Are you a cat or a dog person?
Today I will show you a cake shop in Kansai that is popular for its cute cat logo.
My friend took me to this store because she fell in love with the cats.
Chat noir means “black cats” in French.
As you can see, all of these have a black cat logo somewhere on the cake.
My friend and I were standing in line for about 15 minutes because we had a hard time deciding which one to buy sense they were all super cute!
We were definitely going to buy the cake that was shaped like a cat because their eyes were literally staring at us.
This is the bag they put in and the box with the cakes inside.
The cakes were all in one box, but the staff gave us an extra bag because I was with my friend. The bag was so cute and fancy, I decided to keep it. I mean, who wouldn’t keep such a cute bag?!
Another hidden cute gift was this ice pack. It has their logo front and bag. You can also keep/reuse this sense it’s cute and clean!
We chose these 3 cakes. The one in the very left is a Tiramisu, the middle one is a cheesecake, and the right one is a chocolate cake.
We tried all 3 of them and my favorite was the cheesecake because it was soft and the sweetness was just right for me. The tiramisu one was a little bitter for me, but it was the perfect bitterness for my friend. My friend’s favorite was the chocolate cake because it had a little coffee flavor and it was the cutest out of all the cakes from the store.
What my friend really likes about this store is that it’s not so sweet and they have various types of cakes.
There are about 8 Chat noir in Osaka, and 4 of them have a café space, so I recommend you to peek in when you visit Osaka!
■Information
For more information, please visit：http://chat-noir.net/shop.php
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Summer is almost here and it’s time to enjoy the sun, the beach, and the food!
Who would have thought you can enjoy the resort like atmosphere in Shinjuku?
Well, Tokyo Sky Resort Wild Beach (Shinjuku) is the best place to visit when you are tired of the city and feel like relaxing.
Once the elevator door opens, you will enter a completely different zone. The area is filled with white sand, beach beds, and sofa seats, creating a tropical beach resort atmosphere.
The “Beach Café Area” offers a fashionable “French style barbecue” where you can enjoy various kinds of appetizers and drinks. At night the area is lit up with candles and lights, creating a romantic feeling.
At the private wood deck space, you can reserve the whole area and enjoy the recent trend in Japan, “glamping” (glamorous camping). There will be a glamping tent with tables, sofas, and a barbecue space to have a good time with friends and family. There will also be a personal waitress that will be serving your food and drinks.
Try out the most popular drinks, Mango Sparkling and Peach Sparkling! They are very fruity and easy-drinking for anyone. Even the ice cubes are colored, which makes it very stylish and perfect for Instagram!
Continuing with Instagram, there are several cute photo spots inside the café. There are 3 different areas with wall art of an Angel’s wing and there are also swings here that will bring back your childhood memories.
Not only can you come and BBQ with your friends on the weekend, but you can also show up after work on a weekday to refresh and have a nice relaxing time.
Reservation:
- Beach Café Area with Parasol and Sofa ￥1000
- Beach Café Area with Pergola Bed ￥2000
- Wild BBQ ￥4500 (Kids under 10 ￥1500)
- Wild BBQ for Girls Night Out ￥3900
- Beach BBQ (￥5500) (Kids under 10 ￥2500)
- Beach BBQ for Girls Night Out ￥4900
- Luxury BBQ ￥7500 (Kids under 10 ￥3500)
- Luxury BBQ for Girls Night Out ￥6900
- Glamping BBQ ￥15,000 (Kids under 10 ￥5500)
- Glamping BBQ for Girls Night Out ￥12,500
- You can make any plan into all you can drink set with +￥1500
- You must make a reservation if you are planning on going on Fridays or weekends and the reservation must be made a month prior.
There are also free café spaces where you do not need to make any reservations so feel free to come in any time!
The Tokyo Sky Resort Wild Beach (Shinjuku) will be opened until September 30th, 2017!
Writer:Jessica
■Information:Location: Lumine EST rooftop
Address: 3-38-1, Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Open Hours: 11:00am- 23:00pm
Phone: 070-3884-7290
Related article：Summer: The season of barbeques & beer gardens! Today we’re recommending you rooftop terraces in Tokyo! (Part 8)
Related article：Feel like you’re at a resort with couples’ seats, swing seats and glamping at “Hankyu Top Beer Garden”
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Here I am in Nagasaki again!
