At this rate my blog will shrink into a miserable little space on the web.

I guess the blankness in this blog over the last 5 months speaks it all for me. In the past 5 months i went to hell and back, and revisited it several times. 

Oh god and I thought last year was bad. These last 6 months since October i didn't just take over 2 person's jobs but 3! I still love my job and company, i do. But dammit a sabbatical is much needed after May's over. The horror never ends! I already know the line up of projects and activations after next week's MAJOR MAJOR brand audit presentations and it ain't good.

I'm a dog running around with its tongue hanging out for way too long. Way too long. I'm so freakin' stressed out right now i seriously might have a major breakdown soon. My body literally is reacting negatively to all this stress - 13 hour workdays are the norm and i hardly have time for the gym anymore. 

And wl is also in the same kinda heat at work. 25th May is his project submission while 17th May is the day of my audits - i only met him for like 2 hours the whole week! :'(

I don't know how to let go of this. Maybe one day, when i grow up i'll look back and laugh at myself for taking all this crap. Hopefully i'll be wise enough by then - probably in a managerial role. But seriously this is way too much for one person - i hit new highs of tasks to accomplish in a short amount of time every month. At the peak of this craziness i was handling 4 key brands this quarter, all activating campaigns at the same time!

Sigh, ok enough ranting, i suddenly went mad for a while and decided to blurt all these out while crying my brains out. Too tired from staring at the laptop for the whole weekend. Time to use the rest of my Sunday to do what i can for the 3rd brand presentation deck.

Dear God, please send me some respite soon! 

P.S. Looking at the resos made from the last post, i think cannot hit target already - all fail! New goal for 2013: DO WHAT I CAN TO SURVIVE THE YEAR.

1st workday of 2013...

...And it's time to start making resolutions! :)

Realize i haven't been making any for a while (i.e. the last 2 years), but i guess it's always good to have things in black & white so you're most likely to commit to them! (from experience.)

So here goes (using my company's "Get-who (me)-to-do-what-by-doing-what" Jobs To Be Done Brand Planning template):

My New Year Resolutions for 2013

1) Lose weight - target 5kg by August (birthday month) by consistently going to the Gym every Wednesday & swimming/badmintoning every weekend + cutting intake of dinners.

2) Love more - specifically the bf by showing more care & concern especially on xiong OT weekends by complaining less and by preparing weekend Things-to-Do in advance.

3) Laugh more - by surrounding myself with the right/happier/more optimistic company of people during my free time (breaks/lunches/dinners).

4) Work smarter - by consolidating emails every weekend to keep my inbox tight and prioritized with only the important & urgent stuff and CLOCK LESS OT!!! (i.e. leave max at 8pm everyday)

5) Keep old bonds strong - by occasionally checking in every quarter, whether online or offline.

Yup, that's about it. Won't make too many so the probability to hit any stays high hurhur. Actually #1 is of utmost importance (and difficulty). Everything else from #2-#5, i think i've been on the right track so far which makes them not so strong resolutions but they are still definitely within priority/JTBD list.

On other news, i permed my hair!!! Which wasn't a very good experience coz it cost me more than 10% of my pay and it wasn't well done on both the first AND second time, and the third time i went back to the salon pretty much fried my hair cells to a crisp. But at least my hair's finally lost its natural straightness, for now.

I should put up a pic of my curly hair but i'm too lazy to send pics from my phone to laptop. :|

More other news - i upgraded to the iPhone 5 (and also ended my 10 year relationship with Singtel)! But somehow my iTunes crashed on my laptop and i can't re-install it back...what is Error 7 on Windows Vista?! So irritating. Lucky got my 2 bros and WL who took turns to help sync my previous data etc so at least i have everything back on the new phone. Except my precious music! 

Nevertheless, wanna commemorate this post to bid farewell to my trusty old iPhone 4 which i had much fun dressing up throughout these 2 years. Will continue my quest for more exciting/characteristic new covers for the 5! :)

:)

Re-cap on the last quarter of 2012...

