wednesday

Wednesday, it was sunny

I found some flowers on the way to grocery shopping.

The double sakura (yaezakura) are blooming means that sakura season is over in our area 

Saw some early blooming wisteria

And these plants in front of our apartment

After looking online it said the Japanese name is Enishida, and the scientific name is Cytisus scoparius

It is nice to see that the plants in front of our apartment also have flowers

biang biang men

Was seeing this in my IG feed, biang biang men from Family Mart

This is in their frozen section

Just zap the contents in the microwave for 7 minutes on 500 watt

I had to zap it for an additional 20 seconds because it was still a little cold in the middle

Pour into a bowl and add the chinese pepper oil that comes with it

Mouth.on.fire.

This is quite filling and super spicy (for me)

Would get this again, but the only thing is that you need to keep this in the freezer until you are ready to eat (the space in my freezer is quite limited)

when I bought this, I also a saw a soupless tan tan men I want to try this too

sakura walk (kamata)

Yesterday, it was forecast for clouds but was sunny so I went to check out the pocket park nearby

The cherry blossoms were a little past their peak

But it was still nice to see some on the trees

Especially since we had pretty hard rain and blustery winds the other night

The temps have gone up, up, up!

I think they were saying May temps?! eek

It is probably gonna be warm from here on out...boo!

Short videos here, and here.

this and that

bon bon drop stickers or seals as the Japanese call them are all the rage

they are plastic and 3D...made me smile to see the younger generations trading stickers

brought back some nice memories
 

This building which has one of the 100 yen stores in our area as well as the shop where I found really reasonably priced brown rice will be torn down...boo!

freesia explosion

red kiwi...the earlier ones we ate were greener and more sour, these were sweet.

love the color

have a nice week

sakura walk (kawasaki)

Wednesday and Thursday were rainy 

And since yesterday was the only day forecast for sun, instead of going to get my hair colored, I went to check out some sakura

This area near the JR Kawasaki station has many sakura trees

From the train, I've often seen many people having their lunch on the stone wall, under the trees

So pretty, glad I finally got to check it out

I also went to check out the view from the Kawasaki City Office

beautiful ikebana in the lobby

The last time I came here with Satoshi the view was meh! because the air was polluted

This time around I could see Tokyo Tower and Skytree

And the clouds were beginning to cover up Mount Fuji

On the ground floor is a Uni Coffee Roastery

I stopped in for an iced coffee and their donuts

Unfortunately they donʻt sell them until 11:30, so I had their carrot cake instead

I had forgotten I had tried their carrot cake before

It was dry back then and it was a little dry this time around too but not as bad as the first time I tried it

On the way back to the station I saw some street art painted on the electrical boxes

The weather is supposed to be rainy over the weekend, so I'm glad I got to see a little more blooms

matsumoto-tokyo

After breakfast, we checked out Ishii Miso, which has been in business since 1868! 

You can view a short video and then check out some of the aged miso to learn about how miso is made

They also have guided tours but they were later in the day

We purchased this moromi miso, it is good with crudite (veggie sticks)

And then we walked up the street to the Matsumoto City Museum of Arts so that Satoshi could see where it was

They have a permanent exhibit of some of Yayoi Kusama's artwork

There are some artworks outside...the guy on the stool, just in his own world and in everyone's photos

Afterwards, we walked to Matsumoto Castle so that Satoshi could check out where the bus parking was

While waiting for him, I was impressed that you could find wi-fi almost anywhere on the castle grounds and had a nice conversation with a couple from Yokohama and a guy from California

For our lunch on the train, we bought some baked items from Murata

This tiny shop has been in business since 1907

We tried their milk bread...this was unfortunately very dry

I had their chikuwa bread...chikuwa, corn, tuna, mayo and lots of Japanese mustard, I enjoyed this except for the mustard.

On our way back to Tokyo, we saw this huge Kannon (statue of Peace) near the JR Nirasaki station

And castle ruins near the JR Kofu station

It was also cool to see all the pink flowers on the peach trees as we went through Yamanashi Prefecture.

And it was also cool to see this huge love letter on the hillside near the JR Fujino station. (the person who posted their video on YT, climbed up and gave a detailed look at the art objet)

I hope you enjoyed this adventure as much as we did

Have a safe weekend

Ishii Miso

1-8-1 Uzuhashi

Matsumoto, Nagano

Hours: 9:00-17:00

Murata Bakery

1-2-33 Fukashi

Matsumoto, Nagano

Closed: Mondays & Thursdays

Hours: 7:00-19:30 (Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays), 6:30-19:30 (Saturdays & Sundays)

*cash only

yudanaka-nagano-matsumoto

From Yudanaka, we headed back to Nagano and then went on to Matsumoto

On the way, we passed by an area called Ubusute

Ubu stands for elderly and sute is to throw away

This was an area where people "left" their elderly family members so that they could "save money" not having to feed another mouth

Video here

After leaving most of our stuff at the hotel, we went to the Metoba River area to look for lunch

The Metoba River is in between of Okinado and the Nawate Shopping Street

Okinado is a cafe/coffee shop that has been in business since 1933

The wait for a table was 40 minutes, but we actually got in a little earlier because most of the people before us gave up...ha!

Satoshi chose the otona no lunch (adult lunch), a version of the kids meal (probably bigger portions)...hamburg with demi glace sauce, omurice and napolitan...he said he enjoyed this

Kat chose the half and half...half hayashi beef and half pork curry

The meats in both were so melt in your mouth!

We shared this housemade caramel flan (purin) delicious!

Loved that the "ice" in the iced coffee were cubes of coffee.

After lunch, we went to Matsumoto Castle and the wait to get in was 50 minutes!

Be prepared to take off your shoes, carry them in a plastic bag, as well as what ever "stuff" you have too

One staircase was super steep and the distance between each step was about 40 centimeters (15 inches) !

No photos especially on the staircases, because it is so dangerous and everyone is waiting to get up and down the stairs

Believe me, you gotta hang on for dear life on some of those stairs

My legs and arms were sore the next day because I used a lot of the muscles I never knew I had!

Nearby is the Former Kaichi School, one of the oldest schools in Japan

Next door is the home of a Catholic priest

On the way back to the hotel, we walked through part of the castle grounds and came across this vibrant ume tree.

You can refill your water bottles at most Tourist information offices, but we were also told that the water from this well was also potable.

Since we had a late lunch we decided to just have some soba for dinner at Iidaya

Satoshi chose the wasabi leaf soba...he said he enjoyed this

I chose the walnut sauce soba, the sauce was mixed with sesame seeds so the walnut flavor was kinda lost...bummer

I picked up this guide on everything delicious of Matsumoto

It also explained some of the culture and sights too.

One thing I wouldn't mind seeing is the cherry blossoms that encircle the tomb on Mount Kobo

After dinner, we shared this chocolate soft serve at Gaku, which uses a lot of ingredients from Nagano

It was quite a long day, lots of "climbing", eating and walking

Okinado

2-4-10 Chuo

Matsumoto, Nagano

Closed: 2nd & 4th Wednesday

Hours: 11:00-15:30 (lunch), 17:30-21:00 (dinner)

Iidaya

Midori Matsumoto 4F

Matsumoto, Nagano

Hours: 11:00-20:00 (earlier if they run out of soba)

Closed: when Midori Matsumoto is closed

Alpico Plaza Hotel

1-3-21 Fukashi

Matsumoto, Nagano