this and that

finally gave up these plastic slippers...I had bought them when we went to Okinawa (pre-blog) in 2004?!

I had been using them in the shower because I don't want to catch Satoshi's athlete's foot...the strap on the right broke first and the one of the left broke recently

I am using my MUJI slippers in the shower now...

thought this was a unique way to grow plants...no pot, just hang them in a sturdy plastic bag

remember this building? (photo from April) well, they tore it down while I was in Hawaii

and were trying to take apart the gate/arch area in August

They are already starting to build something on the land...I hope it won't be a high rise

not sure if there is a law or just a rule, but construction sites must give workers breaks during the day to hydrate

most times, you see the workers sitting in the shade.

this was the first time I saw a rental "room"

when you are walking and hear a "click" "click" sound...then see this on the bottom of your slipper

these type of 3D stickers are all the rage here...

drinking antibiotics...had blister thingy on the roof of my mouth near a tooth

went to the dentist and he took out the blood...luckily no pus!

will go back on monday, hoping it will heal and no need to do any more work in that area...good mojo please!

Busu no Kobu...is the name of a sweet in Kuji, Iwate from Sawagiku

I thought it was a unusual name..."busu" in Japanese means "ugly" and "kobu" in Japanese means "lump"

The name comes from Ainu language and refers to an area in Kuji that the Ainu used to live...so "busu" means "bushi (warrior)" and "kobu" means "to gather"

These were like pie crust manju, the one on the left was filled with sweet bean paste and the one on the right also had black sesame seeds

I'm glad we tried them.

Was able to get a package of my favorite ume from Fukumitsuya...the price went up, up, up!

Wanted to try this tomato dressing, but after seeing it in a store, I couldn't remember which store

I like this okonomiyaki sauce by Oliver sauce, but cannot find it in the supermarket I originally bought it from

And the Hiroshima antenna shop only sells the teeny package of furikake, so I wanted the bigger size

Instead of paying shipping fees for all three, I ordered them from Yodobashi camera and went to pick them up!

It was fast too, I ordered it and the next day I was able to pick them up!

Was happy I could use points from my Yodobashi card too, so it was 350 yen off!

even if the weather is still super warm, the Autumn type foods are out and about

marron (chestnut) custard pie!

I have these "socks" on our bench legs so they won't make noise and bother the people below

The only problem is the "socks" are loose, so they fall off whenever we move the bench

I bought these velcro straps to help keep the "socks" up, let's see how long it will take “someone” to notice...he still hasn't noticed the door knobs

More rain forecast! so much flooding all over Japan due to bands of rain that just hover over areas for hours! days!

oh and our flu season has started early!

Hope everyone will have a safe weekend.

misawa-hachinohe-tokyo

breakfast wasn't as chaotic as dinner but still very crowded

some interesting items at the buffet...

apple curry...different but delicious
 

hiyashi dashi chazuke with shiso pickled chinese yam

sashimi (scallop, squid and amaebi)

okra and chinese yam mixture

ume furikake

(actually you could top your rice with the sashimi or the chazuke items, the rice was super hot, so I didn’t want to put the sashimi directly on the rice, so I added the cold dashi on the rice instead)

cinnamon apple jam with milk bread

different styles of embroidery

fill a sachet with Hiba, a wood native to Japan that has hinokitol, a rare compound only found in Aomori Hiba 

It apparently keeps away the bugs 

loved the Hiba apple container that was in our room too

Nebuta bags at Aomoriya

Aomori kelp and fish are used in their dashi packs

Hotate (scallops) that were raised in Mutsu, are used in these crunchy snacks

Semi dried apples, in different varieties

choco Q suke we tried this back in 2024, nice to reconnect with it in Aomori

Hachinohe Eboshi are festive headdress worn during the Hachinohe Emburi, a winter festival in February. 

This festival is to dance and pray for a bountiful harvest

huge! float for the Hachinohe Sansha Taisai, a festival held from July 31 to August 4

3 shrines, 27 floats and 3 mikoshi parade through the streets of Hachinohe

Yawata Uma are given at celebrations such as weddings

it was definitely cooler in Iwate and Aomori

the transportation is kind of sparse but at least we were able to see and do the things we intended to

I hope you enjoyed this adventure as much as we did

kuji-tanesashi coast-hachinohe-misawa

The breakfast buffet wasn't too exciting...I did eat some things but think the thing I was most excited to try was a different yogurt made by a local company...Ono Yume Yogurt.

From Kuji, we caught the JR train going towards Hachinohe

And got off at Okuki

(Unlike Sanriku Railways, you need to pay every time you get off/on the local JR train)

This was to see the Tanesashi Coast, unfortunately there wasn't much to see from Okuki

So we walked toward JR Tanesashi Kaigan station (because the train wasn’t due for another couple of hours!) but there was no sidewalk, so it was quite scary!

Live and Learn: If you do go to see the coast, get off at Tanesashi Kaigan Station instead!

There are some restaurants and a rest area, so you can also view the coast from here

short video here

Again, the trains are sparse, so luckily there is the Umineko Bus

We caught it from Tanesashi Kaigan to Kabushima Kaihin Park

Satoshi wanted to see the Kabushima Shrine

Walk 3 times around the shrine to receive good luck!

