Meiji Black Chocolate Bars (popsicle) review

Meiji

thoughts:

• nice Japanese chocolate taste
• very huge bar
• chocolate "coating" not chrispy
• not sweet

When I found these at T&T, I thought they were tiny bars... (like the Haagen Daz small bars) but, much bigger). It has a strong chocolate soft gel-ish coating 

The texture and consistency made taking a bite out of this bar really fun (it makes you imagine yourself as one of those models in those commercials taking a bit out of a popsicle stick... or is that just me?)

As it is from Meiji, the bar was made from Japanese chocolate and dark chocolate. If you like Meiji's chocolate, you should definitely give these a try :)

score: 9/10
website: (could not find the exact product but similar to this) http://catalog-p.meiji.co.jp/products/sweets/icecream/010514/4902705117273.html

Shiso clam vongolé Pasta @Shiso Tree Cafe JTown Review

Shiso Tree Menu

please click here for my review about the restaurant and Smoked Salmon a la Red Wine pasta

Shiso Tree is a Japanese-Italian Fusion restaurant. It is famous for their Italian pastas with a mix of Japanese culture. Before I talk about this dish, I want to mention about how much I like this restaurant, the atmosphere is very casual yet elegant, there is a mix of Japanese in its simple interior design. Every time I go, there is Jazz music playing softly in the background.

Impressions:

• Great atmosphere for chatting and hanging out
• service is good
• great pasta, great salad
• skip the soup

When the weather starts to warm up, I find myself longing to come to Shiso Tree @ JTown. It seems to be a very Spring/Summery place to visit with its Japanese/modern decorations and natural lighting and "light food". For this particular visit, I had ordered Shiso Clam Vongolé Pasta from their Wafu Pasta selection.

Shiso Tree complimentary salad

Salad:

With every Pasta set, they provide Garlic Toast and a Wafu Salad. As I mentioned in my previous Shiso tree post, The Wafu salad dressing, it is one of the best tasting salad dressings I have ever tried in a Japanese restaurant. If you visit this place, you cannot miss it. I'm not an expert in salad dressings, so based on my limited understanding and trusty taste buds I would say it tastes like  a clam/mussel soup base combined with soy sauce and sesame oil).

Shiso clam vongolé – white wine, olive oil, garlic, bacon, tomato, fresh Manila clams & shiso

Pasta:

Now, for the dish, Since I always get Smoked Salmon a la Red Wine pasta, I decided to try something new... I mean... life is about trying new things and having different experiences, no? I decided to give the Shiso clam vongolé a try. It consists of White Wine, Olive Oil, Garlic, Bacon, Tomato, Fresh Manila clams and Shiso. This pasta was from their Wafu pasta category. (Wafu can be translated to touch of Japanese)

The price was $15, I think it was because of the amount of clams they had. I mentioned that their prices may be startling at first, but when you finish your meal you will be happy you decided to eat here. This dish added Shiso shavings, I think they taste a bit like lemon/lime leaves. But... to be honest, other than the unique herbiness of Shiso and clams, I found it troublesome to distinguish this dish from the Smoked Salmon a la Red Wine Pasta. They seem to taste very similar. It was still good... but I was looking forward to something different.

This was a well made dish, but I think it would be better if they could make the different pastas taste more different so each dish can preserve its uniqueness. I will continue to visit this place and try their new dishes in hopes of finding something that tastes really different yet as delicious!

the soup we decided to pay extra for

Soup:

I did not enjoy the soup, it was very average. I was thinking it would be something that would "wow" me, but it was none other than an ordinary tomato, beef- soup based beef brisket vegetable soup. The taste was very ordinary, I was quite disappointed. The presentation was interesting, but the soup was very average.

Verdict:

The Pasta and atmosphere are what attracts me to this restaurant, I really love their salad. However, I do not recommend you paying extra to try their soup, it is not worth it.

address: 3160 Steeles Ave E #1, Markham, ON L3R
score: 8.5/10

website: http://www.blogto.com/restaurants/shiso-tree-cafe-markham

Aroma Multi Therapy Hair Serum Review

Aroma Multi Therapy Hair Serum

I noticed a significant brittleness to my hair lately... Due to the dryness of winter, I have noticed that besides my skin, my hair has also gotten dry.

