Japan Expo & Japanese Quarter Paris

For the 2^nd time I visited the Japan Expo in Paris. It was held from 2^nd to 4^th July at the Parc des Expositions. My friend Kirschu and I met in Paris and visited the Expo on Friday (entrance fee on Friday was 15€).

It was the same location like in 2013 but it was still amazing how huge the place is! Because we arrived at 12 o'clock we had not to wait in line for the entrance (it opened at 10 o'clock), that was good. At first we visited the culturelle stage called Sakura (every stage or room had its own Japanese name^^). They was a show how a Japanese marriage is going on. The bride was very beautiful X3

the monk and the bridal pair

bride changes kimono

Then we got us something for lunch. We chose for a package of two onigiris^^
The seller was impressed that we came from Germany XD  

onigiri with furikake & Nori

Afterwards we fullfilled our masterplan: making purikuras! *lol *

Last time I hadn't found the purikura machines^^; but there were two of them and I was surprised that we hadn't to wait to get in because one of them was free. Lucky! A man started the machine after we paid him cash (10,-€ per round). We could choose a language and took German, that was pretty funny. The machine took 8 photos but you could choose only 4 for printing >.< the backgrounds were really funny XD but unfortunately the machine didn't make any whole body shots U.U

Then it was time for decorating. It was quite different from the machines I have used so far... totally glittering, colourful and so on. Not many stamps or letters, no names or something like that. But we tried our best. Finally we got our sheet but were a bit disappointed about the quality of the pictures. But we can say we tried it out and we have now even purikuras from Paris XD

waiting to start decoration

"Selber dekorieren" XD - decorating yourself - start!

So we had time to check out the many stands of the Expo. There was really so much stuff X.x

We walked a lot but I even bought something after a bit of persuading from Kirschu. They was a booth selling kitchen ware (it was from London *lol*) and I couldn't resist and finally bought a huge and a small rice bowl for making donburis X3 and more low-slung bowl with a corresponding lid.

my new panda rice bowls X3

Besides Japanese traditional and culturell stuffl like kitchenware, food, sports and clothing there was also many booth for manga, anime (French and Japanese) and merchandise but also video games and stuff and of course a fashion and cosplay area.

setting from Dragonball: Shenlong & Genmas palace

me & Luffy X3

crowds in the hall

At 15:30 h we visited the concert of the J-Rock band 'One Not'e'. The guys were pretty good but not so special that I would buy a CD of them. The bassist who is also the singer was quite cute X3

One Not'e on Stage

Following this was a concert of Taiko Rock. I found the combination very interesting because I love Taiko and because Kirschu hadn't anything to say against it, we stayed in the concert hall. Yasuharu Takanashi and Yaiba were in stage and the concert was great! They played different Anime songs (many of Naruto^^; and we didn't know any from the tracklist but who cares) in their own composition. It was just music and no singing but the atmosphere was great and the guys were in good mood^^
This concert was much better than One Not'e I must say (Kirschu thinks so, too) and especially the Taiko drummer was amazing *o*

band on stage

the Taiko drummer X3

Afterwards it was almost closing time but we because we were quite exhausted we had no problems with leaving the Expo now.

I was happy and really like such an event^^

But we ended the day with a French dinner in a restaurant around the corner from our hotel XD

French restaurant^^

So we had a nice day and looked forward to visit the Japanese quarter the next day^^

~*~

We left our hotel quite early because we wanted to take breakfast in the Japanese backery in Paris. I loved it the last time because it is bigger and has a huger variety of buns as the Düsseldorf backeries. At first I some problems in finding it again but I was successful and we enjoyed a great Japanese breakfast X3

Of course I was hilarious about all the Matcha stuff! I chose a Matcha cake called 'Kabuki', Matcha Tiramisu and a Matcha Cookie along with a cold Matcha Latte with Azuki & cream. I love it *_*

my Matcha breakfast X3

Japanese backery 'Aki'

We took our time before finally walking along Rue St. Anne – the Japanese street in Paris like Immermannstraße in Düsseldorf – where are many Japanese restaurants and shops are located and also a supermarket. You can eat everything there but the street is obviously dominated by ramen restaurants XD

There is also a Harajuku fashion shop and we even saw two lolitas walking down the street.

We also stopped by the two book-off stores on the Rue St. Augustin. One is for French books, the other one for Japanese books, CDs, DVDs etc. Kirschu bought a DVD box for 1€ while I couldn't resist and bought the Golden Bomber live DVD from 2010 X3 they had also the live DVD from 2009 and 2011 but they still cost 30€ each^^;

We also visited the Japanese bookstore on Rue des Pyramides. We got jealous because in France you really get many mangas >.< many of them aren't translated into German and somethings not even in English!

