CoCoICHIBANYA~

Back to food posts! XD This is actually an overdue post... oops~ Visited CoCoICHIBANYA quite awhile back actually. It is a restaurant that serves mainly Japanese curry! They have a wide variety of side dishes and they also have omurice choices too.

Their ordering system is made is such a way that you can customize your own meal. From rice portion to spicy level to additional toppings!

Small eaters can save a dollar by requesting for less rice!

I'm not exactly a small eater but I'm on a quest to lose weight so I requested for less rice. Haha! I chose level 3 spiciness to compare it with Monster Curry's standard. Oh, I also ordered the same thing I ordered from Monster Curry, Chicken Cutlet with Cheese!

Smaller portion than Monster Curry's

I would say that the portion is better for me as Monster Curry's portion is really quite huge. Although I can finish it, it always leave me feeling like I'm about to explode. XD I also prefer Monster Curry's chicken as it's leaner.

Where's the cheese?

I guess the main difference between the two is that the cheese here is actually inside the curry itself! Unlike at Monster Curry, the cheese is scattered on top of the chicken cutlet. Both is equally nice, just a different way or eating it. Hehe.

Good smell. Good curry.

Pricing here is also a bit more than Monster Curry. However, overall I would say it is worth the try!

CoCoICHIBANYA is located at 313 Somerset, #B3-25. Do check it out!

AFA'13 ; 3D>2D

Yes, 3D>2D. It's kinda weird for me to say that since AFA is after all... ANIME Festival Asia. However, I have come to realize that chasing 3D idols is much more fun and fulfilling than anime/cosplay. AFA'13 is probably the best AFA I have ever attended as well. Probably because it has been a long time since I've watched anime so none of the 2D things there actually attracted me. ^^'' So anyway, here's my AFA'13 experience! (it's gonna be a long post!)

Majority of pictures contributed by Orenjimasu, @sankareon.

-Pre-AFA-

Airport!

It was my first time welcoming my idols at the airport. Because... none of my idols actually came to Singapore before. :\ It was an awesome first time anyways! I was actually very nervous, because I had no idea how it would turn out and whether I would be able to pass my present to them. After passing my present, what am I supposed to do?! So many questions were running through my mind and I had many scenarios worked out in my mind LOL. I almost wanted to chicken out last minute as well. D: But the actual thing turned out even better than expected!

While waiting. Ben's face is so epic. XD Nyakiiii on the right. :3

Who was I waiting for? Pikarin, 217 and Miume. To be honest, at that time I was not much of a 217 fan. I didn't know much about her so I actually didn't prepare a present for her. So my eyes were scanning for a chibi cute girl and a white-haired girl. XD When they appeared... all the FEELS were so overwhelming. 

Passing miume her present was easier than expected. XD Only Ben and I prepared presents for her so there wasn't a crowd that surrounded her. Pikarin was held up for awhile with all the fans getting her sign. Pikarin was so friendly! She gave all her fans equal attention and even allowed 2-shots even though I think she didn't have make up on. It's nice how they didn't act like big-shot idols and interacted with their fans. ^_^

 Pikarin's Present. Chocolates from SOPHiSCA.

Miume's present. Traced out the chibi, pasted my message behind and laminated it. The one on the right is wings she can attach to her shoes!

That's my present on miume's luggage! XD She was taking this picture to upload on her twitter. Hehe~

While waiting for Pikarin to attend to her fans, some of us actually had the opportunity to talk to miume and 217. Sadly they didn't want to take pictures because miume didn't have any make up on. But she still looks fine to me, really! Miume you're awesomeeeee. So shy me was actually hiding behind the guys talking to them and suddenly 217 looks over and said that I'm cute. NIINA SAID I'M CUTE. -explodes- I didn't know how to react and basically just laughed the awkwardness away and shy-ed away.... :x

2-shot with Pikarin! She's the definition of 'kawaii'

