Jennifer's Passion

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Travel Diary: Tokyo || Episode 2: You’ve Got a Friend in Me

I grew up watching Disney shows and being able to visit all Disney Theme Parks was my long-time wishlist. Up until now, I’ve only visited two out of twelve in this world. The first was Hongkong Disneyland and the recent one I visited was Tokyo DisneySea, which I’m going to feature in this post.

I visited the Tokyo DisneySea on my second day in Japan. Since I’m going to Universal Studios in Osaka too, I’ll have to choose between DisneySea and Disneyland. My friends who have been to both of them recommended me to visit DisneySea. So, I went there and had a blast experience even though the weather was not helping. I bought the tickets from the Traveloka apps, so we can directly go inside the park. As soon as we exited the JR Line Disney Resort Station, the kid inside me made me jump like Goofy.

I visited DisneySea in September when they are ready for Halloween. Many of the visitors wear Disney Characters’ costumes for the season. It was fascinating to see many Disney fanatics there. They were pretty all out. I bumped into Princess Aurora and Ariel on the train to the DisneySea entrance.

Before we get to the DisneySea entrance, we had our brunch to fill in the energy before we conquer the park. We decided to eat at the Disney Resort Cafeteria. I ate Omurice and it cost pretty expensive. It cost around 853 JPY. But, it tasted pretty good for a cafeteria menu.

To get into DisneySea or Disneyland, we had to take the train from the Disney Resort entrance. The train was full of Mickey Mouse and even when the train started to be seen nearby the station, I’m already excited.

After a 10-minute train ride, we finally arrived at the entrance of DisneySea. At the DisneySea main entrance known as DisneySea Plaza, there was a globe water fountain. You might think it’s like Universal Studio’s trademark, but it’s different. We took some pictures there and then we finally entered the magical place. Too bad we arrived pretty late, so we didn’t get any fast pass tickets.

After acquiring DisneySea’s map, we went left to the American Waterfront area. I wanted to take the fast pass for Toy Story Mania, but we came too late so we didn’t get one.

So, we went to the House of Terror and waited for around 1,5 hours in the rain. I didn’t know what to expect from that attraction, but it was a very thrilling and exciting one. One of my cousins is acrophobic, so she didn’t join the rest of us at the House of Terror (but she queued the line with us though).

After the 10 minutes ride, we went to the Turtle Talk attraction. Since it was raining, so we find an indoor ride that all of us can join. The Turtle Talk is surely for families with kids because it was so boring and the commentary was in Japanese, so I didn’t really understand what is it all about. But since the queue wasn’t that long and we can sit down inside and it was air-conditioned, so we enjoyed the break time ride.

Then we headed north and moved to Port Discovery. There, we ride the Aquatopia (see it here). It’s basically a whirling boat ride. There were fewer people because it was raining and Aquatopia is an outdoor ride. We were all wearing raincoats anyway, so we don’t really care about getting wet.

After that ride, we went straight to Lost River Delta. The Port Discovery doesn’t really have much attraction, so we went to the other area. Lost River Delta's main attraction is the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull. But, we didn’t try that ride and we ride the DisneySea Transit Streamer Line instead. It took around 20 minutes from Lost River Delta to Mediterranean Harbor. On our way, we passed by the Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, and Mysterious Island. While riding the streamer line we planned to ride the Flounder’s Flying Fish Coaster and Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage, but it’s only a plan in the end.

As soon as we get off the boat, it started to rain again, and we were pretty tired. So, we just took photos and see the volcano show from afar. It was around 6PM and then we sat down by the cafe nearby for a while.

After that, I went back to the American Waterfront with one of my cousins to buy the Little Green Men Mochi Ice Cream. Then we took lots of photos at Toyville. They lit up the lights and it feels more magical than the daytime.

Japan is known for its’ seriousness in culinary. And DisneySea is not an exception. They take the in-house snacks game seriously. I didn’t get to try all of their famous snacks, but I got to try the infamous Little Green Men Mochi Ice Cream and I love it very much! It was one of the reasons why I went to Tokyo DisneySea.

DisneySea Tokyo is really beautiful at night. It was one of the most magical night scenes I have ever seen in my life. Well, it will be better if you come there with your partner. The scene will make you feel like you are the main character of the Disney movies. Disney has really made me live in dreamland for a whole day. I really wish I could go back there again and stay in this magical place longer.

