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Monday, December 2, 2013

Japan Trip Part 1 : Tokyo & Hokkaido in 24 hours.


This is a story of how I ended up in Japan , my land of hello kitty and a guide to how to cover 3 cities in a week. 
It all started when a friend of mine called me in the morning asking me if I wanted to go Japan and of course WHO WOULD SAY NO TO JAPAN. 


A picture of me in the train 


The next thing I knew was that my Japan tickets were SGD $67 thank to the one cent sale from flyscoot.com. Thank you scoot.
Just to share, Scoot is also my favourite budget airline, friendly prices & super comfy leg space. 

We had a transit in Taiwan so technically, our $67 bought us to two countries. #cheapthrill.
Anyway, after we arrived in the Narita airport we went to the JR counter to pick up our JR Pass which we bought it in Singapore before the trip. I paid about $380 for the pass which was valid for a week. 



Fingers painted by Mynte Fingers! <3

The Japan Rail Pass was like our ezlink card in Japan because as long as we are taking the rail under the Japan Rail company, it's covered. We just had to walk back the gantry like a boss!
Addition to that, you might think that it is ridiculously expensive for transport for just a week but don't worry cause people like me, we fully utilized it.

Tip : Important to plan the places you want to go and calculate the amount of money spent on transport.
This would help you to get a better idea on your budget as well as to if you should buy rail passes.


First drink in Japan from the vending machine!

Took the train to Tokyo Station where we deposit our bags at the lockers.

Super clean not not really spacious....




First stop at Akihabara!



Thanks to my job *ahem* , I really really wanted to visit a meido cafe in where it started, Akihabara Tokyo Japan.

@homecafe it shall be!


Of course when you visit a maid cafe, be it Singapore/Japan or anywhere it the world, you need to order the omu-rice! And let the mei-do do the ketchup drawing!


The mei-dos also drew on the latte with chocolate syrup!


There are many many many mei-do cafes around , I suggest to visit the ones in Akihabara where it first originated. 
p/s:  Don't expect super ultra yummy food in meido cafe and don't expect it to be cheap.
My meal was SGD $35 per pax but it was so moe I thought it was worth it. :)

Next, Ginza!


Then shopping time in Ginza!
A little disappointed because everything we wanted to buy WAS SOLD OUT.
What sorcery was that!
Huh... CH tee sold out... Baobao bag SOLD OUT WTF.

Anyway this was me really happy in front of the chrome hearts store.

Actually we only had like half a day in Tokyo because we were off to Hokkaido !
There's where the pricey JR Pass helped us save, the time taken from Tokyo to Hokkaido is approximately 8 hours (?) so to and fro would save two nights of accommodation.

Dinner from family mart. 
I love food from convenience stores and also trains that allows food.

We had to change trains thrice and we spent the most number of hours in this erm, vintage rail train.



Comfy level ?  About 5.5/10 .

I guess this is the most vintage rail in Japan or maybe not, I do not know.
Anyway I was not affected because
1. It's Japan ; everything is clean
- Even it looks like Singapore/Malaysia rails (when they existed) , it was not even half disgusting as ours. wtf.
2. I sleep everywhere
- When on board, be it the plane, bus, rail. I just can fall asleep.


Next post on waking up in Hokkaido!
That's all for now.

Loves,
A.
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Friday, March 22, 2013

#cnos2 Fashion Challenge




Outfit Breakdown :
Choker : Candystripper
Armcandy : from Jun wei, 
Watch : Fossil 
Shoes : Melissa x Jason Wu 
Bag  : CK Calvin Klein 
Romper : Taobao



The third challenge for #CNOS was the fashion challenge.
I enjoy playing dress up alot and I can dress people up but just not myself. 
Thankfully Junwei (http://jwmeow.blogspot.com) agreed to help !
He have very nice #ootd blog post so do check it out ! ^^ 
Shopping around while waiting for Jun Wei.



Depression, level 3

Shopping at Cineleisure is fun and there's so much things to see. If you have more budget, and you want to go for something more unique, try Depression.

Depression is a local fashion label and has been around since 2006. Featured in numerous international magazines, Depression have the factors of unique clothing line.



I'm loving what JunWei wore for his outfit. 
Top : $159 
Bottom : $110
Shoes : $195


On me 
Dress: $ 169 


Next stop, 

FEMMEX. Level 3

Femmex's policy is that, the more you buy the cheaper it gets. 
Just no bargains !
Picking out 3 pieces that I thought that I might like. 
Extreme right picture was a top with the same design as my pull over.

Here's what I've chosen.
Clutch and Dress is $39 each. 
Buy 10 pieces onwards - $20 each.

Peter pan collar x EMODA necklace.