Pikarin is really... small. ._. She's already wearing platforms in this picture and she's still so much shorter than me! XD Her skin is really nice too... Like baby skin, makes me wanna pinch them. :x While taking this picture I was actually very nervous LOL. I couldn't smile properly and my cheeks almost cramped. -____- I'm sorry for being so noob... I haven't taken a 2-shot with an idol for a long time... (the last time was probably in primary 5? LOL)

Group shot! (taken from 217's twitter, @disnyna)

I got to stand beside 217~ Kind of. XD Look at all the happy fanboys faces LOL. They also showed Pikarin a parody video of Toroamachu, which was really fun to watch hahaha. Here, watch the full video. :3

Happy Birthday Pikarin! XD

After lots of interaction time with them at the airport, they headed to the bus to go to their hotel. They started opening their presents in the bus and we were all spazzing. 217 had so much fun playing with her shark finger puppet that ben gave her. XD Super cute moment. When their bus left, 217 waved like some maniac... this forever high girl. Did I mention it was already midnight at that time and they just had a 6-hour flight? Lol~

When they left, they started tweeting/blogging soon after. Which made us spazz even more when we found pictures of our group photos and presents on their tweets/blogs. They really know how to make their fans happy. Kyaaa~!

That pretty much concludes my first airport experience. My next airport trip would probably in Dec, for Wata~ In which I think will be even more yabai, for several reasons which I will mention another time. XD

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-AFA Day 1-

Finally the actual day for AFA! I was scheduled to work at Wacom from 9am-3pm. I was initially scheduled for a full day but miume and 217 had a mini-stage scheduled at 4.30pm so I gave up my afternoon shift. Because miume/217>$$$. XD I had to wake up at 4.30am on that day just to get ready... because I wanted to curl my hair, put on perfect make up, just for miume/217. :x I purposely chose to wear my @home maid costume to get miume's attention too. LOL. I call this strategic planning. ;)

First time having a pass! Saved $10 hehe~

To be honest time went past quite quickly at the Wacom booth. Soon it was 3pm and I was let off work. Went to watch Prizmmy perform... in which I honestly wasn't particularly excited about since I don't know them lol. But turns out they were the ones who sang "Boy Meets Girl" and "EZ DO DANCE". Quite a pleasant surprise~

Soon enough, it was time to head to the mini-stage! Managed to get a pretty nice spot near the front. 217 and miume were the first to be introduced and they performed two dances! Didn't know what they would do for the mini-stage so having 2 dances were pretty awesome. ^_^ They danced "Romeo and Cinderella" first, followed by "Happy Synthesizer". Romeo and Cinderella really made the fans spazz cos it's such an awesome dance! To see them dance it live as compared to a screen is really different! You can feel their energy and see their facial expressions up-close. Guilty Hearts ftw!!

Miume's mistake during Happy Synthesizer was so cute! Niina's reaction also. XD

After their performance, they had a short introduction of themselves and other artistes were introduced as well. When their mini stage was over, we waited at the side of the stage for them to appear. As it was a Friday, there weren't many fans so we had a great opportunity to interact with them again. Met 217 first and she remembered me as the "cute girl" and proceeded to pat my head LOL. -blush- It was touching to have them remember you. :') Since I didn't have anymore gifts for them and nothing for them to sign on, I requested for a 2-shot instead. XD

217 is so pretty!!

She actually took my phone over and offered to help take this 2-shot. So nice right?! SHE TOUCHED MY PHONE. LOL -spazz- She actually said this pic was blur so she took another one... but the 2nd one turned out more blur than this. LOL cute. XD

When I walked over to miume, she recognized the @home outfit and was shocked/excited! Spazz moment again haha~ Requested for a 2-shot with her as well~

A bit too far from her, but better than nothing!

We walked around the convention a bit after that since there weren't much scheduled for the rest of the day. But throughout the day we kept bumping into miume and 217. I swear, we were not stalking them! We will somehow always end up behind them, which kinda seems like we were stalking them LOL. 

Since we kept bumping into them, I wanted to ask for their sign. But I didn't want them to just sign on any random piece of paper... so Leon actually suggested to let them sign on my front pink ribbon. Eventually I decided to let them sign on my back ribbon cos then it won't look funny in pictures as well hahaha.

