"Good" jet lag

It's incredible what "good" jet lag does to you! I tried staying up till 10 last night but I passed out at 8 p.m. So I ended up waking up at 3:30 a.m. this morning and couldn't get back to sleep! Due to this extra time in the morning, I managed to catch up with some work e-mails, chat with Singapore friends (with a 12-hour time difference between us) and go to work way earlier than normal. Unfortunately, I just know that this extra time in the morning won't remain for much longer because my body will return to its normal clock again soon.

But anyway, as alluded in the previous post, this homecoming was somehow very different from the others in the past. There were major changes (in my philosophy and external appearance) and for the most part, I had a lot of fun. My parents were less nag-gy, I got to see many family and friends (both old and new), and my loot from Asia is considerable! Not only did I bring back a lot of snacks/food items, I also acquired some new clothes which I love love love!

I did most of my clothes shopping in the eclectically fashionable Tokyo. Despite the fact that the Japanese absolutely worship Western brand names, there are still plenty of creative Japanese designers. Unlike the women in some other places I've been to, I find that all Japanese women exude a certain unique style and that they put considerable thought into their outfit every day. Most of them adopt a simple, elegant working-woman flair, but there are the occasional stand-outs who tend to be younger and more adventurous. I saw a few girls dressed in Little Bo Peep-style costumes and plenty of Goth and punky youngsters in the uber trendy areas of Harajuku, Roppongi and Shibuya. I also noticed that there's a sharp decline in the number of Japanese with super blonde hair. I guess either they've adopted a more sedate or "natural" hair color or they have finally realized that Asian bleach blondes' hair gets extremely dry and damaged. So anyway, with plenty of innovative Japanese designs to choose from, I pretty much got everything on my fashion with list (except for a cute cropped leather jacket). Check them out:

1. An adorable pair of leopard print peep toe stilettos


2. A figure-flattering "bubble" dress + cami


3. An awesome pair of running shoes

4. A beautiful yukata (obi, geta slippers and fan of course!)


5. A few cute black tops (from Zara and Esprit)


The Japanese-made shoes, dress and yukata were surprisingly affordable. I was ruminating over the many leopard print shoes that we saw in Japan. Most were either uncomfortably high-heeled or comfortable and exorbitant! The most comfortable ones I tried were made by the prolific Italians, Dolce & Gabbana, but I almost choked when I saw the price. Thankfully, I held off on the D&G's because I just couldn't justify spending what's approximately my monthly rent on a mere pair of shoes. Then I fell in love with the sexy, red-lined, cushioned (can you believe they are cushioned?!? I can literally live in these!) leopard print peep toes in a basement boutique in Shinjuku (that cost only 1/8 of the D&G's!) and the rest, as they say, is history.

Besides awesome clothes, Tokyo has a frenetic and marvelous culinary scene. Like many other Asian countries, the streets of Japan is literally littered with places that sell or serve food. The more amazing thing is that during my week in Tokyo, I only ate at one mediocre eatery, the food at the other places were all delectable. Taking into account that it's almost impossible to get a bad meal in Tokyo, the food prices were surprisingly reasonable. Even the airport food was delicious! Most media outlets agree that Singapore's Changi airport is the best in the world but I beg to differ. Personally, Tokyo's Narita is pretty frickin' awesome! It may have a less luxurious and sophisticated ambience than many other airports, but, not only is Narita's food selection crazy good, they have some pretty damn good shopping mall. I guess the only drawback I can think of is that most of the "good stuff" are located outside the boarding area, so travelers who just have a brief layover can't enjoy the amazing mall.

Most of the airport food offering at Narita's Terminal 1 South Hall is Japanese, but I remember seeing a Starbucks, a bagel shop, a Western-style soup restaurant, an obligatory Mickey D's and a French-style boulangerie. Being Japanese food enthusiasts, my family and I concentrated on the more traditional Japanese selection at the airport. We arrived in Tokyo at about 6 in the morning and had a few hours to kill before we had to board a shuttle for our hotel. Not all the eateries were open at that time, so we settled on a decent-looking udon house with a standard noods selection.

Upon inspection of the restaurant area, it's hard to forget you're in Japan. After all, nothing says "Welcome to Japan" like the barrage of looks-good-enough-to-eat plastic food!


We weren't expecting much because of our generally mediocre experience with airport food. My parents had grilled salmon teriyaki set meals that consisted of the grilled salmon, plain fresh tofu, rice, miso soup and some Japanese pickled vegetables. The tofu was surprisingly exquisite; the salmon was perfectly grilled and seasoned; and the rice (gohan), boy, you can never seem to go wrong with Japanese gohan.


My sister and I had the kitsune udon, which is basically hot udon topped with sweet sliced tofu skin. It is a very simple dish that speaks volumes about the quality of the udon eatery. Our kitsune tofu was chewy and delicate at the same time, and the udon was very tasty and perfect for polite slurping!


We also ate another time at Narita Airport before our departure. This time, we discovered the second-level mall that was also full of restaurants and little shops selling souvenirs and Japanese snacks. Again, we chose a noodle house that serves both hot and cold udon. My sis chose the Katsudon set, not knowing that it also comes with udon. The katsu was moist and had a wonderfully crunchy skin; the gohan, as usual, was just delicious and the homemade udon couldn't be beat!


My parents had similar versions of tempura udon. My dad had plain udon with a jumbo shrimp tempura on the side while my mum had a tempura+kitsune+fishcake+mushrooms udon. Both were delicious and my father's jumbo shrimp tempura was succulent and had a bite to it.


I opted for the simple kitsune udon without knowing that it's served cold. Nevertheless, simple kitsune udon in cold soy broth was deeply satisfying and yummy!


We then shared a Japanese-style summer dessert consisting of azuki (red beans), mochi balls and green tea soft-serve ice cream. The azuki+mochi combo is a pretty common one but adding green tea ice cream to that seemed a bit odd to me at first. However, upon tasting, it works out very well! The sweetness of azuki, the slight bitterness of green tea and the chewiness of the mochi was very oishii!


After a little walk around the mall for last-minute gifts shopping, we chanced upon a snack stand selling gelato and Hokkaido soft serve. Yes, yes, we did indeed just have lunch a mere hour ago, but we decided to get some frozen treats anyway. The four of us shared a green tea gelato, a kurogoma (black sesame) gelato and a vanilla/chocolate swirl soft-serve ice cream. As usual, we weren't disappointed at all: the gelatos had such a rich texture and the soft serve was also very decadent in its own way. The Hokkaido soft serve was like no other that I've tasted and I'm sure it's made from full cream milk!