hakone bakery

When we visited Hakone in February, I was interested in trying some baked goods from Hakone Bakery, but their shop wasn't near the Hakone station.

And then when I went to Kawasaki, I stumbled upon their shop there of all places.

I tried their apple pie.

So flaky but could have had a little more apple filling.

We also tried their bread which was nice as toast in the morning.

And last night I tried their gorgonzola honey walnut bread, so good!

Lots of stinky cheese! walnuts and a drizzle of honey.

There is mixed info online about the shop in Hakone...some say they moved, some say they are out of business.

They do have a cafe area at the shop in Kawasaki so I hope to get back there soon.

Hakone Bakery
Azalea Delichika
Kawasaki, Kanagawa
Phone: 044.280.7671
Hours: 7:00-21:00
Open when Azalea is

watermelon

Does your market sell cut watermelon?

Most of the ones I've bought from in the past have had the cut watermelon wrapped in plastic.

This is my 2nd time buying watermelon this year and both times it was packed like this.

In a zipped bag.

I rinse the pieces before eating.

Our temps have been krazy... 30s C (high 80sF) am hoping with the rains forecast for Wednesday, our temps will get a little more comfortable.

burrata

1st time trying burrata...where have we been?

This cheese is creamy, buttery...so so good!

Recently I saw some at Kaldi (an import food store) and at the time didn't buy it, but when I went on Saturday, I picked one up.

It was frozen, so I thawed it out.

Since it is a fresh cheese, it has to be frozen to make the trip overseas...

I sliced it and put it onto some tomatoes.

Drizzled it with olive oil.

Put some basil.

And ground a little pepper.

I'm glad we tried this and have heard that some Japanese cheese makers are making burrata, so I will keep my eye to try their version.

Have you tried burrata? What is your favorite way to enjoy this?

tachikawa

From where we live it took me several trains and about an hour and a half to get to Tachikawa.

Tachikawa is still part of Tokyo, but on the very west side of Tokyo.

I had lunch at the station at a bakery called Sesto, before checking out Showa Kinen Koen (Showa Memorial Park).

Hot dog with sauerkraut, olives, cheese and a little ketchup.

I love that this bakery heated up my hot dog and even cut it in half.

I'll be back!

After lunch, I walked to the park in search of the poppies that I had seen on someone's Instagram.

I found out the hard way that there was admission (450 yen)...and that from the entrance I needed to walk 30-40 minutes to the poppy hill!

Apparently Showa Memorial Park is a little smaller than Hitachi Seaside Park (Ibaraki Prefecture)....and almost twice the size of Shinjuku Gyoen (Tokyo)...HUGE!

And with the temps blazing at 34C (93F) it made walking 30-40 minutes kind of painful...

But, look at all these poppies...beautiful yeah?!

Last Tuesday, we had major wind and rain (almost typhoon-ish) and lots of these poppies were "knocked" flat...luckily they revived with the blazing temps.

There was also a bouquet garden which I went through on my way out of the park.

I hope to come back to check out their tulips and cherry blossoms (early Spring) and maybe their autumn colors in the Fall...

Hot, perspiry and just plain gross...I stood in line for these berry puree and custard filled hand pies by Ringo.

Ringo is known for their custard apple pies (which we've tried and love) but for 4 days, they were only selling these...so delicious! glad we tried them.

Despite the heat, it was nice to check out this park and another part of Tokyo.

If you'd like to see some of the other photos/videos I took, please look here.

Sesto
Gran Duo Tachikawa 1F
Tachikawa, Tokyo
Phone: 042.540.2235
Hours: 10:00-21:00
Closed when Gran Duo is

Showa Memorial Park
3173 Midori-cho
Tachikawa, Tokyo
Phone: 042.528.1751
*check site for hours and days closed

Ringo
JR Tachikawa Station
Tachikawa, Tokyo
Phone: 042.548.9585
Hours: 10:00-22:00 (Mondays-Fridays), 10:00-21:00 (Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays)

max see

Tried a relatively new boba tea place in our area, Max See.

