Lunch with Naoko

Finally had time to grab lunch with Naoko after a long time. We decided to go grab Pie Holic for lunch as I enjoy it and Naoko saw it before but has not had the chance to try it yet.

Our appetisers....I've never really enjoyed any of the appetisers. I don't like the salad as it has pickes and the clam chowder is...well, just not thick and flavourful enough.

As usual, the pies start coming ones they're ready!

Couldn't remember what's on the menu for that day but I remembered that there were 2 new pies that I've never tried before.

And, I always enjoy their quiche even though they're super thin.

This here is their beef or lamb pie if not mistaken and I'm definitely not a fan.

For the lunch, there's also a main dish of either chicken, salmon or beef.

And this here is the shirasu or white-bait pie which is my least favourite or should I say, I absolutely dislike it. I never eat it.

After lunch, we walked around the area and found some interest summer exhibits going on.

It was definitely great to meet up with Naoko again after to many months! :D

Pikachu Parade

Early in the morning, I went to work and quickly finished all the weekend tasks before heading towards Sakuragicho to meet the group.

We went for ramen at Yuki's fav ramen place- へちかん. It's my second visit here.

It seems that their menu changes frequently and this time I got a different one compared to my last visit.

I order this ramen that came with a thick lobster and clam broth. They serve their thin ramen noodles with really thick and strong broth. Hence, if you're not used to really strong flavours, this might not be suitable for you.

Even though I was really full, I still wanted to have a few bite of their dry ramen because I really enjoy the dry version. It's spicy, flavourful and delicious!

This is the shop front, it's kinda hidden actually and far from the station. 

After lunch, we decided to hunt for the Pikachu parade because I've always wanted to see it in person. 

The are around Sakuragicho already look pretty happening with ppl distributing Pikachu head bands and there's even a big blown up Pikachu.

As we neared the parade, the crowd was huge!

There were so many ppl and it was hard to see above ppl's head. At least I got to see Pikachu through J's phone. Lol...

As it was a hot day, after the parade, we went for some yummy gelato!

For this parade, Sakuragicho has been dressed up with Pikachus too.

There was an Eevee parade too this year but we didn't catch it, maybe next time.

Japanese course dinner

We had a farewell & birthday celebration for some of J's friends and we went to this restaurant that serves course meals.

I rarely have course meals as they are expensive but it is nice once in a while.

We all went for this course which served wagyu.

We didn't pick a very expensive course but of course, the more you pay, the more meals you get and the fancier they are.

Overall this course here is not bad. I think these kind of restaurants are good for those who want to try japanese course meals but don't have time to go to a ryokan to try them.

Pizza night

Domino was having some really good deals and we just couldn't resist!

Mish and I splurged on pizza twice that month and each time we got 3 medium pizzas like these here.

I love dominos~

Especially these quatro ones where you get 4 difference flavours on one pizza. 

Since we're sharing, we each get 12 pieces of pizza that are of different flavours so we will never get bored of eating pizza every day!

:D

Nagasaki Chanpon

Friday date night after a week of hard work.....and where do we go???

To grab some nagasaki chanpon! Lol~ it's easy because the food comes relatively quickly and it's loaded with vegetables, which is rare in Japan.

It's pretty hard to get a dish with so much veg in Japan and it's something you crave for when you feel like when you're not getting enough veg in your diet.

Here we ordered a soup and dry version so that we can have a bit of both variations and of course, some gyoza because it's comfort food!

Furusato Nozei

Furusato Nozei Program is a hometown tax donation program organised by the Japanese government to support the development less funded municipalities in Japan with less people working and paying taxes to.

In Japan, one have to pay residence tax which is a tax that you pay to your local municipal for living there. It is calculated based on your earnings and you start paying it from your second year onwards for your first year there.

Paying the residence tax alone will not get you anything but one can opt for futusato nozei and pay tax to another municipal of their choice. In doing so, you can opt for a gift that you like for donating to them. 

The amount donated will of course be used for residence tax deductions. For that donation, you do need to bear 2000 yen from the amount you have donated, that will not be used for the calculation of tax deduction. There's a limit to which the amount that you can donate for it to be included in the calculations that's based on your annual salary.

At first, I didn't know how it works and was skeptical.....but I decided to try it anyways. I donated once in my second year and received 2 beautiful melons for it.

In my 3rd year, I decided to donate twice and received some beautiful peaches and grapes! 

It's a pretty good program actually as you get something in return. Of course, there are other things as well other than fruits, but I love fruits so I opted for them. 

Yes, it might be cheaper to just buy the fruits yourself if you want to eat some but this helps with tax deduction so it's great!

Tokyo Gyoza

Kyobash seems like a pretty nice area to work in. The buildings all look fairly new and there are several interesting restaurants in the area.

Today we stopped by Tokyo Ginza in Edo Grand for some gyozas and it was interesting to try variations of gyozas which I've never seen before.

Like the one on top which was wrapped in some tofu and this one here that's topped with some spicy chilli sauce which provided quite a kick.

But my favourite is still this pan fried version. I like the slightly burnt flavour from the base with the juicy fillings. Overall the gyozas here are slightly more expensive that usual but you do get to try something different.

A's last day

For 2 months, we had an intern in out lab from UK who was here for for industrial training.

On her last day, we went for a yakiniku celebration!

 

A and I both order the same set. We were both pretty excited as it was her first yakiniku experience and it was my first yakiniku set lunch!

This we a korean style bbq restaurant and hence they served kimchi. 

We both went for wagyu and so the meat was definitely very delicious~

The 2 months went by so quickly and I'm back to being the only foreigner in my lab. It was definitely nice to have someone to speak in english to.

Lunch & Tea at Shibuya

Grabbed lunch with a bunch of friends at a Taiwanese restaurant in Shibuya.

We had ba zhang which is not commonly found here.

We also ordered the ebi chilli because I wanted prawns.

Group picture~

We also had a chinese style omelette~ which was yummy.

Then there's also a salted veg soup which is a flavour that I haven't had in a long time.

After lunch, we decided to grab dessert at Hikarie and we ended up in Toraji.

We shared the green tea ice cream which was normal.

As passion fruit ice cream which was refreshing.

A green tea shaved ice which was ok.....

A mango shaved ice which was good.

Another group picture~

And lastly, an anmitsu which was good.

Another day filled with good food and chats with good friends.