 

find a pokemon manhole

since we had time (like an hour) before the train, we walked about 15 minutes to Same (sah-may)...which means shark in Japanese...which equals this JAWS-like thingy in front of the station...ha!

it was drizzly, a little cold...we were in search of lunch and I found a tiny shop selling gyudon (beef bowls)

The samekko beef (the brand beef of the area) was bland but on the soft side (Satoshi said his was tough)...boo

The fried chicken skin in the corner of the bento was super crispy and ono!

and the beef broth with pieces of horumon (intestine) in it was ono!

The hot broth hit the spot!

Good thing we ate before the train came because the train was packed, so it would’ve been difficult to eat our beef bowls on the train

From Hachinohe, we took a local train to Misawa where the bus for Aomoriya picked us up

Unlike most Hoshino Resort Hotels, this one seemed to be more family oriented, so it was a little more "festive" and it was kinda "chaotic" and there were many, many guests

Because Aomori is known for its Nebuta Festival, there were many Nebuta decorations

Aomori is known for their apples so there was all you can drink apple juice

interesting items at the dinner buffet...tempura apple and tempura garlic

Aomori is also known for their garlic

The steak sauce was a shoyu base and had apple in it it

Pickled apple...reminded me of pickle mango...ono!

Apple compote...delicious!

Another long day, the weather was drizzly but we got to see all that Satoshi had set out to see.

Tanesashi Kaigan Information Center

14-167 Tanakubo, Samemachi

Hachinohe, Aomori

Hours: 9:00-17:00

Mouka no Hoshi

12-1 Shinobucho, Samemachi

Hachinohe, Aomori

Hours: 11:30-14:30 (lunch), 17:00-21:00 (dinner) 

*Mondays & Tuesdays lunch only

Kabushima Shrine

56-2 Same, Samemachi

Hachinohe, Aomori

Hours: 8:30-17:20

Aomoriya by Hoshino Resort Hotels

56 Furumagiyama

Misawa, Aomori

miyako-iwaizumiomoto-tanohata-kuji

We had bought some baked items from Tamiser, a tiny bakery in Miyako for breakfast since we had to catch an early train

Bummer everything was hard.as.rock. 

Seriously thought we were gonna break our teeth!

I try not to waste food, so this was literally painful to eat up

on the way to the station, I fell...my knees and ego was bruised

another slow motion fall...sigh

still feeling sore but at least it doesn't seem like anything is broken...

From Miyako, we purchased a ticket that allowed us to get on and off the train on the way to Kuji on the Sanriku Rias Line

We first got off at Iwaizumiomoto to go to Ryusendo

Catch the local bus

Inside the caves the temperature was almost 10 degrees less than what it was outside!

(sorry this one was out of order) Found a Pokemon manhole cover outside the caves

it was super wet in the caves!

Luckily we were able to check this place out.

Apparently with all the rains, the caves were closed the week before

there are about 200 steps to get to see all the different areas

loved all the clear water! beautiful

From Iwaizumiomoto, we went to Tanohata

Satoshi had thought there were buses running from the station, instead, you needed to reserve a taxi!

Luckily there was someone at the station!

The woman working there, explained all of this to us and called a taxi for us

side story: The taxi driver said that he had just started driving taxis when the tsunami in 2011 hit

His client was late arriving and he was in the midst of taking them around when the earthquake hit

It was when they were visiting Kitayamazaki to see the cape, that they saw the tsunami hit from the lookout area!

He said that his office was wiped out with the tsunami and only his taxi was spared.

Luckily, no one was at the office because it was swept out to sea!

From Kitayamazaki Cape, he took us to a tiny market, Ryutsu Store, to pick up some foods for lunch

And then dropped us off at Unosu Cliff...bear bells on!

Beautiful to see.

We were lucky, it was raining when we went to Kitayamazaki Cape and drizzling when we arrived at Unosu Cliff but we were still able to see both

The lady at the station said that sometimes there is fog!

konbu mayo musubi for Kat

a piece of chicken and piece of takuan from Satoshi's bento...

9000 yen was a total unexpected cost because we needed to take the taxi (cash only!) but worth it because we got to see the areas that Satoshi had wanted to check out

Bummer was the trains...they do not run often so we had almost an hour wait after the taxi tour

On top of that, the station closes at 15:00 so we had to wait outside! near the tracks

At least they left the bathroom open...

Because the tsunami hit, most businesses have moved higher up, so there is nothing around the Tanohata station

From Tanohata, we saw several seascapes but thought the train would be running closer to the sea

Unfortunately there were many tunnels on this route

The train did slow to show us the salmon farm as well as some seascapes

We found a Pokemon in Kuji

For dinner, there were not too many choices, so we went to Universe, the supermarket in the area, it was huge!

Pear from Fukushima

Gyoza with beef tongue and garlic

somen salad

Satoshi had a beef bento

bite sized half baked cheesecake from Rosette, which was next door to our hotel

this would’ve been nice with wine!

Another long day, the weather was drizzly, but we got to see everything we intended to

Ryusendo

1-1 Kannari Iwaizumi

Shimohei, Iwate

*admission

Kitayamazaki Cape

Tanohata

Shimohei, Iwate

Unosu Cliff

Tanohata

Shimohei, Iwate

Rosette

10-17 Kawasakicho

Kuji, Iwate

Open daily: 9:00-19:00

Kuji Grand Hotel

10-15 Kawasakicho

Kuji, Iwate