Jet-Set Japan

AEON Shopping Mall

December 24, 2018February 8, 2019Food and Drink, ShoppingLeave a Comment

Happy Holidays!

Brandon and I have been busy this holiday season, but Brandon and his friends were able to travel to Japan in November for almost two weeks. So, we’re preparing to push out a lot of content over the next few months.

Because it’s the holiday season, our post is about SHOPPING. Japan has tons of department stores and shopping malls where you can easily spend half the day, but let’s take a look at a specific shopping mall ー AEON.

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The AEON, pronounced ee-ohn, in the photos were taken at AEON Style Shingawa Seaside. Shingawa Seaside Station is on the Rinkai Line and the next station from Tennozu Isle Station, which has direct access to Haneda Airport.

Unfortunately, AEON Style’s homepage is not in English, but here are some details:

Business Hours:
B1 Supermarket: 8:00am-12:00am
B1 Food Court: Restaurants have various business hours
B1 Starbucks: 7:00am-10:00pm

1F, 2F, 3F: Most stores are open from 9:00am-11:00pm, but some stores have different business hours.

Shops:
B1: Supermarket, food court, and other specialty shops.
1F: Women’s fashion, Health & Body Care
2F: Kids’, Baby, Men’s fashion
3F: Interior Decor & Furniture, Electronics

Most importantly, and undoubtedly our favorite area, the supermarket!

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Here’s a tip for those late nights when you want a snack before bed: supermarkets start putting discount stickers on food after about 7:00 or 8:00pm, so swing by to get a good deal, but if you go too late, the only option you have might be kimchee cucumbers or potato salad.

Keep an eye out for more updates!

(Sapporo Trip – Part 5) COSTCO

November 22, 2018December 25, 2018Food and Drink, ShoppingLeave a Comment

The last part of Brandon’s Sapporo trip is about COSTCO.

Brandon took the limousine bus from the 1st Floor of the domestic arrivals area in the New Chitose Airport. It takes about 35 minutes and cost 930 Yen one way, and you have to get off at Sanrizuka Shogakko. It’s on the left side of the road, which is the same side you will be traveling on, and is visible from the bus.

If you are traveling there from Sapporo City, check out Sapporo COSTCO’s webpage for detailed directions.

For those who might not know, to shop at COSTCO, you have to possess membership.

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If you have shopped at COSTCO before, there are a lot of products you have seen before, but you can find Japanese food, drinks, and alcohol. The sushi and sashimi platters are reasonably priced, and there’s usually something to taste, which is sometimes grilled fish or nigiri maguro sushi.

Another good thing about COSTCO in Sapporo is customers will neatly park their carts when they are in the food court.

If you want to see what a COSTCO in Japan is like or if you want to picnic or barbecue during your visit, COSTCO is a good place to check out.

(Sapporo Trip – Part 4) Mt. Moiwa

November 19, 2018November 19, 2018Autumn/Fall, Nature, WeatherLeave a Comment

Part 4 of Brandon’s Sapporo trip is Mt. Moiwa, which is one of the best spots for viewing Sapporo’s city lights.

Mt. Moiwa is located about 45 minutes from Susukino. This is how to get there:

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From the 4 pictures in the slideshow above:

DO NOT GO THIS WAY Picture: When searching on Google Maps on how to get to the Mt. Moiwa Ropeway from Susukino, it will tell you to take the Sapporo Shiden street car and get off at Denshajigyosho-mae Station. If you take this route, you will have to walk up steep stairs and then pass a temple with a cemetary, which is not very scenic.
The BETTER Way: Take the Sapporo Shiden street car to Ropeway Iriguchi Station. There is a free shuttle bus from the Station to the Mt. Moiwa Ropeway (5 minute ride) that departs about every 20 minutes, which is recommended if you or your somebody in your party has difficulty walking.
From Ropeway Iriguchi Station: It is a 5-minute walk uphill.
Ropeway & Minicar Tickets: First the ropeway will take you most of the way up the mountain, and then you will transfer to a minicar that will take you to the summit. It’s 1700 Yen for a roundtrip ticket for both the ropeway and minicar.

Here’s the view when you get there:

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Some tips when going to the top of Mt. Moiwa:

There is an omiyage (souvenir shop), vending machines with hot and cold drinks, and a restaurant, but we recommend bringing your own snacks, o-bentos (lunch boxes), and drinks.
If you are visiting during cooler/colder weather, pack some warm clothes buy hokkairo (hand warmers) that can be bought in convenience stores or pharmacies.
The summit can get quite windy, so make sure your things don’t get blown away.
Be flexible with your planning because it might be cloudy on one day but sunny on another day.