 Happy Suzume is happy~

217's sign is so cute. XD

They actually tried to talk to me as well but my Japanese is too limited. ): I can understand but I have no idea how to reply. T_T Makes me motivated to start my Jap lessons again though. Ganbarimasu!

So yeah, we actually had to purposely walk in a different direction from them after awhile as we did not want to make it seem like we were stalking them. Haha~ The first day was already so happening and fulfilling. When I reached home I felt so drained already!

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-AFA Day 2-

The day of the actual Marble Wonderland! Reserved the whole day for them so I didn't have work. I overslept though... but managed to bake one batch of cookies for 217. At this point I have to admit 217 became my new oshi because of her awesome personality. She's the kind of girl that will make you laugh with her funny actions. Probably will embarrass you in public but it will just make you love her more. She gave me a "neechan" kind of feel... especially when she pat my head. ._. KYA. Niina I miss you. ):

Anyways... rushed down to suntec because they had another mini stage scheduled at 2.35pm. I reached there at probably 2.20pm-ish. Some of them managed to get the front row but I was too late so I was a few rows back. Nonetheless, still quite near the front. XD They performed the same dances again. Surprisingly the audience were less hyped up compared to Friday, but it was still awesome.

Full performance!

Close-up for Romeo and Cinderella. All the feelz!!

[Warning: all text from here onwards as I ran out of pictures]

Since it was a Saturday, there were more fans and getting to them after their appearance at the mini stage was a little harder than the day before. But patience is key. LOL. I got my turn soon after and passed miume her cookies first. I gave miume the oatmeal cookies, which I now call miume cookies. HAHA. 217 had her niina cookies, which are the double chocolate cookies. She recognized me again even though I had lesser make up and a different outfit. She even tugged my dress and went "ah! Today's outfit~" When I passed her the cookies she asked me if I made them and another question which I couldn't understand... Sorry OTL. But I opened my arms and requested for a hug and she gave it to me~ Wheeeeeeeeeee~~ NEECHAN.

Successfully passed them the cookies and slowly made our way to the main stage so that we can get good seats. Ended up splitting up a bit, but kawaii naru-chan and I managed to get a nice spot in the front, although it was at the side. Marble Wonderland started off with hachiojp and his collab with miume and 217! It was nice seeing them dance on the big stage! Was pretty inspired by their dancing. Makes me want to keep improving myself!

There were several interesting stage activities. Pikarin appeared about 2 times as a model. It was pretty disappointing to know that Pikarin didn't have a chance to perform toroamachu... especially since some of us actually know part of the dance. :\ But nonetheless, Marble Wonderland was still entertaining. 

At the end of it, all the girls involved lined up on stage. Luckily for us, miume and 217 were standing on the far left, which were where naru-chan and I were at! So when they were about to walk off stage, we managed to catch their attention with our lightsticks (many thanks to Leon for lending them to us)!! They waved back to us... on the big stage! XD

Was hanging around the kawaii booth for awhile when suddenly miume and 217 appeared! This time they walked towards us and 217 went "We are leaving now..." with a sad face. D: Broke my kokoro. ): She patted my head again and said goodbye to the rest as well before heading off. T_T

Met up with Natsumi and decided to head to the airport to send them off. Bumped into Charmy on the way out and she gave us a lift to the airport! \o/ Lol reached the airport super early as a result. :x Settled dinner before camping. There were several others who were camping for Baby Metal as well... Was stalking twitter and realized miume/217 had an event at Osaka the next day, and miume tweeted she will be going to osaka straight from Singapore. That tweet caused quite a confusion as we didn't know which flight they were going to board. D: But well, the Osaka flight was scheduled quite late so we were just camping with the Baby Metal people first.