After walking this lot again, we chose a small Izakaya for lunch. It was called Izakaya Taisho ken. For linch they offered different udon, donburis, curry and gyouza. Kirschu took the korokke-kare and I took Gyudon. We both were very happy about our choice X3

my gyudon

inside the restaurant

Then we had back to our hotel for fetching our luggage but it was still early for our trains so we had a last coffee break with macarrons together^.^

Then our French-Japanese weekend was over. Our feet are acking but we are happy and nice days in Paris. I think I will visit the Japan Expo again^^

Japan Day Duesseldorf 2015 ~ 日本デー

On May the 30th the 14th Japan Day took place in Duesseldorf. Like always crowds of people visited the event. Unfortunately the weather wasn't friendly and it rained from time to time >.<

Nevertheless my friend from Switzerland came for a visit and we went to the Rhein riverside to take part in the festival. We looked over the many booths which presented everything about Japanese culture but also anime and manga stuff etc.

It was also funny to see the many applications of the 'Duesseldorf Stadtwerke' everywhere in town. I love Duesseldorf^o^

"I love Düsseldorf"

I also watched the Taiko group on the main stage. They were pretty good^-^

Taiko Group on stage

But then we already left and spend the afternoon at my place because of the rain. In the evening we went out again to have Japanese dinner. And we were lucky, we got a seat in one of my favourite restaurants: Café Bar Relax ^__^

They also had a special menue for the day. My friend decided for Teriyaki Don while I had my beloved beef curry with karaage X3

It was su~per delicious!!!

my Japanese dinner^o^

Anime- & Manga Convention with Cosplay and bento picnic

Two weeks ago some friends visited me because the Anime- & Manga-Convention Dokomi was held in Düsseldorf. We visit this convention every year and again we planned some cosplays for the weekend.

On Saturday my friends Kirschu, Lynn and I cosplayed characters from Ouran High School Host Club. Kirschu was Haruhi, Lynn Kyoya (always the guy with glasses *lol*) and I was Tamaki. I like him but I’m not so good in being stupid in love^^;

Nevertheless we had pretty much fun. Our friend Lau from Berlin joined us as Ran from Super Gals in a short, beautiful Yukata dress^.^

Kyoya, Haruhi & Tamaki ^-^

The weather was nice and next to the convention hall is a huge park located which also contains a little Japanese garden. So I decided to make bentos for us and have a picnic. Of course everyone helped me with the preparation (otherwise I would have needed the whole day to peel and cut everything^^;) and I filled up my two big bento boxes X3

Lunchtime^o^

Sakura bento box:

1^st layer: cooked sushi rice with different fillings: tuna-mayo, pumpkin & tamagoyaki

2^nd layer: sweet potatoe salad & sprouts salad

square bento box:

1^st layer: kinpira (with carrots & zucchini), teriyaki chicken & tamagoyaki

2^nd layer: tomatoes, physalis & sliced apple

I was really satisfied and everyone loved it; I’m so proud X3

So we had a great day!

Sunday was even sunnier than yesterday. Lynn and I finally managed to wear our cosplays from the Kobato series (by Clamp). Lynn was Kobato in her summer dress while I wear my Kohaku cosplay again. She even made a Ioryogi-san Plushie^.^

Kobato & Kohaku

Ioryogi-san^.^

It was so great and the park was just a perfect location for making nice photos!

Lau cosplayed a character from Record of Loddoss and Kirschu was ‘Milk’ XD It’s a food gijinka from an artist who was also at the convention. They had a great group of her characters, that was funny^^

Of course I couldn’t resist and make bentos for everyone again X3

This time everyone get her own box – so this weekend I could use almost every box I have *lol*

I had some kinpira and pumpkin left and I made tamagoyaki again. In the 2^nd layer everyone got some tuna-mayo rice again. For myself I made a bento with vegetarian curry and rice and put the rest of the tomatoes and physalis’ in the other layer.

So lunchtime was always great X3

Because of the nice weather we stayed pretty long in the garden before heading back home and make ourselves ready to get into town to have dinner in our favourite Japanese restaurant (unfortunately I didn’t make pictures there >.<): Café Bar Relax!

