Category Archives: Event

Event, General

Japan Park Singapore 2018 – bringing Japan to Singapore

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Credit © JPSG 2018

Come 4th August, The first inaugural Japan Park Singapore will be held at Suntec Convention Centre. If you like all things Japanese, this is a event that you would want to go. 47 Prefectures of Japan, covering travel, food, technology, lifestyle, entertainment, sports and trends will be there at Japan Park for you to see, experience and taste.

From left: Mr Tomotaka Takahashi (inventor), Ms Rimi Nishimoto (voice actress),  Ms Misa (emcee) and Mr Haruhiko Miyano (organiser of JPSG) Credit © JPSG 2018

Some highlights of the show include:

• Poppin’Party from BanG Dream! will be performing live on the Omakase stage

• Performance by Ukon Nishikawa, renowned Japanese traditional dance performer

• Live performance by sumi (ink painting) artist, OKAZU 

• Appearance by pro-wrestler, Jushin Thunder Liger

• Stage performance by singer, Kiwako Ashimine

• Joseph Schooling will be making an appearance as well

• Exclusive culinary dishes by Keisuke Ramen, Bistro Ryu, Fukuyoshi and many more!

Credit © JPSG 2018

For the foodies, the WA-Shiok Gourmet Festa will feature some of the best Japanese Restaurants in Singapore. From Ramen, to Wagyu Hamburg Steak, some of these items will be priced below $10.

Credit ©BanG Dream! Project ©bushiroad All Rights Reserved

Charaexpo Mini is another highlight of the event for the game and anime fans. There will be games corner for visitors to try and also voice actors and actresses whom you can meet. Bushiroad’s BanG Dream!, Love Live School Idol Festival and Cardfight!! Vanguard will also be featured at Charaexpo Mini.

If you are a fan of the popular anime BanG Dream!, you will be happy to know that Poppin’Party will be performing live at the event itself!

Sales of Early Bird ticket starts on 16 June at www.apactix.com.

Details

Japan Park Singapore 2018

Venue: Suntec City Convention Centre Halls 403-404

Date: 4th and 5th August 2018

Website: http://jpsg.asia

Facebook: JapanParkSG

Instagram: @JapanParkSG

Read on for our exclusive interview with Rimi Nishimoto who provided the voice of Ushigome Rimi in BanG Dream!

Event, General

Pokémon Cafe Tokyo Reservation Guide

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Photo Credit: GameTrader.SG ©

There is a new Pokémon Cafe that opened in March 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. This unlike the previous Pokémon cafe, is a permanent cafe located in Nihonbashi area and is not a pop-up cafe. If you are traveling to Tokyo and also a Pokémon fan, this is a pilgrimage you must make. However, the cafe is not available for walk-in. Follow our guide here on how to get a reservation. For a review of the cafe, read about our experience here.

Getting a reservation

Pokémon cafe is still very popular having open just recently. Booking can only be done via their website and not possible via phone or other methods. Also the website is available only in Japanese. But fret not, here is our guide to make the reservation.

Step 1. Visit the reservation site.

The reservation site is at https://reserve.pokemon-cafe.jp.

Press the button indicated below to start your reservation.

2. Select number of guests

Tip: Reservation is only for max of 4 guests. If you have a party of more than 4, simply book multiple slots. However do note the reservation is tagged to a certain timing and each timing has limited slots, so be sure you make the reservation in quick succession.

3. Select a date

Once you have selected the number of guests, a calendar will pop out below.

The dates that are greyed out means it is full (red box) or the date is not yet open for reservation. You can only select those that are white in color (green box).

Tip: You can only reserve up to a month in advance. Seats are rather limited and can be full fairly quickly. To be the earliest, at 6pm Tokyo time, a month before the date you wish to reserve, visit the reservation site and you will be one of the first to access the booking for the date.

4. Choose a timing

5. Enter your details

This is likely the hardest part for non-Japanese speaker. Basically, you have to enter 1) your name, 2) your phonetic name in ‘hiragana’ (a type of Japanese writing), 3) your contact number and 4) your email.

