last sakura walk

This year's sakura was way too quick.

I took a break from packing on Monday, and shot this video (click on the photo).

The weeping cherry trees were beautiful!

Am gonna miss this neighborhood...

By Wednesday, most of the petals had fallen.

The weeping trees were still nice though.

The little pond in Suigetsu Park was filled with pink petals!

Spring is way too short...

ikeda castle ruins park

This morning was 4C (39F)...brr!

On my way to the market, I went to check out the Ikeda Castle Ruins Park.

There weren't too many trees that had changed colors.

But, I'm glad the ones that had were my height, so I could get close enough to get some shots.

There were quite a bit of fallen leaves too.

They also had kiku (chrysanthemum) on display too.

Rain in the forecast for tomorrow, hope you have a nice weekend.

krazy

Sunday, the weather was beautiful...sunny & HOT!

Seriously feeling like summer...gah!

Yesterday, it started to rain at about lunchtime and didn't stop until early this morning.

I think the weather dude mentioned that we got a month's rainfall in one day...eep!

It is still quite overcast today.

Wanted to share with you the last of the sakura...

Love this season, it is just way too short and the weather just too krazy these days..

sakura walks

Monday, the weather was really cloudy and since I ran some errands, I didn't really get to check out any cherry blossoms.

Tuesday, the winds were krazy (like a typhoon) and rainy. AND we had a cold snap...brr!

Today, I went to check out my "usual" spots...(If you click on the photo, it should run the short video.)

Most of the cherry blossoms were still intact, but there were quite a bit of petals on the ground.

Tomorrow is supposed to be better weather, so I hope to check out more cherry blossoms...

sakura walks

Thursday, the weather was forecast for rain in the afternoon, so I got out and about just before lunch.

Asahigaoka...each house has a cherry tree planted in front, making for a great neighborhood to walk during this time of year. (I cropped out the dude who was crouching down on the road to take his shot...he got tooted at several times by several cars!!)

A little up the road is this area...I want to be the houses facing these group of trees...beautiful, yeah?!

I saw someone's photo somewhere on social media and copied the idea using the traffic mirror and the trees...

This walkway in front of a school has many cherry trees and makes a pretty "tunnel".

I went back to take a photo of this weeping cherry which I had seen the other day but was too chicken to ask to take a photo of it then because it looked like they were having some kind of dignitary type event there...

Sonpachiyakujin's weeping cherry looked more white than pink.

Then I went through Suigetsu Park.

Kinda grey but at least I was able to check them out before the rains.

cafe jiji

After lunch, Hiromi and I went to Cafe Jiji.

We both had their chocolate parfait...super chocolatey and I loved that semi-dried orange that was dipped in chocolate (hidden behind the parfait).

I ordered coffee while Hiromi had tea.

This tiny cafe was super quiet.

I'm glad Hiromi invited me to lunch with her. It was nice chatting, laughing and eating.

I definitely want to come back to try their lunch menu.

I'll be back.

Cafe Jiji
2-17-10 Ishibashi
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 090.8829.5816
Closed Tuesdays
Hours: 9:00-18:30

sonpachiyakujin

I stumbled upon a small festival/first prayer event at Sonpachiyakujin yesterday while walking back from the market.

They had so many food stalls all crammed into their entranceway and many spilling out into the streets.

Usually when we visit this temple it is so quiet and no one is really around.

It was nice to see so many people out and about.

The weather yesterday was a little warmer though the weather dude is saying we will either have rain or snow this weekend.

Happy Thursday!

a terre

We recently tried Patisserie A Terre's stollen.

It has marzipan in it and I enjoyed all the different dried fruits in it too.

They'll be moving soon, so I look forward to seeing their new shop.

rocket

I recently tried a new pastry shop in our neighborhood called Rocket.

They make lots of different sweets.

I noticed that they also did some pastry, so I tried their apple pie.

The apple filling was caramelized, not what I was envisioning, but I enjoyed it, especially the flaky pastry.

I'll go back so we can try something for Christmas.

