Yesterday, while I was out grocery shopping, we had tiny hail (size of coarse salt, Hawaiian salt??) and some rain! I couldn't believe it. It was only for a couple of minutes but it was hail! Then in the afternoon, the wind was so strong and blustery, I had to keep my eye on our Christmas tree on the lanai to make sure it wouldn't fall over.
Another thing I couldn't believe is that I went to Starbucks 3 times in one week...here are some of the things I ate.
The Filone beef and sauerkraut sandwich at Starbucks is similar to the reuben. The bread is a chewy baguette, there is fried onions, and lots of sauerkraut in there...I like this.
On this visit, I had my first iced coffee of the year.
On another visit, I tried their sakura biscotti...um, no! the flavors are all wrong. I also struck out with their BLT on this visit.Since the cold came back, I went back to hot coffee on this visit.
My last visit for that week was with Tamakikat.
I tried their azuki matcha dacquoise...this was nice. Not too sweet, though the azuki wasn't present.
Most items at Starbucks are hit or miss and sometimes I think I should just stick to their coffee when I go there, but I never learn...
Starbucks! I miss it so much. Not so much for the food, but just because we went there almost every day for a month - it's our tradition in Japan. We don't have Strabucks in Perth and even if we did I probably wouldn't go, because it just wouldn't be the same.
ReplyDeleteHail? It hailed when we were going to Himeji Castle a few years ago. That was in March too.
And one more thing. Do you still have a Christmas tree up? How long do they stay on display in Japan? I remember seeing them when we were there late one February. Do you keep them all year?
Jeeez hail..... I'll still remember the first time I experienced hail. That doesn;t happen much in Hawaii. Starbucks sells some interesting stuff in Japan.
ReplyDeleteWow the beef and sauerkraut sandwich looks pretty good; the bread looks especially yummy. No picture of the BLT must mean it was truly horrendous, lol.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your favorite coffee place in Japan (er, besides Starbucks)? I like the smoothness and richness of Seattle's Best Coffee over SB...
Thank you for another informative and envy-inducing post!
Starbucks should make you a VIP there! ;-) At least you get interesting things to try--here it is always the same.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, I never go to Starbucks here (they just don't compare to some of the great local coffee shops) but in Japan, Starbucks was always an exciting treat. I didn't get too adventurous with their food though, I used the trips there as a chance to get an Earl Grey tea and either a scone or cinnamon scroll. Plain and boring ;P
ReplyDeleteNo Momiji, our "christmas" tree is not decorated. Most places in Japan take down their Christmas decorations the day after Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI remember one time in Hawaii when we had hail Kirk, THAT time the hail was bigger!
Anon, My favorite place for coffee is my kitchen, no smokers no extra noise. The only reason I choose SB is because of the no smoking policy, sometimes I feel SB's coffee tastes burnt. Hiro Coffee is good but they combine smoking with non-smoking :(
I should actually have bought stock Debinhawaii ;)
Sometimes simple is best Melanie :)
Take care everyone!
Kat
Hi K&S, I had a couple sandwiches at starbucks here out of desparation. was expensive and kinda just ok. I'm impressed that the food is at least creative there!
ReplyDeleteI experienced hail only one time in my life. I was in the first grade . . .sheese that was 50 years ago!! Anyway, I was in school, the teacher was speaking to us when all of a sudden we could hear tapping on the windows. We all rushed over to look. I stuck my hand out and a few tiny pieces of ice fell onto my hand. They melted in seconds.
ReplyDeleteHail? What's going on with the weather these days? Two days ago it was predicted to be a sunny easter weekend, now it's looking like rain! I wish we had a Starbucks here, if only for a change of pace. At least you're giving us the lowdown on the goodies there (was so funny when I read the part about the sakura biscotti being so wrong!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dennis :)
ReplyDeleteWe had hail once where I lived too Jalna, was kinda big, all I remember was the sound of it hitting my neighbor's roof.
Kinda regretted that biscotti Rowena, was bad! Praying for sun where you are...looks like rain for us here...
Take care everyone.
Kat