Muji in Manila - Afer The Visit

It was a year ago since I blogged about Muji coming here in the Philippines.  Now that it has finally opened its flagship store in Bonifacio High Street last October 16 (and after reading others blog about  their Muji experience), I couldn't help but check it out last week. Boy, was I disappointed.

Don't get me wrong. I love Muji (maybe because I'm normally biased when stuff are Japan made ^^) even if I don't actually buy a lot of stuff from there, Muji in Hong Kong has always been a happy place for me as I can spend hours just looking around.  A different case in Muji High Street as I was able to do the rounds in 30 minutes (or less).

Truth is, the look and feel is very Muji-like.  All of their merchandise have the same product sticker you'll find in other Muji stores abroad.  They have the usual areas: clothes (Japanese style, of course), bags, shoes, accessories, home and kitchen utensils, cosmetics, furniture and most especially, food and stationery (the last 2 being Rai and my favorite areas).  The disappointment came in when we saw what they have to offer in the food section as it  was almost non-existent.  (Look at what HK Muji has to ). And the pens and stationery... not as much choices as from stores abroad.  Too bad because I've always had this thinking that Japanese stores offer the most number of (cute) pens and stationery.

Aside from that, I somehow felt like every item was just too expensive. I don't know how it can be said that the products here are cheaper by 6%-7% as compared to HK prices. Believe me, as I looked at the price tags, I can't help but compare how much the items were sold in HK and how cheaper they are there (also maybe in Japan as I was surprised to see a foldable umbrella being sold here at Php1250 which I was able to get at half that price in Japan).  With that, it can be said that Muji's target consumers are those who can really afford (which is why they set it up in High Street).  Average consumers will probably opt to visit a Saizen store for more affordable Japan-made products.

With that said, I'm not so sure if I'll frequent this store as I thought I would. 

Read more...

January Treat Part 1: Sakae Sushi

One Saturday afternoon, I asked the two people I'm with to eat at this place.


I've been wanting to eat here ever since I heard of their conveyor belt sushi. So you can just imagine how thrilled I was that I finally get to check out the place plus satiate my Japanese food craving.

The three of us availed of their All-You-Can-Eat sushi for Php 399. It came with miso soup and hot/cold green tea (plus a 20% discount on all additional orders aside from what were available on the conveyor).

Unlimited sushi! Just about enough to make our Saturday complete. Truth be told that the first few minutes, I was actually eating more than what the other two were having (already combined). Apparently, Rai said they were just taking it slow so they won't get to be full in an instant. *Oh yeah, I was having my low EQ moment that time. :p


One can order the sushi ala carte. Prices are based on their plate's color scheme: Php39 for purple, Php59 for yellow, Php79 for green, and Php99 for red plates. Most that we ate were of yellow and green sushi plates.


We stayed until we were really really full. All in all, we agree that their sushi isn't so bad. We've had better and we've also had worse, but for that Php399 amount, I say it's worth my Japanese food fix.


Where to find it:
Sakae Sushi
Grd Floor, Annex Bldg., SM City North EDSA,
North Ave cor EDSA Quezon City

Read more...

Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 2 - Ikea and Akashi

Related posts in series:

Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 1 - A haven called Chinatown


Ikea chicken wings. Yotsuba with edamame.
Being the last day of the trip, it's about spending it on our own personal business. For me and Ji, it's about visiting the local toy stores in Chinatown and so did we as we were accompanied by Paui on the morning of 26 July 2009. By afternoon, we decided to get to Ikea in order to meet the rest of our friends. In this post, we feature more food. :9


Great day for taking photos outdoor because the sky is clear. UV rays are merciless though.
This branch is located at 317 Alexandra Road
Not sure if Ikea stores normally have a restaurant since the one we go to at Hong Kong only has a few selections such as hotdogs and popcorn. Like a cafeteria, you go around to check on the selection and point out what you want and they serve it to you.

Counters placed at the center to collect payments.
Just across the street is the Anchorpoint shopping center. Aware of another Charles & Keith retail outlet, Ji and a few others dashed there right after having our fill. I also checked the stores but didn't find anything particularly interesting for me to try on, we ended up waiting at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.


We left the area with Che and Mon towards Vivo City and bought some items at Daiso. The highlight here however was the dinner. Che and Mon knowing very well that Ji and I are fans of Japanese food treated us to this awesome place called Akashi ^^. "Yum!" indeed, all the dishes were very tasty, check out the photos modeled by Yotsuba.


Carl's Jr is still available in SG. Yotsuba on a kiosk.









Itadakimasu~! nom nom nom nom


Domo arigatou Che and Mon ^^

Related posts in series:

Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 1 - A haven called Chinatown

Read more...

Food in Singapore

Since Rai has been writing our day-to-day entries for our Singapore trip last July. I will make this small contribution of showing the few food shots we had.

