I write something on my blog to improve my English skill.
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Yesterday, I made black sesame paste (黒ごまペースト) for my first time, and it turned out so delicious! Sesame paste is called goma paste (ごまペースト, 胡麻ペースト) or neri goma (練りごま, ねりごま) in Japan and is used as a ingredient for many Japanese foods. Black sesame paste is often used as an ingredient for wafu dessert such as black sesame soft serve (黒胡麻ソフトクリーム) and black sesame flan (黒ゴマプリン). White sesame paste is an essential ingredient for wafu goma dressing for salad and goma tare for shabu shabu. This time, I made sweetened black sesame paste, and my husband and I ate it with toasts today. We loved it. :)
Sesame seeds are rich in mineral, vitamin and fiber and have so many health benefits such as antioxidant effect. Making black sesame paste was just a peace of cake, and I think anyone can make it with a food processor. ;) Today, I'm going to share how to make Japanese black sesame paste with you.
1. Put all ingredients in a food processor. Turn on the food processor until it becomes smooth butter
texture. You might want to turn off the food processor every 10 to 20
seconds or so because the machine could overheat.
2. Move black sesame paste to an airtight container. Enjoy!
I also made Japanese black sesame flan with my homemade black sesame paste. I'll share the recipe next time. ;)
Hello Kitty Shinkansen is finally going to make its debut in Japan on June 30!
Hello Kitty Shinkansen
The Shinkansen (新幹線), the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. The Kodama 500 series (こだま 500系), the Shinkansen of Sanyo Shinkansen (山陽新幹線) line which connects Osaka (Shin-Osaka Station, 新大阪駅) with Fukuoka (Hakata Station, 博多駅), will turn into the Hello Kitty Shinkansen.
Kodama 500 Series
If you are planning on traveling Japan this summer, you should check the new Hello Kitty Shinkansen. This Shinkansen must be the kawaiiest train you've ever seen!
Hello Kitty Shinkansen (Kodama 500 Series)
Hello Kitty Shinkansen (Kodama 500 Series)
Hello Kitty Shinkansen (Kodama 500 Series)
When you take Hello Kitty Shinkansen, you should check out Hello! Plaza (the first car of the shinkansen) and Kawaii! Room (the second car of the shinkansen).
Car No.1 (the first car) : Hello! Plaza (Local Exhibition Space)
Car No.2 (the second car) : Kawaii! Room (Special Interior, Non-Reserved Seats)
Car No. 3 : Non-Reserved Seats
Car No.4, 5 and 6 : Reserved Seats
Car No. 7 and 8 : Non-Reserved Seats
Car No.1 : Hello! Plaza (Local Exhibition Space)
Car No.1 of Hello Kitty Shinkansen
The car no.1 of Hello Kitty Shinkansen is a local exhibition space. (From 6/30/2018 through 9/30/2018 : Exhibition of Tottori prefecture, 鳥取県, and Shimane prefecture, 島根県) You can learn local sightseeing spots, local foods and etc there.
Car No.1 of Hello Kitty Shinkansen
You can also purchase local products there.
Car No.2 : Kawaii! Room (Special Interior and Non-Reserved Seats)
Car No.2 (Hello Kitty Shinkansen)
The car no.2 is very kawaii with Hello Kitty interior. It has the Hello Kitty photo spot, in where you can take photo with Hello Kitty.
Car No.2 (Hello Kitty Shinkansen)
The non-reserved seats are very kawaii Hello Kitty design.
Operation Date
The Hello Kitty Shinkansen will start operating on June 30th with one daily round trip between Hakata and Shin-Osaka. (Non-Operation Dates : 7/18, 7/19, 7/20, 8/8, 8/9, 8/10, 9/3, 9/4, 9/5, 9/26, 9/27 and 9/28)
Hello Kitty Shinkansen Exclusive Cafe and Store At Hakata Station
Hello Kitty exclusive cafe, will open at Hakata Station (博多駅) on June 1. They have Hello Kitty Shinkansen special menu. ;)
Hello Kitty Shinkansen exclusive store, Marché in Hakata Station, will also open at Hakata Station on June 30. They will sell many exclusive products there. :)
My husband and I traveled Japan during New Year's holidays. As I mentioned in my previous entry, after we had late lunch and enjoyed shopping at First
Avenue Tokyo Station (東京駅一番街), we went outside to take photos of
Tokyo Station (東京駅) night view.
