this and that

Tokyo People: once in awhile you'll run across these types of people who don't care about others, just look at your phone the whole time so you don't need to see others wanting that seat next to you (with all your stuffs on it)
 

Decided to try Pixelfed...apparently this is like OG Instagram, no reels, no videos, no music…not sure if I'll continue or delete my account...if you are there, and like to follow us, please do.

 

Huge sinkhole in Saitama, they said a truck fell in and are having a heck of a time trying to get the driver out.

It’s been several days now and I just hope he’s okay, and that no other vehicles fell in before he did!

Tragic accident in Washington DC, hoping everyone can be reunited with their loved ones.

Tokyo People: interesting hat

nya! (meow)

Have a safe weekend.

nian gao

Lucky to find nian gao at Tokyo Doujiang Seikatsu…350 yen (tax included)

(In Japanese, they pronounce it "nengao")

They had two types, one with adzuki bean and one with black sugar

I chose the one with black sugar

It also came with instructions on how to eat it...

• zap in the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds 
• steam 
• fry in a pan 
• wrap in puff pastry and toast 
• wrap in spring roll wrapper and fry

My mom used to make her own gau, and it used to be super sticky...if you didn't wrap it properly mold would take over...

This one was firm and easily came out of the aluminum pan.

Hope to try frying it in a pan and zapping in the microwave.

Not as sweet as my mom's version, glad I got to try this one.

happy lunar new year

Hope you have a Happy Lunar New Year!

Apparently it is the Year of the Wood Snake

I wanted to check out Yokohama’s Chinatown, since the last time I went for Lunar New Year was pre-pandemic, but since I just got vaccinated and heard that 90 million?! Chinese are traveling this week, and that their number one travel destination is Japan, I decided to lay low.

I instead bought us Chinese bento from Niihao...680 yen (plus tax)

1 main choice...I chose sweet sour pork, 2 side choices...I chose happosai (eight treasure vegetables) and eggplant gyoza (this was eggplant and minced meat that was deep fried, I think the sauce was the sweet sour sauce...1 starch choice, I chose their noodles since I read somewhere that noodles should be eaten for the New Year.

I also bought some spring rolls at the market since this should also be eaten for the New Year and also just in case this bento wasn't enough for Satoshi...for his main I chose ebi chili (spicy shrimp)

I ate my bento for lunch, but Satoshi will eat his for dinner. (Kat will eat leftovers for dinner)

I hope the New Year will bring you good health, happiness and prosperity.

oh em gee

the side effect from the shingles vaccine was krazy...chills, fever, pain, plus it got super red/swollen, then itchy...eep!

AND I still gotta get the second one in two months...

finally today, the swelling is pretty much gone, now I have a bruise...the doctor/nurse? that administered the vaccine "pushed" on the vaccinated area after giving it to me...ow!

hoping I don't get the shingles period...

anyways...I'm still here...just nothing major to write about.

Have a good week!

this and that

I had heard that 7-eleven sold baked in-store cookies, but hadn't seen them in the stores near us.

I finally stumbled on one nearby...their cookies are crisp on the edges and kinda soft in the middle....lots of chocolate in there too...love!

Tokyo People: Spotted this woman from afar and was lucky to be able to get my phone out in time to snap this...so green!

ad-lib muffins...didn't have enough flour nor enough mochiko...and after mixing, it didn't look like I would have enough batter for 6 muffins, so I made only 3...super heavy but delicious!

"whipped cream" for our oatmeal pancakes...actually greek yogurt...ha!

The bilberry jam that friend Lily gave us was delicious on this as well.

super big Tokyo Furry People

Do you have a rolling stock? we kinda do for emergencies like typhoons or earthquakes...this was an instant meat sauce, I just made some zoodles and heated up the sauce.

first time seeing an aston martin being transported…huge truck!

went to bob bagel...picked up their fig pistachio

we tried this before, his bagels are my favorite these days

bob’s double chocolate scone...so chocolatey!

and bob’s tori "ham" (sous vide chicken) sandwich with iyokan (type of citrus) jam, slices of apple and carrot salad...love! I took this apart to eat.

The version I tried before had tomatoes

Also went to Yaohan to buy some sweet potatoes...292 yen (tax included) for both

in the future, will have to remember they now charge for the paper bag…

It has been awhile since I've been back to Sawamura...picked up their mushroom tartine, loved the mushrooms and cheese!

