It was a warm summer night. PH and YT decided to explore Omotesando.
Barely walked – not even for 5 minutes! They decided to go into the nearest fancy place – Cafe & Dining Zelkova, a restaurant located inside Strings Omotesando (a very beautiful hotel that is also famous for having weddings).
Before we even ate anything, we did our pretentious blogger thing: take photos.
After being away for some months, we finally got together to unwind and catch up on the latest gossips.Shamelessly took more with these lovely fixtures until our food came.
Zelkova serves mains as well as small bites. Check out their dinner menu here.
PH, always happy with her food. Look at those cheeks! Guanciale!Seafood & Avocado Ceviche (Yuzu flavour) & our favourite Prawn Ajillo. Yes to bread!Thankful for the pan-fried fish that is often so hard to find in Japan. Who else likes to eat a whole fish here? Slices of sashimi are overrated!
Verdict: Zelkova was a nice place. We just wished the weather was a bit cooler for us to sit in the terrace.
It has been a year since twoislanders went to teamLab’s ★Borderless exhibit.
Wow.
Talk about backlogs and SUPER DELAYED postings. But hey, here we are and we do want to share our fun experience.
We were sold the second we saw teamLab’s promotional videos. It is definitely a must-go for #instagrammers (#wannabes) and for those who are much in love with digital art. Sabi – our dear friend visiting from HK joined us on our pretentious Sunday adventure.
This new-age art museum, teamLab★Borderles, located in MORI Building Digital Art Museum in Odaiba, Tokyo, dazzles its visitors with a generous number of lights and digital animation. The entrance to the museum was a simple black wall with the words: Wander, Explore and Discover.
This exhibition is permanent so there’s no rush to see it ASAP. Unless, again, if you are one of those #instagrammers (#wannabes).
But if you do want to visit, we do HIGHLY recommend that you reserve your tickets online instead of doing a walk-in as tickets tend to be sold out, especially on weekends.
We saw some poor folks got rejected at the door because tickets for the day were sold out. Also when you do have your tickets, please go to the end of the line and line up! (Unlike me who just made it in time to squeeze in when my two lovely friends were already near the gates. Seriously, I may never be able to cure this diva syndrome of always having a late and grand entrance. — PH)
We were really just WANDERING around the place since we didn’t do any research whatsoever. There was no strict rule on the sequence of which sections or areas to visit first nor was there a certain fast route to follow. We were very zen with everything and just went with the flow. If you do need to feel informed, there are four main sections– Borderless World, Athletic Forest, Future Park, and Forest of Lamps.
Endless space of flowers. Now we see why it’s called Borderless
The room has many corners and walls but with the projection, it seems almost endless. Seasonal flowers move across the room but if you’ll stay in the same spot, it’s as if you’re experiencing the changing seasons.
Do decide how long you can spare to spend in the museum because… taking photos really make you forget the time.
Perfect for the summer season!
The “Universe of Water Particles on a Rock where People Gather” is probably the next installation that you’ll see. If you see a space with an elevated area with kids using it as a playground and adults using it to get a decent photo then yup, you’re in the right place. Here, you will experience the images of flowers, water, and even KANJI (Chinese characters used in Japanese).
YT trying to look sophisticated and the kid behind her – well just being a kid and really enjoying himself..
From here, there are various exits to the other parts of the museum so you may not be going in the same sequence as we did.
“Walk, walk, walk” is not recommended for people who have motion sickness or experience vertigo. For people who are fine, you WILL experience vertigo. WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF VERTIGO, should have been its title.
Room of Light Sculptures exhibits several performances with beams of light. In photos, it will just seem you’re in a really cool night club. Bonus point: You can use such photo spot to make someone #jealous. #girlswhodontreallygotoclubs #creepytactics
The strings of lights are endless. From top to bottom, and enhanced with mirrors.
A small area with little white circular panels raised on sticks of different heights. Lights are projected onto them, mimicking fireflies, lotus leaves… try to picture summer in Japan. Definitely a one-of-a kind of romance.
Forest of Resonating Lamps ー our FAVOURITE exhibition!!! Probably no need to explain why… just check out photos below ☟
The idea is to have the lamps change colours with motion.
However, given how people are almost never moving around, the pattern is difficult to spot.Also, you’re more likely to be crazy snapping photographs than really watching the pattern.
Just remember the time limit and TAKE AS MANY PHOTOS AS YOU CAN. Your feed will thank you!
