Alodia Gosiengfiao, AKB48, Akishibu Project, Kawaii 5 and Friends at Cool Japan Festival 2015

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We just experienced the biggest Japanese event dubbed as Cool Japan Festival 2015 last November 7 and 8, 2015 courtesy of Hallo Hallo Alliance.

The event highlighted the biggest idols from Japan and the Philippines namely AKB48 Team 8, our very own cosplay queen Alodia Gosiengfiao, Akishibu Project, Kawaii 5 (featuring Amachan), the Japanese drum group Tokoro Taiko, Hello Kitty and Doraemon and his friends Nobita and Shizuka.

Alodia Gosiengfiao did a fabulous song number with the Akishibu Project to the delight of the crowd who were all fans of both celebrities.

The two day festival also featured Japanese-inspired attractions like the teamLab Drawing Aquarium where drawings on paper come to life on massive screen, http://www.team-lab.net/en/all/products/aquarium.html, the teamLab Camera where a photobooth with 3 kinds of fun backgrounds and unique themes is available: https://youtu.be/Pfb1taVJ5Ac, a real Sushi Nigiri Experience where they had a chef straight from Japan who taught attendees how to make sushi!

There were also a Make-up Workshop where we learned the kawaii style makeups from BCL cosmetics, a Hello Kitty / Sanrio booth giving you nothing but cute and kitty goodies!

Hattendo Japanese Chilled Cream Buns Now in the Philippines

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Now making their presence felt in the Philippines is a new product that will change the way you eat bread. The product comes with different fillings but the outside appearance all look the same except for the colors of the Japanese writings in the wrapping.

The Hattendo Japanese Chilled Creams Buns were sort of weird at first touch because I was totally surprised it was cold, or as they say "chilled." I'm not really used to having cold buns for snacks, but I gave it a try. Why not? I asked myself. This was my first time to try something like this but definitely liked the product at my very first bite.

It was actually on display at an event that I attended on August 27, 2015 so the curiosity within me stepped in to inquire about the product from always want to try something new. Thus I immediately approached the lady who was attending to the Hattendo booth. There I found out from her that it was free for tasting, and she asked me to get one that I like. I asked for a recommendation on which flavor was the best and she gave me three choices. I chose the Custard flavor, and gladly can say I enjoyed it up to the last bite.

I found myself coming back to ask for more because I wanted to try out the other flavors like Matcha, Azuki Bean and many others, and luckily got to eat my second piece of Hattendo Japanese chilled cream bun that day, of which eventually they approached me and said that they will give me a few more in exchange of a blog review. They probably realized I liked it so much so they're giving me a great chance to splurge on the product. I agreed because that's great news that will also give me the opportunity to share it with my wife and kids.

Watch The “Jungle” Come Back To Life With K: Return Of Kings, Same-Day-As-Japan On Animax!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Anime fans, look out! Highly rated television anime series K will be back on the small screen this October with its second season K: Return of Kings, airing same day as Japan, first and exclusively on Animax – Asia’s first 24-hour Japanese anime channel.

Wildly popular, even four years later

Since its 2012 debut, the K series has seen more than 10 anime and light novel spin-offs including K: Missing Kings, which was made into a film of the same name in July 2014. Since the announcement of this new season in May this year, the anime series has made countless appearances on international anime news sites, but it was in these last three months that K really dominated the online buzz in the scene, thanks to a “100 days” promotional video and visual campaign by writer GoRa and Japanese animation studio GoHands.

More power, more action

Fans can expect to see even more action in K: Return of Kings, as modern-day kings armed with high-tech outfits and weapons continue to lead their colour-represented clans through thrilling conflicts in the concrete “jungle” – Shizume City. And not only is original director Shingo Suzuki back on the team with a fresh storyline, he is also the man behind the new characters, namely Green King Nagare Hisui, the strongest and most influential one of all.

Those who love anison can also look forward to the release of “Asymmetry”, the season’s opening theme composed by popular pop group angela. The track is performed by Yui Horie, who voices the character of Red clansman Anna Kushina in K. On top of that, the author of the series Tatsuki Miyazawa pens the ending theme “Kai”, which is performed by four-member group Customi-Z.

Ready for war? K: Return of Kings premieres in 3 October 2015, airing every Saturday at 11pm with an encore the next day at 8pm, first and exclusively on Animax.

Animax is seen on SKYCable Channel 46, Cignal Digital TV Channel 34 and Dream Channel 7.

Ginzadon Japanese and Korean Restaurant

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Now I know why my new-found Japanese friend understood our Korean friend very well. There's even a restaurant dedicated to both nationalities - Japanese and Korean. This means there's got to be something common with the two. So without reading anything yet, I decided to try out this restaurant located within Resorts World Manila.

The restaurant is called Ginzadon Japanese and Korean Restaurant specifically located at the Maxim's Tower Hotel. These are said to be two different cultures but must be complementing each other to give enough reason to serve them in one venue.

I initially thought it was a little odd at first to be naming a restaurant like that but they must have valid reason for such an arrangement. In my case, I don't really look into the origins of the cuisine. Whatever passes to my taste buds is good enough for me even if it's a fusion with a twist of many cuisines.

But because I wanted to limit my meal budget to only Php 1,000 but still get more food from the amount, I think I ended up only ordering from the Japanese menu. I forgot to take photos of the menu which I normally do whenever I dine for the first time at a newly discovered restaurant but in this case I was overwhelmed with the small but luxurious place so I neglected that routine.

This is why I'm just referring to the bill where it states the name and price of the dish, and hopefully its the same name as written on the menu. If not, it may be the shortcut or coded version of its lengthy name.

Ryu Ramen & Curry: Feasting on Fabulously Flavorful Tantanmen Dishes

Wazzup Pilipinas!

It was time for another Open Rice Philippines foodie meet-up at another notable restaurant in the Metro. My taste buds was highly anticipating another tasty treat this time at a Japanese ramen house known as Ryu Ramen & Curry located at the SM Jazz Residences in Makati. You'll find the restaurant facing the Nicanor Garcia street side just opposite the Crown Center building where One Asia Center, our virtual and office-sharing home, is holding office.

Ryu Ramen & Curry currently have other branches located in Tomas Morato in Quezon City and Up Town Center in Katipunan Avenue, also in Quezon City. I'm sure they will eventually expand into more branches soon just like every other restaurant in the country. The proliferation of restaurant chains in the country is a testament that Filipinos really love eating, may it be local or international-inspired culinary dishes.

Ryu Ramen & Curry takes pride in offering authentic Japanese specialty dishes that satisfactory pleases the Filipino taste. Their spicy dishes can be served in mild version so that even children can appreciate the flavorful culinary treats that lingers even after hours of eating from the restaurant.

Our Open Rice Philippines foodie meet-up at Ryu Ramen & Curry takes us to experience their fabulously flavorful Tantanmen dishes. They have five variations of the Tantanmen but unfortunately only four were served due to the unavailability of the tender Angus beef that is the main ingredient in one of the Tantanmen varieties.