hisui lemon tea

Learned about Hisui lemon tea.

Apparently it is a Taiwanese drink and called hisui, which means jade in Japanese, because the jasmine tea they use is green like jade.

Jasmine tea is mixed with lemon and blended into a frozen drink.

By the time I got home, it was completely defrosted, I added ice

This was tasty and refreshing.

A little sweet but for the most part you can taste the jasmine tea.

They blend this after you order it...love!

Got this from Tokyo Doujiang Seikatsu, and would definitely get this again.

cafe vanni

Last Friday, I had said Tokyo hadn’t started their rainy season yet, well later that day, we did and some other areas in Japan started their rainy season too...boy was it rainy and cold!

Last Wednesday, Vanni, opened a cafe nearby.

Besides sweets, they also sell sandwiches, and other savory items too.

It was busy on Saturday, but we were lucky to secure a table

Satoshi had their soft serve...400 yen (tax included)

I had their matcha shaved ice...550 yen (tax included)

We both had coffee...450 yen (tax included) each

The coffees were strong, made to match their cakes, I think, it didn't quite match with my matcha shaved ice even if the matcha was a little sweetened.

We'll be back though, to try other items.

Cafe Vanni

6-5-1 Ikegami

Ota, Tokyo

Hours: not determined, check their social media

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Learned about the Oi Ocha Museum in Shinbashi the other day, so since I had an errand in the area, I went to check it out.

They are located inside the Old Shinbashi Station Railway History Exhibition Hall and there is no admission

(There is an area that has admission, but I didn't check that out because it seemed similar to the Tea Museum we visited in Shizuoka) 

These large tapestries were actually taken from the Kabuki curtain when the Kabuki theatre was renovated in 2013

so pretty

One thing that I wanted to see was the Shohei Otani Oi Ocha vending machine, apparently there is only this one in the whole world

It was krazy humid, so I cooled off with a matcha lemon soda...super refreshing 650 yen (tax included)

I also went to check out the Old Shinbashi Station Railway History Exhibition Hall, this also had no admission, most displays were in Japanese, so since I cannot read too much Japanese, I just looked at the photos and artifacts that they had.

The building is a replica of the first Shinbashi station.

Stumbled on the Ryuketsu Ginza Miyake no Miya Shrine

Apparently the Ryuketsu Ginza Miyake Ryujin (Dragon God) "aspires to guide people on the path of highest virtue as a human"

saw a woman stop to pray while I was here

Apparently this shrine is on the property of Dr Copa, a popular feng shui & color fortune teller

Tachibana Karinto has been in business since 1909!

They have two types, koro and saeda

Koro is a thick short rounded shaped karinto

I bought saeda, a long rounded shape karinto....1000 yen (tax included)

Loved this! the pieces are not hard like some karinto can be and the sugar coating does not stick to your teeth.

I'm glad I tried this and would give these away as gifts

Harnn, we've tried them before, I'm glad I got to reconnect with them.

365 nichi's chocolat trefle, apparently trefle means clover in French, this clover shaped puff pastry is filled with a ganache made with a blend of 61% and 32% chocolates...not too sweet and the pastry is flaky ...324 yen (tax included)

Hatake which means "field" or "garden" in Japanese

This brioche bread is topped with red miso, mayonnaise, olives, a little bacon, and all sorts of veggies like cabbage and komatsuna (mustard cabbage)...it was quite soft, so I ate this with a knife and fork, different but delicious...519 yen (tax included)

It was super humid but I'm glad I got my errand done and got to see other areas as well.

Oi Ocha Museum

inside the Old Shinbashi Station Railway History Exhibition Hall

1-5-3 Higashishinbashi

Minato, Tokyo

Closed Mondays

Hours: 10:00-17:00

Tachibana Karinto

8-7-19 Ginza

Chuo, Tokyo

Closed Sundays

Hours: 11:00-16:30 (15:00 Saturdays)

this and that

Not sure if I posted this before: Tokyo People river cleaners

Asahi came out with two types of lemon sours (chuhai) recently

of the two, I picked the one with less sugar in it

Open the can and a lemon slice comes floating up

My only peeve is that it is hard to drink with the slice at the top, but I enjoyed the lemony flavor of this

This was only sold in Tokyo and a couple of other prefectures.

