Kanazawa in Summer

There’s a typhoon going on outside my window as I write this right now.

I went to Kanazawa in August, right in the middle of the summer when the heat wave was going strong in Japan. I remember wondering when this scorching torture would ever end, but I guess we’ve segued right into another kind of extreme weather. Anyway, Kanazawa was incredible all the same

It was my first time in Kanazawa, and my first time taking the night bus too. The bullet train was three times more expensive so we took the overnight bus, which only cost us ¥3000 and our backs and shoulders. Kanazawa’s a seven-hour trip from Tokyo, and we arrived at dawn when no one was around.

Actually no one’s really around Kanazawa in general. We decided to come here only because we figured Kyoto would be too crowded with tourists and so went with our second choice. Sorry Kanazawa, you come first in our hearts now

Our first stop was Higashi Chaya District, which is one of the better known places in this city. You’d think a famous spot like this would be packed, but not a single person was there! So we took our time taking pictures (and it was 7am, so we had lots of time).

It was great that the town was super empty and all, but the only thing was that all the stores were closed. We went around and around looking for breakfast and finally found this one cafe where we got ourselves a pile of fat fluffy pancakes.

One sweet thing led to another, and I got the famous gold leaf ice creamJust going to go ahead and add more sparkles in there. It was dazzling.

Quite possibly my favourite view—this one random hill in the middle of Kanazawa filled with old Japanese houses. I just really, really liked looking from the top of the slope at the landscape below.

Except it had a seriously steep climb.

Cooling down with some icy ramune soda

We also managed to get into the 21st Century Museum, which was so packed that we couldn’t even get in the first day we went. It took us the second try and a good half-hour head start before the place actually opened. But we made it in and got the money shot! Which in this case translates to the one shot that everyone is paying to enter and take in their famous swimming pool exhibit.

It was actually pretty cool.

And this was our guesthouseIt’s now up there in my favourite places to have ever stayed at. It’s owned by this nice old man who’s kept the traditional house for decades, and as soon as he arrived he sat us down in his garden for popsicles and rice crackers.

It really was a beautiful garden.

There are just lots of traditional places and streets all over Kanazawa like the Nishi Chaya District, which is like the east one but a lot narrower and hushed. This one had lots of turns and tiny corners and felt kind of secretive in nature.

But we managed to find this small cafe hidden behind some trees where they served us cucumber-flavoured ice cream and gold flakes. They may look old but Kanazawa is truly ahead of its time with all this avant-garde food.

I’ll be back someday in what is now my favourite city outside Tokyo

Kissa Housekibako: Back to the Girly Showa Era

I’ve gotten bad at posting every week, but really good at saving my streak at the last minute. And making excuses.

Recently I’ve been into kissaten—those old school Japanese coffee shops that were popular during the Showa era. 50s pop, idol posters, ice cream floats…everything’s stuffed into this small space like a little time machine back to the past. A time machine that serves good food.

Hosekibako’s made a name for themselves, but it’s hidden enough that there’re never too many customers crowding it on any given day (they can’t anyway, considering they have barely ten seats in there). It’s along a quiet street in Chitose-karasuyama, and took me a while to hunt around the neighbourhood for it. But once you get there it’s so pink and distinct you can’t miss it.

And inside is basically the Showa era. It’s like a museum of the past when huge perms and bell-bottoms were popular.

The stripy Meiji Ice Cream sign was cute; I wish I knew where I could get my own so I could bring it back to decorate my own place.

There’s even a bunch of old manga for customers to read while they’re eating. All nostalgic shoujo series, filled with the OG big-eyed heroines of those years.

And of course foodThey had the standard kissaten menu with all the typical things like toast and pasta and pilaf rice—and this extra fancy cinnamon banana toast that I ended up ordering.

The jewel in the crown here though, is their cream sodas—or ice cream floats, whatever you call them—that come with a big scoop of ice cream and the classic cherry. They had a lot of flavours in different colours and I would’ve tried them all if I could (even if I suspect they taste the same). This one was Pink Opal i.e. strawberry calpis soda with the sweetest shade of baby pink.

They did a great homage to the old Showa coffee shops; anyone would feel nostalgic even if they don’t actually have anything to be nostalgic for. It’s a great place to feel like a young girl enjoying the colours and music of that timeI sound like a grandma, but I hope you can tell how much I liked it.

