1 July

Light lunch of truffled mac and cheese given the uptown treatment

Growth of sunflowers hugely encouraged here to clean up the radioactive soil

Pretty flowers blooming in the church's courtyard

May God bless

Very innovative shirt fitted with a fan!

Still not used to the high level of humidity here. It has been just hot, hot, hot with Friday noon a sizzling 38 degrees!

Met a friend for a light lunch since the heat has been a dampener on my appetite. Thereafter, headed to Omotesando for some shade amongst the tree-lined streets.

24 June

Some online retail therapy to kick-start my Friday!

Lunch was decadent with foie gras on toasted corn bread at TAC

Rico's best-est garlic bread in the world

Stingray fin with its edible soft bones

Foie gras...yet again for dinner

Simply lovely Wagyu

With the mercury showing an energy-sapping 35 degrees, it was a day to stay indoors. No venturing out to shop. No cycling around. Only feasting of the very best at TAC and Rico's. Oh, and not forgetting a spot of retail therapy on saks.com.

17 June

Grilled chicken with vegs and a sesame based sauce at Afternoon Tea in Shibuya

Including an egg with a runny yolk...yummy!

Care to commit murder with a ceramic knife at Tokyu Hands?

Ala ice-kachang machines, cheery and gay at Tokyu Hands

Hmmm, not so factual a statement? So did meet bags which get the hands down from me

Weekly dose of retail therapy in the form of a very charming bow print

Had a mild case of the runs which thankfully cleared by midday. Cold wet weather which seemed to be the norm these days. Nevertheless, off we trotted to Shibuya with our brollies. Had a most healthy and delicious lunch at Afternoon Tea.

10 June

A pair of rainbow-hued wings for little fairies

In preparation for the upcoming rainy season

Fave chocolate croissant from Choco Cro, a mid-afternoon sugar fix

Delicious crisps from Mitsukoshi food hall

New whimsical summer frock

Loving the contrast broad racerback straps

No lunch date with the BFF yesterday. Instead we ended up at Choco Cro with their to die-for croissants that come smother in velvety chocolate right down to the very last mouthful of crumbs.

Weekly girlie meet-ups are never without a trip to the stores. We were both enamoured with this floral frock, lightly layered with just that right dosage of sweet romance.

3 June

Weather had cleared just in time for our weekly catch-up session

Biking to Omotesando with our pink Balenciagas

So ravenous that we ordered heaps at Sweet Dynasty

Sweet endings with sesame filled glutinous rice balls and grass jelly with mango
Wolves in sheep's clothing at Issey Miyake?

Quaint restaurant in an alley just off Omotesando

Random makeshift basket pram

Had a fairly good workout yesterday with the BFF. Intended to head for the Adidas by Stella McCartney family sale at Harajuku but the forgetful me only remembered that I had left the invitation at home midway there. So, off we cycled, back towards home.

Thereafter, the BFF decided on a Hawaiian cafe just barely a minute away from the sale venue. Cycled there just to discover there was a snaking queue that spilled over to the main street. So, off we cycled again, this time to Sweet Dynasty. So famished that we doubled our lunch order.

Filled and satisfied, time to be retail therapied.

26 May

Because of Friday's rain forecast, the Tokyo BFF decided to bring forward a day for our weekly makan-jalan-more makan (basically eat, shop, eat again) session.

BFF's portion included roast pork (been raved and fawned over by a couple of people, declaring it the best ever), char siew, roast duck and chicken

Mine sans pork with plum sauce for the duck and scallion-ginger sauce for the chicken

So, Thursday's lunch was a more subdued affair compared to the day before. But am really glad to be having some good robust Chinese food. True to my Asian roots, I can never survive too long without rice, soup or noodles. Especially not when Akasaka Rikyu's roast meats easily rival those found in Hong Kong's "cha chan teng".

Window display at Zara where the spotlights were disguised as gigantic bugs

To our usual haunts, Shibuya and Omotesando after lunch. Walked from Shibuya to Omotesando. Very credible attempt to polish off some of those lunch calories in anticipation of teatime.

Used to be my fave cookie shop

Charming outdoor terrace near to Herzog's Prada building

Cuppa milky Earl Grey with cookie choux creamYoku Moku's edible cigare

We both have strolled by this terraced cafe numerous times on separate occasions. Decided that it was about time we check it out. Were not impressed, unfortunately.

Akasaka Rikyu

Address: 5-3-1 Akasaka, 2F Akasaka Biz Tower Atrium, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6302, Japan
Telephone: 03‐5570‐9323
Michelin: None


Yoku Moku Blue Brick Lounge

Address: 5-3-3 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Telephone: 03-5485-3330
Michelin: None

20 May (Part II)

Is afternoon tea invented by the English?

Drop scones with butter, honey and earl grey cream

The BFF being just as greedy!

Either portions were really small at Seryna or we were just being rather greedy. This was what happened barely an hour after lunch...(click here for Part I)

Harrods

Address: 4-6-16 Ginza, 4F Mitsukoshi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Telephone: 03-3561-5350
Michelin: None

20 May (Part I)

Seryna with a few outlets dotting Tokyo, is famed for its crab shabu shabu

Cold appetiser with some raw seafood mix, Japanese cucumber and wasabi

Dipping sauces: sesame and ponzu

Crab shabu shabu with only easy-to-eat claws

Small selection of veggies and grilled mochi rice cake

All the work was done by our kimono-clad waitress so all that was required of us was to open our mouths!

With the BFF though lighting was dim, as with most traditional Japanese restaurants

Crab shabu-shabu is on my bucket list ever since I was told that they serve huge claws that measure 20-25 centimetres in length at Seryna. So off we went on our regular Friday outing to fulfill my wish. Since lunch is a third of dinner prices, our claws were half the size as well. They were still meaty except that after polishing off 6 claws, we were still kinda famished. Priced at 7,000JPY (S$110) per head, it is not the usual Tokyo lunch bargain. (Click here for Part II)

Seryna

Address: 2-7-17 Ginza, B1 Ginza Tiffany Building, Chuo-ku, 104-0061 Tokyo, Japan
Telephone: 03-3562-6211
Michelin: None

13 May

Lunch venu: Afternoon Tea cafe

Need our carbs, sesame pasta with mushrooms

Almost witness to a holy grail purchase; the lady walked in & out 3 times within an interval of 10 mins for the bougainvillea ostrich...to buy or not to buy?!?

Red hot LoubiesA new love: striped toga tee

Time out for Krispy Kreme's original glazed
Perplexing or tongue-in-cheek?

Was supposed to be another wet day though the weather turned out to be pretty decent eventually. On top of our usual Friday ritual of eating and streets roaming (chiefly to Ginza, Omotesando, Shinjuku or Shibuya), we had penciled in an additional trip to Ebisu for a special event which yielded zero results. Since already there, decided to bring the BFF to Rico's, which I had raved and raved about heaps. For some strange and unknown reasons, they were closed. So, onwards to Shibuya.