I'm back again!!! Wasn't kidding when i said i'd be up to my neck way over my head when boss left. THERE HAS BEEN SO MANY CHANGES!! At work, of course. Latest update: Glad to say i've done myself proud over the last 2 bossless months by stepping up (and getting noticed) :) But, with the new re-org in the marketing team, i'll be getting EVEN MORE responsibility on top of what i'm already having now (which is 1 pax do 2 pax job) , for 2013.

At this point in time both me and WL have hit the peak of our jobs/workloads - sadly, i don't think we have time to get married in the next 6 months even if we want to. :( Thinking about this makes me damn depressed. So much for fairytale romance. Thank you, my motherland SG for this super conducive environment.

But anyway, back to what i call 'catch-up' posts about my life - which is what i've reduced this poor lil' blog to - the past 2 months have been really exciting despite the lack of personal time. The new Big Boss is super awesome - the epitome of what a balanced management should be. Directional, energetic, but most importantly, FUN. There's been plenty of team-bonding since she came on board and i must say, the SG marketing team has never been closer (at least since i came in).

Just some pics on the company events that has whizzed past in Oct & Nov:

Away-day @ Bintan!! (29-30 Nov)

Here's a tastefully compiled collage of the trip, stolen from one of my colleague's instagram shots. My first away day in the company! It was 2 days of total team bonding and chillaxing at Bintan Lagoon Resort - with complimentary spa massage (which i later found out was worth $99 each!) The midnight Kbox resulted in some scandalous memories where a certain 'ji hong' manager succeeded in getting 2 girls drunk. Lucky there was no harm done except that it would remain in the memories of a handful of us like, forever.

UL DND' 7 Dec 2012 - Bring back the 70's Retro! (Super default no-brainer theme by the committee)

As always, another certain colleague bagged the best costume award for the 3rd year in a row, but this time, HE walked away with the best-dressed FEMALE award. Which wasn't surprising also la.

No prizes for guessing who won. Me and another 3 colleagues rented similar dresses to pose as the Wonder Girls, but obviously we were wayyy off and besides, we were 1 person short. lol failz. But at least we tried to dress up!

Visits to Yahoo! & Google offices - mid-dec

Emphasis on digital marketing has been the theme of the year for obvious reasons. And with the new Boss around, things have been moving really fast with a plethora of workshops and courses. Most recently are our visits to Facebook, Yahoo! and Google's SG offices which have been amazing!

Here's a pic  taken at Yahoo!, the team who really went all out on their hospitality budget with lunch, many Yahoo! prizes during the presentation and even an X'mas tree decorated with all our UL products!

TONI&GUY fashion event - 13/14 Dec

One of the exciting new brands of the year for the Hair Team - the launch of the Toni&Guy range. As usual, being the category with the most extravagant budget, it was totally in line with their style to hold such a super lavish & stylish fashion event. For their most premium launch, no less. 

16 supermodels from London to showcase the 4 T&G themes - Casual, Classic, Creative & Glamour - at an exclusive fashion show held at ION Sky.

Here's my badly taken photograph of the super high-end event..but you get the gist la. Anyway, the most fun part was the instant photobooth at the entrance of the event. I totally spammed photos with mixed colleagues as I attended both days of the event..haha. Might consider renting this for my wedding!

X'mas party at BigBoss house - 19 Dec

The new boss invited all of us to her house this week for a traditional Danish X'mas Lunch - which was actually dinner. It was really elaborate with 3 courses of food, many rounds of shots (Snaps), and a riotous, wild gift exchange session.

The most interesting dish was the Herring. There were 5 bowls of different flavoured herring for the first course, which also included smoked salmon and fresh shrimp. All the seafood was to be eaten with slices of bread, along with this really yummy Dill (mustard) sauce. Basically after the first course most of us were quite full already. The 2nd course was then the meats, with Ham, Homemade meatballs with red cabbage, and pasta.

Between every course, we had intermittent shots of Snap, a Scandinavian vodka which was really strong, and there was a chant/song we had to yell before downing the shot. Super funny and homey. I can totally imagine the real scene in Denmark!

Before the 3rd course of dessert there was the gift exchange, which was basically a rather violent snatching game involving dice passed around the table. You roll 2 dice, and with every 6 you get, you snatch a present. And there were 2 sets of dice going around the table that night, so it was mighty noisy!