After trying it, I went to look for more but the market I had bought them at was out...hopefully it will pass the trial period and be circulated around more areas of Japan.

keeping cool with shirokuma, a shave ice, ice cream mixture...love the little "paw" whipped cream on top

Satoshi shared more photos of Hokkaido with me, Es con Field, this is the new stadium for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham baseball team

love the murals of Shohei Otani and Yu Darvish, who both played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham team 

gross! hairy ear grandpa was standing in front of me in line (sorry if you were eating)

I started freezing musubi for Satoshi's lunch since he has access to a microwave oven, I put it in my water bottle "socks" and pack it into his lunch bag to keep his food cool

Tokyo People: these two were talking story

Tokyo People: love seeing pets in their carriers, some carriers are so cute and unique

got to see the Uber Eats robot delivery thingy in Nipponbashi : so teeny

so teeny

As of this post, Tokyo still has not started rainy season, we've had lots of rainy days though and it has been super humid.

Have a safe weekend.

fuchu city local forest museum

We've been to Fuchu City Local Forest Museum to see ume, higanbana and now for hydrangea.

This was my lunch view yesterday, I bought musubi (konbu & ume) from the convenience store and sat under a tree inside the park.

So thankful there was somewhere to sit and with shade! it was blazing

The little ones (and big ones) keeping cool

Opposite to the ume orchards, Annabelle, a white hydrangea variety covers a hillside, so beautiful!

lots of other hydrangea varieties all around taking me to different parts of the park

it was nice to see but like I said, it was blazing!

luckily I brought my secret weapon , though it was fully melted by the time I was about to go home.

There were lotus flowers outside of the park on the way back to the station.

I'm glad I got to check the hydrangea out here….13231 steps

(no can) think outside the box

In Japan, they often wrap items for you for free, this is cool so you can give them to friends right away, like if you were just about to meet up with friends, you run in to buy something and they'll wrap it for you.

The other day, I bought items to be given away as two different presents.

The lady said, I'll "label" it so you'll know what is what.

When she said that, I should have reconfirmed with her but thought she would stick a different color ribbon on each, but when she gave it back to me, she actually stuck a different colored post it on each.

If she was gonna stick a post it, I would've appreciated her writing the different animals that I had purchased instead of just the color.

thanks for today

Last Friday, friend H, messaged me that she and her husband were in Japan and if I'd have time to meet up

So, yesterday that's what we did.

Haneda Terminal 3 is now decorated with fresh hydrangea, so pretty.

 

we met up at Kyoto Saryo Suisen inside of Haneda Airport Garden, this was the same shop we met up at back in 2022, but a different location (that time was at Yokohama).

It was nice catching up and chatting with H

H gifted us this cheesecake from Le Tao

Thank you H, I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip and appreciate you contacting me to meet up.

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We've been wanting to try Spajio's wagyu hitsumabushi after seeing it on tv.

Order, pay and remove your shoes before being seated upstairs

you can listen to jazz while you wait

 

I ordered the kuroge wagyu hitsumabushi without miso soup...1400 yen (tax included)

This comes with beef tendon soup, and a little yakiniku sauce, you can also eat the beef with wasabi and salt.

Add the beef tendon soup and eat with the rice and beef...delicious

Satoshi ordered the Poseidon...2200 yen (tax included) his meal had ikura (salmon roe), uni (sea urchin), negitoro (minced fatty tuna) and a raw egg on top of the kuroge wagyu

be careful going down the steep steps

we stumbled on a Sailor Moon manhole cover

and a 1969 camaro (I think)

Tokyo Tower as we crossed Japan National Route 1

Keio University Campus

So pretty

most universities in Tokyo are high rise buildings, so it was nice to actually see “a campus”

the library

objet depicting Saigo Takamori and Katsu Kaishu's meeting before the attack on Edo Castle, JR Tamachi Station

monument of Saigo Takamori and Katsu Kaishu's meeting before the attack on Edo Castle near JR Tamachi Station

It was blazing and humid but we were happy to be able to try the wagyu hitsumabushi and see Keio University.

Spajio

2-24-13 Shiba

Minato, Tokyo

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

*check their social media for days off

*cash only