The only downside of my DisneySea trip was the weather was gloomy and it rains frequently. Brought my own raincoat was a smart move. The raincoat inside the park was pretty expensive. Well, I can't really show off my Minnie t-shirt, but that's okay. It was not the best outfit anyways. Also, too bad that we only can enjoy indoor attractions. I really wanted to play every ride, but the line was too long and we were not that capable to ride all of it. But, it’s the reason to come back again. Let’s pray that I got a job so I could travel back to DisneySea again before I get too old to enjoy all of the rides. For sure, we really need lots of energy to go to the theme parks. Also, friends that have the same adrenaline rush as you.

After the magical journey at DisneySea, we went back to Shinjuku. While on our transit at Tokyo Station, we discovered a random Gyutan restaurant there. We had our dinner at Date-No-Gyutan Honpo. It was one of the best meals I had in Tokyo. I really love the hotpot rice (see more in my video here). It was a superb dinner. Sometimes, things that are unplanned are better.

My second day in Tokyo was very magical because it really felt like I was taken to another world. I was a big fan of Disney and it might sound like a bias, but it was really magical. The Tokyo DisneySea was beyond my expectation and I was grateful to visit there before the pandemic strikes. Since I stayed at home most of the time lately, I got to reminisce about the old days a lot and am grateful for every moment. I hope you feel the same and since the pandemic situation is getting better, let’s hope that we can go back to travel the world again. Thank you for reading and see you on the next episode.

Wednesday, April 06, 2022

Empties 2020 - 2021 Top 8 Products

Finally, I’m back with my talking video after a long time. Revealing my 2 years' worth of emptied products here! All of the products are revealed in the video and on this blog, I’ll just feature the top 8 only.

One of my best findings on the internet. I was introduced to this brand thanks to Morgan from My Beauty Breakdown. I bought this product to substitute the Dr. Jart Acne Spot Treatment that I used to use to fight my skin troubles or acnes. I loved the Dr. Jart one, but it has reached the point that it can’t fight my skin troubles. This product still works awesomely even though I’ve used three tubes of it.

The product consists of a series of natural ingredients such as tea tree oil, aloe vera, phellinus linteus (a kind of mushroom), and witch-hazel (a kind of flower). Since the product is gel-type and transparent, it can be used day and night. And that’s what I like the most about this product. Compared to the other spot treatments that I’ve tried, transparency is what I needed the most in the spot treatment product. Depending on how severe is my trouble, the treatment might take some time, but most of the time, it works pretty fast. And it doesn’t really leave scars at most of the time. This product is my must-haves skincare product in my cabinet.

Holy grail products that lived up to its’ name. I really had a pleasant experience with this product. I rarely have redness on my skin and it brightens my skin. After I finished, this product, I used other niacinamide serums and I couldn’t really say I am satisfied enough with the result as I do with The Ordinary one.

The next morning after I use this product, I feel my face brighter and most of all I don’t have serious skin trouble while using the product. After I finished this product, I started to have very severe skin trouble and up until now, the marks are still visible. I understand why people love this product and I still couldn’t find a better version of this serum yet.

Remember my Bath and Body Works haul back in 2015? I finally finished the last bottle of it. Lol. I think the product has expired, but it still smells fine and I don’t have any skin problems, so I guess it’s still valid.

I really love this Cherry Blossom shower gel. It is refreshing yet enough sweet. I don’t really like sweet scents, but this one has a subtle sweetness so I liked it. Definitely my must-have scent in Bath and Body Works. I’m currently finishing the body lotion one, so see it on my next empties later on.

One of the best deodorants that I’ve tried so far. It is unscented, which I really love compared to other deodorant sprays. The other products have good smells, but sometimes it can be burdensome. And after all, perfume is made from alcohol, so it’s not really the best option out there.

I am trying my best to avoid beauty products that contain alcohol and perfume. Even for my hands, I prefer washing my hands with soap rather than using hand sanitizer whenever possible.

Simple’s cleansing tissue was great! The tissue was soft and a bit textured, which wiped-off all the makeup and semi-peel off the skin. It was satisfying while use the product. Compared to my previous fave, the YesTo cleansing wipes, this product is like the upgraded version. I love how they choose to texturize the tissue. As for the formula, I just love that it is simple, like its’ name!

I bought this product back in 2017 when I was visiting my brother in Australia. After a few years, Simple is on sale at drugstores in Indonesia. So, getting my hands on this product is just a reach of hand.

I’ve been using Nair products since I was in senior high school. Out of all the products I’ve used, this one is the most comfortable one to use, except the turner was kinda a bummer. Regarding the formula, I didn’t find any much difference with the Nair products that are sold in the Indonesian drugstores. It’s just I really liked the idea of the glide-on.

