Tag: soba

Matsumoto + Lake Suwa – Feb ’24: part one

We spent a few days in Nagano and very pleasant it was, but really cold. The people were very friendly – I don’t want to offend but compared to Tokyo (and I know it’s because it’s a capital city, they are the same everywhere), extremely friendly.

We took the Azusa train from Tachikawa at 8:24 and arrived in Matsumoto at 10:37. It was full, so I’m glad we booked and didn’t just roll up on the day like we had planned.

We stayed at Hotel 168 aka Iroha (if you know Japanese, you’ll get it). I didn’t, my husband had ...

国内旅行: Tokyo to Hagi 3of6

We departed Hagi, bound for Izumo. It has a famous shrine – Izumo Taisha. It has a huge straw rope and was the birth place of Japan.

For lunch we went for soba and zenzai. Apparently it’s traditional (but where can’t you get soba in Japan?). It came with a little fortune and a sand charm.

Then we started strolling down towards the train station where there are lots of little souvenir type shops and kiosks selling food. We had honey ice cream.

Next, we hopped on the train to Matsue.

We’d just seen a programme the night before ...

国内旅行: Tokyo to Hagi 1of6

Up bright and early for our train to Shin-Yamaguchi. We’d had breakfast beforehand and brought some breads from the local bakery (discounted, of course) to munch on whilst onboard.

We arrived in Hagi and headed straight to Hagi Warabimochi specialty shop. I had hojicha ice cream with of course, warabimochi, .

We trotted around, admiring the plum blossoms and the ever-present natsumikan. Are they in season all year long because it seems that whenever we are there, so are they.

Off to Coffeeboy for an afternoon pick me up. I wasn’t too keen last time I went there but I ...

memories and july wish list

2021 so far memories

Is staying in the apartment and living each day like the last one considered a memory? I suppose it is, just not a great one? I am being slightly harsh here because I actually really like lurking around the apartment all day normally anyway, so life didn’t change too much for me in that sense. However, we did do a few things. Tokyo has been under a state of emergency off and on but it hasn’t been anywhere near as strict as other countries.

We spent Christmas and New Year here. We went for a cycle ...