Lipton Tea...

HAPPY 50 TEAS!  I've hit another milestone.  I've managed to sample 50 teas.  That's pretty awesome if I do say so myself.  Also, it's a good thing I love tea.

First is Lychee Tea:

Now I'm not so sure what the difference is between this and Thailand Lychee Tea.  Again, I'm not the world's biggest lychee fan so this was not my cup of tea (literally).

Next is Winter Tea Punch:

I really enjoy this tea/punch concoctions.  This is no different.  Boasting made with "blood oranges" on the label, this is just delightful!  (In fact, I saw this on Lipton Japan's Facebook page and I've been searching for it since.  I just found it at my コンビニ this morning.  Incidentally I knew it would appear soon because a blank shelf space appeared last night.)

The list:

1. Milk Tea
2. Maple Milk Tea
3. Lemon Tea
4. Peach Tea
5. Earl Grey Milk Tea
6. Green Apple Tea
7. 50/50 Tea & Lemonade
8. Tropical Fruit Tea
9. Chamomile Citrus Tea
10. Roast Milk Tea
11. Jasmine Lemon Peel
12. Grape Tea
13. Straight Tea
14. Apple Tea
15. 50/50 Tea & Fruit Punch
16. Matcha Milk
17. Tea Cappuccino
18. Mikan Tea
19. 50/50 Tea & Nectar
20. Luxurious Milk Tea
21. Muscat Tea
22. Plum Honey
23. Cream Milk Tea 
24. Grapefruit Tea
25. Orange Marmalade Tea 
26. Royal Milk Tea
27. Golden Pineapple Tea
28. Italian Fruit Punch Tea
29. Honey Milk Tea
30. Green Apple with Honey
31. Thailand Lychee Tea
32. Sweetened Condensed Milk Tea 
33. Turkey Apricot Tea
34. Milk Caramel Tea
35. Navel Orange Tea
36. French Pear & Apple Tea
37. Creamy Milk Tea
38. American Tea Lemonade
39. Hojicha Latte
40. Gold Kiwi Tea
41. Bitter Caramel Tea Latte
42. Green Tea & Muscat
43. Green Tea & Peach
44. Extra Black Tea Latte 
45. Green Tea & Citrus:
46. Caramel Tea Latte
47. Peach & Mango
48. Mixed Berries Milk Tea 
49. Lychee Tea
50. Winter Tea Punch

The Top Five:

1. OG Milk Tea
2. Green Tea & Peach
3. 50/50 Tea Lemonade
4. 50/50 Tea & Fruit Punch
5. Peach & Mango

Happy 50 teas!

Kit Kat Time!

Hello everyone!  It's that time again.  It's Kit Kat Time!

So throughout Japan there are regional flavors of Kit Kats which you can only buy if you visit that region (or Narita for certain flavors).  See here.  Fortunately, my fiancé's hometown is Kobe so he picked up some Kobe Pudding Kit Kats for me.

Unfortunately, I didn't like them very much.  They are SUPER sweet which if I say that it says a lot because I love sweet things.  I'm going to try them toasted and hopefully, they will taste better.

Finally, Kit Kat Dark came out in 2011 but I have avoided it because I generally don't like dark chocolate. 

Kit Kat Dark are actually really nice.  They are slightly sweet and the dark chocolate isn't too bitter.  (In actuality they call these "adult" Kit Kats.  Seriously, that's what the package says, but I can't bring myself to call them that, so I'll just call them Dark.)

Here's the list:

1. Cheese
2. Bitter Almond
3. Ramune 
4. Berry Pomegranate
5. Apple Vinegar
6. Peach
7. Green Tea
8. Tiramisu
9. Wasabi
10. Vanilla
11. Sakura Matcha
12. Strawberry
13. Raspberry
14. Vanilla Ice 
15. Caramel
16. Pumpkin Pudding
17. Cookies and Cream
18. Cinnamon
19. Citrus
20. Japanese Chili
21. Blueberry Cheesecake
22. Purple Sweet Potato
23. Rum Raisin
24. Brown Sugar Syrup
25. Orange
26. Hazelnut
27. Condensed Milk Strawberry
28. Passion Fruit 
29. Strawberry Cheesecake
30. Baked Kit Kats 
31. Hokkaido Red Bean
32. Orange Peel
33. Kobe Pudding
34. Dark

On planning an American wedding whilst in Japan...

