Our Adventures in Japan: May 2022

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

kawasaki

Sunday we went to check out Kawasaki Marien, a 10 story building where you can see across the ocean to Chiba, parts of Tokyo and a faint Mount Fuji.

From Kawasaki Station it is about a 20 minute bus ride.

Besides the observatory floor, there are also meeting rooms and other facilities.

Google map labels this as a community center.

I think if it weren’t so hot and the air were cleaner?!, we might have been able to see a clearer Mount Fuji.

On the grounds they have tennis courts, a barbecue area and beach volleyball courts.

Apparently the city lights are something to see from this building as well as the surrounding areas, so Satoshi is looking into booking us on a tour.

There are several parks in the area too where a lot of people set up their tents and were enjoying the sun.

It is an industrial area though, so there wasn't much else to see or do, so we headed back.

Lunch was at Naruki.

Satoshi said he saw this shop on Matsuko’s show, and since there wasn’t a line, we got a table right away.

I was kind of surprised he remembered seeing the shop on Matsuko...he usually doesn't remember anything having to do with food.

Satoshi tried their ebi soba…shrimp in a broth with veggies and noodles…I had to stop him from drinking all the soup…ahem!

The gyoza was gyoza snob approved...I seriously think he has no criteria for the gyoza...ha!

In Kanagawa, they eat their gyoza like Kobe with a miso sauce except that Kanagawa mixes their miso sauce with some vinegar and chili oil.

It was blazing, so I ordered hiyashi chuka. I really like when shops serve this dish with a creamy sesame based sauce, but in Kanto (East Japan) it is hard to find…Naruki’s sauce was shoyu based…boo!

Still, it was nice to eat something cool & refreshing.

Since this place is gyoza snob approved, I’m sure we’ll be back.

When we came out of the restaurant the line was down the street!

We haven’t started rainy season and the heat is already pretty brutal.

Naruki

2-11 Ogawacho

Kawasaki, Kanagawa

Phone: 044.244.4888

Closed Tuesdays

Hours: 11:30-14:30 (lunch), 17:00-21:00 (dinner)

Monday, May 30, 2022

back to tsurumi

Saturday, the weather was blazing, but we got out and about early and went back to Tsurumi.

We wanted to check out the Tsurumi Line, which travels near the coastline of Kanagawa prefecture and was built to service the port and industrial areas.

Since it is an industrial area, there isn’t much to see.

But, here's two short videos I shot, if you are interested, here and here

The first two photos are scenery from one of the stations, Umi Shibaura.

Then we went back to Tsurumi Station and checked out Sojiji, one of two Soto schools of Zen Buddhism, the other is Eiheiji in Fukui prefecture.

And then it was time to find lunch, we saw a line outside of Restaurant Baku and decided to get in line too.

Luckily we didn't have to wait too long for a table and the food came out rather quickly too.

This place has been in business for over 50 years and has been on television many times.

There are autographs from all sorts of famous Japanese people on the walls too.

Satoshi ordered the cheese hamburger...1500 yen (tax included), his meal also came with miso soup and rice.

He enjoyed this.

I ordered the tomato rice katsu...800 yen (tax included)

Massive!

Bummer the pork was hard.as.rock because it was probably overcooked and the breading also fell off when I bit into the katsu.

The tomato rice had bits of ham and cheese in it.

Super filling and thankful they had doggie bags.

Not sure I’ll be back, though Satoshi wants to try their curry, but glad we got to try this place.

Not much walking, but we are glad we were able to get out and explore.

Restaurant Baku

1-17 Toyooka-cho

Tsurumi, Yokohama, Kanagawa

Phone: 045.571.5845

Closed Sundays

Hours: 11:00-14:00 (lunch), 17:00-20:00 (dinner)

*cash only

Friday, May 27, 2022

this and that

Monday, we had a flasher in our neighborhood.

I got the notice on my phone...what we were wondering though was how he was flashing AND riding a bicycle?!

Hope they catch the guy!

Changing the subject…Humid and hot weather has been off and on...I stocked up on ice cream...

We ate up the last of the mochi we got when we had MIL's memorial service.

On this day we had it with fruit and kinako, but our favorite way to eat it was as zenzai.

The skies have been weird lately, making for weird sunrises and sunsets.

So..while most of the world has stopped masking...Japan has been talking about it too, this the criteria that the government says they would allow masks to be off (except for #3)

1. you are outside, socially distanced from others and there is no conversations

2. you are outside and there is no one else around

3. if you are outside but cannot socially distance, you need to wear a mask

4. at school, you are socially distanced and outside during P.E.

ha! I don’t think Japan is de-masking any time soon, I know I’m not.

Hope you all are doing well…be kind.

Have a safe weekend.

Thursday, May 26, 2022

tempura suzuki

We've been wanting to check out Tempura Suzuki for some time now and we finally got to go yesterday, since Satoshi had the day off.

We tried their hirunomi set (lunch drink set)...1000 yen (tax included) each,

It comes with one drink, if you want beer it is an extra 200 yen (tax included).

I chose the shiso chuhai, Satoshi had the ume chuhai.