This shop is so teeny!

There were several big orders in front of me, so I had to wait awhile for my drink.

I tried the Uji matcha kokuto tapioca milk tea...whew! say that 10x fast...

Uji matcha (green tea) milk mixture is layered with kokuto tapioca (black sugar tapioca) and milk tea (tea with milk in it).

Choose your drink size (M or L)...I chose M

Choose your sweetness (0-100%)...I chose 25%

Choose the amount of ice (0-100%)...I chose 25%

This was delicious and how cute is the plastic seal on top of the cup?!

I'm glad I tried this place and will be back whenever I am nearby.

Max See
7-1-9 Nishikamata
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6874.9219
Hours: 11:00-23:00

not purple shibazuke

Shibazuke (literally purple pickle) is made with red shiso (perilla) which gives the pickles a "purple/red" color.

I tried a simple recipe I found on sirogohan.com, but because I didn't buy the right vinegar, my shibazuke didn't turn purple/red.

If you can get your hands on red shiso, then your pickles will definitely be the right color.

I wanted to try this recipe because they also suggest you to use green shiso, which is more readily available at our markets.

For us, red shiso is only available during the time (summer-ish) when you find fresh ume (apricots) in the markets usually when people make umeboshi (pickled apricots).

I only made half the recipe because I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

Adapted from sirogohan.com

250 grams total of eggplant, peeled ginger, cucumber, myoga...sliced rather thin
5 leaves green shiso, washed, stems removed
2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons red ume vinegar
1/2 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)

Put all the veggies and shiso into a ziploc and massage in the salt.
Put the ziploc bag into a flat container and put it in the refrigerator with something heavy on top and leave for a couple of hours.
After a couple of hours, squeeze out of the water from all the veggies and shiso.
Put all the veggies and shiso back into the ziploc bag, throw out the squeezed liquid.
Add the vinegar and mirin.
Put the ziploc bag back into the refrig with something heavy on top and leave for 2 days.
After the 2 days, mince the pickles before serving.
Put pickles into an airtight container and enjoy!

NOTES: I bought regular ume vinegar by mistake, this is why my pickles did not turn red/purple.

If you can get your hands on red shiso, use regular vinegar to pickle your veggies.

If you cannot get your hands on red shiso, use green shiso and use red ume vinegar.

This got the thumbs up from Satoshi, it does take some time, but I'm making this again!

lemongrass butterfly pea tea

Tried this Lemongrass Butterfly Pea Tea from Kaldi.

Satoshi wasn't too impressed with the color.

Me, I love the color!

Because it is blended with lemongrass, the lemongrass flavor stands out.

I hear if you add lemon juice to it, the blue will turn pink...hope to try that!

Our temps are supposed to hit 30C (86F) this weekend...eep!

sad

Well, I was wrong. It’s not looking good.

This is how the condo looked on May 9th...you can see Mount Fuji in the background.

And then on the 22nd...the iron rods have gotten higher...gah! (no sign of Mount Fuji yesterday so I put an arrow where she should be, but the sunset was nice!)

guess it was nice while it lasted and we'll just have to go visit Mount Fuji more often...

"sumo"

The natsu basho (summer tournament) is going on now in Tokyo.

We thought we might be able to get a glimpse, but the daily amount of unreserved tickets were sold out by the time we got there....boo!

The flags of the wrestlers were so colorful!

There were many people with sumo trading cards that would run up to the wrestler and ask for their autograph.

It was fun to hang around outside the arena like paparazzi...

On our way to the station, we caught 3 sumotori (wrestlers) in a taxi...check out the back wheels...way too close to the pavement!

They have a painting of Musashimaru in the JR Ryogoku station...

Hopefully we'll be able to check out a real tournament in the future...

himehiogi

Came across this flower called Himehiogi around our neighborhood.

Apparently it is in the same family as freesia (anomatheca).

I've seen this in pink/orange and white.