Today I will be showing you guys a great place to buy Kasutera Ice Cream Sandwich!
Now a specialty of Nagasaki, Kasutera is a popular Japanese sweet sponge cake. The name doesn’t sound Japanese because it came from the Portuguese phrase “Pao de Castela”. Traditionally, there were only honey flavor, but today there are all sorts of flavors including matcha and chocolate. Kasutera is available to buy in any souvenir shops and cafes in Nagasaki.
I’ve had so many different flavors of Kasutera, but I never got to try Kasutera Ice, so I visited a store called New York Do. It is a 5 minute walk from Nigiwaibashi Station.
As I entered the store, there were various types of snacks and a big freezer. Inside the freezer there was Kasutera Ice! They had 6 different flavors: Basic, chocolate, strawberry, matcha, biwa, and sweet bean paste. The first one the staff pointed out was the biwa (Ioquat) flavored out so my friend got that. I knew right away that I was getting the matcha flavored one.
As I removed the Kasutera Ice from its wrapper, there was a scoop of matcha flavored ice cream sandwiched between two slices of Kasutera. The staff told us to wait 10 minutes before opening it, but we couldn’t wait that we started eating it.
My advice for you is to wait 10 minutes before eating it because the ice cream wasn’t melted enough for me to be able to take a bite. It is better to defrost the ice cream by putting it between your hands.
Not surprisingly, the Kasutera Ice was delicious! I think all of the ice cream goes well with the Kasutera because the cake itself tastes like honey.
If you buy just the Kasutera, you can sandwich your own favorite ice cream and make an original Kasutera ice cream!
■Information
Address: Nagasaki ken Furukawa cho 3-17
Phone: 095-822-4875
Open: 10am – 6:30pm, Sundays til 5pm.
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Related article：【Nagasaki Lunch】HIKARI BURGER at Sasebo city
Related article：【NagasakiStroll】Why Not Kyushu? Come and View the Gorgeous 99 Islands
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Continuing with my Nagasaki tour, the next stop should be Hikari Burger (a.k.a SASEBO BURGER)!!!
Yes, this is what Sasebo City is known for.
Hikari opened in 1950 and is one of the oldest burger restaurants in town.
They are famous for its jumbo size burger. When I mean jumbo, it’s really jumbo.
I lived here for 16 years, but I never had the chance to try it so it was actually my first day to order one!
There were all sorts of burgers: Hamburger, Cheese Burger, Bacon Burger, Fish Burger, Jumbo Chicken Burger…etc.
I decided to go with the “Special Burger”. I mean, who wouldn’t buy something that said “special” on it?!
There are 3 tables outside for people to sit so I waited there. It has a nice little roof to block the sun.
As my number was called, they handed me the huge special burger wrapped in a nice white cover.
The Special Burger contained: huge soft buns with chicken meat, cheese, omelet, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.
As you can see from the picture, the egg is standing out so bright~! It was so hard to take my first bite off the burger because it was so tall. It took me 3 bites to actually get to the chicken and egg. I really liked their buns because they didn’t have any sesame’s and they were super soft and sweet. The combination of the chicken, egg, and the bacon are always the best. As I kept eating, first I thought the sweet flavor was from the buns, but they were actually the sauce. They rearranged the mayonnaise with some kind of spice, that the burgers actually tasted sweet! It took me a long time to finish because I’ve never had a burger that big in Japan.
If you miss the real American size hamburger, come to Hikari!
■Writer：Jessica
■SNS：@mintbaaby
■Information
Address:：〒857-0047 Nagasaki ken, Saseboshi Yaokamachi 1-1
Open:：Monday ~ Sunday 10am~20pm
Closed:：Wednesday
Phone:：0956-25-6685
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Related article：【NagasakiStroll】Why Not Kyushu? Come and View the Gorgeous 99 Islands
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Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka... A majority of tourists would always start and end their Japan trip within these prefectures. These prefectures are very lovely places, but why not come sightseeing in Kyushu! If you want to experience something different from other tourists, Nagasaki would be a great place to visit.
In Kyushu there are many wonderful prefectures like Kumamoto for the castle, Oita for onsens, Fukuoka for ramen, and then comes Nagasaki. Today I will show you one of my favorite places of all in Nagasaki prefecture.
