never forget

Thinking of the people of Tohoku and the surrounding areas especially today.

Sending virtual hugs

ps thankful the wildfires in Iwate are finally out

saturday

Saturday was the start of a 3-day weekend for us, I went to Shinjuku to do some shopping, in the corner of my eye I spotted Takibi Bakery's stollen (love their packaging)

We've tried Takibi Bakery's stollen a couple of times in the past and enjoyed them.

This version had lots of spices. There is no tea in this, but it was similar to the spices used in chai.

I look forward to trying more stollen in the coming weeks.

From Shinjuku I walked to Shibuya.

It was interesting seeing neighborhoods that aren't visible from the train.

Like this cool building that is split in half and connected by their wallkways.

I also stumbled upon a day of the dead procession...which reminded me of the movie "Coco".

I met Satoshi after his German class for dinner at Jiyugaoka.

He said he wanted to try Devil Craft.

I tried their Imperial Stout, a kick-a 11.8% chocolatey brew...delicious!

Also appreciate them filling their 200 milliliter serving to the 200 milliliter line on the cup.

We shared this caesar salad while waiting for the deep dish pizza to cook.

We also watched the World Rugby Finals between England and South Africa (South Africa won).

Satoshi enjoyed the pizza and also ordered several pints.

I'm glad he enjoyed this place, and I'm sure we'll be back.

Wanted to share with you this "interesting" suit I saw while waiting for Satoshi...it says "F*ck off" in full lettering over and over on the stripes...amazing what you see in Japan, yeah?!

Have a good week!

mexican dining avocado

When I went to Shinjuku on Sunday, I stumbled upon Mexican Dining Avocado for lunch.

This restaurant has seating on the 2nd and 4th floors (the 3rd is occupied by another cafe).

Did you see the movie, "Coco"?! (I loved that movie even if I only saw half...long story...)

The shop interior is apparently based on the movie, super festive & bright.

I ordered the taco rice, which came with all-you-can-drink soup, a beverage and fresh juice.

It was kind of humid so I passed on the soup.

As for my beverage I chose their iced hibiscus tea and was also given a small serving of their fresh juice.

The tea was refreshing...I had thought it would be more tart but it was actually really nice.

The fresh juice was avocado, grapefruit, honey and chia seed (kind of like a smoothie)...this was creamy and citrusy.

Their taco rice had enough spices to give a little burn.

Wish there had been a little more cheese.

I'm glad I found a place for taco rice in Shinjuku...I'll be back.

Mexican Dining Avocado
3-9-4 Shinjuku, 2nd & 4th floor
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3356.8585
Lunch 12:00-15:00 (Weekdays), Dinner 17:00-23:00 (Weekdays including Saturdays)
11:30-15:00 (Weekends), 17:00-22:00 (Sundays & Holidays)

patisserie l'authentique

It's Satoshi's birthday today.

Unfortunately, he's been working late, so we celebrated a day early.

I put together some pupu (appetizers) and we had a glass of rose.

Cake from Patisserie L'Authentique, a shop in Saitama Prefecture which was being featured at Shinjuku Isetan.

While the cake was delicious, my only peeve was their overboard use of tape!

Taping the cake down to the box, as well as taping the ice packs in...

It was pretty frustrating getting the pieces of cake out (I cut the box so that I could gingerly get the pieces off the tape without it flying around!)...still, I'm glad we tried them.

I wish Satoshi a year of good health and happiness.

For always putting up with me.

Happy Birthday!

kameido tenjinsha

Back in March, we visited Kameido Tenjinsha.

I bookmarked this area and waited for the fuji (wisteria) to bloom.

Tuesday was forecast for the last sunny day for the week, so I went to check it out.

Unfortunately with all the temperature ups and downs they haven't bloomed fully (the first photo is of one of the longest wisteria vines when I went)

We have other things planned for GW (Golden Week), so I'm not sure if I'll be able to go back and check it out again.

Still it was nice to see.

If you'd like to see some of the other photos I took, please look here.

that time of year again...

Apparently it is election time for our ward.

There are 70 something candidates running for council and 6 candidates running for mayor.

Of course, most of them have campaign cars running around with loud speakers...

It was krazy seeing all these campaign cars pass each other on the street (of course they were all on their loud speakers too).

Very noisy especially during "my nap time"...ahem!

As for the photo, on the way back from the market, I found a man looking at all the candidates kind of in awe.

At least the election will end on Sunday (it will be Satoshi's first time voting since we moved)...if you can go and vote, do so.

Have a nice weekend.

wedding reception

Back in 2009, I wrote about Japan weddings and the reception.

