Things I Want to Do: Eating Japanese Cuisine with Eggs

Japan is one of the largest consumers of eggs. Eggs are cheap and nutritious. Every time I try to look for Japanese recipes on the internet, I would always see eggs listed among the ingredients. It’s very common for Japanese people to use raw eggs as their sauce. Raw eggs are very clean and safe in Japan.

A very popular dish in Japan is the Omurice. It is rice typically mixed with chicken, ketchup, mushrooms, and is wrapped in thin layer of creamy fried egg. Tamago kake gohan, another popular Japanese cuisine, is rice mixed with raw eggs and soy sauce.

Omurice

Tamago kake gohan

If I could afford another trip to Japan, I would love to try eating different Japanese dishes with eggs.

Where to go and what to do in Kathmandu

This guest post is written by srk4you.


Location of Kathmandu

Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal and is the heart of the country. Kathmandu is the city of temples and is the home to 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

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Where to Go in Kathmandu?

Obviously, temples and religious places come first in the list. But Kathmandu is not limited to temples and palaces only. Kathmandu is a valley and is surrounded all sides by mountains which are above 8000ft high. This is an inviting location for hiking, cycling and adventurous stuffs.

Visit the old Durbar Squares: Kathmandu Valley constitutes three cities (Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur) and they are all famous for the palace squares. Palaces are called “durbar” in Nepal.

Basantapur Palace in Kathmandu Durbar Square (Via Wikimedia Commons)

Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park: The national park is within Kathmandu and is home to over 177 species of birds and 19 species of animals. At the same time, it is a perfect location for hikers, trekkers, cyclers and adrenaline junkies.

More about Shivapuri National Park.

Pashupatinath, Boudha and Swoyambhu: The three-most visited temples and monasteries in South Asia are in Kathmandu. Pashupatinath temple attracts over 200,000 pilgrims from India and Indian sub-continent every year while Swoyambhu and Boudha are sacred place for Buddhists. Swoyambhunath is believed to have emerged from the ground itself and the stupa is on the hill top. Boudhanath is the largest Buddhist stupa in the South Asian sub-continent.

Sight-seeing, camping and bungee jumping: Nagarkot in Bhaktapur district is an awesome tourist place. I would not be incorrect to say that at any particular time, the population of tourists is more than the population of local residents in Nagarkot. Affordable hotels, peaceful view of sunrise and sunset, tourist activities like bungee jumping, kite fighting, boating, vintage shopping -  all these make Nagarkot a must see tourist place in Kathmandu.

Mountain Flight to the world’s highest mountains: Climbing the Everest has never been so easy. Get up early in the morning, get in a plane and you will be taken to the white snow-capped mountains like Mt. Everest, Lhotse and Makalu. The one-hour long flight is surely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Mountain Flights in Nepal are operated everyday from Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu.

A view of the Himalayan range as seen from a mountain flight

How to get to Kathmandu:

1. Via Air: Direct flights are available from most Asian countries including India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Qatar. Europe is connected directly via Netherlands (TuiFly). Other continents don’t have direct flights. Also see airlines that provide cheap flights to Nepal.
2. Via Bus: Directly from India and China. Non-Indian citizens need a passport to get on-arrival tourist visa.
3. Via Sea: Nepal is a landlocked country.

A Barbie Christmas at Times Square

If you’ve looked around my blog, you will notice that majority of my entries are about Hong Kong. Hong Kong is the country that I’ve visited the most, so I have a lot to say (or to write) about it. This time won’t be different LOL. I promise you though that I will write about other countries in the future.

I love Barbie dolls. I have lots of them and I still keep them. I no longer play with them, but I never seem to outgrow them. My eyes almost popped out when I see the beautiful Barbie decorations at Times Square’s lobby last year. Being the photo-addict that I am, I took lots of pictures of them!

lots of Barbie dolls, all in pink!

this doll really has lots of shoes!

the top view of Time Square's lobby

Barbie dolls on the shelves

Barbie dolls inside the cylinder cases

up-close

stunning, aren't they?

picture frames hanging on the pink wall

Barbie posing askew

Barbie in white flowy dress

There’s really nothing for me at Times Square. I always go home empty-handed. But since our hotel is just a few blocks away, we would visit the mall during our excess time. I’m glad that I was there to see these glamorous Barbie decorations. Once again, I felt like a little girl.

The Beautiful Fireworks Display in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle

My family loves watching fireworks displays. So the second time we visited Hong Kong Disneyland, we made sure that we wouldn’t miss the fireworks display that takes place every night before the park closes.

It was a bit tough for my middle aged parents to stay the whole day in a theme park. Most of the time, we would find some restaurants and buy some overpriced snacks to let my parents unwind for a while. We had spent more than HK$800 just on food. What sucks is that the foods aren’t very palatable to us.

Anyway, before the clock stroke 9, we hurried to the sleeping beauty castle and found a nice spot in front of it. The castle was very pretty. Its color changes – from green to red, from red to yellow, and from yellow to green again. I would catch myself taking pictures of the castle again and again. I fell in love with it!

The fireworks display was jaw-dropping. I haven’t seen the fireworks in other Disneylands so I have nothing to compare it with. But I am very pleased with it! I took some pictures of the castle during the fireworks. Hope you like it!

Going to Hong Kong Disneyland for the Second Time!

Our travel agent told us that a lot of Filipino tourists will be flocking to Hong Kong this year. We got lucky for booking our tickets early. Plane tickets are fully booked weeks earlier.

We visit Hong Kong every Christmas. So what’s special this year? We’re going to Disneyland for the second time! It’s Hong Kong Disneyland’s fifth year anniversary. Plus, a new area has been opened to the public – the Toy Story Land! The new “land” offers new attractions, new merchandises, and new food items. Being a huge Toy Story fan, I can’t wait to see the park.

Since Hong Kong will be expecting lots of tourist, it’s important to buy your Disney tickets as early as possible. There are two types of tickets:

1. Standard Day Tickets – You can go to the park on any day within six months upon purchase.
2. Designated Day Tickets – You can go to the park only on the designated date stamped at the back of the ticket.

With the Designated Day Tickets, you automatically have a reserved admission to the park on the selected date. On the other hand, with the Standard Day Tickets, you cannot go into the park once it has reached its full capacity. The park can only hold around 34,000 guests. Both tickets cost the same.

Check the ticket prices on HK Disneyland’s official website.

These photos were taken in December, 2008 at Hong Kong Disneyland.

On a side note, I’ve liked to share a great tip from the Anderson show: The best time to buy plane tickets is on a Wednesday on 1 am (U.S. Time).:)

My Funny Experience in the Tokyo Subway: Taking the Train from Shinjuku to Shibuya with My Sister

Dancing in the Tokyo Train Station

This article is not a step-by-step guide on how to take Tokyo's complicated subway system. Nor is it about what to/what not to buy in Shinjuku or in Shibuya. So if you're looking for these information, I apologize for not being a bit helpful. This is about my funny experience in Tokyo several months ago. I went there with my entire family (conists of Dad, Mom, and older twin sister named "seriousnuts"). None of us knew how to take the subway, but we went there anyway. Our mistake was, we went there during the rush hour...
So read on, laugh all you want, and I will laugh with you, too! But if you love it, please do share this lens with your friends!


Read the full article on Squidoo!