Lupicia Tea Part III

Long time no Lupicia, not because I don't like or don't drink teas anymore, but rather because I'm limited to non-caffeinated teas until my littlest one weans, which means this post is rather old having been stuck in my draft folder for almost a year now :(

First up was a restock of Lupicia's take of the Golden Osmanthus which hubby and I had been enjoying steadily over the year since I first tried it in 2017. Since I'd already posted about this tea, I won't repeat here again.

There was another restock of the flavored mugicha I love so much, especially now when I can't drink caffeinated stuff. In addition to the usual Anzu (apricot), Pineapple, and Ume (plum) flavors, Lupicia added three new flavors: Lychee, Ringo (apple), and Suica (watermelon).

- Lychee, Ringo (apple), and Suica (watermelon): of the three I like Ringo best, Lychee second, and Suica last. Basically, Ringo and Lychee over Suica. I love fresh watermelon, but to be honest I think it's not really a great flavor for drinks or candy, much less tea. This Suica Mugicha isn't bad. It's actually better than expected, but I still would rather drink cold press watermelon juice :P

Afternoon Tea at the Brown Palace Hotel, Denver, Part II

One midday Sunday last fall, hubby and I were nostalgic for those spectacular afternoon tea sessions in Tokyo, so we dragged ourselves downtown Denver to find something close to make do with. We first stopped by a small tea room near his old company's office. Of course, of all the days we picked there was a demonstration downtown that day and the small tea room was totally full with an hour wait time. So off to the Brown Palace Hotel we went, and we got the last table too!

Alexander's Patisserie, Mountain View

Upon exiting Maison Alyzee, I promptly crossed the street for Alexander's Patisserie. Talk about a literal patisserie face-off--they're staring each other down from across the street. Fine with me though. More patisseries means more sweets for me to enjoy ^.^

Maison Alyzee, Mountain View

As hubby and I grabbed a quick snack at the Hong Kong Bakery & Cafe, I couldn't help but notice Maison Alyzee right next door. After he left to do work stuff, I went in to check it out despite having had a snack. I could never pass up a patisserie. There's always room for desserts in this tummy ^.^

Crown & Crumpet Tea Room, San Francisco, Part III

While hubby was busy with work conference, I roamed around Japantown and visited familiar stores and shops until I got tired. Plus, having a few days away from our little one (he stayed with my parents) meant precious writing time for me.

That said, writing meant I needed a place to camp and staying all cooped up in the hotel room was not an option. This was in SF, after all! Thank goodness for Crown & Crumpet Tea Room on Post Street.

Tea Time Part IV

Has it really been more than a year since my last Tea Time post? Where did all the time go? I've hoarded a bunch more of teas since, and that's with several that I'd totally forgotten to take pictures of before tearing into and subsequently tossing the packages.

***Disclaimer: I'm *not affiliated* with any of these tea brands or vendors. Just sharing the goodies I enjoy is all.

My first encounter with Ahmad Tea was through A., my Japanese-school classmate back in 2012 in Yokohama. A. is Iraqi, born and raised in Baghdad but had met her Japanese husband S. via an online chatroom.Their story belongs in a book and movie--Far East meets Middle East, he converted to Islam and all the high jinks ensued--but I'll leave it to her to tell this story.

Lupicia Tea Part II

More Lupicia Tea hoards, both from Tokyo as well as from the Lupicia USA online store. J. and I "discovered" a few new favorites in the spring of 2016, and thank goodness the USA online store does carry many of these. I'd be upset if they didn't!

Tea Time! Part III

More teas, hooray, now that I'm reunited with my tea shelf ^.^ Here are some new acquisitions since moving home last October. After spending a few years sampling extensively from numerous vendors, I now only purchase very specific favorites that I haven't found elsewhere. There are many other favorites that aren't featured in this post, but I figured I'll run out sooner or later and will have to restock, at which point I'll take photos and post about them.

***Disclaimer: I'm *not affiliated* with any of these vendors. Just sharing the goodies I enjoy is all.

I like a few things from American Tea Room of Beverly Hills, CA. Their teas are of decent quality but are on the pricier side, so I don't buy anything else from them other than these 4 teas: Anastasia, Brioche, Madam Bergamot, and Victoria.

Tokyo Eats - Akasaka area

Landing in Tokyo in August of 2015, we got ourselves a major craving for some okonomiyaki. This was before we found Kinu in our neighborhood, you see, so upon some googling we decided to go with what we knew, a Botejyu branch in Akasaka that was closest to us. Little did we know we'd be coming back to Akasaka again and again throughout our time in Tokyo, though mostly for Shichirin Yakiniku AnAn below.

Anyway, I didn't like our first visit to Botejyu years ago but in our desperation we gave it another chance just to relive our previous Japan experience. We ended up having a great meal there and went on to bring friends and family back, until the smoking in the restaurant became unbearable and stopped us from coming back. It seemed the restaurant had grown and the food vastly improved since we ate there last.

These were the seasonal offerings for the fall of 2015.

