gongendo & ueno

From where we live it was about 2 hours to Gongendo, which is located in Satte city, Saitama.

Along the 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) long bank there are supposedly 1000 cherry trees.

The volunteers that take care of this area, plant the rapeseed (the yellow flowers) to bloom at about the same time as the sakura.

This area reminded me of Yawata in Kyoto.

This looked like a river with petals floating on it, you aren’t allowed to go down, but I think it was a dry riverbed.

We brought breakfast (a musubi which we ate on the train) & lunch : tonkatsu + cabbage + yukari musubi because I wasn't sure if they would have vendors...FYI there were a lot of vendors

I found a vendor selling baby castella that was in the shape of Hello Kitty...12 for 400 yen (tax included)

There were 2 other vendors selling baby castella too!

We also had coffee and yomogi dango from another vendor (no photo)

There were quite a lot of people, even if my photos don't show it.

We want to come back to see the hydrangea in June and the spider lilies in September.

On the way home, we stopped at Ueno Park because Satoshi wanted to see this area during this season as reasearch for tour guiding...which was a mistake...it was krazy!

We tried to get out of there as soon as possible!

Still the weather was nice, so it was nice to be out and about.

Photos/videos here if you are interested.

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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

15957

Saturday...Satoshi had some things to do, so I went holo-holo...

I started from Ueno station and walked towards Asakusa.

I went past Chibaya and noticed there were quite a number of people with these paper bags...

so I went back and bought some daigaku imo....400 yen (tax included) for 200 grams.

Apparently they have been in business since 1950.

The pieces of sweet potato are so big, tender and the caramel that is used is soft like honey.

So delicious…I want to try their fried version next.

I've been wanting to check out Konohana...they have been baking since 2008.

Their starter is made from raisins and they use flour that is farmed in Japan.

I purchased their small campagne (country bread), chocolate bagel and lemon cake...the bagel was sourdough based, bummer the chocolate was unevenly placed, when I cut the bagel in half, only 1 serving would receive chocolate…

The lemon cake was delicious, moist with a nice amount of lemon flavor.

I served half of the campagne with soup for our Sunday dinner. 

The bread is dense and a sourdough base, loved the crunchy crust when we toasted it.

I’ll be back when I am nearby.

I stumbled upon Sekine...which apparently makes nikuman (steamed pork buns), anman (steamed buns filled with sweet bean paste) and shumai and has been in business since 1935.

I was disappointed that there was a "meatball" inside not loose/minced meat filling...260 yen (tax included)

It was tasty and I'm glad I tried it.

I also picked up some imo yokan and anko dama from Funawa.

Apparently this shop has been around since 1902.

The imo yokan is just sweet potato, sugar & a little salt. No preservatives, so you need to eat it by the next day. 

It isn’t too sweet and very dense.

The anko dama has a kanten (agar) coating, and is delicious.

They also have strawberry, matcha, mikan(tangerine), coffee and white bean flavored anko dama.

I’m glad we tried these.

Then I walked back towards Ueno, past Kappabashi.

Some interesting store fronts…Sekishin recycle shop.

A really old dentist office...still in business since 1929.

Picked up some things at Takeya and made my way home.

The weather is starting to warm up but it was super windy...still it was nice to be out and about.

Konohana

3-25-6 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3874.7302

Closed Sunday, Monday & Tuesday

Hours: 10:30-18:00

Chibaya

3-9-10 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3872.2302

Closed Tuesdays

Hours: 10:00-18:00

Sekine

1-23-6 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3841.5230

Open daily 11:00-20:00

Funawa

1-22-10 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3842.2781

Hours: 10:30-19:00

this and that

I went past that senior day care nearby and they had a pretty origami sakura tree.

Hibiya Park's tulips that Satoshi saw on his last day of work.

There was also a professional airman drawing happy faces around Tokyo. (you need to look at the photo upside down)

Satoshi didn't explain when he sent this so I didn't know what it was until the news did a story about it.

I had bought some lilies from the cute flower shop in our neighborhood. 

So happy they all bloomed.

I had this raisin bread in Asakusa bookmarked and found out it was sold at another shop also.

So when I went to the Ueno area, I picked up a small cinnamon raisin.

Packed to the gills with raisins...love!

So glad we got to try this and will definitely buy more whenever we are nearby.

Near Okachimachi is Tonkatsu Isen that has been around for at least 80 years.

They are supposedly the ones who invented the tonkatsu sandwich.

Their katsu is super tender that one is supposedly able to cut it with chopsticks.

Bummer the owner (a woman) was so cold. 

Still I'm glad we got to try them, and we will be back to try other items on their menu when dining in is safe.

The sandwich set up above also had egg salad and crab cucumber.

One thing to note is that they urge you to eat this sandwich within two hours of their making it. (um, please note that on your website!)

