kanno seimenjo

I talked about Kanno Seimenjo before here.

We tried the gyoza recently...20 pieces for 650 yen (tax included)

They come frozen, my peeve is the l-o-n-g plastic container they are in

I cut the tray and plastic package in half then put it into a ziploc so that I could freeze the other 10 pieces

These do not come with instructions on how to fry them up so I adlibbed

I defrosted them in the refrig before cooking, but would leave them frozen until cooking so that it doesn't stick to the plastic tray

I heated some oil in a pan then put down my gyoza and then added some water for it to steam at the end...cooking it for a total of 7 minutes

The gyoza snob approved these...I think it was because the wrappers are on the thin side (most gyoza here in Kanto have thicker wrappers)

The filling has the right amount of garlic in them.

I ate mine with black vinegar and pepper.

I did see a "stamina" version in their freezer, which usually means they have more garlic in them, these looked a little larger, we will try these another time.

We also tried the nikuman...260 yen (tax included)

These are HUGE!

barely fit in my pot with my steamer basket

these are well seasoned and the ratio of bread to filling is just right

The package had instructions on how to heat these up

BUT, I didn't know if their instructions were for the frozen version or thawed out version

I had thawed out our nikuman in the refrigerator the night before

So instead of their 15-20 minutes in the steamer instructions, I just did 15 minutes since it takes the water about 5 minutes to come to a boil on my stove, I let it steam with the boiling water for about 5 minutes, then I turned off the heat and let it sit in the steam for another 5

They also had instructions if you wanted to zap them but most times these types of foods get really hard after zapping so I went the steaming route...

Satoshi had his with karashi mustard

We will get these again.

I'm glad we tried these and look forward to trying their noodles (ramen & pasta) this winter...

this and that

the temps have kinda dropped but the humidity hasn't 

found this furry one trying to keep cool...
 

have you ever seen deer pooping? when we were in Nara, it was my first time seeing this...balls of poop just coming out of its butt like water...

seeing this bread kinda reminded me of this...sorry if you were eating...ha!

toyota sport 800

morris minor

blood moon eclipse

beautiful sunrises...

we are all getting tired of this heat...

Yesterday, got my jasmine lemon tea fix from Tokyo Doujiang

And fan tuan fix

and peanut bun fix...their prices have gone up and they are more popular than ever, but they are under staffed so be prepared to wait

At about 15:00-ish we had a "guerilla" storm...was rainy with thunder and lightning for an hour non-stop

Since we live between Kawasaki (Kanagawa) and Ikegami (Tokyo) we get both alerts...so loud! scared me twice!

Luckily Satoshi was able to get home without having to wait for the trains, many had stopped service due to flooding!

It's the start of a 3-day weekend, have a safe one!

ootoya

I really like the black vinegar sauce that is on the fried fish and fried chicken at Ootoya

It's been awhile since we've eaten there and so the other day we went for lunch and they had a pork and tsukune combination with the black vinegar sauce.

I've never "counted" how many pieces of "meat" were in my serving until this visit...

There were only 2 pieces of pork and 2 pieces of tsukune (oh and if you are interested, there are also 2 of each veggie)

I was disappointed because one piece of pork was really teeny and the other piece was really fatty and hard.as.rock.

Will go back to ordering the fried fish version...hopefully I'll receive 4 normal sized pieces...

chikin mu

Had bought half a daikon and noticed one end turning brown so I tried making chikin mu

Found a recipe on this blog and it seemed really easy, so I cut up the daikon and mixed the brine.

We tried it with dinner the other night and Satoshi said he liked it.

I think it could be a tad sweeter, but will taste it again because it hasn't soaked overnight.

Chikin Mu from Stellan Spice

1/2 pound daikon

1.5 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1/3 cup water

Peel the daikon

Cut into discs that are between 1/2 inch to 1 inch depending on your preference. I usually cut them about 3/4 of an inch

Cut the discs into cubes

Combine sugar, salt, white vinegar and water until dissolved then add daikon and shake or mix until fully submerged in the pickling liquid

Store in the refrigerator for 1 day before eating

This will stay good for up to 2 weeks

NOTES:  easy and tasty

I didn't have white sugar nor white vinegar and used what I had in my pantry (brown sugar and rice vinegar)

It's a good way to use up daikon and is easy to put together

I would definitely make this again.

thank you

We received a boxful of grapes from my host mom.

Pione (dark purple) and Shine Muscat (light green)

Thankful for her kindness.

We'll be enjoying this in the coming days.
 

this and that

Sorry it’s been quiet here I caught some kind of bug

I had an off and on fever, a cough, runny nose

I figure it was going from hot to cold places, and staying in wet perspiry clothing over and over

And it didn’t help that the "other person" in the apartment started coughing before I did…ahem

here's a hodge podge of stuff not blogged about from August-ish

castella ice cream sandwiches which I had seen on Matsuko’s show...delicious! 

they also have a matcha version that I saw at the market and when I looked online they had many other flavors too

citrus coffee from Family Mart reminded me of espresso tonic but without the fizz...love!

when you have jet lag (early August), you can see beautiful sunrises...

origami hydrangea...so pretty!

sad my yangnyeom chicken & chickin mu fix place went out of business (photo from a previous visit)

Latch bolt is fixed! the guy that fixed it wasn't too sure if it was because the bolt was dirty or because when they put this new lock into our door it didn't really fit...anyway it is fixed and he said he will tell our building management that if it happens again, that they should replace our locks. 

Tokyo furry people...love seeing the furry ones riding around in the baskets of bicycles...

Got this gadget to open up the back of my teeny clocks so that I can change the batteries

Not sure what the big yellow one is for, but I did use the teeny screwdriver and the mallet (which I already had)...

