cop 29

Tuesday Satoshi flew to Baku, Azerbaijan for the COP 29, United Nations Climate Change Conference for work.

It was his first international trip since the pandemic

He was excited because he would be travelling business class!

From Narita, he took about a day and a half to get there with a layover in Dubai.

Of course, I asked him to look for the viral Dubai chocolate...

He couldn't find them and in the end got me chocolates made in Dubai...ha!

Camel milk and chocolate with dates, we'll try these soon.

He also went to the bazar (market) and purchased some tea.

Which looked like it has rose in it.

I opened it to make tea for Satoshi’s bento and it smelled fruity like a flavored tea, can’t wait to try it myself

Oh and he said the Emirates' lounge was better (and bigger) than his hotel room...ha!

Glad he came back safely.

bookroad winery

Been wanting to try Bookroad Winery’s wines since seeing her story on the television show “7 rules” 

Finally got a chance when she had a pop up at Tokyo Daimaru

The wines that she makes use grapes that she grows, and also grapes that are grown by others in other parts of Japan

I purchased a half bottle of Merlot, this used merlot grapes grown in Hyogo. This was a light bodied wine

I also purchased a tiny bottle of her sparkling wine made with Siegerrebe and Delaware grapes.

This was dry and fruity.

Apparently the label has foods that would match the wine...3267 yen (tax included) for both

I look forward to trying more of her wines in the future.

Bookroad Winery

3-40-2 Taito

Taito, Tokyo

Closed Mondays

Hours: 12:00-15:00, 17:00-19:30

thanks for today

Cousin D was here with his family.

Luckily we were able to meet up on their last day in Tokyo, last Sunday

We met at Ginza Six's Sanada, which we've been to before.

It was nice seeing them and it sounded like they enjoyed their first trip to Japan.

Another cousin C was also here with her family and we were lucky to be able to meet up on their last day in Japan, this past Saturday.

We went to Oraga Soba inside of Shinjuku Isetan.

It was nice catching up with them and it also sounded like they enjoyed their first trip to Japan.

Thanks for today C & D!

We appreciate you making time to meet up.

Safe travels!

tokyo people

Blurry Tokyo People: cleaning the grates above the walkway of the train station

these little ones were waiting for...

The Setagaya line's manekineko tram
 

They've started the construction next door.

Tokyo People: amazon delivery dude

Furry Tokyo People

Have a safe weekend!

slice of life

Recently blog friend Rick (who no longer blogs) and his family were in Tokyo

One place they ate at was a food truck called Slice of Life in Harajuku, which does Texas BBQ

Since I wanted to try, I went after my physical therapy and was there about 45 minutes before they opened at 11:30

The owner was super quiet to the point of where I thought he was rude, no “hello”, or “irasshaimase” even after I said “konnichiwa”

His wife on the other hand at least said “irasshaimase” 

When they finally opened, I ordered the A5 wagyu brisket…2700 yen (tax included)

This comes with rice, and sides

On this day, the sides were shredded cabbage and what seemed like chili

Since I planned to eat this for dinner, I asked for no rice and they took 100 yen off my bill.

The brisket was super tender! but I thought the portions of the meat and sides were really skimpy

I also took a little of their coffee sauce and bbq sauce to try but the meat didn’t need sauce and the sauces overall seemed to be bland

The foreign guy behind me ordered the plate with 3 different items (pulled pork, brisket and burnt ends, I think) he paid 7800 yen (tax included)!

I hope they gave him more food

Meh, not worth the hype

restaurant friends

We tried Restaurant Friends recently

A super teeny mom and pop shop.

All the eaters that were there when we went were regulars so we got kinda "looked" over by them when we entered

Still, everyone was nice 

I ordered the omurice...1100 yen (tax included)

chicken, white mushrooms and onion are mixed into the rice with some tomato sauce and then when the omelette is flipped out, he tops the omurice with a different tomato sauce.

lots of butter and oil...which makes everything so ono!

Satoshi ordered the ebi fry and rice 2100 yen (tax included)

He said he enjoyed this.

It was amazing to watch the owner cook!

His knife was worn down in a way which I could tell that he must sharpen it himself

He takes his time to make each order definitely not fast food!

We'll be back.

Restaurant Friends

3-4-6 Higashiyaguchi

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Wednesdays & Thursdays

Hours: 16:00-21:00

*cash only

hachiju

So many ramen places in our area

There is one that always has a long line, but we’ve never eaten there.

Next door to that ramen shop used to be an oden shop but that closed up and now is an Onomichi ramen shop, Hachiju

It always seemed empty whenever we passed

The other day, we decided we were going to try, if it was bad, that was probably the reason it was empty

So we went and it was packed! and we were lucky to grab the last two seats (only 8 seats in total)

I ordered the Onomichi ramen…900 yen (tax included)

love the thin noodles! the broth was porky and the seabura (back fat) floating on top made the soup glisten, I just took 2 sips…rich!

Satoshi ordered the Onomichi ramen set…1050 yen (tax included)

The set came with rice and some Hiroshima-na pickles 

Hiroshima-na is similar to chinese cabbage

After paying, we received a point card and female eaters receive candy

I wouldn't mind coming back and adding an ajitama (seasoned egg) on my ramen next time.

We'll be back.

Onomichi Hachiju

7-8-1 Nishikamata

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays

Hours: 11:30-15:00 (lunch), 17:00-22:00 (dinner)

*cash or QR code payment