Yee Seng Oriental in Myaree

Before I moved to North of the River I lived in Winthrop and whenever I needed Asian grocery I went to this place – Yee Seng Oriental Supermarket.

Yee Seng is located in Hulme Court in Myaree, just opposite Sundays Everyday and Perth Kimuchi.

The Japanese section used to be small, but now it’s expanded and you can find lots of Japanese & Korean grocery items at this store.

Most of the items, including rice, noodle and konnyaku, are actually tad cheaper at Coventry Village, but I still like Yee Seng because you can find more variety of Japanese food here.

For example, some frozen ready-to-cook food such as pre-cooked tempura, korokke, and crumbled fish are not sold at Coventry Village (to my knowledge).

You can get some Asian vegetables here too.

This is my another favourite section – drinks.  There are lots of Korean drinks that are at low cost.  They sell Korean version of Yakult cheaper than Yakult (although I’ve never tried as I always go with Yakult).

I love Hulme Court – there are lots of good grocery shops and restaurants/takeaway shops. 🙂

NEW Place to Get Japanese Food – FUJI MART in Perth

It’s been awhile since I wrote about grocery stores in Perth where you can buy Japanese products.  Nowadays most Asian grocery shops sell Japanese food, and even supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths sell some Japanese food on the international isle.  – But they are always the same products : soy sauce, wasabi, nori sheets, mayonnaise, sauces, seasonings… some basic things only.  So for Japanese people who live in Perth and want something more “Japanese”, they’d go to Nippon Food in Subiaco where they can buy more variety of Japanese food and goods.

Now, however, there is a new Japanese grocery shop recently opened in Subiaco (same suburb as Nippon Food!)  – Fuji Mart.

Fuji Mart is a newly opened shop which caters variety of Japanese products including food and also some home wares.  They did a big opening ceremony at the shop few weeks ago which I missed – everything in store was 20% OFF!

The shop is conveniently located on Station Street in Subiaco, just above Woolworths car park (which you’ll pay $0 for 90minutes parking).  You’ll find this store in front of the escalator from/to the car park.

Inside the shop resemble a Japanese convenience store or supermarket.  Products are displayed neatly and everything is easy to see.  The store manager at this store has worked at Fuji Mart in Eastern State for a decade, and I can see he has some skill to display a retail shop –  WELL DONE!

And, at Fuji Mart, you will find much cheaper price compared to elsewhere.  Some items are cheapest here to my knowledge!

You can also buy some “100 yen goods” here at Fuji Mart in Subiaco at $2.50.

I was quite amazed by the variety of goods sold here.  You can even find a kit for Japanese calligraphy, magonote (back scratcher), and takoyaki-making plate!!!

I definitely recommend this store to anyone.  If you haven’t been here, just come!  The products are selling super fast so you may find some empty shelves, but they are ordering stocks and hopefully once the store starts rolling on track you can shop everything you need for a Japanese feast!

Fuji Mart

Shop 13-14, 29 Station Street, Subiaco WA
Tel : (08) 6162 8608

Mon-Fri 9:30 ~ 18:00
Sat 9:00 ~ 17:00
Sun 11:00 ~ 17:00
Public holidays closed

IKEA Food for FREE!

I’m quite surprised to know that not many people are aware of IKEA’s current promotion – “I could eat an armchair” where the amount you spend at IKEA restaurant will be taken off your store purchase. (term & condition)  This offer ends this Friday, so if you are interested then rush to IKEA!!

I actually didn’t have anything particularly that I wanted to buy, but since sister-in-law is here from Jakarta we took her to IKEA for lunch yesterday.  We ate around $33 worth food, and got $33 worth IKEA items for free!

It’s not only IKEA, but many shops in Perth are starting Sunday trading from next week.  Perth is changing.  I remember when I came here in 2003….  I had a huge culture shock when I found out shops are closed on Sunday.  For me, weekends are the time people go shopping!

Hmmm…. by the way, I’ve already started shopping from Japanese online shops….  I’m gonna ask my dad to bring them to Bali then I can take them home here in Perth.  (thank you, dad)  I wasn’t gonna buy many things, but it’s so hard….  There are so many things that I want to buy from Japan!!  On my last homecoming trip to Japan, we had total of 50kg allowance for check-in luggage, but we had to leave half of what we bought there because our luggage were already over 50kg.  So, imagine how many things we bought during our stay there….  It’s crazy.