Moving onto an area that is representative of Japan.. ☛
The moving waves reminded me of the famous ukiyo-e painting of ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by Katsushika Hokusai (ca. 1829-1833). A tranquil area… here our marvellous teamLab geniuses also prepared couches for people to take a break.
Next stop is another area that reminded us of being in a night club.
The lights dazzle you as they move in synchronization. The experience (what you see) always varies depending on where you stand within the room. Just be reminded of vertigo. You don’t want to be puking afterwards like what happens at 4am during one of your sleepovers…
Athletics Forest
On the highest floor, you can experience several interactive projection mapping and lights’ exhibition.
Some areas allow you to climb onto steps that either wobble or only goes up and down. Given how dark the space was, walking around was actually quite a challenge. Nevertheless, the experience was amazing.
A wise man once said, Paintbrush & canvas + 1 glass of wine = Mona Lisa.
Paintbrush & canvas + 3 or more glasses of wine = funny-looking Mona Lisa.
And #twoislanders were up for an adventure to have that funny-looking Mona Lisa. Always looking for new ideas to spice up their lives, they decided on a date at ArtBar Tokyo. It was also to celebrate YT’s coming-of-age (hehe).
ArtBar Tokyo holds creative three-hour art lessons in Daikanyama and other trendy rental studios, which are super fun because there is a free-flowing wine bar and a generous serving of snacks. Yes, darling, you can drink all the white and red you want. There is also Sangria so you can say that it is almost the perfect brunch scenario if only there’s Eggs Benedict and it’s not at night time.
We signed up for instructor Naomi’s lesson on Paint like Jackson Pollock in Daikanyama. (We always thought it was Jason… and not so sure why) The studio is located less than 10 minutes (on foot) away from Shibuya station. It was a chilly evening and we were running late. Good thing the weather helped us walk a bit faster.
Upon arriving, we were greeted by a very bubbly lady — Naomi, who made us felt very much welcomed despite arriving last minute. We were offered our drinks and she went on to briefly explain the lesson.
One: Order your drink: white wine, red wine or sangria.
*Soft drinks are also available.
The set: canvas, paper plate for your base, paint water, paint brush aaaand sangria
Two: Wear your apron.
You wouldn’t want to ruin a perfect Sunday dress. For this lesson, we were advised to take off our shoes to avoid having paint on them. PH didn’t and she now has a very colorful and original pair of sneakers.
No worries, you will be provided napkins to wipe the paint off your feet! Even though they do come off easier (by peeling) after the paint dries.
Three: Choose your base.
Imagine you’ll be hanging your art work at home. What colour do you want?
YT chose purple – her walls are too white. Pink is gross. Blue is a little dull. Red is too much. Purple, ahh, the colour of royalty. PH chose yellow — a color resembling the sun, hoping it will bring warmth and positive energy.
Four: Just take some paint and splash it on the canvas.
“Imagine it was your ex-boyfriend”, Naomi said. Splash with anger. Relieve some stress.
Here is our bubbly instructor from California, Naomi. She rocks and she also likes Ariana Grande. #trulygodisawoman She gave us simple instructions and showed us a demo for the lesson. It wasn’t that difficult.
Five: Just keep on splashing some paint to your canvas. If you don’t want the colors to mix, make sure to dry them first with the blow dryers provided at the studio.
Tip: Make sure to not place your wine glass beside the paint water. Intoxication can definitely make you drink that water. Or dip your brush into your wine.
Six: Sign your piece, and you’re done!
Here, check out our masterpieces!
What do you see?
PH’s on the left, YT’s on the rightWe were definitely happy with the results. And drunk.
Check out ArtBar for their upcoming lessons and information about their super fun instructors.
PH and YT love melancholy songs. PH knows a lot of about music. Always in with the latest trends. YT is always a step behind.
The two islanders had a conversation about Sam Smith once and YT admitted she didn’t know who Sam Smith was, not even post-Writings-On-The-Wall. All YT said was,”why did they get that guy to sing for James Bond?”
That guy.
YT was living in a well.
Came a day in 2018 when PH found out about Sam Smith’s concert in Japan and the duo bought tickets right away. How can you miss an opportunity like this?
It was a Friday night we will never forget.
Here we are in front of Saitama Super Arena, super excited and super happy!
We had good seats. Had enough room to sing and dance our hearts out.
Sam Smith appeared on stage in a white suit (or was it blue?), singing One Last Song. An adorable man that he is, he said that he hope we’d have fun despite most of his songs being rather sad.