Guys clothes are always a challenge to buy.
Price is okay design is not or design is ok price is not. 
It is always so difficult to find something that's price-okay and design-okay.


Praise , Level 2

We saw some sales going on at Praise and here's another outfit for Junwei !


Top : $35
Cardigan : $59
Bottom : Not available.


Decided to also walk around the mall. 
Here's other items that caught my eyes.

Frederic Sai

Frederic Sai has mostly menswear but I love their accessories !
New love for men clothing, will dress up my guy friends here.

 HURS


HURS sells shoes, bags and some sunglasses at afforable prices.
I've been thinking of getting a pair of creepers since two years ago, should I get them from HURS?



Zapi Store. Level 2

If you like the TOMS design and you worry abut the pig lining... 

What caught my eye was the big bear. 

Cho Kawaii I wanna kidnap home.
For sale : $199 
Another sizes available.



That's all folks !
Happy shopping at Cineleisure.
Till next time, x.



Loves, 
A.

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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Sydney Day 1 : Moving around

Finally I'm getting out of Singapore to somewhere slightly further away !
Last September , I flew to Sydney for a week vacation with my secondary school mates.
It was rather an impulse decision because we were all like 
" wanna go wanna go?" " okay lor," "okay book already" 
a few months before the trip. 

And ya, we flew over.
The main objective of this trip was to visit our senior & her family ( our host family there) .


Group picture with Johnson's girlf included before we leave !


Extremely lethargic faces while waiting for the plane.

We fly scoot, airtickets return trip cost about $580 including taxes.

 Scoot menu! 
Actually.... the pricing is rather reasonable in my opinion !
Enjoying my flight !
The flight wasn't as bad as I thought, quite comfortable actually.

 Touching down Syndey !

The first people we saw was our host mum & senior giving us our "surprise".
 Ended up we had wifi in at the customs and she saw her facebook tags, not so much of a surprise anymore.


 Kakis buying train tickets !

The most reasonable and afforable way to get out of the airport was to take the train. 
Taxi could easily cost up to hundred aussie dollars. 
The train stations are easily accessible with the signages around.
$16.20 from International Airport to Musuem Station.
We had a shock , at that point of time I was really grateful to have SMRT fares less than $10.




  Going to take train !

Excited us taking the train !

The trains are double decked .
The directions of the seats are changable ! 







 Alighting at the Museum station , which is about 4 stops away from the International airport .



Our first day there was crazily hot, it was 31 degree celsius wtf.
Even our host family said we brought the heat over wtf.




 Anzac Memorial Hall across the street from the apartment we rented.

 &amp; our cozy apartment !









 View from our apartment.






 We ermmmmmm. ransacked our apartment .

 Group Pic with Jocelyn &amp; Aunt Carol !


 Look at what I was wearing to describe the heat!!!!

Lunch was at pie face  which was across the road. About 5-10 minutes walk.

Pie face is one of the most common thing I see over at Sydney, it's like our Old Chang Kee.
It's everywhere.




 LOOK AT THE PIES, THEY CAN TALK WTF.






K kidding.


I had a chicken pie which costed about AUD$5. approx SGD$7

Side track a bit, you see the white/brown cake at the extreme left ?
That's like a traditional cake over in Australia and I loved it.
I tried that on Day 5 and it is so good.
A little like our kueh that's rolled with coconut flakes.





After lunch , we went about the area to familiar ourselves and do some shopping ! 


@ Queen Victoria Building
Very tourist place.





Most of the shops were high end brands and Singapore had a better price.
No point buying things that can be cheaper in your home country right ?

Shopping was rather boring until we saw this shop , Happy Lab !



They sell jellybeans, candies, special flavoured lolipops ( I bought a lot of vodka flavoured ones) and chocolates.
Also the place where I bought gifts for my friends and school mates !
I recommend this shop for sourvenirs if you do not want to give useless keychains.



Next shop, woolworths!
The girls do the grocery shopping while the boys went fishing with our host family !
 I LOVE WOOLWORTHS.
Woolworths is like.... our FairPrice Extra.





Back to apartment to put down the groceries, &amp; off to chinatown for dinner with our host family . Walkable distance from our apartment, approx. 15 minutes walking time.

The restuarant locates at the second level so it might be a little difficult to find.


  Food there was not bad, bill came out to about 20 AUD per pax.









 Ramen Kan Located at :
Address: 1/90 Hay Street, Haymarket NSW 2000, Australia
Phone:+61 2 9211 6677





Walk around the chinatown before we head back !



The rain started to pour just when we got our drinks and decided to head back.


Back to apartment and bonding time with some cider drinks !




Tatas!

Loves,
A.
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