Had some tasty cheesecake at a small cafe near Machiya

On the final day of our trip we were a bit tired but still wanted to see a few things and just casually enjoy our time.

We ended up going to Marugame Castle as our first destination. It was really cool as it's one of the 12 castles in Japan that still has an original castle keep. The castle itself isn't very large, but the area surrounding it is. From the bottom of the castle the keep is quite small so it's hard to get a good photo of it, but we got a photo of it with one of the turrets along the moat wall which was cool.

We reserved a rickshaw ride the previous night as well so when we got to the castle we did a little exploring and then we went on a guided tour around the lower area of the castle. The rickshaw guide was a really nice guy and quite funny as well. Apparently he was a comedian but he enjoyed doing this job as well. He told us a bunch of different things about the castle and it's construction while also telling some jokes occasionally.

After the rickshaw tour we climbed our way up to the top of the castle and there were saw really amazing views waiting for us at the top. You could see the entire city almost. We also entered the castle keep, but it was relatively small. It was still nice to see the architecture on the inside but the stairs were a bit scary. They were incredibly steep and I was holding the handrails the entire time going up or down them.

After checking out the castle we were pretty hungry and so we decided to get some lunch. Being Kagawa is the udon prefecture we went to an udon specialty restaurant. I haven't been to many udon restaurants so it was kind of a new experience for me. They had it set up kind of like a cafeteria and you go through and choose what you want and other toppings to go with your udon.
I didn't see the trays for the extra toppings so I just ended up putting the karaage on top of my udon lol.
I got niku udon and it tasted really good. The karaage was a nice touch as well. Not the usual tempura most people get but it went surprisingly well with the soup.

After eating we headed towards Nakazu Banshoen, a garden with art exhibits as well. Before getting there we decided to stop by a Lupin-themed cafe though. It was a really tiny shop but we were able to cool off for a bit and relax which was nice since we were walking quite a bit.

The garden was quite large and had a lot of different points of interest within it. The stepping stones were fun to cross and the row of torii gates was pretty cool as well. You can definitely take some nice photos with them.

And that concludes our trip to Takamatsu! Overall it was a really fun trip and I definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't been to Shikoku or Kagawa before. We didn't even get to do everything we were looking at but we still had a blast!

On the second day of our trip we headed over to Shodoshima, one of the many islands in the Seto Inland Sea.

The only way there is by ferry so we got some tickets for it and boarded the ship. It was a really nice ride as the weather was great on Sunday and it was warm out, but not too hot. Sitting on the upper deck was nice as well, as we got to view some of the other islands in the area and also got to see people fishing etc. Plus the breeze was really refreshing as well.

When we arrived to the island we tried renting some bicycles but unfortunately they were all rented out. After that we tried to get a car, but they were all rented out too, so we decided to take the buses where we needed to go. It worked out fine though.

The first spot we decided to go was Olive Park, but when we got to the bus stop where it was located there was a really nice beach so we decided to check it out and put our feet in the water to cool of. There were people swimming and wind surfing and there was a nice little snack shack with some tasty looking food.

After hanging out on the beach for a bit we headed up to the park. There was a ton of people renting broomsticks to do the Kiki's Delivery Service photo and it was pretty funny to watch it. We thought about doing it but the brooms were like a 45 minute wait because there were so many people so we decided to pass on it.

We also ate lunch at a restaurant inside the main building at the park. They had some really good food (photo #4) and a really tasty drink as well. I don't remember what it was, but I'm glad I got it. The view from the restaurant overlooked the area as well which was nice.

After lunch we headed down towards where the windmill was and stopped at a small shrine on the way. The windmill area had a nice view as well and there were people trying to jump off rocks to get photos with it lol.

After we finished up at the park we decided to head over to Angel Road. We looked at the hours when you could cross the sand bridge and we arrived early, but it seems like the hours were slightly off that day perhaps and we made it right at the perfect time. There was just a little bit of water left over the sand bridge so we were able to take our shoes off and cross. Unfortunately there were a bunch of really small rocks so it kind of hurt your feet but it wasn't too bad. We managed to make it across. Was able to take some decent photos as well. We also had some ice cream at a nearby shop. It tasted great!