Isn’t he adorable?
While the #twoislanders are pretty liberal people, we are still a little affected by the fact that Sam Smith is a gay man. I mean… there is no room for fantasizing regardless of how sexy he is. Perhaps, we’ll be bffs. Just like how he likes Fifth Harmony. #YTstalkedhimalloveryoutube
For the song “Him”, Sam Smith added an interlude, saying, “I wrote this song as a message to anybody listening to it that love is love. I am a proud gay man. And if you are proud of who you are tonight, Tokyo, let me see your hands!”
We love you, my man.
The crowd went nuts. We are very proud of you too 🙂 And the stage shot out rainbow-coloured beams as the song came to an end. It was amazing.
We loved the stage design – it was simple with a very tall structure shaped like an inverted V. Yet, the colours added to it depicted a different impression each time. Apart from the rainbow colours for “Him”, “Writings On The Wall” was of course, represented by gold. It was so majestic and grand.
Some of our favourites were “In The Lonely Hour” and “I’m Not The Only One”. Too sad. You make us cry, Sam Smith.
Towards the end of the concert, just as promised, the night came to life with a range of his fast-beat songs.
YT decided it was time to finally pay Chiba a visit. We were lucky enough to find an awesome-looking summer festival just a few blocks away from my home — NUTS PARTY.
It is widely known that people here (ahem) have a very different sense of humour. Sometimes, a lack of it. Sarcasm does not exist in Japan. Their closest version is “irony” (皮肉・hiniku)… so we were both thrilled and also a little embarrassed to find out that this NUTS PARTY we were attending was actually referring to natsu which means summer in Nihonggo. Talk about lacking a sense of humour. Best pun, ever.
Held at the spacious park of Chiba Port (Harbour) on 21 July 2018. This party is held annually and is totally free of charge. Lots of food trucks surround the park. This year, there’s an awesome toy hammock merchandise to keep you relaxed while local artists perform on stage.
We caught ものんくる (vocalist’s voice totally rocks and it might not be the best but we were happy to hear her rendition of Sunday Morning), Michael Kaneko (whose name sounds like a fashion designer’s but was actually a very good singer too) and ☆マーレーズ☆ (regggggae♡) while we were lazing on hammocks under a tent.
Yes, the installation that we loved the most: toy hammocks that were free for everyone to try. If you like it, you can bring it home at half the usual price. Great service. Amazing advertising skills.
But the real highlight of the party was none other than the FOOD. Food trucks everywhere. The kids who feel like it’s carnival/foundation day in our hearts are just bursting with excitement.
Went around the park. There were a lot of food trucks. Some were serving ramen (even under 37 degrees!), beers, okonomiyaki, etc. We found this taco place and knew it’s the best choice.We settled for a hot and juicy linguica – smoke cured pork sausage seasoned with garlic and paprika. It reminded me of longganisa back in Manila but that one is too sweet and usually pan-fried. This one is way better or maybe we were just too hungry that day.Homemade lemonade concoction — with strong serving of sugary sweetness and cinnamon spice. Summer is always about everything lemon, don’t you think?Had the concentrate mixed with soda water and we all good. Time to check out the line up.One weird story: so while we were sitting on the grass, waiting for some people to leave the hammocks so we could have our turn, I saw the weirdest scene, ever. Girl in yoga pants and super tight top with spaghetti straps was doing acrobats and stretching the hell out. Now I’m not a person who gets weirded out easily but her boobs are on the verge of falling out and srsly how can you stretch without any mat and omgggg it’s really slipping away…Sun was on its way down and we were feeling a little hungry. Went to check out stand serving hot fries with whatever sauce you want. Fries+sauce already got me sold. I got an aioli and YT had a basil type.If you think Tokyo is getting too crowded for you, come to Chiba. They also have Disneyland. Yea, you probably didn’t know but now, you do. Go nuts!
Check out the nuts party official website and twitter for details.
Winter was long, hard, and cold. (Yes, we are talking about a season, folks.) Spring was better — kinder to us even for a little while. But then it decided to bring an unsteady wave of heat and rain which is such a gross combination. Eventually, the gods took pity on us and calmed the weather down so the #twoislanders managed to hang out We decided to go on one condition: al fresco style.
YT picked a beautiful cafe called The Royal Garden Cafe (Aoyama) which is located between the Aoyama-itchome and Gaienmae stations, and facing the Jingu-gaien street. It is the perfect place for us to bask under the moonlight and enjoy the evening summer breeze. Fyi, the location turns to a lovely street for viewing the yellow ginko leaves in Autumn.
