 1. Oiran Dochu Prosession The Oiran Dochu Prosession is held every year on the second Saturday of April. We happened to be in Tokyo at that time so we thought why miss out on the opportunity to see Geishas?  The Oiran parade/procession was not invented for tourist. During the days, they were done everyday to serve as advertising for the various Geisha houses. Sort of like the parade that Mulan took part in when she was visiting the matchmakers.    Several girls from the area are dressed up as oiran of different levels with the highest ranking one wearing a kimono , traditional clogs and a wig weighing several pounds. They walk for about 2km up to a stage where they will re-enact a meeting with a "customer".   You might not be around in Tokyo to catch the Oiran Dochu prosession but there are many similar events that go on every weekend. I found out about this and many other events at the Tokyo Chepo website. (Click here to be brought there). They release weekly articles about events that are going on during the weekend in Tokyo. I also personal messaged the admin of the Tokyo Chepo page on Facebook to ask for directions to the procession and they were really helpful. I suggest using them if you're ever planning a trip to Toyko.  
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 2. Traditional Sweets + Matcha at Kosoan TeaHouse I larrrfff tea. I love love love love love love tea. Being in Tokyo for the first time, I HAD to try their matcha. And I didn't want to go for any ordinary matcha, I wanted it to be as authentic as Japan could get. So I scoured the internet for a traditional tea house that was not too far from our AirBnb and found Kosoan TeaHouse.  When you step out of the Metro Station, you are greeted with shoppers and small shops all on hills that reminded me of a mix of San Fran (USA) and Dalian (China). The shops you find here are not your usual touristy shops as the area is more of a local attraction and often overlooked by tourist because it is quiet a train ride from the city. You will see a mix of hipster-ish shops together with traditional stores (They had really beautiful porcelain!). All of which is a breath of fresh air from the usual hustle and bustle of Tokyo.  It wasn't the easiest to find the tea house but you'll eventually find it. There is no English sign other than a small wooden board that says "Open". A tip is to use Google Maps! The entrance will lead you to a beautiful (and quiet)garden and you'll see an Old Japanese House that serves as the Tea House. Everyone there talks in hush voices and seats on traditional Tatami mats. There is not much seating so be prepared to wait for a bit to go in. We had to wait for 15 minutes. But it really was an easy wait when you are surrounded with such a pretty garden.  Kosoan Tea House has a limited menu , and you can chose between less that 15 items. Honestly after you try the first dish, you're going to be tempted to try everything. Also, they do not do takeaway. All items on their menu are traditional. So you're not going to get any other influences other than Japanese. All items were surprisingly priced very reasonably.  I would advise to try their sets rather than just ordering a drink individually. I believe that every snack item is crafted to complement the drink that it is paired with. If you're not a fan of tea, they have other beverages like Strawberry Milk and Coffee but honestly, you go to a tea house to drink tea okay? Click here to see their menu  Darrel got a traditional cold noodles paired with tea. I didn't quiet like it but I was glad that I got to try a traditional dish. This would be something that I won't be able to try in more commercial stores. It tasted like a mix of slimy octopus and cold soba noodles.   I had their matcha + mochi + redbean that tasted OHMYGERD SO GOOD. The matcha by itself was AMAZING.  This is one place that I would definitely recommend to anyone visiting Tokyo. I would advise to put aside some time to explore the streets and shops near by Kosoan as well. There will be a part 2 coming out soon. Stay tuned! Want to keep in touch? Follow my daily adventures and escapades on Instagram! 
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LOHAS stands for "Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability". Be Lohas is a restaurant that is committed to promote healthy vegetarian cuisine which promises their customers only the best, delicious healthy organic dishes. I was invited to try the very healthy and organic food at Be Lohas , a restaurant under BMS Organics two weeks ago. The Be Lohas outlet in One Utama is next to Cold Storage and opposite Obanhmi. It serves as both an F &B outlet and a retail store.   The store was medium sized. It could fit about 50 ish people. The tables were very close together. BMS Organics started promoting healthy organic vegetarian lifestyles since 1997. While there were many vegetarian shops out there, many of their dishes contained MSG, GMO ingredients, preservatives, pesticides and were prepared with high temperature deep frying. BMS wanted to be the first in the market to provide genuinely clean and healthy food.  Be Lohas Healthy Cuisine organic Cafe was first introduced in 2007 with their outlet in Bandar Puteri Puchong. They now have 16 outlets around KL and another 46 retail outlets. Check out their FB page here. I brought along the Grumpy Cat and his family for the review because good food needs to be enjoyed with good company. Before our meal came, we were each given two complimentary organic Spirulina pills to chew and a cup of lemon grass ginger tea. It even came with instructions!   Never have I been to a restaurant where I needed to take pills first before I eat. This was rather exciting for me. Out of the 4 of us that day, 3 of us were completely new to this experience. 
"What is this foreign pill that I am about to consume?"