(next time when we visit Katuizawa, would like to eat at his restaurant)

kouign amann...this one was filled with an almond paste...delicious!

apricot cream cheese campagne…fragrant apricot halves inside, so delicious!

pomodoro tuna tapenade...tomato bread filled with tuna and tapenade mixture...kinda fishy but I still enjoyed this

I tried a different version before

Yesterday, I got the shingles vaccine (Shingrix) will need to get the second one in two months...if you got this how much did you have to pay?! for me it was 12,000 yen for this one and another 12,000 in two months! thank goodness my doctor accepts credit cards (not all do)

ahodori bento

Been wanting to try Ahodori Bento after seeing them on "7 rules", a television show about females in various business genre and their "7 rules in life", not sure when it was broadcast, maybe during the pandemic?

Anyway, this bento shop does catering for television/magazine shoots and other events. But if you go to the shop you can usually buy their other types of bento.

They are closer to Ikebukuro, so I was happy to hear that they would be selling two types of their bento at Shinjuku Takashimaya on Wednesdays.

This is a limited time pop up, so I made sure to try to go during the dates.

We tried their maru (circular) wappa bento...1815 yen each  (tax included) (the other bento had less veggies and only a piece of fish)

this is the roughly translated menu: 

salmon saikyoyaki (grilled miso)

ninjin shirishiri (cooked grated carrots)

eggplant miso

myoga su (vinegary myoga)

grilled watermelon radish 

grilled chicken (cumin & pink pepper)
su gobo (vinegary burdock)

shishito okaka itame (shishito stir fried with bonito flakes)

pumpkin cranberry croquette

shiitake umani (simmered shiitake)

pickled lotus root

simmered sweet potato

turnip namul

ume tempura

nitamago (seasoned egg)

So delicious (hefty) and colorful! I'm glad we got to try this and hope to get to their shop to try other bento in the future

Ahodori Bento

1-10-7 Kanamecho

Toshima, Tokyo

Closed: Saturdays & Sundays

Hours: 11:00-14:00

k-sozai

Went back to K-sozai to try their honey mustard chicken and gimmari

Apparently gimmari is a Korean street food, and according to Maangchi, "they are crispy on the outside chewy on the inside"

I should've heated these up in the toaster because they were chewy and not crispy at all...boo!

the nori rolls seemed to be filled with glass noodles and the long dumplings seemed to filled with some fish paste?!

Will have to remember to try toasting them the next time...

I was glad that the honey mustard chicken was more yellow mustard than honey.

And the chicken was tender, I think this is the same fried chicken they use for the yangnyeom chicken...

Will explore their freezer section next... 

this and that

This room with huge windows, is part of a condo, I actually saw someone walking around in there!

Must be warm in the winter and oven-ish in the summer
 

Parking skills

Tokyo People: tofu maker

Tokyo furry people: keeping warm

cute mail box

Not sure what was in the round wooden container, but thought it looked neat on the back of the moped

We tried Okita Seimai's sekihan, delicious!

The beef stew from Frou Frou surprised me, look at those big chunks of meat!

This time instead of mashed potato there was just a slice of potato in there.

The stew went nicely with the wine that V gave us...thank you!

chikin mu, love saying it....is the tiny white cubes of pickled daikon that they sell at k-sozai 298 yen (tax included)

The yangnyeom chicken on this day was not as good as before…boo

when you don't read the recipe correctly...prepare to fail....that is what happened when I tried to make these oyaki from the imoya kinjiro pamphlet…dunno that I would try it again though, was kinda p.i.t.a.

cano's

Been trying to try Cano's sweets, but every time I go past they aren't open or they have already sold out.

This past Saturday, we were lucky to go past while they were open and had items to try!
 

Salted Caramel Custard : this was delicious, the salted caramel was a little on the bitter side and balanced out the sweet custard…360 yen (tax included)

Chocolate Terrine : this was dense, rich and chocolatey…490 yen (tax included)

Nama Chocolate Chiffon Cake : the chocolate chiffon was light and  was filled with chocolate whipped cream and some ganache at the bottom…650 yen (tax included)

I'm glad we got to try these and look forward to trying some of their other items in the future.

we shared everything...Plated for our dessert the other night

Cano's 

6-6-8 Ikegami

Ota, Tokyo

Open: Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Saturdays

Hours: 12:00-17:00 (earlier if they sell out)

back to hebikubo shrine

This past Saturday, we went back to Hebikubo Shrine after Satoshi's dental appointment.

The line was long but not as krazy long as the week before.
 

Apparently there were a lot of snakes in this area before so the area was called Hebimura (snake village)

The area to wash your hands was decorated with all sorts of chrysanthemums

Floral display at the main temple

Snakes to "pet"…touch different parts of the snake’s body to take different sicknesses away on your body and to also protect different areas of your body from sickness

Near the waterfall, points if you can see the snake like rock.

Close up of it..looked real!

Satoshi usually cannot look at snakes, not even the ones on tv or in magazines!

We were glad that the line wasn't too krazy when we went and hope the Year of the Snake will be a good one.