The Little Bakery Tokyo

Ok! Let’s see if I can get this post up before the month changes to August. Or I’m going to have to change the timezone.

There’s a cafe in Jingumae that I’ve been to twice now, and it’s this small and cute bakery that’s sandwiched between a bunch of cafes and hair salons. As expected of Cat Street.

They had some sort of retro American theme going on, with smiley donuts and antique(-looking) ornaments and vintage floral prints everywhere. And lots of English. It was all very pretty and I can tell they’re working that aesthetic to their advantage. Not a single spot of this tiny bakery went unsnapped.

A truly magnificent bread display. They even came with golden tongs and candy-coloured trays for you to pick your bread with, so that’s really going the extra mile. If my hands weren’t full and the shopkeeper wasn’t right in front of me I would’ve taken a picture right there.

Any cafe that uses striped paper straws in their beverages gets an extra point.

They also have sandwiches, and I think these were grilled cheese and turkey avocado. They make them fresh for you so you can just sit around and watch them work that grill.

If you want other options all you have to do is look at the menu

Oof is all I can say when I see all that melted cheese oozing out. And look! Even their wet napkins are inspirational. Telling me that I look good (right until I consume a big carby feast).

And when you’re done you can have something sweet. Isn’t that strawberry bun adorable? It’s like a princess in bread form.

Baking in progress! The whole time I was just waiting for the staff to open the door so I could get a nice good smell of all that hot, sweet smell of bread blowing out.

Sakura in Tokyo, 2018

It’s that time of the year again…or should I say it WAS that time of the year again. The sakura bloomed for all of five minutes and then were all blown away before I fully realised they were all there.

But this is my third spring in Japan and my reflexes are now trained precisely for this, so in one weekend I managed to get some shots of the sakura and go around a festival or two

This was taken on film at Koganei where family after family came to have picnics under the cherry blossoms. Some brought their kids, some brought their pooches, some just brought themselves to enjoy the early bloom.

The parks this time of the year are perfect for people-watching. It gets pretty wild in certain spots (usually wherever the alcohol is) but plenty of people are also just sitting around in the middle of the hubbub doing their own thing. I’m usually just slinking in and out trying to take pictures.

I will never stop being fascinated by sakura, but at some point I did realise I’m probably just taking the same pictures year after year. This year I tried to get more shots of people under the trees, and that was a fun diversion of attention.

Babies! Lots of cute babies!

And toddlers out on their field tripI especially liked this group of kids because there was this one boy that just kept escaping the group to climb over the railing. He had absolutely no patience for sakura appreciation and I loved it.

I also came across this very appropriately pink post box outside Komagome Station and fell in love for the five minutes I spent taking pictures of it.

Photobook Diner Megutama: Feast for the Stomach, Feast for the Eyes

I used to get mad if I didn’t keep up with my posts every week, but now it’s come to the point where I feel like I deserve a medal if I remember to update before the month is over…okay, no. I’ll try harder.

Recently I haven’t been going to a lot of places, but yesterday I went to a new cafe for the first time and I liked it so much I’m posting about it right away.

写真集食堂—Photobook Diner Megutama, a small cafe in Ebisu, Tokyo that’s essentially a cafe and a library all in one. It’s not just any kinds of books either but specifically photo books by hundreds of photographers from the famous to the obscure. I could spend hours looking through photo books so that’s what I did here. The next best part is the food, all simple homemade stuff made right there in the kitchen in front of you by the sweetest ladies. It’s like coming home to three moms.

I ended up coming here that day because plans got cancelled and I suddenly had nothing to do and no one to meet, so I made the trek all the way to Ebisu and walked a good distance before I found their sign off the main road.

Here the walls are covered with books and more books carefully lined up by chronology of publication, so you know exactly which decade you’re heading for. That day I picked out more than ten books from the contemporary end and sat for ages looking at everything.

I found my favourite photographers and photographers I’d never heard of before. It was all very worth it, because I paid only about ¥1000 for a whole meal and (since it wasn’t crowded at all) they let me take all the time I wanted after that just reading while popping back on occasion to give me more hot tea. I would honestly just move right in

Hokkaido in Winter 2018

Right before finals season I escaped to Hokkaido for three days because freezing in the northernmost part of the country sounded better than studying.

