Ushitenjin Kitano Shrine & Tokyo Dome City

Visited both Ushitenjin Kitano Shrine & Tokyo Dome City back in early March but didn't had the time to blog about them.

I actually came to look for ume but it seems I was too late~

They were almost all gone.

I decided to climb up anyways and it was the same.

Spotted a tree that looked like the shidare zakura.

But this is the version~

If only I was there when it was their full bloom period.

I'm sure the temple would have looked amazing.

Ushinotenjin Kitano is actually a very popular place for viewing ume or plum flowers in Tokyo.

The shrine~

After that, I walked to Tokyo Dome City to grab lunch~

The scary looking roller coaster~

One day, I shall be back to ride on some of their attractions!

Tokyo Dome just right in front. Hopefully, I'll get to catch a concert there too in the near future.

I settled for gindaco! There was a super long queue for it but it was worth it! The piping hot takoyaki were grilled to perfection and perfectly suited for a cold day!

Tokyo Daijingu (東京大神宮)

Visited Tokyo Daijingu (東京大神宮), which is famous for being powerful temple for love.

 For matters of the heart, visit the shrine and pray earnestly! 

You can even get an omikuji or a charm there.

I visited on a weekday morning and there were many other females there too. Many came alone while some were with their friends.

Every one prayed earnestly be it for a new love or perhaps for their current relationship. 

First time seeing this and from now on, I will take note of this at other shrines too. This is where you return the old charms to the temple. 

Do visit this temple if you are interested to get some answers to the private matters of your heart.

Excelsiur Cafe, Nihombashi

First time at Excelsiur Cafe which could be found almost anywhere in Tokyo.

As it was tea time, I decided to get their cake set.

This here is the strawberry tart, 480 yen, which came with a a tea  (250yen). 

I chose Darjeeling.

The tea was pretty standard. While the cake was delicious and I did enjoy the light texture of the cake, I felt that compared to some of the other cakes I had in Tokyo, it's just not as great. 

Guess it makes for a convenient place for a quick catch up with friends.

Cat Cafe Nyanny at Akihabara

After dinner, S and I visited Cat Cafe Nyanny at Akihabara, which happened to be located above a rabbit cafe!!! <3

Address:  4-8-3 Sotokanda | 4F, Chiyoda 101-0021, Tokyo Prefecture

Website: http://catcafe-akiba.com/

Prices differ depending on the days. We were there on a weekend and hence paid a little more. We paid 1200 yen each for an hour with the cats.

Near the end of our session was the cat's feeding time and look at them all crowd together~

Hahaha...the brown one in the front looks angry at S for disturbing his dinner.

Hello, you little fur ball~

The cats there are all super cute and chubby~!!

And these two here are my favourite because they allowed me to pet them continuously.

hehee.....soo greedy~

What are you looking at little one?

There's even a book there for visitors to leave a message and surprisingly there seemed to be more foreign visitors than Japanese.

Overall, it was an amazing and fun experience with the cats. Hopefully, I will get to visit a rabbit cafe in the near future.

Royal Host, Akihabara

Second dinner at Royal Host with S after our first mini one at the sushi shop.

I spotted this and was decided to get it in hopes that it will fill my tummy slightly while I wait for my dessert which was......

...THIS!!!

To my dismay, the Gratin onion soup (540yen) was really tiny. Just look at its size in comparison to the spoon.

And it definitely looks different from the picture in the menu......

While I was disappointed, luckily the taste wasn't too bad.

S's omurice which looked yummy and taste good too!

Finally, my dessert!!!! Strawberry brulee parfait (810yen) hehehe.....super happy that this turned out looking exactly like the picture in the menu.

Gotta have one picture with it too~!! :)

The creme brulee on top was amazing, the strawberries were sweet and the cream was light!!!

Sushi at Akihabara

Walked into a random kaiten sushi shop with S and here are some sushi plates that we had.

Prawns <3 Super delicious~

tuna mayo

salmon

tuna

tuna tataki

The tiny shop, with the sushi chefs sandwiched in between the sushi belt.

hmm...not too sure what this was, but it was good too.

Anago~

Was really happy to get sushi at that moment because it was my first kaiten sushi since I moved to Tokyo! And I was really craving for some~

We could've eaten a lot more but because we were both super hungry and needed some hot food, we went to another restaurant after this.

Gyosen Park & Zoo

Spotted a park with many kids and a huge slide which I really wanted to try. Not sure what got into S, but he suggested that we climb it too. I was super embarrassed as there were sooo many kids who where climbing this huge slide from the back too, either via the ladder or the stone steps. No surprise here, I took the ladder.

Totally regretted once I got up there because there were sooo many kids around me and I didn't know how I was going to slide down. Then down below the slide were more kids and their parents!!! Omg~ I didn't wanna look like an adult trying to fight for a spot on the slide with the kids. 