One way F&B businesses survive in Tokyo is to employ foreign names in their brand, food, whatever. Mostly, they simply give complicated names for dishes so that they seem posh. The cafe was not an exception. Once we were seated at the lovely terrace, we were given a rather difficult menu, with loads of words in katakana. PH managed to figure out a ridiculously long name as possibly being our favourite ajillo. Top it up with a serving of bread, ooh lala.
DIsh fried seasonal food in garlic olive oil and baguette — WHAT?! but olive oil and baguette can only mean ajillo! And yes, we are definitely getting that! Just look at those sexy bacon bits!
YT: This time, our main course was decided by my love of fish. We ordered a grilled fish baked in fancy paper. Honestly, trees are dying but here we are using paper to cook. PH: because we are more important than trees. #FoodieFeedMatter
Grilled fish ala papiotte — yes, yes we know the lighting was very bad. Sitting by the terrace at night also means you get very bad lighting. We’ll try better next time.
Photography 303 says that things are a lot easier when there’s two of you behind the camera. You can take turns to take each other’s photos. You can also use one’s smartphone to provide lighting while the other takes the picture. We looked like idiots trying to perfect it #forthegram but don’t we all in this day and time? It’s all about how we look on social media. Anyone watching Black Mirror, recently? #greatshow #deepthoughts (At that point in time, YT still has not started watching Black Mirror.)
Spaghetti with eggplant, mushrooms and tomato sauce
Hours were spent talking. About family, work, and health.
PH: A dear relative has just passed; I just took an exam for a work promotion which I kinda felt I wouldn’t be able to ace; I was gonna take a bus to go to Nagoya that very night. And my life has just been a rollercoaster mess. If I am a writer, I’d have so much material.
Although YT sounds negative with all her comments, everything we have ordered turned out fantastic. Ajillo had our favourite button mushrooms in salted olive oil. The fish was fresh and tasty. Pasta had legit italian taste. But there was something else on the menu. Something that has been calling out to us.
Pancakes.
Should we?
But we already had quite a bit.
“Excuse me, sir. Pancakes, please!”
“It will take about 20 minutes, madam.” Really does not bother us but thank you for pointing that out.
Banana ricotta cheese pancake. We had a bottle of maple syrup just for ourselves. Get your diabetes game on.
So we wrapped up the night with this rockstar and countless glasses of water.
Next time, we def need to be sitting outside during the day and with the sun. Real al fresco style.
We visited Shanghai and absolutely enjoyed all the food we had. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME ACTION-PACKED FOR REALZ #FOODPORN ?
First stop: Airport food
We had a late-night flight and we came directly from work (or was it just me?) Anyway, we blessed the trip with a morning meal.
Yong He Soy Bean Milk: A local store that began its roots in Taipei, Taiwan. Their soy bean milk became a hit and has since been turned into franchise. We had an egg roll, fried dough and soy bean milk. Pure goodness.
*Soy bean is also said to be good for ladies and is often a substitute for protein intake among vegans. Add the pan fried roll and fried dough, all effort is lost 🙂
Random snacks
So we went to a shopping mall near our airbnb and found this gem. We didn’t know the payment process – everything is done online in China apparently! (It’s either through wechat or some other app) and we just didn’t have that. Good thing the staff were really nice and well, we got ourselves a Chinese speaker to ease that process. THANK YOU, Hiko!Pan-fried xiao long bao? Where have you been all of my life? Heard there are some in Yokohama as well but I wonder if it’s legit?
Sheng jian bao (pan fried “raw” pau) or shui jian bao (pau pan fried with water) is the real name. The random mall is situated outside Tiantong station.
Will the real Shanghai xiao long bao please stand up? They decided they are badass enough to come sitting in a steam basket. So this place is always full… you actually have to share a table most of the time. We didn’t queue for too long (like Disney type) but still there was a lot of people. Xiao long bao dreams have been achieved!Maybe it’s the hipster in me but isn’t this just so cute? Also, I’m a sucker for soymilk. – PHThere’s some salty egg yolk in there too. Each bite gets you to food paradise (or burns your tongue). We now proclaim that Chinese food is the best. *runs away from political correctness and internet haters*
Jia Jia Tang Bao: A seemingly harmless little store that is often bustling and serves awesome xiao long bao. Thin dumpling skin coupled with juicy meat filling.
