tachikawa

Today we headed out early to check out Showa Kinen Park.

I've been here a couple of time before the pandemic, it was Satoshi's first time.

The weather was beautiful, no clouds in the sky.

The ginkgo was still a little green but still nice.

There were so many people with their furry kids.

The momiji (maple) in the Japanese garden was at its peak.

Lunch was at Cafe Sov.

Satoshi had their menchi katsu sandwich plate, which he said was delicious.

I had their pie lunch, spinach and mushroom pie and a huge salad with Kamakura veggies.

Loved the atmosphere of this cafe....we'll be back.

It was nice to be out and about.

I'm glad Satoshi was able to experience Showa Kinen Park.

Cafe Sov

2-3-3 Shibasakicho

Tachikawa, Tokyo

Phone: 042.528.2983

Hours: 8:00-23:00

crow watching

Yesterday was raining all day long…crows scare the beejezus out of me and whenever it rains guess who takes shelter on our lanai…

I was so bored and shot a short video of the crow who called his girlfriend so they could get out of the rain…

if you are viewing this at work, turn down your sound...

miharado

Miharado has been in business since 1877.

They have several shops around Tokyo but their main shop is near Ningyocho.

Satoshi met up with his classmate to catch up the other day and was given these dorayaki and manju. (Thank you!)

Love the packaging which has their store name in kanji(chinese characters)

We tried the mont blanc dorayaki and original dorayaki.

The mont blanc one had white bean paste that was flavored with rum and studded with chestnuts.

The original dorayaki had a chunky sweet bean paste in it.

Both were delicious.

We'll try the manju another day and look forward to buying more of their items when we are in the area.

Miharado

1-14-10 Nihonbashi Ningyocho

Chuo, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3666.3333

Closed New Years Day

Hours: 9:30-19:30 (weekdays), 9:30-18:00 (Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays)

shinjuku

Friday, we headed out to Shinjuku to run an errand and also to do a little exploring.

It was kind of blazing.

This is the intersection where the opening of "Midnight Diner" ("Shinya Shokudo") was shot.

We stumbled on Godzilla...

Lunch was at Tsurukame Shokudo...which has been around for at least 60 years.

I chose this place for Satoshi.

I thought he would enjoy the atmosphere and food.

He ordered the daily special which was pork stir fry...he enjoyed his meal also drank all his miso soup.

I went a la carte because I didn't want miso soup.

Avocado natto, tamagoyaki(omelette) and mugimeshi (barley rice).

The tamagoyaki surprised me because I had envisioned a tightly rolled one, but this was still cooked perfectly, no runny areas.

The food is tasty and service is quick, not sure if we'll be back but it was nice to  try this place.

One thing we wanted to see was the huge 3D cat on top of the Cross Space Building.

Sorry my video is not too good. (turn your sound down if you are viewing this at work)

I think to make the cat look “real” and have more depth you need to shoot in the morning when the sun isn't directly hitting the screen.

We also checked out Hanazono Shrine.

They were preparing for their Otori no ichi...an event held on the Chinese calendar's day of the Rooster.

You will see many kumade (literally bear hands) rakes at this event for purchase… to help you "rake" in good fortune.

Before heading home, we checked out Oiwake Dango...which has been around since 1948.

From top left: Mame daifuku (black beans studded mochi filled with chunky sweet bean paste), Kuri daifuku (chestnut paste and a whole chestnut)...matcha dango (matcha paste) , yomogi (mugwort dango topped with chunky sweet bean paste), kuri dango (chestnut paste and whole chestnuts), ume myoga just like eating sushi...pickled myoga and ume paste...savory and delicious!

I'm glad we tried these and look forward to trying their other seasonal items.

It was good to be out and about.

Tsurukame Shokudo

1-15-9 Kabukicho

Shinjuku, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3200.2846

Closed Wednesdays

Hours: 11:30-15:00 (lunch), 17:00-23:00 (dinner)

Oiwake Dango

3-1-22 Shinjuku

Shinjuku, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3351.0101

Open daily Noon to 18:00

this and that

Back in July, we tried Hio Ice cream. 

I recently bought some other flavors for us to try...corn milk...

interesting but weird mouth feel, kinda grainy?!

Floral chocolate was super rich and chocolatey...love!

For Halloween, we had some cakes from Enomoto...Satoshi's Japanese chestnut and salted caramel.

I had their pumpkin tart...loved the chocolate bat too!

We shared these cakes from Vanni the night before with wine...no bake cheesecake...the goblin was white chocolate...boo!

chocolate cake was rich and delicious.

We started November with our case number falling to 9 for Tokyo!

We are still in awe as to how quickly our numbers fell...crossing fingers we are headed in the right direction.

Many of the other prefectures have been enjoying 0 daily cases.

Japan’s fully vaccinated rate is up to 72%

“Someone” has drinking meet ups lined up in the coming weeks…

Hope to get out to see some fall foliage in the coming weeks too.

Have a safe weekend.

gelande

We tried Gelande, a western style shop that we've passed by many times during the pandemic.

Satoshi had their pork ginger...he said he enjoyed it.

His meal came with rice, a piece of tofu (hiyayakko) and miso soup.

I tried their napolitan.

It was so greasy...blah!

Also I was wondering why it was served with a piece of tofu (hiyayakko) and miso soup.

The restaurant was so dark and they also allowed smoking. *cough*

I'm glad we tried this place but I don't think we'll be back.

Gelande

1-5 Yaguchi

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3756.2294

Hours: 11:30-14:00 (lunch), 18:00-21:00 (dinner)

spice cereal

Tried a new (to me) recipe for spice cereal (granola) by Oxymoron.

I only made half the recipe and adapted it to what I had on hand.

75 grams mixed nuts

25 grams pumpkin seeds

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

125 grams oatmeal

pinch fennel seeds 

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

35 grams oil

85 grams honey

25 grams brown sugar

Lightly crush the fennel seeds

Roughly chop the nuts

Put the oil, honey & sugar in a pot on medium and mix, when it starts to bubble and sugar is melted, take off the heat

Preheat oven to 140C (275F)

Coat oatmeal, flax seed, nuts and spices with honey mixture

Spread out on parchment and bake for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, open oven door to let moisture out

Bake for another 20 minutes

Cool and keep in airtight container

NOTES: this was so good with yogurt or just for munching

The original recipe called for some whole wheat flour but I didn't have any so I used some ground flax seed

I think I cooked the honey mixture a little too long because I ended up with “clumps” instead of “granola”

Next time I think I will add a little more dry spices

I will make this again