After we finished checking out Angel Road, we headed back to the ferry and and as we started to leave the port I said out loud "It smells like sesame oil doesn't it?"
Well it turns out there was a sesame oil factory directly behind me so we had a bit of a laugh at that. Was a successful day!

Shiraho家cafe
しらほいえカフェ
白保

広いお部屋で緑を眺めながら
ゆっくり過ごせましは

ᑦᴬᶠᴱ ?? . ?˒˒ . . .

毎年ここはかかさず

‎??本日のパンサンドとスープとデリのセット

givingtreehome
石垣島
野底カフェ

白保の海と?⸝⋆
島バナナとパイン
パインは白保にある無人販売で
島バナナは米原エリアにある無人販売とあかし直売所(明石一本松野菜直売店)で
上記で購入することをお勧めします。
普通に買うと高いので。特に島バナナ

石垣島 喫茶シロクマ

?????? ????ꔛ‬♡˒˒*

うつわがお洒落な静カフェ。
ケーキも美味しい

‎??ベイクドチーズケーキ
パイナップルケーキ

?? ˚‧ ?? ◡̈?ᐝ
石垣島にある朝ごはんにお勧めなお店
旬家ばんちゃん
玉子焼きがボリュームあり人気です
見たらビックリすること間違いなし
人気なので予約した方がいいかも
窓際の席からは緑が。
窓際の席も予約時にお願いすれば大丈夫。

⃞⃛୭ᐝスナヤマカフェ
中身はマンゴージュース。砂山ビーチで撮影

I've got too many photos to post so I'm making another post today and at least 1-2 more in the next couple days.

After visiting Ritsurin Park we headed towards Takamatsu Castle.

The castle itself had no castle tower but it still had a really nice garden and the moat was pretty cool as well. They had a boat tour of the moat too, but we didn't think it was as extravagant as the one at Ritsurin Park and we were already tired so we decided to skip it and just tour the castle on foot.

There were a variety of different stone lanterns throughout the garden that I thought were pretty cool. I always enjoy seeing the different lantern designs for some reason.

Despite not having a castle tower, the turrets themselves were cool to see. After looking at the first castle tower we crossed a bridge that ran over the moat and headed up to the top. Once we got to the top, where the castle tower was previously located, we had a really awesome view of the area and I was able to get a photo of a boat passing through the moat. They were all wearing straw hats and special clothing, which I think was part of the experience.

After leaving the castle and heading toward our hotel, we arrived at the second turret and it had a nicer view than from inside the castle. I thought the clouds above it looked quite nice as well.

After that we headed to our hotel and rested for a bit and then headed over to a pizza place called PIZZERIA 18 for some dinner. The place had a nice atmosphere and the food was really good as well. We ordered pizza (obviously) and a variety platter as well. It all tasted great. They had Heartland as their nama-beer which I thought was nice. Don't see it very often.

[Englsih／日本語]
Nishi-Hachioji, where our school is located, is famous for its many delicious crepe shops. Among them, "Crepe Anne" opened in 1983 and has a long history and many fans. Most of the crepes are handmade. In autumn, you can enjoy eating while viewing the rows of gingko trees. Students who are tired of studying can refresh themselves with a sweet treat.
本校がある西八王子はおいしいクレープ屋が多いことでも有名です。中でも「クレープアン」は1983年にオープンしたお店で歴史があり、ファンも多くいます。クレープの中身はほとんどが手作りです。秋は銀杏並木を見ながら食べることができます。勉強につかれた学生たちもスイーツを食べてリフレッシュしているようです。

[Englsih／日本語]
In Hachioji City, you can eat dishes from all over the world's cuisines. The other day, I had Sri Lankan home cooking at "Milis," a Sri Lankan restaurant a 5-minute walk from Hachioji Station. It is a healthy dish that doesn't use oil, and it consists of rice topped with various curries and side dishes. It was a complex combination of "sweet", "spicy", "salty", "sour", and "bitter", which I had never tasted before, but it was very delicious. The service at the restaurant was also warm ☕️I will ask more about Sri Lankan food next time since we sometimes communicate with Sri Lankan agents at our school ?.
八王子市では世界の料理各国の料理を食べることができます。先日、八王子駅から歩いて5分、スリランカ料理のお店「ミリス」でスリランカ家庭料理を食べました。油を使わないヘルシーな料理で、ご飯の上にいろいろなカレーやおかずがのっています。「甘い」「辛い」「しょっぱい」「すっぱい」「苦い」が複雑に合わさっていて、食べたことがないでしたが、とてもおいしかったです✨また、お皿の何より見た目も美しくて感動しました。お店の方の接客もあたたかかったです☕️本校でもスリランカのエージェントさんとやりとりをすることがあるので、今度スリランカ料理について詳しく聞いてみようと思います?