Lau and I shared a portion of Takoyaki and a Matcha Honey Toast*_*

Kirschu decided for a Honey Toast with banana and vanilla icecream and Lynn ordered Takoyaki and a miso soup. Unfortunately the miso soup was never brought >.< (it was late and the kitchen already closed for new orders, so I think they just forgot though we ordered just in time)

We had a wonderful weekend! I hope to have more spring weekends for having another picnic with self-made bentos^.^

Japanese Strawberry Cake

Hey^-^

My friend Kiki from Berlin had birthday last month and she came for visit last weekend, so I wanted to make her a late birthday cake. She doesn't like sweets very much, so the cake had to be less sweet. And she loves strawberries and of course Japan like me so I decided to make a Japanese strawberry cake^__^

Anyway I have had the plan to make this cake for some time now and this was just the perfect occasion. 

Normally it's a christmas cake in Japan but because now it's strawberry time in Germany it makes a good spring cake here^^v

And it's easier to make than I thought O.o

I just had to make a bisquit of rice flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs oil and water, cut the baked bisquit into to layers and make a strawberry cream with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and sugar. Of course I reduced the sugar but it was sweet and fruity enough because of the strawberries. Then the cake is covered with sweetened whipped cream and you can decorate it the way you want. I just put some cream topping and strawberries on top. I refridged it overnight and then it was just perfect^_^

strawberry cake is ready^o^

 

bon appetit^^

Kiki was totally happy and me too of course,we totally enjoyed it X3

It's really a good celebration cake and I am sure to make it again^^

Japanese Garden & Japantown San Francisco

The next day atfer the boot trip we visited the Golden Gate Park where also is a Japanese Garden situated. The entrance fee was 8 $ but we decided to enter. The weather was sunny and the air fresh so it was the perfect weather for a garden walk. And the Japanese garden was really beautiful! Very green with a nice little choice of flower in between and a lake in the middle where some kois were at home. We found also a buddha statue made of stone and passes through some orange tori gates and ended up a small pagoda in the heart of the garden. We enjoyed the view and the calm atmosphere and took a break in the warming sun.

tea house in the garden

gate & pagoda in the middle of the garden

Lau and I sitting on a strange bridge X3

Before leaving we also strolled through the souvenir shop which sold typical Japanese things.

We also entered the restrooms... which were in bad conditions we had to recognize surprisingly, It seems they weren't cleaned regularly what was kind of embrassing because you pay an entrance fee for the garden which is otherwise well taken care of.

We strolled through the Golden Gate Park back to the bus station which should take us back downtown where we wanted to visit Japantown again to enjoy this place while we expected it to be empty. And it was! Almost nobody was there^^; that was quite chilling *lol*

After the walk in the parks we were pretty hungry and we longed for some sweets for lunch. Lau looked forward to try out Tapioka Milk Tea with cotton candy because she saw many people walking around with it on the day of the festival but was too lazy to get in line that day because it was just too crowded. But today nobody was there and Lau was very happy with her choice^^
I longed for a Japanese crepe like the ones you get in Harajuku X3 And the choice was awesome! They even make crepe with Matcha pastry *_* so I got a Matcha crepe with Matcha icecream, strawberries, cream and choco chips X3 They even made up a sweet face on the wrapped crepe that was so cute^.^

my matcha crepe X3

the crepe shop

We were totally happy afterwards! And before we started our 'shopping tour' then we entered the Pikapika Land again to take some purikura before having some bags to carry around. Of course it was empty, too, and we used the Lumi-3-machine again. We really like the shots it takes^^

First searched the shop 'MaruQ', Lau wanted to take a look around there because it sells Japanese Gyaru brands like Liz Lisa. It was situated in a complex building next to the West Mall on the 1st floor. It was nice and of course empty XD So Lau took her time and tried some things on. She also bought a Liz Lisa top and chatted a lot with the staff member. (I don't like the brands they had there so I was just sitting on the sofa watching Lau shopping XD)

me and the pink Liz Lisa pillow^^;

On the 2nd floor was also a lolita shop but not interesting for us. The Café on the ground floor looked also pretty cute but we were still so full from our sweet lunch that we didn't take a break there.

sweet Café

We also visited the Daiso again in the East Mall to get some final things and then we had another round Purikura *lol*
This time we tried an older machine but the pictures were not so good and the choice of decoration was bad, too U.U
Exhausted from strolling around the whole day we chose a traditional Japanese restaurant for dinner. The speciality was ramen, udon and donburi, so just perfect for us^^
Lau chose Tempura Udon while I had Unagi Don (eel on rice) *_* we were totally happy, it was just perfect *o*

traditional restaurant 'Mifune' / my dinner^^

This was the end of a perfect day and also of our visit to San Francisco. The next day we took the bus back to L.A.
Bye bye!