Walking around the streets and found this. They say the best way to enjoy a city is by trying out its street food.We forgot what this was. LOL.
This random store is situated along the streets outside Nanjing East Road station. And the bag was probably full of fried chicken. Before we devoured it.
Family MartWe just had to buy it. Fish balls, squid balls, prawn balls, all sorts of seafood balls in SPICY soup.
Family Mart: Yup, will not be expecting this in Family Mart but then again, Japanese-convenience stores are known for their absolutely unbeatable customer service. So providing a variety that is beyond your imagination is basically what they do. FRIGGIN’ SPICY by the way. I was tearing.
Here’s our lovely Europeans (seriously, they can pass off as models. Any scouts reading this?).They say it’s one of the best bakeries in town. Well, we think so too. Hopefully they’ll have a branch in Tokyo.They got us some egg tarts for merienda and we munched on them on a work hub where one of their friends works. We went to the “pantry” and somehow got caught up on a corporate party. That didn’t stop us from getting free espresso though. How to be millennial 101: Get that trendy pastry and drink a free coffee on a work hub. YES.
More pastry, anyone? (See the sign for wechat pay? Hint: Green)
This random sweet and chewy pastry is found in Yu Garden.
Probably a mango drink. Hiko doesn’t remember but she loves mango so she’s going to assume anything yellow is mango.Probably mango cake. Same logic as above.
Wagas: A cafe that provides wifi, coffee, desserts, and also simple lunch (pasta etc.).
By now, I hope you are wondering how the hell did we eat so much within 4 days. But, wait for it… here comes more 🙂
Round 1: We played a mini game of bubble tea. We were to buy from different stores and picked the best. Verdict is as displayed. Winner: Yi dian dian.Just in case you can’t read Chinese characters, this is the store front of our winner. yi dian dian.Round 2: Just had to have more. This was in the random mall.Verdict: Pretty good. Hiko is pretty and that’s good.
Round 3: This time, we all get to have good bubble tea.
Bubble tea is never too much! Especially when they got mangoes in ’em.Shop: Xie Ji.
When will someone stop having bubble tea? The answer is either diabetes or NO, NEVER. Nothing is going to stop us, especially when one cup costs about USD 5-7 in Japan and China offers it at USD 3.
And we’re not done yet. We promised #FOODPORN so here comes the main meals.
PROPER FOOD
Cheers to one of the best (the other is Baya, of course!) travel guides one can ever have! Love how most restaurants we’ve been to have large photos of food in their menu. Good marketing strategy.Baya & Hiko’s favourite dish: for its good taste and funny but disgusting name. Kou shui ji: literally saliva chicken. Chicken so good that makes you salivate or chicken made from someone’s saliva.Will the real #tantanmen please stand up?Shui zhu yu (fish cooked in water?! lol): That fish dish soaked in oil, pepper and chillis
Maurya: Fancy interior with turquoise-blue walls and a huge peacock painting. Watch out for the queue during meal times.
Are you a dark beer person as well? Cerveza Negra!Not sure what this is but it was like hell in my mouth. The good kind.Lamb skewersMeat stew with pumpkin. A pairing made in heaven.Happy faces of happily stuffed people.
Xin Jiang Mi Zhi Restaurant: serves Xin Jiang food. Our first but definitely not going to be the last. Asia is amazing.
Various mushrooms for a starter. (This was one of my favourite. – PH) Yunnan cuisine uses a lot of mushrooms!A lot of veggies! But cooked in a way we wanted.A pot of stew. Stews are so good for locking the taste into meat.OMG more carbohydrates. Chinese pastry tends to be savoury but still I love them all. Like pokemon.Spicy fish. Not sure if we were paying for dried chilli or the fish. Still, I love it.By now, we can’t remember what we are eating but it was good too. Honestly, did we dislike anything that were served to us in Shanghai? NO!
Middle 8: located in Jing An District. We had our lovely Shanghai guides order for us and everything was perfection.
Best way to end our last night in the city: rooftop bar!Who says we can’t get classy with shorts and sandals? The main point here is to feel the summer breeze while sipping pina colada, and watch cheesy dates get awkwardly conscious with a big group hanging out in a lounge corner (yes, that’s us).A moment where #justchillin can be best put to use as a hashtag. Lovely way to end the trip. Thanks for the memories!
Random rooftop bar and a lovely gentleman took the bill when we just met for the evening. How is that possible? #chinesehospitality
Hope you guys are full/got full. ‘Cause if not, then this post is just torture. xx
twoislanders 