Alrighty, i'll be ending off this not very picture-rich post with a last note:

Happy 69th Monthliversary to my dearest WL!!! Hurry up and marry me soon coz the whole world is waiting!!! Plus we survived 21/12/12 the Mayan Doomsday (which i took leave as promised to myself last year not to die in office hurhur!) - but seriously, all the best to us at work next year especially in Q1 2013!!! 

September 2012

Q3 is usually one of the most hectic quarter of the year in the FMCG industry when we start planning for next year's projects/campaigns. Which means i've also been working my Sundays off (as much as i try not to). :(

Sometimes i just wish I could create my blogs just by THINKING what I want to write - because these last 6 weeks so many things have been happening but i'm just too exhausted/turned-off to touch a laptop when i reach home! Doesn't help that it takes a super long time to upload photos on blogspot. :S

Anyway, gotta pen down 3 these significant events before i forget:

1) 27th Aug - My 25th Birthday!!!

This year was much sweeter and chillax-style, just the way i like it (as opposed to last year's crazy bad decision to go BKK with colleagues). Took the Monday off for a huge lunch feast at Jumbo Seafood - to clear off a $50 voucher - and then a late afternoon spa/massage treat from the bf.

JUMBO FEAST!!!

But the real surprise came the day after, when WL surprised me after work by decorating my room and waiting for me at my house. Totally unexpected as he's never come over on weekdays due to our ridiculous work schedule clashes.

And i'm Twenty-freakin'-FIVE!!! :)+ :( + :S

2) 21st Sept - First time watching F1 Live, and with VIP Sky Suite tickets!

WL's mum had a pair of free VIP Sky Suite tickets to catch F1 on the 1st day from DBS for her 40 years (wow) of service to the bank. She wasn't interested to go, so naturally they went to us (yay!). The suite experience was a HUGE bonus on top of our 1st time experience catching F1, because the weather was so humid and the atmosphere was deafening, and guess what we got to enjoy in the Sky Suite...

a) Super cosy air-conditioned suite
b) Free flow food - there was tea/dinner/supper buffet - and drinks (fresh fruit juice/champagne)
c) 1st class view right in front of the F1 Pit Stops!

The pass also entitled us to 1 free ride at the Flyer which i super regret we didn't take as we were too comfortable enjoying the facilities at the suite! Plus my shoes were killing me that day. We also got to see Shili & Adi perform at Zone 1 where we were located at. And of course the JAY CHOU concert!! Was glad he sang all his famous oldies - totally brings back memories. But the crowd was nuts when exiting the venue. Luckily we somehow managed to snag a cab pretty early before my feet gave way!

3) 28th Sept - Boss last day in SG

Gotta grow up overnight starting this Monday. Totally cannot express the whirl of emotions i have right now. Mostly nervous, like how you know a train's gonna hit you and you have to keep running.

USPL Marketing team!

There, the farewell lunch with most of the team and my super-zai boss. She's going for a Short Term Assignment in M'sia for a year, which is like "Exchange prog" and will jumpstart your career in Unilever frm SG team to regional, maybe global.

So yep, i'm taking over the whole category for now, which is freakin' scary but at the same time IT'S TIME FOR ME TO PROVE MYSELF!!!!!

I CAN DO THIS c'mon YES I CAN!!!!

Japan & its epic no. of museums

Today i've decided to recap my memories of Japan not in my usual Day 1-Day 2 format but by remembering its countless number of MUSEUMS. Well, ok some aren't exactly museum museums, but i'm just putting it in my list coz such an excessive collection of the same thing within a single building/place deserves at least a credit mention or some kind of acknowledgement/applause.

Within that 8 days in Tokyo the museums we visited are of as follows in order:

1) Gyoza
2) Ice cream
3) Uniqlo/Abercrombie - collection of hot dudes
4) Takopachi
5) Cup Noodles
6) Ramen
7) Anime/porn/anime porn (ok more like street than museum haha)
8) And CHIBI-CATCHERS! Which are found around the whole of Tokyo actually.

Yup of course I wasn't talking about ART museums, we had enough of that in Rome to last a lifetime! :)

Namja Town @ Sunshine City, Ikebukuro

Was a weird little indoor 'theme park' combining the Gyoza musuem and Ice Cream City, among some other things. We weren't able to read most stuff so we only went straight for the food section and pointed at the food we wanted..haha.

