What I Ate: Sushi at Furarizushi Fushimi

Our friend Keiko took us to Furarizushi Fushimi for lunch in Nagoya. It was a 10 minute walk from our hotel in Sakae area.

She made reservations which is a really good idea because the restaurant fills up quickly especially on a Sunday.

We were seated on the second floor with our own little booth.

The opposite wall of our booth. Would love one of these big bottles of sake.

Trying to figure out what meal set to order. We had plenty to choose from and most set was under ¥1,500. If you don't want the set meals, you can also order individual items - some bowls cost less than ¥700. 

This is what I ordered. Had to get the sushi set with tempura. It also came with miso soup, a small box of rice with tuna sashimi on top, a little dessert, and custard with crab (which I happily shared). I shared my meal so I didn't eat this massive portion alone. 

I still dream of this sushi platter. It was sooo sooo good. And I love having variety.

A's meal. He got a smaller set so he can eat my food ;) Love a good chirashi bowl.

Keiko and me reunited in Nagoya!

And this is her set. She also got unagi.

The food here was delicious and the price was great too! Highly recommend this place if you are staying in Nagoya. 

The aftermath...We had food coma after eating so we went for a walk.

What I Ate: Unagi Shirakawa - Hitsumabushi

Nagoya is famous for hitsumabushi which is grilled eel eaten with rice 3 ways. It took several trips before I finally tried this dish in Nagoya. My friend Keiko recommended going to Shirakawa in Sakae to eat this famous dish. 

A and I went there at 5pm so we can beat the dinner rush. It was located in the basement of a building. When we arrived, there was already a line as the restaurant was still closed. We put our names down on the list and sat down and waited. 

A few minutes later, each one of us were called and we entered the restaurant.

We were given the English menu. We picked our meal and waited for our food to arrive.

Once, the food arrived, we had to follow the strict instructions on how to eat the hitsumabushi.

Zappeion, Athens

It's a good idea to not look at your phone for directions sometimes because you can end up finding a random street full of flowering plants. Athens has a lot of streets just waiting to be explored. 

Had to take advantage of it by taking a lot of pictures of the flowers and also of myself during "golden hour". 

We ended up walking around the National Garden without even knowing it. And found the Zappeion building in between the gardens. 

I first saw this building on tv while watching "The Amazing Race". I was so surprised that we found it by chance. I was so happy to see it in person.
And I love the columns decorating the entrance of the building. The Zappeion was built for the Olympics Games in 1986 but it is not used as a meetings and ceremonies of the government.

We found more columns inside. How amazing is that?

The circular entrance is lined with columns with an open roof.

Hellenic Parliament

We walked from Monastiraki to Syntagma Square. It's always busy here so it's a good place to people watch. Found a bench and sat there for awhile. 

Finally got up from sitting and climbed the stairs up to see the Hellenic Parliament.

We saw a crowd of people starting to gather in front of the entrance and I knew that it was almost time for the changing of the guards.

It was interesting to watch the guards perform the ceremony in their uniforms. I applaud them for enduring the heat while wearing their full uniform. 

What I Ate: Hong Kong Part III

We took a day trip to Lamma Island. It took about 30 minutes from Central to Lamma island by ferry. Our main reason for going there was for the seafood. 

This where we decided to have our lunch. Perfect view! 

And they have no shortage of it there. A lot of restaurants are lined up next to the port. Each restaurant has an array of live seafood for customers to choose from. You pick the seafood and they cook it for you. 

It's something I miss when I'm back in Canada. You can never get the same quality of seafood. Our friends ordered all the food again because they know what to get. They ordered clams with oyster sauce and that was really good. I never get to eat this in Toronto. It was very tasty.

They also ordered crab but I'm allergic so I didn't sample it. Everyone else loved it ;)

Yeung chow fried rice!

And razor clams! This is the best! It was so juicy and tasty. I loved the way they cooked this with rice noodles top with garlic. It was definitely the big winner for me.

One of our dinners was at Crystal Jade Restaurant in Times Square.

The photo above was the most amazing dish I ate there. It's the shredded chicken and bean starch sheets with sesame sauce. It was refreshing!

Fried dumplings. We also ordered xiao long bao but we ate it so fast I forgot to take a photo.

Sauteed green soybean with bean curd sheets and preserved vegetables.

And this chicken and vegetable handmade noodle soup.  I was not a fan of it.

Red bean pancake for dessert.

Bohol Tour - Man made forest & Bamboo hanging bridge

We drove through the mahogany man made forest but didn't stop until we were on our way back because we wanted to get to Chocolate hills first.

Everyone stops here to take a photo! It's stretches for 2km. It provides shade from the sun and heat during summer.

I was quite impressed to see the thick trunks of the trees. I wondered how old the trees are. The trees were thriving here. And I have never seen anything quite like it in the Philippines. Usually it's bamboo or coconut trees. 

I'm glad that this forest is preserved and no one is trying to cut it down.

The stop after that was the bamboo hanging bridge. The entrance fee is ₱10 per person.

I was intimated to walk the bridge but decided to just go for it. I was holding the hand rails with my dear life. The bridge was shaky and I was so scared that it was going to fall apart. And I will plunge down on the river. 

I took little steps and got scared each time I moved my feet. The bamboo bridge floor was of course uneven so I had to watch my step to make sure I don't get my sandals stuck.

It was absolutely fine! I was worrying too much. After a couple of steps, I was feeling better. But was still hanging on, haha. 

Managed to get a photo.

I was happy to walk the hanging bridge because I got to see Loboc river. I didn't pay for the river cruise so this was the next best thing. And I love the trees surrounding the river on either side. The river is green but I was surprised that it was clean. I didn't see trash on the river and on the banks of it. I am really happy about that. Keep our rivers and oceans clean please. 

What I Ate: Athens Part I

It was a meat overload in eating for me in Greece. I was hoping to eat more seafood but ended up eating me a lot more than I wanted. Our first day was spent walking around Monastiraki Square. 

When we got tired, we stopped by this stand to sit down, have a beer and gyros. 

I live close to Greek town here in Toronto so I have eaten a million gyros but nothing beats gyros when you are in the motherland. It was delicious! 

Just look at that piece of art. 

At night, we found a random restaurant close to our hotel. We tried our best to eat healthy by ordering Greek salad. Having greek salad in Greece whoohoo! The feta was divine!

And then we became unhealthy by ordering pork skewers and fries. Sorry.

Happy camper! And I love the cup that the wine came it.