Monthly Archives: May 2012

{  Shibazakura  }

Shibazakura Festival
Shibazakura Festival

Just wanted to thank everyone who has been following my blog, liked us on facebook, emailed me, tweeted about us, gave me restaurant recommendations to try, etc. Very excited to hear from my readers and appreciate all the support :) Gives me the motivation to keep posting!

Today, I wanted to share with you a beautiful Shibazakura Festival that is going on in Yamanashi-prefecture until May 27th. (It was supposed to end this weekend but it got extended due to the late blooming of the flowers). Unfortunately it was overcast on the day we went… so we couldn’t see Mt. Fuji, but if you go on a clear day, it should be an amazing view with some great photo opportunities. If you get hungry, they have some food options there but not a whole lot of selection.

PS: For those of you who live in Japan or who are thinking about moving to Japan, check out this awesome site which has some great articles about Japan: survivingnjapan.com.

Address // 212, Motosu, FujiKawaguchikocho, MinamiTsurugun, Yamanashi-ken, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 0555-89-3031
Website // www.shibazakura.jp




{  Hands Cafe  }

Hands Cafe
Hands Cafe
Hands Cafe

Tokyu Hands in Shibuya recently opened a new cafe on the 7th floor called Hands Cafe. Recently, we’ve been making multiple trips to Tokyu Hands to buy a bunch of stuff for our place and we got exhausted from going up and down the store. That’s when we noticed that there’s a cafe on the 7th floor so we decided to check it out. What a pleasant surprise, the cafe was beautifully decorated in a mesh of hip-stylish-techy-cozy all together and we really enjoyed snacking here during a much needed break.

Tokyu Hands is one of my favorite places to go shopping for everything and anything and I highly recommend to check out their earthquake protection section if you are living in Japan. Anyhow, Tokyu Hands Shibuya seems to have recently done a significant makeover and it looks a lot nicer with more rest areas on every floor. love that.

Address // 7F, 12-18, Utagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-5489-5111
Website // http://www.tokyu-hands.co.jp/handscafe/index.html

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{  Kamakura  }

Kamakura
Kamakura
Kamakura
Kamakura

Went to Kamakura over the Golden Week Holiday and wanted to share some photos from my favorite places and shops in the area :)

Here’s a brief guide to the photos above:
01. — The beautiful and famous shinto shrine, Tsurugaokahachimangu
Address // 2-1-31, Yukinoshita, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 0467-22-0315
Website // http://www.tsurugaoka-hachimangu.jp

02. — The famous hato-sabure cookie store from Kamakura – these cookies are sold all throughout Japan, but this is the original headquarters (本店)
Address // 2-11-19, Komachi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 0467-25-0810
Website // http://www.hato.co.jp

03. — Delicious vanilla soft serves from gyuusha
Address // 2-12-27, Komachi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 0467-84-9179
Website // http://www.npf-ryokuen.com/kamakura.html

04. — Kurumikko — delicious caramel walnut treats (本店)
Address // 1-12-4, Yukinoshita, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 0467-22-3492
Website // http://www.beniya-ajisai.co.jp

If you want to see a great lunch spot in the area as well, check out this post.
Hope you all had a lovely holiday!




{  COBAKABA  }

COBAKABA
COBAKABA
COBAKABA

Found this cute cafe in the very traditional town of Kamakura. It’s usually hard to get seated right away at popular lunch spots in Kamakura but we got lucky and hardly had to wait. Perhaps it was because we got there towards the end of their lunch time service.

Cobakaba only serves 2 menu set options + a take away bento box per day. Of the 2 set meals that they serve, one changes daily and the other changes monthly. We tried their daily dish because their monthly dish was already sold out. We were very happy with their lunch overall: healthy, yummy, and all of that goodness for only 850yen? Love cafes like this.

If you’d like to check out some of my favorite spots in Kamakura, check it out here.

Address // 1-13-15, Komachi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 0467-22-6131
Website // n/a

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{  Quolofune  }

Quolofune
Quolofune
Quolofune
Quolofune

If you have a chance to lay your hands on these maccha dorayaki from Quolofune (pronounced kuh-roh-fu-neh), don’t pass it up. These are a slice of heaven and they are my #1 favorite dorayaki right now. They are so soft, not too sweet, and have mochi inside!! I love dorayaki in general but I’ve never had such good ones to the point where I actually had to go back to buy a ton more. Unfortunately, the maccha one is supposedly seasonal, so I’m not sure how much longer they’ll carry it in their stores. Definitely give it a try if you have a chance.

On the other hand, their RASQ (which looks like a cookie stick) was just ok. I’ll be going back to try their regular dorayaki and kasutera (castella) and of course to buy more maccha dorayaki :)

Address // 1-24-11, Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-3725-0038
Website // http://www.quolofune.com/jiyugaoka/

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