takaya marche

Takaya Marche is a shop in Ashiya, Hyogo

My host sister recently sent us their salt sable (cookies), financiers and caneles for Christmas

She said the salt sables are really popular.

We appreciate her kindness and look forward to enjoying these during the nenmatsu nenshi (year end and beginning of the new year)

Thank you T!

Takaya Marche

5-26 Funato-cho

Ashiya, Hyogo

Closed: Sundays & Mondays

Hours: 10:00-18:00

cafe ria ria

Yesterday I got to meet up with Midori and Naomi.

It had been 4 years since the last time I had met up with Midori and many many moons since I had met up with Naomi.

We met up at a little cafe called Cafe Ria Ria.

The owner is a friend of Midori's.

She grows most of the veggies that she uses.

Our lunch had all sorts of different flavors...and also came with some grilled eggplant soup and brown rice...1500 yen (tax included).

Dessert was a melon shortcake.

In Japan, shortcake is a layered cake with fruit--different from the shortcake found in the States, which I think is made from biscuits.

The melon had just been picked that morning.

Lunch also came with a beverage...Naomi & I chose seasonal fruit sodas (kiwi and ume respectively) and Midori tried a sea buckthorn drink (which looked like coffee with lots of milk in it...she said it was very different, a bit sour).

The food was delicious and I liked the laid back feel to the cafe.

It was nice to get together and hopefully our schedules will jive to meet up again later this year.

Thanks Midori & Naomi!

Cafe Ria Ria
1-2-7 Kasumigaoka
Tarumi, Hyogo
Phone: 078.771.0863
Hours: 9:00-18:00
Closed Mondays

il paradosso

We stumbled upon Il Parradosso when we were looking for lunch one weekend...

They have an all-you-can-eat salad & bread area...all you need to do is order a pasta, pizza or meat dish.

I was impressed that they had veggies like watermelon radish.

The breads that I tried were so-so.

I ordered their beef tongue ragout which was good, but I think they put more proscuitto than beef tongue in their sauce though.

It was the first time someone put plastic gloves on to shave cheese over my pasta...

There was more sauce than pasta, so I gave it to Satoshi so he could mop it up with bread.

In fact, when he went to get some more bread, I was instructed to keep an eye on the plate so that the waitstaff wouldn't clear it...

The restaurant changes to a la carte for dinner, still, we want to check them out.

We'll be back!

Il Paradosso
Aste Kawanishi 3F
Kawanishi, Hyogo
Phone: 072.744.2631
Closed when the mall is
Hours: 11:00-22:00

kurokawa dahlia park

Since we loved our visit last year, we went to check them out again this year.

I didn't have much food in my refrig to make a decent bento, so we just made do with what we had.

Tamagoyaki (rolled omelette), some cabbage and onion sauteed with olive oil & pepper, half a fig and 3 kinds of musubi.

We received another packet of seeds, I hope this year we'll be able to grow some dahlias that will flower.

It was super humid and the temps went back to August temps...so miserably hot.

Still, with all the rain, typhoons and such, it was nice to bond with nature for a little while.

aramaki rose park

We visited Aramaki Rose Park on Sunday.

We brought some baked items that we had picked up from Manpuku Bakery (a croquette sandwich, bagel with egg, pastrami, zucchini and lettuce, potato foccacia and yakisoba pan). Some bing cherries and two small thermos' of coffee. Everything was so good.

We love this park, and going there early in the morning (it opens at 9:00), is so peaceful.

Hope you had a nice weekend.

tsukada farm

Yesterday, it was blazing! Satoshi went to watch the Hanshin Tigers minor league at Koshien Stadium.

I decided to hang out at the mall across the street.

Since the game finished at about 16:30, we headed back to Umeda for an early dinner at Tsukada Farm.

Dinner started out with tsukedashi (stuff you don't order but have to pay for)...a chicken meatball soup. The meatball was super moist and the soup really flavorful.

We ordered their Ramen salad...the last time we had ramen salad was in Otaru.

This one had spicy meat topping. I liked this version better than the one in Otaru.

Pork ginger. They actually called it a ginger Genghis Khan. But it was more like a skillet type of pork ginger.

