Tokyo Eats - Ebisu Area

Another area hubby and I occasionally strolled through was Ebisu, most of the time for coffee from this Sarutahiko Coffee shop. The place was always busy, so we often get ours to go. It was only every once in a while that we actually found ourselves a seat. We liked the place enough to have bought 3 mugs from them and proceeded to lug all home as souvenirs ^.^

Kuramoto Bijin Komeyu Beauty Oil

In anticipation for the inevitable pregnancy belly-streeetch that comes with major itching and stretchmarks, I'd come home armed with two 60g tubes of YuSkin A Family Medical Cream (aka Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream). Once home, in addition to dabbing these creams on my face wherever it feels dry, I'd use the cream on my elbows, knees, and feet. And once I hit the 8-weeks mark, I started massaging the stuff all over my then still-flat belly. Because preventative care. Waiting until the itching and the stretchmarks to come would be too late, right?

I kept telling you it's super dry where I live but I know it's hard to imagine, so here's some quantification: I went through one 60g tube within 2 weeks, just massaging the cream onto my belly once every night right after the shower. Woah. O.O

I panicked and reordered more. A lot more. Like a 260g pump bottle plus a 260g refill, for a total of 520g more of this stuff. But you know what's crazy? I'm 32+ weeks along now and have already finished one 260g, moving on to the backup tube of 60g before busting open the second 260g! Holy crap, it's so dry here! And you know what's even crazier? About a month ago when I was 28+ weeks along, I got some belly itching anyway. Woah. O.O

***Stock photos from Amazon JP.

If the super thick and moisturizing YuSkin A wasn't enough to keep my belly from itching, what options do I have left? Slather on shortening? Cork grease? That was when I remembered my stash includes a 60mL bottle of Kuramoto Bijin Komeyu Beauty Oil.

Delica Ondoru (Korean cuisine)

Tokyo is a gigantic city with endless options to explore. This was what we kept telling our family and friends who came to visit. 

...But then whenever a holiday or vacation came around for ourselves, hubby and I left the city instead ^.^" Living in Tokyo was much different than visiting it of course. As much we loved the city, the density and the fast pace were taxing so whenever we got a chance, we escaped elsewhere for a break and a breather.

All that blabbering was a lame excuse for not exploring Shin-Okubo (aka Koreatown) further. But the few times we did go, we ate here at Delica Ondoru. 

Kai Body Lotion

Almost done with this 60mL/2oz bottle of Kai Body Lotion so here's a short review of it.

Tokyo Eats - Nakameguro Area

From our time living in Yokohama, aside from Nabezo our neighbor S. also introduced me and hubby to Junkadelic in Nakameguro. Interestingly enough, when we arrived in Tokyo, we realized our then-new home wasn't too far from Nakameguro at all, just several subway stops away on the same Metro line! How convenient was that? We could go eat Tex-Mex anytime we wanted without having to dread the 2hrs. train ride there and back!

And what do you know, a couple of weeks into opening the new office, hubby's boss wondered out loud, "Does anyone know a good Mexican place around here?" Hubby and I looked at each other and he replied, "We do know of a decent one." And off the whole office went.

On the way to Junkadelic from Nakameguro Station.

Addiction Lipstick Sheer

Since coming home last October, I've been on a serious lipstick kick--I finally caved on Addiction Lipstick Sheer. The lineup has ten colors. I was eyeing five of those ten but refrained and went with only three: 001 Super Woman, 002 Last Scene, and 010 Amaranto. I wanted to make sure I like the formula first before getting the remaining two colors on my wish list.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

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.

Kokutousei Hakkou E Gel Cream Hydrating Elastic Gel

Hubby has been using the 90g jar of this Kokutousei Hakkou E Gel Cream Hydrating Elastic Gel for a few weeks now and he really likes it. This is a 6-in-1 product, a lotion (toner), milk, essence/serum, cream, pack, and massage-cream all in one. Kokutousei has an English website and you can read more about the whole skincare line there.

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.

Kuramoto Bijin Hakumai Fermented All-in-One Milk

Finished up Aqualabel All-in-One Whitening Jelly Essence a couple of weeks ago and happily moved on to this 120mL bottle of Kuramoto Bijin Hakumai Fermented All-in-One Milk.

As the name suggests, this is a 3-in-1 product that's a lotion (toner), serum/essence, and moisturizer all in one. I've been using it on my face, neck, and decolletage every night as soon as I toweled off right after the shower.