sakura walk (kamata)

Yesterday, it was forecast for clouds but was sunny so I went to check out the pocket park nearby

The cherry blossoms were a little past their peak

But it was still nice to see some on the trees

Especially since we had pretty hard rain and blustery winds the other night

The temps have gone up, up, up!

I think they were saying May temps?! eek

It is probably gonna be warm from here on out...boo!

Short videos here, and here.

sakura walk (kawasaki)

Wednesday and Thursday were rainy 

And since yesterday was the only day forecast for sun, instead of going to get my hair colored, I went to check out some sakura

This area near the JR Kawasaki station has many sakura trees

From the train, I've often seen many people having their lunch on the stone wall, under the trees

So pretty, glad I finally got to check it out

I also went to check out the view from the Kawasaki City Office

beautiful ikebana in the lobby

The last time I came here with Satoshi the view was meh! because the air was polluted

This time around I could see Tokyo Tower and Skytree

And the clouds were beginning to cover up Mount Fuji

On the ground floor is a Uni Coffee Roastery

I stopped in for an iced coffee and their donuts

Unfortunately they donʻt sell them until 11:30, so I had their carrot cake instead

I had forgotten I had tried their carrot cake before

It was dry back then and it was a little dry this time around too but not as bad as the first time I tried it

On the way back to the station I saw some street art painted on the electrical boxes

The weather is supposed to be rainy over the weekend, so I'm glad I got to see a little more blooms

sakura walk (tamagawa, ikegami)

Today it was forecast for clouds and maybe some sun.

Unfortunately from tomorrow it is forecast for rain...so I got out and about to see some cherry blossoms.

I went to Tamagawa (Tama River)

It wasn't in full bloom, but it was still nice to see

A tiny pocket park nearby in Ikegami.

If there is a sunny day later this week, I'll try to check more cherry blossoms out

yokohama

Yesterday was forecast for sun, so I made sure to get out and about

I debated about whether to check out the Royal Palace's sakura or go to Yokohama.

I decided to check out Yokohama, because I had seen something online about 800 trees along the Oooka River

The bummer thing about IG these days is that they got rid of the "recent" feature on reels, so you can't tell what is actually current

Anyway, Maita Park is located in a part of Yokohama that I hadn't been to before so I was interested to see what was what

Unfortunately not many trees were in bloom at the park, so I walked along the river

Luckily there were many early blooming sakura trees

I also stumbled upon some street art

This area was also part of their red light district so parts were a bit sketchy...

This year everyone’s cherry blossoms started early so the weather dude said by April it should be hot & humid (oh joy! not!)

With global warming all the “good” seasons (Spring & Autumn) seem to be getting shorter and shorter

The next couple of days are forecast for rain, so it was nice to be able to see some cherry blossoms

roppongi

Been wanting to check out Aono in Roppongi after trying the one in Akasaka

This Aono has been in business since 1856

Apparently they were both named Aono because they use the same mizuame (sugar syrup) by a company called "Aono" 
 

This Aono is known for their uguisu mochi.

A soft mochi that has powdered green azuki mixed into it to resemble the color of an uguisu (bush warbler)

This is filled with smooth sweet bean paste and covered with lots of kinako...delicious!

I loved their dorayaki...the "pancakes" were so fluffy and light

I had wanted to also check out a bakery and while I was walking I noticed this temple...Kosenji

The weeping cherry was more "colorful" from far away than up close

Unfortunately, the bakery I wanted to check out was closed on Mondays...I thought I had checked, but I guess I hadn't...boo!

Before jumping on the train to go home, I checked out Otsuna Sushi, which has been in business since 1875

I wanted to try their inarizushi and futomaki

I purchased the set that also had some kanpyomaki

The inarizushi is the "juicy" type and the "skins" are inside out

The pickled ginger (near the inarizushi) had kick!

I'm glad I got to try these places (will try the bakery another time)

Will be back to these places whenever I am in the area

Roppongi Aono

3-15-21 Roppongi

Minato, Tokyo

Hours: 9:30-18:00

Otsuna Sushi

7-14-4 Roppongi, Remm Hotel 1F

Minato, Tokyo

Hours: 10:00-22:00

hanzomon to shinjuku

Been wanting to walk this route ever since I saw the road back in 2019

From Chidorigafuchi it goes straight to Shinjuku

The interesting thing is the number of the road did not change, only the naming changed from Kojimachidori, to Shinjukudori to Koshukaidori!

We started from Hanzomon Station and made our way to Shinjuku

Love this mosaic! inside the metro Hanzomon station

There were lots of cool buildings to see along the way...this was a Starbucks

The curvy building was a Korea Center

huge fire station with a fire museum located in it also

stumbled upon a dragon ball z pop up at marugame udon

lunch at suzuya

one of their popular items is their tonkatsu chazuke, which we heard about from Satoshi's friend, O, many moons ago

this dish started as the makanai (family meal) at a time when there was no microwave to reheat food

the workers wanted a way to "reheat" the tonkatsu and came up with chazuke

Nowadays, the tonkatsu comes out on a hot plate 

choose your sauce, we chose their shoyu based sauce

the tonkatsu is drizzled with this sauce, then topped with cabbage and nori

when you are ready to eat the tonkatsu as chazuke, ask for the tea

there are also some pickles and miso soup, for you to eat with your tonkatsu

it was a nice but different experience and different, we were glad to try it

this shop also serves regular tonkatsu and other fried items, if chazuke isn't your thing.

After lunch, Satoshi had several things he wanted to check out before his upcoming tours

We were lucky to see some early blooming cherry blossoms in front of the Tokyo Prefecture Offices

And a beautiful weeping cherry near a university

Even if the weather was sunny it was still a little chilly

Suzuya

1-23-15 Kabukicho, 5F

Shinjuku, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-23:00

sakura walk (saginuma)

During sakura season, the weather dude on the news visits and introduces different places while giving his weather reports.

The other night, Saginuma, an area of Kanagawa, was introduced.

There is a slope called Harumachizaka (literally Spring waiting slope)  near the station

I thought the name of the slope was cool

Online it said that a total of 150 trees line both sides of the slope, but it seemed like less

Some of the side streets also had trees

Sadly many of the trees have reached 50 years, so for safety purposes, they will chop most of them down and replant new sakura trees in its place

There were several that had already been cut down

Saginuma isn’t nearby to where we live, but I’m glad I got to check out this place.

sakura walk (higashi yaguchi)

There is an apartment building in our area that has a sakura tree in front of their building.

We passed by one evening and they had lights on, I thought it was cool, because they could enjoy their blossoms at night too.

What Japanese call "yozakura" 

Not sure if I've posted about this apartment building before, cool yeah?!

sakura walk (inokashira park & meguro river)

Since our water would be turned off for the day, I went to my physical therapy then headed out to Kichijoji.

And had lunch at Kugutsuso, I ordered it with a scrambled egg...Omucurry...1720 yen (tax included)

Their curry isn't very spicy but has lots of spices and is very tasty, I'm glad I tried this.

Their iced coffee is strong and comes in this cute cup...it is metal so your iced coffee is super cold!
 

After lunch I went walking around Inokashira Park.

It was nice but a bit warm.

And then on the way home I got off at Meguro and walked along the Meguro River.

We've visited this area before, I think it was during the pandemic, love the view from here, video here

And this time, I walked from Meguro towards Gotanda.

It was a little krazy with people, but not super crowded like Nakameguro is.

Was lucky to catch a group going out to see the cherry blossoms by boat, video here

I'm glad the blossoms have held up, they expect rain on Friday and over the weekend.

Hope you have enjoyed this season as much as we have.