8604

Last Saturday after an errand we went to Kanda to have lunch at Topca

This shop serves all sorts of Indian and European styles curries. 

I chose their Keema...mouth.on.fire.

Wished that onion on top was pickled and not raw

Even if my mouth was on fire, I enjoyed this
 

Satoshi went with the Katsu and European curry

He enjoyed this.

We'll be back to try other items on their menu.

After lunch, we went around the block to wait for a table at Takemura, which has been in business since 1930!

Thank goodness for the shade from the building, the wait was over an hour!

I ordered their ice shiruko, this was perfect for the heat and humidity

Satoshi ordered the cream cold shiruko, his was more "soupy" and also came with some salty Japanese pepper 

I want to try their fried manju next, we'll be back.

Topca

1-11 Kanda Sudacho

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Open weekdays: 11:00-15:30 (lunch), 17:30-22:30 (dinner)

Weekends & Holidays: 11:30-18:00

Takemura

1-19 Kanda Sudacho

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays, Mondays & Holidays

Hours: 11:00-20:00

*cash only

thursday

Last Thursday, we were preparing for Typhoon Ampil or #7 as the Japanese call it.

There was this weird cloud outside and also a rainbow "spot"

close up of the rainbow spot.

I was also worried that the Fireworks for our ward would be cancelled.

For the past 6 years I've been waiting to show Satoshi the fireworks that we can see from our lanai.

(Since 2018, there have been typhoons, the pandemic and just bad weather that has cancelled the show.)

Luckily, even with #7 approaching, they went ahead with the show.

I'm also thankful they didn't change the area that they launch them from so we could enjoy them from our lanai.

If it weren’t krazy humid, I think we might’ve gone down to see them up close, one day…

If you'd like to see some fireworks, please look here.

brod

Been wanting to check out Brod, a Danish Norwegian bakery in Ebisu.

It is super close to the Metro Ebisu station.

All their baked items are sourdough related.

I purchased a half loaf of the Odin it had seeds all over it, love!

I also purchased some of their crackers, a chocolate chip cookie and their carrot cake. 

Loved all the seeds in the crackers, and all the chocolate in the cookie

Not too sure if the carrot cake had sourdough in it but I loved how moist it was.

I'll be back.

Brod

5-4-20 Hiroo

Shibuya, Tokyo

Closed Mondays & Tuesdays

Hours: 10:00-17:00

this and that

whenever I go to Hawaii, I map out the stuff in the fridge labeling “do not eat” on things or else “someone” will eat everything!

needless to say, he never followed the map (sigh) and emailed me a couple of times to see if he could eat some things (at least he asked, in the past he did not)

Haagen Dazs came out with a mint chocolate chip bar in early July, glad I was able to find it when I came back in August

I didn't know this but Haagen Dazs apparently only has 3 factories in the world, 1 in the US, 1 in Europe and 1 in Japan...this is apparently why they taste different depending on where you are eating them

In early July, they started circulating the new 10,000 yen bill with Shibusawa Eiichi on it, looks kinda like play money to me

They also came out with a new 1000 yen bill with Kitasato Shibasaburo

they also came out with a new 5000 yen bill but I haven't come across it yet

Coco Ichiban has curry udon, not all shops serve it though, Satoshi was lucky that our shop nearby does

Wasn’t able to find the mamaki hibiscus tea in Hawaii that I bought before, so I bought this hibiscus one from the UK when I got back, I like that it is a little puckery, and like to cold brew it during the summer

Sad to find this pigeon dead in front of our elevator

I think it flew into the wall or elevator door…I called our building management and they had it bagged up the next morning

Tokyo People : glad these construction guys have a fan that mists 

Juicy nectarines

The mannekin pis is dressed up like Hello Kitty to celebrate her 50th

Got to meet up with friend Hiromi and her husband in Yokohama 

They were coming back from visiting their son and had some time before their Shinkansen back to Osaka

Thanks for today H & Y

Have a safe weekend!

update

Remember I put a plastic sheet on top of the washer so that things would not fall behind the washer?!

Well, Satoshi never noticed it, and I finally told him.

 

Recently though, while making the "foam" to wash my face with, the soap flew out of my hands and went behind the washer.

So I used a tension rod shelf to block the back of the washer from under the plastic sheet.

"someone" suggested to wrap the shelf in plastic, so things wouldn't go in between the rods of the shelf

Hopefully now things will not go behind the washer...

And remember this house?

They started building another house on the lot in front of it one morning

By the end of the day, they already had a building up

These guys even worked during part of the typhoon we just had!

And the house they cleared next door.

they already have plans to build a 4 story building starting at the end of the month.

Should be noisy for the next couple of months....

frito pie

Have you ever had frito pie?

I don't recall ever trying this.

It's not that Fritos were my favorite when I lived in Hawaii, but when you don't have access to things they somehow turn into things you crave especially since Japan doesn’t have Fritos

Nowadays most trips to Hawaii I buy a package of the Honey BBQ Fritos.

This trip to Hawaii, I also bought the Original so I could try making frito pie

Some recipes tell you to bake the whole thing, others put it together before eating.

I don't really care for soggy chips, so I put it together before eating.

Made a small batch of chili

Then topped the fritos with the chili, cheese, some avocado and diced red onion

So ono! kinda like nachos

Glad I tried this.

14767

Last Sunday we headed to Kagurazaka, Satoshi has a tour coming up in this area and was interested in checking out some areas.

It was blazing.

I had seen this kaisendon shop, Tsujihan, on social media and thought Satoshi would enjoy this.

I should’ve paid more attention to the videos on social media, all the seafood was mashed and mixed up instead of slices of seafood being placed on the rice

Not to mention you could see the guys in the back hacking large frozen blocks of seafood…disappointing!

After lunch we went in search of something sweet and stood in line for Kagurazaka Saryo.

This place is all things tea

Satoshi chose their parfait and hot genmai tea from Kyoto

Kat chose their shaved ice and cold tea from Kagoshima, but she should've chose hot tea instead...

This shaved ice had a genmai (brown rice) pannacotta inside and lots of azuki too.

We want to try their lunch items.

Another blazing humid day, but we were able to explore the teeny pathways as well as check out areas that Satoshi needed to review for his tour.

Tsujihan

3-2-15 Kagurazaka

Shinjuku, Tokyo

Open daily: 11:00-21:00

*cash only

Kagurazaka Saryo

3-1 Kagurazaka

Shinjuku, Tokyo

Open daily: 11:30-21:00