Questions running in our head were "Should we really be eating this?" , "MMM, let's smell it first? ", "Okay, Smells like an ordinary vitamin pill". However, the grumpy cat's mom, who is not a stranger to such organic restaurants assured us that it was a very okay and even a healthy thing to do. To read about the benefits of Spirulina click here to be directed to the Wikipedia page or here to read an article about it on Live Strong.  The lemon grass ginger tea was really good. If I hadn't already got my months' supply of tea in the office, I would have definitely bought it. I would not mind drinking only that for the rest of the day. #GoodTea #IReallyLikeTea
It was really good tea!
Aunty ordered the famous " 5 Colours Energy Lei Cha". Though the dish was completely foreign to me, I have to say it was a very Instragram worthy dish. 
What it looked like in the menu.
 All the pretty colours! According to aunty, you are supposed to have different colours of vegetables and fruits a day. Each colour nourishes different parts of our organs. You can read about it in the Be Lohas E-Book Menu here.    This is the Lei Cha's "soup". You're supposed to combine all the ingredients given with your rice and then soak it with the soup given. 
Look at this colourful and healthy goodness
 It was such a fun dish to have. It felt like you were playing masak-masak. Taste wise, Aunty gave it a 7/10. When I asked her what could be improved more about it, she said that she wished it had more taste but that would mean adding MSG. She says that maybe her tastebuds were already used to food with so much MSG that when she ate something as healthy as this, it taste very plain and bland. Health wise however, she gave it a big 10/10! I did give it a try myself. I've never had Lei Cha before so I don't think I'm the right person to review it. It did taste very 'green' though. I later realised from tasting that the soup was actually made out of mint. Definitely gave my tastebuds a good jolt! It was something new for me that I got to experience. However, I don't think I could order it in the future. It's way to "green" for my liking. Grumpy Cat got himself the Soy Cheese Baked Spiral with Tomato Sauce. 
What it looked like in the menu.
 In my opinion, this was the best dish among all of them. It was so cheesy. I was under the impression that soy cheese would not taste as good as regular cheese but I was wrong. In fact, it was way cheesier but tasted less 'heavy' (or ' zhai' in chinese) which meant that I could eat way more! I stole this dish after trying it and he ended up eating the rest of mine.   Inside the dish was spiral spaghetti, vegetables and more cheese that have been mixed with tomato sauce and it was goooooood. I wold give it an 8/10.It was missing more points was because I kept thinking that some ground beef or pepperoni slices would have gone so well with the dish. Oh well, you can't have best of both worlds. The Grumpy Cat's younger brother was not too pleased to come along. Being a teen, I don't think eating healthy was his interest yet. However, I do see a new trend emerging among the young to be fit ,strong and healthy. Maybe he had not picked up on it yet. He got himself a Pesto Sauce Spaghetti 
What it looked like in the menu.
Doesn't it look delicious?
I love how they had olives and pecans in them. The younger brother however was not a fan, He mentioned that the dish had no taste and felt like he was eating plain noodles. He playfully gave the dish a rating of 3 but later changed it to 5. 
But doesn't it look like a pretty dish?
I tried the dish as well, and I have to agree that it was rather tasteless. Maybe there was not enough pesto sauce. However, it did taste very clean . I would give it a 5 as well. I believe that it would have tasted better if there was more tasteful ingredients or more sauce. I ordered myself their "Rainbow Claypot Rice" 
What it looked like in the menu.
*GAAAAH. I was editing the pictures and then accidentally deleted all the pictures of this dish*
Sigh blogger fail.
Never mind, I'll
This picture was taken from www.selinawing.com . She blogged about Be Lohas as well.
I enjoyed this dish. It had a mix of flavours that the spaghetti was lacking. The rise was cooked well. I would give it a 7/10. I only wish they had some of those fake meat in it. (Haha, I don't think I can ever be vegetarian, I want meat in everything). Maybe fake salted fish? Or a fried egg? 
This picture was from secret-spices.blogspot.com .
I could not finish the entire thing on my own. Had to share with the Grumpy Cat. He enjoyed the dish as well. He said it tasted like 'usual clay pot rice, just without the meat and way healthier"
I surely did enjoy myself. I think the lesson I learnt today was that tasty and flavourful food does not always translate to healthy food. Sometimes, you just need to go back to basics and have a clean , green meal! After our meal, we walked around a bit in their retail outlet. They had a large selection of products to choose from. Some of them were even at really reasonable prices.  I don't think I could ever bring myself to go fully organic or vegetarian. I have been influenced by the wonders of burgers and tacos way too much. However, it would be something I turn to whenever I feel like my body needs a cleanse. Do give Be Lohas a visit if you're ever looking for a clean, healthy and green meal. LG 310, One Utama Shopping Mall (New Wing), 1 Persiaran Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor D.E. Tel: 03-7725 0828 Business Hours : Mon-Thurs & Sun : 10am-10pm / Fri-Sat : 10am-10.30pm Website: http://www.bmsorganics.com/home/ Want to keep in touch? Follow my daily adventures and escapades on Instagram! Labels: adverts, food, health, kl, malaysia, reviews 0 lovely comments ✿
If you are ever in Malacca and looking for a cozy place to kill some time or for affordable high quality drinks, I have got the place for you. 
No, Jangan Takut, this is not the place. This is just a picture that I took while walking along Jonker Street.
