Winter in Tokyo

On our last day, we went to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. I was beyond amazed. Everything was lovely! I am OBSESSED with pretty leaves!

There were a lot of flowers, trees, plants, etc. I really love the ones that scream. Especially screaming red.
Some of them were still so full of leaves! Some, not so fortunate.
Needless to say, I had a lot of fun with it. I even stuck some in my bag to scrapbook (hope that's okay!)! =X

See, even the dead fallen ones are pretty!

The sun made the weather more bearable. I was able to take my coat off and use it as a picnic blanket! :)

F21 romper, Infinity scarf from random boutique in HK, Tart leggings (Nord. Rack), Ray-ban sunnies, Steven by Steve Madden Intyce boots

We spent a lot of time here. The rest of the day we spent doing my favorite thing: shopping!

Isn't it lovely! It all went by so fast... there goes by big trip of 2010! C'est la viii! ;)

Breakfast Sushi

If you're a real hardcore sushi lover like me, you'll have no problem getting up before sunrise to head over to Tsukiji fish market for the freshest sushi of your life. My boo, however, didn't enjoy the 'waking up when there's no light out' part.

Tsukiji Fish Market is the biggest wholesale fish/seafood market in the world. Wholesalers auction off their goods way early in the morning to the highest bidder. I didn't get to the auction bc it's WAY too early but I hear it's pretty cool!

There are several sushi restaurants in the area that have the freshest sushi. I went to one called "Daiwa." A friend recommended it to us... she claimed it to be the best sushi of her life... I'd say that statement is 100% accurate for me, too.

It was a little too early for photos but I managed to capture a few.
The toro was the freshest. I was disappointed we didn't get more tuna. Tuna's my fave.

The sun came out soon after and we did some exploring. (The sun rises and sets really early during Tokyo winter.)

Asakusa Temple

Forever 21 top, no name jeggings, Banana Republic Heritage silk scarf, Burberry coat & bag

View after sunset

Of course for dinner, we have sushi again (we're in Japan so why not?). This is where I get my tuna fix since I didn't have enough that morning.

On our way home, we walked right up to it. And went all the way up, too. Amazing.

<3

Bonsai Christmas!

We explored the more Western parts of Tokyo first (Harajuku, Shinjuku, etc.). There's a lot of scenery in Tokyo. Anywhere you walk, you'll see something beautiful. This is why I like walking more than taking the subway. (Also, the subway system is very complicated. Once you figure it out, you'll be set for life with learning subway systems. I'm proud to say I now know how to use the Tokyo subway!)

Some photos:

Near a park by our hotel

Passing by the tower on the way to the subway!

We discovered out favorite place to eat: Yoshinoya. There's a HUGE orange sign, and there's one in almost every neighborhood. You can't miss it.

They have this rice with kimchi soup that's that's stupidly good. We went here every morning we were in town and I got the same thing every time. Yum!

In Harajuku, we stopped by Yoyogi Park, where a lot of locals come to hang out. We just walked/sat around and watched people. It was cool!

H&M dress, BCBGMaxAzria scarf, TART leggings (Nord. Rack), Christian Siriano for Payless boots, Zara drawstring pouch w/ foxtail (random boutique in Shibuya), Burberry raincoat

This was also where we discovered the bonsai-turned-Christmas tree! Hehehe I thought it was cute.

They sell EVERYTHING through vending machines. It's weird... but doesn't make it any less delicious!

Strawberry, bananas, whipped cream, chocolate sauce! Uhm, could there BE a better combination!?

And of course, like Hong Kong, there's a lot of shopping in Tokyo. This a Takeshita-Dori street in Harajuku. It has a lot of cute stores! I had to come back here again another day! :) Bought a lot of good stuff! Thanks for reading. ;)

Tokyo, my love!

Sparkle & Fade cropped sweatshirt (Urban Outfitters), Forever 21 necklace & jeggings, Christian Siriano for Payless tall rainboots

You know what this means... another stamp on my passport! Yessss! I'm still so pissed that my passport didn't get stamped in most countries when I traveled within the European Union. Blah, whatever.

First thing I noticed in Japan: the toilets! They're so advanced! They had several buttons on the arms rest (yes, the toilet also had an armrest!) that do different things like flush noise, bidet, music, volume, etc.! So. Freakin'. Weird.

The flight from HK to Tokyo was about 4 hours but it took us forever to get to our hotel from the airport so we got in pretty late. We ALMOST got into a cab that was going to cost us $225 USD to take us to the hotel! Luckily, they told us the price BEFORE we agreed to get in. We opted for the limousine bus ride as our transportation instead, which costed us only $30 per one-way ticket.