Since then, things have changed.

Over the weekend, we attended Satoshi's nephew's wedding reception.

Also back in 2009, Satoshi's nephew was in high school and has since graduated college, been working and recently married his high school sweetheart...

Last month, he got married in Hawaii.

The reception was held at a hotel looking out at the Kamo River.

Apparently, it was the same hotel that MIL and SIL's parents also had their wedding receptions held at.

The food was fabulous.

Lobster, uni (sea urchin), caviar and a creamy veggie puree.

Bacon and vegetable consomme soup.

Amadai (tile fish) that was fried with the scales and seared scallops

The scales so crisp and the flesh of the fish so moist...delicious.

Wagyu (Japanese beef) grilled and served with a wine sauce.

Blanc manger (a type of milk gelatin) topped with fruits...and piece of wedding cake.

There aren't many speeches given about the bride and groom, nowadays there are video messages.

Also, the hikidemono (gifts for attending) are sent directly to your home (we haven't received ours yet).

It was nice to spend some time with Satoshi's family, meet his nephew's wife and her family.

We wish them all the best!

ao no dokutsu

From Shibuya's Hachi-ko (Park with statue of Hachi the dog), just follow the blue lights to Yoyogi Park.

There you will find the Ao no Dokutsu (Blue Cave).

If only smartphones had a way to control long shutterspeed...

Still it was nice to see.

This event runs from November 30 to December 31.

Click here if you'd like to see a short video.

snack pine

I picked up this teeny Okinawan pineapple called "snack pine" to try.

You are apparently supposed to pick off each "nub" and eat the fruit attached to it...kinda like artichokes?!

Since I thought that way would be kinda p.i.t.a (pain in the a)....I tried peeling it like a normal sized pineapple....

It wasn't as easy as a normal sized one.

In fact, there were still lots of hard outer parts on the pieces I cut.

The fruit is super sweet though.

I've tried planting the crown, so we'll see what happens...

we're back

Over the weekend, we went on a little trip.

If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook, you'll know where we went.

Here is a photo I posted on those two social media sites.

It is amazing what a filter can do for a photo.

Hope to write up about our excursion soon!

keeping cool

Even though the heat and humidity have been brutal this year, I've been keeping cool with shave ice.

If it's on the menu, I'll order it...

This cappuccino shave ice is what I had when Satoshi and I went to Kyoto...this was my mid-morning snack.

The cappuccino was sweetened and there were also coffee bean shaped chocolates here and there, the scoop of vanilla ice cream also notched up the sweetness.

Then on Saturday, after lunch, I ordered this golden peach shave ice at Yukinoshita.

It was like eating a frozen peach! The ice was finely shaved too.

Satoshi on the other hand ordered this monster...a melty matcha parfait.

We have a couple of typhoons heading our way too this week, so the humidity is only gonna get worse....sigh.

Ito Coffee
43-3 Koyama Kamifusa-cho
Kita-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.492.0033
Closed Tuesdays
Hours: 7:00-19:00

Yukinoshita
Minoo Q's Mall
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.729.3700
Hours: 11:00-20:00
Closed when the mall is

yama no hi

Today is a National Holiday...Yama no Hi (Mountain Day).

This holiday was newly added (this year) to the gazillion that Japan already has.

Why they didn't add this to June baffles me as June doesn't have any holidays...

Oh well...I'm appreciating our favorite mountain today...Mt Fuji.

made it!

Yesterday was a L-O-N-G day...

BFF was nice to drop me off at the airport on her way to work, so I was there a little before 6:00...Unfortunately, the JAL counter did not open until 7:45...boo!

I people watched until then, since I didn't want to drag my luggage around with me to look for breakfast...

After checking in, I had a leisurely breakfast at Starbucks.

FYI: there is still no free WIFI at the airport...I believe Hawaii is the last International airport in the world not to have free wifi, 1st world problems...

We had a relatively full plane and economy seats have changed on JAL, every seat has gotten 10 centimeters more leg room. I've never had a problem with leg room (because I'm short), but can understand what tall people must go through.

I've been wanting to see this movie, "If cats disappeared from the world".

FYI: This movie should be watched in the privacy of your home, talk about kleenex moments!

As we approached Narita, a sudden rain storm appeared in the area, so instead of landing, we had to circle another 30 minutes...

Luckily, my connection wasn't for another 2 hours.

Part of our lunch was this Tropilicious Strawberry Haupia Ice Cream, and part of our snack before landing were these Big Island Candies cookies.

While flying from Narita to Itami (Osaka), JAL allowed us to use their in-flight WIFI for 15 minutes at no charge.

