golden week (first half)

How have you been?

Hope you haven't forgotten about us.

I've broken up this post into two parts...are you ready?!

Saturday, April 27, we went to visit MIL.

Before landing in Kyoto, we stopped in at Hikone, to visit the family grave, where MIL's brother was laid to rest.

We also had some coffee and sweets at Micro-Lady Coffee Stand, glad they are still in business.

Then we headed to Kyoto and had lunch at Dragon Burger.

We've been wanting to try this place every time we've gone to visit the family grave near Sennyuji.

Satoshi had the Wasabi Burger...he felt this one could've had more kick.

I had the Cacao BBQ Burger, the first bite was awesome, loved the BBQ sauce...after that, the texture of the burger seemed weird...chunky in places.

Still, I'm glad we got to try them.

After lunch, we visited the family grave and also went to visit Satoshi's Grandma's grave.

Dinner was an assortment of things, especially this impressive sashimi platter from a fish shop near MIL's called Kawaharu.

Sunday, April 28, we went to check out the fuji (wisteria) at the Toba Water Treatment Plant located in the southern part of Kyoto.

They had buses that ran from the Kyoto Station or Takeda Station to the plant for 100 yen one way.

It was great to see lots of wisteria blooming.

Monday, April 29, we got together with Hiromi and her family in Osaka.

Lunch was a buffet at Chedi Luang, a Thai restaurant which had lots to try.

There was also soft shell crab and egg curry...delicious!

It was nice to spend the afternoon with them and we were happy that they had some time to meet up. (Thank you!)

Tuesday, April 30, it was nice spending some time with MIL, we headed back to Tokyo after breakfast...everything on television was like a countdown to the new year, it was interesting to see the ceremonies that were performed for the outgoing emperor...Thank you Heisei!

Wednesday, May 1...Reiwa starts...it was neat to see the streets lined with flags congratulating the incoming emperor.

We tried the Denny's in our neighborhood for the first time.

Their cheese galette was delicious and less carbs than the original breakfast I was going to order.

After buying some groceries, we went to Nippori and had lunch at Bazoku.

They have hand pulled noodles and use handmade gyoza wrappers.

Their Sapkota curry noodles were delicious...if I remember correctly, this shop is owned by a Nepalese and this dish is named after him.

The curry wasn't too spicy and the noodles were quite thick, still I enjoyed this.

Satoshi had their tan tan men and gyoza.

He said he enjoyed this.

He is super picky about gyoza and didn't like these thick gyoza wrappers.

Me, I liked how it was crisp on the outside! and had a little chew to them.

After lunch we walked to Nezu Shrine to check out the azaleas, so pretty.

If you have time, pay the 200 yen admission to the azalea area, so worth it!

If you want to see more photos, please look here...I'll wrap up the rest of Golden Week tomorrow!

Chedi Luang
4-7-28 Kitahama
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6209.2000
Hours: 11:30-14:30 (Lunch), 17:30-23:00 (Dinner)

Bazoku
2-18-2 Nishi-Nippori
Arakawa, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3805.2430
Hours: 11:00-23:30