Deep fried squid legs with a dollop of mayo and sprinkle of shichimi (7-spice chili powder).

And a really mini Tokachi slider. Super juicy and moist burger.

Dinner was tasty and costed WAY less than the night before. Not sure that we would go back here though, as it was quite noisy...every time someone ordered something or came in and out of the restaurant the waiters/waitresses would shout out something...

Hope you have a nice weekend!

Tsukada Farm
Hankyu Grand Building 30F
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.6316.5010
Hours: 17:00-24:00

kurokawa dahlia park

A good 30 minute walk from the Myokenguchi station is the Kurokawa Dahlia Park.

Since we visited the area earlier in May, we knew about the park and looked forward to seeing the dahlias during Autumn.

Also, since we knew the area didn't have places to eat, we packed a little bento (tamagoyaki (rolled omelette), pickled cabbage, peanut nishime, assorted musubi & asian pear)

The park itself isn't too large, but there were many rows of different varieties of dahlia.

The bees were happy...

some were bigger than Satoshi's face!

We made a lot of "friends"...

With admission, they also give you some seeds to try growing your own dahlias, I'm definitely going to try next Spring.

It was a beautiful Autumn day, this park is a bit out of the way for us, but it was nice bonding with nature, we'll be back next year!

Kurokawa Dahlia Park
389 Kurokawa aza-Ochiai
Kawanishi, Hyogo
Phone: 072.702.7830
Open early to mid-September until early November
Hours: 9:00-16:00
Admission: 300 yen for high school students and adults

r valentino

Monday, my Twitter friend, H, invited me to have lunch with her, her daughter and a friend that was visiting from Hawaii.

Lunch was at R Valentino.

The owner is from Calabria, Italy and you can see him walking around chatting with customers and helping out with the service too.

Really homey atmosphere.

We all ordered the Lunch A...with antipasto, choice of pasta or pizza, dessert and choice of beverage.

The antipasto was a slice of omelette (frittata?), a slice of proscuitto, some fried fish and a little veggie garnish.

For the pastas, we chose spinach and shrimp cream fettucine, and sausage zucchini spaghetti.

The pizzas were margherita and a spicy salami. Love that these were baked in a brick oven, the crust was crisp yet a little chewy too.

We shared everything, so good and filling!

Dessert was a mango panna cotta and since the restaurant was celebrating 20 years, they also gave us all a little scoop of vanilla gelato.

I loved the Bialetti espresso saucers...so cute!

Not many pictures we were too busy chatting and eating.

I hope H's friend enjoys the rest of her trip.

Thanks for a great day and for treating me to lunch, H!

R Valentino
4-5-13 Kano-cho, Nuova Spirito Building 3F
Chuo, Kobe
Phone: 078.332.1268
Lunch: 11:30-14:00, Dinner: 17:30-21:00
*Reservations advised

bäckerei biobrot

My host-mom was kind enough to buy this kürbiskern brot (pumpkin seed bread) from Bäckerei Biobrot, a tiny German bakery in Ashiya, for us.

It was such a big loaf, and with the humidity in the air these days, I froze most of it.

This wheat bread is so good!

I love how many pumpkin seeds run through this loaf.

This was perfect toasted and then eaten with a little butter.

Thank you!

Bäckerei Biobrot
14-14-101 Miyazuka-cho
Ashiya, Hyogo
Phone: 0797.23.8923
Closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays
Hours: 9:00-18:30

pasticceria amarena

Yesterday I got to meet up with my host-mom and my host-brother's wife for lunch.

We went to Pasticceria Amarena in Ashiya.

They had 3 types of prix fixe menus...one with pasta, one with steak and the other with both steak and pasta.

We were kind of shocked that there wasn't one with a fish choice.

We ordered 2 pasta prix fixes and one with both the steak and pasta (and shared the steak).

Sorry there aren't many photos, I was busy talking and eating...

The meal started out with an amuse bouche...a spoonful of duck and pine nuts (super tasty), the duck really tender!

Next was this pretty salmon terrine.

Loved the grapefruit "salsa".