Well if you've just joined us, you should know that I'm engaged and I'm planning my wedding.  Now first of all, we decided not to get married in Japan.  We are getting married in America, so that means I get to plan everything while in Japan (Yay!).  I did a search for this and came back pretty much empty handed, so I hit the internet hardcore.  Here are some sites that may help you no matter where you are planning to get married.

Sites I recommend:

For ideas & planning:

Pinterest

For just about everything:

Wedding Wire

Note: I found my florist through here, but you can also search for venues, caterers and anything else really.

For the dress and bridesmaid dresses (any dress really):

Light in the Box

They also ship internationally.

Invitations:

Wedding Paper Divas

My favorite thing about Wedding Paper Divas is that they will send you 8 sample invitations you can look at before you decide which ones to buy.  They ship internationally.

Odds and Ends

Amazon

Ebay

For gifts for your bridal party:

Etsy

My advice to you is book your venue first because you can't do anything else without a place to get married.  After that things mainly tend to fall into place easily.  Of course, I wouldn't try to delude you and say that this is an easy experience.  It comes with its stresses but hopefully, I've managed to help a little bit.

Spend a comfortable life..

This is a phrase I hear a lot in Japan.  If we overlook the awkward sentence construction, what does this mean exactly?  Easy?  Convenient?  Relaxing?  All of the above?

(Side note: I had orginally intended to write about how safe Japan is.  After all, is that tantamount to comfort?  But as I thought more about it, I decided to veer a different direction.)

Here's another question set for you: Does where you live affect you as a person or does the person you are just transport to a new place with you?  Would all my gaijin friends at the table pounding beers be doing that in their home countries?  Or has the atmosphere of Japan radically changed them into beer pounding machines?

It took me a while to feel comfortable here.  Of course, I've always felt safe but comfortable is different in this case.

Back in America I was a bit of a homebody.  I didn't party and hardly ever drank, and because I was older when I moved to Japan, I felt those days were behind me.  When I moved to Japan, my only friends were my coworkers.  Don't get me wrong I like these guys (almost all guys) but they went out every Friday night.  At first this was fun for me but I realized that I didn't have any other friends.  I would occasionally hang out with the other female who I worked with, but she was my only female friend.  For a little while it seemed that Japan had changed me, and I wasn't happy.

I hit the internet.  I searched on language exchange sites, I joined Meetup, and I looked for ways to widen my social circle.  Soon I had girl friends!  We went shopping.  We ate lunches.  We did プリクラ。

Then just last year, I became very close with one of my new co-workers.  I didn't know it the first time we hung out because we mainly bitched about work, but I soon found out we had the world in common.  We both loved to sew and make costumes.  We loved" Glee".  We found joy in being lazy homebodies.  I was happy and comfortable in her presence.

Japan is such a transient place.  I had known that but it never affected me like it had when she decided to take a job in another country.  I've been tremendously busy since she left but I remain a bit withdrawn.  It may sound cheesy but it's difficult to form durable bonds like that with people these days.  Everyone is so busy here (even me).

Another friend of mine told me she didn't make friends with people much anymore.  She said she had been hurt too many times by people who have left Japan.  I'm starting to understand where she's coming from.

I hope I can continue to form strong friendships like that.  I'm not ready to give up just yet.  Every other aspect of my life remains quite comfortable: job, fiancée, master's classes (well sort of), home, and anything else I'm forgetting.  I love Japan and I'm happy it's my home but I don't think I will ever get used to how much people come and go here. 

