Monday, June 30, 2014

London Day 3 ::Historic City::

    
日本語 ver. HERE
Day 3 in London:
We did some market research in the city 
while looking around main sightseeing areas.
London is such a historic city with lots of old and beautiful buildings.
The color of those buildings look amazing in clear blue sky and greenest green.


We rode on a busy train on circle line to Westminster.
Soon after getting out of the station,
here it is, Big Ben.
I've seen it many times in photos,
but it didn't take so much time to realize how beautiful it is to see it by your own eyes.



Even on weekdays, this place is full of people from all over the world.


Westminster abbey, at where all the royals have their weddings and other ceremonies.
Kate Middleton married Prince William here.




Buckingham Palace, the Queen's official residence.
As the time gets closer to noon, 
more people come here to see the Changing the Guard ceremony. 



The weather was hot and nice.
It must be really hard for them to do this everyday with those heavy clothes on.

After that, I walked about the city to explore some shopping areas.
From Marble Arch all the way to Covent Garden without taking a break!!
My feet felt a lil bit sore when I stopped by a pub for dinner.


Had some dark beer called "Black Cab Stout."


My friend told me to try some pork pies... so I did.
hmmmmm why are they served cold???
It might taste better warm.


This is another pie with mashed potato and gravy.
This was nice and warm. I liked it.



This pub was very close to the station and
seemed to be busy at every night.


Especially World Cup football game "England vs. Uruguay" was on that night.
It was fun to watch a game at a pub away from home.


To be continued....

xoxo
Yuki♪










Friday, June 27, 2014

London Day 2 ::Cotswolds::

日本語 ver. HERE
Day 2 in Cotswolds.
To be exact we headed to the village called Stroud to have a business meeting.
This place is 1 and a half hours away from Paddington by train.
I was surprised the train fare can be so different depending on the time you are traveling,
on peak or off peak.


Waiting for the platform info to come up.
When we got off the train,
this peaceful and quiet view was waiting for us.


Sheep everywhere :))


They are growing British traditional herb, elderflower in this plant.


They were just in the flowering season.


Most of the houses in this area are made of these stones.
I love this peter rabbit feeling of the lake land.
We had a nice lunch, hearing the sound of a river stream.

Soon after the lunch we headed back to Paddington.
When I was little, I saw some books of Paddington bear.


....and here he is!
I don't remember any of the stories behind this bear...
But we dropped by this store to get some souvenir for kids :)


Dinner time!!!
Beer,



and finally fish 'n chips.
It was bigger than my palm!
I've heard some rumors about British dish to be overcooked.
But this one was nicely and softly cooked and tasted delicious with tartar.

To be continued...

xoxo
Yuki♪













Wednesday, June 25, 2014

London day 1 ::first dinner in London::

日本語ver. HERE
My last week was full of adventure!
I flew to London as a business trip, 
and it was my very first time in the UK.


We had a very comfortable flight from Haneda airport to Heathrow.



Our flight was at 8:50 in the morning.
Breakfast was served at the JAL lounge with champagne before boarding :) 
During 12 and a half hours of flight, 
I finally got to see "Frozen" and "Dallas Buyers Club".
"Frozen"..... everybody seems to love it and I liked all the music in it,
but not the story itself.
hmm... well this is just my opinion.


As soon as we landed in Heathrow, we took the express train to Paddington Station.
woahhh I like this huge arcade :)

After we took some rest at the hotel,
had a little walk around the station to find a good place for dinner.


St. James church.... I suppose.

I thought the first dinner in London should be something British,
but the place we chose was Italian.



Italian salad



This lasagne was soooo good :))

The weather in London was nicer than I expected, not humid like Tokyo at this time of a year.
It was nice to have dinner at the terrace.

To be continued...

xoxo
Yuki♪










Thursday, June 19, 2014

::Nihon-shu::


I was going to be away from Japan for a week for business trip to the UK, so I had a nice Japanese dinner the night before I flew.

Everything at "Unosato" in Shibuya is delicious and I highly recommend this place.


Baked eggplants with sweet miso paste.


famous nihon-shu (sake, or rice sparkling wine) called "Dassai"
This wine was really hard to find for a while since it got really famous and popular in NY and then in Japan.
Dassai sparkling is kinda sweet compared to other kinds of sake, so I think this wine is easy to try if you haven't had any sake before.



simply cooked fishes taste great with sake :))

Thanks for reading :)

Yuki♬






Monday, June 16, 2014

::Brazilian Lunch::


FIFA World Cup in Brazil started last weekend.
It's such a pity that Japan lost their first game,
but seems like so many people around the world are excited about this huge event.
My friends and I decided to have some Brazilian BBQ lunch to celebrate it!
Barbacoa is famous for churrasco.
This might be the best place to go when you have an urge to eat lots of tasty meat.


Painting of Brazilian flag at the entrance.


They have many signatures from soccer legends on the wall.


"All-You-Can-Eat" is their style.
you can pick all the colorful appetizers and veggies on the buffet counter.
The tip is not to pick anything oily here... 
If you do, your stomach will have no room for meat that comes in huge volumes later.


Staff walks around the tables with huge beef/chicken/etc... on a spit.


"Picanha" a representative of Brazilian BBQ.

We spent almost 2 hours at the restaurant
talking and eating too much.

It was such a fun lunch!

Thank you for reading.

Yuki♪






Friday, June 13, 2014

::Cooking Remedy::


I looooove cooking without measuring any ingredients.
My friends and I made Japanese curry on last Sunday.
This is the easiest recipe I've ever heard!


Cut and throw everything in a stain-less stew pan like this!!
Tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, pumpkin, onions, egg plants, minced pork, 
and curry blocks all together with no water, and heat them up.


Ta da!
It's super easy and healthy with lots of veggies.


For last couple of months, 
I have tasty smoothie for breakfast almost everyday.
:: My favorite recipe ::
Flaxseed, blueberries, banana, Japanese spinach, apple and skim milk
This gives you a great start of a day. 


On Sundays, 
I usually make some food in stock for the next week.
Steamed veggies, fried eggs, simmered seaweed etc....

Cooking is great cause...
it makes you feel healthy!

There are a lot of easy recipes found online.
Starting from the easiest ones is a tip to make cooking one of your everyday habit.

Thank you for reading.

xoxo
Yuki♪