sankeien

Saturday, we planned to have lunch in Yokohama, and since we were nearby Satoshi suggested we check out Sankeien (Sankei Garden)

But first, snacks...

we were kinda hungry when we arrived and decided to get a little something to tide us over until lunch

I chose a custard filled bread...so cute

Satoshi chose a katsu sandwich...so much for "little something", yeah?!

Clair is a tiny bakery on the way to Sankeien...glad we got to try these baked items

Lots of hydrangea and beautiful houses along the way

Even an interesting looking Korean restaurant...

Sankeien (Sankei Garden) is 175,000 square meters (43.24 acres) which was built by Sankei (Tomitaro) Hara, a successful businessman who built his fortune trading silk

Sankeien is made up of an Outer Garden and Inner Garden

The Outer Garden was opened to the public in 1906 and the Inner Garden was used privately by Sankei, now everyone can enjoy the property

Scattered around the property are historical structures which Sankei gathered from Kyoto and Kamakura and moved to this garden

Yokohama feathery people...short video here

Yokohama people...the garden keeper

Huge historical buildings

Beautiful views!

Lots of stairs

Even a 3 story pagoda

Lots of flowers and foliage to enjoy throughout the year

Even people taking photos for their wedding

It was a beautiful garden, I'm glad I got to see this

I think cherry blossom season might be beautiful too

I'll write about where we had lunch tomorrow

Clair

17-23 Honmokusannotani

Naka, Yokohama, Kanagawa

Closed: Tuesdays & Wednesdays

Hours: 7:00-18:00

*cash only

Sankeien

58-1 Honmokusannotani

Naka, Yokohama, Kanagawa

Open daily: 9:00-17:00

*admission

this and that

we saw these cuties at the big intersection outside of Tsukiji
 

their parents let us take photos of them

took a photo of this tall apartment building back in 2020

just learned they will tear it down soon...sad!

since there was a typhoon on Satoshi's birthday, I wasn't able to get him cake, so I took him to Cafe Vanni's this past Sunday

Danshari-ed (purged) my Hello Kitty collection (there were too many to upload)...Eco Ring bought them for 100 yen a piece...

this was the chili I used for the potatoes

It was made in Spain

I like the flavor of this but it was a little too salty

I halved the can with Satoshi but think maybe I should add some water to dilute it next time

found another bag that lets you tear it midway I prefer crispy apples, these weren't but happy that they were from Aomori prefecture

found this camembert cheese that has bleu cheese in the middle, tasty!

pikake (jasmine) season

and gardenia (kuchinashi) season

haven’t bought ketchup in many years, used some when we ate our hash browns, will use it to make hoisin sauce chicken/pork soon

checked out a new (to me) food court near my dentist

they had Pizza Slice, the pizza I enjoyed when friend Val was in town

This slice wasn't as crisp as the one I enjoyed but was still tasty

I want to go back to try the other vendors in the food court

Sunday, Tokyo started rainy season. Apparently this year is La Niña so we started rainy season with rain

The gloomy clouds has been a bit depressing, but the cooler weather has been nice

Hope you have a safe weekend

potatoes

been trying to use the potatoes we received from Mayumi quickly because whenever I buy potatoes they always turn green…here’s how I used them

hamburger stew

vichyssoise

hide the weiner

a batch of Maangchi’s braised potatoes

hash browns 

roasted potatoes topped with chili, a little kale & cheese

and scalloped potatoes

Do you have a favorite way to eat potatoes?

kushikura

Tried a new (to me) yakitori kiosk inside of Tokyo Station...Kushikura

Their main shop is in Kyoto 

Their name sounded familiar and they are related to Katsukura which V introduced me to many moons ago

I tried their cherry tomatoes wrapped with pork (so tender!) 390 yen (tax included), honen (tsukune coated with mochi rice) 280 yen (tax included) and tsukune 290 yen (tax included)

I would definitely get the pork and mochi rice versions again

I'll be back

Kushikura

GranSta Tokyo B1F (inside of the Tokyo Station wickets)

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Hours: 8:00-22:00

*closed when Gransta Tokyo is

iwate ginga plaza

Visited Iwate Ginga Plaza, the antenna shop for Iwate prefecture near Ginza/Yurakucho

I heard they were going to stop production of those çava (saba/mackerel) cans but learned that they now have been able to fish more saba, so have begun production of these cans again! whoo!