This post is part of the J-Bloggers Comfort Carnival.  

Lipton Tea...

Hello!  I have two new teas for you.  These are both part of the Tea Loves Fruits Series.

First is Peach & Mango:

This tea is awesome!  I liked this one so much it made it into the Top 5.

Next is Mixed Berries Milk Tea:

Honestly, I couldn't finish this one.  It was way weird.  Maybe a mixed berries would have been okay but the addition of milk, just no.

The list:

1. Milk Tea
2. Maple Milk Tea
3. Lemon Tea
4. Peach Tea
5. Earl Grey Milk Tea
6. Green Apple Tea
7. 50/50 Tea & Lemonade
8. Tropical Fruit Tea
9. Chamomile Citrus Tea
10. Roast Milk Tea
11. Jasmine Lemon Peel
12. Grape Tea
13. Straight Tea
14. Apple Tea
15. 50/50 Tea & Fruit Punch
16. Matcha Milk
17. Tea Cappuccino
18. Mikan Tea
19. 50/50 Tea & Nectar
20. Luxurious Milk Tea
21. Muscat Tea
22. Plum Honey
23. Cream Milk Tea 
24. Grapefruit Tea
25. Orange Marmalade Tea 
26. Royal Milk Tea
27. Golden Pineapple Tea
28. Italian Fruit Punch Tea
29. Honey Milk Tea
30. Green Apple with Honey
31. Thailand Lychee Tea
32. Sweetened Condensed Milk Tea 
33. Turkey Apricot Tea
34. Milk Caramel Tea
35. Navel Orange Tea
36. French Pear & Apple Tea
37. Creamy Milk Tea
38. American Tea Lemonade
39. Hojicha Latte
40. Gold Kiwi Tea
41. Bitter Caramel Tea Latte
42. Green Tea & Muscat
43. Green Tea & Peach
44. Extra Black Tea Latte 
45. Green Tea & Citrus:
46. Caramel Tea Latte
47. Peach & Mango
48. Mixed Berries Milk Tea

The Top Five:

1. OG Milk Tea
2. Green Tea & Peach
3. 50/50 Tea Lemonade
4. 50/50 Tea & Fruit Punch
5. Peach & Mango

Adopting a dog in Japan...

I've wanted to write about this for a long time, but other things just kept creeping up.

*For the record I do NOT support pet stores and neither should you.  There are many shelter dogs all over the world in need of homes, but because of the 2011 earthquake many dogs in Japan were displaced and lost their former homes, and even today shelters still remain full of them.*

I want to say if you're a foreigner, forget it.  What I mean to say is forget adopting from an entirely Japanese rescue organization.  Even with my Japanese boyfriend speaking to the organizations entirely in Japanese, as soon as they found out a foreigner wanted to adopt the dog, any dog I was interested in was immediately adopted by some kind loving Japanese family.  Shelters in Japan are wary of foreigners because some foreigners have left Japan and left their adopted animal behind.  Thus, Japanese shelters are left with a bad taste in their mouth for foreigners looking to adopt.  It didn't matter to them how many times I swore up and down that I want to stay here.  I had the scarlet "F" on my chest.

Despite all these heartbreaks, there are some organizations that will work with foreigners, and I'd like to recommend them to you.

First, I recommend ARK.  They do not have a shelter in Tokyo but they will transport your new adopted family member to you.

The other organization is Animal Friends Niigata.  Their shelter is in Niigata but they will also transport your new adopted family member to you.

Animal Friends Niigata frequently does adoption events at Aoyama Farmer's Market.  You can volunteer there if you want.

If you're looking to give an animal a forever home, these are my suggestions.  If you aren't long term and can foster an animal, ARK would be happy to help you with that.

Here's my baby and me:

Lipton Tea...

Hello all!

I have a couple new teas for you this month.

First is another from the Green Tea Series, Green Tea & Citrus:

I think it's safe to say that anything from this series is bound to be good (unless the addition is one I don't like, muscat, for example).  This one is another winner.  It's light and refreshing.