Turned out that the Marble Wonderland group reached the airport first and miume/217 were together with them~ Yay! XD It was sad saying goodbye to them... :\ Side-hugged niina... this time it was even tighter than the one at the mini stage. Our heads touched and all the feelz came back again. ): Hate it when that happens because suddenly all my Jap knowledge disappears and I forget what I want to tell them. However! I believe we will meet again! Nee-chan, I will see you next year!!

When they left, Leon teared up a little. LOL. I thought I would cry too but... -shrug- I just have this strong feeling we will see them again, so no need to cry! Hehe~

So yeah, that conclues my AFA'13 experience. Not going to write about Day 3 because it's just a full day of work, withdrawals and missing 217/miume/pikarin. ._. It was an awesome weekend and I can't believe it has only been a week that passed. Feels like a very long time since they have left. ): Okay shall not be emotional anymore... if you have read till here, good job! :P

Till next time~

$5 Ramen - Hiro

On a budget but craving for delicious, authentic ramen? Hiro is the place for you! Situated in a small little coffeeshop at Kovan, Hiro serves authentic ramen at only $5 per bowl! Apart from ramen, they also have other Japanese food available such as Japanese curry rice and gyoza! They are definitely different from the usual kopitiam/food court Japanese store ramen and much more authentic.

Photo credits to hungrygowhere.com

I ordered the Tonkatsu ramen on their signboard. Despite being only $5, they were generous with their servings which included one full half-boiled egg and several peaces of meat. Serving is probably just a little less than those served at restaurants, but definitely worth the $5 and filling enough!

Mmmm~

They didn't have spicy ramen option available which was kind of disappointing for me, but they had the chili powder available which managed to spice up the ramen a bit. Hehe~ XD The meat was super delicious to me as it was salty enough which simply makes you crave for more of it. :x The half-boiled egg was not bad and was cooked just right, but I would say it is not as authentic as those found in Japan. I'm not too sure how to say it, but Japan's half-boiled egg is more orange, while the ones served at Hiro was the normal yellow yolk. The ones in Japan also had a salty kind of taste to it. 

Nonetheless, I'm very satisfied with the meal! Will definitely go back to try out different flavours next time!

Happy~!

Hiro is just a walking distance from Kovan MRT.

Address: 203 Hougang Street 21

Opening hours: 11.30am - 9pm daily, except for Tuesdays

Try it out ne~

Monster Curry! Rawr~

Had a long day at *SCAPE today for dance practice. Was super hungry after using -so much- energy from dancing... The group of us headed to have Monster Curry to satisfy my monster appetite! XD

Monster Curry is located at Food Republic at 313 Somerset. It's on the 5th floor. Lazy me usually take the lift up so once you exit from the lobby, it should be right in front of you haha. It's situated at the corner but the sign is pretty big so you should be able to see it!

Prices are pretty reasonable considering the portion they give. I am able to finish the whole plate by myself but some of my friends (girls with small stomachs) find it too much for them. So if you are one of those with a small stomach, I would recommend sharing one portion with a fellow friend.

The menu!

My standard order is the Cheese Chicken Katsu Curry. Haha yes, I do love curry and cheese. :x They have a pretty good variety available, which includes natto curry. ._.'' Personally I hate natto. The smell, the taste, the texture. Urghhh................ x.x But two of my natto crazy friends ordered it... According to my friend, the curry is a little thick, but despite that, you can still taste the natto. And yeah, of course they enjoyed their natto. Will never be able to understand their love for natto but... anyways! Here's my dinner!

Oh! You can choose the level of spiciness as well! Love it cos I love to go on spicy challenges. Hehe. Today I challenged myself with 3 Flame (Very Hot).

Which level would you dare challenge?

The level of spiciness is actually controlled by the amount of chili sauce they add into your curry. Depending on the person serving you, some of them would draw the sauce on your curry in nice cute flames. However, today I wasn't so lucky so the person serving me just swirled the chilli on. Hahaha.