As I'm almost double the size of all the kids, I couldn't just slide down either as I would just hit on all the kids at the bottom of the slide. S suggested that we move to the side which he quickly managed to do so and got down. I, on the other hand.......

.....*looking lost and wondering why I did it*

*trying my best to move to the side but there were just too many kids around me*

In the end, I decided to just wait for the right moment where there's less kids at the bottom of the slide and slide down. Luckily, I did so.....because it was not beautiful. I'm not even sure if what I did could be considered sliding down gracefully as my entire body was on the ground when I reached the bottom.

Yea~ but it was fun while it lasted! Glad I did it!

After that, we went into the free zoo!

It was a super small zoo but I guess it's sufficient to keep the kids entertained.....plus it's free, so I can't complain.

Meet the cool penguins~

Active monkeys~

Super huge tortoise~

Beautiful owl~

.....and many more which I didn't snap pictures of.

Overall, it was great while it lasted. 

Why not drop by on a day off and enjoy the beautiful park and zoo?

Home-made okonomiyaki

 My easy go to dinner whenever there's some left over cabbages at home. It's better you have some meat to go along with it. Sometimes I use bacon and sometimes I use ham, depending on what's available in my fridge.

As for the batter, I just buy a packet of flour that says for okonomiyaki use.

Mix the flour with egg and water, then add them to the cabbages mix.

Heat your pan with some oil and ladle the batter on. When done, you get a nice little pancake as below.

Top it off with your favourite toppings. For mine, I like okonomiyaki sauce with mayo and katsuobushi. Plus some aonori when I have them at home.

Ao-kun

Where I live, many people bike and within a week of moving into my own apartment, I wanted my own bike as I was so far from the station. Gave it some thought and decided to really get one a week later~

Got my baby Ao-kun on 20/03/16. 

26 inch wheels, with no gear adjustments.....but that's ok, as I'm not going to be using it up or down hills. Ao-kun has a 2 year insurance pack and is registered with a license (which costs only 500yen). Plus, a free check-up within 1-3 months from purchase.

I just want a bike that could help me move around a bit faster, help me with my shopping and on days when I didn't feel like walking.

Bought him from Aeon Bike. While it was one of the cheapest bikes for sale there, I couldn't be happier~! As I plan to use it for getting my groceries, I added a back basket to it.

Asked S to accompany me to get my bike as I wasn't sure if I could cycle my bike back to my apartment and it would be embarrassing if the shop staffs found out that I bought a bike without knowing how to ride on it. heehee.....

So here's one of my posing with Ao-kun on the day that I bought him.

My handsome Ao-kun parked below my apartment. heehee.....dashingly handsome isn't he?

I absolutely love my add-on basket as I used it sooo often for things that I buy. I usually place my hand bag in the front but for my groceries and other stuffs....I usually buy the amount that I think would fit in my basket.

Plus, Ao-kun also makes me feel safer and more comfortable on nights when I didn't want to walk back home alone. hahaha,,,,never thought that I'd be this happy to move on from a car to a bicycle.

:)

How to find a job in Japan

A few friends have asked me how does one find a job in Japan. There are many sites that one can use depending on whether or not you are a fresh graduate, looking for a mid-career change, type of profession that you are seeking for, your language skills and your education background.

I have used the following sites and will talk about each of them briefly.

Career Engine (https://japan.careerengine.org/index/index/lang/en)
This is good for those seeking bilingual jobs in Japan, mostly English and Japanese. There are both the Japanese and English version to the website. Jobs are separated into industry or job functions. Hence, it is easy to search for the type of job that you are interested in. However, the jobs do require the applicant to be already residing in Japan.

GaijinPot (https://jobs.gaijinpot.com/)
This is probably one of the most popular website for foreigners residing outside of Japan to seek for a job in Japan. The "Overseas OK" and "No Nihongo" would be especially suitable for those residing overseas or can't speak Japanese. While majority of the jobs under the "Overseas OK" are related to teaching English in Japan, there are other jobs such as consultant, sales, engineer, site developer, etc. You can even use it to search for part-time jobs if you are currently residing in Japan.

Daijob (https://www.daijob.com/)
Another website that comes in both Japanese and English versions. While some do not state if the applicant should be residing in Japan at the time of application, some do state that requirement clearly. Also, you might notice that many of the jobs require you to submit your 履歴書 and 職務経歴書 which are obviously in Japanese.

For fresh graduates, you can try sites like リクナビ (https://job.rikunabi.com/) or マイナビ(http://global.mynavi.jp/). These two website would be great for those who are proficient in Japanese and living in Japan or plan to go to Japan for their job hunt. For those seeking a mid-career change, try CareerCross (https://www.careercross.com/). Lastly, for science students and researchers, a more suitable website would be the jREC-IN portal (https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekTop?ln=1)

Good Luck with your job search!