ume no mi hijiki

Tried this hijiki that is mixed with karikari (crunchy) ume

Made by Etoya which is from Dazaifu, Fukuoka
 

They have other variations but I was interested in trying this one

It was good mixed in rice

And on eggs

I'm glad we got to try this and I would get it again if I see it at the market

umeya

Learned about Umeya from a television show

They have been in business since 1913 

Raw chicken is sold on the left side of the shop, yakitori and fried chicken on the right side of the shop (they also have a restaurant on the back side of the building)

I purchased 2 teba gyoza & 2 tsukune

the tsukune was meaty and super flavorful

unfortunately the teba gyoza was filled to the gills but was bland...I guess I should've eaten it like gyoza with some black vinegar and chili oil

I'm glad I tried this place, I'll be back whenever I am nearby to try other things that they make

Umeya

6-3 Yoshidamachi, Naka ward

Yokohama, Kanagawa

Open daily 9:30-18:30

yokohama

Yesterday was forecast for sun, so I made sure to get out and about

I debated about whether to check out the Royal Palace's sakura or go to Yokohama.

I decided to check out Yokohama, because I had seen something online about 800 trees along the Oooka River

The bummer thing about IG these days is that they got rid of the "recent" feature on reels, so you can't tell what is actually current

Anyway, Maita Park is located in a part of Yokohama that I hadn't been to before so I was interested to see what was what

Unfortunately not many trees were in bloom at the park, so I walked along the river

Luckily there were many early blooming sakura trees

I also stumbled upon some street art

This area was also part of their red light district so parts were a bit sketchy...

This year everyone’s cherry blossoms started early so the weather dude said by April it should be hot & humid (oh joy! not!)

With global warming all the “good” seasons (Spring & Autumn) seem to be getting shorter and shorter

The next couple of days are forecast for rain, so it was nice to be able to see some cherry blossoms

roppongi

Been wanting to check out Aono in Roppongi after trying the one in Akasaka

This Aono has been in business since 1856

Apparently they were both named Aono because they use the same mizuame (sugar syrup) by a company called "Aono" 
 

This Aono is known for their uguisu mochi.

A soft mochi that has powdered green azuki mixed into it to resemble the color of an uguisu (bush warbler)

This is filled with smooth sweet bean paste and covered with lots of kinako...delicious!

I loved their dorayaki...the "pancakes" were so fluffy and light

I had wanted to also check out a bakery and while I was walking I noticed this temple...Kosenji

The weeping cherry was more "colorful" from far away than up close

Unfortunately, the bakery I wanted to check out was closed on Mondays...I thought I had checked, but I guess I hadn't...boo!

Before jumping on the train to go home, I checked out Otsuna Sushi, which has been in business since 1875

I wanted to try their inarizushi and futomaki

I purchased the set that also had some kanpyomaki

The inarizushi is the "juicy" type and the "skins" are inside out

The pickled ginger (near the inarizushi) had kick!

I'm glad I got to try these places (will try the bakery another time)

Will be back to these places whenever I am in the area

Roppongi Aono

3-15-21 Roppongi

Minato, Tokyo

Hours: 9:30-18:00

Otsuna Sushi

7-14-4 Roppongi, Remm Hotel 1F

Minato, Tokyo

Hours: 10:00-22:00

hanzomon to shinjuku

Been wanting to walk this route ever since I saw the road back in 2019

From Chidorigafuchi it goes straight to Shinjuku

The interesting thing is the number of the road did not change, only the naming changed from Kojimachidori, to Shinjukudori to Koshukaidori!

We started from Hanzomon Station and made our way to Shinjuku

Love this mosaic! inside the metro Hanzomon station

There were lots of cool buildings to see along the way...this was a Starbucks

The curvy building was a Korea Center

huge fire station with a fire museum located in it also

stumbled upon a dragon ball z pop up at marugame udon

lunch at suzuya

one of their popular items is their tonkatsu chazuke, which we heard about from Satoshi's friend, O, many moons ago

this dish started as the makanai (family meal) at a time when there was no microwave to reheat food

the workers wanted a way to "reheat" the tonkatsu and came up with chazuke

Nowadays, the tonkatsu comes out on a hot plate 

choose your sauce, we chose their shoyu based sauce

the tonkatsu is drizzled with this sauce, then topped with cabbage and nori

when you are ready to eat the tonkatsu as chazuke, ask for the tea

there are also some pickles and miso soup, for you to eat with your tonkatsu

it was a nice but different experience and different, we were glad to try it

this shop also serves regular tonkatsu and other fried items, if chazuke isn't your thing.

After lunch, Satoshi had several things he wanted to check out before his upcoming tours

We were lucky to see some early blooming cherry blossoms in front of the Tokyo Prefecture Offices

And a beautiful weeping cherry near a university

Even if the weather was sunny it was still a little chilly

Suzuya

1-23-15 Kabukicho, 5F

Shinjuku, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-23:00

this and that

"someone" went out drinking then left his bag on the dining room floor

thank goodness “someone” didn’t trip over it when he went to the bathroom in the middle of the night and Kat didn't trip over said bag when she woke up in the morning.

she did take a photo and left it there...

“someone” didn't even notice it nor did he pick up when he woke up...bruh!

Tokyo Furry People seen at Tsukiji Outer Market

so teeny

so purple

Tried some new (to me) ice cream...this itachoco (chocolate bar) filled with macadamia nut and chocolate ice cream

And the black thunder caramel flavored sundae...this one had caramel ice cream, chocolate cookie pieces and whipped cream. 

apparently caramel flavor is osaka's black thunder flavor.

Both were delicious

Tokyo people...cat ear hat & rabbit gloves

setoka, we've tried this variety before...the skin is super thin and the fruit is super sweet and juicy

glad the library had these two book, the one on the left is by an artist that draws pictures in her travel journal. 

the book is about walking around Tokyo.

the one on the right is by a person that knows everything about bread

fava beans and sakura ebi pizza from sunmerry's equals spring (for me)

nori wrapped chicken then fried...wish I had bought more

the chicken was so tender!

roger vivier display at ginza mitsukoshi

beautiful sakura in front of the seiko building (across the street from ginza mitsukoshi)

tokyo people...saw this guy with a baguette...turned out he had about 4 of them in his bag

ohagi for o-higan...sentaro actually had a black and white one for o-higan, but I  love their version with shiso mixed into the rice

It's the start of a 3 day weekend, yesterday, the weather dude saw the 5 flowers to declare the start of sakura season.

have a safe one

hangetsu

Ran an errand today in Ginza

Lunch was at Hangetsu (love their blue building)

The sign says "spicy curry" no joke!

My mouth was on fire afterwards
 

The curry of the day was curry leaf pork and the chicken curry was sakura chicken...both were medium spicy

I ordered the 2 curry, less rice...1300 yen (tax included)

left side is pork, right is chicken

down the center are various veggies, pickles...I did remove those chili pepper "strings"

The chicken curry was the first thing I tasted and it was kinda sour, not sure what country's cuisine this was

The curries were super spicy and kind of killed my tastebuds...even if they said medium

Not sure what made the chicken "sakura" but the chicken and pork were super tender

Dunno if I'd go back, but I'm glad I got to try this place

Hangetsu

6-4-15 Ginza

Chuo, Tokyo

Open daily: 11:00-22:00

*cash or paypay