Am wondering if it has the same fragrance as freesia.

Do you have this same type of flower where you live?

life hack

Got this info from a television show...

if you ever have leftover rice, freeze it in a "round" shape so that when you reheat it in the microwave, it will reheat evenly.

We rarely have leftover rice, but when we do, I try to freeze it like this.

I think this works, if you try it, let me know what you think.

purple cabbage namul

Tried a new recipe using purple cabbage.

The recipe said it was namul, but the ingredients are rather different from what I've used to make namul in the past.

Adapted Purple Cabbage Namul by Lee Eirin
150 grams purple cabbage, julienned/shredded
4.5 grams salt
2 teaspoons vinegar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
2 teaspoons honey

Add the salt and 2 teaspoons vinegar to the purple cabbage and set aside for 15 minutes.
Squeeze out the water after the 15 minutes
Mix the white wine vinegar, oil, mustard and honey.
Add the squeezed cabbage to the "dressing"
Enjoy!

NOTES: so easy, not authentic asian flavors, but delicious!

We ate some of this with our bi bim bap.

I'm always on the look out for new recipes to try with purple cabbage, I'm glad I tried this and would make this again!

vanni

Tried Vanni's regular sized croissant filled with custard.

The first bite didn't have any custard in it, which was a little disappointing, but look at the middle!

Overflowing!

I'm glad I tried this.

The croissant is firm like the mini version.

I'll be back!

mottainai honpo

Whenever I go to the DIY store, they have an area where they sell snacks.

But, this area is usually AFTER the cash registers, so almost always, I forget about looking until after I've paid and am on my way out of the store.

Today, I made sure to look, but the items I wanted to check out were not there.

Then I found them in another part of the store.

If you've been to Japan and shopped, you know almost everything sold anywhere is "perfect".

"Perfect" sized, shaped and packaged.

Mottainai Honpo is a group in Ibaraki prefecture that sells the "ugly" items, some broken pieces, maybe a little on the burnt side.

I bought these arare (rice crackers) and kenpi (glazed fried sweet potato) to try.

I hope they taste good and will be on the look out for more items from this group.

hana musubi

Every since I started making bento for Satoshi back in January, condiments to add to rice catch my eye whenever I am shopping.

I've seen this at Kaldi and finally bought some to try.

It's called go-shoku hana musubi (literally 5 color flower rice ball).

There are 5 different "colors"...carrot, green shiso (perilla), akakabu (red turnip), shibazuke (a purple pickle), aona (a type of green veg),

For one cup of cooked rice you mix in one of the 8 packets.

(When I tried this, I actually mixed in 1 packet for 1.5 cups of cooked rice)

After mixing in the packet, let it steam in the rice cooker for at least 10 minutes.

So pretty, easy and delicious! You can't really taste all the different items separately, but it is a nice way to "jazz" up your rice.

egypt shio

I had bought this book in Osaka and wanted to find the Egypt Shio (literally Egypt salt) to try the recipes in the book.

I finally found it the other day and after looking around online, I realized this was actually dukkah.

Almonds, salt, pistachios, white sesame seeds, cumin and coriander.

I love the salty, flavorful and nutty taste of this.

One of the recipes in the book is for this toast...

Toast...butter, an oozy egg and some of this dukkah.

Delicious.

Now that I have the dukkah, can't wait to try more recipes from this book.

Have you tried dukkah and if so, what do you put it on?

shakuyaku

I discovered shakuyaku (chinese peony) last year when I received one for the first time from the post office.

(I thought I blogged about it but guess I didn't).

I wasn't too sure what the reason was that they were passing them out, but I was happy to receive one.

It had a spicy fragrance and was really bright pink!

About this time of year is when you see them in the flower shops.

I went to my favorite shop in the neighborhood and bought myself one.

Most flower shops sell these for 600-yen plus! for one stem!

At my favorite shop, they were only 200 yen (tax included)!

I thought it wouldn't bloom, but it turned out, really pretty and HUGE!