Was my first time to check out the cherry blossoms at Ueno.

I don’t know if they do this every year, but they had it sectioned off for one way traffic, to avoid crowding.

Too bad by the time I went most of the blooms had fallen.

Another week....leading into another weekend.

Can’t believe it has been a year since my cousin passed due to this virus.

Japan’s numbers are spiking due to the variants.

Our vaccinations are still moving at a snail’s pace.

Have a safe weekend!

Coffee &  Budopan Maizuru

3-33-9 Yushima

Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3836.5406

Closed Sundays & Holidays

Hours: 10:00-18:00

Tonkatsu Isen

3-40-3 Yushima

Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo

Phone: 050.5456.1802

Closed Wednesdays

Hours: 11:30-21:00 

*cash only

yesterday

Yesterday, I needed to pick up a few things at Takeya, so since I was in the area, I thought I'd check out the lotus flowers at Shinobazu Pond too.

I think I was a little too late this year because there were not many flowers to be seen.

After picking up the items I needed from Takeya, I stopped off at Tokyo Station to check out their newly renovated Gransta area.

Satoshi and I had these amiyaki niku (grilled meat) bento from Niku Oroshi Kojima.

Rice topped with teriyaki style grilled beef ...delicious!

Our temps have been blazing and the humidity has not helped either.

It is bad enough that we need to worry about COVID-19 but also need to worry about heatstroke.

Hope you have a safe weekend.

playing tourist in ueno

Friend Val was visiting from Hawaii...she wanted to see the pandas at Ueno Zoo.

It was my first time to the zoo...and even on a weekday, there was a long line to see the pandas.

Before turning the corner to see them, there was a sign that said, "you have 1 minute to view the pandas...do not stop to take photos..blah blah blah" (WT!)

Well, when we turned the corner this is what we saw...the panda with its butt facing us.

How disappointing yeah?

We were like..."we stood in line for this?!"

The next two display areas were empty and we were feeling gypped.

Luckily, the panda in the next display area wasn't camera shy...

If you are interesting in seeing a really short video of the panda moving, click the link here.

Luckily, there were kanhizakura (a type of early blooming cherry blossom) just outside of the zoo.

Loved the dark pink color!

Lunch was at a place called Bal Pinolo...the pizza sauce was a bit watery but overall it was a nice lunch.

And since we were near Okachimachi, I took Val to Takeya.

They had everything she wanted and we were glad to be able to find everything in one place. (Thanks again V for telling me about this place! It is now Val's favorite place too!)

It was a beautiful day and it was nice to spend some time with a friend from Hawaii.

Ueno Zoo
9-83 Uenokoen
Taito, Tokyo
Closed Mondays
Hours: 9:30-17:00

Bal Pinolo
7-1-1 Higashiueno, Atre 1F
Taito, Tokyo
Hours: 11:00-23:30

rainy thursday

Yesterday was cold and rainy.

Met up with V for shopping and lunch.

Lucky for us we could get around with the subway so we didn't have to walk too much.

We started off at Tsukiji, then headed back to Yurakucho...unfortunately getting lost several times trying to get in and out of the stations (sorry!)

Then to Kanda and Okachimachi...V showed me a huge shopping area for food stuffs and other things that I'll need to go back to roam the aisles...Takeya! (Look for the purple buildings near Okachimachi station...)

Lunch was yakisoba...one okonomiyaki style and the other topped with kim chee at Ginchan.

Since moving to Tokyo, I haven't found "favorite spots" to take friends visiting from Hawaii (yet), so I'm glad this place turned out to be delicious...plus, it was nice and warm, perfect place to get out of the cold rain...

This place was small, but the food comes out pretty quick.

Can you believe this was their smallest serving? and it was quite filling...I hope V enjoyed this, I'll be back.

After lunch, we walked up to Yushima Tenjin (also called Yushima Tenmangu) to check out the ume blossoms.

I'm glad they were in full bloom.

The last time we were there, there weren't many trees blooming yet.

Check out the amount of ema ((eh-mah) good luck amulets)...it's entrance exam time in Japan, so everyone is praying to pass their exams...

This was the first time for me to see so many ema flowing all the way down to the ground.

Since meeting up with V last week, she went to Sogabessho (Odawara, Kanagawa), Kyoto and Kairakuen (Mito, Ibaraki) and spoiled us with all these goodies! (thank you!)

Despite the bad weather, I'm glad we got to do all that V wanted to.

Have a safe trip back and thank you for everything!

Shitamachi Yakisoba Ginchan
3-28-7 Ueno
Taito, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5812.8015
Closed Tuesdays
Hours: 11:00-21:00

Takeya
4-33-2 Taito
Taito, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3835.7777
Hours: 10:00-20:00