[Englsih／日本語]
In Hachioji City, you can eat dishes from all over the world's cuisines.The other day, I had dal bhat at the Nepalese restaurant "Naoya", which is a five-minute walk from the school and is located alongside the Hachioji Central Library. "Daal" means bean soup and "bhaat" means rice, just like a set meal in Japan. Nepal is famous for its curry, but daalbhaat was not spicy at all, and had a gentle taste ?I was glad to finally try this dish, which was introduced to me by a student a few years ago ✨I also tried Ras Malai (cottage cheese dumplings dipped in honey) for dessert for the first time, and was surprised at how sweet it was!
八王子市では世界の料理各国の料理を食べることができます。先日、学校から歩いて5分、八王子中央図書館の並びにあるネパール料理「奈央屋」さんで、ダルバート（दालभात）を食べました。ダルは豆のスープ、バートはご飯の意味で、日本の定食のようなものです。カレーで有名なネパールですが、ダルバートはまったく辛くなくやさしい味でした?数年前に学生から紹介された料理なので、やっと食べられてうれしかったです✨デザートにラスマライ（ रस मलाई カッテージチーズの団子を蜜につけたもの）も初めて食べましたが、甘すぎてびっくりしました（笑）

Went to Karuizawa for Golden Week!

We booked our shinkansen tickets well in advance so we were basically flipping a coin with the weather, but it still managed to be a really fun trip despite 2/3 days being rain.

We were able to do a lot of shopping at the outlet mall near the station and other places in the area on the first and third days when it rained so it worked out perfectly.

My girlfriend's friend was headed back home from Tokyo the same direction we were headed so she stayed one night with us and then we were able to all hang out and go shopping in Karuizawa for most of the day after which she hopped back on the shinkansen towards home.

The second day was really nice weather, despite being just a bit chilly, but it was still nice enough that we were able to rent some bicycles and ride around the area.
The place where we rented the bikes gave us a nice sightseeing route to go on and so we were able to see a bunch of different places and use our time effectively.

When we were headed into town we crossed a bridge and there was a nice view of Mt. Asama with a ton of fisherman fishing along the river below the bridge. It was a pretty cool sight. We even got to see someone catch a fish as well.

We obviously went to Shiraito Falls as well and it was really beautiful. There was a sign behind that described how the water took around 5 years to come out of the ground where the waterfall was or something to that effect as well. The path leading up the waterfall was quite neat as well, with the river running next to it and a giant fallen tree with more smaller waterfalls to go with it. There was also two wooden carvings of the characters from Demon Slayer (鬼滅の刃) which was interesting.

The food in the area was delicious as well. We were staying at a pension and we only had breakfast with our stay, so we ended up going to another pension where they had yakiniku and we got a pretty good price for a massive platter of food. I was so full at the end I'm not sure how I made it back to where we were staying for the night lol.

The third day we did some shopping up at Harunire Terrace (ハルニレテラス) and we kind of just relaxed in the area. It was a pretty trendy place surrounded by nature and there was a hot spring up the road as well. We wanted to go in the hot spring but there was a pretty long line so we decided to pass.

We ate dinner at one of the restaurants at the terrace and while all of the indoor seats were taken, we were able to get some outdoor seating.
It was cold out so I didn't think it would be a good idea, but they had some heaters outside and blankets and it was actually quite enjoyable.

Had a lot of fun and it was a really great place. We might travel there again during the summer when it's warmer as well or maybe in autumn when the leaves change color. I definitely recommend giving it a visit!