Then the pasta (we all chose the bacon with truffle and mushrooms). The sauce was a cream sauce, super rich.

And then the steak...super tender with thinly sliced root veggies. Talk about melt in your mouth!

Dessert was from their bakery.

I chose the berry crostata, lots of berries, loved the crust.

My host-mom chose their Sicilia (pistachio mousse and raspberry), super refreshing.

My host-brother's wife chose their Cassata (ricotta cheese mousse with lots of nuts and candied fruits).

It was a late lunch but a really nice gathering. (Thank you!)

Pasticceria Amarena
2-4 Chayanocho
Ashiya, Hyogo
Phone: 0797.35.5516
Closed Wednesdays
Lunch: 11:30-14:00, Cafe 14:00-16:00, Dinner 18:00-21:30
*reservations advised

foodie thursday in maiko

Thursday, I got together with my host-mom and my host-brother's wife for lunch. It's that time of year for our birthdays, so my host-mom took us to a buffet at the Maiko Villa hotel.

The last time we came here was when my host-brother and his family moved from Tokyo to Hyogo...some 10 years ago?!

This buffet was good! You don't have to stand up and go through a buffet line, instead, you order what you want from their menu.

I think we ordered "almost" everything on the menu...

After lunch, we went for coffee on the 14th floor.

It looks out at the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge...amazing views! Too bad the weather was overcast.

Oh, the bouquet up top is what I gave to my host-mom for her birthday, she said she really liked the colors.

It was a nice day, lots of good food and good conversation.

Thank you!

Maiko Villa
Umihotaru (Chinese restaurant)
Key West (14F lounge)
18-11 Higashi Maiko-cho
Tarumi-ku, Kobe
Phone:078.706.3711

p.s. today is the start of the Chinese New Year...Kung Hee Fat Choy!

awajishima-akashi-osaka

Day 2 of our adventure started with breakfast at our pension.

After that huge dinner the night before, this breakfast was perfect...actually, this post should be titled "kuidaore" (eat until you drop) because this is what happened after breakfast...

We checked-out and went to the Hokudan Earthquake Memorial Park.

This is the area where the huge earthquake that hit Kobe in 1995 apparently originated. The purpose of this park is to preserve the memory of the earthquake and also to educate for larger earthquakes in the future.

There is a preserved house that sits on the fault. You can walk into the house and view the damage of the kitchen area and see the damage to the outer property wall when the property shifted.

There is a display area to educate you on topics such as active faults and earthquakes. There is also a video showing tsunami simulations.

The area that was the most freaky was the earthquake simulation room. For 40 seconds, you sit inside a "home" to experience a size 7 earthquake and then for another 10 seconds a size 4 aftershock.

Super scary experience but important to know about.

Since we had some time before the bus we needed to catch, we shared this...takopuri burger. Octopus and onions fried up like a croquette.

The onions were sweet and there were bits of octopus here and there, I think they could've put more octopus in it.

We then went to the Michi no Eki Awaji. This is actually a parking area. There are tons of these places all over Japan. If ever you see "michi no eki" you'll know this is a rest stop where you can eat and buy souvenirs...some of these rest stops even have hot spring facilities.

It was so cool to see the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge up close!

We had seen a poster for Awajishima Gyu-don (beef bowl)...can you believe there are 61 different bowls around Awajishima?!

They have some rules...in order to call it an Awajishima Gyu-don, the beef, onions & rice must be grown/raised in Awajishima.

And all other ingredients used should try to be from Awajishima.

From the list of 61, this was number 1...Awajishima Yakiniku Bowl...1280 yen.

Satoshi and I shared this. Garlicky tender beef with lots of green onions. They serve this with an onion potage and pickled onions.

This was so good!

After "lunch", we went up the mountain to Matsuho no Sato, an onsen (hot spring).

The view from the mountain is breathtaking!

This is where lunch #2 happened...Hitsumabushi-style Beef Bowl...950 yen.

Just like when you eat unagi (eel) hitsumabushi, you add some dashi to the gyu-don to eat this like "chazuke".

Of the two beef bowls, I liked the first one at the rest stop.

Satoshi had their nama-shirasu (raw whitebait) bowl...950 yen.