It’s kinda shame that there is no Daiso in Bali.  Well, but we are not going to Bali for shopping.  We are going there to RELAX and EAT 🙂  I can’t wait!

CN Mart in Myaree

Near the entrance of Hulme Court, just off Mc’Coy street, there is a new Korean grocery shop in Myaree.  This CN Mart (Corean N oriental grocer) is owned by the same owner as Hanaro Mart (just few minutese drive from CN Mart), and they have wide range of food, drinks and household items.

Most items are Korean, of course, but they carry lots of Japanese food as well.  I used to go to Hanaro Mart often to buy a tin of boiled azuki bean.  Korean one is much cheaper than Japanese one, and it taste the same.  My friends also go there to get some cosmetics and massage items.

Why they have 2 shops in the same suburb?  It’s because owner wanted to separate the items each shop carries.  CN Mart carries grocery items, and the original Hanaro Mart (address below) carries  only liquor, including Japanese sake and shochu.

I wanted to buy kinako (soy bean powder) but I couldn’t find anywhere.  Nippon Food in Subiaco always didn’t have it in stock.  So I called CN Mart and they said they have the Korean version.  They actually got 2 types, roasted and non-roasted.  I didn’t know the difference as we only have one type of “kinako” in Japan, but the staff said the roasted one is more common and is for mochi etc.  That’s what I was after!  So I bought it.

I also bought Korean sake (cooking wine).  Just wanted to try if there is any difference between Korean and Japanese.

The owner is super friendly and kind.  I’m sure I will be using this shop very often.

Hanaro Mart

7/67 North Lake Road, Myaree WA
0411 38 1101

CN Mart 

Hulme Court, Myaree WA
08 9317 4885

McValue with Free Newspaper

Have a Breakfast McValue Meal® and you can get a free copy of The Sunday Times!

This offer starts from the 11th of April for a limited time only, and is only available until 10:30AM.  McValue Meal®  includes Hash Brown and Small Espresso Pronto as well.

I saw this ad on The Sunday Times I was reading at McDonald’s yesterday.  It was late afternoon and I felt like something cold – perhaps frozen coke or thick shake –  but I got $2 Chicken McBites and a chocolate sundae in the end.  I still got to read The Sunday Times for free coz someone had left it on the table.

Was I the only person who didn’t know that McDonald had started showing the calories of the each food item on the menu panel?  It’s just like Japan – everywhere you go you get to see the calorie of each food on the menu.  I heard that other fast food chains (KFC, Hungry Jack etc) are also going to show calories of each item on the menu board.  You know, it’s good thing that you get to know how much calories you are getting by eating the food, but at the same time you just have to compare this item is lower calorie than others and sometimes chose the item that you weren’t planning to order.  That’s what happens to me every time I dine at family restaurants and cafes in Japan.  I feel like eating cheesy chicken and vegetable pasta, but I end up ordering a healthy wa-fu mushroom pasta instead.  It’s just because I see the calories on the menu.

Anyway, get back to the free The Sunday Times thing.  You can also get a free copy from Spud Shed when you spend $5 or more at one transaction.  I’m not sure if all Spud Shed do this, but Jandakot one does! Sometimes you need to ask for it at the casher though.  Oh, and McDonald’s free newspaper offer is only available in WA too!

Nippon Food Subiaco April Special

Sale items for April (01 – 30) 2012 at Nippin Food in Subiaco!

• Dashi powder 60g $6.80 → $5.40
• Inari skin 12P $6.80 → $5.40
• Frozen Japanese sweets Azuki 8P $8.00 → $6.00
• Frozen Japanese sweets Matcha Green Tea 8P $8.20 → $6.20
• Frozen Japanese sweets Mochi Azuki 8P $8.60 → $6.60
• Katsu Sauce 500ml $7.90 → $6.30
• Shiratama-ko Powder (dango powder) 200g $6.20 → $4.90
• Sticky Mochi Rice 2.27kg $12.50 → $10.00
• Goma-dare (sesame dressing/sauce) 500ml $5.90 → $4.50
• Ponzu with Konbu Dashi 600ml $8.70 → $6.90
• Chewing Gum (black/ume) 9P $2.80 → $1.50

