this and that

Tokyo People : while riding the train heard a creaking noise and noticed this guy with a hand grip thingy just squeezing away...most everyone else had ear pods in their ears, or stuck looking at their phones so I was probably the only one who could hear the creaking...

love this fig bar, all sorts of dried fruits, even chickpeas in it, no added sugar, would get this one again

mouth.on.fire, the potatoes had a weird texture..meh

should’ve looked at the ingredients better, rosemary does not match with nori…ack

butter, honey…love

Tokyo People: first time seeing someone with an eye mask...

“blingy” Tokyo People (maybe), he got off the train at the same stop as I did, so maybe he's Tokyo People...

Gardenia season...love

Blueberry lemon brownie pie...meh

Kitchen sink chocolate oatmeal cookie...love

the cookie was crunchy, lots of nuts & chocolate, the salty pretzel was still crispy too

Wanted to go holo-holo today but Typhoon #1 (Ewiniar) is nearing Tokyo.

I told Satoshi, if he can work from home he should, but he said he’s going in to the office…eep

Stay safe, have a safe weekend.

7796

Wanted to check out the roses at Otsuka, but went a little too late, most were a little past their peak.
 

Apparently they had a rose festival May 12 until May 26.

These roses run along side the Toden Arakawa tram line from Otsuka to Mukohara

Apparently there are other streets nearby with roses too, but I didn’t have time to check them all, especially since it was supposed to rain

Even though most of the roses were past their peak, this was nice to see

Hope to try again next year.

sad

I saw the demolition truck and was sad that they were tearing down the house nearby.

I didn't see them move out and thought someone was still living there.
 

The people clearing the land were all foreigners and they worked quite quickly

It was kind of scary when they used the scoop thingy on the bulldozer though, you could feel our building shake every time, the scoop went into the ground...eep

This was how it looked on Thursday.

Sad they dug up the hydrangea, peach tree and maple tree in the front.

Tokyo People: can you see him?!

Friday, I noticed they indeed moved out but it looked like they only cleared the yard area

Sunday, we got a notice in the mail that they will indeed be tearing down the house.

For selfish reasons, I hope nothing big will be built here, don’t want it to block my sunrise views.

oi ocha

You may or may not know that Shohei Otani is the global ambassador for Oi Ocha.

Itoen recently came out with a promotion...buy 4 bottles and get a free Shohei Otani folder.

I went to a couple of grocery stores during my errands but couldn't find it...of course, when I wasn't looking for it, I stumbled upon it at a different market.

Happy I was able to get one, but can't believe people are re-selling these folders online

9873

Friday, I went to Asakusabashi and Kuramae

(UPDATE: this is the Tokyo Precious Metals Association Building, love the cool windows) 
 

I needed to pick up some waxed paper at Shimojima, in the process I bought some ball point pen ink cartridges, tape and a scoop thingy for my umeshu (plum wine)…love Shimojima!

Afterwards, I went up the street to Ambika, to pick up some paprika and fennel seeds, looked at their snacks and picked up some new (to me) snacks as well as those pepper banana chips

As I was paying, I noticed they had some foods in the heated case, so I purchased a dal wada (vada) (left) and kachori (right), 250 yen (tax included) each.

These were spicy but flavorful, the dal (lentil) that was on the outside of the dal vada was a bit hard, but both were delicious.

It was my first time trying these and I would get them again. 

I stopped at Dandelion Chocolate and picked up their brownie to try...569 yen (tax included)

So rich and delicious, loved all the chocolate nibs on top

On the way back to the station, I stumbled upon a yakitori shop, Tori Toyo and picked up some karaage chicken wings...250 yen (tax included)

After checking online, I learned that this shop has been in business for 112 years!

The owner actually closed up the chicken (butcher) shop in 2016, but couldn't bear to throw away the tare (sauce) that had been in their family for the past 100 years and yakitori grill, so he re-opened in this new spot and now sells bento and other chicken dishes.

These wings were small but so meaty! wings usually have two bones in them but these only had one, he actually took the time to take out one of the bones!

Would like to try their kiji (grilled chicken) bento the next time

I rode the train to Tokyo station and bought this casse-croute printemps sandwich from Burdigala..734 yen (tax included) for lunch

Proscuitto, onions, marinated tomato strawberry and basil...different but delicious

Foodie Friday...not too much walking, it was so humid and blazing but at least the breeze (when there was one) was still cool.