Do you have shakuyaku where you live?

blazing foodie day in nakameguro

After the kraziness of cherry blossom season, I wanted to explore Nakameguro in peace...

It was blazing, I think the weather people said our temps are July temps..eep!

The shade from the cherry trees was very nice!

I bought some bread and a tuna sandwich from Tolo Pan Tokyo.

The tuna sandwich was in an onion bun...with a little lettuce and tomato...delicious.

I also went to Green Bean to Bar Chocolate and bought us some pudding to try.

Um, when these were packed in the box there was no cover, not even plastic wrap!

While these were delicious, creamy and rich, I think they need to invest in covers for sanitary purposes...

There are cafes that I want to check out, I'll be back!

Tolo Pan Tokyo
3-14-3 Higashiyama
Meguro, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3794.7106
Closed Tuesdays
Hours: 7:00-19:00

Green Bean to Bar Chocolate
2-16-11 Aobadai
Meguro, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5728.6420
Closed Wednesdays
Hours: 11:00-21:00

gensouen

Gensouen is a tea shop in Nishi-Ogikubo.

They are run by Harada Tea which has tea fields in Shizuoka.

Apparently they were having a pop-up at Futako Tamagawa, so I checked them out when I was there.

Earlier in the day, I had a dentist appointment...they filled a cavity and took a mold to replace a ceramic cap.

Since they filled a cavity, I had had anesthesia and wasn't supposed to eat for at least 30 minutes.

That's when I bought this tapioca matcha milk drink and caught the train home.

It was slighly sweetened and the matcha (green tea) was super bitter and thick!

After mixing it though, it balanced out with the milk and was delicious!

I'm glad I tried this and look forward to trying more bubble drinks in Japan, they are starting to trend!

If I do get to Nishi-Ogikubo, I want to check out Gensouen's other matcha sweets.

Gensouen
3-14-3 Imagawa
Suginami, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3397.4188

shogayaki (pork ginger)

Here's the recipe I used to make shogayaki (pork ginger).

Adapted from Sirogohan.com Serves: 2

200 grams pork loin
1/4 onion thinly sliced
1/2 clove garlic, grated
1 large nub of ginger, grated
cabbage, julienned
1 teaspoon oil
1 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 tablespoon sake (rice wine)
1/4 teaspoon liquid squeezed from grated ginger
2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
pepper

With a knife, lightly cut the fat and muscles of the pork
Coat the pork with the liquid squeezed from grated ginger, mirin and sake, set aside for 10 minutes
Mix the garlic, ginger, shoyu, sugar, sesame oil and pepper and set aside.
In a pan, heat the oil and cook the onions and pork.
Add the garlic ginger sauce and cook in the sauce for about 2 minutes.
Serve on julienned cabbage.

NOTES: Of course, I didn't follow the recipe, so my pork turned out a bit "tough". If you lightly cut the fat and muscles, the pork should keep it tender.

I liked the flavor of the sauce...a little sweet-salty.

My sauce was a bit liquidy, so I took the pork and onions out and reduced the sauce a little before serving.

I'm making this again.

golden week (second half)

Thursday, May 2, we went to Kawasaki and Satoshi got to try CPK in Japan.

The menu is different from what he remembered, the portions seemed a bit smaller to him too.

The BBQ chicken pizza was delicious! (though the crust was a bit burnt)

The weather was funky, and at one point it rained super hard!

Friday, May 3, we woke up super early and caught the train from Kamata to Fuji (Shizuoka).

It was exciting to see Mount Fuji from the Mishima area all the way to Fuji city.

We then caught a local bus up to Sobinashita and walked about 15 minutes to Obuchi Sasaba.

This is where you can catch Mount Fuji with the tea fields.

They were having a festival and there were many people who rented tea picker outfits and stood in the fields to pose for everyone's photos.

I'm glad we got to check this place out and that Mount Fuji was not clouded over.

From Fuji we then caught the train all the way to Mito (Ibaraki)...boy, was that a trek! (because we weren't riding the Shinkansen (bullet train))

Dinner was at Hitachino Brewing...

