this and that

freesia explosion, photo taken awhile back so not many left

though there is a pot with “late bloomers” in it, hopefully they will bloom in a couple of weeks

so teeny

bob bagel's chocolate chip cookie, this had lots of chocolate in it!

sun merry's rolled croissant...meh, this had a weird smell, like the oil was rancid…eek
 

m.3546's bleu cheese honey and walnut, which I had stuck in the freezer...they work the cheese into the dough and so when you eat it there is lots of bleu cheese flavor, there are also burnt bits of cheese...love!

tokyo people: trying to walk 3 dogs

Last Tuesday the winds were krazy and so was the rain

My umbrella got turned upside down several times and the wind was pushing me down the street.

Scary stuff! cannot imagine what it will be like when typhoon season actually comes around.

Of course, all the wind and rain, shook a lot of cherry blossom petals off the trees...

Hope your week is off to a nice start

sakura walk (ikegami)

Last Monday, was forecast for rain, I had some things I needed to do, so instead of getting on a train to see some sakura, I went to check out the sakura in our neighborhood.

Nomi River

park nearby

The cherry blossoms have started to fall

someone is stealing this house's flowers (the paper posted in the background, says, "flower thief reported, let's all enjoy the flowers")...so pretty 

wish there were a huge sakura tree in front of our building, like this one, must be so cool to see from your lanai

got in a good walk, got my errands done and also got to see more sakura
 

sakura walk (kamata & ikegami)

Last Sunday started off overcast, Satoshi had an errand to run, so we met up afterwards.

I walked past Misono Shrine, the cherry blossoms have started to flutter here.

We went to check out the Hamazushi that I spotted from MOS, it is a smaller shop, but at the time that we went, we didn't have to wait for a table!

When we came out though, the line was krazy!

Still, we'll be back because this location is a little closer for us.

The weather was quite warm so after some grocery shopping, we had our first shave ice of the year...Tamaya is a shop from Imabari, Ehime and has been serving shave ice since 1903!

Satoshi had the milk seiki (sugar added to milk), I had the strawberry…1650 yen (tax included)

So delicious! the texture was similar to guri guri

Afterwards, we went home, put the groceries away then went up the street to Ikegami Honmonji

It was also Hanamatsuri, the Buddha's birthday, so we ladled some sweet tea over a tiny statue of the Buddha 

The sakura was in full bloom here and every one was out and about

It was supposed to be rainy, but turned out to be quite sunny, hot even 

Lots of walking and lots of eating.

sakura walk (sakurazaka & tamagawa)

Last Saturday it was forecast for clouds, Satoshi had something to do so I went to check out Sakurazaka.

I’ve mentioned this before but this is the area which inspired Fukuyama Masaharu to write the song "Sakurazaka".

 

Caught this furry one enjoying the blooms

I then walked along Tamagawa

How’s this family?! I am a wimp and cannot sit in the grass like this, for fear of crawly things, I need a bench or chair! ha

So many people having hanami (cherry blossom viewing) parties

These two found a bench on a street corner to have their hanami.

The overcast weather made for gloominess, but it was still nice to be out and about.

canned oden

Remember we bought these canned oden to try?

Well, we tried them...

The smaller can, had no soup in it and was kind of bland

There was a piece of konbu, chicken, konnyaku, quail egg and some kamaboko
 

The larger can, had soup and big "stuff" inside

I thought this one was more flavorful, plus it had more "stuff" in it.

We're happy we got to try these but agree that "fresh" oden is better.

semi-sakura walk (kanda)

When I went to Kanda Shinoda, I also went a couple of doors up to Omiya Yogashiten because I wanted to try their sakura butter roll, this was a "drier" cake, which kind of reminded me of dacquoise, an almond cake filled with buttercream, this version was topped with salted sakura flowers.

The buttercream actually had bits of sour cherry in it, I'm glad it didn't overpower anything...500 yen plus tax

I'm glad I got to try this.

And this rolled cake for Satoshi...350 yen plus tax

This looked like a moist sponge filled with lots of whipped cream and fruit in the middle

I also picked up their baked piroshiki, small curry pan and tuna sandwich...580 yen plus tax 

The tuna sandwich had big pieces of onion in it, glad the onion didn't have a bite to them

The curry pan was spicy and the piroshiki was meaty

I'm glad I tried these and will try others items the next time I am here. 

Shohei bridge on the way back to JR Akihabara station

(photos uploaded wonky)

Waterras, an office complex across the street from Omiya Yogashiten had several cherry trees around their entrance

It was forecast to rain, so I wanted to make it home before it did.

Still, I'm glad I got to see a little more cherry blossoms.

kanda shinoda sushi

Last Friday, went to pick up some Kanda Shinoda Sushi for us to try.

They have been in business since 1902
 

Loved the wrapping and the packaging.

I bought the set with 4 kampyo maki, 2 futomaki and 4 inarizushi...1501 yen (tax included) for us to share

I like their inarizushi, it is kind of  “juicy” and has renkon (lotus root) in it)

I thought the wrapping looked familiar and I was right.

It is the same artwork as Matterhorn, the artist is Suzuki Shintaro. (cookie photo from 2022)

I'm glad we got to try this sushi, I'd definitely get it again

They also have oshizushi (pressed sushi) which we should try the next time we are here.

Kanda Shinoda Sushi

2-2-1 Kanda Awajicho

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Closed: Tuesdays

Hours: 7:30-17:00 (16:00 Saturdays & Sunday)