Japanese – Page 4 – Anne Goes to Places

A lot of things happened since I last updated my blog but let’s just talk about the highlights of those weeks. The first week of November was enrollment in my university… my last enrollment actually since I’ll be graduating on March 2013 (hopefully!).

P05-11-12_11.14 — My last registration form as an undergraduate student

Since I only have two remaining subjects for my last semester, I had a lot of free time for rakets. I assisted in four projects in the company I’m working for (part-time though). I really enjoy doing market research. I feel like I belong in this field rather than in media. I’m still a bit undecided what companies I’ll be applying into after graduating.

Snapshot_20121107 — Trying to sneak a picture during my break from work 🙂

The second week of November 2012 meant that our batch would be having our grad pics. Yay! I really had a hard time thinking about my creative shot. My initial peg was to have a vintage atmosphere… then it hit me! Imitate an icon from the vintage times. :>

I had spare money to spend on whatever I want so I bought a few things recently. Since my university ‘required’ walking from one class to another (which is usually from one building to another), a lot of my shoes got worn out and so I let them rest in peace na. I bought two pairs of shoes this week — one from Forever 21 and one from Tutum Shop, a proudly Pinoy shoe brand. 😉

P16-11-12_18.23 — Lessie shoes (blue) from Tutum Shop

The other pair of shoes I bought is part of the Hello Kitty collection of Forever 21. I rushed to the Megamall branch when I found out that they already released the collection. Basta Hello Kitty (at magandang product), bibilhin ko agad! I think that I will never be too old for Hello Kitty. *sigh*

P16-11-12_22.30 — Sweater, leggings, and pair of shoes from Forever 21 x Hello Kitty collection

I also went with a close friend of mine and her boyfriend to the National Bookstore Warehouse Sale. We went there on the second day and a lot of good books were already bought. 😦 The only book I was able to buy for myself was one about photography. Originally, it was for 1,000+ pesos but I got it for 200 pesos na lang. 😀

P16-11-12_22.50 — Books I bought for my cousin and little niece :>

I treated my parents to dinner at Yabu: House of Katsu (Megamall branch). It was our first time there and I’ve really been curious how their food tasted like ever since people started ranting about how really good their katsu is. I ordered the Rosu Tonkatsu Set which was around PhP400 for the biggest katsu. Gluttony at its best. Besides the katsu, Yabu offers unlimited cabbage and unlimited rice. Quite sayang for me since I don’t eat too much rice. I loooove their cabbages though since these are thinly sliced then you either drizzle or soak them with the Sesame Dressing or the Yabu Special Dressing. My meal also came with a bowl of miso soup, japanese pickles (which I didn’t like), and fruits for dessert.

tile1 — [L-R] — (above): Miso soup, Rosu Katsudon; (below): Sesame seeds and katsu sauce, salad dressing, fruits and pickles

I think that what makes Yabu unique among the restos I’ve tried, which offer katsu, is their “interactive” activity of doing your own katsu sauce — grinding the sesame seeds then pouring the katsu sauce over it then mixing it. My parents and I had fun doing this grind-pour-mix thing. I would definitely come back to this place anytime, especially if my tummy craves for katsu. 😀

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Yabu: House of Katsu: 2/F Atrium, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City

The last day of October 2012 meant that my family would be commemorating the 40th day since a relative of mine passed away. We had mass in Ascension Columbary followed by a small salu-salo. My aunts and uncles decided to celebrate All Souls’ Day yesterday since there would be fewer people in the columbary.

With the BIG family… not complete though :p

And finally, after x number of months (or years?), Eyong’s dinner treat happened. Haha! We chose to eat authentic Japanese food for dinner and the best place to go to is Little Tokyo in Makati City. Shinjuku Ramen House was our first stop for the night. The staff were so friendly and very attentive to any customer need. We had to ask how big was a regular bowl of ramen since we were planning to eat again after our food escapade in Shinjuku. They said that a regular ramen bowl is good for two people if both are not super hungry. We decided to order two ramen flavors — Chashu and Wantan.

I did not regret ordering Chashumen since it was so yummy. The meat was very soft that it actually felt like it melted in my mouth. The noodles were firm and for me, it was good that the veggie was chopped into small pieces rather than huge chunks of ‘em.

With Eyong — we ordered the Chashumen! 🙂

My sister and cousin opted for Wantanmen because of the siomai -ish in the ramen. I asked how it tasted and all they said was “Delicious!” They put lots of chili powder in their ramen to make it spicyyy and they told me it was good that the powder did not change the taste of their food.

We were expecting though that our ramen would be really hot — a sip would be enough to burn your tongue. However, that was not the case and we were quite disappointed with that. Still, the ramen was so good that we kinda forgot about the ideal temperature for the food. My cousin suddenly remembered that we did not order sushi. I am not a big fan of this since my three previous experiences with this food were all bad. He insisted that it was really good and maybe California Maki was just not the right sushi for me. He ordered Spicy Tempura Maki, which got Eyong and Chippy excited since they looove spicy stuff.

One bite of this sushi and I was converted. My first and immediate reaction was “Oh my gosh! Sobrang sarap lang!” It was that good!

We went to Kagura afterwards, which boasts their okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese dish that resembles a pancake with a variety of ingredients, such as pork, shrimp, and tuna flakes. Besides offering the regular okonomiyaki, Kagura also offers a modern type of okonomiyaki, which has noodles as an added ingredient. We ordered two types of modern mix okonomiyaki — one has tuna flakes while the other has chicken skin.

Chicken skin — modern mix okonomiyaki (PhP260)

Tuna flakes — modern mix okonomiyaki (PhP260)

I preferred the okonomiyaki with tuna flakes since I could really taste the tuna inside. My cousin jokingly said after his first bite, “Uy! Century Tuna!” He told me that indeed, the tuna okonomiyaki was better than the chicken one. Both dishes were really good that we vowed to go back there when we have enough money again.

I thought we were going home after the Little Tokyo trip when my cousin said that we would go to Tagaytay. I thought he was just joking but when I saw that we were on the road to Bicutan….. He wasn’t kidding. Talk about a spur-of-the-moment roadtrip! And so, our Little Tokyo trip extended to a Tagaytay trip.

It was a good thing that I wore my beanie yesterday and I accidentally brought my mom’s sweater with me. Fortune teller, chos!

I’m the type of person who is afraid to do unplanned things because of possible reprimands or consequences. I was happy that the people with me were game na game with the roadtrip. It was hard not to be “infected” by their happy vibes. 😉 Guess where we chilled out in Tagaytay? Starbucks! Haha! We actually thought of going to Bag of Beans but it was around 9PM already so the resto might already be closed.