I was super disappointed with this place.

Seasonal potato salad was nothing special.

Fried saba (mackerel) was thoroughly fried and hard.as.rock...the renkon chips were kind of fried to death too.

The only thing that was decent was the gyusuji (beef tendon) gratin, though they could've given us more bread...

The tasting menu was pre-set, so you couldn't try anything off their taplist...boo!

Glad we tried this place, but I won't be back.

Mimatsu Hotel was scary...dark halls...smoking almost everywhere...our room had a semi-double big enough for one...at least there was free wi-fi...sigh.

Saturday, May 4, started out early, rushing down to the breakfast buffet (which started at 6:45), eating and trying to get out to catch a train before 7:20.

Luckily we made all the connections and were at the Hitachi Seaside Park by 8:00-ish.

During this time of year, they open the park early (7:30) and even arriving at 8:00-ish, it was already packed with people!

You should've seen the line of cars waiting to get into the parking!

If you do visit this park, buy the one-day pass, it allows you to get on and off the Hitachinaka Kaihin train route (from Katsuta to Ajigaura) and take the free shuttle to the Hitachi Seaside Park.

The pass also gets you into the park too, so no need to stand in line to by your entrance ticket.

Our main purpose for visiting this park was this...nemophila!

A huge hillside with nemophila.

Tons of people, but we were glad to be here!

In another area of the park were tulips...lots of them!

Lunch was at the Nakaminato Fish Market...at a place called Morita Suisan.

I had the Kaisen donburi, which came with soft shell crab miso soup and other items...great deal at 1500 yen (tax included).

Satoshi had the sashimi set which was also a great deat at 1500 yen (tax included)...unlimited rice too.

After lunch he also had a farmed oyster for snack...300 yen (tax included)...huge yeah?!

I loved the signage in this area, so cute!

And then we headed back to Mito and checked out the azaleas at Kairakuen.

Huge azalea bushes.

The main attraction at this park is the ume trees, but since that season was over, we were glad to be able to see the azaleas.

And then it was a long trek back to Tokyo.

These days, whenever we travel, we try to get back a day or so ahead, so that we can recoup and get back into regular sleep patterns.

Sunday, May 5, we took it easy, though I went to the market to restock on some groceries.

"Someone" also caught a bug and has been a bit whiney...sigh.

Lunch was at Kaei.

A cute shop nearby.

Satoshi had their gomoku (5 item) noodles...he said it was delicious.

Their gyoza on the other hand wasn't up to the picky gyoza eater's standards...wrappers too thick (I have a feeling this is the type of gyoza in Kanto (East Japan).

I had their hiyashi tan tan men (cold spicy noodles).

This was spicy...it kind of crept up and lingered on your lips.

I loved this...we'll be back.

On the last day of Golden Week, Monday, May 6, we again stayed close to home.

Lunch was at Capricciosa with pizza, pasta and salad.

Dinner was shogayaki (pork ginger)...I'll post the recipe for this tomorrow!

Many Japanese felt these 10 days were too long a break, others loved it.

Most doctor offices shut down.

And there were areas without trash pick up.

Golden Week is a nightmare for people driving cars or riding tour buses, though the trains are also packed...

I'm glad we got to do all that we did, though we need to go on a diet.

Hope you enjoyed our Golden Week as much as we did.

Hitachino Brewing Mito
Excel Minami 4F
Mito, Ibaraki
Phone: 029.306.7575
Open when Excel is
Hours: 11:00-22:00

Mimatsu Hotel
2-4-26 Miyamachi
Mito, Ibaraki
Phone: 029.224.3005

Morita Suisan
21-7 Minato Honmachi
Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki
Open when the fish market opens
Hours: 8:00-16:00

Kaei
2-6-13 Higashiyaguchi
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3758.1150
Closed Mondays
Hours: 11:30-14:00 (lunch), 17:00-21:00 (dinner)