Gal's Sushi (North York) *.

My boyfriend took me to Gal's Sushi (North York) for dinner. 

At first I didn't know this place was called Gal's Sushi, so when I came here I was like.. why didn't we just go to the one in Markham? It's same thing no?! Turns out noo, it's not! This restaurant's specialty is their flounder's fish and it was amazzzingggg!! (They don't have the flounder fish at the Markham location) I even took my family here to try it out :D

I'd highly recommend:

* Flounder Fish Sashimi - It's super fresh! I'd recommend saving some to cook in the spicy soup (it comes with the combo)
* Spicy fish soup - It's pretty spicy when it's just a 'regular spice', so those who cannot take spiciness, ask the server for mild!

Things that were included:

* Tempura - Not a big fan of tempura but it was included as part of the combo

You can choose either grilled fish or soju as part of the combo. We chose the grilled fish haha.. not a hardcore dinner. We were super stuffed after dinner.

Gal’s Sushi

$$  Japanese, Seafood, Sushi Bars

23A-5 Glen Cameron Road
Thornhill, ON L3T 2A9

東京スカイツリー Tokyo Skytree *.

I love  東京スカイツリー!! 

😻 The view! It was amazing - loved every view from the tower!

😻 Tokyo Tower from the outside :) We were lucky we had blue skies for this pretty shot!

I was debating on revisiting the Tokyo tower or Tokyo Skytree.. I'm glad we chose Tokyo Skytree :D There were so many mini stores in the tower to visit. It is possible to spend the whole day shopping here. 

😻 The Pokemon Centre was also part of the Tokyo Tower - here I am with Oddish haha


My favourite shop within the tower is the fake-foods shop. There's a fake-foods making demonstration everyday for those who want to see how the workers make fake-foods. 

😻 Look at the details!! Amazing!!

😻 The mold to make fake sushis

😻 Fake sushi painting

😻 Putting fake sushis together!

😻 These looks DELICIOUS - they're ALL FAKE. I was so amazed. Love this shop.

😻 Look at that pizza!! too real

😻  The grilled fish looks SO YUMMY!

😻 Check out that Katsu-don :)

😻 Loved this pictorial display at the line up for Tokyo Tower. Very creative.

There are lots of souvenirs and specialized shops here. I'd recommend that you block off a few hours so you have time to go through the whole tower.

😻  C for Cherie!

Tokyo Skytree

Landmarks & Historical Buildings

押上1-1-2
墨田区, 東京都 〒131-0045
Japan

Woodstone Eatery *.

My boyfriend and I came here for lunch. We're always down to try new CCTs! :D 

Woodstone Eatery gets 3.5 / 5 stars. The interior of the place is modern and clean. Service was just ok - they kept forgetting to give us the menu and utensils. The place was pretty packed, I believe most people are here to try this new restaurant out. Be prepared to wait 10-15 mins for a table. We were lucky to get a table right away because someone just left as we arrived.

DRINKS: 

* ICED LEMON TEA (2/5)

This was pretty watered down..

* CHEESY BAKED BBQ PORK ON RICE (3.5/5)
(with poached egg on top, but my egg was over cooked so it wasn't poached haha)

I ordered this because it was one of the most recommended items on the menu. I liked it!! The cha siu (barbecued pork) was very sweet and came in large chunks. I liked how much sauce was drenched in the rice - #saucebause. I would've given this dish a 4/5 if they added more cheese. 

* SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE 
My boyfriend ordered this dish and said it was pretty delicious. He said that he would choose my choice over his though. I tried some of the spaghetti and thought it needed more flavour.

I'd come back to try other items on the menu :)

Woodstone Eatery

$$  Asian Fusion

10 Apple Creek Boulevard
Markham, ON L3R 0P4

Kookminhakgyo *.

I came here during the weekend and it was soo packed during the early hours already!! We left our phone numbers at the restaurant for the waitress to call us when a table is available. 

Kookminhakgyo is a small-sized restaurant that gives a "real Korean KBBQ experience". You can barbecue the meats on a barrel-like table. 

We actually came by on a Monday, parked and realized it's closed on Mondays - be warned hahaha.
We came back on a Fri-yay!

It's definitely a cheaper option than other KBBQ places because even if you order a la carte, you will still get all the side dishes, spicy soup and steamed egg. The steamed egg was AMAZING!! I've always loved steamed eggs but Kookminhakgyo made it so flavourful and yummy!

