kotowaza

V's comment about the yuzu reminded me of a kotowaza (proverb) in Japanese 

The proverb is “kuri momo san nen, kaki hachi nen”

Which means chestnut & peach take 3 years to bear fruit, persimmon take 8 years

And there is another part of that kotowaza “yuzu baka juhachi nen” that yuzu takes a krazy 18 years to bear fruit 

This proverb was often heard among farmers and their families and not only tells how long trees will take to bear fruit but it also teaches us that in order to obtain something, it requires time and patience.

ogurasanso

My host mom sent me these sweets from Ogurasanso for my birthday

My mom loved Ogurasanso's arare, which she was first introduced to by MIL

Back in 2008, Ogurasanso started making their arare and covering them with chocolate. It is called Omoisomeshi

My host mom sent us some omoisomeshi as well as some new items... 

Omoisomeshi...two types dark chocolate, matcha & white...the other one was white, strawberry and milk

New item: arare & chocolate together in one package, sweet & salty!

New item: cracker (I think it might be made from ground up arare) and a large piece of chocolate in the middle...two flavors: milk & white

I appreciate my host mom remembering my birthday 

Thank you!

prism lab

Recently, my host sister sent me some sweets from Prism Lab, a shop located in Tokushima, Shikoku, for my birthday
 

The chocolate brownie was a little hard, but filled with walnuts, chunks of chocolate and covered with chocolate

Yuzuyuki was a cookie that had mac nuts, kitou yuzu and a sugar glaze

Chocolat financier had a huge chunk of dark chocolate on top

Almond financier was super buttery

Kitou yuzu madeleine had lots of yuzu flavor

Bon-bons...top left: kitou yuzu + hazelnut praline + dry yuzu peel

top right: Sunburst: won an international award and is a two layer bon bon with a yuzu caramel and ganache

bottom left: wasanbon + black sugar syrup + vanilla : tokushima made wasanbon (type of sugar) + black sugar syrup and tahitian vanilla

bottom right: infusion : uses a generous amount of kitou yuzu peel and its juice

Kitou yuzu is a variety unique to Tokushima.

I'm glad I got to try these and appreciate my host sister remembering my birthday.

Everything was so delicious!

Thank you T!

Prism Lab

5-71-6 Bandaicho

Tokushima City, Tokushima

Hours: 11:00-18:00

snow

Saturday night until Sunday mid-day we had snow!

It was so fun to see

I always say that if it comes to a point where we need to shovel it, I'm sure that the novelty of snow will wear off on me

Fortunately we didn't lose power

The images of the Northern part of Honshu especially on the Japan sea side is so scary!

They have had non-stop snow! for over a week!

Did you know that just 10 centimeters (close to 4 inches) of  snow on a rooftop can weigh up to 1.5 tons (3306 pounds), some areas had over 6 plus feet of snow!

So many injuries & deaths because of the snow there 

I think Tokyo had a total of 5 centimeters (close to 2 inches)

The wind was still icy the day after

Mother Nature plans to bring the temps up this weekend then slam us back to cold again

“new” shinbashi building

Saturday, the weather was forecast for snow in the evening, so we got out and about early...

I've been wanting to try Musashiya for some time.

They are a yoshoku (Western style) food eatery and have been in business since 1885

Their counter seats only 8?! people...while you are waiting in line, place your order

As soon as someone finishes their meal, sit where you are told and then you pay (cash) for your lunch

I ordered the omurice with dry curry (the rice that is put into the omelette is a spicy curry pilaf)

I also added a mini hamburg and told them that I didn't want miso soup

So much food! the omelette actually extends half of the plate! and is covered by lots of cabbage and napolitan style noodles.

Satoshi tried their omurice...lots of butter!

And I gave him most of the mini hamburger and a taste of my dry curry.

We want to try other things on their menu, we'll be back

I wanted to see Overall Arts' wall art

And all the different tiles

Even though the name has "new" in it, the building has been around since the 70s and is scheduled to be torn down in 2032?!

(This is the same building V and I had pork bowls at)

After walking around the other floors, most shops were closed because it was the weekend

So we went across the street to Karasumori Shrine

And then we went back downstairs to Kissa Fuji, a coffee shop

There is a huge lighted panel of Mount Fuji

Love the interior AND that they separate the smokers from the non-smokers

We shared their hot cake...I thought it would be super dense 

but I was happy that was so light, like chiffon cake!

And their coffee is strong, also loved the quiet!

rawr!

Glad we got to check out these places and that we made it home before the snow started

Musashiya

2-16-1 New Shinbashi Building 1F

Minato, Tokyo

Closed Sundays

Hours: 10:00-21:00

*cash only

Kissa Fuji

2-16-1 New Shinbashi Building B1

Minato, Tokyo

Closed Sundays

*cash only

Hours: 10:00-19:00

this and that

Loved the look of this tiny barber shop
 

Reconnected with Mickey I think the last time we visited was back in 2023?

I bought us some sandwiches and a few filled with chocolate & strawberry creams

Their prices seem to have gone up a bit but it is always good to support small business

If you spend 500 yen, they give you 1 seal, and if you collect 30 you can trade the seals in for something

I think we only have a few, and a long way to go until we get 30

Hope to visit Mickey more often

The sunset the other day

Been walking down to Tamagawa whenever the weather is nice

It is good to get a little vitamin D in

You can sometimes see Mount Fuji 

The weather is still so very dry in Tokyo though there is talk that it might snow...not gonna hold my breath.

So many deaths and injuries in the Northern part of Honshu as well as along the Japan Sea side due to all of the snow!

I hope you are doing well where you are

Have a safe weekend

ehomaki

Yesterday was Setsubun, so it was the day to eat ehomaki

We bought our ehomaki from Hamazushi, just like last year.

The price went up 100 yen and still had the same items inside.

The only thing was how p.i.t.a. it was to purchase.

I walked in before noon, and there was no one in the lobby, just the cashier

I asked if I could buy ehomaki without a reservation

And she said, "go to the machine" and put in your order...

So I punched in my order and was told to wait 30 minutes for it...

In the meantime, the paper that I needed to claim my order refused to come out of the machine

So the store manager came out, and said he would check to make sure that my order had gone through...

Then another guy came out, and said, your order says you'll pick it up at 12:30, but we have some right now (in a box next to the cashier!), would you like to purchase it now?!

um, yeah!

so it turned out I didn't need to wait but had to go through all the hoops to get it...grr
 

anyway, the lucky direction was south-south-east

even though we've already started the year with sniffles, icky phlegm and coughing, we hope the rest of the year will be a healthy one!