Enter Gyoza Town!

The indoor street looks chui but..

It houses tons of delicious Gyozas in all shapes and sizes!!

We chose a cheese-stuffed Gyoza first..

Yums!! Why doesn't SG have cheese Gyozas??

The 2nd batch of Gyozas BLEW OUR MINDS AWAY.

Gyoza covered with mozzarella cheese and Mentaiko sauce!!! OMG salivating now just thinking of it! That mentaiko-cheese gyoza is definitely the BEST gyoza i've ever had. I'm never looking at gyozas the same way again.

We (actually I) really really wanted another helping of the awesome gyozas, but we knew better than to stuff ourselves with one type of food as there was ICE CREAM CITY beckoning us just 1 floor above Gyoza Town!!

Ice Cream City

The first icecream crepe we bought which looked better than it tasted - didn't see the sign saying it was soft-serve!

This was also where I caught my first prize from a Chibi-catcher machine! Ok i don't think its called a chibi-catcher but that's what YW called it during those days when i was on A Block 3rd floor. YW had this mini-prize catcher machine called Chibi-catcher and you could catch tiny balls inside it.

It was a cute black cat plushie with a bee on it. Caught it in one attempt!

And this sparked off our chain of chibi-catching throughout Tokyo. It's super addictive once you've won something. This first attempt was too easy as the cats were roundish and positioned near the edge. All you need is a small tilt of its butt. All chibi-prizes are always positioned to look easy to catch, but sometimes it really is easy if you're lucky to spot one.

Ok actually nothing very fantastic about Ice Cream City already, besides one forgettable display wall of cup ice cream.

Everything was in jap so this was really just a courtesy photo haha.

Ginza - UniQlo & Abercrombie

Naturally, Uniqlo dotted Tokyo city like Giordano in SG during the late 90s. Being our cheapo selves,  that was one of the key stores in Japan that we popped by most as its the most affordable place and clothes were definitely much cheaper than the branches in SG.

But the Ginza branch literally took our breath away - because we had to climb its 12 stories worth of Uniqlo clothes. i don't know how they managed to occupy 12 floors worth of basics, but they did. After a while we gave up sightseeing each floor and skipped floors to head straight to the sections which were relevant. 

Uniqlo is present at every major street

On the 1st floor, there is a row of mannequins indicating the type of clothes found on each level.

 

An entire section dedicated to One Piece and other popular cartoons

Next on Ginza street we passed by a familiar overpowering male scent in the air followed by the sight of 2 hunky guys...Abercrombie & Fitch! We entered the place for fun (okay, to check out the eye candy) and we weren't disappointed. Too bad we were too paiseh to take photos, but it was TWELVE FLOORS OF HOT HUNKS & BABES! Every floor had a couple who looked as if they belonged to the beach, and not from Japan of course but Abercrombie American/mixed style. Damn shuai/chio dunno where they get so many good lookers to work there...

Super tall models and pan-asian! *sizzle*

The entire building of A&F - stacked with hot stuff on every floor! :)

Odaiba - Diver City, Aqua City, Palette Town & Monotagari Onzen

That evening, after walking the whole stretch of Ginza we headed to Odaiba which was a collection of more shopping malls but outlet types.

Diver City was one of the more fun ones with plenty of food and souvenir shops (by souvenir i mean all the yummylicious looking treats for tourists to dabao home). Its famous for its iconic super-huge Gundam statue, and also the back of the mall faces a huge lake where a road-bridge has been built across, just like the San Francisco Golden Gate bridge.

Life-sized Gundam Statue @ Diver City!

On the top floor of Diver City there's a huge arcade and that's where we caught our most expensive prize of the trip. The pinch of sunk cost is so hard to ignore and walk away from!

This One Piece Gunner plushie cost us 2600Yen or S$45

I couldn't bear to look when WL was doing the catching. Damn scary knowing you're an inch away to getting the prize. There are various tricks to each type of chibi-catcher - some rounded toys (usually the small ones) are easy to tip and roll into the hole. But most of the better prizes like the one above are anchored among 3 other toys and you have to jab it with one of the catcher arms until it drops into the hole. Obviously this Gunner toy had a disadvantage due to its huge hat but we couldn't walk away after throwing in more than $30 for it! :S

Looks like the USA except that Golden Gate is in SF and Statue of Liberty is in NYC!