We ordered:
* Pork belly
* Pork neck
* Beef finger-strips 

I'd recommend getting the marinated options on the menu because the meats that we ordered didn't have much taste, unless we used their sauces. I'd come back to order other items on the menu. Overall, the service was excellent and I really appreciate how diligent and quickly the servers worked to clean up our tables to get us seated.

Kookminhakgyo

$$  Korean, Barbeque

6016 yonge street
Toronto, ON M2M 3W2

はなまるうどん Hanamaru Udon - Tokyo, Japan *.

We came to Hanamaru Udon for a late-night dinner. We saw a lot of Hanamaru udon shops at different locations and we decided to finally go in for a try! It's a boutique ramen shop with a variety of ramen choices. I was interested in the katsu udon sets but it was too late in the night for some good ol' fried foods - so I decided on the gyu-udon set. 

We were actually pretty against going to franchised shops, but we were starved and it was late.. so we came here lolll

* GYU-UDON SET (3/5)

The best part about the udon was actually the egg. The soft boiled egg was so creamy and delicious! The best way to eat it is to break the egg into the soup base. The marinated beef was also delish - it's marinated with sweet, sukiyaki-like sauce. This udon set lacks the amount of soup with the udon. I barely got any soup with it so it was too dry for my liking. If there were more soup base, I would give this a 4-star rating :)

😻 Picture makes the udon shop darker than it seems... it's actually VERY bright in there! 😻

Side note: This boutique sized udon shop is catered to those who want to eat alone or in groups of two. The shop isn't big enough for a large party size. When we were there, we saw a lot of "salary-man" who ate alone.

Hanamaru Udon

￥￥￥  Udon

北砂2丁目17-1
江東区, 東京都 〒136-0073
Japan

アウルの森 浅草新仲見世通り店 Owl Cafe - Tokyo, Japan *.

😻 Behold.. my new love for OWLS! 😻

This is the first time I've ever encountered owls.. and pet them!! 

😻 This is the owl that attracted me to go in the cafe haha 😻

I had so much fun at アウルの森! Thanks to this owl cafe, owls have become one of my favourite animals. There were approximately 15+ different types of owls when I visited. Note that some owls are petting-friendly and those with a warning sign, you should observe from afar. Sadly, one of the non-pet-able owls was Hedwig (refer to Harry Potter). 

😻 Check out Hedwig(s)! 😻

I saw someone attempt to pet an owl with a warning sign and the owl went crazy.. so don't do it! I was surprised to see baby otters as part of the owl cafe, there was even a chameleon! There was also a dog, that received zero affection from the visitors LOL.. poor thing!! I pet it once - then got distracted by the main attractions hahaha.

You will be asked to sanitize your hands after you pay for your visit at the front of the store. Your entry fee includes one drink, which can be retrieved from the vending machines. Hot and/or cold items are available in the vending machines. Additional drinks can be purchased for 100 yen.

😻 ...and the peach tea was really delicious by the way..! 😻

I had so much fun petting owls!! My favourite owl was the one that was sitting on the bench. I was able to get a very nice picture with sun rays and all with her haha - super satisfied. 

😻 Here's my magical moment :) 😻
I'd highly recommend owl cafes to anyone who love animals. It's rare to have close encounters with these precious fur balls so visit if you have a chance :)

😻 Mori-chan and I :D 😻

アウルの森 浅草新仲見世通り店

￥￥  テーマカフェ

〒111-0032 東京都台東区
浅草1-22-3

キョウズアン - Kyoto, Japan *.

We stumbled upon this ice cream shop on our way back from visiting Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. 

😻 Refer to my food IG for a short clip of me shaking the ice cream! 😻

It's on the way to the station if you're taking the pubic transit from Arashiyama Station. 
We were craving ice cream because of the hot weather and I'm happy that I did because this place has such DELICIOUS ice cream!! 

I'd highly recommend trying their tofu ice cream. I've tried the mixed flavour which includes both the sesame and tofu flavour. Having tried both, I'd choose tofu flavour over sesame flavour any day! Its specialty is that the ice cream doesn't fall off the cone easily, the lady who worked at the shop actually gave me my ice cream upside down! I confidently shook my ice cream after to test it out - safe - haha!

Kyo Zu An

￥￥￥  Cafes, Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt

京都市, 京都府
Japan