friday

As I mentioned previously, Friday was a National holiday, Culture Day.

We started out early and visited the family grave.

Afterwards, we went to Kyoto Station to pick out some bento for lunch.

Since MIL can't really get out and about (without assistance), MIL had requested bento from the department store for lunch.

She said that a friend raved about the delicious bento at the department stores.

I picked out one of the most expensive bento for her.

She is still quite independent, so it isn't very often we get to do things for her and since she requested a bento from the department store, I thought we should go all out.

The bento I chose was a two layered one, from Harise. Apparently this shop has been in business since 1659?!

I think she enjoyed trying all the different items.

Satoshi went with a sushi bento.

While I went with a yakiniku bento.

After we visited with MIL, it was still quite early in the afternoon, so Satoshi went back to the museum (there is an exhibit that runs over 4 periods, so he's been going almost every weekend).

And I spent some time at Drip & Drop Coffee Supply.

Located in the basement of the Piece Hostel, they have good coffee and sweets.

They also have free wifi, but their connection isn't too great (at least it wasn't for me).

Anyway, I'm glad we got to do a lot and spend some time with MIL.

Drip & Drop Coffee Supply (UPDATE:out of business)
located in basement of Piece Hostel
531 Asakura-cho
Nakagyo, Kyoto
Phone: 075.231.7222
Hours: 11:00-22:00

umezono

　Umezono, a wagashi (Japanese sweet) shop that has been in operation since 1927, recently opened a cafe in the Teramachi area.

I happened to stumble on it when I ran an errand for Satoshi last Thursday.

I loved the dark colored wood and vintage glass windows, being a weekday, it was fairly empty, had a nice quiet atmosphere and no smoking too.

I had their Hanatenshin, an assortment of different sweets.

Top row: matcha warabi mochi (jelly made from bracken starch coated with green tea powder), chestnut cooked in a sweet sauce, kinako warabi mochi (jelly made from bracken starch coated with soy bean powder), dollop of sweet bean paste topped with a matcha cookie

Bottom row: Dorayaki (pancake filled with sweet bean paste and almonds), mitarashi dango (soft dumplings coated with a shoyu based sauce)

I hope to come back to try other items on their menu...I'll be back.

Umezono Teramachi
526 Tensei Teramae
Nakagyo, Kyoto
Phone: 075.211.1235
Hours: 10:30-19:30

foodie stamps

It's that time of year already...holiday cards and foodie stamps.

This year's stamps are cute...dango and taiyaki.

Gotta get working on our cards soon...

saba tofu dry curry gyoza

The other day I made another batch of saba tofu dry curry, then for dinner, I stuffed the curry into gyoza wrappers.

I used 3/4 of the dry curry, placing 1/2 tablespoons of the filling into the 25 large gyoza wrappers.

Different but delicious.

Loved how the wrappers got really crispy.

Definitely making this again.

p.s. it's a holiday today, Culture Day and we're off to see MIL, have a nice weekend.

lifehack

I've been using this lifehack for some time now, and recently told a friend about this.

Most washers in Japan do not have the thingy in the middle to wash the clothes.

Because of this, the clothes end up all tangled in a big ball.

But, if you put two empty 500 milliliter plastic bottles with the caps on into a net, and wash your clothes...

The middle of the washer ends up being cleared and most times the clothes do not tangle.

If you have the same type of washer, and do try this, I hope it works for you too.

p.s. thanks Rowena for reminding me to post about this :)

elephant factory coffee

Checked out Elephant Factory Coffee this past Saturday, while Satoshi went back to the museum.

I've been wanting to check this place out for some time, but their opening time is quite late, so I've never been able to.

While the atmosphere of the place is laid back and super quiet...the owner allows smoking...blah!

I'm glad I tried this place out but won't be back.

Elephant Factory Coffee
309-4 Bizenjima-cho
Nakagyo, Kyoto
Phone: 075.212.1808
Closed Thursdays
Hours: 13:00-1:00

o-wakarekai

Sunday, as the typhoon was approaching Honshu, we luckily flew from Osaka to Tokyo.

While in Tokyo, the rain was coming down in buckets.

It was our first time attending an o-wakarekai(oh-wha-kah-ray-kah-ee=farewell gathering) for Satoshi's friend, Gen, who passed away this summer.

Most times, Japanese have funerals and wakes but these days families are often opting for private services, so these farewell gatherings are getting somewhat "popular".

I am glad we were able to pay our respects to Gen's family and also spend some time with Satoshi's college baseball alumni.

Since the funerals and wakes here can be a bit too formal, it is nice that there are these somewhat casual type of gatherings even if it is to say goodbye.

The photo above was the beautiful quilt that was in the lobby area of the hotel.

Thank you Gen for your friendship, you will be missed.