Found a nice izakaya in Kanda today.
The name is Kakuuchi Inagaki (角打 いながき). I think that's the reading for the kanji at least...
The place had a really nice atmosphere and some really good food at very reasonable prices.
I ordered the Saba no Shioyaki (さばの塩焼き, salt grilled mackerel) and it was really tasty and only cost 750 yen as well.
Definitely a nice place to drop by for some after work drinks with a friend or coworker or just for lunch like I did.

It seems like they serve nikomi and oden later at night as well, so if you like that I definitely recommend it.

Was nice weather over the weekend so I did a little exploring.

Found this nice little temple near the Sumida River called Hozoin Temple (寳蔵院) in Arakawa.
I wasn't sure where exactly I was allowed to go inside the temple, and I didn't have much time anyways, so I just took a peak through the gates and snapped a photo.
It was a really quaint place and apparently it has some landscape paintings and itabi tablets.
From what I saw, it looked like there was a garden across the ground.
Maybe a rock garden or something of the sort, I wasn't able to get a good look at it though.
The area around the temple was the hunting grounds of the Tokugawa Shogunate as well it seems.
Pretty amazing to imagine there was enough greenery in the area to hunt in the past.

Also managed to stop by a nice udon/soba restaurant for lunch.
It was called Sunaba (砂場) I believe.
I ordered the kamo (duck) nanban udon and it tasted great.
Haven't had duck in a while, but it's always a treat.
The lady taking orders was really nice as well.
Overall a great place!

淡路島淡路市の西海岸にある淡路島ハンバーガーのお店 ミエレでの暖かい日のハンバーガーと穏やかな春と海です。

焼肉
Yakiniku

焼肉 牛宮城＠東京都渋谷区宇田川町
YAKINIKU GYUGUJOU＠Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

焼肉 牛宮城
東京都渋谷区宇田川町12-9 ジュール渋谷 5F
YAKINIKU GYUGUJOU
Joule Shibuya 5F, 12-9 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

初めて食べた
フルーツ＆チョコバスケット?
こんな時期でも周りの皆が
笑顔になれる事がいっぱいしたい☺️

Just some more photos to wrap up our trip to Nikko.

I took a bunch of photos of different monuments and buildings that seemed important or had lavish decorations.
I can't make out what the writing on the monument says but I can at least make out the kanji for heart (心).

I also liked the golden palanquins inside the the building in the forth photo, although I'm not sure if they were used at some point or are simply for decoration.

The other photos are from Futarasan Chugushi Shrine (二荒山中宮祠神社) located in front of Lake Chuzenji.
Unfortunately we didn't have time to go inside the shrine but I was at least able to take some nice photos of the torii gate.
Apparently it has a kagura hall as well and the entrance to Mt. Nantai is located inside the shrine as well.

And finally, just an assortment of food that I haven't posted yet.
All of it tasted great.
It was definitely a trip I'm never going to forget!

Took a trip out to Nikko, Tochigi over the three day weekend and had an incredible time.
The purpose of the trip was to celebrate my girlfriend's sister's college graduation so we wanted to make it as memorable as possible.
I don't have enough room to fit this into one post so I'll post the rest throughout the week.

We started out from Tokyo and had lunch somewhere Nikko Toshogu Shrine.
I'm not sure if Yuba is a local specialty but it seemed like literally every single restaurant in the area was selling it so I'm assuming that was the case.
It was my first time trying it and it was pretty interesting I guess you could say.
It tasted alright with the soy sauce and radish but I think I prefer normal tofu instead. Either way it was a nice experience.

After eating we headed out to Nikko Toshogu Shrine nearby and man was it amazing.
Everything was so lavishly decorated that I couldn't stop taking photos.
The pagoda was incredibly beautiful as well and the snow covering the Nikko area made everything even more beautiful.

I was lucky enough to get a really nice shot of the corridor full of lanterns while no one was walking through the area as well.
I also took a photo of the torii gate at the top of the steps as it had a very strong presence and signaled the end of the long journey up the steps to reach the inner shrine.

Unfortunately the main gate was undergoing repairs so it was completely covered in tarp and surrounded by staging so I wasn't able to get a photo of it, but I did get some really cool shots of the main shrine.

I tried as hard as I could to get some good photos of the grave of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and while I think the photo of the gate isn't bad, I think I'd need a better camera to get a good shot of the crane and his tomb.
That being said it was still really awesome to see.