And it was beautiful! I admit I’d voted against Hokkaido at first because I didn’t feel like braving the harsh natural elements, but once I saw all that snow any reluctance I had went out the window. You can actually enjoy the cold, once you’re numb enough.

It helped that we didn’t take a plane there—we went by shinkansen and just zoomed straight to Hokkaido. By zoom I mean it took us 4 hours from Tokyo, but that’s still unprecedentedly fast.

Got my ekiben for the journeyNothing puts me in the mood for a long train ride better than a bento box. I used to bring the boxes back home, so I have an unnecessarily large collection of old bento boxes piled up over the years.

The shinkansen from Tokyo only takes you up to Hakodate (the bottom tip of Hokkaido or what they call the genkan), so that’s where we stayed for three days. I’ve never been in this part but I loved it. It was all brick and snow and the occasional flock of birds.

History nugget for you curious learners out there: the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse (literally named for what it is) dates back to the beginning of the 20th century when it was a trading port. This was one of my favourite places in Hakodate and I had a lot of fun trekking through the snow between all those brick walls.

Thawing out our frozen selves with miso ramenTypically I’m more of a tonkotsu ramen person, but when in Hokkaido…anyway, it was delicious. And hot food really is a blessing in extreme arctic conditions.

As I quickly found out everything in Hakodate is photogenic(I mean…what’s frostbite if you can get nice pictures out of it?)

Wouldn’t be Hokkaido without meeting a snowman standing in the middle of nowhere.

Somewhere along the road we decided to stop and get lunch, and because of the long one-way roads there was a whole ordeal backing in and out of different driveways while we tried to find a place to park and eat at. But thanks to my brilliant intuition (and prior research on the gram), I found a chain restaurant called Lucky Pierrot by chance. And—italicising for emphasis—I want to live there.

It’s hard to describe, but it was dressed like a carnival. The funny thing about this place is that when I read about it on social media no one said anything about the decor. The talk was all on their burger which, fair enough, is what they’re famous for. Except I don’t care enough for burgers to go all the way to a place just for one. Coincidentally though I spotted the Lucky Pierrot sign (with a pierrot on it, obviously) along the road and convinced everyone to go there instead of eating ramen for the second day in a row. And what a good decision it was.

Everything was huge in this place. I didn’t do a good job of capturing it in perspective, but believe me when I say this bowl was almost twice the size of my face. It was a katsudon of Brobdingnagian porportions, and not even ¥1000.

I had the omurice, which was not as scarily big as the katsudon but still an endeavour to eat my way through. Ironically the one thing I didn’t get a picture of was the famous burger, but we did try it. We were probably just too busy feeling guilty about eating a 14-cm tall burger with chunks of fried chicken wedged inside.

We also went to visit the monkeys, who were happily soaking in the onsen while the humans shivered on the other side of the railing. I see those pictures of monkeys bathing in a hot spring on some snowy mountain all the time, but I’d always wanted to see them up close. I’ve changed my mind now—those monkeys are vicious. It’s a much better idea to watch them from a safe distance away while they shriek and run around while pushing each other off the ledge. Check out Hakodateshi Nettai Botanical Gardens to meet some cool monkeysFor just ¥100 you can even get a big pack of snacks to throw their way and watch them fight over it.

I only spent two nights in Hakodate, but everything was worth the cold and slipping around in the snow. I still want to go to Hokkaido in the summer one day, so hopefully sometime soon I’ll be back with a change of season in my pictures.

The Cutest Ice Cream Shop in Tokyo

Also Most Decorated. And Most Likely to Attract High School Girls. Or at least that was the demographic that made up most of the crowd when I was there. But look at that ice cream! It looks like a toy.

I was out on an ice cream hunt in Tokyo for research (believe me), and I found this place in an alley in Harajuku. It’s popular enough that there’re already people queueing in the morning, and I’m not surprised—the whole place is a living Instagram post. It was all pink and kitsch and very strategically decorated with photo props

Even the girl at the counter dressed for the part.

They had a whole lineup of cones covered in bright pastel chocolate and sprinkles—colours and more colours. I thought I’d get to choose my own but it turned out to be random, though it doesn’t really matter anyway because the ice cream inevitably just becomes a rainbow mess.