New Items:

• Japanese Rice (made in USA) – New Crop
• Frozen Tuna for Sashimi $34/kg
• Mix & Serve Pasta Sauce

etc…

Nippon Food Subiaco

Shop 26, 180 Rokeby Rd
Subiaco WA 6008

(08) 9380 6783

Open:
Mon – Fri 10AM – 6PM
Sat 9AM – 5PM
Sun 11AM – 5PM
Closed on Public Holidays

Onigiri Molds

We got these plastic onigiri shaper from Japan, and made some onigiri (rice balls) last week.

They are very simple to use – just fill steamed rice and filling, then dress up the rice balls with nori sheet, sesame seeds, furikake (seasoning powder for rice) or thinly cooked omelet.

When making onigiri by hand the rice sticks to fingers and it gets messy, but using a mold makes all process easier 🙂

First, you need to season the steamed rice with salt.  Just a pinch.

Fill the steamed rice to the mold, and make a tiny hole.

Fill the filling, (I used tuna+Japanese mayonnaise … yum!)

and press it with the lid.

Wrap with nori sheet…

remove the plastic mold, and it’s done!

Another one…

You can do this way too.

Or use small cut nori sheet.

Or just sprinkle black sesame 🙂

I remember Nippon Food in Subiaco sells onigiri and sushi molds, if you are interested ↓↓

NIPPON FOOD SUBIACO
Shop 26, 180 Rokeby Rd, Subiaco
Mon – Fri 10am – 6pm / Sat 9am – 5pm
Sun 11am – 5pm
Closed on Public Holidays
(08) 9380 6783

Waterford Plaza

If you haven’t been to Waterford Plaza for quite some time, you will be surprised to see the change of this small shopping mall in Karawara.  I used to go there when I was a student at TAFE in Bentley few years ago, and now it doesn’t look the same.

They’ve got more cafes and restaurants at the site, and the area looks more modern.  I find that the parking area is still the same though – bit small –  and the drive way is bit narrow, and it causes jam around the exit to Kent street.  Once you enter from Kent street you can find Pasta Cups, Burger Edge, and Theobroma Chocolate Lounge etc along the drive way.

There are Chinese-Malaysian food (Chilliz & O’Mama Kopitiam), Thai food (Sara Thai), Japanese food (Mikasa Café) and more available in this place, and many students from Curtin and TAFE go there to grab lunch and dinner, just like old time.  And there will be a new tavern featuring the popular ‘Hippo Creek’ restaurant chain, and Singaporean food chain ‘Old Chang Kee’ in early 2012.

WaterPlaza had been under construction for few months and aimed to complete the transformation before the Queen arrived last month, as the Manning Road was the way she would go pass to visit Aboriginal College.  The construction operated 24 hours just before the Queen’s arrival, my friend told me.

I wanted to go to the chocolate cafe Theobroma Chocolate Lounge when I passed this shopping mall last time, but didn’t have time for it.  Apparently there is another shop in Fremantle (http://www.theobromachocolatelounge.com.au/) so maybe I go there instead.  I am so addicted to chocolate now.  I know I shouldn’t be eating chocolate too much because it contains caffein and too much sugar, but I can’t help it.  Hmmm, I guess little amount wouldn’t harm… :p

Canning Vale Indian Grocery Shop

There is an Indian grocery shop at Market City in Canning Vale, just at the corner of Ranford road and Bannister road.  This shop opens 7 days a week, along with other retail shops in Market City.

The price of items in this shop is competitive, and people travel there to buy some Indian and Asian groceries, but there is one more reason why this place is filled with people ; especially on weekends.

They sell some ready-made foods, including some Indian sweets and meals such as Nasi Lemak.  I often see people there in early morning wearing pajamas who look for take-away breakfast!

There is an Indian restaurant (it’s more like small take-away type shop) next door.  It’s also popular and I see many Indian people eating breakfast and lunch there.

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Make Your Own Pillow

Here is an unique Christmas gift idea.  Upload a photo and make your own pillow!

PillowMob makes your custom pillow and ship worldwide.  You can also chose to buy featured designs such as animal and people.

