fuchu city local forest museum

On the way back from Yaho, I noticed another ume festival sign from the train...

when I looked online, I found out that Fuchu City Local Forest Museum, which is labeled as an arboretum on Google maps, has a baien (plum garden) and they were having an ume festival.

So, I went to check it out...

From the JR Fuchuhonmachi station....walk past Suntory Brewery

And the Daitokyo Sogo wholesale market...

wouldn’t mind coming back to check out this market

There was a tiny park with many cherry trees.

And then you need to buy an admission ticket...300 yen 

If I'm not mistaken, they only take cash.

There is also a planetarium, on the grounds, but the admission is separate and costs 600 yen.

There are some restored buildings on the property.

One was being used as a cafe.

60 plum varieties and 1000 plum trees...wow!

The plum blossom season was nearing the end, glad I was able to experience this.

Brought a musubi to tide me over...there were benches all over the place...to sit, to chat, to just hang out.

They have a little area with robai (waxy apricot) also called wintersweet/Japanese allspice.

Since it was March, I thought I missed this but there were still some flowers on the trees.

There is also an area for hydrangea though not as extensive as the plum...we might be back.

Lots of people out and about.

They also have ume trees lit up at night, which must be beautiful to see.

To get back home, I walked to the JR Bubaigawara station, because I've been curious of this statue, that you can see from the train...Samurai Yoshisada Nitta.

Sweets from Aokiya, which has been in business since 1893.

We tried these manju and mochi...delicious.

Another area of Tokyo explored.

The days are getting longer and warmer, I think some areas are May or June temps!

Fuchu city local forest museum

6-35 Koremasa

Fuchu City, Tokyo

Closed Mondays

Hours: 9:00-17:00

Aokiya

3-22-26 Katamachi

Bubaigawara Minano 1F

Fuchu City, Tokyo

Open daily 9:30-19:00

p.s. if you are interested in seeing more photos/videos, look here

hamarikyu gardens

First off, I want to thank Kirk of Mmm-yoso, for gifting us a Pro Flickr account for a year.

I appreciate your kindness and generosity!

On to today's post....the news they had mentioned that the ume (apricot) at Hamarikyu Gardens were blooming.

So, this past Sunday, we went to check it out.

Luckily it was only a few trees.

The bulk of the ume trees that are in the baien (apricot orchard) haven't even started...whew!

Though it was nice to see the pink with the yellow (nanohana (rapeseed)), though the nanohana is also SUPER early too..

Look how dry everything is...(we finally got some rain/snow on Thursday!)

We stopped into Nakanojima Chaya (which is located at about the middle of the gardens).

You need to pay for tea and treats when you enter the tea house, so this definitely deters the tourists & locals that only want to sit and chat here...

Satoshi and I both had the nerikiri with matcha...720 yen (tax included) each.

If I understand things correctly, nerikiri is white bean paste that is mixed with rice flour to form a "dough".

It is then filled with sweet bean paste then formed into various shapes.

Mine was called kobai (small apricot).

Satoshi's nerikiri was an homage to the 300 year pine on the garden grounds.

Spring is technically still a long way away, but it was nice to sit and admire the pond surrounding the tea house.

back to shinjuku

After telling Satoshi about the day I had with V & K, he wanted to go to Katsukura and to visit Shinjuku Gyoen.

He had the same meal that we had the other day, and was super impressed by the huge prawn.

I was determined not to eat the same items (twice in a week!) and ordered the filet katsu sandwich instead.

So tender! and great with the kuroshichimi (black 7 spices) that it came with.

FYI: the Japanese menu is a little different from the foreign language ones, for one thing this sandwich wasn't on the foreign language menu.

Can you believe in all the years that Satoshi lived in Tokyo, he had never visited Shinjuku Gyoen? mottainai (what a waste!)

We walked the perimeter of the park.

This was the French Garden area...Avenue of Sycamore trees.

Loved that the roses were in bloom too.

And the lower pond area.

An area called "Maple Hill"

The sun sets so early these days.

The weather was so warm and it was nice to be out and about.

monday

Monday was a national holiday...Keiro no hi (Respect to Elders Day).

In the past, I've said this holiday is similar with Grandparents Day, but I think calling it "respect to elders" is more fair as everyone may not be a grandparent..

Anyway, the weather was blazing and humid.

We started off at the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden.

There are 9 metropolitan gardens around Tokyo and so far, the ones we've seen are huge!

Amazing to see in the middle of the concrete jungle.