People in Tokyo are extremely polite! It almost makes you feel kinda bad! They don't speak English really well, but they'll always try to help you. Seriously, super nice people. It's so different from being in Europe, where everyone's minding their own business and doesn't care that you're a lost tourist.

We got to our hotel just in time to clean up and head out to explore the area around our hotel and have dinner. There were several restaurants by out hotel.

Street of restaurants nearby. See the Tokyo tower hidden in the background?

We picked one that looked good and walked in. The salmon sashimi was the freshest I've EVER had! Sooo good!

I was kind of grumpy through the long bus ride and sitting through traffic as the sun set but sushi (or food, in general) always makes me happy again!

Our hotel was really close to the Tokyo Tower. It's like a 5 minute walk! It's really pretty at night. Contrary to what you may believe, it looks nothing like the actual Eiffel tower. Can't wait to be back (to either cities)!

A BIG Buddha and Hello Kitty!

On our last day in HK, we decided to take a break from all the shopping and do/see something tourist-y like the famous Big Buddha on Lantau Island. A friend warned us that there were a LOT of steps we had to climb to get to the top... She was right.

We finally made it! It was really cool to be all the way up there and see the Buddha. It's amazing how it's so large and all the way on a huge mountain! We had to take a cable car up the mountain (like 25 mins) and then climb a bunch of steps... it's REALLY high up there!

F21 dress, Free People cardigan, Steven by Steve Madden Intyce boots, Burberry bag

There were also some other things to do on Lantau Island, but not much. I sure had a lot of fun on this thing, though!

After a few hours at Lantau Island, we took the subway to Kowloon to go to this mall called "Langham Place." A friend told us that it had crazy Hello Kitty decorations for Christmas so I really wanted to check it out. It was also Sanrio's 50th anniversary! I'm obsessed with Hello Kitty!

They had the cutest decorations! The mall was filled with huge Hello Kitty plushes and Hello Kitty everything! I must have over 50 photos here!

After we (or my boyfriend, rather) had enough of Hello Kitty, we went up to this area called "Mongkok" so do some night market shopping and tried some street food!

We tried about 3-4 different foods from different carts. All were pretty good.

For dinner, we found a beef noodle soup place... that was out of beef noodle soup. But they have wonton soup! :) 'Twas my last meal in HK until next time!

Victoria's Peak

On our way to the subway we needed to get on this day, we noticed a huge Monopoly board on the ground in the middle of the subway station. I was kind of obsessed with McDonald's Monopoly when we had it in the states a few weeks ago so I had to take some photos!

Fletcher by Lyell dress (Urban Outfitters), Steven by Steve Madden Intyce boots, Burberry rainjacket and bag

After about 20 minutes of being distracted by this, we got on the subway to the peak tram to get to Victoria's Peak! It's the highest place where you can look down at the city!


It was foggy at first but the sun came out for a bit later. There was a mall and lots of shops in the area we went to to wait for the sun to come out. Tried lots of food, too!

Clockwise from top left: 1. Shrimp tempura with rice and sauce, egg thing, miso soup 2. Salmon sashimi 3. Mini cucumber salad with corn and other things 4. Poutine!

I've been wanting to try poutines for awhile now ever since a friend told me what it was. It's supposedly a Canadian dish, but I can't find it anywhere in the states and I happen to stumble upon a place that had it in HK! Poutines are fries with warm gravy and bits of cheese on them. I HAD to try them!


Went back up to the sky terrace to get some of the view with some sun. They had super cute, Asian decorations for the holidays. Gotta love it!


After the peak, we went to Hong Kong park to walk around. It was sooo pretty and cool!

After all the walking around and more shopping, we were pretty exhausted. Found a sushi place nearby for dinner, then walked down the street for dessert before we headed back to pass out.

The dessert place is the best place for mango-lovers, like me. The have mango everything! We went here several times during our stay!

More posts to follow! :-)

Happy 2011!

NYE this year was a blast. First, had some crazy fun times pre-partying at a family party, then went to a friend's house party! First time I ever tasted Cristal!

Hope everyone follows through on their resolutions! As for me... I'd like to make mine to stop spending so much money on shoes... but I'd rather just not have one! :-)

Happy New Year, friends!

Cheers to the girl who threw the best last party of 2010!

H&M dress w/ pockets, HUE tights, F21 pumps & wristlet, Movado watch, Charlotte Russe necklace