sad

Yesterday they cut down the tree that was in the middle of the pocket park that we can see from our apartment.

I guess it had died or maybe it had some kind of illness.

I don't remember what kind of tree it was but know that it wasn't one of the double cherry type trees.

I hope they are planning to plant another tree in its place. 

ginza west

We went back to Ginza because Satoshi has another tour coming up

The line for lunch at our first choice was krazy so we went down to Ginza West

Earlier this year, I tried their cookies and afterwards, I found out they also had a tea salon

Since we got to Ginza West after their first seating for lunch, we ended up waiting about an hour for a table

We loved the quiet and fancy interior

I also like that they noted what kinds of flowers were in their arrangement...nerine (a type of lily), bouvardia, italina ruscas (danae racemosa) (the green leaves)

Since we were hangry, we ordered ham and veggie sandwich & egg sandwich...2300 yen plus tax

Choose your bread, white or wheat rye

Choose if you want it toasted or not

(Satoshi chose white not toasted, Kat chose wheat toasted)

Add coffee...1400 yen plus tax for 2

The best part is unlimited refills!

And dessert...1000 yen plus tax for 2

They bring out the samples on a tray and you choose what you want

I chose their mosaic...super light cake with a chocolate coating...so good!

Satoshi chose their coffee buttercream.

while this was tasty, the cream was kinda oily that it left a film on my tongue...ick

total 6270 yen (tax included)

We would choose half sized sandwiches next time especially if we plan to order dessert.

We might be back especially if we have guests.

Ginza West

7-3-6 Ginza

Chuo, Tokyo

Hours: Mondays-Fridays 9:00-21:00, Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays 11:00-20:00

curry vamos

Curry Vamos opened on 10/13

Apparently this is the 2nd shop from Toranomon's Ganji, a popular shop in that area

Buy your meal ticket at the entrance.

Satoshi chose the Vamos Curry...1200 (tax included)

His meal came with a salad, roasted chicken, rice, pickles and the curry.

Kat chose the Plain curry (less rice) 750 yen (tax included)

This came with pickles, rice and the curry.

We also purchased a "help"...50 yen (tax included)

"Help" is a little dish of yogurt, which is supposed to help lessen the heat

You can also purchase toppings like cheese, egg, keema curry but we didn't try these.

The curry is more soupy and was so spicy it felt like it was burning my throat.

not fun

Satoshi shared his chicken with me...that was spicy too.

I had some curry leftover but didn't want to leave it, so I "made" myself finish it.

We both agreed that we probably won't be back, it was just too spicy to enjoy

We wish them well.

Curry Vamos

6-28-3 Nishikamata

Ota, Tokyo

Cash only, Operating times vary check social media for exact times

this and that

70 yen each plus tax seedless kaki 

tea season...dong ding oolong from kaldi

 

2 kinds of mint tea

muji has kinmokusei (osmanthus/sweet olive) and oolong tea! super fragrant

halloween doughnuts from earlier in the month!

when your kitchen is on the 2nd floor and the only way to get your refrigerator into your house is from the lanai...

sunset earlier this month...silhouette of Mount Fuji

more of the same sunset..

dunno if your news has these stories, but there have been many bear incidents these days, especially in Tohoku and they are even in the city!

Can you believe they saw some in Morioka?! we were just there this summer!

hoping Halloween & the weekend will be a safe one for everyone...

whoa (part 3)

I told you about this grandpa's parking skills and then he got a new van. (photo 2018)

Well, he finally hit something....

Yesterday, as he was trying to park, his foot slipped and "boom" he went into the iron gate that is next to his parking space under the 2nd floor (photo 2023)

I only heard the "boom" but gathered from his motions to his wife when she came running out, that his foot must've slipped.

I'm glad he didn't take out the property wall or the water drainage thingy near the property wall.

aiyah

the tall leaves are freesia.

as you might be able to tell, they have eaten all the blood orange leaves 

not too sure where the other green one went because I only saw1 left...

hope the one alive, didn't eat the other one...

today, there are no caterpillars left…guess it left because never have any more leaves to eat

oh well, hoping the blood orange can revive over the winter

kinmokusei

If you've been reading our blog, you know that I enjoy the fragrance of kinmokusei (sweet olive) and associate it with Autumn.

This huge tree caught my eye as I passed by, so I went up to see what it was
 

Huge!

Most times kinmokusei are tiny bushes, I think this is the biggest one in our neighborhood.