When I first wrote about these cans I didn't know that they had started making these as a way to generate business after that huge earthquake/tsunami that they had in 2011.

Anyway, I'm happy they will continue to sell these cans of saba!

Also found a beet that looked a little wilty which I roasted and we enjoyed!

got a t-shirt for a friend too

tsukiji fish burger masa

The past couple of times I've been to the outer market of Tsukiji, I've been trying to find Tsukiji Fish Burger Masa

Finally found it!

If you blink while walking past, you will miss it! ha!
 

I tried their madai (red sea bream) burger...1000 yen (tax included)

This was fried perfectly!

I love that the bun was toasted too, and the micro greens that they had on the sandwich was so delicious too

Satoshi had the mekajiki (swordfish) burger...1200 yen (tax included)

He said he enjoyed this too

*The fish choices vary on what is available

no tables, just chairs to eat your burger on 

You see those blue plastic bags?! in the photo, they have fish in ice for their burgers

Be prepared to wait for them to fry up your sandwiches and also to watch people walk in between of you and the shop while you eat

I'm glad we found this shop and will be back whenever I'm nearby

Tsukiji Fish Burger Masa

4-10-8 Tsukiji

Chuo, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays & Wednesdays

Hours: 11:00-17:00

this and that

June 1st started Shibuya's fine for littering.

If you get caught, you need to pay 2000 yen on the spot

Even if you add your trash to a pile of trash that you see in Shibuya, it is considered littering

They also take charge cards, so you cannot say you don't have cash on you... 

Japanese version...

If you are unfamiliar as to why Japan does not have trash cans out...please read up about it here.

Went to Yogenji and Myokendo to check out their hydrangea...so pretty

Typhoon #6 (Jangmi), "lucky" Satoshi got a typhoon on his birthday.

He was supposed to go see the doctor about the test results from the other day, but he instead rescheduled his appointment and worked from home

Luckily we only had a lot of rain, some other areas had damage and flooding

I found out another Marugame Seimen will soon be in our area

That will be 3 within a 2 kilometer area (1.24 mile) 

I was hoping the Seria (100 yen shop) that used to be right across from this building would move into this space instead...

oh well...hopefully this location of Marugame will succeed

Sunday, we went to Shinjuku, so that Satoshi could check out some things for a tour

we met up at L'Ambre, a coffee shop that has been in business since 1949

the photos you see online make the place seem big, but I guess from where we were sitting it did not look too spacious

bummer that no where does it say that they do not serve lunch on weekends, and only when we tried to order were we told so...so we had dessert 

I really enjoyed this chocolate cake, it had cherries in it...the iced coffee was really bad though...1400 yen (tax included)

Glad we tried this place but will not be back...

Next door is Daruma, we were quickly seated and Satoshi got his lunch so fast

Kat had to wait 30 minutes?! for her Mabo donburi...hangry!

And the flavors were so off plus it was more tofu than minced pork...turns out the cook was "new" so he was getting the hang of things...whatever, the wait staff should've warned us when he took our order...

Shizuoka potato chips using a BBQ sauce made by Meijiya Shoyu, a shoyu maker in Shizuoka that has been in business for over 100 years.

I think even the potatoes are from Shizuoka

A little sweet, a little dashi (stock) and shoyu...this was delicious. 

Loved the ridges in the chips

If I see the BBQ sauce at the Shizuoka Antenna Shop, I'm going get a bottle to try

Rainy season is coming soon...have a safe weekend!