Thanks to their toppings, which are ridiculously adorable. You’ve got the clssic stars, hearts, alphabets, and if you’re feeling a little wild you can even throw in a chocolate flamingo on top of it. I ended up getting cookie glasses and a big pink bow because I needed my ice cream to be extra dramatic that day. For research, you know.

Their aesthetic is working. There wasn’t a single customer I saw who didn’t spend five minutes pacing around the shop taking pictures at every corner. I mean, I did tooIt’s fortunate that the weather’s become chilly, or my ¥1000 ice cream would’ve just melted right off.

So props to Eddy’s Ice Cream for dressing themselves up wellNow you can’t even just be photogenic with your products, everything else has to be picture-worthy too.

3D Latte Art in Tokyo!

HELLO! Just thought I’d shout that out and dust off this blog because I’ve been away for a while. I just moved, so the past few weeks have been a sort of chaos. I’ll probably blog properly about my new apartment in Tokyo because I like it so much, but for now let me talk about another place I like.

There’s something coming out of my latte. And it’s adorable.

Around the start of summer I went to a cafe called Reissue in Harajuku, and they do custom latte art made to order. You just tell them what you want on top of your drink, and they whip it up for you exactly how you want it. I liked it so much I went back multiple times just so I could get different characters made.

It’s even more fun when you go with friends and see all the different characters coming out in your cup! We’ve got a lot of popular ones here—the staff know what’s in demand and they’re extremely good at what they do. Even if you don’t specially order an original latte art, sometimes they’re nice enough to give you a surprise. (Moomin up there was a surprise)

I’m pretty sure one in every three customers gets a Shiba Inu. I got one that day, and it’s probably still my favourite of all the latte arts I’ve gotten. They even got the foam eyebrows in! Shiba Inu eyebrows are everything.

Kanahei’s one of my favourite artists, so I asked for her signature rabbit on one of my recent visitsI had to show the staff a drawing of the character this time, but I’m amazed at how well they can reproduce a picture they saw for all of three seconds.

It’s not all just drinks either. They have cakes too! Very important. It felt a bit of a waste if I just went all the way there for one drink so I tried their cakes and it went perfectly well with the latte.

And it actually felt really good to just be sitting there having a break at a small cafe. It’s in the quieter streets of Harajuku too, so you get some peace and quiet in a comfy place. I was surprised they weren’t crowded at all each time I went there because you’d think a place that pumps out the cutest latte art you could find would be packed—but even on a Saturday they only had a sprinkling of visitors. All the better for you and me though

Super chill place. I haven’t been there for a while because I’ve been so busy moving (and consequently I’m now a fair bit further away) but one of these days I’ll be back

The Nicest Cat-loving Cafe Owner in Tokyo

I’m writing this in a state of denial now because summer is ending and the new semester is just around the corner. I think it’s because I had so much time to myself and went to so many places (Home! Disneyland! Bali!) and now it’s jarring to sit myself back in the classroom.

But I’m sure I’ll be over it by the end of the week, so time to get cracking.

One of the places I went to recently was Kuroneko-sha, a small cafe near Machiya station in Tokyo. And I really want to talk about it because I had such a special time in that place and the cafe owner was one of the kindest I’d ever come across. He really likes cats by the way, which is why the cafe’s name literally means Black Cat House.

It’s a cozy space and very much like a kitchen straight out of a typical home…which I guess it kind of is. It’s sandwiched in the middle of a residential area, so it’s small and along a quiet street.

When I came and sat down at the cafe myself I realised that somewhere I’d gotten a cut on my leg (that’s another story I’ll never know about lol). It was a pretty big one, so the owner noticed me cleaning it up and offered me a bandage. Which was such a nice gesture of him, but I got kind of embarrassed and just said I was fine

And then he gave me cookies to eat while waiting for my food. (MY HEART)

I got the special Neko Musubi set, which came with two huge cat-shaped rice balls, miso soup and an even huger plate of side dishes. I need the world to understand how great this is, because this massive portion cost me only ¥750 and it was everything I could want in a meal

Grilled fish, fried chicken, pork, salad…you know a cook is generous when the side dishes are heavier than the actual main. Everything was cooked on the spot, so it was all hot and juicy and completely filling. After eating this I got full even before starting on my rice balls

Even the miso soup almost stole the show. I’ve never had a bowl that had more ingredients inside than the one I had at Kuroneko-sha. It’s usually just miso soup, and maybe a few scraps of seaweed and tofu, right? But there were so many other ingredients inside it was almost like opening a gift. A gift of meat and veggies.