It’s $30.00 each, and it includes shipping fee!  I think it’s very reasonable price.  There are two options for the size : oval and circle.  Whichever you chose, I’m sure it will be a great gift to surprise your friends or families!

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Japanese Cafe ULARA

It’s been a month a so since this small shop called “ULARA” took over the business from Super Fuji in Victoria Park. It is located in the same address where Super Fuji used to be, at the end of Albany hwy.

The new shop ULARA has a big sign board at the front, and the logo on the windows outside looks good. But once you step inside, the place is more like a deli, I thought. Super Fuji was like this as well (plain white wall, small space). Urara continues the rental service for Japanese books and DVDs at the premise.

This place also sells Japanese foods, but not so many. The owner told me that he just sell what customers request. So, what is the main business of this shop? DVD rental service? Retail of Japanese groceries? Well, it’s actually takeaway of Japanese foods.

“It’s been just a preparation period to setup the kitchen and a whole process of takeaway business”, the owner says. Urara starts selling Japanese takeaway  food from today (24, Oct). The owner’s previous business, Banzai  Sushi & Noodle Bar in Leederville was such success and he had many fans. He sold the business to Matsu Sushi last year, and since then he’d been hunting for a new place to start new business. I’m not sure what Urara has on its takeaway menu, but I’m sure they will all taste good considering the foods he was serving at Banzai.  ULARA has few tables and chairs inside for dine-in too.  They are plastic ones, so it’s more like a place for busy working people who want quick lunch rather than for couples who seek for romantic dining experiences.

ULARA
245 Albany Hwy, Victoria Park 6100
Mon – Sat 9:00 ~ 18:00
08 9355 0882

Sweet Fix

Our window shopping at Carousel shopping centre ended up as a hunting trip for sweets this week. We found a stall in the centre of hallway selling unique candies and soda drinks.

They all looked colorful, and reminded me of a candy shop I used to spend my whole afternoon while I was little. The products they sell at this stall are different from what I used to eat in Japan though. They are more like  American-style sweets which are in different colors and flavors.

D wanted to buy something, but I thought they’re bit expensive compared to other chains such as Darrell Lea. But, they all looked cute and we bought few packs of sugary candies. One of them, “fruit sticks” tasted like the one I used to get from a game centre machine in Japan, and recalled my memory of feeding the sugary candy to my brother when he was sick. He was around 5 years old and that candy was the only food he could manage to eat. I remember I thought he was dying (he was actually having measles) and worried about him a lot. So I got lots of the same candy and kept feeding it to him until he said “enough…”.

While remembering these childhood memories, we walked pass Darrell Lea and went inside the store to have a look around. Then we bought 2 packs of peanut brittle and 1 pack of caramel snows (which is finger-sized candy with layers of chocolate, caramel and white icing). Caramel is usually not my favorite thing, but I felt like eating it then. I even wanted to buy caramel McFlurry (which I ended up not buying). Our bodies needed some sweets!

That night we went nuts over these sugary treats…..   I had stomachache afterwards, but no regret! :p

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A Beautiful Spring Day

It was bit cloudy yesterday morning.  I thought it was going to rain. I checked the weather on my iPhone and it had a illustration of half rain/half sunny.   The whole week seemed to be like that.

I felt like eating Japanese food in the morning, so I quickly prepared my breakfast.  Steamed rice, umeboshi (sour plum pickles), natto, seasoned nori, and osuimono (clear soup).  That’s it??? You ask.  Hmmm, it doesn’t seem to be a meal, does it?  But yes, it is to me.  I love soshoku (plain/simple diet). 🙂  Placed on a box of toy….  This is my dining table now.

During the day I took Hiro to a neighboring Duck Park for a walk.  The sun was blight then and it was a perfect weather for strolling in the park.  It was just after 1PM and there was no one around, except one mum and one baby girl sitting near the pond enjoying their quality afternoon.

This is what I love about Perth.  There are so many parks… almost everywhere.  The beautiful ones.  Lots of greens, lots of birds, lots of nature….  Walking through a quiet park in such a beautiful weather, I just wanted to scream! “I LOVE THIS”

For lunch, we headed to Northbridge because D wanted to buy some Indonesian noodles.  We went to the usual Vietnamese place on William street, again.

