F1 fever.
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so everyone is really excited about the F1 race this coming weekend.. there are a lot of parties prepared, the energy is on a high, i just wish it will not rain. the possibility of raining is quite high, as the sky is too dark.

more importantly, aggie will be here tomorrow or saturday early morning, she will arrive around 1am. i am planning to pick her up from the airport so we can go back home together. probably, i will be coming back from the skysuite, foxONE, F1 party - where we can watch the practice session, and watch missy elliot perform. so thats cool, but the best part is i get to go for free.

come saturday night, i have 2 tickets to attend the JOHNNIE WALKER F1 event and after party somewhere near fullerton hotel, thanks to joyce for the tickets. everything is for free, drinks, blah, blah, blah. most of the starcom peeps would be there as well, as most of us got invites - not all, but special ones ;)

the best part is on sunday night, i won 2 tickets to watch mariah carey perform at the zone 4, padang stage, 10:30pm, still at the F1 event. how nice right? and i get to watch her for free, without spending a dime. and that is also the main reason why aggie is coming to SG. i won 2 tickets, and of course, i have to ask aggie to go with me.

anyway, more than that F1 fever, am happy to see aggie, and roam around with her - eat, shop, sightsee. she wants to see marina bay sands, so we will have to go there, i've been there 2x, with officemates, and second one was with cho. its good that she is coming here, even for just a few days.

i am excited.

japan, aug 2010 - all about food.
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so after all places, i am showing you the more exciting part, focusing on all the food. who doesn't love to eat, especially when you are in a foreign land. anyway, am excited to share with you the following:



in kyoto, obee and i went inside this restaurant that you actually order from a vendo machine. choose, what you want to eat, and pay thru this vendo.


you will get your receipt, and the person in the counter would get it from you, and then they will prepare the food. isn't this a really brilliant idea on how you can save cost thru manpower - no cashier, no extra waiters to handle payments.


the counter with one person to serve you all the customers.


tadaaa, you get your order. i think i ordered beef with kimchi or something like that. its soo good.



you have to have ramen when you are in japan - i went to this ramen store near shinjuku, and i have to say its one of the best ramen i have ever tried, or just the best i tried. i found out that they simmer pork bones, meat and fat to make the soup. sometimes, they even mix in the pork fat.


we ordered gyoza on the side.


i discovered this fresh chili paste, you mix it with the soup and it brings out the aroma, and chili taste, which enhances the whole ramen experience. some ramen store would just give you chili flakes, or oil, but this is the first time, i've seen fresh grounded paste.


the best ramen, ever.



obee's birthday salubong - sashimi for midnight snack - tuna and salmon.


sashimi with beer, why not?!



this is a restaurant in tsukiji market, called daisushi. its the most famous place and the queue is just terrible, people wait upto 4 hours just to get in. what you inside? thats the whole restaurant, can accomodate less than 20 people per set.


they only sell two kinds of set, set A which costs Yen 2,750, or set B that costs Yen 3,500. we chose to get set A, that has around 10pcs of sushi + tamago + miso soup + green tea.


ah, sashimi so fresh. sometimes, the chef would even tell you to put soysauce or not, since they know best, we follow.


yum!


this is what you get for starters.



in kyoto, we went to this place where there are a lot of geisha's, we were actually trying to look for one, and yes, we saw one. anyway, we go hungry, and went to this place. i always order salmon sashimi.


obee loves scallops and ordered the biggest scallop i have ever seen in my life.


obee and i ordered 1 set of tempura each - squid, fish, shrimp, and veggies.


the chef liked us since we are tourist, and gave us a free chocolate bar that says, welcome to kyoto.

thats it, the most memorable food i had in japan. anyway, am looking forward to my next holiday, i kinda know where i want to go, but i have to fix a few things first. :) will update you later. haha!

japan, aug 2010.
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i am sorry to update so late. i have been back in singapore, since 2 or 3 weeks ago, i can't even remember, days are so fast lately. anyway, there are so many thing to update, and even before i do that, i want to share with you some photos during my japan trip.

japan is one of my top 5 dream destination, if you ask me about my top 5 countries that i want to see will be as follows, spain, france, USA (NYC) in particular, and nepal. anyway, i really want to see more places in the years to come, and i will work on that aspect bit by bit. :)

i went to japan with obee, which is a college barkada of mine, it was also her birthday week, and we decided to spend it in japan. we invited more friends, kaya lang some other people can't make it, nevertheless, super fun naman nung trip. some of the things i noticed:

- the culture is very different from the rest of the world, even from its closest neighbor, korea.