Rocket
1-9-3 Iguchido
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.761.9780
Hours: 10:00-21:00
Days off not set, call before going

jizobon & gangara fire festival

Yesterday was Jizobon, where people give thanks to Ojizoson, who watches over the children.

I noticed all the tiny shrines around our shopping arcade decorated with chochin (paper lanterns) and offerings. There were also some priests sitting in front of some of the shrines saying prayers.

This was my first time seeing this and I had to look online to figure what it was. (learned something new!)

Satoshi said that when he was a child, Jizobon was celebrated at the furoya-san (public bath), dunno if they have tiny shrines, next door to MIL's. When I asked him what they did, he said they just played games and ate candy...

Last night was also the Gangara Fire Festival, which I've written about before, here.

Summer seems to be coming to a close with all these events, but the weather dude says that the heat & humidity will continue to linger awhile.

inagawa fireworks

I think I told you how bummed we were to see that apartment complex come up last year, here.

Well, between the two buildings (the new apartment and an older one), we could see the fireworks...whoo!

Here's a short video.

sakura walks

It's that time of year to take my walks around our area to check out the sakura (cherry blossoms).

Yesterday, it was quite overcast as I was walking to the market.

Most trees have their blossoms up high, but these just happened to be at "my eye level".

As I walked back from the market, I went to check out a weeping cherry...I think it was about 50% in bloom.

Today, I stopped at Suigetsu Park, but there weren't many trees in bloom yet. So I went "next door" to Sonpachiyakujin, and they had a weeping cherry almost in full bloom.

After lunch, I got to face time with family (love technology!) it's Easter for them and my brother is also celebrating his birthday.

The temps are supposed to pick up this week and the cherry blossoms should be in full bloom by the weekend.

Hope you have a nice week.

aoi

I'm not too sure when I bookmarked Aoi but it may have been after I saw Phil's post.

Aoi is a teeny ramen shop nearby (about 7 seats) and if you don't get there early, be prepared to wait.

Even then, if they run out of noodles or soup, they are done for the day.

This past Saturday, I got Satoshi out and about and we were there a little after they opened at 11:30.

Since the turnover of this place is rather high paced, a guy that was waiting for a friend to show up was bypassed and we were seated before him...

Satoshi went with their tan tan men...800 yen.

I think it was quite spicy with their housemade ra-yu (chili oil) because he was perspiring a LOT.

I went with their abura soba...800 yen

Thicker noodles than their ramen, this came with char siu, menma (pickled bamboo shoots), a soft boiled egg, mizuna, a thick shoyu based miso sauce and what I think was fish powder and yuzu sesame powder.

Mixed all together this was so good!

You can also add some of their housemade ra-yu and/or their housemade vinegar.

Both ways were good.

I really liked their char siu, porky goodness.

Unfortunately, I had a hard time finishing this so I gave the last bites to Satoshi.

He agreed this was good.

When we left, there was a line outside of the door as well as a few people waiting inside.

We'll be back.

Aoi
3-1-23 Hachizuka
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.761.0125
Monday-Saturday 11:30-14:00 (lunch), 18:00-22:30 (dinner)
*if soup or noodles run out they will close

cafe copan

It has been ages since I've been to Cafe Copan.

This was one of the first places Satoshi and I tried when we moved to this area (pre-blog).

After meeting Hiromi-san for lunch, we ducked into Cafe Copan to avoid a mini hail storm.

We both had their caramel banana cake with some tea.

This was dense and not very sweet.

It was nice catching up with Hiromi-san.

We'll be back for lunch.

Cafe Copan
2-5-15 Midorigaoka
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.754.1559
Closed Sundays, Mondays
Hours: 11:00-19:00

gosou

Satoshi and I checked out Gosou the other day for lunch.

They make their condiments from scratch and stay away from preservatives.

Satoshi had their weekly lunch which was a sweet sour buri (amberjack)...1000 yen. I didn't catch all the different side dishes that his meal came with, but he said he enjoyed this.

I ordered their 20 spice yakuzen (herbal) curry...900 yen.

