yildiz

There is a tiny Turkish restaurant in our area called Yildiz.

If I'm not mistaken, Yildiz means Star in Turkish.

Satoshi and I went to check out this place for lunch earlier.

Loved the interior, especially these colorful lamps

We tried the Lahmacun, super flavorful, a little spicy, minced meat and lots of veggies
 

And their kebab, this was nice because it was cut up.

Meat wrapped with bread, the bread was so soft! love!

And I think this was a yogurt sauce.

Lots of paprika but also lots of meaty flavor

at the end of the meal they serve you some Turkish black tea.

We've tried kebabs in the past but enjoyed trying this restaurant's version, and it was our first time trying lahmacun, we look forward to trying other items on their menu.

We'll be back.

Yildiz

5-18-3 Kamata, Taiyo Building 2F

Ota, Tokyo

Closed Tuesdays

Hours: 11:30-14:30 (lunch on Saturdays and Sundays only), 17:00-22:30 (dinners weekdays and weekends)

karuizawa day 3

Since breakfast was not included in our stay, we had picked up some items from French Bakery the day before and ate them in our room before check out.
 

Since I have been wanting to check out Maruyama Coffee for some time now, after we checked out we headed here

It was in the between of two stations so from the JR Karuizawa Station, we walked about 20 minutes to the cafe and then waited another 30 minutes for them to open

Since they did not serve breakfast, we just had coffee and something sweet

I chose their tarte tatin and Satoshi had their seasonal roll cake.

Their coffee was delicious. I tried their Classic 1991 while Satoshi had their had their Blend

On the way back to the JR Karuizawa station we stopped into a supermarket to check out what local things they had.

And then we walked around the Prince Shopping Plaza, a huge outlet mall.

It was about this time that it started to rain, really hard!

Luckily most of the mall has covered walkways

We had more coffee from Komite Coffee...it was quite humid so Satoshi had their iced coffee while I had their espresso cider.

We also had some oyaki (buns filled with veggies)...Satoshi had their eggplant

I had their mixed veggies

And since the rain was still pouring, we jumped on the shuttle bus for the Prince Hotel.

Unfortunately there are no restaurants or cafes available to people not staying at their hotel/cottages

We had some time before our Shinkansen back to Tokyo and it was still raining, so we entertained ourselves by looking at the souvenir shops and also looked for items for snack/dinner.

I tried this piroshki made by Sawaya, apparently the recipe was passed down from Russian immigrants...this was beefy! with bits of hard boiled egg, delicious

Satoshi went to have soba at a stand and eat shop.

I also picked up these mazegohan packets by Konohanaya.

Most of them have Shinshu veggies in them, it doesn't tell you how much cooked rice to mix it with though.

I made one packet with 1 cup of cooked rice and would probably suggest mixing at least 1.5 or 2 cups of cooked rice with this packet.

It was our first time to Karuizawa, we didn't know what to expect, but we enjoyed seeing the green and loved the cool breezes in the shade.

The next time we visit here, we would like to stay closer to the Kyu Karuizawa area, check out more cafes and would like to see inside the Kogen and stone churches.

I hope you enjoyed our adventure as much as we did.

Maruyama Coffee

1154-10 Karuizawa

Kitasaku, Nagano

Closed: Tuesdays

Hours: 10:00-18:00

Komite Coffee

Prince Shopping Plaza

Karuizawa Food Station

Prince Shopping Plaza

Sawaya

JR Karuizawa Station

Konohanaya

JR Karuizawa Station

karuizawa day 2

Since breakfast would be served later than "our usual time", we took a little walk

The pension we stayed at had lots of different flowers around it

There weren't a lot of people out in the town area at this time of the morning, so it was super quiet, kinda nice.

Breakfast was quite hearty

Disappointing was the coffee, I think it was because it was already made and sitting on the warmer...

We checked out and headed to Shiraito Falls.

We've seen another Shiraito Falls when we were on a Mount Fuji tour.

This Shiraito Falls is closer to the road so it was easy to get to.

Video of the falls in my photos, here 

And then we went to check out the Kyu Karuizawa area.

The French Bakery is a small bakery that apparently John Lennon used to visit to pick up bread when he stayed in the area.

The owner of the bakery also used to work at Mampei Hotel and opened this bakery after leaving the hotel.

Mampei Hotel is apparently where John Lennon used to stay when he was in Karuizawa

We thought we might be able to have lunch on the terrace but they only served sweet things here.

The humidity was kind of high on this day, so we sat indoors.

Kat had their peach shaved ice...so good, especially the fresh peach slices

"someone" had a beer 

Nearby (I think) is the tennis court where the previous Emperor and Empress of Japan first met.

The Kyu Karuizawa area had lots of shops and restaurants.

The amount of furry ones were about as high as the amount of people, almost everyone had their furry one with them, in strollers, on leashes, in their arms, very different from what we see in Tokyo.

Then we went to the ryokan we would be staying at...in Miyota.

It was about 20 minutes by train from Karuizawa

Because this area is not near the ocean, their seafood was not very good.

You could tell things had been frozen because they were either rubbery or kinda of watery...disappointing

The yakiniku was delicious

And so was the melon.

