yudanaka-nagano-matsumoto

From Yudanaka, we headed back to Nagano and then went on to Matsumoto

On the way, we passed by an area called Ubusute

Ubu stands for elderly and sute is to throw away

This was an area where people "left" their elderly family members so that they could "save money" not having to feed another mouth

Video here

After leaving most of our stuff at the hotel, we went to the Metoba River area to look for lunch

The Metoba River is in between of Okinado and the Nawate Shopping Street

Okinado is a cafe/coffee shop that has been in business since 1933

The wait for a table was 40 minutes, but we actually got in a little earlier because most of the people before us gave up...ha!

Satoshi chose the otona no lunch (adult lunch), a version of the kids meal (probably bigger portions)...hamburg with demi glace sauce, omurice and napolitan...he said he enjoyed this

Kat chose the half and half...half hayashi beef and half pork curry

The meats in both were so melt in your mouth!

We shared this housemade caramel flan (purin) delicious!

Loved that the "ice" in the iced coffee were cubes of coffee.

After lunch, we went to Matsumoto Castle and the wait to get in was 50 minutes!

Be prepared to take off your shoes, carry them in a plastic bag, as well as what ever "stuff" you have too

One staircase was super steep and the distance between each step was about 40 centimeters (15 inches) !

No photos especially on the staircases, because it is so dangerous and everyone is waiting to get up and down the stairs

Believe me, you gotta hang on for dear life on some of those stairs

My legs and arms were sore the next day because I used a lot of the muscles I never knew I had!

Nearby is the Former Kaichi School, one of the oldest schools in Japan

Next door is the home of a Catholic priest

On the way back to the hotel, we walked through part of the castle grounds and came across this vibrant ume tree.

You can refill your water bottles at most Tourist information offices, but we were also told that the water from this well was also potable.

Since we had a late lunch we decided to just have some soba for dinner at Iidaya

Satoshi chose the wasabi leaf soba...he said he enjoyed this

I chose the walnut sauce soba, the sauce was mixed with sesame seeds so the walnut flavor was kinda lost...bummer

I picked up this guide on everything delicious of Matsumoto

It also explained some of the culture and sights too.

One thing I wouldn't mind seeing is the cherry blossoms that encircle the tomb on Mount Kobo

After dinner, we shared this chocolate soft serve at Gaku, which uses a lot of ingredients from Nagano

It was quite a long day, lots of "climbing", eating and walking

Okinado

2-4-10 Chuo

Matsumoto, Nagano

Closed: 2nd & 4th Wednesday

Hours: 11:00-15:30 (lunch), 17:30-21:00 (dinner)

Iidaya

Midori Matsumoto 4F

Matsumoto, Nagano

Hours: 11:00-20:00 (earlier if they run out of soba)

Closed: when Midori Matsumoto is closed

Alpico Plaza Hotel

1-3-21 Fukashi

Matsumoto, Nagano

tokyo-obuse-yudanaka

Last Friday, I went to meet Satoshi in Nagano
 

But first, we went back to Obuse, to check out Iwasaki Bakery

If you remember we tried last November, but they were closed

They were open this time, but, they were out of Chelsea Buns and out of mostly everything else too

The most interesting out of the things we tried was this chikuwa bread

Chikuwa, cheese, nori and a little tuna salad were baked in this bread

I was bummed that we couldn't try the Chelsea Buns, but happy we were able to try some of their baked items.

The owner's wife said that the owner is on dialysis, and we hope he will get better soon.

After lunch, we walked to Ganshoin

As we walked, we passed by many grape vineyards

I thought it was so cool that this grandpa was on his crane gadget, working on the vines and blasting his radio, listening to the high school baseball tournament going on in Osaka, just in his own world

Ganshoin has a large phoenix on the ceiling that was painted by Hokusai Katsushika

The painting was created on 12 different cypress panels and used pigments imported from China, and the colors were so vibrant that they haven't needed touching up since!

Hokusai returned to Edo (Tokyo) after finishing the painting and passed away the following year.

No photos...boo! but it was cool to see

Right outside of Ganshoin is a tiny cafe called Kuten Fruit & Cake

We stopped in for some coffee and something sweet

I like that they used a lot of ingredients grown or made in Nagano

Kita Shinshu strawberry tarte...delicious!

Shibukawa chestnut matcha mont blanc tarte...this was delicious too

I enjoyed the interior of this cafe and it was nice to sit in the quiet

Then from Obuse we went back to Yudanaka

The hotel/ryokan we stayed at had so many flowers

Each room had an oshibana (pressed flower) representing their room name

Our room name was Azami which is thistle in Japanese

The front desk was decorated with many oshibana too

Dinner was an assortment of things

This was the most interesting...yurine (lily bulb) shiratama (dumpling) soba kernel with ankake sauce (slurry sauce)

So many flowers!

Kuten Fruit & Cake

604 Karida

Obuse, Nagano

Closed: Mondays

Hours: 10:00-17:00

Masuya

2296 Hirao

Yamanouchi, Nagano

*see other photos, videos here

last thursday

Last Thursday, Satoshi took a family from Germany to the monkey park in Nagano.

Remember we went to check it out last November?!

Well, I happened to check their live camera and saw "someone" and took a screenshot ...you might be able to spot him too...

At least there were lots of monkeys for the family to see

He was worried it might be super muddy or the trail would be covered with snow, but he said it wasn't too bad.

Glad that his tour went well.

sakura walk (tamagawa, ikegami)

Today it was forecast for clouds and maybe some sun.

Unfortunately from tomorrow it is forecast for rain...so I got out and about to see some cherry blossoms.

I went to Tamagawa (Tama River)

It wasn't in full bloom, but it was still nice to see

A tiny pocket park nearby in Ikegami.

If there is a sunny day later this week, I'll try to check more cherry blossoms out

on the lanai

freesia starting to bloom

picked quite a bit on this day

love the fragrance!

this year seems to be a great year for our freesia, there are still more on the lanai to pick
 

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