shinjuku

Saturday, Satoshi wanted to check out some things for an upcoming tour

we ended up near the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices and saw this line snaking four deep (when I took this photo the line had subsided quite a bit)

I had asked one person standing in line what the line was for and got a very snarky/snippy answer..."can't you tell?!" um, no that is why I was asking...bruh!

Anyway, it turned out that this line was for a food distribution/soup kitchen or what the Japanese call "takidashi"

In fact, under the government building you will see a lot of homeless, it was sad to see

Since I had never been up to the observatory, we went to check it out

They check your bags before you can ride the elevator

And you can choose between the observatory in the North tower or the one in the South tower 

If I am not mistaken, there is a cafe in each tower, as well as a gift shop

the view

we got to see a part of Tokyo that we had never been to and learned something new (to us) regarding food security in Tokyo 

fruit stand bora bora

Stumbled upon this tiny fruit stand called Bora Bora when I visited Gakugeidaigaku

 

What caught my eye were these Fukuoka grown red kiwi...120 yen each (plus tax)

Lucky for this blog because I was reminded that we had tried these Fukuoka grown red kiwi back in 2020

Still, I hope they are tasty (update: the one on the left was sour & hard.as.rock, the one on the right was softer and a little sweet! both hardly had any red)

Fruit Stand Bora Bora

3-1-9 Takaban

Meguro, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 9:00-22:00

*cash only

patisserie taisuke endo

Wanted to check out Patisserie Taisuke Endo for some time now.

If I’m not mistaken, he trained in France & Italy

He has a cafe area where you can enjoy cakes and other sweets

He also sells baked items like viennoiserie and sables (cookies) 

I tried his madeleine...360 yen (tax included), chocolate tonka financier...390 yen (tax included)

so delicious!

super chocolatey! love!

buttery with a hint of lemon

kouign amann...490 yen (tax included)...a very thin caramel coating and the inside is super moist and buttery...love!

bazillion calories consumed but I'm glad I got to try these and look forward to trying his cakes in the future.

I'll be back

Patisserie Taisuke Endo

2-4-7 Takaban

Meguro, Tokyo

Closed: check social media for days off

Hours: 10:30-19:00

meguro maruei

Went to Gakugeidaigaku and wanted to check out Meguro Maruei

Apparently they have been in business since 1959

Love their shop color!
 

I tried their  teriyaki chicken sandwich...340 yen (tax included)

so ono!

All chicken thigh, well seasoned and the bread is a soft type of baguette

I'm glad I tried this place and look forward to trying other items whenever I am nearby

I'll be back

Meguro Maruei

1-3-15 Chuocho

Meguro, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 7:00-18:30

*cash only

this and that

saw that local motion is bringing back the kona jacket

so nostalgic!

I'm so glad local motion wrote "kona jacket" because the person who posted this on social media didn't, and I just couldn't remember the name "kona jacket"!

huge! apple from yamagata, crisp and sweet

huge asian pear, not sure from where in Japan

just before sunrise...glad I caught this, a couple minutes later it was grey again

I had thought that kinmokusei (sweet olive) season was over but I guess they were all waiting for it to get cooler 

some days you just need chocolate and sprinkles

wanted to try using black lentils and put 1/4 cup into a batch of chili

they are so small you can't even tell they are in there

it looks like those typhoons might not make landfall until the beginning of next week

it’s been really cool in the mornings and blazing during the day

hope you have a safe weekend

ugh

Had some time on my hands yesterday so I decided to check out where the cranes were

I walked and walked and while walking over a bridge that connects Tokyo with Kanagawa, I saw all of these cranes, one or two of these are what we can see from our apartment

after returning home, I looked around online and  I found out that 

they are building a huge complex with a 17 floor condo in an area called Nishikase

The whole project is supposed to finish in 2029...so I guess we can kiss our view of Mount Fuji goodbye

So bummed 

13 years

hard to believe you've been gone for 13 years

some days it seems like yesterday, some days not

can't believe you would've been 87 today

thankful for you always looking out for us

love you