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?

The golden age of the Pharaohs

 It's Father's day today. What did you do for your fathers? I didn't do anything special for my dad but my parents and I went to the museum. We've been wanting to see this exhibition since it was announced to come to Japan.

 The exhibition is about Egypt, mainly Tutankhamun. They display treasures that were found at the tomb of Tutankhamun and other remains. It was a great opportunity to see those treasures because not many people have the chance to go to Egypt, where this exhibit is originally held. Maybe I can go there someday but not anytime soon, so going to the exhibition is like cherry-picking the good points of traveling.

 When we arrived at the museum, we were glad to see that there were not so many people, even when it's a weekend. We then proceeded to purchase tickets. Ticket price on weekends costs 2800 yen. Expensive! But I can understand since these treasures are incredibly invaluable. We entered the museum and we were given numbered tickets that indicated we can enter the museum at 1:20. It was 12:30 in my watch so we decided to have lunch first.
 After lunch, we headed to the museum again and saw a lot of people waiting in line! We also had to wait for another 20mins until we could finally get inside. The inside of the museum was so packed that I couldn't reach the showpieces easily. The way they are displayed were not right. The rooms weren't big enough so we couldn't walk smoothly. However, the showpieces were extremely amazing and gorgeous! I have no clue how the ancient egyptian made those stuff!! Engraving was pretty much fine and precise.

 Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside (even using a phone!) so I got some photos of the treasures I saw at the museum.

 The coffin of Tjuya. This golden coffin was insanely beautiful. I think Tjuya is King Tut's grandma.

 Canopic coffinette of King Tut. His innards were placed  in this small coffin when he died. This was also superb. You can also see an engraving of a man with wings inside the coffinette.

 This necklace and the dagger were found inside the tomb. They are made of gold.

  Scarab is a holy insect in ancient Egypt, which is a symbol of reincarnation and re surrection.

 It took us 30mins to look around. Actually, I was looking forward to the mask of King Tut but it wasn't there. Is it in the museum in Egypt or in England??

The museum is next to Kaiyukan, an aquarium in Osaka. I didn't visit there today but this is good place too.

dad's birthday

 Last Sunday was my dad's birthday but my relatives and I went out for dinner that day. Besides, my sisters had something to do and couldn't join us so we postponed my dad's celebration to today. Nowadays, we celebrate simply with some pieces of cake; no hearty food, no whole cake, no song. Sounds sad? Not really.

 This morning, my mom and I drove to the city to buy cakes (or rather say she drove. LOL) but we dropped by an electronic center first. My mom had been thinking about buying a new washing machine since the one we had started making scary noise. At the center, we checked some washing machines and both agreed to purchase Panasonic, which has silent-operation and eco-washing features. Luckily, we had accumulated cash vouchers which can be used in the center so we didn't have to pay anything at all! hahaha!! I love it.
 Then, I checked the new MacBook Pro with Retina display, which is released two days ago. It was really impressive but I was more attracted to iMac. Apple hasn't updated their iMac models but it is definitely a better replacement for our living room computer, which is pathetically slow and outdated. Also, we bought a LAN cable for the internet there and left for a department store next to the center.

 We headed straight to the confectionery are and looked around pastry shops. I found a beautiful display at a pastry. I really wanted to show it here though the sales clerk said no when I asked if I could take a pic. That's so Japanese. I understand but what could I do with it? Right? I won't copy the design right. Anyway, we bought cakes at another store and went home.
 As soon as we got home, I replaced the old cable with the new one that I bought at the center to make the internet faster. The speed was 20Mbps before and it became 13Mbps after I exchanged. Huh? I bought the better cable and it got slower!! I changed some setting but it was too complicated for me!! Finally, I set it back to 20Mbps again after all but I expected it would become over 50Mbps...why why why? give up!!

 And these are the cakes we bought!! Blueberry tart, Cherry tart, chocolate cake and Macha & sweet red bean cake from PATISSERIE TOOTH TOOTH. Which do you like??

I chose this.

Happy 60th Birthday, Daddy.

toothpaste? no, it's mint chocolate!!

 I'm crazy about chocolates and who isn't? I actually have one friend who doesn't like chocolate at all. Hahaha I can't understand!! Anyways, I went to a convenience store the other day and I found lots of mint chocolates. Mint chocolate is my all-time favorite but many people don't like it and usually say it tastes like toothpaste!! I certainly don't agree!! Chocolate and mint are perfect combination!!
 I was overwhelming seeing mint chocolates on store shelves thinking what I should buy, while I was a bit surprised that mint chocolates were in vogue. There are so many products available such as mint chocolate drink, ice cream, bread and cake.

 I compiled some mint choco products I've seen.
 I've only tried the right Andes though I think the one on the left is better.

  I saw this Glico's Pocky in a convenience store. It's for a limited period only. I haven't tried it yet. I'll try it someday.

 Baskin Robbins's mint chocolate is the one I always order. This mint chocolate is the best of the best so far. I've never tried any better mint chocolate ice cream than Baskin Robbins.

 This is also for a limited period from GODIVA. Dark truffes with mint chocolate chip...must be sooooooo yummy!! They say it's good for a casual gift. Anyone?

   And this is what I bought, simple mint chocolate, Morinaga DARS. I like this because I can taste more of the mint, since it has tiny mint capsules covered in a thin layer of chocolate.

 More mint chocolate are going on sale as summer approches. I can't wait!!