Last part is:

Part 5 – COSTCO

(Sapporo Trip – Part 3) Jingisukan (Grilled Mutton)

November 16, 2018January 12, 2019Food and DrinkLeave a Comment

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Jingisukan is Japanese for “Genghis Khan” (yes, that Genghis Khan). According to this website (in Japanese), there are a few schools of though of how this dish got its name, but it seems that the name jingisukan was created during Japan’s occupation of Manchuria or the dish itself is based on a dish that was made in Manchuria. However, Mongolia has no direct connection to jingisukan, except that sheep’s a major staple food in Mongolia.

When grilling and eating jingisukan for the first time, you will recognize the more gamey aroma. So, if you want to ease into it, we recommend ordering jingisukan that is marinated in a special sauce, which is shoyu-(soy sauce) based. The sauce does help with killing some of the gamey-ness.

From the pictures above, you can see that the grill is dome-shaped with the vegetables (bean sprouts and onions) on the bottom edges and the meat goes on dome. The juices from the meat and the sauce, if you choose marinated jingisukan, will drip down and help with cooking the vegetables.

If you love meat, give this local cuisine a try!

Coming soon:

Part 4 – Mt. Moiwa
Part 5 – COSTCO

(Sapporo Trip – Part 2) Japanese Fast Food

November 12, 2018January 9, 2019Autumn/Fall, Food and Drink, Seasons, UncategorizedLeave a Comment

Here’s Part 2 of our 5 part series about Brandon’s trip to Sapporo.

When people hear “fast food”, images of McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, Jack in the Box, and so on will more than likely pop up. Japan does have McDonald’s and Burger King, but the Japanese take on fast food is, for lack of vocabulary, awesome.

Here are a few examples of Japanese fast food:

Tonkatsu Curry with Cheese from Curry House CoCo Ichibanya (aka “CoCo Ichi”)

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This homemade tonkatsu curry is available for a limited time throughout the year. For those who don’t know, ton means pork and katsu is short for katsuretsu, which means cutlet in English. Brandon tried this dish for the first time during this last trip, and this is my (Chad’s) favorite CoCo Ichi dish. You can cut the tonkatsu with your spoon!

When ordering curry at CoCo Ichi, you can choose the amount of rice (“less” 200g and 51 Yen cheaper, “regular” 300g, and “more” which has different amounts) and the spiciness of the curry (mild, regular, 1-10).

Curry dishes with something deep fried will take about 5 minutes to prepare, if the restaurant isn’t busy.
Katsudon

There are many restaurants that serve katsudon, tonkatsu donburi (bowl). Deep fried, tonkatsu (breaded, deep fried pork cutlet) on rice, and depending on the region in Japan, the tonkatsu is further cooked in a sweet shoyu (soy sauce) broth with egg or just has a special sauce.
Tenzaru Soba (Tempura & Zaru Soba)

Tempura, which was originally introduce by the Portuguese, is a seafood and/or vegetables that are battered and deep fried.Zaru Soba is cold soba (buckwheat noodles) with a dipping sauce.What are those three small dishes on the bottom? From left to right, dipping sauce, grated daikon (Japanese radish) with grated ginger, leek and wasabi. Many people put all of these into the dipping sauce before eating a bite, and I don’t think this is the right way to eat zaru soba. In my opinion, first, you should eat a few bites of the soba with just the dipping sauce. The water in the soba will slowly dilute the dipping sauce, so this is why you should slowly add daikon, ginger, leek, or wasabi little by little. By doing this, you will be able to enjoy different flavors. Personally, I first add a little daikon and leek, followed by wasabi, and finishing with ginger. I start with the milder daikon and leek before the bold wasabi and finish with refreshing ginger.
Kaiten-zushi

Kaiten (rotating/spinning)-zushi (sushi) is probably the most well-known Japanese fast food, and the quality of fish available in Sapporo is one of the best in Japan.

There are many other types of Japanese fast food, for example gyūdon (beef bowl), tendon (tempura donburi), and other types that are area-specific. So, don’t be afraid to go out there and explore these different convenient and ono (delicious) fast food dishes!

Coming soon:

Part 3 – Jingisukan (Grilled mutton)
Part 4 – Mt. Moiwa
Part 5 – COSTCO