D ordered Pork Chop Rice and I ordered Mai Fun with Braised Chicken.  D loves this place because there’s always not many people inside.  Yesterday when we arrived, there’s no other customers- only us.  It was lucky because Hiro was screaming while we were eating our lunch.

We had a look inside Kong’s and VHT, but D couldn’t find what he was looking for.  D wanted this particular Indonesian instant noodles which we haven’t seen anywhere for a while.  Maybe it’s not permitted to import to Australia anymore.  We could go to other grocery shops to have a look, but we didn’t want to bother.  There are many Chinese grocery shops, but I wonder if there is any shop selling many Indonesian items.  Maybe the one in Market City in Canning Vale?  We’ll give it a try another day.

I actually wanted to go to Emma’s Seafood to buy some Japanese stuff too.  But it was bit too far to walk….  I felt like making kappamaki (roll sushi with cucumber).  I have lots of wasabi left at home.  Well, I will come back another time. 🙂

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Snow Ice, Crepe…. and Oden

I remembered I had a $10.00 worth voucher for use at Icey Ice Perth City that I bought from Scoopon long time ago, and it was nearly expired, so I took D and Hiro to the shop to get some sweets.

I’d never been to the city one (I’ve been to Northbridge shop before), and I found that it’s a pretty small shop.  There’re only 3 tables inside, and all of them were full.  We had a big stroller, so thought we’d better get take-away instead of eating there…. then, one group of customer left the table, so we decided to sit down.

I didn’t really feel like snow ice and was browsing the menu board…. then, noticed that they sell oden in the shop.  Not “oden-snow ice” or “oden crepe”, just oden.  … Oden?

I found it’s very funny as I’d never thought a shop selling snow ice and crepe would have oden on the menu.  It says “Japanese Hot Pot ~ Kansai-style Oden”, and the oden was being cooked next to the snow-ice machine.

I was very curious, but didn’t want to buy it.  Then, one lady started ordering oden next to me…  So, someone does buy oden at a sweet shop! :p

She asked for chilli sauce over oden…  Obviously she is not Japanese.  And I’m surprised that the shop had chilli sauce.

We ordered normall items – crepe and drink.  He ordered crispy crepe with condensed milk and oreo (sweet tooth…), and I ordered green tea chiller with sago.  Sago was extra charge, but I believe there was no sago in the drink – they forgot!  I realized it after we left the shop :p

I thought Icey Ice in Northbridge is much better… bigger space, many tables to sit down, and more variety of products.  I liked crepe in Northbridge shop better because they put more fillings (well, at least the last one we ate had lots of fillings).  At city shop, D had to eat almost half the crepe to reach condensed milk and oreo.

Hmmm anyway, I like this shop as being a snow ice/crepe shop selling oden. hehe 🙂

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Japanese Grocery Shops

(*** This is an old post.   Read my newer post***)

I’ve posted grocery shops that I go to in Perth here, but they need to be updated!

Super Fuji in Victoria Park closes at the end of this month, but the shop isn’t open everyday already.  And, Sushi Station Fuji no longer opens either.  It’s shame that I really wanted to eat sushi over there after I gave birth to Hiro.  🙁  These two shops were owned by same owner (Japanese couple), but they suddenly decided to close both of them for a while…

Nippon Food Supplies in Fremantle is also closing at the end of June (this month!).  From July, only Subiaco shop will operate.

There seems to be new shops selling Japanese items in Perth city, but I haven’t been there yet.

Hi Mart, Seoul Mart, and Hanaro Mart (Korean grocery shops) sell very similar items to Japanese food, and they are much cheaper.

Hi Mart :

133 Barrack Street, Perth WA 6000 – (08) 9417 7776

113 Collins Road, Willetton WA 6155 – (08) 9354 1433

346 Albany hwy, Victoria Park WA

Winthrop Shopping Centre, 131 Somerville Blvd, Winthrop WA 6150

Hanaro Mart :

Shop7, North Lake shopping Centre, 67 North Lake Rd, Myaree WA

Seoul Mart :

Shop 4-5, 544 Hay St (on Pier St) (08) 9221 0322

Shop 76 Southland Shopping Centre, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton, WA

–

And, if you want to buy some Japanese grocery directly from importer, you can call up Japan Food Corp. (JFC).  You can browse their product list on their  website. If you want to go there, I recommend to call them first and tell them when you are coming, so that staff can prepare things for you.