3 Flame!!!

The combination of cheese and curry is really to die for. LOL. Now that I think of it, I really do love cheesexcurry. When I was in Japan, we visited the cup noodle museum and was able to create our own cup noodles. I chose curry base and added cheese as one of my toppings. XD Cheese and curry banzai~

Look at the cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

Honestly, I was almost defeated by 3 flame. Probably because I was very full halfway through already. BUT! I still managed to finish it! Challenge completed! Will try 4 flame next time. XD I can still feel my stomach burning... after 3hrs. ^^''

Now I challenge YOU! ;D

Free Ice Cream?!

Yaaaaaahooooooooi~~~~!!!

Look of the day!

A week back after filming my Ai Kotoba dance cover, my friends and I were lucky to get a free ice cream voucher each! It was given out by some DJs. When I went up to take the free voucher, the DJ noticed my usa-chan stockings and literally announced to the whole world through the mic... I was so embarassed cos everyone was staring at my thighs. -_- Honestly I wasn't too sure what they were promoting... but it was the usa-chan that attracted me to them. XD

Usa-chan peace!

We were not hungry that day so we decided to have the free ice cream today after we filmed another upcoming dance cover! The feeling of having free ice cream after a tiring day of dancing/filming is simply awesome.

Yay!!

The free ice cream is by Marble Slab Creamery. They have a wide variety of flavours and mix-ins available! We were literally spoilt for choices.

 So many flavours!!

Look at all the nuts. Just look.

And yes, they do their magic on a frozen marble slab! Their add-ons are called "mix-ins" instead of "toppings" because they mix them into the ice cream instead of just sprinkling it on top!

"Once your desired flavor has been selected, the magic begins. We scoop the ice cream onto a frozen marble slab, where your choice of fruits, nuts and candies, known as Marble Slab Creamery "mixins," will be skillfully blended in with the ice cream, then finally piled high on the delectable waffle cone of your choosing."

 After staring at all the different choices available, here is our choices!

Left, Salted Caramel. Middle, Double Dark Chocolate. Right, Thai Milk Tea.

Mine was the dbl dark chocolate with sliced almonds!

Love the combination of the dark chocolate with almonds! ^_^ Nomnomnom~

                                            

After the free ice cream treat, we headed to Hoshino Cafe! Yes, we are weird people who eat our dessert before our main meal. LOL. Don't judge! :x I've gone to Hoshino Cafe 3 times so far and all 3 times I ordered the same thing... Curry Baked Rice!

The curry baked rice had CHEESE in it too!! Which made it doubly awesome. :3 Hehe.

Yummy!

Oh and one thing I like about Hoshino Cafe is that they provide baskets for you to put your bags in! How thoughtful right? Every other F&B outlet should learn from them!!

Just throw in all your barang barang!

My legs are aching from today's filming for our new dance cover. T_T Hopefully can get the editing done soon! Lazy me does things too slowly. x.x Gomen....

Well, till my next food adventure! ;D

Standing Sushi Bar

In Japan, standing bars are popular, whereby customers go in, order their food and consume them while standing. That is probably where Standing Sushi Bar got their name from. However, don't worry! Seats are still provided at the restaurant where you can enjoy your food comfortably.

What attracted to me to the small little branch situated at Queen Street? Their weeknight promotions!

  Extracted from standingsushibar.com

They offer different promotions on different nights so choose the one that is most suitable for you! Not really a sashimi lover myself, I decided to go on Wednesday night!

Wednesday promotion: 50% off rolls and handrolls!

Here's what I had for the night!

Kappa Maki for $2 after discount!

Spicy Tuna for $4! I originally thought it was cooked... but it came raw. T_T

I orderd TWO softshell crab handrolls! Each handroll is only $3.

Of course, not forgetting desserts! Since I didn't get to eat -much- non-raw food, I decided it was okay for me to pamper myself a bit with some desserts. Hehe. Look at the pretty presentation!

Matcha Cheesecake, $7.90. It was still pretty frozen, which made it taste like ice cream! Yumm~

Regarding the waiting time to be seated, I didn't have to wait at all. There was a crowd, but not much of a queue. On other days where their sashimi is on discount, though, a queue is expected. So if you're going down on a sashimi discount day, try to go earlier!