Dunno what type of spices/herbs were in this but there was a nasty bitter aftertaste, making it very hard to finish.

Still, there are other items on their menu that we want to try, so we'll be back.

Gosou
1-10-8 Asahigaoka
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.752.4555
Closed Mondays
Hours: 11:00-15:00 (lunch), 17:00-21:00 (dinner)

cafe minatuki

Satoshi's German class finished its semester the other week, so he's on break until March or so...

Saturday, we checked out Cafe Minatuki.

I had been here with my friend, Hiromi.

This was my first time trying their lunch.

Unfortunately, they don't have many choices on the weekend, just their plate lunch...870 yen (tax included).

A salad, cake salé (savory type), quiche and a creamy spinach soup.

This was perfect for me but too little for Satoshi.

After lunch, we checked out their gallery on the 2nd floor.

I hope to check out their lunch again during the weekdays.

gattsu umai kome hashimoto

I tried a new place today, Gattsu Umai Kome Hashimoto.

They sell rice by weight and they also sell musubi. If you want, you can also eat at their counter.

I picked up a niku miso (left) and yaki miso (right)...410 yen (tax included).

When I first bit into the niku miso musubi, there was no filling.

A second bite and still nothing.

The filling was only in the very center. And it wasn't niku miso, just plain miso.

Pretty disappointing.

I'm glad I tried this place, but probably won't be going back.

Gattsu Umai Kome Hashimoto
1-1 Sakae-machi, Blanc Marche 1-bankan
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.734.8522
Hours: 10:00-19:00

udon kichi

Two Sundays ago, after doing our o-soji (New Years cleaning), we had lunch at Udon Kichi.

I had their niku kasu udon while Satoshi had their curry udon with a side order of rice.

While we were waiting for their food, I noticed that they had a new item on their menu...mazemen (mah-zay-men).

"Maze" means to stir and "Men" is noodle.

I have seen mazemen around on the web, and most look quite spicy.

So, on Wednesday, which was a holiday, Satoshi and I went back for lunch.

I ordered the mazemen...800 yen and he ordered the curry udon with a side order of rice.

Atop the udon is the spicy meat topping, a dollop of what I think was kochujang, a raw egg yolk, some chives, green onion, strips of nori, as well as thin chili strips.

I don't think anyone has ever instructed me to "stir everything until the noodles turn red"...whoa?!

So I did...

And it did turn reddish...This was so good!

Sweet, salty and spicy...super addicting!

As I was eating, I realized that I would have leftover meat topping...so I asked for a "shime-gohan" this is a bowl of rice to end the meal, usually when you have soup or something like that...plus 50 yen.

On the piping hot rice was a little more meat topping and green onions.

And then I was instructed to "dump it in and mix it well"

So I mixed...

I was (super full) but so glad I ordered the extra rice.

It would've been a shame to waste all that good topping...

I think this is going to be my new fave here.

cafe minatuki

Monday, I got together with Hiromi for lunch and some tea.

Lunch was at Natural Kitchen Saison and was delicious. This time around I chose their meat dish and it was a super tender beef simmered in red wine.

It was a nice lunch as we were the only ones in the restaurant for the most part.

After lunch we headed to Cafe Minatuki for tea.

I had their chai which is slightly sweetened.

It was our first times at this cafe, we enjoyed the laid back feel to this place and we are looking forward to trying their lunch.

A great day of walking and talking. (Thanks Hiromi!)

Cafe Minatuki
inside Ikeda Shopping Arcade
Phone: 072.737.5827
Closed Wednesdays
Hours: Weekdays 10:00-19:00, Weekends & Holidays 8:00-18:00

walk

It's almost the middle of November and the daytimes are still pretty warm. It has kept me wondering how to dress.

It's a catch-22, without a light scarf it is cold, with it you perspire...

Anyway, the sakura (cherry) tree leaves have changed colors.

A lot of higher elevation areas have their momiji (maple) leaves already starting...

Hopefully the weather will turn around, the weekdays have been sunny while the weekends have been rainy.

Not too fun to get out and about.

How have your walks been?

Enjoy the weekend.