But besides the environment, things we do to our hair can harm it, e.g. perm treatments, dyeing hair, combing, blow drying, hair straightening, hair sprays,  etc... all these can cause severe damage to our hair.

A few months ago, I noticed over 10 split ends, I decided to buy some hair serum. I came across this Aroma Multi Therapy Hair Serum and decided to give it a try.

top view of box

Impressions:

• Lemon smell (sometimes this smell will stay even after you have washed it off with Shampoo)
• do not put too much
• better to put some before heading out (than before bed)
• oily
• makes hair very soft and silky
• notice a slight change in hair (e.g. split ends)
• your hair literally absorbs this product, but due to the "oiliness" of the product, it will still make your hair very greasy
• hair feels much stronger

what is claims: 

• Repairs split ends
• Strengthen hair with silk proteins
• Moisturizers with vitamin B
• Adds shine and softness with botanical extracts and Vitamin E
• Provides UV  protection from sun damage
• Heating protection from styling tools
• Ideal for all hair types

Directions by Aroma:

• Shake well
• Put a small amount (dime size) to palm of hand, rub your palms together
• Apply on towel dried hair (only to the ends) apply from roots to your ends
• Can be applied on wet or dry hair as often as necessary
• You can apply before and after you dry your hair with a blow dryer

Modifications to their direction (My Direction), which I have found quite effective

• Shake well
• put a small amount to palm of hands and rub
• apply to dry hair
• put this product on the ends of your hair
• I do not suggest you putting this product on newly washed hair (unless you plan to wash it later) because it makes your hair very oily (like you haven't washed it for days). 
• I usually wait a few hours before washing it off so my hair absorbs it... (your hair will absorb this product but your hair will still look oily)

Effects:

it works, it made my hair feel really soft (you will start noticing the difference after using it the first time). Although it does not exactly "repair" your hair as it claims, it does make split ends look less visible. It also strengthened my hair.

Pros:

• very effective
• works and improves hair quality
• nice smell (depends if you like lemon, it can be a pro or con)

Cons:

• makes hair very oily
• not suitable if you have just washed your hair (your hair literally feels/looks like it hasn't been washed)

rating: 8/10

no website

Jeju tangerine crunch choco snack review

packet of Tangerine Crunch Choco Snack

One of my favourite things to do at a Korean grocery store is to check out their snacks! Korean snacks have always been attractive because they have different things. A few weeks ago, my friend gave me some of these to try, she got them at a local Korean grocery store.

These are popular souvenirs from Jeju island, so we are quite fortunate to get them in North America!

close up of a crunch

impressions:

• sweet
• crunchy
• tangy
• white chocolate!

after taking a bite, this is what it looks like on the inside

These Crunches are actually rice puffs covered in flavoured white chocolate. There are other flavours, the most popular ones are: Tangerine and Berry. (They also have Citrus and Cactus... Cactus sounds very interesting...). 

The Rice puffs in this snack are different  are much harder than Rice Krispies, and they are stuck together (not like rice krispies where they can be pulled apart once the marshmallows are "gone")

This snack is quite interesting because of how dry it is, yet it lets the warmth of your mouth soften and melt away the tangy coating. The secret is WHITE CHOCOLATE of course! 

Beware, these can be quite addictive!

score: 9/10

no website

Maybelline baby lips Grape Vine Lip Balm review

What it claims:
The secret: Exclusive lip renew formula
Protects and moisturizes for a full 8 hours
After 1 week*, lips are visibly renewed, virtually reborn
6 varieties

My Thoughts:

• Little pigmented
• Gross suntan lotion taste
• Works really well ("renew my lips")
• buttery texture

I really like how this product looks on my lips, it produces a darker shade on my lips. It gives a subtle look that makes your lips look special, yet effortless. (Seriously, you will be marveling at how nice your lips look without looking like you put any lip products on). I am sorry, for this review, I lost the product so I wasn't able to capture how it looks, just imagine a very subtle slightly glossy, darker shaded lips when you wear this product.

