Monday, 18 August 2014

Hello I'm Back from my first trip in summer!

Hello! After a long time, I'm finally back! (Don't say you guys didn't miss me :p)
Some of you may wonder where I had been. I went to Australia! Yeyyyy! After bloody 7 months, I could finally get out of Japan even for a short time. 

This time I went to a country side of Australia near Brisbane and did a home stay. 
I was really really lucky to have such a amazing host family! They are really nice and their house was just lovely.
Every evening, this amazing view is just in front of you!!!



Well it's been just about 5 hours, I already miss beautiful Australian nature and relaxed life.....
Write again more about this trip.


Wednesday, 6 August 2014

Hot hot hot hot Summer in JP!/Toshimaen Pool


This year I experience Japanese summer after 4 years! Most of the past years, I was in Europe and enjoyed sunshine and beautiful summer.
Well there is sunshine here in JP but it just burns people. An announce of 'staying inside a building and refrain from staying outside too much and any sports' is often made these days. CRAZY
My body is definitely super tired.....

No matter how miserable the weather is, I have to enjoy my life in Japan. My friend and I went to Toshimaen pool today to feel a bit of summer. 



A tiny bit of a tip for an entrance fee. If you go to a discount ticket shop and get 100 yen discount ticket, you can get 1200 yen off :) hahaha

Considering to other famous pools, this one is a bit small but we really enjoyed!
I don't know Japanese people's summer holiday trend, it was not too crowded yet. There are exiting water sliders as well. If you wanna try them with a tube, you've got to pay 600yen. I'd say 600yen is cheap comparing to other pools. 

Another thing I wanna share is a list band which allows you to shop without bringing any coins. Basically you deposit some money on it beforehand. You can shop by touching the band. Well the whole IT thing is really convenient!

After enjoying the pool, we went to a hot spring spa called Niwanoyu. just next to Toshimaen. We could wash our body properly and get a massage. Sooooo relaxing!

After these exciting and relaxing moments, we ate lots of oysters for our dinner. What a wonderful life!
It was funny that we're talking what if there is a limit for a person to be happy in a whole life.
Well I really enjoyed today and feeling super happy!!!





Sunday, 3 August 2014

Cupcake tips!/how to return on Amazon


Finally I have some free time to enjoy cooking! I decided to bake cupcakes the other day. I wasn't a massive fan of cupcakes but recently I've been kinda feeling to try them. Well this is basically because of my experience in the UK and Anna Sacoons. So this is my first first first time and I made a lot of mistakes. I feel I'm stupid but if you're about to make them for the first time, my mistakes would help you :)



First of all, I noticed I didn't have a cupcake pan, but I just tried. Well the result is not good. You can still bake them but the shape is totally not good. So I ordered a cupcake pan on Amazon because after visiting so many shops in Tokyo but I couldn't find any. I ordered this one(

WILTON レギュラーマフィンパン 12CAV 2105-954). It was delivered yesterday. I opened it with an excitement. I realised my big mistake. My oven is not that big to fit the pan. Omg

Always measure before buying anything really! 
One day later, I've got a smaller one, the half size. 

WILTON レギュラーマフィンパン 6CAV 2105-953




After being back to JP, I'm just really surprised the cost of butter and cheese. Also there are so many things relates to baking which are very difficult to get in here like coconut related items. Well Japan is definitely not baking friendly country. Hahaha

This time I tried this recipe on Cookpad. 
This is a good one but not for people who like a rich texture. 
Since powder sugar was a bit expensive, I used less amount of it but it was ok. I'm not that much fancy with too much sweet things.
Another tip is that you have to cool the dough properly otherwise cream cheese icing would be melted.... I found this part really tricky since if I put them into a fridge, they became crumbling.
After realising I bought a bigger pan, I returned it on Amazon. Well normally I don't do that, I've found that is interesting to share. I guess you create an account when you place an order. Go to your page and check your order history. There is a button saying 'return/refund' 返品する. Click it and issue your ID for the return. You ask a post service. You can choose the time so that you don't have to be home all day long.
I've found this whole process is quite easy. However, if the return is due to your fault, you have to pay the sending fee. Well this time it turns out the sending fee is more expensive than the actual price.... :(