The only thing with these gardens in the middle of the concrete jungle are the noises of the city.

Lunch was at Noda Shumai.

Delicious.

Cold Tan Tan Men... wish I brought my spoon with holes.

Loved how the spiciness crept up.

A really good bowl...hope to get back to try other items.

Rikugien is a garden that used to be the Iwasaki Family's property (owners of Mitsubishi).

Another beautiful huge property.

If you are also planning to visit the Kyu-Furukawa Garden, be sure to by the ticket that gives you a discount when you purchase your admission to Rikugien.

About a 20 minute walk away is the Kyu-Furukawa Garden.

Another beautiful (huge) property, this one will be pretty when their roses are in full bloom.

The Japanese area of the garden will be pretty when the leaves change color.

Then we walked 30 minutes or so to Sugamo.

The shopping arcade is huge!

We visited the Koganji Temple.

This temple is related to the one in Manoa.

It was so humid and warm that we stopped for shave ice at Mizuno.

Shio Daifuku (salty sweet bean paste filled rice cakes) is the main item at this shop.

They put the salty sweet bean paste on the bottom of the bowl and top the shave ice with a tiny daifuku.

The sweet-salty combo was perfect for the heat and humidity.

Lots of walking and eating and we got to see more of Tokyo.

Koishikawa Korakuen Garden
1-6-6 Koraku
Bunkyo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3811.3015
Hours: 9:00-17:00

Noda Shumai
6-24 Honkomagome
Bunkyo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.53695.9940
Hours: 11:30-24:00

Rikugien
6-16-3 Honkomagome
Bunkyo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3941.2222
Hours: 9:00-17:00

Kyu-Furukawa Garden
1-27-39 Nishigahara
Kita, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3910.0394
Hours: 9:00-17:00

Mizuno
3-33-3 Sugamo
Toshima, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3910.4652
Hours: 9:00-18:30

out and about

Near the Toramon area is Atago Shrine.

Apparently this shrine is on the highest hill in Tokyo but the super tall buildings surrounding it, makes it feel teeny.

A samurai apparently rode his horse up these steps in a minute, which now symbolizes success.

We cheated and took the elevator up...we did walk the steps down though.

Take your time it is really steep.

Lunch was at a shop we stumbled upon, Benikatsu (Red Scorpion).

Buy your ticket from the machine then give it to the owner/chef.

He'll ask you what amount of noodles you want and the level of spiciness of your dish.

I chose the normal amount and the least spicy for my shirunashi tan tan men (tan tan men without soup).

Satoshi chose the normal amount of noodles and least spicy for his tan tan men (with soup).

He also added rice (which was free).

While you are waiting for your dish, the owner gives you some blanched moyashi (bean sprouts) topped with niku miso (meat miso mixture).

Eat half while you are waiting then add some to your noodles.

I thought this was a brilliant way to eat tan tan men as you don't lose all the bits in the soup because it is separate.

The char siu is so tender it melts in your mouth.

We'll be back to try other items on the menu.

About 20 minutes away is Hamarikyu Gardens.

A huge park in the middle of the concrete jungle.

The 300 year old pine was amazing to see.

As well as the field of cosmos.

We'll be back to see the other parts of the park when the weather gets cooler.

About 15 minutes away from Hamarikyu Gardens is Kyu-Shiba Rikyu Gardens.

This garden is a smaller and quite noisy in comparison to Hamarikyu.

If you plan to see both gardens, buy the ticket that combines the admission, you'll save a little money if you do.

Coffee floats were a must afterwards.

The weather is still blazing, hopefully we'll see some Autumn temps soon.

Still, we were glad to be out and about.

Benikatsu (Red Scorpion) (UPDATTE: no longer in business)
3-1-12 Nishishinbashi
Minato, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3436.2455
Closed: Sundays
Hours: Weekdays 11:00-21:00, Saturdays 11:00-15:00

Cafe La Mille (UPDATE: no longer in business)
2-4-1 Hamamatsucho, World Trade Center Bldg B1F
Minato, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3435.5422
Hours: Mondays-Tuesdays 9:00-21:00, Wednesdays-Fridays 9:00-22:30, Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays 11:00-19:30

"rosey"and foodie saturday & sunday

Saturday was gorgeous. Too bad Satoshi had German class.

Before his class though, we went to Utsubo Park to have lunch and enjoy the roses.

They weren't all in full bloom, but there were enough to ooh and aah at.
After lunch and a few pictures, Satoshi went off to his class and I walked back to Umeda.

