this and that

Mother Nature said "hey, you don't need Autumn" and slammed us into winter!

We were in single digits (Celsius) for the past couple of days...brr

oden hit the spot!
 

Tokyo People: this painter guy...he kept looking to see if he was making white footprints...he was!

Tokyo People: gotta carry the furry one out on a walk, especially when it is raining.

Looks like the temps will continue to flip flop

Have a safe weekend!

kurata pepper

Been wanting to try Kurata Pepper after seeing it on a show

Apparently Cambodian black pepper used to be the world’s best

After a war in the 1970’s the production decreased severely, and in 1997, a Japanese, Kurata, has been growing pepper in Cambodia.

I wanted to get the sampler pack but it was sold out so I bought some cashews & ripened pepper…3036 yen (tax included)

The cashews are coated with a rice powder, kind of similar to iso peanuts. 

Super flavorful, not “hot”.

Can’t wait to try the ripened pepper.

cop 29

Tuesday Satoshi flew to Baku, Azerbaijan for the COP 29, United Nations Climate Change Conference for work.

It was his first international trip since the pandemic

He was excited because he would be travelling business class!

From Narita, he took about a day and a half to get there with a layover in Dubai.

Of course, I asked him to look for the viral Dubai chocolate...

He couldn't find them and in the end got me chocolates made in Dubai...ha!

Camel milk and chocolate with dates, we'll try these soon.

He also went to the bazar (market) and purchased some tea.

Which looked like it has rose in it.

I opened it to make tea for Satoshi’s bento and it smelled fruity like a flavored tea, can’t wait to try it myself

Oh and he said the Emirates' lounge was better (and bigger) than his hotel room...ha!

Glad he came back safely.

bookroad winery

Been wanting to try Bookroad Winery’s wines since seeing her story on the television show “7 rules” 

Finally got a chance when she had a pop up at Tokyo Daimaru

The wines that she makes use grapes that she grows, and also grapes that are grown by others in other parts of Japan

I purchased a half bottle of Merlot, this used merlot grapes grown in Hyogo. This was a light bodied wine

I also purchased a tiny bottle of her sparkling wine made with Siegerrebe and Delaware grapes.

This was dry and fruity.

Apparently the label has foods that would match the wine...3267 yen (tax included) for both

I look forward to trying more of her wines in the future.

Bookroad Winery

3-40-2 Taito

Taito, Tokyo

Closed Mondays

Hours: 12:00-15:00, 17:00-19:30

thanks for today

Cousin D was here with his family.

Luckily we were able to meet up on their last day in Tokyo, last Sunday

We met at Ginza Six's Sanada, which we've been to before.

It was nice seeing them and it sounded like they enjoyed their first trip to Japan.

Another cousin C was also here with her family and we were lucky to be able to meet up on their last day in Japan, this past Saturday.

We went to Oraga Soba inside of Shinjuku Isetan.

It was nice catching up with them and it also sounded like they enjoyed their first trip to Japan.

Thanks for today C & D!

We appreciate you making time to meet up.

Safe travels!

tokyo people

Blurry Tokyo People: cleaning the grates above the walkway of the train station

these little ones were waiting for...

The Setagaya line's manekineko tram
 

They've started the construction next door.

Tokyo People: amazon delivery dude

Furry Tokyo People

Have a safe weekend!

slice of life

Recently blog friend Rick (who no longer blogs) and his family were in Tokyo

One place they ate at was a food truck called Slice of Life in Harajuku, which does Texas BBQ

Since I wanted to try, I went after my physical therapy and was there about 45 minutes before they opened at 11:30

The owner was super quiet to the point of where I thought he was rude, no “hello”, or “irasshaimase” even after I said “konnichiwa”

His wife on the other hand at least said “irasshaimase” 

When they finally opened, I ordered the A5 wagyu brisket…2700 yen (tax included)

This comes with rice, and sides

On this day, the sides were shredded cabbage and what seemed like chili

Since I planned to eat this for dinner, I asked for no rice and they took 100 yen off my bill.

The brisket was super tender! but I thought the portions of the meat and sides were really skimpy

I also took a little of their coffee sauce and bbq sauce to try but the meat didn’t need sauce and the sauces overall seemed to be bland

The foreign guy behind me ordered the plate with 3 different items (pulled pork, brisket and burnt ends, I think) he paid 7800 yen (tax included)!

I hope they gave him more food

Meh, not worth the hype

restaurant friends

We tried Restaurant Friends recently

A super teeny mom and pop shop.

All the eaters that were there when we went were regulars so we got kinda "looked" over by them when we entered

Still, everyone was nice 

I ordered the omurice...1100 yen (tax included)

chicken, white mushrooms and onion are mixed into the rice with some tomato sauce and then when the omelette is flipped out, he tops the omurice with a different tomato sauce.

lots of butter and oil...which makes everything so ono!

Satoshi ordered the ebi fry and rice 2100 yen (tax included)

He said he enjoyed this.

It was amazing to watch the owner cook!

His knife was worn down in a way which I could tell that he must sharpen it himself

He takes his time to make each order definitely not fast food!

We'll be back.

Restaurant Friends

3-4-6 Higashiyaguchi

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Wednesdays & Thursdays

Hours: 16:00-21:00

*cash only

hachiju

So many ramen places in our area

There is one that always has a long line, but we’ve never eaten there.

Next door to that ramen shop used to be an oden shop but that closed up and now is an Onomichi ramen shop, Hachiju

It always seemed empty whenever we passed

The other day, we decided we were going to try, if it was bad, that was probably the reason it was empty

So we went and it was packed! and we were lucky to grab the last two seats (only 8 seats in total)

I ordered the Onomichi ramen…900 yen (tax included)

love the thin noodles! the broth was porky and the seabura (back fat) floating on top made the soup glisten, I just took 2 sips…rich!