I really love Innisfree’s makeup products. One of them is this stick concealer. Finally finishing a makeup product is very satisfying and rewarding. Especially, with thousands of new products every day, it was quite hard to finish off the product. The urge to try a new product was quite big, but I nailed to finish it.

The formula of this stick concealer is more on the creamier side. The coverage is satisfying enough for small acnes and semi-red skin. Since it’s a stick concealer, it is travel friendly and I brought this concealer whenever I travel. The product is also blend-well even with hands, but I didn’t recommend it that way. Well, I really loved this product.

Finally, I finished up one out of three of my 3CE Lip Lacquer set. The first color that I finished is called Bon Bon. I really loved this shade. Ever since I bought this product, I practically use this shade most of the time. Finding the perfect shade for your lip is like finding a soulmate. I really feel confident and joyful whenever I use my favorite shade. One out, two more to go.

I know there are lots of new products launched every day, but keep in mind to finish what you’ve started unless it doesn’t suitable for your skin. The reason I make this post is not to make you buy it too, but just to share a piece of information and review regarding the products. Let’s become a smarter and wiser consumers.

Thank you for reading up on this part. I’ll share more useful information in the future. Please keep your support towards me. Have a wonderful day!

Friday, February 25, 2022

Travel Diary: Tokyo || Episode 1: Timeless

Hi all, it’s been a long time since I posted my travel diary. Currently, I have some spare time and I finally got some time to finally edit my travel videos so, here I am posting the detailed story of my trip to Tokyo back in 2019. I will divide it into a few episodes here. Watch the video version here and please help to give it a like and share!

The first day to explore Tokyo! My cousin and I decided to walk around Tokyo on foot and by train. We started the day pretty early and we took the regular MRT to the Asakusa area since our JR Pass is not activated yet at that time. With minimal Japanese vocabulary and insufficient maps application, my cousin and I bravely took the MRT train to the Asakusa area. We finally entered the MRT but we got off at the wrong stop. We hurriedly get off the train then my phone slipped and landed at the tactile paving. A few seconds later, I saw my phone’s LCD cracked badly. In less than 24 hours since I arrived in Japan, I had an incident already. I wanted to cry, but it’s too absurd until I can’t express my feelings.

After that incident, we finally arrived at Asakusa, the heart of Tokyo’s past unfolds. I was intrigued by the authentic tendon shop that I saw on Instagram and it was located right behind Sensoji Temple. So, I decided to visit the Asakusa area on our first full day in Tokyo. Not only because of the culinary that I would like to try, but I think for a first-time visitor, visiting Japanese temples is a necessity.

Kaminarimon, the Thunder Gate

As soon as we arrived at Asakusa station, the big red lantern greeted us. At that time many people from all over the world visited Sensoji Temple, one of the oldest temples in Japan. As soon as I arrived in Asakusa, I totally forgot about my cracked phone. I feel excited and the feeling that I am in Japan was getting more real. We passed through the big lantern at the front gate of Sensoji Temple, known as Kaminarimon or Thunder Gate and we took the left side street.

Daikokuya Tempura

Instagenic front face

A few meters from there, I finally found the tendon shop I wanted to visit, Daikokuya Tempura. I don’t usually like tiger prawn tempura and rarely eat tendon. But, after I saw a post of this shop’s front face on Instagram, I decided to visit here. The shop is relatively medium-sized and it is two-story. They actually have expanded their original shop and have an annex building right next to it. And I got to eat at the annex building.

Small-sized stools and tables fill in the shop and I can feel the traditional Japanese vibes. I arrived at around brunch time (they opened at 11AM) and almost half of the guests were the locals. Thankfully, they had the English menu, even though they only sell like two or three menus. Also, they have pictures!

I ordered Tendon A which consists of prawn, kisu fish (Japanese whiting), and mixed tempura. The regular tendon or tempura, in general, has a crunchy texture and is light-colored. But, the tendon that Daikokuya serves is quite different. It has dark-colored and moist. The batter is mixed with some kind of soy sauce and sesame oil for Edomae tempura which make the color darker and taste salty-sweet. It also has a hint of spiciness, which makes the food more flavorful and less boring. I really love Japanese rice and choosing tendon as an opening was a really good choice.

After a hearty meal, my cousin and I took some pictures before heading to Sensoji Temple. I really love the pictures I took in front of the shop and the nearby area. That day, the weather was so good and there were big and fluffy clouds. I guess that’s what makes all of my photos look good.

I & My Omikuji captured with a disposable camera

Before we really entered the shrine, we tried to get our Omikuji or written fortune. I don’t really believe in fortune, but we took this just for fun. It was written on how to take Omikuji that if we got a good fortune, we should not be arrogant and careless. They both wrote what to do if we get bad or good fortune. I think that is a very important thing.