Tokyo Station
Tokyo Station 1 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Japan
Tokyo Station
Tokyo Station (東京駅), which was opened in 1914, is Japan’s most important train station. I really loved beautiful night views of Tokyo Station. :)
Tokyo Station
I took these photos with a single-lens reflex camera, Canon EOS Rebel SL1 Digital SLR. I should have brought my tripod, but I think we were able to take pretty good photos without it. :)
Tokyo Station
Tokyo Station
Tokyo Station
Tokyo Station
Tokyo Station
The black car is a Japanese taxi by the way. ;)
Tokyo Central Post Office
The white building with a huge clock you can see from the Tokyo Station is Tokyo Central Post Office (東京中央郵便局). Even if you don't need Japanese postage stamps, you should check out this post office because they also sell many kinds of Tokyo Central Post Office exclusive products such as very kawaii stationery of Tokyo Station, Tokyo Tower, Asakusa and so on. ;)
Tokyo Central Post Office 2-7-2 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Japan
Post Office Hour :
9 a.m. through 9 p.m. (Monday through Friday)
9 a.m. through 7 p.m. (Saturday, Sunday and Holidays)
Tokyo Central Post Office Exclusive Writing Paper
After enjoying beautiful night views of Tokyo Station, we headed toward Tokyo Tower. I'll write about it next time. :)
As I mentioned in my previous entry, Top 10 Japanese Beauty Products Loved by Foreign Tourists in Japan, Rohto Hada Labo Gokujyun Hyaluronic Acid Lotion is one of the most popular Japanese beauty
products for foreign tourists visiting Japan. It also has many positive reviews on Amazon US. In Japan, Hada Labo lotion is also pretty popular for young women. Indeed, it won the best skincare lotion award on @cosme in 2013.
As I mentioned in my previous entry, 5 Best Japanese Facial Lotion (Toner), Kesho-sui, Hada Labo (肌ラボ) is a
skincare brand of Rohto, which is one of the biggest pharmaceutical
companies in Japan. Rohto was established in 1949 and started selling
Hada Labo products in 2004. Hada Labo skincare products contain
hyaluronic acid, which retains moisture in your skin. It's perfect for sensitive skin since it's fragrance-free, colorant–free, alcohol–free and oil-free.
I used to use Rohto Hada Labo Gokujyun Hyaluronic Acid Lotion in my early 20s. I loved that it moisturized my skin well, but I felt that the texture of their lotion was too thick and sticky. Usually, the texture of Japanese facial lotions (keshosui, 化粧水) is just like water. I used up two bottles of Hada Labo lotion, but now I'm using Muji Light Toning Water. You can check out my previous entry, Which Muji Keshosui Should You Choose? - Muji Toning Water Sensitive Skin Care Series. Many Japanese people love Hada Labo lotion, but some Japanese people don't like its thick texture like I eventually felt so.
Anyway, if you want to try Hada Labo Gokujyun Hyaluronic Acid Lotion, there are two types, Original and Light, you can choose from. If you are in Japan, you can find Hada Labo lotion at most drugstores.
170 ml Bottle for 740 yen
170 ml Refill for 660 yen
This is perfect for dry to normal skin type. Many Japanese products such as keshosui, shampoo and detergent also have environmentally friendly refill packs to reduce plastic waste. A refill is usually more affordable in Japan.
This one is extra large size (400 ml). If you love Hada Labo Gokujyun Hyaluronic Acid Lotion, you can try this extra large bottle, which is a little more affordable in Japan.
Are You Applying Hada Labo Skincare Products in the Right Order ?
Japanese people apply keshosui (化粧水) to hydrate skin. Then, you need to apply nyueki (乳液) to keep your skin moisturized all day. Facial sheet mask, beauty serum and facial moisturizing cream are optional, but you can also apply Hada Labo facial cream instead of nyueki.
By the way, I love Hada Labo short movie (Koisuru Hada Kyun Movie, 恋する肌キュンmovie) so much. ;) Hada Labo has released serial short movie on YouTube.
Rohto Hada Labo Short Movie - Part 1
Yuriyan Retriever (ゆりやんレトリィバァ), who played the high school girl in this
movie, is a very popular comedian in Japan. Ryo Ryusei (竜星 涼), who
played the high school boy, is a famous Japanese actor.
Rohto Hada Labo Short Movie - Part 2
The song in the second movie is Tomodachi Shikkaku (友達失格) sung by Yuriyan Retriever.
Rohto Hada Labo Short Movie - Part 3
The third movie has been just released this week. Their skins are
so beautiful.
Casio is not only a Japanese wristwatch maker. They have been making digital compact cameras for 23 years.
You probably know that Casio's famous watches, Casio G-Shock series. (By the way, these years, affordable Casio watches have been very popular for young Japanese people. You can check my previous entry, Cheap Casio - Popular Inexpensive Casio Watches. ) In Japan, Casio makes cameras, watches, calculators, electronic dictionaries and so on. According to Wikipedia, a number of notable digital camera innovations have been made by Casio,
including the QV-10, the first consumer digital camera with an LCD
screen on the back
(developed by a team led by Hiroyuki Suetaka in 1995), the first
consumer three megapixel camera, the first true ultra-compact model, and
the first digital camera to incorporate ceramic lens technology. Since 1995, Casio has often released new smaller digital cameras which allow you to take better quality photos. Every time Casio released a new digital compact camera, I was surprised that newer model was thinner and lighter but had a larger screen.