Next, Tokyo welcomed me home last night (as I was vacationing in the Philippines) with Caramel Tea Latte:

Lipton has made many caramel efforts but this one I think is the best one so far.  The other caramels were just off.  The caramel in this tea is light and not too overpowering and it meshes nicely with the tea and milk.

Only 4 more to 50 teas!

The list:

1. Milk Tea
2. Maple Milk Tea
3. Lemon Tea
4. Peach Tea
5. Earl Grey Milk Tea
6. Green Apple Tea
7. 50/50 Tea & Lemonade
8. Tropical Fruit Tea
9. Chamomile Citrus Tea
10. Roast Milk Tea
11. Jasmine Lemon Peel
12. Grape Tea
13. Straight Tea
14. Apple Tea
15. 50/50 Tea & Fruit Punch
16. Matcha Milk
17. Tea Cappuccino
18. Mikan Tea
19. 50/50 Tea & Nectar
20. Luxurious Milk Tea
21. Muscat Tea
22. Plum Honey
23. Cream Milk Tea 
24. Grapefruit Tea
25. Orange Marmalade Tea 
26. Royal Milk Tea
27. Golden Pineapple Tea
28. Italian Fruit Punch Tea
29. Honey Milk Tea
30. Green Apple with Honey
31. Thailand Lychee Tea
32. Sweetened Condensed Milk Tea 
33. Turkey Apricot Tea
34. Milk Caramel Tea
35. Navel Orange Tea
36. French Pear & Apple Tea
37. Creamy Milk Tea
38. American Tea Lemonade
39. Hojicha Latte
40. Gold Kiwi Tea
41. Bitter Caramel Tea Latte
42. Green Tea & Muscat
43. Green Tea & Peach
44. Extra Black Tea Latte 
45. Green Tea & Citrus:
46. Caramel Tea Latte

The Top Five:

1. OG Milk Tea
2. Green Tea & Peach
3. 50/50 Tea Lemonade
4. 50/50 Tea & Fruit Punch
5. Jasmine Lemon Peel

Kit Kat time!

Hello!  I have some new Kit Kats for you today.

First, when I dropped my mom off at Narita I picked up Hokkaido Red Bean Kit Kat.  I was hoping it would be red but it was just chocolate colored and tasted like red beans.  It was okay.

Next, Orange Peel Kit Kat popped up at my localコンビニ and let me tell you orange and chocolate make a lovely combination!

I quite highly recommend trying this one.

Here's the list:

1. Cheese
2. Almond
3. Ramune 
4. Berry Pomegranate
5. Apple Vinegar
6. Peach
7. Green Tea
8. Tiramisu
9. Wasabi
10. Vanilla
11. Sakura Matcha
12. Strawberry
13. Raspberry
14. Vanilla Ice 
15. Caramel
16. Pumpkin Pudding
17. Cookies and Cream
18. Cinnamon
19. Citrus
20. Japanese Chili
21. Blueberry Cheesecake
22. Purple Sweet Potato
23. Rum Raisin
24. Brown Sugar Syrup
25. Orange
26. Hazelnut
27. Condensed Milk Strawberry
28. Passion Fruit 
29. Strawberry Cheesecake
30. Baked Kit Kats 
31. Hokkaido Red Bean
32. Orange Peel

Lipton Tea...

Yeah so sorry about not updating my blog in like forever.  (Some of these teas date back to March and April so I'm sorry if you can't find them currently.)  On to the tea!

First is Gold Kiwi Tea:

This tea was light and refreshing and not overpowering at all.  I liked it.

Next was Bitter Caramel Tea Latte:

Too strong and too bitter.  Was not a fan.

Next Green Tea & Muscat:

I still don't like muscat so I didn't really like this one.