A sample of filled details:

The mobile number enter should be a Japanese number but you may enter your own country number. The form checks for 10 number characters, so you might want to ensure you enter only 10 number. Alternatively, you can use the number of the hotel you will be staying in. For the 2) phonetic name, just head to http://japanesetransliteration.com, type in your first name and copy and pasted the hiragana into the field.

6. Optional purchase and confirmation

At the next page you can opt in to buy some of the merchandise.

You will need to prepay using your credit card. Click next to continue.

Finally at the confirmation page, click the button above to confirm your reservation.

You are finally done! You should be receiving a confirmation email about your booking.

To be continue…

Read our next post for a review of Pokémon Cafe.

Photo Credit: GameTrader.SG ©

Details of Pokémon Cafe @ Tokyo

Address:〒103 – 0027 Nihonbashi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 11-2

Nihonbashi Takashimaya S.C. East Building 5F

Phone number 03-6262-3439

■ Inquiries concerning reservation

Reception hours: Monday – Friday (excluding weekends and holidays) 11: 00-19: 00

Phone number: 03-6277-5102

Email: pokemon-cafe-cs@sld-inc.com

Business hours: 10: 30 ~ 22: 00

Last order: for Food | 21: 00 and Drinks | 21: 30

Event, General

Bak Kut Teh Ramen & IT Show 2018

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Usually, we don’t do food review. However, today, we will be doing our first food review of the limited-time Bak Kut Teh Ramen from Keisuke at Suntec. By the way this is not a sponsored post in case you are wondering. This unique fusion ramen will make a good lunch for you when you visit the IT Show at Suntec this weekend.

Bak Kut Teh Ramen is created by the Founder of Keisuke, Keisuke Takeda which is launched in conjunction with the upcoming Ramen Teh movie by Eric Khoo. You can read more about it on Mothership. It’s also worthwhile to note that Ippudo does have its own rendition of Bak Kut Teh inspired Ramen.

Now on to the food…

I was a bit surprised by how well presented the dish was. Perhaps my expectation isn’t high to begin with. After all, we are all used to order Bak Kut Teh at hawker center where the meats are just stacked up randomly in the bowl of soup. Like the other type of Ramen from Keisuke, I can see that extra attention has been put into placing the ribs and vegetable. The bowl is kind of unique by itself too.

However, the three pieces of You Tiao do look a bit out of place as I’m used to seeing larger portion of You Tiao with Bak Kut Teh. Otherwise, the You Tiao is crispy and crunchy, and goes very well with the soup. In fact, it’s even better than at some specialized Bak Kut Teh shop that I have been too!

The soup itself is delightful and at the same time surprising. Knowing that you are eating Bak Kut Teh Ramen, it should not come to your surprise that the soup indeed taste like our local Bak Kut Teh with a familiar peppery flavour to it. What surprised me was that the soup has a slight taste of Tonkutsu! So while it taste familiar, you will also get a feeling that the soup is not something you have tasted before.

The Bak Kut aka pork ribs looks tough on the outside, but they are actually very tender. They slip off the bone fairly easily and together with the dark soya sauce, it will certainly delight your taste buds.

Overall, we really recommend this Ramen. It is only available till 30th April 2018 and only at the Keisuke Ramen branch at Suntec. I saw many who ordered this Ramen dish today at the restaurant. And do be warn that it is a fairly big portion. Perhaps enough for two ladies to share. As for me, I left with a stomach full of Bak Kut Teh warmth.

IT Show 2018

The yearly IT Show 2018 is now happening at Suntec till 18th Mar. The Keisuke Ramen branch that sells this Ramen is just nearby.

Address:

Ramen Dining Keisuke Tokyo

•#02-391/392 Suntec City Mall, 3 Temasek Boulevard, Singapore 038983

• Mon-Fri: 11:30~15:00 / 17:00~22:00
Sat, Sun, PH: 11:30~22:00

•65-6337-7919

PS: There is a PlayStation booth at level 6 where you can try out games like Shadow of the Colossus and Monster Hunter. Be sure to check that out if you have time.