Satoshi ordered the Onomichi ramen set…1050 yen (tax included)

The set came with rice and some Hiroshima-na pickles 

Hiroshima-na is similar to chinese cabbage

After paying, we received a point card and female eaters receive candy

I wouldn't mind coming back and adding an ajitama (seasoned egg) on my ramen next time.

We'll be back.

Onomichi Hachiju

7-8-1 Nishikamata

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays

Hours: 11:30-15:00 (lunch), 17:00-22:00 (dinner)

*cash or QR code payment

bakery run

Friday I went to pick up the two stollen I ordered from Boulangerie Sudo.

The two stollen, one was a "Japanese" type called Nagomi (peace of mind), with yomogi, azuki and kinako (soy bean powder) on the outside, the other one was the orthodox type with marzipan, fruits soaked in rum and nuts...4300 yen (plus tax) each

Since I was 3rd in line to enter the shop, I decided to check out what baked items they had (since the last time it was slim pickings)

And picked up their Kouign Amann...530 yen (plus tax)

This was so flaky! but I didn't like the caramel outside though, that was a bit too sticky and hard.

And then I went to Blue Poppy Bakery, because I saw on social media that they started selling their stollen.

Their stollen seems to be orthodox with liquor soaked fruits, nuts and spices (I think the green on the wrapping was a real juniper berry plant, it smelled nice)...3000 yen (plus tax)

I also picked up their Autumn Quiche...780 yen (tax included)

Their quiche had pumpkin, mushrooms, walnuts and speck (like bacon)...delicious!

Since it was so huge, I ate only half and put the other half in the freezer to eat another day (or maybe with wine another evening)

All of these stollen were delicious, we tasted a little of each over the weekend.

The "Japanese" one is different because it doesn't have nuts in it and I like that it is covered with kinako

update

So, I went back to the scary dermatologist

Backing up a bit...Everything started on Wednesday.

Thursday, her office was closed.

So, Friday, I went back because I didn't want to let too much time pass (would never hear the end of it)

I showed her the area, and she was actually pleasant!

She asked different questions, like if I ate something out of the ordinary? wore some type of clothing I wasn't used to?....no, no.

Is it itchy? sore?...no, no.

Then determined the bumps were probably caused by a change in my immunity.

She said it was quite common and that it wasn't serious.

Meds were prescribed, and she said if it doesn't get worse, come back in a week to show her, but if it does get worse, come back sooner (but not on Saturday when they are krazy busy)

Office visit...1090 yen (tax included)

Meds (oral as well as topical) 590 yen (tax included)

At least it wasn't shingles...Hopefully I'll get better soon.

this and that

cute little barber shop across the street from Saison
 

this soba shop was drying their kaki (persimmon)

Tokyo People: this tiny woman was walking her kick board thingy (use your leg to pump the back to build momentum)

Tokyo People: not sure what they are doing, maybe cleaning or changing the neon 

Marron Hazelnut tarte from Dean and Deluca, delicious, not too sweet, lots of chestnuts

Started watching "Reborn Rich" which apparently was a popular K-drama, unfortunately, I cannot read Japanese subtitles too well and am just starting to learn Korean so am watching this one "by feel".

Luckily there is a blog that recaps each episode, so I know what is actually going on.

It's what Japanese call "doronuma" it's one of those revenge, betrayal types....

Hope you have a safe weekend!

eep

Yesterday after coming out of the bath, I noticed I had all these red bumps across my stomach area, they are all different sizes

I hadn't noticed it before going into the bath, so I looked online and it might be from the hot water of the furo

It doesn't hurt and isn't itchy just not nice to look at.

Hoping it isn't shingles, after looking online, it doesn't look like it but will go to the doctor if it gets worse or starts to hurt.

reminiscing

(photo: the other morning...brr!)

not much to write about today, so let's do a reminiscing...

One year ago, we were celebrating....

Four years ago, we were trying a new combo for musubi

Six years ago, they were building "that" condo

Nine years ago, we were trying Kujaku Curry's katsu sandwich

Twelve years ago, we were trying biscoff spread

Fifteen years ago, we were rounding up a trip to Hawaii

mos burger

MOS Burger came out with these tiny sweet potato mochi thingies.

I think it is similar to the ones that Jenny tried.

The outside is a chewy mochi and the inside is a sweet potato paste.

They deep fry it before serving...260 yen (tax included) for 3 pieces

I was surprised these were not hard after they were fried.

Would get this again.
 

saison bakery & coffee

Went to check out Saison Bakery & Coffee.

The owner lived in California for awhile and when he came back to Japan, was disappointed that there weren’t any “breakfast” places

(Most places open at 10:00 or later, and serve “breakfast”)

Saison opens at 7:00!

Everything is a la carte, order from the QR code, nice that they have WiFi too

I ordered the avocado toast with poached egg, wish they toasted the bread but I still enjoyed this...1100 yen (tax included)

Their coffee is delicious and served in nice sized mugs..400 yen (tax included) each.

Satoshi ordered the breakfast burger, and also a fried egg not realizing his “burger” was an omelette...1300 yen (tax included)

On the way out, we picked up some baked items for breakfast the next day...

mentaiko (spicy pollack roe) on french bread

cinnamon roll, super flaky!

kouign amann, a little dry

curry pan, Satoshi said this was ono

We'll be back whenever we are in the area.

Saison Bakery & Coffee

2-8-3 Gotanda, AS Bldg 1F

Shinagawa, Tokyo

Open daily 7:00-19:00