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Yesterday, Satoshi wanted to check out Aoyama, Omotesando and other areas for a tour he has coming up.

So we got out early so that we could have breakfast at Crisscross.

I've had this place bookmarked since I saw it back in 2018 when we were walking around after lunch.

Tokyo People: there was a lady with her dog standing in front of the ropes at the entrance, another woman standing in the shade and this guy (photo above)

I asked him if he was standing in line.

He had airpods in his ears, so he answered me super loudly..."huh"

Took one airpod out of his ear and I asked him again.

He answered me in Japanese, "what else would I be standing here for?!"

What a snark!

As we were waiting for them to open, 7 "haoles" came one by one to stand in line with snarky man (at this point there were at least 10 people standing behind me)

Snarky was there to get them a table...

At least there were enough tables for everyone behind us to be seated.

How cute was this bicycle parked in front of the restaurant.

Order by QR code...Satoshi and I both ordered the classic breakfast (toast, salad, bacon and eggs)...1950 yen (tax included)

This also came with soup...with the humidity, luckily it was visshyssoise (cold potato soup)

It was a nice place for breakfast despite the snarky one (we want to check out their lunch menu next)

After breakfast, we went to check out the areas that Satoshi wanted to see.

While he was doing that, I took photos of interesting buildings in the Aoyama Omotesando area.

Le:labo (fragrance)

Prada

Loewe

Near Harajuku, Satoshi went to check out more areas and I went to the United Nations University to check out the Farmers Market

Roadster in front of United Nations University

There weren't too many vendors on this day, and it was so hot that I decided to check out other areas of Shibuya instead.

I walked around Miyashita Park while I was waiting for Satoshi to finish

This tunnel that runs under the Yamanote line is painted with vibrant blues...pretty

And then I stumbled on the free interactive Hello Kitty pop up at Tsutaya

So I checked it out....2 minute video here 

Satoshi met me in front of the Hello Kitty pop up and then we went back to Miyashita Park for lunch.

They have a food court, I chose the crunch wrap supreme from Taco Bell

Satoshi chose a poke bowl from Maguro market

It was just nice to sit in air conditioning...

After lunch, I went to buy groceries and headed home.

Satoshi went back out to check out more areas.

It was blazing, super humid but we got to do a lot.

Crisscross

5-7-28 Minamiaoyama

Minato, Tokyo

Open daily: 8:00-21:00

pagong x hello kitty

Over the past 8 years or so, I have enjoyed wearing Pagong's tops.

Recently they came out with a new print, in collaboration with Hello Kitty's 40th Anniversary.

Before moving to Japan I wasn't too much of a Hello Kitty fan, but once here, I found that she was everywhere and couldn't help but fall in love with her.

Anyway, the scenery is called Horai-zu which is based on a Chinese myth about Mount Penglai, you can read more about it here. It is supposed to be a magical world.

Unfortunately, the Japanese version of the myth is not "happy".

Still, Hello Kitty is scattered throughout this print and according to the description card that came with my top, it says that "happy things" may come to you as you look for Hello Kitty.

It is the beginning of July, with all the crazy weather going on here in Japan and around the world, I hope your summer is going well.

semi-rant

The girl working at Sanrio told me that there is no replacement for the ink in their Hello Kitty ball point pens...boo!

You know, these pens cost 525 yen, and when the ink runs out, I'm supposed to throw them out?! I think not.

I was determined to find a replacement.

I brought the used ink cartridge to MUJI and found the same size...ha!

If you need one for your Hello Kitty ball point pen, (and have a MUJI store nearby) look for the ink cartridge with a #2 and 0.7mm on it.

At least now I know, and won't have to throw out my pens after the ink runs out.

p.s. The typhoon was pretty impressive, blustery, the wind whistling and all. Sheets of rain passing by the window. Unfortunately, Satoshi had to work, so he didn't see "the show". Luckily, the rain and wind stopped by the time he came home.

foodie sunday in minoo

Yesterday, Satoshi had to work. The weather was nice except for the volcanic smog (VOG) in the air, so I decided to go out for a walk.

I first had lunch at my favorite cafe, Per Caffe Bianco. The daily pasta lunch was delicious, a melt in your mouth pork simmered in tomato sauce and veggies over spaghettini. A cup of pumpkin soup and for a little extra, a cappuccino...1150 yen (about US$11.50)

It was my first cappuccino for 2011 from this cafe.

Business seems to be a bit rough for them, but I'm glad their food is still good and their cappuccinos still delicious.

After lunch, I walked a little ways into the Quasi Park and found these people.

This big contraption had 3D (red/blue) glasses attached to them and everyone was looking in and listening to a man tell stories.

I also went to look inside and the pictures don't move but it was neat to listen and watch the man talk about different historic spots in Minoo.

Listening to storytellers while looking at paintings were a form of entertainment for Japanese during the Edo Period, about the 1600s.

Hello Kitty comes in a Minoo (our city) version, with her in a monkey costume, a little monkey and momiji (maple leaf) tempura. The monkey and momiji tempura are famous items in our city.

I bought this one attached to a pen...600 yen (about US$6)

I saw this sasanqua, there was a red tree next to a white tree that had "mixed" to make this red-white flower, cool yeah??

I saw these matcha ichigo daifuku the other day while walking past Korakudo, but didn't have any money with me at the time, so I picked some up to try yesterday...400 yen for 2 (about US$4)

Around the strawberry is a sweet bean paste with minced green tea leaves and a soft mochi (rice cake) around everything...delicious.

Lots of walking and lots of eating...the air is bad with the VOG from Kirishima, and it looks like the weather will be getting a little cooler this coming week.

Hope you have a good week.

furoku

In America, rarely do you get anything free in a magazine, well except those subscription forms that fall out whenever you turn the pages.