Choice of one otsumami (pupu) from the list of about 8 on the wall.

I chose sweet potato salad, Satoshi chose their miso cream cheese.

Sweet potato mixed with grainy mustard, a little mayo & pepper, gonna try to recreate this.

Satoshi’s cream cheese was marinated with some white miso.

I was surprised he chose this, I thought he would choose the anago (salt water eel) or the pupu with wasabi…and when his choice came out he was disappointed…

The set also comes with 4 pieces of tempura (shrimp, eggplant, megochi (big eyed flat head) and broccoli)

There are also tsukemono (pickles) on the counter that you can snack on too.

The tempura is not served with tsuyu (tempura sauce), just salt or black shichimi

Everything was fried perfectly and is served right out of the oil.

I wish they had tendon (tempura bowl) on their menu but they only have teishoku (set menu), so we’ll be back to try, especially the set that has a tempura soft boiled egg.

Tempura Suzuki

7-64-1 Nishi Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 03.6424.4442

Open daily : 11:30-14:30 (lunch), 17:00-22:30 (dinner)

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

corn season

It's corn season here, which means I make these two recipes...

Corn Rice and Spicy Pork Miso Butter Sauce.

I don't always make the corn rice into musubi.

In fact, the other day, I made fried rice with it and seasoned it with some butter and shoyu.

I also added some edamame and salmon flakes.

I don't make these recipes often, just once or twice during the season.

Most times, we just eat the corn steamed.

What are you enjoying these days?

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

hiyashi salad curry

I thought I had posted about this, but couldn't find it anywhere on my blog...if you have seen a post, please let me know where it is...ha!

Alice's hiyashi salad curry...hiyashi means cold.

What they do is cut a curry pan and fill it alongside the curry with some salad and drizzle on some dressing.

In the past it was a caesar salad dressing, but on this day it was more like a vinaigrette.

Overall, not the healthiest because it is fried, but delicious.

Monday, May 23, 2022

bakudan bowl

Bakudan Bowl...I've only seen this on the menu at Ootoya, a popular chain restaurant, but apparently a lot of izakaya also serve this.

Ootoya's version has a raw egg in the middle of the bowl.

Bakudan literally means "explosive", "bomb"

Super easy and delicious.

Put your favorite toppings.

Here is what I used.

Cooked rice : 90 grams for me, 180 grams for Satoshi

Sashimi (bincho maguro (albacore tuna), and buri (yellow tail))

Tomatoes

Edamame

Kim chee

Natto

Yamagata style Dashi

To eat: 2 teaspoons dashi shoyu

Korean nori

NOTES: you could also use wasabi to eat this with, and "regular" shoyu and "regular" nori.

I mixed mine up and ate it with the nori, Satoshi ate his without mixing.

I'll make this again.

Friday, May 20, 2022

this and that

Sad that they are cancelling “Magnum”, but hope the cable channel here will show Season 4.

Early in the week, Mother Nature slammed us back to March temps...brr

Want a hideout place like this one...the people that live here actually hang their laundry here, but I saw a grandpa cruising with his dog here and thought it was cool.

On the road with all the flowers in our neighborhood...Can you believe someone stole the buds from this Chinese peony plant?!

According to the sign, "we were looking forward to these blooming, this year but 2 have disappeared"....boo!

Agarasa means steamed in Okinawan…love learning things that connect me to my roots.

We recently tried this steamed black sugar castella made by Marukiyo Seika...more than a cake it is more like a bread.

Slightly sweet, and a slight hint of caramel from the black sugar…delicious.

Tokyo people...the gate ballers.

Am trying to figure out what paperwork and tests needs to be done for me to travel to Hawaii.

Our numbers are slowly decreasing and Japan is looking to open up to small tour groups from several countries next month.

According to Satoshi, the travellers cannot deviate from their bus/group and cannot use public transportation...no fun, yeah?!

Hope you are doing well.

Have a safe weekend.

Thursday, May 19, 2022

9446

Went to Yokohama today.

I got out early to beat the crowds.

Walking in Motomachi there were benches to sit on and a lot of rose arches.

Saw this huge hot dog...

thought this barber shop was cute

major stairs and hills in this area

bicycle riders zooming down the hills, kinda scary!

pretty stained glass canopy

these were just some of the cats I saw

steep hills

and stairs

Iwasaki Museum

Bluff Bakery's carrot cake, so moist and delicious!

Kikuya which has been in business since 1924.

I purchased their rum balls, I think this is their popular item.

We'll have this tomorrow night with pupus.

Uchiki Bakery has been in business since 1888.

We're going to try their bread for breakfast tomorrow.

I wanted to check out the English Rose Garden.

There were tons of people with their dogs taking photos of them with the roses.

And cos players (people who dress up as characters from anime, films, books, video games) taking photos with the roses.

This dog was huge! at least 2 feet tall.

Former British Consulate.

Rotary for the former British Consulate

Garden Bear

Lovely rose fragrance with the slight breeze

Harbor View Park.

Apparently this area was the model for the Ghibli anime, "From up on Poppy Hill"..gonna have to re-watch this since I don't remember what the story was about.