Thursday, August 29, 2019

Cavalock and The Tokyo Hole Cake

Most folks here are familiar with Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory and their cheesy goodies but I don't they sell 'one hole' cake in Singapore. Yah, couldn't resist the label on the box. Cracked us up. Of cos it's the ever popular baumkuchen, a light layer cake that you can find all over Japan. Bought it all the way back home and it was pretty good.



This was actually our first dinner when we arrived in Tokyo last month. Wasn't cheap but the omakase meal at our hotel was something we been eyeing since our previous trip. Kyubey is a little cosy restaurant in the Keio Plaza Hotel that serves an awesome omakase dinner. From live prawns beaten up and served to us to an almost never-ending parade of outstanding sushi, it was definitely a dinner that we looked forward to after our flight.














Monday, August 19, 2019

Cavalock and The Tokyo Potato Sack Sketch

Quite possibly the quirkiest snack packaging I spotted this Tokyo trip. Inside you'll find crisp potato wedges cut from Belgian potatoes and cooked right in Japan. As for the packaging, the black-and-white character sketches are certainly eye-catching and stand out from the other colourful Japanese snack packs out there. They are pretty good. Had the anchovy and garlic pack, and that was good. Crisp and you can catch a sniff of the garlic which is a plus for me. Hah! It's not bad but not cheap either. I can't remember how much I paid for it but I do know for the amount I paid, I really wish there were more wedges in there. The fourth pix below is all what you'll find in one them packs.





Random Tokyo pix time. 'snobbish babies' is a rather appropriate name for this pet shop. And why can't we buy raisin butter sticks in Singapore?!? It just sounds so yummy.




Monday, August 12, 2019

Cavalock and The 2019 Obligatory Tokyo Food Collage

It's all about tradition and that means it's time for this trip's obligatory food collage! I go this almost every overseas trip and this one iso different. Although I gotta admit, I don't take as much food pix as before. I guess it's becos we been to the some of the same places so many times whenever we are in Tokyo that it's now just eat and go for us. Well, you know what they say bout 'familiarity'.


Now here's something you don't see in Singapore or anywhere else I bet. Was wandering around alone in Akihabana one evening and I spotted this little curiosity. A tentage set up right next to the busy train station during rush hour.


From what I can decipher, regular folks (mostly overworked salarymen I assume) can pause for a sort break by resting their tired heads on the soft pillow laps of anime characters. In full view of everyone in entering and leaving a busy train station. My first thought was a combination of "have they no shame?" and "this is so cool!". And they even provide iPads for you to enjoy the anime while you are lying on your back.


I honestly think this is a wonderful way to de-stress after a hard day's work. I wish folks here would feel comfortable enough to simply lie down and rest even if it's in public. I mean, so what if it's in the middle of Raffles Place? Be true to yourself! I can understand some people may be afraid of being spotted by colleagues or even the boss but you shouldn't be afraid. If you ever need to take a break during lunch or on your way home (that ride from Raffles to Sengkang can take forever!) and there's an alluring pillow lap (or is it lap pillow?) with your name on it, just go for it!







Monday, August 05, 2019

Cavalock and The Tasty Tokyo Takeaways Partie Deux

More snapshots of the snacks we bought in Tokyo! Here we stumbled upon the artisan French butter boutique Echire at Daimaru Tokyo Station. Yes, we only remembered they have a cafe outlet nearby after we got home. Hah! We went crazy and bought a bit of almost everything. Unfortunately their best-selling item was sold out and of cos that means we have a reason to return to Tokyo for another visit. The rum raisin butter sandwich was my favourite, with really strong rum flavour with the nice creamy texture which I assume is thanks to Echire. Silly me, I just realised I never took any pix of the snacks out of their wrappers!




No way you'll catch me buying a can of Pringles here but in Japan where all kinds of unique local flavours are incorporated into familiar brands, I couldn't resist picking this scallop Pringles. Other tasty treats we brought back include the usual fresh produce like peaches, white corn and tomatoes.







No Tokyo trip is complete without stopping over at boardgame shop Yellow Submarine. Told myself I'll buy less Japanese boardgames this trip but ended up with five new games to haul back home. Played In Front of the Elevators several times already and it's a really fun, short game. Your goal is to help your family members get into the elevator, which can only hold a few people at a time. You score points for each family member that gets in. I like it a lot as it can get pretty "thinky" as every card you play affects every other card in the row. The rules are extremely easy to remember but as you play the game, you'll notice a layer of complexity that turns this simple-looking game into quite an entertaining brain-burner.




Thursday, August 01, 2019

Cavalock and The Tasty Tokyo Takeaways Part One

Unlike our previous vacations in Japan, this trip was different in the sense that we did almost no planning. The important thing was trying to take it easy after me foot operation and going there just to chill. We didn't have an extensive shopping list like the time we bought and brought an entire toaster oven back. Hah! We bought a ton of random stuff this time, some turned out to be hidden gems. For instance, these flavoured tea sachets from Starbucks were surprisingly good. I liked the Chai while the Baker-at-Home preferred the Hojicha. I believe they are Japan exclusive and not available outside the country. I think we bought about a dozen back intending to give them out to friends but kinda changed our minds after trying them! Don't fret, they all got boxes of snacks like always.


We also went a little nuts and bought these thermo mugs. Hey, I mean they work and came in real handy but we didn't really needed the big one. Just two of the smaller ones would had been better. Another thing we brought back home was this delicious apple pie! We also ogled at lots of pineapple desserts with the familiar seasonal fruit hailing from Okinawa. Unfortunately every time we walked past them we were just too full to stop for a bite.



Damn, no matter how many times I been to Japan, I'll still always be enthralled by the different kinds of booze they have and also how cheap they are, compared to how much they are going for back in Singapore.