Thankfully, I got a pretty good fortune even though I just dropped my phone earlier. The Chinese believe that bad lucks may disguise good fortune. So, I’ll take my phone breaks as an incoming good fortune in disguise. Fast forward to November 2019, I finally received good luck! So, I guess my first day in Tokyo is to take away my bad omen for the upcoming day ahead.

There is a water fountain on the right side corner of Sensoji Temple, called Chozuya / Temizuya. Just like any other worship place, purifying is symbolized by water, so cleaning yourself before entering the worship place is necessary.

Even though I’m not a Buddhist, temples, and shrines fascinate me. I was expecting a serene and quiet temple, just like the temple I saw in Korea. I was quite surprised at the time I entered the main hall of Sensoji Temple because it was quite crowded with people and it wasn’t as quiet as I expected. But after all, it was an amazing experience.

After some walk-around the temple, we came across a matcha or green tea specialized shop nearby. I am not a fan of Japanese green tea, but Ossuloc (a Korean green tea specialized shop) and this shop in Tokyo changed my thoughts about matcha. The shop we visited is called Yanagi-Chaya. The store was opened in 2018 and they use premium-quality green tea from Uji, Kyoto.

We ordered the best seller mochi (glutinous rice cake) with matcha ice cream and roasted green tea boba drink. For refreshment, the menu we chose was perfect. It wasn’t too sweet nor too bitter. Just right. Also, it was good to cool down our body because we walk around outside for more than 2 hours, and this green tea ice cream, and boba drink flush all of the heat.

Candid Nakamise Street captured by my cousin

We passed by the Nakamise Shopping street as we walked our way out from the Asakusa area. The shopping street is about 250 meters long and it connects the first gate to the second one, called Hozomon. There were many souvenir shops and snack stalls along the Nakamise shopping street. I didn’t buy anything there and I regret it now.

The view while waiting for the traffic lights

Sumida River

Tokyo Skytree captured at 1 PM

Our next destination is the Ginza area. But, to reach there we need to go to Asakusa Station, and on our way there, we passed by the Sumida River, also we saw the Asahi Beer Museum from across the road, and Tokyo Sky Tree as the background. We walked at 1PM and it was really hot. But, it was worth the miles and I’ll count it to burn some calories.

I don’t have a special reason to visit the Ginza area, but my cousin does. She wanted to buy some things there because Ginza is one of Japan’s shopping heaven. There were lots of branded flagship stores. When I stepped out of the Ginza station, the vibes were totally different from the Asakusa area. I feel transported to the modern days right away. There were tall buildings and cars passing by along the main street.

The first thing that welcomed us when we exit the train station is The Nissan Crossing. I never saw Nissan’s sports cars before and I know it’s lame, but I was stunned. There is also Wako Department Store with Seiko clock on it, across the street that I saw while we were waiting for the traffic lights. This reminds me of the H&M Flagship store in Melbourne, where they repurposed an old building giving it a new life. The Wako Department Store was rebuilt in 1932 and ever since then, it became the icon of Ginza. My cousin didn’t really get what she wanted, so we head back to Shinjuku.

Arrived in Shinjuku, we headed for our early dinner. I just realized it was our second meal yet. We went to Gyu-katsu Motomura to try out the original Gyu-katsu. I have tried a few Gyu-katsu in Indonesia, but surely the meat quality is different and it makes the whole meal taste differently. Also, Japanese rice is my favorite type of rice, and thanks to it all of my meals in Japan taste very good. By the time we arrived there weren’t many guests yet, even though it was a famous restaurant and I heard that guests should line up to get their Gyu-katsu. Thankfully, we didn’t have to line up and could get our hands on their Gyu-katsu easily.

We ordered the smallest set one set each. Each set consists of Gyu-katsu, rice, soup, and cabbage salad. It was such a hearty meal to end the day.

My first full day in Tokyo was like living as a transporter. In the morning, I was taken back to the past and in the evening I was transported to the present day. I got to experience the best of both worlds. If I happened to visit Tokyo again, I would definitely cruise over the Sumida River and explore the other part of the Asakusa area.

References:

https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-tokyo_train_station/article-a0002059/

Daikokuya Tempura full English menu: http://www.tempura.co.jp/english/

http://www.meetrip.to/asakusa_2.html

https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/restaurants/yanagi-chaya

https://www.gotokyo.org/en/spot/73/index.html

https://www.japanistry.com/wako/

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14504618