So that was my meal! Or so I thought, until I got a surprise at the end.

He gave me scones on the houseAnd they’re cat-shaped. Cat-shaped. This is the way to my heart right here. I was more overjoyed than full at this point so I ate it all even though I was stuffed past the point of no return. And I was amazed at how generous he was in giving so many treats. My random little injury probably had something to do with it, but I really think he’s just a kind person who wants to make his customers feel good in his cafe. He told me to come back again someday, but I didn’t need to be told because I was already planning on it

So that was my story! Of the owner of a small cafe who loves cats and made a girl’s day by giving her such a good meal and more. The place is called 黒猫舎, so check it out if you’re in town!

The End of Summer at Tokyo Disneysea

Summer is almost over so I squeezed in a day at Disneysea—14 hours at the Land of Dreams.

Going to the Disney parks is such a huge culture by itself in Japan that if you don’t plan your strategies well, you might end up getting eaten alive by the hordes of Disney maniacs. My friend and I mapped out our route the night before so we’d get the most out of our day in the most fun way possible. And it worked!

We started with these little Duffy buns from Cape Cod Confectionery

I’ve been to Disneysea a few times now, but it’s so big that I still get to try things I’ve never done before. Like the monorail that goes from American Waterfront to Port Discovery. Usually I’d just watch it chugging along from the ground, but this time I went up and found out for myself what a nice ride it is

Can’t forget the actual rides. I’m proud to say that we got to ride our favorites not just once but twice—throughout the day we managed to nab Fastpasses for the Tower of Terror, Raging Spirits rollercoaster and the Indiana Jones Adventure. Have I ever mentioned the Tower of Terror is my go-to attraction at Disneysea? It’s appropriately creepy, the sudden free fall is the best thrill you could get at a Disney park, and you get your picture taken at the top.

Since it’s September they were gearing up for the fall season and putting lots of pumpkins and yellow leaves around the place. It was pretty perfect weather when I went too—still warm enough for a T-shirt but cool enough we could walk around sans sweat.

Halloween’s not for over a month, but Disneysea was starting to bring out the villains in full force. Plenty of the visitors were getting excited too, like this one person that lined up all their Duffy villains along the ledge.

Got to try some of the Halloween-themed snacks too! The Ukiwa shrimp bun from the Seaside Snack stand usually looks like a plump little lifebuoy with Donald Duck on the packaging, but this time Ursula has taken over and made the whole thing purple.

In the spirit of trying new things, we had lunch at a Disney restaurant for the first time. Usually I just walk around eating on the go, but I’d never really sat down and eaten a proper meal here. The buffet was surprisingly affordable for a Disney park restaurant, so we went for itHonestly it was already worth it as long as they had Mickey-shaped food. That’s the whole point of a Disney restaurant, right? So I ate a Mickey rice ball and got some Mickey chicken nuggets in too.

They had a good dessert bar too! If you ever want to get a good big meal at Tokyo Disneysea, hit up Sailing Day Buffet at American Waterfront.

We just couldn’t stop eating that day. I really wanted to try one of those famous turkey legs, but we were waiting to go on our next ride and the nearest stand only had chicken legs, so chicken it was. But it was good chicken. How many more times am I going to say the word chicken?

I feel like that day was really a day I could just take my time and enjoy the place without rushing around the crowds. We knew what we wanted to do, and throughout the many hours we were just walking around and around Disneysea and appreciating every small detail they put into their decor and performances and hospitality. This may be Tokyo Disneysea, but they pack so many different themes and places into it you really feel like you’re travelling the world inside. How else would I walk from an Arabian city to the Mediterranean next door?

Good day spent at DisneyseaThey do their job so well that they can make me willingly spend all my money and time in their park when I’m not even the world’s biggest Disney fan. But I love theme parks, and Tokyo Disney Resort blows most of them out of the water. It got us walking 36,000 steps in a day, eating at every corner, and jumping in the rain.