mizumoto park

Sunday we met up with Satoshi's German language teacher and her husband at Mizumoto Park.

Satoshi thought she lived near the park, she doesn't anymore, but was happy to meet up to see the irises 

I chatted with her husband in Japanese, while Satoshi and his teacher were chatting away in German, though at times all three were chatting in German and I was just soaking in the feels of the conversation

This grandpa was so cute, he rang the bell on his bike and this cat jumped out from the banks to get some snacks from him.

This lady was just out walking her owl...she said if she doesn't have it tied properly, it will fly away

We asked what she feeds her owl, it eats mice & chicks…eep!

It was also wearing diapers to prevent having to clean up its poop.

There are 10 iris beds in this area of the park, they were not fully in bloom, but still so pretty.

I'm sure when it is in full bloom it will be very crowded, so I'm glad we went when we did.

Lunch was at Pizzeria da Tasaki, a super tiny shop that is a favorite of Satoshi’s teacher, near the JR Kanamachi station.

Satoshi and I shared the Pair Lunch...two pastas, one pizza and two drinks...price from 2700 yen (tax included) depending on what you choose.

Octopus Puttanesca...loved the olives in there too.

Pizza with bacon, chinese yam and aonori...different but delicious...love the crust too

Shrimp pepperoncino...chili oil based pasta topped with shiso

Satoshi’s teacher and her husband also had the pair lunch with different pizzas & pastas.

Our lunch came out to 4000 yen-ish since Satoshi had more than one glass of wine

I was kind of “crispy” after being out in the sun for so long.

It was nice to meet his teacher and her husband.

Thanks for today, B & H.

Pizzeria da Tasaki

6-11-1 Kanamachi

Katsushika, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-15:00 (lunch), 17:00-22:00 (dinner)

A few more photos and video if you are interested, here.

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Since today was a holiday, we went to check out Mizumoto Park.

the only area with trees that were reddish was in their parking lot...boo!

So we went to Akihabara to maybe check out a cafe...but they were booked solid, so we instead walked to Tokyo Station.

Near the Royal Palace...

And then saw this weird cloud in our neighborhood...

The weather was beautiful and there are definitely a lot of people out and about...

Still it was nice to be outside.

if you are interested in seeing more photos, please look here.

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Last Sunday we checked out the irises at Horikiri Park and decided that even though a week had passed, we should check out the park that we missed in Kanamachi.

Well, it was good that we did, but also bad because it was so krazy hot.

Thank goodness that ant wasn't real...

There weren't many irises left...boo!

But, it was so nice to see open skies!

To take off our masks while walking with no one else around

Best thing 400 yen (tax included) could buy!

It doesn't look like anyone is around...we're all in the shade!

Loved this metal artwork in the window frames of the Green Plaza, a community center on the property.

We'll be back for the sakura (cherry blossoms) and maybe this Fall...anyway we'll be back when it is cooler...

Mizumoto Park

3-2 Mizumotokoen

Katsushika, Tokyo

Open 24 hours

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Yesterday we went to Horikiri Iris Garden which is a little over an hour away by train in the Northern part of Tokyo called Katsushika.

We visited an area called Shibamata which in Katsushika back in 2008.

This garden had 200 varieties of iris and they try not to plant the same variety next to another so you can enjoy different varieties at one time.

There were some water lilies.

A little down the road is the Horikiri Waterside Park.

You can see the Tokyo Sky Tree from here and they also have some iris plants here as well.

Near the Horikiri Tenso Shrine, you can see these huge shikifukujin statues (7 lucky gods).

Across the river in an area called Yanagihara, is where the opening scene of J-drama "Kinpachi Sensei" ("Mr Kinpachi") was filmed.

Lunch was at Taishiosoba Toka in Ueno, which uses the broth from tai (red snapper)

I had their hiyashi tai shio soba...980 yen (tax included)

The noodles were super refreshing though the broth was kind of oily.

It had pieces of tai (red snapper) sashimi and some char siu as well, the menma (seasoned bamboo shoots) could have been cooked longer.

Satoshi had their chukasoba 860 yen (tax included)

He said this was delicious.

It was blazing and humid but we were glad that the weather cleared up from the gloom and rain of Saturday.

We missed the info that there was another larger park in Kanamachi (about 20 minutes by bus from Horikiri) with even more irises to see (boo!), so we'll save that park for next year.

We hope you enjoyed this adventure as much as we did.

Horikiri Iris Garden

2-19-1 Horikiri

Katsushika, Tokyo

Hours: 9:00-17:00

*no admission, but it is gated

Taishiosoba Toka

Atre Ueno 1F

Ueno, Tokyo

Open when Atre Ueno is