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Experience the exciting and exotic destinations, culture and food from our reviews and let them entice you to have adventures of your own!  We provide you with advice and  reviews, pictures and video of travel destinations around the world; focusing on local cuisine, wine and dine, major attractions, festivals and other cultural events and points of interest.  Our team consists of multiple bloggers, each catering to a different perspective and style of travel ~

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Check out this strange baozi from Chinatown in Yokohama Japan.  It was the only shop that had a black baozi.  Typically these steamed buns are white and can have many different kinds of filling, so when I found a black one I had to try it!  The bun itself was dark gray/black with pink on the inside.  It was filled with some kind of mystery meat (most likely pork of some kind, I hope) and veggies.  It was actually nicely seasoned and tasted really good, but it looked like you were eating some kind of dead, sun bloated animal.

Sweets Paradise – Shinjuku, in Tokyo Japan

One of the most interesting western food items you find frequently in Japan are sweets.  Everywhere you turn there seems to be another cake or sweets shop, especially in the train stations and the markets in the basements of the stations (be sure to check them out, you can find some pretty good food stuffs).  So it is not much of a surprise that there is a restaurant specializing in a dessert buffet.   It’s called Sweets Paradise, and if you have a sweet tooth, this is the place for you.   Pictured above is the actual cake portion of the buffet.  It also includes pasta and a pretty decent drink bar with hot and ice coffee and a lot of teas to choose from.  The cake bar may not look that big, but there is somewhere between 20-30 different types of cakes and desserts to choose from!  They also have soft serve ice cream available.

Some of the selections include western style desserts and pastries as well as Japanese desserts such as mochi balls, anko and coffee jelly.

Cheesecakes, fruit tarts, custard and so much more to choose from.  I hope you wear your big pants when you go   They ask you to please finish what you take, so plan on taking only what you can polish off.  Also, you have a limited amount of time you can be there (it keeps people from coming in and eating all day…).  The time limit was around an hour and a half, which was more than enough time to make you feel sick to your stomach from eating too much.  I think the best time to come would be a few hours after a light lunch.  Skip the pasta and salad stuff and go straight for the desserts!

Cake, cake everywhere!  There are a lot of pastries in Japan that are made with chestnuts.  It should also be noted that a lot of the western desserts in Japan are not as sweet as they are in the US.

A very delicious and creamy pumpkin pudding that was being served because it was close to Halloween.  This happened to be very, very sweet which was in strong contrast to most of the other desserts.

While there are a lot of cakes and other western style desserts available, but they also have a variety of Japanese wagashi (Japanese sweets) available.  Pictured here are mochi balls (or dumplings called dango) served with a sweet and thickened soy sauce, the green balls are called kusa mochi; and warabi mochi is bracken jelly coated in kinako powder (a sweet powder made from dried and toasted soybeans, with a nutty flavor vaguely similar to peanut butter).

The interior of Sweets Paradise in Shinkuku, Tokyo.  I’m not sure I cared for the rainbow motif, it looks like a Care Bear exploded :p

They have several locations throughout Japan, but their web site is only in Japanese.

Web: http://www.sweets-paradise.com/shop/index.html

Tel:  03-3353-8909

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Chegoya

After a long day of fighting the terrible crowds at the Tokyo Motor Show, a hot steaming rice bowl and some noodles were just what the doctor ordered.  We decided to order similar sets which consisted of  Ishiyaki bibinba (bibimbap) which is a bowl of rice topped with various ingredients.  To begin the meal we were served cold tea, kimchi (this kimchi was pickled daikon) and pickled bean sprouts served in small dishes.  The kimchi here was very good.  I could have eaten an entire plate of the stuff.  The main course of Ishiyaki bibinba was served in a very hot stone dish and consisted of spinach, kimchi, bean sprouts, carrot, bracken (a type of fern common in Korean cuisine), a raw egg and sprinkled with sesame seed.  You mix it up some, add a spicy Korean sauce, stir some more and let it set for just a minute and the rice in the bottom turns golden brown and crunchy.  The main course was also served with hot brown tea (mugicha, barley tea).  Typically in nicer Korean restaurants you are served a corn tea (corncha in Japan, oksusu cha in Korean) with your meal, and in Korea it is a traditional tea served everywhere.  Also included with the sets were a serving of noodles.  Sana had the cold reimen noodles, which she said is more typical of Korean cuisine.  It looked really good and came with thin slices of apple, half of a hard boiled egg, cucumber slivers and a cherry tomato.  The hot onmen noodles I ordered were also good.  I added some vinegar and they were even better.  The broth was very simple but tasted so good with the thin noodles and vegetables.

In total, the bill came up to 2400 yen, ($24).

Phone: 043-441-3411

Web: http://www.chegoya.com

Tokyo Motor Show 2009

Subaru

Subaru Hybrid Tourer-

A gull-winged hybrid presented by Subaru

Other cars not pictured:

Impreza WRX STi Carbon (Dressup car):

Based on a WRX STi A-Line, this model features a carbon fiber roof, E-5AT transmission (sport shifter) and a suede covered dashboard.

Exiga 2.0GT STi:

A seven seat sport wagon, tuned by STi.  Sales start in Japan on November 4, 2009

The 24 hour Nurburgring Impreza STi race car:

Subaru Legacy B4 Super GT race car:

Tokyo Motor Show 2009

Honda

Honda had the best stage show we saw while at the show.  It even had ASIMO running around on stage interacting with everyone.  The Loop is pretty cool, It is kind of like a cross between a Segway and a unicycle.  They also had all of the different vehicles communication with each other.

The Honda Loop is an interesting concept in the realm of personal mobility.

The Honda CR-Z (pictured at the top) is another hybrid concept vehicle.  It reminds me of the old CRX.