Claire's Flair

One thing I reaaaally dislike about Izakaya's in Japan is that they can smoke indoors :( It made my clothes, hair everything stink and made me want to finish eating as soon as possible so I could get out. Everyone around us was smoking. We quickly ordered and waited about 20minutes before our food came trickling in. In the meantime, we camwhored. 

Left: Sari, Middle: Me, Right: Junko! I hadn't seen Sari in like, forever (almost 5 years) and she lost so much weight!! Also she has long hair now so different! When we knew each other we were all still students, but now we're all working adults. Insane!

Japanese sausages, some were spicy so we had to guess the flavours lol. It was reaaally good. Or maybe I was just hungry. 

Potato salad! Having some carbs are a must.

More salad! Sari is watching her diet so more greens I guess.

The highlight: Tebasaki chicken wings!!! These were slightly sweet but the meat was really tender! Ordered extra servings of these hahah. You have to eat the Tebasaki wings in one mouthful. Super good. Worth going to Nagoya just to have this?? Yes.

Think we're pretty pro at it haha!

As mentioned, I wanted to get out of the Izakaya as soon as possible because of the smoke so we went to Denny's which was nearby. It had a smoking and non smoking corner, and the sections were separated by a glass door so the smell wasn't too bad.

Sari was introducing me to popular japanese make up products and I ended up buying her recommended eyeshadow! Have been using it ever since.

Junko! She's a great housewife material. Cooks awesome meals, independent, caring and hardworking, 10/10 man. Then we started to take photos to make up for lost time.

We make a good titanic couple.

Why are japanese women so fair?!!? Okay I know it's the sunblock but I am so envious!!

After talking about old times and getting an update on each others lives, Yuhei came. He was positively starving (think it was like 10pm??) and he came straight from work. 

That's him gulping down his meal. Think he started smoking since the last time I saw him, which was also about 5 years ago?

Junko's crazy huge sundae that she shared with Sari.

My hokkaido ice cream dessert! The green tea was quite bitter but that was balanced out by the rich vanilla. I was surprised at how good it was!

Our reunion shot!

Everyone smiling happily here :) Til next time, Nagoya!

Oh had to take our mandatory shot.

It was pretty chilly outdoors hence the layers and scarf. When it's indoors it's quite hot so I usually take off all the extra layers. So troublesome!

I put the previous photo here for comparison. Pardon the crap resolution when digital cameras were just starting out and this was 5 megapixels. The photo was taken when we met up 5 years ago! See how much we've changed?? I think I look the same just with more makeup now.

Edit: Okay my face has definitely gotten rounder. Damnit.

I was completely exhausted the night before due to my hectic Tokyo Disneyland adventure, then travelling to Nagoya in the evening but woke up bright and early the next day feeling fresh and energized because I was in Japan!! There's so much to celebrate about that. I was living at Junko, my pen pal's place and she teaches English at an all-girl university called Kinjo Gakuin University, which is a 45 mins drive away. She kindly invited me to co-teach her class with her, as a guest, and was quite excited because she figured the students might not have spoken to many foreigners due to the rural area.

Now, I've never been to an all-girls university, and coming from an all-girls school myself for 10 years made me extra nervous. It was crucial to set a right impression from the start!! I picked a dress I had bought the week earlier from Zara and paired them with black leggings, a scarf, boots and threw on my trench-coat as it was quite chilly. Ironically, the moment I stepped into the school, it was really hot and I slowly started to peek the layers off. I was actually perspiring in the class because it was that hot indoors!!

Junko went to the class first as we were almost late (Japanese are like never late!), but I was so jittery that I had to stop by the ladies to calm myself down. Took a deep breath, and walked into the class. At that moment I heard girls squealing "Aahh!! I forgot that we are having a guest today!!" in Japanese and I was so shy that I just took the first seat I saw, which was right in front. 

After the class settled down, Junko introduced me and the class started from there. She wanted me to help correct pronunciations and read aloud so that they could imitate my sounds! I was really apprehensive at first but loosened up as the students are just so eager to learn, which makes it a pleasure to teach :) I really hope the girls continue to press forward and not give up on English!! 

A shot with the pretty girls :) I don't know how they can wear sweaters because it was really hot!!

Bought them bak kwa to try and they loved it. So happy!! 