It was quite a long day and we were able to see all that we wanted to.

French Bakery

618 Kyu Karuizawa

Kitasaku, Nagano

Closed: Thursdays

Hours: 8:00-17:00

Mampei Hotel

925 Karuizawa

Kitasaku, Nagano

Mikasa Coffee

707-3 Kyu Karuizawa

Kitasaku, Nagano

Bon Okawa 

601-1 Karuizawa

Kitasaku, Nagano

Open daily: 10:00-17:00

Schokoladen Burg

4-2 Karuizawa

Kitasaku, Nagano

Closed: Wednesdays

Hours: 10:00-17:00

Meijiya

2453 Miyota

Kitasaku, Nagano

karuizawa day 1

It's a little over an hour from where we live to Karuizawa, Nagano.

A lot of Japanese celebrities and wealthy people have second homes here.

We should've checked out this place earlier, it was waaaay cooler than Tokyo, especially in the shade!

Lunch was at Monzen Yoshoku Fujiya, a western style restaurant that uses the same "noren" (shares the same "brand") as Fujigohonjin which has been in business since 1648

This hamburger had an apple & shoyu sauce, the hamburger was beefy, loved the salad that was served too

Satoshi had all sorts of things on his plate, he whacked it before a photo was taken...

After lunch we went to have mocha soft serve from Mikado Coffee.

I had thought Mikado Coffee was from Karuizawa but they are from Tokyo!

Why there was a preserved prune on my soft serve I do not know

Still this was delicous!

Then we made our way to the Karuizawa Kogen Church and Stone Church

can you see the wedding couple?!

We weren't able to see inside this church because they were having a wedding ceremony at the time.

I've been wanting to see this stone church for some time, built in 1988, designed by Kendrick Bangs Kellogg to honor Uchimura Kanzo, "the Japanese Christian evangelist who founded the Nonchurch Movement in 1901, promoting the philosophy that religion should not be building-oriented, that where you pray is the church" from Atlas Obscura

Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to view the insides of the stone church because they were having a wedding and we also needed to catch a bus to the area we would be staying.

Even if the area is called Kita Karuizawa it is actually part of Gunma Prefecture.

On this day they were having a mosaic art exhibit...how cute is this bear made of rocks?!

We met a new friend at Mihara Denki (there was also a black cat that reminded me of Malia)

Dinner was delicious.

Pasta with proscuitto, broccoli, homemade pesto & meat sauce

caesar salad

katsuo (bonito) carpaccio : a little too fishy for me

clam chowder : was starting to get full so I was glad this was a thin type of soup 

loved the dining area with large windows and screens to feel the night air

steak with homemade onion sauce (not shown)

vanilla ice cream with mango

the pension we stayed at was pet friendly so furry ones could sit in the dining room while their family ate their meal

It was a long day and we got to see quite a bit.

The weather was still blazing but at least in the shade it was cool.

Monzen Yoshoku Fujiya

Prince Shopping Plaza

Open when the shopping plaza is

Hours: 11:00-21:00

Mikado Coffee

Prince Shopping Plaza

Hours: 10:00-20:00

Pension Eden

1988-400 Kitakaruizawa

Naganoharamachi, Azuma-gun, Gunma

this and that

tried a new (to me) mini curry croquette burger from Maisen

I am always on the look out for things with curry flavor in them, I would get this one again.

the filet (pork tenderloin) katsu, I've tried in the past

I picked this up at the market when I couldn't decide what I wanted for lunch 

and a new (to me) mini fish burger from Maisen

I like that they had a fish version, I would get this one again

the filet tamago pocket sandwich, I've tried in the past, except that time it was a menchi katsu (fried hamburger) not filet katsu inside

I picked this up at Shinagawa Station when I couldn't decide what I wanted for dinner

Satoshi got this "instant" curry from work that was gonna expire soon.

It is supposed to be eaten when you have no access to electricity/gas

Use the box to hold the packet upright.

Put the heating packet at the bottom of the plastic bag

Then put the curry and rice packets into the plastic bag and pour the heating liquid into the bag

Wait 20 minutes, you can see it bubble and steam comes out

Then wait another 10 for everything to steam

Pour the curry over the rice

It takes awhile to make and not very "instant" but at least you would be able to enjoy a "hot meal" especially during a natural disaster

Satoshi's friend F, sent him some satsumaage for his birthday.

Actually F, thought Satoshi's birthday was in August.

We tried a little of each for pupu one evening.

I froze the bulk of this

Thank you F!

The rice shelf at the market has been bare...

It is a combination of typhoon, megaquake, bad weather and inbound tourists

The news says that the "shinmai" (new rice) should be hitting markets in September...I hope they are right

Tokyo People: Oto-tetsu (oh-toe-tay-sue) are people who enjoy collecting different sounds (oto) from trains (tetsu)

got my first pair of Oofos. 

Apparently they are good for recovery.

I am wearing this in the house and I like that they are super cushiony

We've been having guerrilla-go (sudden rainstorms) almost daily.

This caught Satoshi at the train station one night coming home, he ended up eating out as a result of waiting out the rain.

The weather has been kinda rainy season-ish...not good for farmers and crops...

Global warming is real.