culture day

11.3 is Bunka no Hi (culture day) (cool art at JR Ueno station)

I think all the museums have free admission on this day

the special exhibits still require admission, but you can see their permanent collections 

our first stop was the National Museum of Western Art, right outside of the JR Ueno station

It was quite packed, so instead of hovering around the art pieces, I was more interested in the architecture and interior

the lighting

the stairwells

and the exterior...check out all the pebbles! on the walls

next door is the Museum of Nature and Science, this is the one with the big whale out front

so many families with little ones...it was a little too crowded for my liking...

loved the high ceilings with stained glass

the view from the top floor

stained glass up close

the stairwells

then we went across the street to the Tokyo National Museum and went into the Toyokan (East Asian Art)

the exterior

the main building (Honkan)

loved the interior!

the mosaic on the walls!

too many people here as well

the high ceilings with the beautiful lightning

beautiful staircase, that go up to the exhibits we didn't pay for, so weren't allowed to go up

there is a garden area, which will look beautiful when the leaves change color

go out to the gardens if you feel overwhelmed by all the people!

building with Horyuji collection

beautiful interior

Even though I wasn't too interested in the art pieces, I enjoyed all the architecture/grounds and we got to experience it for free

If you are in Japan on November 3rd, and are interested you should check it out.

It was our first time checking out these museums and taking advantage of the free admissions

sunday

The drama that we watch in the mornings is based on Uno Chiyo's life

We found out that our ward's folk museum was having an exhibit on her life, so we went to check it out.

When we first moved here, we actually went to this museum, but I guess I never wrote up about it.

Parts of our area was a popular place for writers to work and live and was called Magome Bunshimura
 
All the exhibits are in Japanese, though they do have some QR codes for you to scan so you can listen to details about different authors

I loved this print by Kawase Hasui

Lunch was at Cheval Cafe

The terrace was pretty popular on this day so we were seated indoors

Order by QR code...some of their choices were sold out

Satoshi chose their hamburg & aji fry…1450 yen (tax included)

Kat chose their chicken namban…1420 yen (tax included)

I thought the portions were a little small for Satoshi/guys but the food was tasty

And I would've appreciated the veggies being cut to bite size, guess I could've asked for a knife

Dunno if we'll be back since it is quite far from where we live but we are glad we got to try them

Down the hill is Maison Ichi, a bakery

Apparently they are highly rated on food app, though reviews on the map app, says otherwise

we tried their marron coppe (a soft hot dog bun type of bread filled with chestnut paste and chestnut bits) and their fig cream cheese (a hard type of bread filled with walnuts, cream cheese and dried figs)

we are glad we tried this place too, though it is also quite far from where we live, dunno that we’ll be back

The weather was blazing this weekend, so we made sure to get out and enjoy the weather

Cheval Cafe

2-3-1 Nishimagome

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays

Hours: 11:30-15:00 (lunch), 18:00-21:00 (dinner)

*cash or paypay only

Maison Ichi

2-2-1 Nishimagome

Ota, Tokyo

Open daily: 11:00-20:00

Oh and we also went to check out the area where Uno Chiyo used to live

We were surprised that there are so many hills in our area, our legs were jelly afterwards

midnight diner ninjin shirishiri

was inspired to make ninjin shirishiri with spam after watching the latest episode of “Midnight Diner”

This version uses spam, egg and ground sesame seeds
 

used my mom’s grater

 

nowadays, I usually make this dish using chili crisp and no egg, using spam was a nice change

saturday

Saturday, we went to get our flu shots

It was super fast

Afterwards, I wanted to go grocery shopping but we were too early, so we grabbed a snack at Komeda

Their pizza toast has egg salad in the middle, different but tasty

I did my grocery shopping and then we headed out to Shibuya

The Tokyu Hands (or Hands) is closing its shop that had been in business for 48 years! 

Chances are if you’ve shopped at Tokyu Hands in Shibuya this was the one you’ve been to.

Am gonna miss their skip floors, most of their original shops had them

Afterwards we walked around “okushibu” which are the “backroads” of Shibuya 

Who is this man?! saw him all over the place

We stopped for crepes at Viron

Their menu shows the prices before tax and with tax

But when they actually rang us up the price gets rounded up when the tax is added so it costs 1 yen more than the “with tax” price on their menu?!WT

Anyway, we enjoyed these crepes, they are better and filled more generously than Parla.

Satoshi had salted butter caramel and Kat had chestnut

We then walked around Dogenzaka

And Hyakkendana 

visited Chiyoda Inari Shrine

saw Taruya, an okonomiyaki shop that has been in business since 1931!

Coffee Shop Lion which has been in business since 1926!

BYG, a bar that has been in business since1969

so many interesting buildings in this area

and it felt like you went back in time

kendo shop, Shokodo which has been in business for over 90 years!

tattoo shop

Reikyo, a Taiwanese restaurant, which has been in business since 1955!

no Hachiko during Halloween

and if you are wearing a costume you cannot enter stores

We’re glad we experienced Shibuya before the Halloween kraziness

Plus it was fun exploring an area of Shibuya that we had not seen before