Exploring Hirosaki during Golden Week

After breakfast, we walked to Former Yoshii Shuzō Brick Warehouse (旧吉井酒造煉瓦倉庫).

One of the red brick warehouses is a contemporary art museum.

Meanwhile, the other one is a restaurant with a small souvenir section.

Not sure why they hung this apple from the top. Maybe it is one of the art exhibit.

The same building was also a brewery for A factory.

After that, we walked to Saishōin Temple (最勝院).

Website: http://www15.plala.or.jp/SAISYOU/

There is a 5 story pagoda at this temple.

This temple is interesting as it was the first time that I am seeing a temple with rabbit guardians.

Apparently, this was built to commemorate those who died in the battle during the reunification of the Tsugaru district.

For lunch, we went to Taishō Roman Tea Room (大正浪漫喫茶室).

Website: https://www.facebook.com/fujitataisyoromankissa/

Look at how picturesque the place looks!

So retro!

The simple menu is on display outside for all to see.

When we were there, there were already many people there and we had to wait in line

There is a huge waiting area in the building with a grand piano. Honestly, I felt that they could've used that space to expand the restaurant area so that they can serve more people at once.

The simple salad that came with the set lunch.

My apple pie dessert that came before the main dish.

The place was really busy so they asked if they could serve the dessert first and I said yes.

Apple pie is not be go to choice for dessert but it is every in Aomori so I have been have so many apple pies there.

The cheese curry main dish which was yummy but I felt that it was a bit small.

We came to this place because my first option for lunch was closed on that day. Overall, it is not too bad as it is near Hirosaki park and there are benches outside for us to sit while we wait for our turn. Also, the view here isn't too bad.

Website: https://www.hirosakipark.jp/

After lunch, we made our way to Hirosaki Park (弘前公園) which had really beautiful shidarezakura blooming.

The castle that we can enter but omg, the passages are so narrow and steep!!!

It is nice to finally be able to visit the famous Hirosaki Park which is famous for it's sakura.

While there are many people, you can still manage to take nice pictures with no one in the background.

There are many shidarezakura around the park.

There are also other gardens with flowers such as tulips

Lol, posing with the tulips.

After this, it was starting to get late and it was time for us to travel back to Aomori for dinner.

Libero (カフェ・リベロ)

The next morning, we woke up early to catch a train to Hakata as we wanted to visit Hirosaki Park for Sakura.

The beautiful looking train hat we took

The seats are clean and comfortable.

Lol, I guess you can only see this in Aomori.

Vending machine that only sells apple juice. 

There is even a chart which shows you the flavour profile of the different kind of apple juice. 

Which kind would you prefer?

Big apple statue in the station!

Apply on the post box!

Once at Hirosaki, we walked to Liberoカフェ・リベロ for breakfast.

Website: https://cafelibero.jimdofree.com/

Small little cafe on the side of the road with a nice ambience. When we were there, we were the only customers and hence, felt like we got the whole place to ourselves. 

The interesting interior deco.

As it was still cold, they have a heat radiator there to keep the place warm.

The above is J's breakfast set. Meanwhile, I ordered their french toast with ice cream.

As breakfast a little small, we also added an apple pie because why not? We are in Aomori after all.

Overall, the food is simple but the taste is decent. The place in only runned by one lady so it might take sometime for everything to be served.

 

Dinner at UGUISU, Aomori

Initially, I planned to grab sushi for dinner at this popular restaurant in Aomori. However, I did not expect restaurants here to be so busy during dinner time that we would have to make a reservation in advanced.

After walking around town for a while, we ended up here at UGUISU, which is located on the 1st floor of  Daiwa Roynet Hotel.

Website: https://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ001250613/yoyaku/?vos=othpporgzzzzx00000001

The interior is spacious and modern.

Judging from the interior, the place must be pretty new.

The place was pretty fancy and they served otoushi. Luckily, this meatball was yummy.

We ordered more appetizer and accidentally got more meatballs. Lol. Luckily, these are of a different style and the taste was totally different.

This cold lime soba was super refreshing and I really enjoyed it.

This gyu mabushi was super delicious.

Look at the amount of beef on this!

We also ordered a kakiage which was delicious! Everything here is really good.

We ended the meal with a matcha anmitsu which was also good. So glad to be able to end the meal with a yummy dessert.

The next night we ended up there too because another restaurant that we wanted to dine at had a really long queue and we were not sure how long we had to wait.

This night, we ordered the potato salad which was yummy.

We had the gyu steak instead of the gyu mabushi but this was also super delicious! They grilled the beef so well here.

We also had an apple salad which was very refreshing and gave me ideas to start making apple salad at home.

And lastly, we had this platter of appetizer which was really nice because we got to try 8 different kind of dishes which were all very good btw.

So yea, if you are in Aomori, I highly recommend UGUISU. We were here back to back for 2 nights in a row because we did not make reservations at other restaurants and we could easily walk in here.

This place is clean and spacious. It was really very comfortable to dine here.

The food is good too. Definitely a place that I would return to again for a meal when I visit Aomori again.