That's how I took the first photo.

From the airport, it was a little over 30 minutes, but at least by 20:00 I was home.

My bags were opened by TSA, and will be delivered tomorrow...something about me arriving at Itami after 15:00 so the bags would be picked up from the airport on Thursday and delivered on Friday...

Just hope that everything will be intact.

Will be going grocery shopping and start cooking tonight.

Hope your week is going well.

undokai

During this time of year, many schools hold an undokai (oon-dough-kai) or sports day on the weekends.

Many games and relay races are held on campus, parents also participate in some races too.

Some children perform dances.

We don't have children so I've not experienced this first-hand.

I was shocked to see all these tents when we passed by an undokai recently.

About the middle of the photo you may be able to see the crowd, they are all holding cameras in hopes of getting a shot or video of their child running in a race or two.

Some schools are too small to hold their undokai so they often borrow the field of bigger schools.

I've also heard that they don't allow the children to be competitive, there aren't awards for 1st, 2nd, etc, as it damages self-esteem, WT?!...where's the fun if there is no competition?!

Growing up, we had May Day, where each grade level would perform a dance for the May Day Court, usually consisting of 6th graders who were chosen to represent the King, Queen, Prince and Princesses of the Hawaiian Islands, as well as for parents and for family members that could attend that day.

Do you have undokai where you live?

juicy fruit

When I saw the label on these I had to take a second look.

I really hate katakana it is so hard to read.

A little larger than a tennis ball, these were indeed "juicy" and after looking online, they are a type of grapefruit.

I squeezed two for breakfast.

The juice is tart but not sour.

I think putting them into a salad might be nice too.

I'll keep my eye for them the next time I go to the market.

It's Friday. The past week our temps have been krazy hot and the humidity has also just started, hope the weather where you are is nicer.

Have a nice weekend!

we're back

We're back from a trip to Amanohashidate and Ine.

Golden Week ends on Thursday, so I'll work on photos and such then.

Hope to have a post up soon.

Talk to you later!

election

I've ranted before about the election system here in Japan.

Well, they are at it again...

A couple of weeks ago was the election for Minoo city (where we live), their city council or something.

This week it is an election for Ikeda city, their city council or something.

We just happen to live on the border of both cities so it has been "noisy" with all the campaigning using their loud speakers.

Ikeda has 30-something candidates, so each one has a loud speaker car trolling for votes from 8:00 to 20:00 (even on weekends!)...thank goodness their election is this coming Sunday.

Try not to be walking on the roadway when they pass or they will call out to you (over their loud speaker)...talk about embarrassing!

I still wish they would combine their elections...this staggered system is crazy and I am pretty sure a waste of tax payer monies.

The sun is back...Have a nice weekend everyone!

peach curry

Another thing we bought were these instant peach curries from Yamanashi prefecture.

I had heard about this before and had it in the back of my mind.

I love the name of the peach farm...Ariga-to-en (it is a play on words "garden of thanks" and Ariga Peach Farm)

We bought a spicy version and a beef version.

They incorporate peach chutney and also pieces of peach too.

Both were delicious.

The spicy version was good, the burn lingers.

I'm glad we got to try these.

fish cheese

Whenever we go on trips and there are "tasting" areas, Satoshi is always there "tasting".

So, on our recent trip to Mt Fuji, they brought us to a suisan (a place that sells seafood) called Ishihara.

It was actually our tour's chance to use the restroom and do a little shopping before getting back on the freeway to make our way to the Shinkansen(bullet train) station.

I'm pretty sure that no matter where you go in the world, the women's line is always longer than the men's.

So, by the time I came out and looked for Satoshi, guess where he was?

Yup, he was tasting stuff.

One thing that he got hooked on were these...cheese with seasoned katsuo (bonito) and with seasoned maguro (tuna).

The katsuo were in huge pieces whereas the maguro teeny squares...they look like candy, yeah?!

The fish is seasoned with a shoyu-sugar-mirin combo (sweet-salty) and the cheese isn't overpowering, maybe a mozzarella or gouda?

Paired together this is the perfect snack or beer chaser.

I think if we come across these again, we'll get more...so good!

construction

In our neighborhood, a large condo is coming up.

I pass by the site almost everyday, so I've been seeing this and that.

I was impressed with how they get cement up to pour the upper floors.

They use this crane thingy that has a grating attachment.

The cement truck dumps its cement into the grating and the cement is pumped up to the higher floor through the long arm.

The long arm is actually a tube that they also use to disperse the cement to the areas they need to construct.

Cool, yeah?!