Legato Largo Bag

          This is my second time of buying a Legato Largo brand bag. My very first bag was a blue colored bag with many compartments. That bag lasted for quite awhile. I don't buy very expensive bags. The sister of my husband gave me an expensive bag almost worth Php 20,000 (around $339.00) but I didn't use it and kept it instead. The most expensive bag that I bought was from Cath Kidston and that is almost Php 4,000.00 (around $68.00).

I think most people assume that if it is Made in Japan it must be good. It is the opposite of Made in China. If it is China made, its cheap and of poor quality. In my experience, products from Japan are really good.  

Legato Largo bag is a sister brand of Anello, known for good quality bags. This bag that I bought is lightweight. 

Japan Home Centre (Revisited)

           Konnichiwa! Yesterday night I and my husband, we are able to go to the mall again. I was swamped with work yesterday (mostly clerical work), and I was hungry already when we arrive at the mall to buy a few stuff. We bought takoyaki from our favorite stall at the mall. I love that their takoyaki is made mostly of fresh veggies and a bit of seafood inside (I'm not sure if they use real octopus legs or if it is squid only).

Anyway, its been a long time also since I last dined at one of the popular Japanese fast food here in the Philippines which is Tokyo Tokyo. I love their red iced tea. I order pork tonkatsu (it is simply breaded pork chop) bento meal and a side order of miso soup with bits of soft tofu (I love miso). The bento consists of two slices of breaded pork chop and stir fry vegetables mainly composed of carrots and cabbages. 

While waiting for my order I went to Japan Home Centre again. I have a post about Japanese Home Centre before big at a different branch. I wanted to buy something from that shop since I will not be able to go their again for quite sometime. Having a baby and working at the same time is really hectic. I bought a nice Japanese porcelain bowl and a bamboo placemat. The Japanese bowl is beautiful because it has cherry blossoms design (sakura). Whenever I see sakura flowers it reminds me of Japan. This shop is a thrift shop almost all items are worth Php 88.00 only. They also have a lot of Hello Kitty items from kitchen to office items. They also have snack items for sale. For low priced items but of good quality you can visit this shop, and have a look. They have a lot of branches nationwide.

Onigiri (Family Mart)

           My aunt's helper prepared a usualy Filipino viand, "paksiw". It is a dish that is paired with rice, it contains slices of ginger, bittergourd, and eggplant. The fish is cooked and simmered in vinegar. I am not really fond of this dish especially if milkfish was used. I prefer a different type of fish. I asked my husband that we got to this new mart. We have Family Mart now in the Philippines, and it is near to the place we temporarily reside. I came to know this Japanese food from Japanese drama and anime.

The mart has a lot of items. They also have cooked food choices like korokke or Japanese croquettes, which consists of different flavors. They have salmon and ham. In my previous post, I made Spam korokke. They also have fried shumai or siomai, sharksfin and lobster balls. I ordered lobster balls, aside from the Onigiris (triangle shaped rice with filling and wrapped in seaweed). I bought two flavors of onigiri, tuna and kani (crabsticks). It is mixed with mayo. The mayo was very rich and creamy, maybe they used the popular Japanese mayo, which is called Kewpie. Kewpie, I read uses a lot of yolk that is why it is very creamy. The tuna onigiri has milder flavor compared to the kani. I like the Kani better. They have other flavors like spicy pork, chicken teriyaki etc.

If you want a filling snack, or a light meal, better grab an Onigiri. Oishi!

Rokuhodo Yotsuiro Biyori (Japanese Drama); 鹿楓堂よついろ日和; Rokuhodo Colorful days

           I have been watching this Japanese drama entitled Rokuhodo Yotsuiro Biyori, also known as Rokuhodo. This Jdrama is based on a Japanese manga. It is about four young male adults who runs a Japanese cafe. Sui is the tea expert and the manager of the cafe, Tokitaka is the chef, Tsubaki the pastry chef and Gure is the barista. Along with their pet cat, named Kinako. 

This is a very refreshing Jdrama. I like the simple storyline. No heavy plot, just a regular day to day depiction of life, and not so heavy family issues. The actors in this drama are all good-looking. Gure is the most handsome of all in my opinion, and he has a good body built just like in the manga story and Sui is like your cute next door charming neighbor. 

Aside from the storyline, since this is about a Japanese cafe, the way the food is presented was really good. From the parfait to omurice. Makes me want to try every food that was shown in the in the drama. If you haven't watched this you can catch it on Netflix Philippines. You will surely enjoy watching. This Jdrama series gives good vibes.

Anime Action Figures and Funko Pop

     

    If you are an anime fan like me, I am sure that you also like to collect action figures. I have a few Funko Pop collection in my room before (my husband cleaned my room and made it into a child friendly room since I had given birth to our first baby, she is turning 1 soon). As I have mentioned before, when I was younger I love watching Japanese animation. It started with Candy, Candy, and then I also became fond of watching super sentai, space sheriff and more animes. My favorite action anime is Flame of Recca. Currently I am fond of Detective Conan.

I bought recently a Ran and Shinichi action figure from Medic. This toy brand is known for their ultra detailed features. You can see from the photo here. Original action figures are really expensive. But there are a lot of available cheaper figures now which are made in China.

Who says that toys are only for kids. Nowadays, adults also collect action figures like this. I also have a Funko Pop. I bought my teen favorite anime character who is none other than Sailormoon with her cat Luna. So that's all for now. 

Imagawayaki Ph Sandwich Pancake

           

Yesterday, I was not able to buy hopia (it is a well-known Filipino-Chinese snack, more like a sweet savory pastry, with filling inside).