Tokyo Eats - Omotesando area

Hubby and I, and our friends too for that matter, only went to Omotesando a few times when we were in Tokyo. It wasn't because we didn't like it. We felt--for lack of better words--out of place there. Why? From our view Omotesando is really poshy, the all-grown-up-and-super-successful big sister of Harajuku. Ginza? Pffft, too touristy, which was why we spent a lot of time there because we could blend into the crowds of tourists. But there at Omotesando, our decidedly "un-hip" appearance stuck out like a sore thumb.

The Prada Aoyama branch.

Tokyo Eats - Roppongi area Part VII

The last of the Roppongi food posts :(

Hubby and colleagues were super excited when Blue Bottle Coffee opened yet another branch in Roppongi (they're up to 6 branches in Tokyo now!), in the spanking new Tri-Seven Building across the street from Midtown. It made their daily coffee run much easier than, say, Omotesando (will post soon!). Hubby loved going there, and he loved to drag me along. I was more, umm, indifferent. Sure, I like coffee, but more so the flavor than the actual beverage, which can sometimes be too strong and bitter for my unsophisticated taste buds.

Tokyo Eats - Ginza area Part III

Wow, has it really been more than a year since my last Ginza post?! Anyway, here's the last of the Ginza series and a long post ahead. I'm almost through with the rest of the Tokyo food photos too. I guess I should be happy to finally be done with the gigantic photo backlog, but coming to the end of the Japan pictures makes me so sad and nostalgic :(

Mum-in-law visited us back in early April 2016 with her older sister, aunt D. Aunt D. was the one who took this pic, with me photo-bombing hubby and his mum ^.^

Taipei Eats - Zhongxiao East Road area Part III (忠孝東路)

The night hubby and I arrived into Taipei, we checked into our room at ALoft Hotel Taipei Zhongshan and then ventured out for dinner. We both had been craving for Kiki's since leaving Taipei near the year end in 2012, so of course our first dinner in Taipei after 4 years of longing must be at Kiki's. Hell, we're still craving Kiki's right now T.T

We picked Kiki's Fuxing branch, a 10 minutes walk from MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing Station (忠孝復興站). It was the night of September 15, 2016, right smack on Mid Autumn Festival. The whole city was quieter than usual and many shops were closed for business. So we were counting our blessings that Kiki's was open that night. There was a long line even, and we waited for about 30 minutes to be seated.

Tokyo Eats - In the neighborhood Part V

The last of the neighborhood food photos, though not the last of the Tokyo Eats series as I'm still sorting through my photos.

Check out this beauty I spotted in a tunnel in my old neighborhood. The left wing tip had a small tear :(

Kinkatsu right outside of Kamiyacho Station serves up tantan men (aka dandan noodles) and other, erhhh, Japan-ized Taiwanese noodle soups. We walk by this place all the time but it was always crowded so we never went in. Then one night when we were bored with everything else and the place seemed vacant enough, we tried their tantan men. Really good, but holy hell it was salty. I thought I already eat too much salt (and I do!) but these noodles tasted like a block of salt! We never went back.

Afternoon Tea at The Lounge, Aman Tokyo, Part II

Back in July, our Tokyo afternoon tea club was taken breathless with the space and the atmosphere at The Lounge on the 33rd floor of the Aman Hotel Tokyo. So despite the chocolate overload in the afternoon tea service, we voted to come back for a second time in mid September for a last hoorah, just one more tea session before we all part ways and return home after a year in the capital of Japan. We figured it's been two months and their menu has probably changed, so it won't be the same death by chocolate as with the July session.

Tokyo Eats - Roppongi area Part VI

My god, how many food photos did I take?!? I finally made it to the first week of August in the photo backlog, and it filled up yet another Tokyo Eats - Roppongi area post! I guess it was because hubby worked there, and so I went there everyday to meet with him for lunch. That was how I ended up with lots and lots of photos of mostly food ^.^"

Afternoon Tea at The Lobby, The Peninsula Hotel Tokyo

In August, our afternoon tea club was reduced to just three, me, hubby, and J., as the rest was on vacation along with half of Japan ^.^ Our choices of venue were drastically reduced also, because even though I was calling 2-3 weeks in advance, every other location was already booked through the whole month--so keep in mind to plan far, far ahead if you're ever going to visit Japan in August.

Luckily, we have a long list of places to try, and to our luck we got into one of them: The Lobby on the ground floor of the Peninsula Hotel Tokyo. Before you ooh and aah though, I just want to point out that it's the afternoon tea service at the Peninsula Hongkong that's among the legends. Whereas the afternoon tea service at the Peninsula Tokyo is known for being more "traditional," which can mean boring depends on who you ask. Either way, it was August and we took what we could get.

Check out this interesting staircase with a mini zen rock garden at the bottom.

Afternoon Tea at The Lounge, Aman Tokyo

Happy New Year!

Meanwhile, I'm still catching up with photos. For July, our afternoon tea club tried the tea service at The Lounge on the 33rd floor of the Aman Hotel Tokyo, in Otemachi, north of Tokyo Station and west of Nihonbashi.

I have to say, the building may seem unremarkable from the outside, but inside it was rather breathtaking in terms of design and decor. Our group of six were mesmerized the moment we stepped inside The Lounge and I have a boat load of photos to prove it ^.^ The whole place is vast and airy and well-lit. In super dense Tokyo, there's nothing more luxurious than space itself. Just look at that ceiling!