You can only get this between April and November...they actually have 48 versions all over the island!

We then caught the ferry to Akashi.

It is only 13 minutes. The boat passes under the bridge so it is nice way to see the bridge "up close".

Once in Akashi, Satoshi said he wanted to check out Uontana shopping arcade. Akashi is known for tako (octopus) so there are lots of takoyaki places as well as vendors selling tako, raw and prepared.

Akashi has their own type of takoyaki called akashiyaki. We tried some at a place called Gallery Deai...10 for 500 yen (lunch #3)

I personally don't care for takoyaki. I find the insides to be a little to mushy/raw. After trying Akashiyaki though, I think I could like this version.

Akashiyaki doesn't use flour, just egg seasoned with dashi (stock)...so it is like eating a tiny dashimaki tamago (omelette made with stock and egg) with tako in it.

Put it into a bowl of dashi (stock) and add green onion and pickled ginger. Satoshi liked it with only the dashi and green onion. He thought adding the pickled ginger didn't match.

I thought it was delicious!

Satoshi mentioned that he has never been to Akashi, so we went to check out the park.

In this park are the remains of the Akashi castle. There is also a large pond where you can rent paddle boats and a large sports facility too. There were also some beautiful maple trees too.

Another day of beautiful weather, lots of walking and way too much eating.

I hope you enjoyed this adventure as much as we did. Satoshi is hooked and wants to go back to Awajishima in the Spring!

Hokudan Earthquake Memorial Park
177 Ogura
Awaji, Hyogo
Phone: 0799.82.3020
Hours: 9:00-17:00 (closed during the end of the year, please check)

Michi no Eki Awaji
1873-1 Iwaya
Awaji, Hyogo
Phone: 0799.72.0001

Matsuho no Sato
3570-77 Iwaya
Awaji, Hyogo
Phone: 0799.73.2333

Gallery Deai
1-2-11 Honmachi
Akashi, Hyogo
Phone: 078.914.5728
Closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays
Hours: 11:00-19:00

osaka-suma-maiko-awajishima

From our place to Suma, it is about an hour on the train.

We stopped at Suma Rikyu Park to check out their fall foliage.

The last time I was at this park was back in 2011 with my host mom. There wasn't anything blooming at the time, so it was nice to come back to see the rose garden as well as the autumn leaves.

A couple of stops from the Suma Rikyu Park is Maiko.

This is where we caught the highway bus over the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge to take us over to Awajishima.

You literally have to go up on top of the bridge to get the bus, boy was that escalator steep!

About 10 minutes later you arrive on the other side of the bridge.

The view from the parking area is breathtaking. There is also a Starbucks that gazes at this view too!

Satoshi had a vanilla-chocolate soft serve, while I tried the Awaji Mojio (a type of sea salt) soft serve, my cone was a waffle cone and there was also a little scoop of sweet bean paste. The sweet-salty combination was delicious, the soft serve actually reminded me more of butter.

After finding our pension, we went to explore the port area.

There is a tiny island called Eshima which is believed to be the first island of Japan. There is a little folk story about it.

"At the beginning there was only one god sitting in the center of the Universe.

The Sky and Earth separated, appearing in human form as man and woman respectively. The first man, Izanagi, and the first woman, Izanami, descendants of the god above, got married and gave birth to all the Japanese islands and gods. Sadly, the last offspring was the Fire God, who caused his mother's death by fire.

They say that the first island born from this celestial couple was Eshima, near Awaji island."

The island is made of sand stone so it has a different feel to it.

The pension had a great view of the bay and the bridge. The lights on the bridge change every hour or so. You can even view the bridge from the bath area of the pension!

Dinner was fish...

lots of fish...

served all sorts of ways...

Awajishima is known for having delicious onions...this onion soup was so comforting and delicious!

Satoshi also ordered us some steak for dinner...we over-ordered...

Dinner ended with a scoop of ice cream...we were so full, it wasn't funny...

It was a great day, lots of walking and lots of eating....

Pension Pearl Shine
576-3 Iwaya
Awaji-shi, Hyogo
Phone: 0799.72.2901