I searched on the internet today about the Japanese dessert called Wagashi but I couldn't find any store. I want to try it out because I was curious of its taste and I am currently watching a Japanese drama entitled Cursed in Love, which is about that Japanese dessert.  I found one online but they already closed and halted their operations now. 

I was lead to a Japanese cake Facebook page online, named Imagawayaki Ph. The owners are Filipinos, namely Mr. Albert Arevalo. I forgot the name of the his business partner, I just saw their video online and their business story. This well known snack is also popular in Japan. Seeing this snack online reminded me of the movie Red Bean. I ordered 12 pieces. The store has a promo today of 10% discount. My husband ordered various flavor namely oreo, yema (custard),  ube cheese (purple yam) and choco peanut. I ordered the OG bestseller which is the red bean, and I also tried their macha. 

I remember I had another pancake dessert before called Dorayaki, it also has a red bean filling. For more information regarding the Imagawayaki dessert read below. I got the information through Wikipedia.

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Imagawayaki (今川焼き) is a Japanese dessert often found at Japanese festivals as well as outside Japan, in countries such as Taiwan and South Korea. It is made of batter in a special pan (similar to a waffle iron but without the honeycomb pattern), and filled with sweet azuki bean paste, although it is becoming increasingly popular to use a wider variety of fillings such as vanilla custard, different fruit custards and preserves, curry, different meat and vegetable fillings, potato and mayonnaise. Imagawayaki are similar to dorayaki, but the latter are two separate pancakes sandwiched around the filling after cooking, and are often served cold.

Imagawayaki began to be sold near the Kanda's Imagawabashi Bridge during the An'ei era (1772–1781) of the Edo period (1603–1867). The name imagawayaki originates from this time.

Imagawayaki have been known by various names throughout different eras. Names also vary regionally, and some varieties sold only in certain stores have their own names.

Ōban-yaki (大判焼き) – Kansai region.

Kaiten-yaki (回転焼き) or Kaiten manjū (回転饅頭) – Kansai and Kyūshū region.

Nijū-yaki (二重焼き)

Koban-yaki (小判焼き)

Gishi-yaki (義士焼き)

Tomoe-yaki (巴焼き)

Taiko-yaki (太鼓焼き) or Taiko manjū (太鼓饅頭)

Bunka-yaki (文化焼き)

Taishō-yaki (大正焼き)

Jiyū-yaki (自由焼き)

Fūfu manjū (夫婦饅頭) or Fū man (フーマン)

Oyaki (おやき) – some of Aomori Prefecture and Hokkaidō, and different from the oyaki of Nagano Prefecture.

Gozasōrō (御座候) – product name for imagawayaki produced by Gozasōrō Inc, established in 1950 in Himeji. It means "thank you for the purchase" in an archaic style.

Higiri-yaki (ひぎりやき) – product name for imagawayakiproduced by Sawai Honpo Inc in Ehime. It originates in Higiri jizō near the Matsuyama Station.

Jiman'yaki (自慢焼き) – product name for imagawayaki used by the Fuji Ice shop in Nagano.

Fukkō-yaki (復興焼き, "revival yaki") – in the song on the occasion of the revival after the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, is mentioned that imagawayaki was renamed fukkōyaki.

(source: Wikipedia)

Detective Conan Live Action Movie

           I just finished watching this Detective Conan action movie today, entitled "Kudo Shinichi's Written Challenge." The actor who played Shinichi Kudo is Shun Oguri, and the actress who played Ran is Tomoka Kurokawa. I prefer the actress who played Ran in the series than this actress in the movie version. She looks much older for a high school student role.

The story setting took place when Shinichi is still in his normal self, meaning he was not yet made to drink the pill that would make him a kid. This scenario is before that. I really appreciate the live action adaptation of this anime. I became familiar with the characters including Inspector Megure. I don't like the character of the father of Ran. 

The story or plot in this movie. Shinichi receives a challenge letter telling him one of their classmates will be kidnapped. So its up to Shinichi to stop or not let this abduction happen. I really enjoyed watching this movie. No spoilers here. If you enjoyed the anime, you will also enjoy the live action movies.

Detective Conan

           I'm back! After 6 years I'm posting again. It is my "theme" time once again. Before getting pregnant I am into Agatha Christie novels. I even bought a classic costume with a summer hat, and posing for a photo with a few of her books. After that when I became pregnant with baby Ysabella, I was fond of painting and doing art. After being fascinated with India's culture and food. I am coming back again to Japanese culture. I suddenly became interested with mystery novels again, with the likes of suspense, mystery and thriller author, Mary Higgins Clark, Patricia Cornwell and of course the anime and live action of Detective Conan. When I was a kid I love reading and solving mysteries even if I often failed to solve it. I remember I have this book entitled, 2 Minute Mysteries.

This week was hard for us because our nanny got sick and was infected with Covid-19, also our family and our baby Ysabella. Thank God she is out of the woods. Anyway to all of you anime lovers out there I am sure you are very familiar with this popular anime. It is about a high-school student who is good with his deductive skills that he is able to solve crimes, his name is Shinichi Kudo, also known as Conan Edogawa. This is the name that he adopted when he became a little boy because of the pills that he swallowed from criminals he met at Tropical Island.

I am such a fan now of this anime. I even ordered an action figure which I put on top of my office printer. The live action movie and series, together with the anime has made me sane and busy this isolation period of ours. I also bought Sherlock cap and trench coat, with Detective Conan items ranging from id lace, notebook, plush toy, cellphone case, keychain, ballpen and couple action figure of Sinichi and Ran. I also bought a notebook, mug and other Detective Conan items. 

(P.S. Today, our baby turned 11 months old!)