 As we rounded the back of the mall to head to Aqua City, we spotted the scenic view of the road bridge across the Odaiba lake, and a mini-version of the Statue of Liberty facing us before the 'Golden Gate' bridge! The japs sure have a sense of humour! But still, the scenery was breath-taking.

At Aqua City there was the Takopachi museum. The entrance was quirky with old-school stores selling random toys and souvenirs and when we reached the place it was a mini-collection of takopachi stalls.

Entrance of Takopachi town

A brochure we picked up showing all the types they have

haha a cute boat structure filled with Takopachi!!

One of the menus from a stall. You have to order through a vending machine!  

#1: Takopachi with egg and mayo..YUMS



#2: Mixed set - ok only..

The takopachis here were pretty normal i guess, the best Takopachi we had in Tokyo was still the HUGE ONE we found at Harajuku area.

i'm thinking the banner says Extra Large Gindako!

Bigger-than-fist-sized!!

Awesome shit covered in Mentaiko cream and seaweed and stuffed with octopus bits and thick creamy veg!!

I totally just salivated just writing that caption. Maybe one day i shall set up a HUGE Gindako + Cheese Gyoza stall in SG. Seriously why hasn't anyone done that!

Haha ok that's all i shall cover for this post which is extremely overloaded and took me 2 days to write! But the upcoming cupnoodle museum was my favourite one of all, i will definitely make time for it!!! :)

National Night 2012!

Didn't get to watch NDP live this year (coz we didn't opt for sponsorship so no tix) but managed to catch the fireworks from MBS and boy was it good this year!

Haha actually i think its good every year - fireworks never cease to bring joy to people! But this year there was like 5 bursts of fireworks and we left after the 4th one, thinking it was the finale coz the explosions were just spectacularly crazy, bursting one after another non-stop. But just as we went back inside MBS, there was a final series of booms which we caught from the glass ceilings of MBS - so that's what those are for - and it seems the NDP team still manages to outdo their previous year's performance again.

Recently there's been avid rumours about (the end of) LKY's longevity, but then i heard he was at NDP today. Really hope he hangs on and stays strong for a longer time! Can't imagine what SG's like without our living icon. Of course life will go on blah blah..but i think it's just depressing if that happens.

Ok anw i wanted to post a funky NDP song here which i really impressed me - haven't heard one for the longest time. Kudos to Mentos-the freshmaker for its originality!!!  :)

Sushi & Mt. Fuji!

Our 1st Meal in Japan
We touched down on Tokyo early evening and headed straight to Midori Sushi for dinner, a popular sushi chain in Shibuya. Judging from the super long queue we met upon arrival, it definitely reflected its popularity ratings from wl's research. 

Midori Sushi

And the queue kept growing even as we stood in line..

The restaurant served authentic sushi where you could see the chefs in action if you sat at the counter tables.

We only had airline food earlier throughout the day, so we were pretty starved by the time we got to our table. Luckily their menus had some English translation, although in general, the Japanese really can't speak the language at all. It was much easier in Korea. 


We ordered 2 sushi rolls (4pcs each) and a assortment set that looked to be the house specialty. At first, we thought it might not be enough, since in SG we could usually eat plates of sushis at one setting. However, when the food arrived, we were glad that we didn't order more!

Each piece was like half the size of my fist. 大饭团!!!

The rice was super gao! But the salmon sushi was quite yums.


The 2nd set - sushi assortment - which almost everyone else was having, looked good. An exact replica of the photo in the menu.

We ordered the Ultimate Sushi Assortment - Top image in the centre row of menu below.

Innocently thinking the set tastes as yummy as it looked.