Green Tea & Peach:

While this was out I drank it almost every day.  Unlike the regular Peach Tea this one has a light peach flavor.  It had been on shelves about a week ago but I noticed it's since disappeared, sadly.  This was definitely one of my favorites. 

Finally, Extra Black Tea Latte:

Not as strong as the Caramel one though it did have a strong flavor.  This one was just okay in my book.

The list:

1. Milk Tea
2. Maple Milk Tea
3. Lemon Tea
4. Peach Tea
5. Earl Grey Milk Tea
6. Green Apple Tea
7. 50/50 Tea & Lemonade
8. Tropical Fruit Tea
9. Chamomile Citrus Tea
10. Roast Milk Tea
11. Jasmine Lemon Peel
12. Grape Tea
13. Straight Tea
14. Apple Tea
15. 50/50 Tea & Fruit Punch
16. Matcha Milk
17. Tea Cappuccino
18. Mikan Tea
19. 50/50 Tea & Nectar
20. Luxurious Milk Tea
21. Muscat Tea
22. Plum Honey
23. Cream Milk Tea 
24. Grapefruit Tea
25. Orange Marmalade Tea 
26. Royal Milk Tea
27. Golden Pineapple Tea
28. Italian Fruit Punch Tea
29. Honey Milk Tea
30. Green Apple with Honey
31. Thailand Lychee Tea
32. Sweetened Condensed Milk Tea 
33. Turkey Apricot Tea
34. Milk Caramel Tea
35. Navel Orange Tea
36. French Pear & Apple Tea
37. Creamy Milk Tea
38. American Tea Lemonade
39. Hojicha Latte
40. Gold Kiwi Tea
41. Bitter Caramel Tea Latte
42. Green Tea & Muscat
43. Green Tea & Peach
44. Extra Black Tea Latte

The Top Five:

1. OG Milk Tea
2. Green Tea & Peach
3. 50/50 Tea Lemonade
4. 50/50 Tea & Fruit Punch
5. Jasmine Lemon Peel

Kit Kat time!

Boy Japan certainly has been lagging with its Kit Kat flavors.  Hardly any new Kit Kats have graced the shelves these days.  I was able to try two new flavors.

First is Strawberry Cheesecake:

This was just okay.  Not the best I've ever had.

Next this one just came out, Baked Kit Kats:

Holy crap who thought of these?!?!?  Put a Kit Kat in the oven and char it until it looks like this:

And oh my yummy amazing goodness.  Definitely a favorite of mine.

1. Cheese
2. Almond
3. Ramune 
4. Berry Pomegranate
5. Apple Vinegar
6. Peach
7. Green Tea
8. Tiramisu
9. Wasabi
10. Vanilla
11. Sakura Matcha
12. Strawberry
13. Raspberry
14. Vanilla Ice 
15. Caramel
16. Pumpkin Pudding
17. Cookies and Cream
18. Cinnamon
19. Citrus
20. Japanese Chili
21. Blueberry Cheesecake
22. Purple Sweet Potato
23. Rum Raisin
24. Brown Sugar Syrup
25. Orange
26. Hazelnut
27. Condensed Milk Strawberry
28. Passion Fruit 
29. Strawberry Cheesecake
30. Baked Kit Kats

So it's a banner day.  I've tried 30 Kit Kat flavors!  What an interesting group of flavors!  Here's to 30 more Kit Kats!

A vegetarian foodie in Japan...

Wow!  I've been too busy with my new life that I haven't had a chance to update.  So so sorry about that!  I've made some things that I've forgotten to photograph but I'll post the recipes anyway.

I made the best breakfast ever:

This French toast sandwich is super delicious!  You must try it!  I made mine with homemade French toast because we don't have instant and, well, it's better.

I made my guac:

I made this yummy sandwich:

Quite tasty!

I made this bean salad and this pasta salad both without photos, but both I recommend!

In Adventures in Dining, I found a local Indian joint.  Quite delicious:

I tried Starbucks' Lemon Creme Frapp (it was just okay):

And I had some super tasty お好み焼き:

That's it!  Happy eating!