Oh, and maybe a little whiff of a new perfume.

Furoku are supplements (aka freebies) that come with magazines in Japan.

It is all the rage now. I think that more and more publishers are using these freebies to sell their magazines.

It's how I got my Laduree oil cloth bag.

Recently, a fashion magazine, "With", had a cute furoku...a Hello Kitty Liberty of London card case.

It is perfect for my train pass.

Do magazines where you live come with something free inside?

la gelateria and other stuff

Just noticed this imprint of Hello Kitty on my MAC lipstick. My friend Gaye gave this to me for Christmas or was it for my birthday? (sorry, I can't remember, sad yeah??) and I only noticed the imprint now...

Changing the subject...I followed one of my readers, Shirley Lou's advice and checked out La Gelateria after lunch on Thursday, since we were in the area. I had the black sesame seed gelato which she recommended (their last one in a cup!)...mmm! creamy and nutty, loved it! (Thanks!)

Mom had pineapple and Dad had the mango, they both enjoyed theirs too (in fact, they finished before I did! must have been good.). At US$2 a cup it was just the right amount. We ate ours on their chairs in front of the store.

The other day we picked out a small watermelon from Times (a local supermarket). The watermelon was grown in Kunia by Sugarland and it was so sweet and delicious!

La Gelateria
819 Cedar Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.591.1133
Open Monday-Friday 8:00-17:00
Closed Saturdays & Sundays

What have you been enjoying this summer?

bye-bye kitty

I hate it when I bang up my own dishes...I was recently washing my Hello Kitty plate and hit it against the faucet. Most dishes I have are tough, but I guess this one was thinner. I am stubborn and won't throw this out until it really cracks...

Let's end this post on a happy note...here are the chocolates/cakes that Satoshi received from his co-workers for Valentine's.



one was even called "mahalo" which means thank you in Hawaiian.

So what is Satoshi giving back to his co-workers on White Day? Find out on March 14, I'm baking...cross your fingers it works out...

around the neighborhood

The other night, I was having fun with Photofunia...Wouldn't it be cool to get a Mini cooper like this? (with cappuccino art, macarons or dark chocolate Hello Kitty on it...though it would be hard to choose which one I would want, which one would you choose?)

Yesterday was such a beautiful, sunny day. I decided to eat lunch at MOS then walk through Suigetsu Park.

While walking through the park, I found this elderly couple having lunch on the bench between these weeping willows.

The leaves aren't changing much yet, but I did find these stinky gingko nuts...they smell like stinky cheese...blah!

I also saw a pomegranate that the birds partially ate.

And a semi-rant...if you are going to make your child wear a helmet, don't you think you should too?

Today, our building is having some work done so I have to be out of the house for most of the day as they will shut off the water. On top of that it is supposed to rain for most of the day, hopefully it won't be too cold out.

Have a nice weekend!

chocolate from cheese

Awhile back, I bought this package of Hello Kitty cheese. There were 4 to a package and all the shapes were different. When I saw how sturdy the plastic molds were, I wanted to try making molded chocolates in them.

So, after I ate the cheese, I washed the molds out and kept them on the side. I finally got around to trying the molds out on Saturday. I melted some of my dark chocolates, mostly of the 65% range, some with nibs, and added a little milk.

The one that came out the best was the mold of Hello Kitty's head. (I guess I was so excited to eat it that my picture came out blurry.)

The other molds apparently had air bubbles in it, so, the Hello Kitties came out kind of scary looking.

I'll probably try this again...soon.

odds & ends

Just some odds and ends: This huge carrot was one of two that I got at the supermarket recently for only 98 yen (about US$.98). Most times the carrots are narrow and skinny.

Chili cheese burger at MOS a couple of weeks ago, the chili was spicy, but delicious. Made me feel like I was in the U.S. or Hawaii.


Starbucks has a new "canned" coffee out-- Matcha Latte. I didn't like this though, the flavor was good but it was kind of gritty.
Mini tai-yaki filled with all sorts of creams & bean pastes...delicious.

Instant ramen from Tamakikat which I got a while back and ate awhile back too, these had little Hello Kitty kamaboko in them. Whenever I make instant ramen I usually throw out the soup and only cook the noodles for half the time, I like the noodles to be on the hard side. (Thanks Tamakikat!)

A new tea cup which I bought in the shopping arcade. Every so often different vendors come to a stall in the shopping arcade. I love it when this vendor comes because I can usually buy Aritayaki dishes for 100 yen each (about US$1).



Next door has started construction, it looks like it is going to be 5 or 6 homes. Yesterday they were installing the power lines. Our power went out several times yesterday afternoon (good thing I wasn't on the computer, but some of our appliances in the house kept going off and on). Since I was the only one that flew out of their apartment to see why the lights went out, they came to apologize several times. They also left a letter in our mailbox just in case some of our appliances got broken because of their "outages".

I made a batch of rafute, this past Wednesday and with some of the leftovers made a rafutedon for dinner last night.

To make the rafutedon (2 servings), take some thinly sliced onion, and heat in a pan. Add the slices from 2 pieces of rafute and add 1/4 stock (from when you boiled the pork). Let things heat up. Add some gravy from the rafute and throw in some chopped green onions. Then with one scrambled egg, add it to the pan in two pourings. Depending how well cooked or rare you like your eggs--cook them, then serve over hot rice...delicious.

The rosemary on my lanai must think it is Spring, it has started to flower.

October 10th was apparently tomato day. The Japanese love to take the sounds of numbers and make up different days. 10-10 is toe-mah-toe in Japanese.

We spent the 3-day weekend at my MIL's, lots to tell, will post about it soon. Have a good week.