Chinatown in San Francisco & Japanese Tea Shop

The day after the Cherry Blosson Festival in Japantown we had booked a bootstour through the San Francisco Bay starting at Fisherman's Wharf passing under the Golden Gate Bridge and around the prison of Alkatraz. We got there by Cable Car, that was really cool. It's pretty old but nice to ride and the up and downs of the city are really funny to drive.

Cable Car (Turning Point)

The boat trip was also a great idea to view all the sightseeings of San Francisco mentioned above, the only bothering thing were the mny Chinese tourists on the boat. They were loud and running up and down to take the best photos of everything.

But it is also obwious that many Chinese live in Amerika. You hear Chinese everywhere. Even some bus announcements are in Chinese.

On our way back from Fisherman'S Wharf we walked along the business streets of San Francisco till we arrived in Chinatown. It was really big and this time it looked quite pretty. In the main street were many shops selling Chinese and American merchandise and of course restaurants and some business shops were located there.

main shopping street in Chinatown

shopwindow of one of the many (Chinese) souvenir shops

We also entered a Chinese backery like always but this looked really shabby from the inside. The food weren't so special as well and we didn't find any Pandan cake (like we did in London) though it is a Chinese speciality and really delicious.

Down the street we passed the little Chinese Gate and from one step to another we were back in 'America' so to say.

But this Chinatown is one of the nicest one I have visited so far. It has much more atmosphere than the one in Los Angeles for example!

In the evening we also went a little shopping in the Westfield and Nordstorm shopping center on Market Street. Inside the Westfield Center is a beautiful Japanese Tea shop. I couldn't resist to enter it because now is Cherry Blossom season and they sold many different kinds of Sakura Tea. You could see and smell every single tea what was really inviting. In the end I bought a box with two different Sakura teas in beaufitul tea cases^.^

I also got a single tea bag of green tea called 'Happiness' for free. I'm looking forward to taste everything^.^

(but because of my excitement I forgot to take photos of the shop >.<)

my gets and a catalog of Sakura Tea^^

Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco

Hello again!

This time my friend Lau and I have been to San Francisco/California. On two weekends in April they are celebrating a Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown. So we took the chance and visited the festival on Sunday. The weather was very sunny and hot but it was so much fun!

Festival Stage

We checked the timetable before and we arrived just in time to see the Taiko performance of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo. I love Taiko and the group did pretty well. But we couldn't take a seat in front of the stage because there was no shadowy place and in the sun it was too hot, so we watched it from the shadows of the shopping mall.

Stage Plaza from our view

Afterwards we strolled around some booths near the plaza and there was a 'Pocky' Car where they distributed free packages of a new pocky flavour. That was cool and of course we got in line to get one package each^o^

Festival Street

Then we entered the East Mall of the Japan Shopping Center to cool down a bit. Inside were a big Daiso store located where must items cost $1.50. Lau got some more lashes while I found Matcha Iced Tea and Matcha Pan *lol* and also a package of instant sauce for making Mabo Tofu *_* I'm really excited to try it out!

Japan Center East Mall

Inside the mall were also some restaurants and other little shops but we decided to view more of the festival. In the north part of Japantown were also booths which sold different kinds of handicrafts. But everything looked kind of Americanized. But I was happy to get a cute Star Wars T-Shirt with a Darth Vader Chibi on it^o^

And Lau was happy to get a bowl of Kakigori so we took a break there and had a little lunch (I ate my Matcha pan which was quite delicious^^).

my Matcha gets & the free pocky

Time to do more shopping. So we entered the West Shpping Mall which is the bigger one. We got the impression of being in Harajuku and then in Kyoto Station. Everything was really Japanese, it felt like home XD

Japan Center West Mall

Unfortunately everything was really crowded but we managed to enter some interesting shops like some fashion boutiques – Shibuya SF – or the great Japanese bookstore. Of course we also went to the Purikura Center 'Pika Pika Land'. There you go to the staff, choose a machine and they start it per key for you. We tried out the Lumi-3 machine which did really great pictures^.^

Boutique 'Shibuya' & Pikapika Land

Then we strolled around on the 1^st floor where more traditional shops were located. There was also a replica of a Japanese castle which is really a beautiful decoration^^

decoration of the Mall's basement

Outside again we went down the festival street next to the West Mall. There were the booth of different organization and groups located like the one of the Taiko group. At the end was another little stage where they played music and the opposite were stands with food and many tables and banks to enjoy your meal.

Festival stage

We spend much time on the festival but around 6 pm it was closing. So Lau and I bought us a little snack at the Japanese supermarket for dinner and went back home.

Avocado Maki

We walked pretty much today and the hot weather was really exhausting. But we had so much fun and Japantown in San Francisco is really great. We are sure to come back again during the next days^_^v