Lately I’m finding myself more and more interested in cooking. I’m more of an exact amounts kind of guy, so I started with baking. That’s going well…except for the waistlines of everyone around us. I realized one day as I obsessed over the thought of making a cream cheese pound cake, that my baking skills (while enjoyable) weren’t super useful. It was time to learn to cook actual meals…and with no schools teaching fundamentals of cooking (I’m at a super basic level) in Singapore, I had to turn to books. [keep reading…]
by joanna on July 12, 2009
I want to live a Muji life
Actually I first encountered Muji in New York. A creative director at the ad agency I worked at was hoarding Muji notebooks that he bought in London. Being a fan of a minimalist aesthetic, Muji suited me perfectly. But while I love spare design, I am not one of those minimalists that would choose design over functionality. And this is what impressed me most about Muji products…they are smart, really smart. Not only clean and spare in design, but designed for use…for real life…for me and you. Products are stripped bare of unnecessary bells and gratuitous whistles to focus on the pure design and in use experience of each individual element. When we had the opportunity to visit the flagship store in Tokyo in Shinjuku featuring its 7,000+ products…we were in Muji heaven. [keep reading…]
Hey all,
Our first visit to Time Out’s breakfast of the year, Epicurious, left us feeling slightly frustrated. After a couple months of sampling other breakfast options around town, the timing seemed right to venture back and see if possibly our expectations were too high before, it was a bad day, someone was sick etc…
[keep reading…]
by joanna on July 9, 2009
Cocktails with a panoramic view of Tokyo
Every big city has one – the high-rise hotel with the sweeping, panaromic view of the skyline. In the case of Tokyo, one of our favourites is the Bello Visto Bar on the 40th floor of the Cerulean Tower Hotel in Shibuya. [keep reading…]
I hate to throw around phrases like “the Walt Disney of Japan”…but that’s the easiest way to describe Studio Ghibli for those not familiar with the Japanese cartoon studio. Ghibli has impacted not only the anime scene of Japan (a commonly held belief is that the name means that the studio was blowing a new wind into the Japanese anime industry) but also most modern cartoons and the work of Pixar. [keep reading…]
by joanna on July 7, 2009
Organic & macrobiotic…not your average Izakaya
Eating healthy is important to me…so when I heard that there was a healthy version of an Izakaya, I was eager to try it. To put this in perspective, an Izakaya is basically a pub serving food to complement the drinking…so in its simplest terms, a bar serving bar food. While the food is quite good in izakayas, healthy is not a word one would necessarily associate with this style of eating. And macrobiotic to boot? – well we had to see it for ourselves. [keep reading…]
by joanna on July 6, 2009
A homey Western-style brunch in the heart of Tokyo
I may have mentioned before that breakfast is my favourite meal. So it is no surprise then that breakfast or brunch has become a weekend ritual for me – whether at home or abroad. And while I have had the most magnificent Japanese food while travelling in Japan, when I woke up this Sunday, I had an intense craving for a western-style breakfast… creamy eggs, hot coffee and buttery toast. Nothing else would do, not even Yakitori! And so we set off to find a place that had come recommended for a homey Western brunch, Good Honest Grub, in the heart of Tokyo’s Shibuya area. [keep reading…]
As the site grows and readers join us, we realized a need to grow our culinary vocabulary. We felt reading more than just other food blogs would help increase our vocabulary and give us an insight into other foods, trends, chefs, locations, etc. So Joanna picked up a couple older books we’ve heard a lot about over the years on her last trip to Bangkok. Both of these aren’t quite cutting edge, but are proven favorites in the culinary world.
[keep reading…]
by joanna on July 3, 2009
Tasty grilled meats and veggies on a stick, Japanese-style
Seems every culture has its meat on a stick – from Thai moo ping to Turkish shish kabobs, these are always an international favourite. When we were living in Bangkok, it was ubiquitous…grilled chicken, fish balls, and the aforementioned moo ping, grilled pork. But the Japanese raise it to another level – as it seems they do with everything – in their version called Yakitori. [keep reading…]
by joanna on July 2, 2009
A café in the heart of Tokyo provides soothing feline therapy
When we were looking up wacky and wonderful things to do in Tokyo we learned about the cat cafes. In Tokyo, where flats are more like an American walk-in closet, residents are often not able to keep pets. In fact, the Tokyo lifestyle is such that one works until 9pm (or later), grabs a bite to eat and then often just heads home to sleep. Most entertainment, dining and relaxation happen outside the home – and this is where cat cafes come in. In a city packed with people where one nearly body surfs the subway everyday, people are in need of a place of respite. And almost nothing is as soothing as spending time with animals…reading a book and having a cat curl up beside you…and this is why people come to cat cafés. We dropped in around 5:30pm on a Monday to see what it was all about. [keep reading…]
