Hot, hot ice cream

I love the ice cream in Japan. They are sweet but not sickeningly sweet. Even Haagen Dazs and Starbucks here tone down on their sweetness. I felt that the ice cream here has just the right amount of sweetness that makes you feel, sweet :) These are my favourites!!!

Green tea ice cream! 

Wafer ice cream, both chocolate and milk! Yummy!

Summer edition of caramel and macadamia nuts Haagen Dazs ❤

The port cities of Slovenia

During the conference, I booked a tour to go to the coastal towns of Potoroz and Piran but unfortunately, there wasn't enough participants and it got cancelled. So I had to rent a car for the day which turns out to be a better decision. To rent a car in Slovenia is relatively easy - you just need an international driving license, your passport and credit card. After comparing prices from a few car rental companies, I decided to rent the car from Avantcar. I love these guys!!! They have fuss-free service, cheaper than many other car rental companies and they have the newest models of cars!!! I regretted now that I didn't take any photos of their cars - some of them are really a beauty! If you go to Slovenia, rent a car from them - http://www.avantcar.si/en

After getting the car, I am on my way to the coastal towns. The highway was excellent and upon exiting the highway, the road leading to the port cities was beside the sea. it was the most beautiful coastal drive (too bad I didn't managed to stop and take pictures- another regret!). Anyway, after reaching Portoroz, I decided that this is not the town that I want to linger too long (lots of big hotels and casinos) so I drive back to Piran. But to get into Piran, you have to pay a fee of 12Euro (if I remembered correctly) to get in for two hours. But there's a trick.There's an easily missed (for non Slovenian speaking/reading foreigner) car park about 10mins walk which only charges 4Euro for the first hour and 1Euro for the subsequent hour (please forgive me if the rates are wrong, my memory don't serve me that well nowadays). It is better to park here than to park inside the town because of the lack of carpark space in the town. As you start approaching Piran on a rather steep downhill road, look out for this large parking lot is on your left between the sea and the cliff you will be driving on and when the road levels off, watch out for the word, 'GARAGE' and make a sharp left turn for the parking.

Piran is definitely a better town to spend your afternoon in. Another good thing to do while you are there is to eat the seafood, freshly caught and lightly grilled.

And beautiful sunset as you drive back to the city.

The cool valley

From Lake Bled, there is another beautiful gem to be discover - the Vintgar Gorge. It was a hot two-hours walk for me to get to Vintgar Gorge but it was sooooo worth it. Look at the pictures and you will agree with me why the two hour walk in the hot sun is worth it.

Blue waters

I have never seen water so blue like in a painting but it is real. There are blue waters and the waters can be found in the beautiful country of Slovenia! I was lucky to be able to visit Slovenia after a conference. I had such a good time meeting people and making new friends!
Slovenia is such a beautiful country with so many natural wonders that it is not doing it justice for just one post. Some of my favourite places in Slovenia is Lake Bled. As everyone knows, there is a beautiful island church in a lake.

The church from far

The view from the top was also awesome! I can't stop taking picture of this little island from different angle but I like this picture the best!

 The church up close

Our boatman

I stayed at this hotel, Villa Preseren which my Slovenian friend informed me that it is currently the hippest hotel in that area. I choose that hotel because it is small and boutique-like therefore I assumed the service will be more personalized and less crowded than some of the bigger hotels in that area. Little that I know that every rich and wanna-be-famous people in Slovenia want to stay in Villa Preseren. Well, I have no complains about the room (I choose the smallest room away from the restaurant) but the service... let's just say they need more staffs and more training to be attentive. Maybe I am asking too much especially being used to Japanese excellent service. 

From the villa, it is a short 15mins walk to the castle Bled. I tried to have dinner there but guess what, they are fully booked for the night so maybe it is best to call ahead and make a reservation. But one thing I must say, the food in Slovenia is so, so fresh!! I was nursing a bad cold during this trip but thanks to the freshness of the food, I was healthy again!

Crazy, scary rides

I finally found my courage to say yes to the Fuji Q Highland. I believe most people in Japan know what Fuji Q Highland means. It is a themepark with really mind-boggling, gravity defying and impossible roller coaster rides. It is definitely not for the faint-hearted like me. The first ride scared the hell out of me but after a couple more, I began to trust my life to the superb safety of Japan’s themepark management, enjoying the crazy, scary rides with plenty of screaming all the way. Everyone should try it at least once.

 Amazingly scary even at night

 So beautiful at night

360 degrees view

 Enough to make your stomach flip!

 See what I meant by crazy?

Well, you might think that there is no way you are going to take that ride? Well, there is always a chicken way before boarding the ride but you don't want to do that :)

Sunflowers and sunny day

What else is good about summer apart from festivals and beer gardens, sunflowers!!! Here in Japan, we have sunflower festival and although I did not join the festival, I was lucky to photograph these sunny beauties in the sunflower fields of Zama.

The place is easily reachable around 1hour on Odakyu line Zama station (小田急線座間駅). After reaching the station, you still need to take a bus 台05 going towards Zama Yotsuya (座間四ッ谷) direction and stop at Jinjamae (神社前). There are several ways to get there and the info in Japanese language here.

Actually, I went a week earlier from the actual date of the festival, but the sunflower is already blooming at its most beautiful that I wondered if it will be too late to see the wonderful blooms when the festival actually starts. Well, if time permits next year, I will try and join the festival. Meantime, today’s spoils are the pictures of sunflower with blue, blue skies!

Don't forget your wide-brimmed hat, strong sunblock and your big, big smile!! xoxo

Slow down and smell the flowers

Summer in Japan is the best season for partying. I call this season the 3Fs - festivals, fireworks and food season. This is the time for beer gardens and BBQs! But with all these partying, one can easily forget to slow down and appreciate the simple pleasures of life.

As for me, after attending 3 fireworks (I actually only managed to see one firework) and countless summer festivals, I am a little exhausted. And to tell the truth, I almost forgot about this wonderful seasonal treat!!

Anyway, I remembered and one early morning, I took the train to Ueno station and headed to the nearby Shinobazu pond. At this time of the year, this place is filled with beautiful lotus.

Not to mention, it was really nice to walk around the lotus pond as it was calm and peaceful especially in the morning.

Here in Shinobazu pond, there is no hurry. It is a place where you can relax and walk around the pond and appreciate the beautiful lotuses.

The best time to catch these beauties is in the morning so come early!!!  Or better still, bring your breakfast here and sit in one the park benches to appreciate them. I assure you that after one hour with the lotuses, you will feel so renewed and ready to go back to face the world.

Burger and Japan

I don't usually eat burger but when I do, itis usually  gourmet burger that I go for. Well, I used to go to this place in Parco Ikebukuro because they serve this really delicious chilli burger with Death sauce. Unfortunately, this cafe is also known to be very stingy. The serving of the fres is usually smaller than McD's small pack of fries and lately, perhaps due to the yen depreciation, they have gone from small to ridiculously tiny portion of fries (half of my fist and I am a small sized lady!). And they always give only ONE paper napkin and ONE small wet towel! If you accidentally drops your paper towel or used up your wet towel before you could finish your meal, well good luck in getting them to give you another new one.I usually bring my own tissues but it is ridiculous for the cafe to behave this way.

Since then, I have moved on and found another cafe, JS Burger in Lumine Ikebukuro to satisfy my burger cravings whenever I have one. This is a picture of that stingy cafe's burger after I decided that I will not dining at their cafe anymore.