After checking out the shrine we headed out to Kegon Falls and I managed to get some really nice videos and some decent photos as well.
I can't post the videos or I would.
It was really awesome seeing the icicles surrounding the waterfall and all of the frozen scenery as well.
Even just taking the lift down to the waterfall was an experience.
After we left the waterfall observation deck and went back up the elevator we got some suiton (水団, flour dumplings in soup) and shared it between the three of us as a light snack before dinner later that evening.
We also visited Lake Chuzenji and admired the scenery there for a bit as well.
We didn't spend a ton of time here so this photo was the best I could do.
I like that I was able to get the sign in the shot though so I can't complain.

After enjoying the view of the lake we headed to our hotel and ate dinner and had some wine.
The place we stayed at was called "Lamb Chop" (ペンション・ラムチャップ日光).
The food was great and service provided by the the owners was top notch, so I definitely recommend checking it out if you're looking for a place to stay in the area.

After dinner we headed back to our room and I was so exhausted I fell asleep almost instantly.

And that was the end of day 1! I'll post day two tomorrow since this post is getting quite long now!

Forgot to include this in my post yesterday so I'm posting it today.

When I was walking to Minami-Senju I stopped in for lunch at a place called "Hikari Ramen" (中華そば 光) and enjoyed a really interesting bowl of ramen...

I got the special shoyu ramen (特製醬油らーめん) I believe it was, and I think it cost about ~1000 yen but it had some unique characteristics as you can probably tell by the photo.

I'm pretty sure out of all the bowls of ramen I've eaten I've never had one with a pink egg.
I was surprised at first but just thought it was kind of something funny that gave the ramen shop its own sort of identity.
Also, while I have had meatballs in some of the ramen I've eaten before, it's quite rare in my experience (or maybe I'm just not ordering the right ramen lol) so I thought that was kind of interesting as well.

The ramen tasted great though, the pink didn't add any extra unique flavor to the egg as far as I could tell but it was all really good.

Interestingly enough, the seats downstairs were all taken and one of the people said that they had extra seating upstairs where I was shown into a sort of like storage room with no one else in it lol.
It was an interesting experience but it was nice since I got to eat all by myself and I could even see out of the window a bit.

All in all it was a good experience and I recommend it if you're in the area!
It's really close to Minowabashi Station

I didn't have enough space to write it the other day, but after visiting Fukuda Inari Shrine the other day in Nishi-Omiya, Saitama we stopped by a café called Mango Tree Cafe, a small Thai restaurant on the way back to the station.

We'd already eaten, so we just wanted to sit down and relax from all the walking and to catch a break from the cold. We ordered some frozen drinks and a mango ice cream which all tasted quite good. I think the ice cream was the best but I didn't get a picture of it.

I ordered the watermelon frozen juice and it was pretty nice, but they had something called "manaonade" (アンチャンマナオネード) which I guess means "blue tea" or "butterfly pea flower tea-ade" (lol).
It's a type of herbal tea I guess but it seemed interesting. I was considering getting it, but I'd never heard of it before so decided to stay on the safe side and just get the watermelon.

I'll probably try it next time as I know this place is a chain restaurant with other locations in Tokyo. Plus I never really eat Thai food, so it'd be something nice to try for a change

Happy new year? I was interested in visiting a kotatsu cafe and finally found one in Shimokitazawa! It was called Cafe Stay Happy and made me happy ? The atmosphere and food was really good ❤️

Went to a soba restaurant in Akabane called "Zenmi Kotobuki" (禅味寿).

I got the "天せいろ" (Ten Seiro "Tempura Soba Served on a Bamboo Wicker Tray" If I had to translate it literally I guess lol).
Cost 1350 yen and it was 大盛サービス (free extra serving of noodles).
And who am I to turn down free noodles? The choice was obvious and so I got the extra helping!

I really liked the atmosphere of the place too. The waitresses were wearing Japanese-style clothing as well, which made it a really nice experience.

I always enjoy visiting small shops like this where the owners have it decorated in their own style and you can see all of the bottles of sake or whatever else is used to create the atmosphere of the restaurant.