1. McDo Double Wasabi Fillet-o-Fish Meal, includes Seaweed Shaker Fries and Jasmine Green Tea - I know that one would not normally check first what McDonald's has to offer when you get to go to another country. But we do. *LOL* We were particular to this meal because it offered what we liked: wasabi, seaweed and green tea. :)




2. Flavored Yakult - We were surprised to see Green Mango, Orange, and Grape flavored Yakults in Singapore. We were able to take a picture of this in the supermarket but wasn't able to grab even a pack to taste :p


3. Movenpick Crepe - We were treated of this yummy dessert when we met up with Rai's former colleagues at Marche in Vivo City.


4. Hainanese Chicken Rice - Rai's mother, brother and sister ordered this award-winning dish from Chatterbox at Meritus Mandarin Hotel where we had dinner on our 3rd day.


5. Seafood Laksa - a seafood spicy noodle dish that Rai ordered in Chatterbox (and a good choice at that).


6. Bak Kut Teh - My cough was really acting up that time we were in Chatterbox that's why I decided to order this soup that has meaty pork ribs and a few spices. It kinda reminded me of what my mom sometimes prepares for us: native chicken in four-herb soup. :)


7. Sushi Platter - Mon and Che, being the most gracious host I know brought us and treated us to this Japanese Resto in Vivo City, named Akashi.


8. Chicken Terriyaki - We liked that the Akashi meals came with generous helping of side dishes (i.e. there was miso soup and a couple of slices of watermelon as you can see).


9. Tempura and Rice with Salmon Toppings (I'm not so sure if this is the right name of the dish and I can't recall what the greens here were) - If they look deliciously good, it's because they are deliciously good.



Wondering if these are all? Yes, these are all we have. We weren't really able to experience authentic Singaporean food at that time much to our dismay. Maybe next time... :)

Read more...

October Madness

See these brown boxes?


Are they
a) Donations for Ondoy victims?
b) Grocery items in case of emergency?
c) Damaged housewares ready to be disposed?
d) None of the above.

The correct answer is revealed after the skip.

If you answered (d), you can give yourself a pat on the back as you guessed it right.

Those are Rai's. Items bought online and were shipped from Japan and most from Hong Kong. You ask what's inside?

This,

Cutie Kureha Nendoroid
this,

Yuki Nagato Figma as an Evil Witch
these,

Lucky Star's Tsukasa, Konata, Kagami, and Miyuki in Winter Uniform Figmas
and these!!!


Lucky Star's Tsukasa and Konata in Summer Uniform Figmas
Most of the Lucky Star figures were bought in Greenhills though. But all of these he accumulated just last week in a matter of 3 days.

Mad! Right???

Then again, these toys make him a happy camper. And if he's happy, who's complaining? :)

Read more...

Yotsuba and A Tale of Three Boxes

Once there was this cute action figure that caught the fancy of a then 27 year old lady. Noticing how much she adored the figure, her beau came home from a business trip with this figure in tow.


Yotsuba&! Revoltech DX Summer Vacation Set
[よつばとリボルテックＤＸ 夏休みセット]
And oh how surprised, glad and thankful was she~. She valued the gift so much that she could not make herself open the box. She thought she'd preserve the toy for the meantime.

A little over a month, the beau acquired information that there was a another version of this character... one that preceded what he gave her as a present. Soon after... he arrived at the office carrying the first version plaything (which he bought from a local toy store in town).


Yotsuba&! Revoltech
[よつばとリボルテック]
It was like déjà vu as the same kind of emotions (amazement and gratefulness) came over her. Having two in her possession, she felt it was admissible to open one of them to serve its purpose: to be toyed with. Upon comparison, she resolved to open the last considering it had the character's signature expression. Soon after, she found herself not without her 'alter ego'.

When it was time for the beau to have another business trip, she coerced him to bring the 'alter ego' with him so he can take photos of 'her' in a different location. Unfortunately, in one his photo sessions, he accidentally dropped 'her'. When he found scratches on 'her', he felt so guilty he wanted to replace 'her' with a new one! Alas! He did buy her a new one and suggested that she can keep the new one unopened and still make use of the already-used figure to play with. So, she did.

She thought the beau had enough of the toy giving. Oh, was she wrong. One Christmas season, he handed her a simple brown box. So simple that it only had a sticker with something written in Japanese. When she opened it, she saw this

Danboard Revoltech 7-11 Limited Version
[セブン-イレブン印のダンボー]
It was her toy figure's boy friend in costume(and another cute toy figure at that). She could not believe her eyes as she knew the toy just came out and was not sold cheap. Indeed, it was too good of a surprise for her.

...
...
...

This is how I have these thus far. :)

Read more...