Tuesday, March 17, 2026

research

Satoshi has another tour coming up and wanted to check out different areas

We checked out the hotel his guests will be staying at...Andaz
 

Beautiful lobby
Nice view of Tokyo Tower

Loved the paper reliefs in the elevators
Down to the Palace's Nijubashi
Outer market of Tsukiji

We had egg sandwiches with tsukemono (pickles) in it at Nishikawa Roastery

Satoshi's had narazuke, mine had pickled ginger in it...delicious

I want to try the egg sandwich with shibazuke in it...I'll be back

area near Gokokuji 
Omotesando & Shibuya
Daikanyama, the last time we were in this area was back in 2022...so many changes

Teriyaki Chicken sandwich from Et Nunc which opened in 2024

I want to eat breakfast here...I'll be back

Et Nunc is located in Forestgate Daikanyama which opened in 2023
T-site Daikanyama which opened in 2011....I think there is another one in Kansai (Hirakata)

Huge bookstore with cafes and shops on the property

T stands for Tsutaya

Loved how the "T" shaped tiles were placed in a "T" on the building

It was a long day of walking & eating, I hope Satoshi will be able to take his guests to all the places they have requested to visit, the schedule seems tight

Nishikawa Roastery
2-15-17 Tsukiji
Chuo, Tokyo
Hours: 8:30-20:00

Et Nunc
20-23 Daikanyamacho (Forestgate Daikanyama 1F)
Shibuya, Tokyo
Hours: 9:30-18:30

Monday, March 16, 2026

3 w's

Saturday was White Day...the day when the guys give back to the girls after receiving something for Valentine's day...Satoshi gave me this box of millefeuille sweets by Francais

I've had this in the past, it is crisp wafers with  different flavored cream layered between the wafers then covered with chocolate...thank you!

In the afternoon we went to see "Wicked : For Good"

It was the sequel to the "Wicked"

I hadn't realized that Satoshi hadn't seen the original "Wizard of Oz", so I ended up having to explain that story to him too...

Still we enjoyed the movie

Dinner was at Warayakiya

It was my first time to eat on this side (Konan side) of the JR Shinagawa Station, it is kinda dark and sketchy...so we usually we eat on the Takanawa side

I bookmarked this restaurant because they cook over straw (wara) and serve food unique to Kochi Prefecture

Amuse bouche...the stuff you don't order but need to pay for...raw veggies
Miso & something (forgot what he said) (left) and Shrimp & Chili (right)

To eat the raw veggies with

My favorite was the miso & something
Fruit tomato & warayaki unagi sushi

Warayaki is when you cook something over straw (wara)

We were seated on the 3rd floor of the restaurant, if they had had an opening on the 2nd floor we would've been able to them cooking the unagi and katsuo

Delicious
Warayaki katsuo (bonito) tataki

This is Satoshi's favorite...served with salt, wasabi, raw garlic slices, green onions, myoga (Japanese ginger) and raw onion slices

They ask you not to eat with shoyu so you can enjoy the aroma of the straw

My favorite was this...huge tsukune (chicken meatball) with lots of shoga (ginger) in it and served with a slightly sweet shoyu sauce and raw egg to dip the tsukune in

So good
I enjoyed this yuzu and sansho (Japanese pepper) sour
There are other items on the menu that we'd like to try...we'll be back.

Warayakiya* (they also have shops around Tokyo & one in Nagoya)
2-5-5 Konan, Konan OMT Building 2F & 3F
Minato, Tokyo
Hours: 17:00-22:30 (Mondays & Sundays), 17:00-23:00 (Tuesdays-Thursdays), 16:00-23:00 (Fridays & Saturdays)

Saturday, March 14, 2026

so rusty

Yesterday, I wrote on my craft blog about this 

I have been wanting this print by Marimekko for some time now

It's called Pieni Siirtolapuutarha

I think the colors are what I like about this print.

Marimekko is a Finnish brand that I learned about while living in Japan.

AND I'm glad I didn't get rid of this book...I needed it to refresh my memory on how to sew in a lining for the bag.

I am so happy that I now have a bag with this print.
 

Friday, March 13, 2026

this and that

recently went to freshness burger...instead of fries I tried their fried renkon (lotus root)...since the slices were thick, it wasn't crispy, but I like that you can choose this over fries
 

big island crunch bar...one bar is 2 servings...I think it should already be cut into 2

this bar is also quite sweet and probably cutting it into 4 pieces would be better...

we received this from V, she said she didn't know it was 2 servings and has been eating the whole thing at once...oopsa!

flowers for grandpa and MIL...their meinichi (date of passing) are close to each other.

we miss you both!

also thought the micro hydrangea (green flower) was cute
tried black sesame paste instead of peanut butter...not too aesthetic, but tasty!

The cyclamen is ready to bloom so I brought it indoors for us to enjoy

Found a new (to me) kimchi with shiso in it...so ono!

photo of Satoshi's view from his office

We saw this person at Yoroniku, she was taking pictures with all the Taiwan fans eating at the restaurant

Apparently she is a cheerleader with CT Amaze, not sure how I stumbled upon this picture but remember this was the person Satoshi and I saw
Have you been watching the WBC (World Baseball Classic)? we are bummed that it is only being broadcast on Netflix

I was having a hard time understanding all the kanji on Yahoo Japan's site for the game
so I was happy to learn that I can "view" the games through MLB's site, I guess I need the visuals

Good luck to all the teams!
Was looking for a tuna sandwich to eat with the shiso kim chee.

Ended up toasting a tuna cheese sandwich from Family Mart and also eating a tuna mayo musubi with it.
I think we received this chili pepper jelly from my Aunty a couple of years ago, I recently opened it and mouth.on.fire!

The weather has been warm some days, rainy some days and some days fahreezing!

Hope you have a safe weekend.

Thursday, March 12, 2026

reconnect

Was trying to figure out what to have for lunch today and reconnected with Yonehachi's okowa bento

I like when they have the sakura okowa & chestnut okowa to choose from

What was interesting in this bento was the white thing in the top right corner.

I thought it might be pickles but it was konnyaku with yuzu...so different and ono!

I'm glad I reconnected with this and will check on this kiosk from time to time 

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

mochi genmai

was curious to try this mochi genmai
 

it is mochi rice before it is polished...”brown” mochi rice
it smells like mochi when you open the rice cooker after cooking it, but isn’t gooey like mochi

I like this and will buy it again if I see it at the market that I usually buy brown rice at these days

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

avocado

When I bought this avocado, I don't think that it was indented on the bottom...

I tried to look online to see what caused it to do so but couldn't find anything
 

When I cut it open I found out why...

I'm glad I was able to eat the bulk of it and didn't have to throw the whole thing out.