coffee jelly

Have you ever had coffee jelly?

In Japan, "jelly" is pronounced "zelly" and is a shortened version of "gelatin".

Anyway, you will often see coffee jelly on many menus here.

If you'd like to make your own, do this...makes about 2 servings

200 mililiters hot coffee
5 grams gelatin
20 grams sugar

vanilla ice cream

Make the coffee.
Mix in the sugar.
Using part of your hot coffee, mix it with the gelatin, so that it will not clump.
Put in the refrigerator to set.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.

NOTES: this is perfect for those humid days...I'm pretty sure you could even do this with tea if you don't drink coffee...happy summer!

odaiba

The last time I went to Odaiba was pre-blog.

I had seen hydrangea photos on someone's Instagram and went to check it out on Friday.

Even though it was overcast, it was super humid.

There are many office buildings as well as many shopping areas on this man-made island.

There is a huge Gundam statue in front of the Diver City Shopping area.

If you'd like to know more about Gundam, check out this link.

There was also another area to view hydrangea but it was a bit farther from where I was.

I am sure if the weather had been a bit cooler, I would've checked it out, but it was pretty miserable on this day.

There are many bridges crossing the freeway, so be prepared to walk.

As for food, there were lots of fast food places...I ended up eating at Taco Bell.

I am glad I went to reconnect with Odaiba and hope to check out other areas for hydrangea.

If you want to see more photos, please check out the link.

Have a nice week.

millefeuille corn

Came across a new variety (to us) called Millefeuille Corn.

Super sweet and different gradations of yellow.

I'm glad we tried this and will get it again if I see it at the market.

around honmonji

Monday, it rained all.day.and.all.night.long.

Since I needed to go out in the rain for some groceries, I also went to check out the hydrangea.

There are many temples around Honmonji.

One in particular is Myokendo.

Along the stairs to the temple are many ajisai (hydrangea).

I don't think the ajisai were in full bloom at this temple.

If you'd like to see a short video I shot in the rain, click the link here.

In the back of Nagasoyamayogen Temple, there were azalea and ajisai which are planted on the perimeter of their cemetery.

It's been rainy (and cold! The temps dropped to 16C (60F)!) hope to get out to other temples/parks to see their hydrangea in the coming days.

bogor pineapple

About 2 years ago, we tried snack pine.

The other day, I bought another one called Bogor Pineapple, which was grown in Okinawa.

This time I followed the directions on the package.

Cut off the bottom and pick off the "nubs".

The fruit was overripe in places.

Still, there was quite a bit to eat.

After picking off the nubs, the center "shaft" that is left can be sliced and eaten.

I'm glad we tried this, it was also super sweet.

By the way, here's the snack pine that I planted 2 years ago...pretty big.

on the other hand, I think "someone"'s bonsai is dead...

curry camp express

It's been 5 years since we tried Camp back in Osaka.

This past Sunday, we both had separate errands to run, so we had lunch at the Curry Camp Express in the JR Shinagawa station then got onto different trains to do our errands.

This particular shop is inside the ticket gates so they are much "quicker" than the one in Osaka because there are many who need to catch their trains.

I had a similar curry to the one I had back in Osaka...this one also had some pork and cheese.

Satoshi tried a Southern Indian style curry.

We both enjoyed our lunches.

There are also many other eateries inside the ticket gates, so we'll be back.

Curry Camp Express
Inside ticket gates, JR Shinagawa Station Ecute South area
Minato, Tokyo
Monday-Saturday 7:00-23:00
Sunday 8:00-22:00

trattoria m's

Well, we've started rainy season.

In fact, we started before Kansai (west Japan), how is that for weird weather?!

Saturday, we had an errand to run in Kamata, so we had lunch at Trattoria M's.

They are located in the basement of the Keikyu EX Inn.

Satoshi had their natto pasta, which he said he enjoyed...I'm glad it wasn't too stinky.

I had their salsiccia arrabiata (spicy sausage)...half size.

Too bad they don't serve bread with this, it would've been nice to mop up the garlicky sauce.

Service was pretty quick and we enjoyed the food.

We'll be back.

Trattoria M's
5-28-18 Kamata, Keikyu EX Inn B1
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3735.8405
Closed Sundays
Lunch 11:30-14:30, Dinner 17:00-23:00