The product glides on easily on your lips (it feels like it melts to your lips' warmth).

I really hate the taste though. It tastes and smells of a mix of artificial grape and suntan lotion. You will definitely want to avoid "licking" your lips at any cost.

The most important is that it works really well. Just as it claims, it literally "renews" your lips. making them so soft.

product rating: 8/10

website: http://www.maybelline.com/products/lip-makeup/lip-balm/baby-lips.aspx

Raku ramen & izakaya review

menu and Raku Ramen logo

As I mentioned a few posts back, I am on a hunt for good ramen uptown Toronto. While typing in Google, Ramen in Markham, I was introduced to Raku Ramen & Izakaya. I think it is rare for places to be both Ramen and Izakaya because the target customers can be quite different for these 2 types of cuisine.

The food was delicious, Ramens were $8 and sushi entrees were about $10-13. It sounds pricey but seriously filling. Quality was quite good.

Service, however, was a bit disappointing. They close at 11:00PM (I went on a Friday night), we were kindly reminded that their last order was at 10:30PM (when we arrived at 9:45PM). At around 10:15PM they started to clean up by sweeping, bring out the garbage and moving boxes and items around. I found it very frustrating to eat while they were busily trying to clean up.

complimentary salad for everyone

Complimentary salad is served for everyone. Like most Japanese restaurants, this salad was made with an Oriental sauce salad. The salad was a little sour for my tasting.

Tonkotsu Ramen

Tonkotsu Ramen $8

Impression:

• Very rich brooth and slightly oily
• Served very hot
• Authentic BBQ pork perfectly marinated 
• Not fat or too thin bbq pork (just right)
• Lots of corn and bamboo shoots/sprouts (筍)
• Smaller serving 

This ramen was served on a pot, unlike most which are served on bowls. Unfortunately, the serving size was much less (despite it being a pot rather than bowl). The ramen was cooked properly and served very hot. They included a lot of "sides" to the serving (e.g. corn and bamboo shoots/sprouts (筍)). We really liked the BBQ pork because it was perfectly marinated and the ratio of fat and meat was good.

Raku Roll

Raku Roll - $13

ingredients:

• white fish (fresh)
• Tempura Bits (stale)
• Hot Sauce
• Grill Sauce
• Fish Roe
• Green Onion (fresh)

please excuse the bluriness of this photo

Impressions:

• old Tempura bits
• Refresh feeling
• Fresh fish
• hot

I guess from just looking at the pictures, you already want some of this sushi roll! It was good, the fish was fresh, the combination of grill sauce and hot sauce, and green onions. This tasted very authentic and good... It was near perfect... But I was deeply unimpressed because their tempura bits were not crunchy, I think they were a few days old.

You can tell when sushi was made by someone who was well trained or not by picking the roll up with chopsticks, moving it around and it does not fall apart! (While tasting "fluffy" and not hard and packed)

infamous ginger

apparently my friend was very happy with their ginger slices. They were very sweet and less hot than the usual ones.

I will be returning to this place because the food taste reasonably good, but seriously, they need much better service!

food score: 8/10
service/atmosphere: 6/10


website: http://www.rakuramen.ca/

Lotte Strawberry ice pop review

2 Lotte Strawberry ice pops

impression:

• real and artificial taste,
• smooth
• milky
• hard to remove wrapper

It is really interesting how they combined real fruit with artifical one. You can tell they are "real" because you case taste the seeds and pulp (is that what you call the red part of the strawberry?). But at the same time, the artificial taste is also present to "enhance" its flavour.

I like how these ice pops are in small snack size quantities, so you can enjoy this treat without feeling guilty.

I found it quite difficult to remove the wrapper though, the wrapper is made out of paper and sometimes it will stick to the popsicle making it very difficult and messy to remove.

rating: 7.5/10
no website

Lavelee Richmond chocolate almond review

packaging

The Pure Natural Freshness, I love these, one of my favourite Korean popsicles (?). These are Coffee flavoured ice bars coated with a almond and chocolate crust.

