Japantown, San Francisco, Part IV

At the end of July, hubby attended a work conference in San Francisco. We'd just moved into our house at the beginning of the month and everything was still a mess, but he had to give a talk and couldn't get out of the trip. And of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tag along, at least for old times' sake.

We had a blast living there and will always have fond memories of The City. Can you guess where we went first? Yup, Japantown ^.^

Only in Japan... Part V

I've caught up with my Japan food photos but there are still several Japan-related posts lining up in draft form, like this one in the Only in Japan series for example. I didn't do a post in this series throughout our time in Tokyo but it's better late than never.

Spotted this cool-dude-who-gives-zero-f*ck outside the Marunouchi Cafe Kai on the ground floor of the Kitte Building, across the street from Tokyo Station. Let's just say when you were minding your own business and then looked out the door to see guy sporting samurai hair, outfit, and hiking shoes, you just couldn't help but sneak a photo or two. I do wonder if there were a theater or film studio of some sorts nearby. Then again, he didn't look like he had any stage or film makeup on.

Tokyo Eats - Roppongi area Part VII

The last of the Roppongi food posts :(

Hubby and colleagues were super excited when Blue Bottle Coffee opened yet another branch in Roppongi (they're up to 6 branches in Tokyo now!), in the spanking new Tri-Seven Building across the street from Midtown. It made their daily coffee run much easier than, say, Omotesando (will post soon!). Hubby loved going there, and he loved to drag me along. I was more, umm, indifferent. Sure, I like coffee, but more so the flavor than the actual beverage, which can sometimes be too strong and bitter for my unsophisticated taste buds.

An Afternoon in Asakusa, Tokyo

My brother was visiting us in Tokyo around late September, and during one weekday he and I took a stroll around Asakusa after lunch. No, we didn't go to Senso-ji again. Been there a million times. Instead, we started out at the famous and crowded Asakusa Nakamise and made our way through all the surrounding shotengais.

Nishiki Market, Nishiki Tenmangu, and Teramachi Shotengai, Kyoto, Kyoto

We left Tofuku-ji at 4:30pm and we decided to grab a cab over for a quick peek at Kyoto's popular Nishiki Market that intersects with Teramachi Shotengai and Shinkyogoku Shotengai (didn't get to this one, sadly), and the famous Nishiki Tenmangu (錦天満宮) that nestled in between the two paralleling shotengais.

Why take a cab for only a quick peek? Because the Nishiki Market closed at 5pm daily. Now what kind of market closes at 5pm, folks?!? The kind in Kyoto, that's what! Argh! Although the two shotengais stayed open slightly later, we had to be back at Seikoro Ryokan by 6:30pm for dinner.

At least the taxi ride was interesting. First we passed by this go (圍棋) school. Then as he was weaving through a neighborhood alley, the taxi driver suddenly turned to his side window. "Oh, a geiko," he mumbled to himself in Japanese.

No, not that geico. This geiko. And not the particular geiko pictured (who, by the way, is geiko Tsunemomo of Gion Higashi), but a geiko.

***Stock photo courtesy of the interweb, and geiko photo  courtesy of this website.

Tokyo Eats - Roppongi Area Part IV

More food in Roppongi, though probably not the last since I'm still waaay behind on photos. I'd thought to wait until I'm all caught up but the post will grow too long, so I'm posting what I have now, already pretty darn long as it is!

An art display at Midtown, along with even more photos of sakura that I didn't get to in the previous installment. I know, I'm posting spring photos in the fall and summer photos in the winter. Ha.

Tokyo Eats - Tokyo Station Part II

Since discovering the Kitte building in the spring, I've been bringing hubby, friends, and visiting family back again and again. Of course, Tokyo Station is huge and this is just a tiny sliver of it, I'm just slow to explore, that's all :P

This is the inside of that red dome. Pretty, huh?

Tokyo Eats - Roppongi Area Part II (Picture heavy!)

Alright, I can't procrastinate on this post anymore because it's growing too long. More food ahead, folks. In the Roppongi area, same old, same old. Took some photos over the holidays too, trying to get just that special one for the holiday cards. Too bad they all turned out meh so no cards this year. Oh well.

National Pottery Market, Ueno Park, Ueno, Tokyo (Picture heavy!)

Enormous post ahead! Clickable photos = zoom.

On one fine September Saturday at the end of Silver Week, hubby and I decided to go see the Monet Exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum right by Ueno Park. 

There was also a Gundam-related exhibition there at Ueno Park, although not the same Gundam Exhibition at the Roppongi Mori Tower. This one focuses specifically on the mechanical designs (character design for robots) of Okawara Kunio. Having been all Gundam-ed out the night before, we passed ^.^

And because it was the end of Silver Week, the whole area was pretty much packed in all directions.

I love za Daiso! Part II

When hubby and I moved away from SF, I was very sad. Because that meant I wouldn't be able to just spend my afternoon browsing through the shelves at the Japantown Daiso anymore. Being in Japan makes me very happy, because I'm back in the land of the za Daiso ^.^

No no, I don't go crazy hoarding dollar-store crap. Anyone who knows anything will tell you that there are gems to be found at the dollar store (or the consignment store, etc.), but I digress. I mean, we only hoard good stuff, right? :P

Like these adorable printed masking tapes and fabric tapes from the SF Japantown Daiso, which I use to label gifts, decorating envelops, etc.

Inner Richmond, San Francisco (Picture heavy!)

Ack, May already! Time to play catch-up again with my posts! Let's start with Inner Richmond. Instead of Chinatown, hubby and I go here for Asian food and groceries. I've read that foggy Inner Sunset is another great neighborhood for awesome Asian food, but Inner Richmond is more conveniently located for us and so we haven't been too tempted ^.^ We'll see, when we get bored of Inner Richmond, we'll probably find our way over to the foggy side...

There are many many shops and restaurant in Inner Richmond and this is just a brief glimpse of the few hubby and I absolutely love. 

- Brothers Restaurant (Korean BBQ/yakiniku): Hubby and I LOVE Korean BBQ/yakiniku, and wherever we go we'd always make a point to find ourselves a good Korean place to get our yakiniku fix. We've tried several places here in SF, several others in different states, even in different countries, with the exception of South Korea itself which is definitely on our list of places to go. But hands down Brother's on Geary is the best yakiniku we've had. Surely there are better Korean food elsewhere, hell, there might be better right here in SF, but we wouldn't know it because every time we come to Brothers, we'd leave in a food coma and have no brain power left to ponder whether the grass is greener across the street.

Japantown, San Francisco Part II (Picture heavy!)

A long overdue follow up for SF Japantown, since these pictures were taken back in April-May T.T

I'm loathed to say this, but the Japanese food at Japantown leaves little to be desired. How ironic that it's Japantown, and you would think there are things reminiscent of Japan food wise. But nope. What you see may resemble Japanese food in appearance, and with the exception of a couple of okay places, the rest are either meh or down right disgusting.