Japanese groceries to your door

If you fancy exploring Japanese food or if you have recently moved away from Japan and want a taste of home, luckily, there are now a number of websites that offer this service. About two years ago I ordered my first grocery shopping from Japan Centre and I found their service to be convenient, affordable and a good value for money. At that time they had a good range of tea, coffee, snacks, bread, rice and sushi making products. They also had the sushi making kit for beginnners which I found awesome! Over the years, their range expanded and they now have a wider variety of  food as well as utensils that include bentos and bento accessories. I received my order in less than five days and everything was fresh and well packaged. I have not ordered from them in a while because my local Asian market is now stocking most of what I need but I keep visiting their website as it now has a receipe section updated regularly with different dishes. I have my eye on a daiso bento box which I think I might be getting soon as they sell it much cheaper than on other websites I've checked so far. These are some pictures from the delivery and the final sushi product that I've made using them. 

    

The whole shopping

Coffee and Cappuccino flavoured drinks

Pocky Pocky Pocky (^_^)

Apple flavored gum

Green tea and Tofu

Chopsticks!

Coffee flavored bun Yummy!

The sushi making kit

Sushi condiments

The end result :D

Top five things NOT to do in Venice

Number One: Do not sit in the cafe with the band in Saint Marco Square

I am not sure about the other cafes in the area but in about just the middle of the right or left side of Saint Marco Square in Venice depending on where you stand, there is a live band that plays on a small stage right amidst the customer tables. If you want to avoid being ripped off about 6 euros of your precious travel money, do not sit at the cafe or you will, like the naiive me, be charged for listening! If you still want an ice cream, grab one and go! 

Number Two: Do NOT visit the place with just a wide zoom lens SLR camera

I assumed it was going to be all well with my Canon EFS 55-250 mm Lens but I was wrong. For a space enclosed in a city like Venice, a smaller lens would be more efficient. I ended up using my mobile phone camera, which wasn't too bad but with just 8mp, I didn't get as detailed images as I would have hoped for. My advice would be to bring along an EFS 18-55 mm for a Canon or something similar for a different brand. 

Number Three: Do NOT assume it won't rain

Just because you are visiting in spring or summer, or because it looks sunny on that day or even the whether forecast on your mobile said it is warm, doesn't mean it will not rain. In my short visit of a day and a half end of May, I saw two completely different weather cycles! A warm, sunny and dry morning-afternoon and a wet, chilly and humid evening-late night with the thunder and lightening of a storm. So my recommendation is not to be fooled by the looks and always keep an umbrella or a puncho in your bag. 

Number Four: Do NOT carry more than what you really need

If you are like me and always feel that you should have your emergency cabinet in your bag on any trip, try to cut down for Venice. The streets are uneven, there are too many bridges to cross and a lot of stairs to climb up and down. Don't forget the water transportation and the gondola rides. To avoid unnecessary shoulder pain and back aches, take with you only what you really need. Your lipgloss collection and your ebook reader accessories can enjoy the day from the comfort of your hotel or hostel.

Number Five: Do NOT miss the ice cream

This is more of a do than don't. Near the Venice central station- Santa Lucia, there is a market that stretches along the Grand Canal. just about 50 m from Brek Restaurent, there is an ice cream parlor that sells a variety of interesting flavors. Some include Nutella, Sneakers and Smurfs!! So if you have a sweet tooth or not, like little blue creatures or not, try at least one flavor, even if you had to sugar fast for the rest of the week. It is worth it!

Amsterdam Truth or Dare

Yesterday, we had a half day spent at one of the most controversial cities in the world, Amsterdam. My husband and I strolled down the Damrak street, explored around the Dam Square and cruised along the city's canal. The least is to say is that it is a vibrant place, spiced up with a mix of old and modern buildings and zested with a multicultural flavor. Facing the City Centraal or the Central Station is a long street with a row of restaurents that serve the tastes of east and west from Kyoto to Italy and from India to USA. The Dutch capital is known to tourists for its hotels, markets, gardens, art galleries, the infamous sex museum, pod serving cafes and the Red light district. Amsterdam is not but one real zenith, an ultimate place of truth or dare.

City Centraal

Dam Square

Dutch Ice Cream making

Amsterdam Canal

ECLS Postgraduate Conference 2012

On Thursday, I should be presenting in the ECLS Conference. I dread public presentations and disire nothing other than my presentation to finish successfully and peacefully without a trips on the floor, IT mishaps or worst of all being asked a question of which the answer is supposed to be the binary equation of the aerodynamics in astronomical fission....

Blog about everything about Crimson Twilights

Maybe just another random blog, for a random person with the nickname of Crimson Twilights, but why not?!