Tori Toyo

2-14-4 Yanagibashi

Taito, Tokyo

Closed: Saturdays & Sundays

Hours: 11:00-20:00

hifuka part 2

So I went back to the dermatologist

I was kinda shocked because she didn’t even look at the spot, just busted out the liquid nitro and treated it 

(I actually thought it was healed already and didn’t need that treatment) and then she told me to come back in a week

“So busy” that she didn’t have time to “talk” to me just yell as she left the room, “come back in a week and avoid coming on a Saturday”

Went back last Friday, she says, “what do you think?”

I said “I don’t think we need to treat it anymore”

She’s like “yeah we can watch it, you might want to come back maybe in January or February though”

Appreciate her treating me, but I dunno that I’ll go back

saying goodbye

We said goodbye and thank you to our carry on luggage.

Satoshi's wheel (left) disintegrated

Mine (right) had the start of a hole in the fabric near the handle that can go up and down

To get rid of them we needed to stick a 300 yen seal on each.

on a side note: I heard that a hotel in Tokyo is using the hard type suitcases that tourists leave behind, as planters...creative!

this and that

saw this daisy perservering through the cement

made a batch of myoga amasuzuke
 

the giant cone had melted a little by the time I got home, so when I tried to take off the wrapper...I scooped out the top and ate it with a spoon, then ate the other "half" with the cone, glad the cone was crispy

photos uploaded wonky

chinese bento from niihao, 1 choice plus 3 fillers...742 yen (tax included)

the one choice is so skimpy compared to the 3 fillers

fancy looking mini

Tokyo people: the amount of mail this guy had on his bicycle, I wouldn't have been able to keep the bicycle upright

made a batch of yamagata style dashi

Mondays for the past 4 weeks have been rainy and a little cooler than usual.

Okinawa started their rainy season on Tuesday, they are apparently late this year.

Tokyo People: this furry one was hobbling along, but still trying to take its walk

Blueberry ginger soda from City Bakery, Cali burrito and extra guac from Guzman Y Gomez

The soda was super refreshing.

Coconut cookie from City Bakery

another business in our area bit the dust, sad to see this organic food shop close

back to Bob Bagel...tori ham (sous vide chicken breast), sesame bagel, fruit tomato, onion dressing, pecorino romano and spearmint...delicious...680 yen (tax included)

I also picked up at fig pistachio bagel....460 yen (tax included) and a blueberry bagel...380 yen (tax included) which I've put into the freezer 

the sunsets have been pretty amazing the past couple of days.

have a safe weekend.

yamaya

When I went to pick up some coffee at Yamaya the other day

the shop had a facelift so it was interesting trying to find things in their new layout

One thing I noticed was their Korean foods area got larger

In the snack area, they were having a 2 for 500 yen (plus tax) sale for nori ten (fried nori) 

108 yen plus tax for the Doritos (avocado flavor) and 188 yen (plus tax) for the Mi-re biscuits (honey butter flavor)

The price of coffee has gone up, up, up!  

1680 yen (plus tax) for 1 kilo

I notice the beans are more like broken pieces too

There aren't many new (to me) beers to try these days though.

What are you enjoying these days? 

guilty's

Made by the same company that made the croongji, I tried yesterday, is Guilty's large cookies...480 yen (tax included)

This one had Lotus biscuits, oreos and marshmallows on top of a chocolate cookie.

The texture was more like cake.

I cut it into three and put the other two pieces in the freezer. 

dunno if I would buy this one again but glad I was able to try it.

croongji

Croissant + nurungji (o-koge (crispy)) = croongji

A popular Korean sweet.

Croissants are flattened then caramelized

Similar to palmiers but better.

I'm glad I tried this and would get it again.

180 yen (tax included)

reconnect

Reconnected with this recipe since I had a bunch of cucumbers.

I used a seasoned salt instead of Hawaiian salt and for the brine I just used sugar and vinegar.
 

The seasoned salt had all sorts of herbs and spices like celery, thyme, onion, garlic and oregano in it

In the process, I noticed I would run out of sugar, so when we went out for lunch, I bought some on the way home.

For breakfast, we had some with our deconstructed egg salad.

The celery in the salt made it taste like mom’s pickles.

Have you reconnected with any recipes lately?