♥ Melona Ice cream

The weather is starting to get warmer after the crazy winter we've had. Binggrae's Melona ice cream bars are one of my favourites that comes in several flavors: melon, strawberry, mango , and banana. 

♥ Japan - Frozen Treats

Summer is a great time for frozen treats! With the weather being so hot, we see stands for shaved ice, frozen fruit sticks and ice cream everywhere. The convenience store always has a large selection to choose from also. Flavours in japan are a bit more adventurous on top of the usual chocolate and vanillas. We also picked up some orange, lemon and grape Popsicle earlier,  surprisingly the Popsicle itself was not coloured the epxected  orange, yellow and purple that we are used to back at home. I wonder if it has to do with the reduced use of food colouring.

Our local Ministop has shaved ice with jello bits, fruit and soft service ice cream on top (250 yen) in Ramune/soda, strawberry and lemon flavors. Shaved ice and fruit at Korea town includes some red beans and corn flakes costed 500 yen. A similar one at Lawson runs for 200 yen. The ice cream sandwhich was 180 yen.

These were some of the snacks we picked up late at night to help kill the heat.

♥ Japan - Cheap Meal

One thing I definitely miss from Japan is the large choice of cheap healthy convenience store food that is available 24/7. During my month in Japan, the convenience store was where I mostly got my meals - and I had no complaints about it. ^_^. It was delicious to be honest compared to what I was used to having at the Seven Eleven in Canada. Convenience stores in Toronto are not extensive in the selection of quick fresh meals, you can probably microwave a few frozen burritos or eat 3 day old tuna salad wraps for the price of an arm and a leg.

There were plenty of fried foods over there in Japan , but then there was also choices like these, cold ramen, udon, or soba with a side of grilled meats or sushi. This cost me 380 yen (~4.00 cdn)  money well spent  =)

450 yen from 7/11 - my first meal in Japan after landing!

♥ Day 10 - Sumida Hanabi Festival

Today we went to the Sumida fireworks display along the Sumida River. We've been told to go as early as possible, but with getting items ready to go and getting dressed, it took longer than anticipated. With me dressing 3 others and myself in yukatas, 2 hours went by fairly quickly. As we left the house, our neighbouring shoutengai was holding a mini festival of its own - there was water yoyo games and more. As we got into the station. I was worried it would be awkward walking down the street all dressed up, but it didnt end up that way. So many other girls were dressed in their yukatas; everyone had such unique obis, hairpins and accessories , it was a beautiful sight!

Arriving to Asakusa station by 5:30 was a bad idea; there was no walking space or breathing space. Police were directly traffic very efficiently as they guided us down the river. People already had their picnic blankets staked out on the side walks and designated streets set aside. Unfortunately, unless you pay extra for special passes into the open areas, your view would most likely be obstructed by trees, or telephone poles.

It is definately not a protest - sure looks like one though. People were sitting and waiting for the fireworks to start

The fireworks started for 10 minutes - they were gorgeous, but it was drizzling. Soon it was a downpour so big everyone was running for their lives to duck under shelters, girls in their yukatas were soaked all the way through, some having umbrellas, others used their picnic tarp. Getting underneath a covering was impossible, walking back to the station was a journey - it sure was memorable.

We were redirected to a station further down which made us more wet and miserable, but all the girls on the street were so cheerful and taking photos. We wonder why on earth would they do such a thing in this down pour, but we realized with the street lights reflecting of the wet ground and the background of the Skytree tower, it was picture perfect!!

Usually if it rains on the day of the fireworks, it is postponed til Sunday, I am unsure if this is the case, but we will be skipping out on going tomorrow. However we will be prepared for the firework festival NEXT week.

♥ Day 8 - MaiDreamin Maid Cafe Akhihabara

Today for diner after a day walking down Akhihabara's anime haven, we finally stopped into our first Maid cafe in Japan. We went by @Home Cafe which is very popular, but the wait line was long, and so as we walked down the street a maid from Maidreamin gave us a flyer. We decided to go here instead, the maid named Kahone led us to the nearest location as there were several locations in the area. There was a seating charge of 1000 yen to sit off to the side of the stage. To sit in the special center seats it would have costed 1400 yen. There were various set meals which included a main course or dessert parfait, 2 commemorative items (such as a polaroid with your maid and a keychain). These all started from 2000 yen. There are also items a la carte starting at 360 yen.

My final decision was the special parfait I saw on their flyers and posters outside ( I got the strawberry bunny parfait) for 800 yen, chicken karage for 500 yen and a polaroid photo add on for 500 yen. Prices of the food are started to other cafes too, but here it is overly cute! We sent love to the food (delicious, delicious, moe , moe kyun ) a little chant the maids got us to do to make our food extra special. i know most cafes will not let you take photos within the area, and we did see signs along the wall but our maid said it was okai to take photos of the food - I am glad I was able to take some photos here!

There was also a dance and song performance mid way through with a karaoke sheet for us to follow along. It seems our group was the only one who were not regulars, everyone else knew the song and hand gestures. The girls were always energetic and so cheerful!

It was an awesome experience,although for friends who are not into this cutesy charade, they will be blushing red through the entire dinner service!

♥ Day 1 - Groceries in Japan at Gourmet City

These were the basic groceries we picked up at the 24 hour grocery store near by. Lots of Cute character based foods and novelties. Selections on types of drinks are huge, packaged bentos go for $3.00 to $5.00 with it being 30% off after 7 pm usually.

Bread (~$1.00 cdn)
1 dozen eggs ($2.19 cdn)
3 package of pudding (~$1.00 cdn)
 Orangina (~$1.00 cdn); this drink is seen everywhere but its usually $2.49 at home
 cured ham (~$3.00 cdn)
large peach jello cup (~$0.88 cdn)
1L lemon tea (~$1.00 cdn)

With a few more items, the bill came to $11.00 cdn. Taxes here is 5% versus the 13% at home. Makes the bill look less horrifying after shopping. Fruit though on the other hand, is too expensive especially $20.00 for a watermelon.

♥ Day 1 - The Apartment in Shibuya Japan

This is our apartment for the 21 or so days we are spending in central Tokyo. It is the the Shibuya-ku area near Hatagaya station. It is very close to a shoutengai (a shopping street filled with family runned businesses). Several convience stores are in the area, such as 7-11, mini-stop, and lawson. A 24 hour Orangic grocery store is found by the station exit.

The location was found on Airbnb, and while accomdations in japan are small and expensive, Airbnb has offered some inexpensive places for groups of 4 travellers. In the end it was roughly $25 a day for this apartment per a person; which is the same price as staying at a hostel such as Sakura house. However considering that in this private 2 bedroom apartment well over 40 meter squared and that you do not have to share a bathroom or kitchen with others, it is a better bargain over staying at a hostel.


It is a 7 minute walk to Hatagaya station which uses the Keio line (a private line from Tokyo Metro not included in our 2 day metro passes), fortunately it only costs 120 yen to get to the major station of Shinjuku.