みんな,元気ですか？:) みんなにあいたいです！！♥(✿ฺ´∀`✿ฺ)ﾉ

After class, Junko and I drove to a nearby shopping mall to eat one of the famed dishes in Nagoya - Miso katsu!

This place is famous for its miso katsu :)

Having a hard time deciding what to eat!

Since I wanted to try everything, I settled on a mixed set, with fried pork cutlet, squid and minced pork! It was sooo freaking good. The miso makes everything a little sweeter and we just sat there chatting away even though we hadn't seen each other for quite a long time :)

Doesn't this make you want to eat it already?!

We still had some time to kill, so I decided to go bra shopping lol. Seriously girls you'll be spoilt for choice in a shopping mall because there are just so many brands and soo many cute designs!! Before I came to Japan I didn't even know that Wacoal was a Japanese brand. :X They are really affordable though, like $20 for a pair, when they're on sale??? Really great quality too! Think I spent like 2hours in the shop and bought 5 pairs hahahah. Went back to Junko's place to freshen up before we went for dinner.

Walked by this wall of vending machines and just had to take a picture. So much variety!!! Singapore needs to be at that level.

Stayed tuned for more of my Japan posts!

One aspect I really love about Disneyland is their colourful flowers, painstakingly hand planted and maintained. 

So many rabbits!! Hehe just like my rabbit, Squishy.

It was drizzling a bit so to protect our cameras, we posed with our umbrellas.

Then we decided it was too ugly (the umbrella) so we threw it away for a few seconds just to snap a shot. Haha! There are 7 eyeballs in this picture!!

For the record, it was absolutely boring and I thought it was the worst show in the whole of Disneyland. So if you're strapped for time, don't queue or wait for this one!

That freaked me out a little.

It was a really cold day so we kept buying hot tea to warm us up!

The Japanese take Disneyland very seriously, there were many children dressed up as Disney characters!!! Saw this adorable girl and asked her parents if I could take a picture with her. How convincing does she look?? Points to their parents for effort. They sewed the cow print onto her jeans.

Star Wars show!! My friend Junko was telling me that this ride was split into many rooms and each room showed different versions of the ride. So you can head in over and over to catch all the sequences! Think there are like 80 or something different scenarios.

Star Wars 4D Goggles. Felt like Xmen.

Churros from outer space!! Food of the astronauts.

This one too cute my heart almost couldn't take it. That's her father next to her not a random stalker.

Hahaha Goofy scarecrow.

There was a section where you could view Disney character houses! Think this was Goofy's house as the whole house looked unstable.

Found the egg!

Donald Duck's house with the essential water feature haha.

Ah I remember now. The section was called 'ToonTown' lol.

There was a fountain in the middle and it was surrounded by cherry blossoms!!

Looong queues to meet Mickey. Didn't bother queuing.

Peek-a-boo!

Found more eggs!

The Squirrel's house! Chip and Dale.

I'm taller than Minnie hahah.

Cute girls playing colouring. I don't think Minnie has a green face though.

Looks like there's food on the table! But when you walk towards it, it disappears!

Posing with the white cherry blossoms! I look huge here but then again I WAS wearing 4 layers...

Love how going to Disneyland makes you feel like you're transported to another world. Japan's Disneyland has got to be one of my favourites because the staff are so friendly and bubbly it really adds to the whole spirit of the place!

Some of the exclusive easter merchandise. This was soo adorable but I don't have anywhere to place soft toys in my home so I had to give it up. A photo is good enough :p

This rabbit cape was so hilarious.

Too cute!!! Easter egg chocolates!! If I had kids I'd buy these for them in a heartbeat.

C'mon... you know you need a woven basket with bunny ears!

The only takeaway you need to remember from this picture is the size of the turkey leg. The rest of the food was so-so.

Parade time!! All the characters were in raincoats just in case it started to rain again. So cute!

All characters had rabbit ears!! Hehe.

The Hare looking very happy because he fits in for once :X

Wonder why they only had white rabbits though. There are rabbits of other colours too!! 

Lettuce jam?? Hahaha Squishy would love that.

Caught Minnie waving!

After the parade we went to catch a show that was only performed twice a day. We were 30 mins early but the seats were already 80% full. Insane right?

No your eyes aren't pulling tricks. Mickey in Black and White!

It was a highly entertaining performance as characters danced to some of the most famous tunes

When this crocodile appeared i loled. Run away!!

and the closing number!