Anyways, as for the food, the tempura was cooked really well and the soba was the perfect texture. At the end of the meal they brought some hot soba water so I could drink the remaining tsuyu (soba sauce) as a sort of warm drink. Was a great experience that I haven't had in a while!

Like I mentioned yesterday, I went to "Tokyo Portcity Takeshiba" over the weekend and there were a ton of restaurants.

The one that I chose to eat at was a tough choice, but I ultimately settled on "Do Miso Tokyo Portcity Takeshiba" (ど・みそ 東京ポートシティ竹芝店), but there was also an Okinawan-themed restaurant right next to it called "Okinawa Bar Kafu" (沖縄酒場 かふー) that looked really nice as well, and smelled good.

Either way from across the isle I got to eat some delicious ramen while listening to the Okinawan music which was really relaxing and created a nice atmosphere.

I'm not sure what the ramen I got was called it was just the normal miso ramen from my understanding and I believe it cost ¥1100.
There's another one that looks similar, has a similar name, and costs ¥1200 but that's a white miso ramen and not the one that I got.
Either way, I'm sure it tastes good as well, because my ramen tasted great!
I really liked that the restaurant had metal cups as well, it gives the water a different flavor and always makes it feel more refreshing too (in my opinion at least).

One thing I forgot to mention about the building; if you open up their website, another futuristic feature you'll find is that the building actually shows the number of people in the building at any one time and also shows that percentage of male and female visitors. I thought this was really amazing.
I'm not sure how it's done, but they must have censors located at the doors or in other places around the building that can analyze body structure or something similar. Either way it's a cool place!

Went to Ootoya again and ordered something new.

The dish used to come with meatballs if I remember correctly but it seems they changed it to fried chicken.
Goes much better with the meal in my opinion and the grated radish over the top of it was a nice touch.

I also really liked the pumpkin croquettes, I'm used to just normal croquette's (I'm not even sure what they're filled with), but this was a nice change of pace and was kind of refreshing, probably because it felt very healthy lol.

As always all of the side items tasted great and it was all only ¥740, so pretty much a steal if you ask me

Went to a place in Nihonbashi called Hakata Dojo (博多道場) and had a really nice lunch. It's like an izakaya but it had a really nice lunchtime atmosphere as well.

I ordered the 日替わり肉ランチ which cost about ¥1000 but it tasted great. I really liked the moyashi that came with the beef plate, lots of flavor and the moyashi were really juicy as well so that was nice.

It was a really nice place overall, I'd like to go back and see what it's like at night, maybe they have some special courses or something as well. I really liked the lanterns though, I think that's probably what contributed most to the place having a nice atmosphere. That and it wasn't exceptionally loud like some izakaya I've been to.
Also the interior was decorated quite nicely as well, besides the lanterns.

Stopped by Saizeriya for lunch and got a cod roe and shrimp doria (たらこと海老のドリア).

Saizeriya is always a great place to stop by for lunch as it's generally quick and cheap.
It was a set meal so it came with a soup and salad as well, but I forgot to to photos of those.
The soup was a sort of consommé soup and was nothing special, but it tasted good and was all-you-can-drink so that was pretty nice. I ended up getting a few cups of it.

The shrimp and cod doria was great and I love the nori on top - plentiful and tastes great.
The best part is all of this was only ¥500 so it's really reasonable, as you'd expect of Saizeriya.

Just thought I'd share this today, nothing too special

Was in Kanda the other day for an errand and stopped by this place called "Soba Dokoro Kameya" (そば処 かめや) outside of Kanda Station.

It says "立食い" which means "standing noodles," but I didn't actually see any places to stand and eat so maybe it just meant that it was simple and quick like a standing noodle shop.
I've never actually experienced what it's like to eat at a standing noodle restaurant (and actually stand while eating) but I think I prefer sitting anyways.
I like to relax when I eat so I suppose that's why, but I should at least try it once, who knows, I might like it.

Anyways, the place seems really affordable. I ordered the Ten Tama Soba since it was the most popular dish and it tasted great.
The soup was really good and the egg was perfectly cooked.
The texture of the noodles was also perfect.
It's definitely a place to check out if your in the Kanda area and looking for some noodles.

I think they may only be open during the morning and night, but I went around 4pm so maybe they close around that time to prepare for dinner.