Iguess REAL Japanese raw sushi is too..well, RAW for our tastebuds. That set was an overkill of raw seafood, pardon the pun. The raw fish - tuna, mackerel, eel - were still ok, but the prawn and the snow crab...their pink flesh were deceiving! Initially we were expecting semi-boiled, juicy prawn/crab meat to meet our teeth, but both the prawn and crabmeat were TOTALLY raw. Like just peeled-from-shell raw. Or of lack of a better description - "ngiam ngaim". *shudders to think of that moment*

Never thought i'd ever eat crustaceans that raw. And the sea urchin sushi - tasted like brain matter. Well, at least the first 2 rolls with the salmon and unagi were normal. But we didn't eat sushi for a while after the first day. :S


Shibuya
Was super packed at night. They had massive crossroads in the middle of the street with multiple zebra crossings stamped in overlaps, and the traffic lights across different directions could only flash in sync with each other - either all pedestrian crossings, or all vehicle movement. Once the green man flashed, the road was awash with people crossing from all directions, most actually ignoring the zebra crossings and slashing diagonally to the other side of the hexagonal crossroad to their destinations.

  Needless to say, Shibuya, well-known for its shopping malls, was just like our SG's Orchard Rd but much more dramatic. Shibuya 109 Women/Men - were individual buildings boasting of at least 10 floors of shopping catered to each gender. Even the restrooms in each building were catered for only 1 gender. Poor WL had to search a few floors before he found one out of like 5 floors that had dual gender restrooms. 

Shoes galore in just 1 of the numerous outlets within only 1 floor of a shopping mall.

 Everyone, and i mean EVERY FEMALE wore shoes with some form of height leverage in Japan. Wedges, Platforms, Heels paired with every kind of assorted leggings/socks/leg warmers could be seen while walking on the street. It's crazy, because in Japan, you have to walk a lot. And by that i mean, A LOT of walking. Their subway underpasses from one exit to another can go up to 300+m underground!!! But of course, they are always considerate enough to do a countdown for you as you walk to your destination.

Getting to Mt Fuji

On Day 2, I had the pleasure of meeting WL's Japanese friend/working partner, Shirakawa-san (i think) who was back in his hometown for a 2 week break before returning to SG for his overseas stint.  We decided that he would take us to Mt Fuji as a pretext to invite a 'cute girl' he just met on a double date roadtrip! Funny chap! 

The roadtrip was arduously long, about 2 hours back and forth from where we stayed in Higashi Shinjuku. Most Japanese don't venture to Mt. Fuji much, and I don't think anyone could have made it without GPS. We kept making wrong turns and wl's friend admitted that the roads in Japan were very complex. Actually, even the subway lines are so complex that the Japanese themselves need to walk around with subway maps!


We got hungry in-between and stopped for a traditional Houpou meal somewhere near Fuji. I remember that's the term for the food we were eating because it sounded like Hotpot, and it was in fact, very much like the I Love Sindangdong Tteokbokki hotpot thing we had in Korea! Except that their noodles were like extra fat ban mian - i love!

Entrance of the restaurant

Traditional tatami mat dining area

My spicy Houpou mian!

The noodles inside were flat and chewy, not unlike ban mian. The soup base all had pumpkin in it which were super sweet, soft and yummy!!

Shirakawa-san and his date

The Japs are so cute they just automatically pose with the 'peace' sign everytime they stand in front of the camera. It's like a subconscious thing!


The restaurant also had a small corner selling Mt Fuji souvenirs and items like Fuji potato chips, Fuji character plushies, and Fuji-shaped cookies.

 

Throughout the trip we were tempted to buy many of such prettily packaged Jap snacks!

 Back on the road towards Mt Fuji, the weather wasn't on our side that adventurous day. From the morning the clouds were drizzling threats of a storm, and by the time we reached the 5th station of Mt Fuji - the middle point where trekkers start their upclimb - it was pouring gently but steadily.

A brief glimpse of the still snow-capped peak from the 5th Station.

There were a few souvenir shops on the 5th station, which was (mildly-ashamedly) our main highlight of the visit to Fuji. Obviously we weren't geared for any sort of climb - notice the dress and heels that Shirawaka-san's date was wearing. But, nonetheless, the souvenir shops had really interesting buys! :)

Mt Fuji melon-flavoured sponge-cakes

Yum!

 The first shop we went had a corner selling freshly baked melon-flavoured sponge cakes in the shape of Mt Fuji!! Really yummy and warm especially in the rainy weather. If not for the huge pots of Houpou for lunch, we would definitely have bought one each instead of sharing!