On the way, I stopped at a bakery (Boulangerie Takagi, post later!) and I also stopped at Odona, a rather new shopping building.

In Odona, I had iced coffee and an eclair at Joel...the iced coffee was 600 yen (about US$6)...eep!

The eclair, while it made for some yummy photos, was kind of on the hard side, maybe overbaked?...meh.

After Satoshi's class we intended to try an Italian restaurant, but since his class ends at 17:00, we were too early for their dinner service.

We ended up at Outback steakhouse around the corner...with too huge American portions.

It was the first time for both of us to try this place in Japan.

Satoshi inhaled their 300 gram steak, garlic mash, steamed veggies and a huge side salad and I kind of whacked their 400 gram ribs (took 3 pieces home plus the fries and coleslaw). It was nice to get my "western bbq" fix and to eat with my fingers for a change!
Sunday turned out to be almost as beautiful as Saturday but with some haze.

We headed to Nagai Botanical Garden. This garden has many athletic facilities around it included a soccer stadium which I've worked at (pre-blog).

We bought some take-out from the department store and ate lunch at the garden.

My lunch--two musubi (ume & konbu), a potato and a few pieces of pork. Satoshi's lunch--a box of gyoza & ten-musu (musubi with shrimp tempura in it).

After lunch, we walked around the perimeter of the garden taking in the roses, poppies, azaleas & peonies.
At about two, we headed to Shinsaibashi for an afternoon snack.

We intended to try Krispy Kreme, which opened over the Golden Week, but the line was crazy long. (I actually have never tried Krispy Kreme, though they are in Hawaii, they are on the island of Maui.)

So, instead we had cake and coffee at Wittamer in Daimaru.

I had their chocolate roll, Satoshi chose a dessert made with coffee gelatin.

(While we were there, there was a slight problem with some foreigners which I helped translate for the workers of Wittamer.)

Outside of Daimaru, we took in some of the sights of an Osaka block party of sorts (Midosuji Open Festa).

Overall, it was a great weekend. We took in lots of nature while eating a lot of good foods. Hope you had a great weekend as well.

Joel
4-3-4 Kitahama (Odona 1F)
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6152.8780

Outback Steakhouse
2-1-24 Umeda, Shinsakurabashi Bldg 1F
Kita, Osaka
Phone: 06.6457.7121
Weekdays: 17:00-24:00
Weekends/Holidays: 12:00-24:00

Wittamer
1-7-1 Shinsaibashisuji, Daimaru B2
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6253.9770

kyoto

This year, the Golden Week's holidays were kind of spread out, so that if you took vacation, you could have 11 days off from work. Since Satoshi had to work on Monday, Children's Day a.k.a. Boy's Day, we went to visit Satoshi's mom on the weekend. From Osaka, it takes about an hour and a half to get to his mom's by train. (If we leave the house by 8:00, we can usually get there by 10:00 or so. )

Saturday was spent just sitting around and dozing off here and there. In the late afternoon, his mom had made an appointment with the funeral home. The guy that was in charge of my father-in-law's funeral and wake is so patient. Even though everything is over with, he still comes to check on my mother-in-law and is there to answer any questions regarding memorial services, customs or just to "talk story" (chat).

Sunday we went to the Botanical Garden. This is about a 15 minute walk from his mom's. Sunday was so hot, no one would have thought it was Spring as the sun was blazing down.

There were lots of people there, especially people sketching or painting. Many of them had umbrellas to shade themselves from the blazing sun.

Others brought their own lunches and were in the shade, eating and chatting.

There was a tree that we checked out, the flower is big and white, since it looks like a handkerchief, that is what it is called--handkerchief tree.

Also at the botanical garden was an exhibit with these miniature orchids. They are only the size of a fingernail!

After walking for about an hour, we decided to eat lunch.

We popped in to Hasegawa, this place has been around since Satoshi was a kid. He said that they are known for hamburgers. And if you look at their sign...that's what it said.

Hamburgers aren't presented how Americans picture them to be, they usually come on a platter, sometimes they come out sizzling. This is usual yoshoku (western) fare. There is the hamburger with sauce (this one was tomato), a fried shrimp, tartar sauce, some greens, Japanese-style potato salad and ketchup laden spaghetti noodles. They also serve you rice on a plate. Very filling!

The decor was really retro!

We had a nice two days with Satoshi's mom. I think she was a bit sad to see us go.

This coming Sunday is the 49-day service, so we'll be heading to Kyoto once again.

Hope you have a great week! We still have 2 more days of Golden Week to go.