Many Japanese companies make digital compact cameras such as Casio, Canon, Nikon and Sony. Casio compact camera, Exilim, has been pretty popular in Japan. I used to have one and remember that many of my friends in Japan also had ones. That's why I was very surprised at the news that Casio would pull out of the digital camera business.
Why will Casio stop making digital compact cameras?
The reason why they will stop making digital compact cameras is vanishing demand. Now, so many people own a smartphone. When you have a good smartphone, you don't really need a digital compact camera. Indeed, I still have some digital compact cameras, Sony Cyber Shot, but I haven't used them at all since I purchased my iPhone years ago. Because I am a blogger, I often take photos for my blog. When I want to take casual photos outside such as foods at restaurants, I use my iPhone. When I want to take photos at home, I use a larger digital single-lens reflex camera, Canon EOS Rebel SL1 Digital SLR, for better quality photos. When I go to beach to see wild animals, I use a larger digital camera with 50x optical zoom, Canon Power Shot SX50 HS (This camera is actually categorized as a digital compact camera, but I don't think it's so because it is heavy and large.). Even if I didn't have my large Canon cameras, I would be still able to take pretty good photos with my iPhone. Smartphone cameras have dramatically improved in recent years.
Digital Compact Camera (2011) vs Smartphone (2016)
In 2013, I recorded this video with my digital compact camera, Sony Cyber Shot, which I purchased in 2011. I really loved this camera, but now I think that the quality of video recorded with the digital compact camera was not good enough back then. Yet, quality of my old smartphone camera was worse, and it didn't have enough memory for videos. At that time, I never though taking a long video with a smartphone would be a good idea.
Sony Power Shot 2011 Model
In January this year (2018), I recorded this video with only my iPhone SE, which I purchased in 2016. I think that quality of iPhone camera is pretty good, and I don't think I need a new digital compact camera anymore.
Apple iPhone SE 2016
I think that Casio made a big and smart decision. More and more people take photos with their smartphone, and less and less people use digital compact cameras. Casio will use its digital camera technology to focus on imaging opportunities in sports and medical fields.
Will compact camera soon vanish from market?
I think that even though most people don't really need digital compact cameras anymore, few people still need waterproof action cameras for sports and water activities. Yet, I guess that more of Japanese electronics manufacturing companies will
withdraw from digital compact camera market sooner or later. What do you
think?
My husband and I traveled Japan during New Year's holidays. As I mentioned in my previous entry, after we took a walk around Kokyo Gaien (皇居外苑), we headed toward Tokyo Station (東京駅) to have late lunch. It took us 10 minutes by walk from Kokyo Gaien to Tokyo Station. We went to First Avenue Tokyo Station (東京駅一番街), which is a shopping strip filled with many gift stores, restaurants and so on.
We decided to have lunch at Yakitori Ichi-Dori, located on the first floor of the basement of First Avenue Tokyo Station.
Yakitori Ichi-Dori
Yakitori Ichi-Dori B1 First Avenue Tokyo Station 1 Chome-9-1 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Hour : 11 a.m. through 11 p.m. (Monday - Friday) 11 a.m. through 10:30 p.m. (Saturday, Sunday and Holiday)
Yakitori Ichi-Dori Menu
Yakitori Ichi-Dori Menu
竜田揚げ生姜ソース定食
I ordered this combo meal (竜田揚げ生姜ソース定食), a deep-fried chicken with wafu ginger sauce, white rice, chicken soup, pickles, salad and simmered hijiki for 1200 yen. By the way, a combo meal is called teishoku (定食) in Japan.
竜田揚げ生姜ソース定食
In Japan, there are two types of deep-fried chickens, kara-age (唐揚げ) and tatsuta-age (竜田揚げ). I love tastuta-age because it is crispier than kara-age.
・Tatusta-age (竜田揚げ) : Chicken is coated with potato starch (katakuriko 片栗粉).
・Kara-age (唐揚げ) : Chicken is usually lightly coated with flour (or without flour). However, sometimes people call any types of deep-fried chickens "kara-age".
鶏雑炊
My husband ordered this chicken porridge, which is called tori zosui (鶏雑炊), for 600 yen.
チキン南蛮
He also ordered this chicken nanban (チキン南蛮) for 650 yen. Chicken nanban is deep-fried chicken with tartar sauce. As I mention in my previous entry, Most Popular Japanese Foods (Top 31 - 40), even if you don't like very traditional Japanese foods, you will definitely fall in love with chicken nanban. You can find chicken nanban at many teishoku restaurants in Japan. ;)
We loved all meals we had at Yakitori Ichi-Dori. :) This restaurant also serves many kinds of Japanese chicken dishes such as yakitori (焼き鳥), which is grilled chicken which is skewered with bamboo skewers.
Yakitori Ichi-Dori
After we had late lunch at Yakitori Ichi-Dori, we enjoyed shopping at First Avenue Tokyo Station (東京駅一番街). Then, we went outside to take photos of Tokyo Station night view. I'll write about it next time. :)
