sakura walk (higashi yaguchi)

There is an apartment building in our area that has a sakura tree in front of their building.

We passed by one evening and they had lights on, I thought it was cool, because they could enjoy their blossoms at night too.

What Japanese call "yozakura" 

Not sure if I've posted about this apartment building before, cool yeah?!

sakura walk (inokashira park & meguro river)

Since our water would be turned off for the day, I went to my physical therapy then headed out to Kichijoji.

And had lunch at Kugutsuso, I ordered it with a scrambled egg...Omucurry...1720 yen (tax included)

Their curry isn't very spicy but has lots of spices and is very tasty, I'm glad I tried this.

Their iced coffee is strong and comes in this cute cup...it is metal so your iced coffee is super cold!
 

After lunch I went walking around Inokashira Park.

It was nice but a bit warm.

And then on the way home I got off at Meguro and walked along the Meguro River.

We've visited this area before, I think it was during the pandemic, love the view from here, video here

And this time, I walked from Meguro towards Gotanda.

It was a little krazy with people, but not super crowded like Nakameguro is.

Was lucky to catch a group going out to see the cherry blossoms by boat, video here

I'm glad the blossoms have held up, they expect rain on Friday and over the weekend.

Hope you have enjoyed this season as much as we have.

sakura walk (tamagawa)

Sunday was forecast for rain, and we also had the drain thingy in the afternoon.

When we woke up it was sunny, but right when we were about to leave, the weather thingy said it would rain in 30 minutes...so we headed to Tamagawa.
 

Walked around

Lot of petals starting to fall

I love seeing people picnic-ing ...so fun!

Tokyo furry people...and because the weather apps in Japan are on point, we made it back before the rain...

ps they are turning off our water today for the whole day, so I need to be out and about...wish me luck

sakura walk (sumida river & asakusa)

Saturday was forecast for sun, so we made sure to get out and about early

Our first stop was Chomeiji Sakuramochi, which has been in business since 1717!

Apparently Hokusai enjoyed their sakuramochi too.

It is quite large, with large salted sakura leaves, the thin mochi and a round "roll" of sweet bean paste...250 yen (tax included)

I loved this, and appreciated that they sold these separately.

I had read somewhere that during this time of year they only sell boxes of 5 pieces and up…

We then walked along the Sumida River.

And across the Sumida River Walk.

If I'm not mistaken this walkway was built during the pandemic.

You are literally alongside the Tobu train line, it is a bit noisy but you can see nice views of the Sumida river.

We made sure we were first in line for Daikokuya.

They have been in business since 1887!

I had their 2 shrimp, 1 kakiage donburi, this also came with a shishito…2400 yen (tax included)

Satoshi ordered the 4 shrimp donburi…2700 yen (tax included)

Kanto (East Japan) style tempura's coating is thicker because they use egg and flour.

Kanto style kakiage is mainly shrimp or squid, I was surprised because I was envisioning onion, carrots and other veggies.

Still this was delicious and I'm glad we got to try it.

Then we walked through the Sensoji area

Lots of tourists taking photos.

And then we checked out Andesu Matoba, this shop makes all sorts of anpan

Even if we were full from lunch, we had to eat this since it had just come out of the oven!

So soft and delicious! 210 yen (tax included)

A little up the street is Marusen.

Arare outlet! we went a little krazy here...1076 yen (tax included)

And then a little more up the street is Rusurusu, which I've been wanting to check out, but they open at 12, and I like to be going home around lunchtime...

Loved their brownie and biscotti….1091 yen (tax included)

so fun to see different buildings

One shrine that Satoshi was interested in seeing was Yoshiwara Benten

The weather was so nice and it was nice to see different parts of Asakusa.

We'll be back to the places we tried 

Chomeiji Sakuramochi

5-1-14 Mukojima

Sumida, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays

Hours: 8:30-18:00

Daikokuya

1-38-10 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Open daily: 11:00-20:00

*cash only

Andesu Matoba

3-3-2 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 7:30-18:30

Marusen

3-24-1 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Hours:7:00-18:00 (Mondays-Saturdays) 9:00-17:00 (Sundays)

Rusurusu

3-31-7 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays & Mondays

Hours: 12:00-19:00

ps my pedometer was wonky so my steps were 0 (again) boo!

sakura walk (kamakura)

Friday, the rain stopped and the sun was out!

Since I hadn't gone to physical therapy all week due to the rain, I went to PT and then headed out to Kamakura

And went to have lunch at Bergfeld, a German bakery and cafe.

They have 3 locations around Kamakura, this was their Onaricho shop.

I loved how the doors opened up, like one big window!

Also loved how they had fresh flowers around the restaurant, on the tables as well as in the bathroom 

There might have been a glass of wine with lunch

Different rye breads with liver paste, brie cheese, honey, proscuitto and ruccola.

There was also some sauerkraut, it was my first time having it warmed up.

And cornichons....1600 yen (tax included)

Nice that the wine was also included in the price...I'll be back!

Went to check out Romi-Unie.

They used to have a shop in Tokyo, but closed, so they only have their flagship store in Kamakura.

Love how they wrapped up the little jar of jam that I purchased

3 citrus Japonais: 3 different Japanese citruses (Hassaku, Natsumikan & New Summer Orange)

Up the street is a different location of Kibiya Bakery.

We've visited the one near Onaricho last year.

I purchased their sakura anpan and some scones.

The sakura anpan was heavy! the outside was sourdough and the inside was sakura flavored sweet bean paste...love!

Will try the scones with the jam on Sunday.

I also walked along the dankazura 

Dankazura is a 500 meter (0.31 mile) raised walkway to the Tsuruoka Hachimangu shrine and was built about 800 years ago by Morimoto Yoritomo.

so pretty with the blue skies

I appreciated that no one “held up traffic” here by taking photos/videos

I also found a little side path near Daigyoji that had many different varieties of camellia.

As  well as other flowers

It was nice to be out and about and I'm glad I was able to avoid a lot of the crowds

Bergfeld

1-1-29 Yuigahama

Kamakura, Kanagawa

Closed: Mondays & Tuesdays

Hours: 11:00-16:30

Romi-Unie

2-15-11 Komachi

Kamakura, Kanagawa

Open daily: 10:00-18:00

Kibiya Bakery

2-13-1 Komachi

Kamakura, Kanagawa

Closed: Wednesdays

Hours: 11:00-17:00

ps pedometer thingy on the phone was wonky so no steps recorded, sad!