Look at this amazing view, full of green and blue. Can you count how many islands there are in this photo? There are about 17 islands within this picture, but there are actually more than 200 islands!
This place is called 99 Island Pearl Sea Resort (Kujyu-kushima). 99 refers to “many”, and there are actually 208 islands.
Pearl Sea Resort offers a fantastic way to enjoy the view of these beautiful islands.
They have a harbor offering sightseeing boats, the elegant boat Pearl Queen, and the colorful vessel, Mirai that will cruise around the islands.
You can enjoy the cruise both below and above decks on the boats. I enjoyed being outside, especially at the top of the deck where I could feel the breeze. We cruised around numerous islands and were able to see oyster rafts for pearl cultivation and ducks that were swimming nearby.
Adult: ¥ 1440
Child: ¥ 700
You can also enjoy various types of marine life found in the local waters at Umikirara Aquarium! Entrance is ¥ 1440 for adults (¥ 720 children).
Last but not least, my most favorite spot!
There is a natural land bridge created by blocks of stones by the beach where you can walk across on the days at special low tides. It only happens once or twice every month so if you’re lucky, you might be able to walk on the bridge to the mini gate at the end of the land bridge!
■Writer:Jessica
■SNS：mintbaaby / instagram
■Information:
99 Island Pearl Sea Resort
Address: 1008 Saseboshi Kashimaechou Nagasakiken 858-0922
Telephone: 0956-28-4187
Access: 25min by bus from JR Sasebo Station.
WEB：http://www.pearlsea.jp/english/
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■Related article：Scarlett’s Kawaii Kyushu Part 1: Beppu
■Related article：Scarlett’s Kawaii Kyushu Part 2: Kumamoto
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When it becomes winter in Japan, you will start to see various types of satsumaimo (sweet potato) flavored snacks.
You will also hear music from small trucks that are selling ishi-yaki-imo: “Ishi-ya-ki-imo～….yaki-imo～ yakitate～”.
Since the 18th century, ishi-yaki-imo (stone roasted sweet potato) has traditionally been eaten in Japan as a snack.
When my friend and I were adventuring around Asakusa, we found an ishi-yaki-imo store called Amakara Enishi.
The owner gave us a sample of yaki-imo and it was so sweet and soft that there was no way we were going to leave there without buying one.
The price is decided according to the weight of the yaki-imo. It was ¥200 per 100g.
We chose a medium sized one and it was only ¥400. The owner halved it so we could share one.
The yaki-imo was soft and the inside was golden!
Sweet mild flavor made me feel like I was eating caramel…Ofcourse without the chewiness. One of the best yaki-imo I had in my life.Apparently, this yaki-imo would still taste delicious even if it cooled down.
The owner told us that they were on TV last week, so I would recommend you to visit before it gets super crowded!!
Come out and try this sweet sweet potato and enjoy the last few days of winter in Japan!
Writer：Jessica
SNS：@mintbaaby / Instagram
■Information
Webpage: http://www.amakaraenisi.net/home1
Address: 1 Taitouku Asakusa Tokyoto 29-8
Telephone: 03-3810-6327
Open: 8:30am to 19:30pm
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The worldwide famous coffee shop, Starbucks, has different types of drink menus for each country.
Japan has loads of limited seasonal specials, and now spring (cherry blossom) season is among us!
Starbucks began selling sakura flavored Frappuccino! (FYI sakura is cherry blossom in Japanese).
You have a choice of Frappuccino or latte. Since it’s still cold in Japan, people tend to order the latte version, but I decided to go with Frappuccino.
It’s very pink even at the top. They decorated the whip cream topping with pink sprinkles and pink crisped rice flakes.
The sakura aroma reaches the nose when I put the straw in my mouth.
I’m having a very hard time to describe what it tastes like, but it tastes very floral. Sakura is very hard to explain, but I guess it kind of tastes like strawberries with fewer flavors.
There were so many rice flakes in the Frappuccino, that it reminded me of eating a sakura flavored crunch bar.
The Sakura Frappuccino will be sold until March 14th.
Now they are giving out coasters with cute cherry blossom designs on it. By accessing the website with the QR code on the coaster, you can take pictures with a special spring starbucks frame!
Let’s go to Starbucks!
■Writer：Jessica
■SNS：@mintbaaby
■Information
SAKURA Blossom Cream Frappuccino®