Other shops had Mt Fuji shaped mineral water bottles, and various cookies/snacks shaped like Fuji.

Mt Fuji mineral water!

Fuji Senbei crackers and lollipops

 After browsing around, we ventured back out in the rain to huddle at the photo-point to capture our "we were here @ Fuji" snapshots.

Too cloudy for a nice shot :(

We were here on 1 July 2012!

Dunno how she managed to tahan the wet and cold winds that day. And the rocky ground really wasn't suitable for heels!

  
We walked a bit on the slope which was the beginning of the climb to the peak of Mt Fuji. Just like 10m la haha..the soil was rich and dark-coloured - Volcanic soil indeed.

Start of the upwards climb to the 6th, 7th and 8th stations of Mt Fuji!

Presenting to you, Mt Fuji!

Haha and that was basically the end of our trip to Mt Fuji. But, the day didn't end there. Shirakawa-san then took us to dinner, and he recommended another authentic Japanese cuisine called Monja. And Okonomiyaki - but with DIY cooking!

The restaurant, Gyu-kyu was in Shinjuku, near where we stayed but at the more happening district. Everything was in Jap so Shirakawa-san said it would be hard to visit and experience the meal if we were on our own.

Enter Gyu-kyu to another traditional sitting.

We got the waitress to help with our first serving of Monja!

When the Monja is semi-cooked, scrape a hole in the middle and pour egg into it!

And then you mash it all up again

Use your mini-spatula to eat your Monja!

From Wiki: Monjayaki (もんじゃ焼き^?) (often called simply "monja") is a type of Japanese pan-fried batter with various ingredients. It is similar to okonomiyaki but monjayaki, a specialty of the Kantō region, is made with a dough more liquid than is okonomiyaki. The ingredients are finely chopped and mixed into the batter before frying. The mixture is far runnier than okonomiyaki, and it has a consistency comparable to a pool of melted cheese when cooked. It is then eaten directly off the grill using a small metal spatula. Many monjayaki restaurants can be found in the Tsukishima district of Tokyo, where the dish is said to have originated. Most also serve regular okonomiyaki.

Yup, the fun part was scraping the Monja off the hot table to eat. Although it does look like barf more than anything, the first Monja we had was really good! I think it was Mentaiko flavoured. (Anything with mentaiko - cod roe + mayo - is awesome) Subsequently we had another Monja which had bits of seafood - prawn/squid in it.

Shirakawa-san then proceeded to cook our Okonomiyaki. He was like a pro..check out our super round and yummy looking okonomiyaki!

After letting one side sit on the stove, it's flipping time!

Beautifully toasted!!

Adding the sunny side-up!

Sprinkle with garnish and seasoning and Voila!!!

Our chefs for the night! :)

Oh yes have to mention also that they introduced us to Suntory Beer, local brand of beer much like our Tiger. Love the smooth, light and crisp taste without the bitter aftermath that comes with every other beer!! I had 2 glasses that night - it was so good. Would have had more if we weren't so stuffed!

There was also Yakisoba..

Funny pic of Shirakawa-san examining quality of cooked soba.

Us obviously only pretending to cook

Real chef in action - so fast he's a blur! (haha more like camera chui)

End off our hot meal with creamy Matcha and refreshing Yuzu ice cream! Super love!

Customary group shot with our awesome hosts!!! :)

Was really glad we had the 2 of them as hosts for the day. Firstly, it would have taken us ages and much leg pain to get to Mt Fuji on our own. And secondly, we wouldn't have had the chance to try the fabulous traditional cuisines that they brought us to! Definitely our best lunch and dinner for the trip!!

Although Shirakawa-san's date couldn't speak much english, but i was also glad to have another girl for company. The Japanese are a bunch of super courteous and polite people and refused to let us as their 'guests' pay for the meal. This week, WL said Shirakawa-san found a traditional Monja restaurant in SG! Hopefully we get to treat him this time round to thank him for the awesome excursion to Mt Fuji! :)

Ok end of this post - and its only Day 2 of the trip! More on Disney Sea/Japanese Onzen (Hot Spring) later if i'm in the mood! :D