My friend Kim and I made a random one day trip to Malacca a week a go. Our first stop was to get our hands on the very famous Klebang Coconut Milkshake. I already blogged about the famous coconut shake during my last visit to Malacca. You can read about it here. I remember the shake being so good that I just had to try it again. Kim gave it a 10/10. It still tasted the same and the price remained the same as well. How awesome is that? The line was way longer this time but the wait was totally worth it. If I could, I'll invite the franchise to serve at my wedding and every one of my children's' birthday parties. 
Pretty windows at Jonker Street
Kim ruining my shot.
Our next stop was Jonker street. Actually. if you ever go to Malacca and only have about half a day to spend, Jonker Street is the place to go. They have all the famous Malacca-ian food there and the architecture is amazing. The food won't be the best of the best though. More like renditions of the famous dishes, but you can't ask for much. They manage to house everything in one road! It's like a mini Malacca.
If you're a tourist visiting Malacca, a one day trip should be enough. And then I say head on over to Ipoh where the real food is! 
A street performer along Jonker Street
  Parking was not to hard to find. It was free parking as well. Kim and I have been wanting to visit the cafe for awhile now. We have been in conversation with the cafe owner for quite some time and we wanted to see the result of his ideas and hard work coming to life.      We visited the cafe on the third day of their operations. The cafe still has not had their grand opening yet but it will be really soon ! Once inside, we were greeted by friendly staff and a cosy environment. The staff are still playing around with the furniture placement , so you might just see a new set up when you visit. By the way, the pictures were taken during closing hour which explains why it was empty. When we arrived banyak orang okay! I first noticed how really affordable everything was. I guess I'm used to KL pricing already but for a cafe, I was ready to easily spend at least RM 10- 15 on a good drink.    
Click to enlarge the menu
This is the Cafe Owner Azim whom I recently got close to during the last semester of university. Right after our last examination ended and the submission of our thesis, while the rest of us went on a month long hibernation, Azim went to coffee school (did I say that right?) to learn how to make the best cup of coffee. He hopes to pass on his craft to rest of his workforce but for now, he will be the Coffee Sifu at Coffeeology Cafe!  Kim decided on a Cappuccino , while I chose to have a Banana Booster Smoothie. I realize that I'm no longer a fan of coffee. I don't think I ever was. I just liked drinking it because it was the trend and mom was always having coffee so I thought it was the "normal" thing to drink. However, I tend to go for more fruity drinks or tea now. I don't like the after taste of coffee and no matter what I eat for the rest of the day, I can always taste coffee. 
Cappuccino @ RM7.80
Banana Booster Smoothie @ RM8.90
Kim and I also shared a slice of cake that I totally forgot the name of. Coffeeology Cafe has not decided yet if they would be selling certain type of cakes everyday so for now, you're in for a surprise every time you visit. The selection is basically down to "what the chef feels like doing today" which I find great. Only when the cook has put soul into preparing the food does the food carry meaning.   If I'm not mistaken, this was the Pecan Caramel Cake. I'm most probably going to be wrong about its name. I was pleasantly surprised by the cake. I did not expect to find crispy pieces of honey roasted pecans inside the cake. It was a light bite . Kim and I finished it in a jiffy. Kim, Azim and I continued chatting until dinner time at the cafe. I decided that it would be best to fill our tummies before starting our journey back to Kuala Lumpur. I am not a fan of rest stop food. Kim and I shared a Carbonara Spaghetti.  
Spaghetti Carbonara @ RM11
The Carbonara was light. I usually like my Carbonara creamy and wet with lots of sauce so this dish didn't meet my fancy. It tasted good though, but it could do with more sauce in my opinion. Kim on the other hand loved it because she didn't like the consistency of the usual thick creamed Carbonaras. I guess we both have different preferences. We ended our dinner with a dessert called Cheese Kut?. It first caught my eye because it looked like an Oreo Cheesecake. However the staff explained to be that it was a mix of layered milk crackers, drenched with cream and topped with crushed chocolate cookies.  
Overall, it was a quirky taste. I expected a cake-y texture, and to taste some chocolate but instead I got a really rich cheese consistency with some crunch from the biscuits. I don't think there are words to describe it but I have to say it was interesting. If you are thinking about trying it, share it with a friend because it comes in a big serving and can be a bit of a mouthful.
 So yeah. head over if you're ever in Malacca. Maybe tell Azim that I sent you, you might just get a tiny discount :P Coffeeology Cafe & Restaurant 23 Ixora Condomunium Bukit Beruang Street de Dahlia Avenue, Malacca 012-691-2090 Opening Hours 12pm - 12am, however this may be refined soon so I suggest you call them before visiting. Check them out on FB here  Labels: baking, food, friends, malaysia, reviews, travel 0 lovely comments ✿
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 Miss World Malaysia 2014 Finalist Commercial & Advertorial Talent Blogger // Creative Pony Hi :) I'm Sabrina. I've been blogging for 11 years now. That makes me sound old but I'm not. Really I love to travel, find good bargains and watch Modern Family I have 8 ankles and can talk dog Please do check out my portfolio at the navigations above ❤ all inquiries should be forwarded to sabrinaclilian@gmail.com As seen on
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