During our trip to Japan, we stayed for five nights at Hotel Anteroom Kyoto. There were several reasons why I picked this Kyoto hotel: price, location, service and aesthetics. Here’s my Hotel Anteroom Kyoto review and a quick video of what you could expect if you decide to stay here.

This roasted buttermilk chicken thighs recipe is probably the easiest chicken recipe in my recipe book. It’s super easy to make and you should already have most of the ingredients in your pantry. And the best part is that the chicken can be marinated ahead of time, making this a fantastic recipe for meal planning on Sundays!

What’s better to welcome the arrival of Spring than a cup of sakura tea? Sakura tea is made with pickled cherry blossoms. When you brew the tea, the cherry blossom “blooms” in the water. It’s really pretty and makes this the perfect drink for hanami or cherry blossom festival.

During a trip to Japan, Mr. Chau and I took a home cooking class and learned how to make pork and cabbage gyoza or Japanese dumplings. When I looked up comparisons between the pan-fried Chinese dumplings (鍋貼 or guoti) and the pan-fried Japanese dumplings (餃子 or gyoza), the difference seems to be in the dumpling skin and the filling. While both types of dumplings usually contain meat and veggies, I find the ratio of veggies to meat is higher for the Japanese gyoza. I’m not sure if that’s true but both types of dumplings are super yummy.  Plus dumplings are so freezer friendly that I’d always make a batch to keep in my freezer for a quick meal or snack.

The Sublime Ruby KitKat is the world’s first chocolate bar made from ruby chocolate. Luckily, I was able to buy some during my visit to Tokyo. They were sold as individual bars at the KitKat Chocolatory for ¥432 (tax incl.). Here’s a video of me unboxing the Sublime Ruby KitKat and tasting it for the first time.