I believe I would enjoy the place better if I loved sashimi. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the discounts haha! Left the place saving $16! Oh the discount thrills~

My review:
Food 3/5
Service 3/5
Price 4/5 (can be a bit pricey without discount)

Standing Sushi Bar is actually located conveniently outside Exit A of Bras Basah MRT. However, I got pretty lost because the address stated "Singapore Art Museum". So I was wondering like a lost dog around the main building of the musuem... until I realized it was at the 8Q@SAM side. Do take note if you are not very good at directions like me... OTL

Check them out!
Website: http://standingsushibar.com/
Address:
8 Queen Street
#01-03, Singapore Art Museum
Singapore 188535
Operating hours:
Lunch 12pm-2pm
Dinner 6pm-10pm

Swop for a Cause!

Woke up today at 6am to put on make up for work. x.x Didn't help with the fact that I slept at 3am+ last night due to a really bad tummyache! D: But I'm still alive, so all is well. Hehe.

Tired~

Anyway, I went to East Coast Park to work today! My job was quite simple. I just had to cycle a bicycle with an advertisement attached at the back. Silly me didn't take a picture but once official pictures are up I'll share them with you guys! I had to put on make up because they were also taking pictures to put up on their website. Thus, I had to look presentable. XD It was tiring... but well, I can earn money and lose weight at the same time! Round 2 tomorrow~

After my work in the morning, I headed down to Scape for Swop for a Cause! Swop for a Cause is a charity event whereby you can bring down at least 5 good condition items, pay $5 and swop them for something else you like! Alternatively, you can pay $15 and get 5 items without exchanging anything. The money goes to disadvantaged women! The event is held in conjunction with International Women's Day (8th March).

I found it really meaningful and fun at the same time so I brought down 5 of my impulsive buys. Most of them I never worn before! I paid $5 to the cashier and off I went to search for items I like. The event area is pretty small. About 5 tables placed in a circle. The items were separated into accessories, cosmetics, tops, bottoms and dresses to ease your search. There were so many clothes I felt like an auntie flipping through all of them! Hehe.

Auntie Suzume!

I couldn't find any clothes that I liked (I'm quite picky with clothes)... Oh actually I did find a pair of shorts which looked cute, but there was a stain at the corner so I decided not to go for it. :\ People! When you swop your items, do make sure that they are in good condition! Meaning no stains, no rusts, no yellowing (I did see a yellow men's top, urgh). Anyway, here is my loot!

1 top, 1 belt and 3 bracelets!

 Got this top for my mum! Really good quality!

 Cute belt! Quality not very good and have some defects, but still wearable!

Kawaii bracelet! Loving the little bow in the center!

Blue and pink bracelet! I couldn't decide which colour to get so I just got both. XD

As I was one of the first 100 to participate in the event, I was given a goodie bag!

Nail package voucher, make-up sponge and Essential conditioner~

A $50 photography discount voucher by Wow Productions was also given. But I only realised it when I was about to keep the paper bag away so it isn't included in the picture. :x

So there you have it! All these goodies in exchage for just $5 and 5 items which you do not want! Swop for a Cause is still going on tomorrow so you can go check it out! I'm tempted to go tomorrow again. XD Will see if my mum is interested! :D

After Swop for a Cause, I took a short walk around the flea stalls at Scape. Within 10min, I bought stuff. D; All my pay gone... T.T Gu... But I bought value-for-money stuff! :x

1m micro-USB charger for my Samsung SIII (my original charger is spoiled, so this is a necessity!)

Hair accessories! All of these at only $8!!

I found the hair accessories an awesome steal! The Neko hairband was only $4 and the other 3 were at 3 for $4! I felt a bit cheated on the bunny rubber bands though. Because they looked like the same colour at the booth but when I got home, I realised they were different colours... ): Haha, but they're still cute and cheap so it's alright! ^_^

Hai hai~ I had an awesome #foreveralone date with myself today. :3 Remember to go for Swop for a Cause!! Like their Facebook page to look out for exclusive updates!

Ja ne~