute.

 Also, check out this making video.

How to spend rainy days.

 Do you know that Japan has a rainy season? Most people say that there are four seasons in Japan but it's actually five. Between Spring and Summer, we have a short rainy season. It's not like the one in Southeast Asia where it rains in short periods in one day. A rain front stays over Japan and causes raining all day for a few days. Then there are a couple of sunny/cloudy days then back to rain days. The temperature hovers between 20℃ to 30℃, and it's humid. This lasts for a month so this one month is the most depressing month for Japanese.
 It really made me not feel like going out so I was thinking of what I could do insted of going out.

 Watching American TV drama is one of the options since I love watching American TV drama. ( I rarely watch Japanese one, nor British one except for Torchwood) My line-up recently is Glee, Bones, Gossip Girl and sometimes Law and Order. I'm curious about New Girl. My sister told me it was good so I'll try watching it.

 Did you know Jess from New Girl and Dr.Brennan from Bones are real sisters? I didn't know!! Zooey and Emily Deschanel.

Zooey Deschanel (Jess) from New Girl

Emily Deschanel (Dr.Brennan) from Bones

 Yeah, they are sisters. 

 I also want to watch something a bit more mature. Has anyone watched Mad Men? Is that interesting?? 

see a dentist

 In Japan, not so many people undergo orthodontics. One of the reasons is that it costs a lot, approximately 1,000,000 yen. So only people who medically need it or people with enough budget and those who are very particular about how their teeth look go to an orthodontist. That is the reason why lots of Japanese have bad set of teeth.
 Anyways, I've seen an orthodontist since 3 years ago and I came back to check up today. here is a waiting area. Bright and clean.

 And this is the front desk. You can pay by cash, credit card or e-cash. I've never paid by e-cash here but I know it's so useful!! You don't need to bring cash with you to pay but instead you can use a card or your cellphone.

 It's been 8 months since the last time I saw the dentist because I was in the Philippines. My dentist was introduced by another dentist in the clinic where my sisters work. Yeah, my sisters work at the same place. Crazy? I think so, too. Hahahaha. I like my dentist because I can get a treatment in a private cubicle so no one can see me. This is maybe because I'm an orthodontic patient. When I got my wisdom tooth extracted, I was led to an regular place with three dental chairs. And there is a VIP room, which I've been to once. Very nice place.
 I noticed that my two upper front teeth moved forward but he told me they were okay. Hmmm, but I don't like it!! Hope they won't move anymore. Then I got my teeth cleaned and left there.


 I was told to came after six months but I think I should see him earlier for maintenance. I really care about my teeth and I'm confident about them. Are you confident about your teeth?