さくら。。。

It's that time of year again.  さくら or cherry blossom season!  This time of year hoards of Japanese people swarm to parks to sit under the blooms and have 花見 parties. Last weekend the boyfriend and I went to 新宿御苑 and sat under the gorgeous trees.  We had to battle mobs of people to get there but the views were well worth it.

Here are some pics:

Happy Spring!

Where have I been?

I apologize for my lack of blogging these days, but I've been going through some major life changes.

In Japan, April is the start of new.  Students begin the new school year, some begin university, and some begin a new school or grade.  Company employees begin new jobs and many people move house.

So this is where I am.  I am deep in the midst of moving house.  I've spent countless hours, days and now weeks it seems tracking down boxes, packing said boxes, and getting rid of things.  I never knew how much stuff actually fit in my closet until I cleaned it out.  The closet is mostly empty now.  Just a few clothes hanging.  Most my things have been boxed.  Some things have been transported to my new place.  Two years in Japan and I've accumulated a lot not to mention what I brought and had shipped over here.  My new place is smaller by about 7 square meters but there is no way of telling that because the way the new apartment is laid out, it looks so spacious.  Plus there are a lot of windows which I think also makes it look bigger.  Of course, the real test will be will all of my large furniture fit in there?  I guess we'll see on Friday (that is my official moving day).

Here are some photos of the new place:

Anyway, I hope you are all well, dear readers.  In addition to all this moving nonsense, I've caught a nasty bug that's gone on for far too long.  I've resolved to rest today and get better, so far I've not done too good a job with that.  I'll try to rectify that now.  Until next time!

Lipton Tea...

Hello!  I have some new teas to share with you.

First, is American Tea Lemonade from the Tea's Travel series:

Now my memory might not be perfect but I'm pretty sure this is the exact same recipe as 50/50 Tea Lemonade.  Now I'm not complaining, of course.  That was one of my favorite teas.  This one is no different.  Delicious!

Next is Hojicha Latte:

Hojicha is roasted green tea.  This was tea was actually pretty good and the more I sipped it, the more it grew on me. 

Win/win for these two teas.

In other tea news Earl Grey Milk Tea is back on the shelves.  This is the first tea I've seen recycled since I've been here (now 1 year and 8 months).

The list:

1. Milk Tea
2. Maple Milk Tea
3. Lemon Tea
4. Peach Tea
5. Earl Grey Milk Tea
6. Green Apple Tea
7. 50/50 Tea & Lemonade
8. Tropical Fruit Tea
9. Chamomile Citrus Tea
10. Roast Milk Tea
11. Jasmine Lemon Peel
12. Grape Tea
13. Straight Tea
14. Apple Tea
15. 50/50 Tea & Fruit Punch
16. Matcha Milk
17. Tea Cappuccino
18. Mikan Tea
19. 50/50 Tea & Nectar
20. Luxurious Milk Tea
21. Muscat Tea
22. Plum Honey
23. Cream Milk Tea 
24. Grapefruit Tea
25. Orange Marmalade Tea 
26. Royal Milk Tea
27. Golden Pineapple Tea
28. Italian Fruit Punch Tea
29. Honey Milk Tea
30. Green Apple with Honey
31. Thailand Lychee Tea
32. Sweetened Condensed Milk Tea 
33. Turkey Apricot Tea
34. Milk Caramel Tea
35. Navel Orange Tea
36. French Pear & Apple Tea
37. Creamy Milk Tea
38. American Tea Lemonade
39. Hojicha Latte

The Top Five:

1. OG Milk Tea
2. 50/50 Tea Lemonade
3. 50/50 Tea & Fruit Punch
4. 50/50 Tea & Nectar
5. Jasmine Lemon Peel

Some clothes...

Hey!  Here's some clothes!

February 11th:

February 19th:

February 21st:

February 22nd:

February 24th:

February 25th:

February 26th:

That's all!