I'm pretty sure the teeny screwdriver is similar if not the same as the one I have for eye glasses...

The new batteries were "special" so they don't sell them at convenience stores or at the 100 yen shops, luckily I found them at a DIY shop and they cost about 600 yen plus tax each!...at least now I know I can change these.

Tried this new (to me) ice cream from Godiva...so ono!

Hard chocolate top, pistachio and chocolate ice cream underneath.

Would get this one again.

Last Thursday, we had our ward's fireworks show.

This year it was held a little later because our ward had a hard time getting security guards during O-bon.

I have a short video here if you are interested

Broken English spoken perfectly here...

the sky the other night

typhoon 15 (peipah) is approaching today, stay safe

hope you are all doing well

suehiro

Been wanting to try Suehiro's ice manju after seeing it on several television shows

This shop is teeny and these ice manju are made by a couple

Most of the locals in Mie prefecture know of these and when it was shown on a television show they had to try to keep up with orders

There was even talk about closing up shop because they just couldn't keep up with the orders

These are made from scratch, the azuki is boiled and sweetened 

Then they make the milk layer and put these together to freeze

Since 1950 they've been making this version...unique shape too!

Nowadays they have other flavors...matcha, dainagon (a type of premium azuki), ichigo (strawberry) and kokuto (black sugar)

The set I purchased had 4 of the 5 flavors x 2...1800 yen (tax included) plus shipping

The website said that the earliest I would be able to receive my order was September 1st.

Knowing that we wouldn't be home on Friday and Saturday, I thought it would be okay to order this...

Well, guess when the delivery guy showed up?! on Friday (August 29) and tried again on Saturday (August 30)

There was even a phone call from the shop saying that he had sent out my order...and a phone call from the delivery people 

When we got back late Saturday night, I scheduled re-delivery for Sunday

Take them out 10 minutes before eating and enjoy!

The original is delicious, not too sweet and that whole milk layer has azuki in it!

I'm glad we tried this and look forward to trying the other flavors.

nara & kyoto

The next day we woke up early so that Satoshi could check out Nara for an upcoming tour

There were definitely more deer to the amount of foreigners

Um if you are gonna hold the deer senbei be prepared to be surrounded immediately by hungry deer

You should’ve seen all the screaming tourists, and some kids were definitely traumatized by the deer…but that’s what happens if you’re holding their snacks

We went to Todaiji & Kasuga Shrine both places had increased their admission fees, I think this deters those just wanting to use the property to film their videos for social media

It was another gross humid & hot day

I bought this because we really needed it

Friends Y & Hiromi met us in Kyoto for an early dinner (17:00)

Talking and eating non-stop for 2 plus hours, we hope they had a nice time too

It was a short trip to Kansai, the heat and humidity were brutal but we were happy we got to do, see and eat the things we had set out to do.

It is the start of September but the heat doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon

osaka & namba

The Osaka Expo is running from April 13 until October 13, 2025 

I think Osaka first bid to host this event while we were still living in Osaka

So much controversy & drama

Initially I didn’t really want to go and Satoshi thought he might go while I was in Hawaii 

But once we figured out how to use their website we secured our entrance tickets

Because everything was last minute, we couldn’t secure entrance to any of the pavilions

So we went just to absorb the atmosphere and mood

But first a walk around Umeda, so much has changed 

Lots of new buildings, shops and eateries

We had our second breakfast in the Eki Marche area, an area we used to go to often when we lived in Osaka, so much had changed here as well, but it was nice to see some shops that we enjoyed had survived the pandemic  

Afterwards, we made our way to the Expo, our entrance time was 11:00 and there was already people lining up

Your bag will be put through the x-ray machine, bottle with water and tea will also be checked

There is a list of prohibited items like selfie sticks, so be sure to read the rules on the website before going.

One guy had to put his selfie stick into a locker before entering the Expo that was gonna cost him 1500 yen for the day!

Satoshi was most interested in walking the ring that surrounds the Expo

Called the Grand Ring, this large wooden structure is 20 meters high (65 feet), runs 2025 meters (1.258 miles) around and takes up 61,035 square meters (656,980 square feet) 

The Grand Ring uses Japanese cedar and cypress and is built using the “nuki” technique which penetrates one element through another and can be seen in the Japanese torii at the entrances of Shinto shrines

The Grand Ring was designed by Sou Fujimoto and represents the Expo’s theme : “unity in diversity”

It was something to see!

Walking underneath provided lots of shade, the humidity was unfortunately pretty thick

The pavilions that represented different countries were unique and beautiful

Frustrating were the lines for food, shopping

Thank goodness there were no lines for the restrooms! (at least not at the restrooms we used!)

Also the line to refill your water bottle went quite fast

Since we had eaten before going, we just had snacks 

Satoshi had a grape soft serve...700 yen (tax included)

Kat had a pineapple slush...800 yen (tax included)

The whole event is cashless so be prepared to pay with a credit card or some kind of electronic payment 

While walking around we noticed some pavilions did not have lines or require reservations so we visited Chile & Senegal

Loved seeing all the different art pieces and paintings here and there.

One thing we noticed was even if you had a reservation for a certain pavilion, you still needed to wait in line to actually go in to experience it…some reservation lines were krazy long!

We had thought to stay until sunset but left at about 15:00 because it was just.too.hot

After checking in, we walked around Dotombori and went to look for okonomiyaki

We’ve been to Ootako with family and it was nice to revisit

We enjoyed the pork garlic kimchee yakisoba and pork tomato cheese okonomiyaki

It was a long day, but we were happy we got to experience the Expo and reconnect with Umeda and Namba

Grampus Inn Osaka

1-13-18 Nambanaka

Naniwa, Osaka

more videos and photos of the expo here