There are Tokyo Mart and Fuji Mart in NSW, QLD and VIC, and there will be new Tokyo Mart shop opening in WA around the end of this year!  They say the shop will be in Karawara, but exact location is unknown at the moment.

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Borders Closing Down Sale

Borders is doing closing down sale for up to 40% off store wide!  I headed there on Monday afternoon, and lots of stuff were already gone..

↑↑↑ Running to the shop…  (^^;)

They sell not only books and CDs but also unique zakka stuff. I like their post cards and the cute home ware/stationery sections. I bought some gifts for my friend.

They don’t say when they (Borders in Perth) are closing the shop, but I heard it will be around the end of this month.  If you want to bag yourself a bargain, head there quick before the store closes down.

Shopping Day at IKEA

D, I and Hiro headed to Hillary  yesterday to pick-up a bottle warmer which we bought on eBay.  We were just thinking to buy one as we warm up BM (expressed breast milk) very often everyday, then we found this at very cheap price.

On the way back we dropped by at IKEA. They are doing a campaign that they take the cost of your food and drinks off your store purchase when you dine at IKEA restaurant – so, the food and drinks are basically free if you have something to buy.  (This offer is until 27 May (today!))

When we arrived we headed to IKEA restaurant straight away – needed some sweets!  After the tea time, we went though the store.

We bought two clock, some kitchen stuff and a canopy to put on Hiro’s cot.

After the shopping, we decided to take more advantage of this campaign and headed to the restaurant again….

And had early dinner…

Total we spent at IKEA today was less than $10.00!

We were so tired afterwards (spent for 2 hours there) …  Hero slept very good at night 🙂

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Korean Ice Cream

I know I say this too much, but can I say it again?  …..  It’s soooooo HOT!!! (><)

People say that pregnant women feel hotter than normal people do.  I’m originally weak against hot & humid climate, so I’ve been staying in air-coned room all day.  It was rather depressing to see the glaring sunshine and feel the hot air at 7:30 AM.  …  Yeah, this might be the pregnancy thing –

The other day I got some Korean ice-cream from Hi Mart, one of Korean grocery chains.  They were selling some individual packs of ice-cream for “any three packs for $5.00” (my memory may be wrong – it may be $6.00?).  Cheap!  There’re 6~7 kinds of ice-cream in the showcase, and all of them looked so familiar – very similar to Japanese ice-cream!

This vanilla ice-cream sandwich with crunchy chocolate bits : This is my favorite!  It’s like Morinaga Choco-Monaka-Jumbo ice-cream , but more chocolate inside.  The texture of crispy chocolate and soft wafers are the best match.

I used to eat this Morinaga Choco-Monaka-Jumbo ice-cream quite often during summer in Japan.

Taiyaki-shaped (taiyaki = a Japanese fish-shaped cake) coated with thin crisp wafers.  The inside contains vanilla ice-cream and azuki bean paste.  We have few Taiyaki-shaped ice-cream sold in Japan, and I guess this is the Korean version of it.  I thought the amount of azuki bean paste was too little compared to the amount of vanilla ice-cream.

The original Taiyaki-shaped ice-cream in Japan is Imuraya brand.  They have black (dark sugar) and pink (strawberry) versions.

This is cookie n cream sandwich ice-cream.  The ice-cream was quite sweet, and the thin layer of sponge cake was soft and fluffy.  I preferred the above two to this one, as it is too sweet to me, and there was no texture in the ice-cream.

I want to find more delicious ice-cream!

Buying Japanese Foods in Perth

Since  I started living in Perth I noticed that Japanese foods sold at grocery shops are very pricy here.  Chocolate, snacks, drinks, seasonings, etc…   Korean grocery shops sell similar items much cheaper.  I wonder why the price is so different between those items imported form Japan and South Korea.  I understand that everything in South Korea is much cheaper than in Japan, but the items are so similar (sometimes same name and same brand).