Thoughts:

- sweet outer coating

- mild coffee (not very sweet)

- great packaging 

yum, points for looking really similar to the image on the packaging label

I forgot to take a picture of the packaging. When you buy these, they come in 4, you get a sort of thermal bag, you can't reuse it but it is very thoughtful of them. It is extremely useful when you are trying to transport them from the grocery store to your home fridge (on hot summer days). The thermal/foam packaging keeps these nice and cool.

after the first bite (>:D)

The coating of chocolate and almond isn't very hard or crispy. It is quite thick. The coating is also quite sweet, I would prefer dark chocolate, luckily, the coffee inside is not very sweet, so it is a perfect match when you eat them together.

back side with nutrition information

nutrition information:

Ice cream (12% fat), 20% milk chocolate and almonds contain more than 5% of capacity 108ml 108 ml 1 dose 1 dose per * content (% Daily Value) Calories 274 ㎉ carbohydrates * 24g (7%) protein * 3g (6 %) fat * 18g (37%) * 52 mg of sodium (3%) % Daily Value: the ratio of Daily Value  Product Description and Features] ★ ax on the coffee made ​​from natural raw sweet milk chocolate and freshly baked European almonds coated product

9.5/10

website: http://www.lavelee.co.kr/board/view.php?page=2&key=&word=&no=47&id=products&category=1&word=&x=37&y=10

Revlon - just Bitten Lipstain and Balm Frenzy 015 Review

Revlon  Just Bitten Frenzy 015

Since 2012, Revlon has been creating a lot different lines of lip colour products. One of them is this Just Bitten Lipstain and Balm. The interesting part of this product is that it is double sided. One side is the "lip stain" and the other is the "balm" to be honest, I didn't get to make much use out of the balm, it doesn't really moisturize well and makes it harder to apply the lipstain. The balm broke during the first week of using this lipstain so it seemed quite useless to have.

how it looks on my lips 

impressions:

• little colour
• enhances my "dry" lips
• interesting applicator
• too dry
• sweet raspberry smell/taste

Where to buy:

Like most Revlon products, you will be able to find this product at your local drug store (e.g. Watsons, Shoppers Drug Mart, Wegmans, Rexall, Walmart, etc).

Applicator:

marker tip like applicator

the applicator is really interesting, it looks and feels like a marker, so when I apply lipstain, it feels like I'm drawing this product onto my lips.I actually like this applicator because it is really easy to "outline" my lips and then fill in the colour. Unfortuantely, there is a downside to this applicator, despite being like a marker, it's colour is not vivid and the product is constantly dry. it takes a lot of effort and a lot of shaking and patience before you can draw out and "colour" your lips.

Shows too much imperfection of my lips

see the difference, nice subtle colour

I like the raspberry smell and taste to this lipstain but I do not like (as with most lipstains) is that it dries out my lips. The worse part is not drying out the skin on my lips but enhancing the appearance of the dry skin on my lips. You can see from the pictures, my lips were fully chapped (the winter has been harsh to skin with record lows throughout), on the side where I have used this product, instead of hiding the peeled skin, it enhanced their appearance making them look more chapped than they really are.

Precision & waterproof

precision 

The marker makes it a lot easier to make precise lines, but it is hard to "colour" in. The colour is hardly build-able.I always get frustrated because I am not able to make the colour more intense.

attempt to remove it

The lipstain is alcohol based, once you have passed the 3-5 minute mark, it is almost impossible to remove this product... you can compare the before and after pictures. I tried to use water and wipe, it just wouldn't come off. This is good if you are heading out, people will never know your secret to redder lips.

Conclusions and Verdict:
I really like the applicator, not so much the colour. I haven't had a chance to try the other colours in this line. The Lipstain is perfect if you plan to go out for a very long time (e.g. shopping, lunch, dinner, partying etc) because the colour does not really wear off (good for almost 5-8 hours).  However, because the product's colour is not strong and shows the "imperfection" of my lips, I do not really like to wear it too much. Instead, I have decided to make it into a "lip liner" to create outlines when I need to "draw a specific shape" on my lips.

score: 5.5/10

website: http://www.revlon.ca/Revlon-Home/Products/Lips/Lipcolor/Just-Bitten-Lip-Stain-Balm.aspx