Content Reduced Product...

The high is 68F (20C) but the air is dry, so it is really chilly in the morning and in the afternoon. I need to keep my hands moist with cream!!!

This cold weather makes me really sleepy. I thought I would doze off last night, so I went to bed immediately!

Anyway, I love granola bars. I sometimes buy Asahi's boxed granola bars (image on the left) when it's on sale. It's original price is about $3.15 (incl. tax) and used to sell at $1.65 (on sale) at drug stores, but after the rapid increase in crude oil prices, they kept the price at $1.99. Yet, I still think the price is attractive, so I bought some when they are at $1.99.
Last Sunday, I again found it at $1.99, so I bought 2 boxes... HOWEVER!!! When I opened the box, there were only 5 bars in the box! There should be 6!!! I thought I lost one or whatever, and looked around but still couldn't find it :( Then after a while, I checked the nutrition label and found that it states "5 bars per box"... sucks! They should reduce the size of the box as well!!! I don't think I'm gonna buy it anymore, at least I find it at $1.65...

My blog friend jo just had the similar experience!!!
Food Product Packaging Getting Chintzy! Tips For Saving A Buck!

Isn't it too bad!? I think now manufacturers make no bones about doing that by tacit agreement...

Changing my story. Do you know Tetsuya Komuro? I am very shocked to hear the news that he was arrested... I love his music and he was in my time.
Japanese music legend Komuro arrested for fraud

Few days ago, Hotmail changed it's inbox layout again :(
I know I will get used to it soon, but I hate this kind of change...

I hope something good may come soon!

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L'OCCITANE Cafe

Hello! Today was a busy day!!! Since I had a day off on Friday and Monday was a holiday, I had a lot of work to do. Also, unexpectedly all employees had to participate in a seminar after work... which took about an hour! I couldn't go to the gym today... too bad :(

Anyway, on Saturday, after the contest, my boyfriend and I went to the L'OCCITANE Cafe in Shibuya.
The first floor of the building is the shop. I got samples of Immortelle Very Precious Regenerating Concentrate and Immortelle Very Precious Cream, which jose recommended! I am using it now ;) The scent is really nice and they moisturize without leaving a greasy feeling!!! I hope they help treat acne as well.
The second and the third floor is the cafe. It was so nice and comfortable that we stayed there for about 2 hours! We had lunch there. What I had was a set lunch menu. It comes with soup, salad, ratatouille, and breads. My boyfriend didn't feel like eating salad, so he had croque-monsieur. The food was great! I wish I could have desserts because their tartes looked so delicious, but I saved it for the next time (saved the calories! ha-ha).

Oh no. I'm dozing off...
I gotta stop and go to bed now.
Good night!

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Aomori Recipe Contest: Second Place!

Yesterday, I attended the final cook-off! It was about creating a daily dish using any of the 3 items (mineral burdock root, apios, and/or dried chrysanthemum) produced in Aomori prefecture.

The contest was held by LSearch (the group that help to promote trade and industry in Aomori) at Denryokukan (the show room of Tokyo Electric Power Co. in Shibuya) and five lucky finalists were selected! There were 5 judges. One is Jyunko Takashiro (a famous foodist) and the other four were from the (selected) general public. I cooked "Mineral Burdock Root, Apios, and Chicken Stuffed Fried Bean Curd, Salty-Sweet Sauce".

The winning recipe was a very beautiful sumashijiru (clear soup) with apios balls, but I am glad that mine was selected as the second place. All pictures above are taken by my boyfriend. Thanks for his support and the encouragement!

It was chilly in the morning, but it changed to fine autumn weather (and was hot) in the afternoon! I even sweated a little!!!

After the contest, my boyfriend and I went to a cafe and had a lunch. I think jose might love this! I will write about it the next time.

I gotta go now!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!

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