Some items such as daifuku (a Japanese sweet), naruto (fish cakes), natto (fermented soy beans) and other specific food items are made in Japan, and in that case the cost will be expensive. I understand that the grocery shops have to mark up the price in order to cover the cost of import and inspections by Aus government, it’s surprising that a pack of rice crackers I used to eat in Japan costs almost $10.00 here while the price in Japan is around few hundreds yen.  But even though the price is more expensive than other similar products that are imported from China etc, products of Japan still have demand.

Some products of Japan specify where the items are from on their packaging.  For example, this katsuo-no-tataki (bonito tataki) is a product of Yakitsu, Shizuoka Prefecture.  Japanese people know that Yakitsu is famous for bonito fishing, and Yakitsu-branded bonito is known for its delicious fat.  (I bought this frozen tataki at Super Fuji in Victoria Park.)

The other day I bought a pack of kinako (soy powder) from Maruyu and ate with dango I made (recipe).  This kinako is also a product of Japan, from Hokkaido.

I don’t mean that products imported from Japan are all better than other foods though.  Korean/Chinese grocery shops may sell the same products (the packagings are in Chinese or Korean, and the manufactured country is the same) at half the price.  Products from South Korea such as soy sauce, nori seaweed sheets and rice are very similar to Japanese ones and the prices are usually cheaper.  If you are not looking for something particular (e.g. Tokyo takuwan pickles, Hokkaido potato chips, Okinawa black sugar candies) you can browse around Korean grocery shops such as Hi Mart and Seoul Mart, and other Chinese grocery shops such as Kong’s Oriental.  Some well-known Japanese food such as Kikkoman soy sauce and Pokka drinks are from Singapore anyway (not products of Japan)!

Chapels on Whatley

On the way from my sister-in-low’s house, I found this little antique shop called Chapels on Whatley.  From the music from the shop and the chairs/tables displayed outside, I thought it was just another Chinese furniture/antique shop.  But, once I stepped inside there are more than Chinese ornaments and drawings.

First, lots of scented candles caught my eyes.  There are many antique kitchen wares and furnitures that reminded me of my grandma. The shop was quite big –  there is another building at the back displaying Chinese ornaments and birdcages.

The owner of this shop is very friendly, and offered us some Chinese tea.  Then I realised there’re so many kinds of tea leaves sold at the door.

From familier ones such as oolong tea and rose tea, to Pu-Erh tea and lemon grass, there are more than 30 kinds of leaves sold and being available for tasting.  D tried lemon grass tea and another smoky tea (some kind of root: I don’t remember the name).  Lemon grass was very refreshing, he said.

Brewing flower tea is one of the most beautiful thing to watch.  Very pretty.

The owner told us that there is going to be a cafe inside the shop around February where customers can enjoy different kinds of teas and coffees.  I am so looking forward to it.

Address: 196 Whatley Crs Maylands Perth WA

Phone: 08 9272 7738

website

Daiso is Here!

Daiso, the multi-billion dollar Japanese Phenomenon, has arrived in Australia.  Last year the chain was declared the 10th fastest growing retailer in the world.

<I wrote about Daiso at here (Japan), here (Jakarta), and here (Japan)>

From potholders to pencils, lollies to locks, there are so many variety of items sold at Daiso.  I’m sure many of you have been to Daiso if you live or have been to one of the countries which has Daiso shop.  There are 24 countries which have already embraced Daiso, and Australia is number 25!  The first city to host this latest overseas raider is Melbourne.

Daiso is known as the 100 yen store in Japan, but in Melbourne every item is priced the same – just $2.80.

“Eyeliners, mascaras – they’ve won an award in Japan, the mascara, so that’s how good the quality is,” Store Director, Ms Hii said. (from Today Tonight)

The chain is set to snap up retail space all over the country and is determined to become a household name.  I really hope they open up a shop in Perth sometime soon (really soon!!).

The Australia’s first Daiso store in Melbourne open this Thursday, at 9AM.

Shop 23 313 Victoria St
Abbotsford VIC 3067
[email protected] or visit www.daiso.com.au

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Bento and Antique Shopping

Last week I packed a o-bento and headed to a park with my husband.

We didn’t really make destination, but ended up going to Lake Mongar area.  It was such a beautiful day, and we sat down on the grass and enjoyed the view of the lake and many birds.