- super expensive to commute, either by train, bus, taxi. dont.ever.take.a.cab in japan, its crazy expensive, a 10 minute cab ride, can cost you upto Php 1,500. OMG.

- great shopping mecca. though truth to be told, i still prefer HK anytime, due to proximity. i never enjoyed riding the plane, and HK is soo near, so there. ooh, i bought a lot of things - went to outlet store that sells branded items on a discount, the supermarket, shoe store (ABC mart, etc), lahat.

- the food is oh-so-good. its fresh, the quality is really different, not everything is expensive, there are ok places to eat at, around Php 250-500 per meal, which is ok na din, but its really the quality. thumbs up!

i could say more things, but am boring you, just check out the photos below.

TOKYO

me and obee, excited to roam around, this is at shinjuku.


we were on the way home to hachioji from shibuya, the train was as crowded as hell. you have to experience it yourself.


ginza is where all your high end shops are located, and they are in buildings, not just floors stacked together, but each premium brand has their own building with minimum of 3 floors. i was super tired so i decided to get tonic water, while they all had beer.


in tokyo, we went to meiji shrine, and i wrote down my wish in a piece of paper.


odaiba is tokyo's tech city, thats how i define it, anyway. they feature really cool stuff.


odaiba featured new upcoming shows from japan's leading network.


we went to tokyo palace, its so serene.


shibuya, i went crazy while people looked at me.


hanging out with friends, on the way home.


we met barry's friends for dinner. by the way barry is obee's friend from bacolod that works in japan. so we actually stayed with him.


last minute shopping at narita airport, thank GOD they were open even at 7am.


we went to tsukiji market, and here i am with the master chef of the most famous sushi place in tsukiji.


NARA

i bought these as souveniers from nara. their official mascot are deers, since obviously they had deers roaming around the whole place.


japanese dolls, i bought one to bring home.


i wish i did buy more, in different sizes.


i was so happy to see muji, i bought a lot of stuff, for dad and mom.


nara, japan. a must see.


nara shrine with obee.


KYOTO

we stayed at this hostel in kyoto, it was my first time to stay at a hostel, but the experience was great! everything was soo clean, of course it was japan. but obee, and i stayed in one room, and we have our separate toilet, and etc. so we technically did not share everything with strangers, we just used the kitchen in the morning to cook the cup noodles for bfast.


bullet train from tokyo to kyoto and vice versa. this was taken on the way back to tokyo, duration: 3 hours.


we bought chips and drinks at the family mart, and just stayed in the room.


in the hostel, this is where we stayed, i loved the concept of tatami bed, believe it or not, it was super comfortable.


one of the biggest palace in kyoto.


kyoto is actually where the royal family of japan stays, we went to the imperial palace, but it was closed, and did you know, that you have to apply and get a permission to tour the palace. they do it 2x a day, 10am and 2pm.


kyoto, japan.


kyoto tower. oooh, one more thing, kyoto supposedly love astroboy.

next post, food photos... ;)

MANILA, August 2010.
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every last week of august, i usually take leave, to go back home and celebrate my dads birthday. this year was a bit different, since i was in japan on the day itself. but the important thing is i was there to celebrate his birthday with the whole family and loves ones during the dinner itself. all in one na sya, i get to see everyone na kagad.


mom keeps on insisting to take a family photo.


we have one with the girls sitting.


with cousins, we occupied like 4 or 5 tables. ang dami namin kaya.


with our youngest cousin, ken.


we went to jay-j's post dads birthday dinner, but with cousins lang.


the next day the 5 of us went to tagaytay, we stayed there overnight.


family photos ulet.


monday lunch was help at antonio's. dad had the seafood sampler, mom had spansish sardines with omelette. me and ags had corned beef, and cho had beef tapa.


i wish we could have breakfast like this everytime, with lush greens outside. fantastic.

pinas is always fun. :)