I didn’t have any ingredient for bento at home, so I just made onigiri (rice balls), dashimaki (omelet), horenso-ohitashi (seasoned spinach), naruto (fish cake), and hijiki-no-nimono (seasoned hijiki seaweed).  If I had more time, I wanted to make some meat dish for my husband (karaage or meatballs) and other food.   🙁

After lunch, we went to Mt Lawley area to shop at antique shops we saw from the car the other day.  There’re few antique shops on Beaufort street.

There’re some interesting things at the shops, but some of them are quite pricy.  But, at one shop, we found some antique gadget at reasonable prices.  They are plates, kitchenware, and some ornaments.  I bought one little vase at $2.00 (it was made in Japan!), and my husband bought an antique Kodak camera.

It was pretty dusty when we bought it, but he cleaned it up and polished the leather area.  This camera was made in 1960s (?) and no longer works, but it looks good as an ornament.  

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Baking, Window Shopping, and Reading

It was another relaxing weekend for me.  The Saturday was hot, I didn’t need to wear a jacket and I saw many people enjoying the marine sports at the Swan River from freeway.

I had many banana left which were starting to have black spots, so I used them all up to bake banana bread.  It turned out to be good, I could smell the delicious cinnamon from the oven while baking.

Just after I took it out from the oven, one of my sister-in-low and her husband visited our house.  They just came back from Dubai and gave me this souvenir from Daiso which I’ve asked them to buy for me.

Wood clips.  I actually wanted a simple one (like the one Kiki-K sells), but they said that’s all they could find at Daiso.  

The left wooden clip got a motif of chef, because they know I like cooking 🙂  and, I can probably take of the rings from the wooden clips (centre on the photo) to use for papers and notebooks.

I gave them a half of the banana bread as a “thank you”, and I brought another half to another sister-in-low.  Last week she gave us tuna bake for dinner (she said she cooked too much) and it was delicious.  This banana cake was a “thank you” for the tuna bake.

Then, we headed to Subiaco.  There wasn’t anything particularly we wanted to do in Subi, but just wanted to walk around and do window-shopping.

We walked into Henry Hiccup – a toy shops for kids.  We loved the image of the shop and the product range.  

We sat down at Oriel cafe to have a cup of drink.

It was a pretty windy day, so we sat down on a couch inside.  He ordered flat white, I had fresh OJ, and a pecan tartlet to share.

At the cafe we talked about many things – this is one of the reason why we go out for a cup of coffee sometimes.  We can talk more things outside compared to when we stay at home.

After the pit-stop, we went to Borders to get inspiration from the books, and stayed there until late.   In the end of the day I was tired, but it was a good day.

Hikone Castle Road

These are the photos I took while I was in Japan.  (I think it’s last year)

This city is Hikone, just next to my city in Shiga.  There are many historical buildings remain across Japan and you will find many temples and other buildings everywhere.  Hikone is one of the city which tries to remain the historical parts.

There is a road called “castle road” near the Hikone Castle, and all the buildings, including police station, and lights around the road are designed “old-looking”.  White wall and black roof.  Very famous tourist attraction place.

There are many shops including restaurants (where you can enjoy Ohmi wagu beef and other Shiga food), souvenir shops, cafes, and art shops on the Castle Road.  I heard that there is a new shop opened just recently – called “Mask Elementary School”.

What interests me is that the second floor of this shop is a cafe where they serve kyushoku-like food.  (I wrote about kyushoku here)  I love this type of places (>v<)!

The bread (above photo) is age-kinako-pan.  It’s a deep-fried bun, coated with kinako (sweet soy powder).  I know how high calorie it is, but It was my favorite kyushoku item. 🙂  They seem to have different coatings (including maccha and cocoa), and there are menu for age-kinako-pan parfait for 350 yen.  I will definitely try this place out on my next homecoming!

My Favorite Shops in Perth

Remedy

Remedy has been one of my favorite shops since it opened.  Few steps away from the busy Fremantle cappuccino street, this store is secretary but very popular among those people who find joy in collecting nice homeware, kids toys, accessories and gifts.

95 high street  fremantle wa 6160 … 08 94317080

131 oxford street leederville wa 6007 … 08 94448818 Read the rest of this entry »

Utopia Bakery in Perth