Day out in Yushima & Ueno

We came to Yushima shrine again to have a look again before going for lunch.

Back at 香港傳奇(LEGENDARY HONGKONG) again. We were the first in queue today.

Look at all the food we ordered!

We ordered 2/3 plates of each!

There were some that we did not take picture of, including the polo bun, wantan noodles and chicken rice.

We definitely over ordered because by the end we were stuffing ourselves to not waste food.

Overall, the food is not bad, but I would suggest to skip the noodles and rice.

After our very heavy lunch, we walked to Ueno Park.

J snapped these very artistic shots of ducks in the lake.

Sakura was already blooming at Ueno Park!

We had to stop for some pictures :D

Then we spotted an Uncle who brought a bag full of snacks, feeding the pigeons at the park.

As we moved nearer to the station, the sakura trees there were even nicer because they were already in full bloom!

However, there were many people here and it didn't feel as safe to take off our masks for pictures.

After that, we went to explore the underground market in Ueno. I remember visiting once before with Q many years ago. It was like a totally different place, like we were no longer in Japan. 

After IT got her groceries, we went to the BLUE LEAF CAFÉ (上野) for some desserts. This place was very busy and it was pretty hard to find seats for the 7 of us. We eventually managed to get 2 separate tables on the first floor.

Website: http://blueleafcafe.jp/

J and I got coffee and this green tea parfait. The parfait was good, but it would definitely taste better if it was summer.

The other are cramped at this corner table here LOL

After desserts, we continued shopping along ameyokocho and went clothes shopping.

Before heading home, we thought that we'd get dinner at Sushi Ro, but it was pretty popular and had a long queue. We took a number and tried waiting for it but gave up eventually as we felt that we might not be able to enter by their closing time. As it was still the SOE, shops close at 8pm.

We ended up at Obon de Gohan おぼんdeごはん 上野店. J called and they happened to have tables available that they can hold for us. So we rushed there immediately. We were super lucky because after arriving a queue started forming behind us. I guess everyone were trying to grab dinner too before heading home.

I order this udon and rice set while J had steak. His steak definitely tasted better than my order, even though mine looked a lot nicer in picture.

The steak dish, which came with tororo. I am not a fan of tororo and usually will not order sets that come with it.

 

Hotel And Rooms Shin-Osaka (ホテル・アンドルームス新大阪)

Back at Hotel And Rooms Shin-Osaka (ホテル・アンドルームス新大阪) again. I have reviewed this place before and I am back - 

https://melissa1311.blogspot.com/2020/10/hotel-and-rooms-shin-osaka.html

Back in Osaka after my meeting in Tokuyama. Had to spend the night here as we have a meeting here the next day.

As in the evening we will have to attend the conference again, I grabbed dinner immediately after checking in. I went to Maru de Sankaku ○ de ∇ （まるでさんかく）again as it is near the hotel and hence convenient.

Knowing that I will definitely be hungry in the night during the conference, I also got some desserts.

Breakfast the next morning. Breakfast here is always good. I am usually one of the first few to enter so I get to pick where I want to sit, which is usually the counter seat facing the windows.

As the customer meeting was in the afternoon, I spent the morning working in my hotel room and for lunch, I came to the same hotel restaurant that served breakfast.

When on a work trip, I am usually not in the mood to go some place far for food and would usually opt for something convenient like instant ramen or a restaurant very near the hotel. Luckily they serve soba lunch (not free of course) with the left over side dishes from breakfast.

In the evening, when I came back from work, I bought instant ramen from the convenient store and had the left over pie from the night before for dessert as I attended the last night of the work conference.

The next morning, I took the morning shinkansen back after breakfast at the hotel.

Last time, I was in room 905, this time, I was in room 705.

Another thing that I liked about this hotel is that, even when you do not ask for house keeping, they provide you with fresh towels. After my meetings, I would find fresh towels hanging in a bag on my door when I return.

Daiwa Roynet Hiroshima

Work trip to Hiroshima.

I grabbed a super late lunch at Mitchan Sohonten ekie-branch (みっちゃん総本店 広島駅新幹線口 ekie店). As it was way after lunch time, there was no queue.

Website: https://www.okonomi.co.jp/menu.html

After lunch, I stopped by the super market nearby to buy dinner and immediately checked into the hotel for my web meeting. The timing was just right for the start of the meeting.

This time I stayed at Daiwa Roynet Hiroshima.

The room was small, but I liked that they had an extra table. I used the main table for work and placed my food on the small table.

As the room was small, I was super surprised by how big the bathroom was! This here is the toilet and sink area.

Then there is this whole separate bath area! I did not expect that the bathroom will be this huge. It was so tempting and I had to take a late night bath in it after dinner, right before bed.

For dinner, I had salad and Sumire instant ramen. There was so many meetings in the evening, I almost barely had time for dinner.  I was working and eating at the same time, so it was good to have this other table to put my food on.

I also bought this Ringo apply pie for dessert. Super glad that I got it because dinner was not enough for me. We had this 3 day conference thing that runs for several hours in the evening, so it was great to have this as a snack.

My view from the room in the morning. 

Spotted a supermarket down there. I think the next time, I will stop by to see what is available there.

Again, no breakfast at the hotel for me, as I am in a rush to Tokuyama.

The shinkansen always passes by this area with lots of old factories.

Once there, I grabbed breakfast from the convenient store as I wait for my colleagues to arrive at the station. I like Tokuyama station because right outside the shinkansen gates, there are tables and chairs that are free for all to use.

Tables and chairs are usually hard to come by at the stations. Here, people will usually be grabbing a quick meal or working at these tables, while waiting to group up with their colleagues or friends.

Kawazu sakura again, 2021 edition

Back at Miura Kaigan again for Kawazu sakura. A very nice foreigner stranger offered to take this picture for us. He must have overheard us speaking in English and he offered to help in English. :D

Last year when we visited with SW, the place was empty because it was raining so heavily.

This year, it was super windy and drizzled for a few minutes. Other than the strong wind, which made it hard really cold and hard to open our eyes, the weather was pretty nice.

Not sure why there were so few people there on that day, but we took advantage of that and took some pretty nice shots with the tripod.

I really like the pink with the yellow and we've been back every year even though it is the same view every year.

Found a spot under the tree that would allow me to snap pictures closer to the flowers.

It was truly a great day and this place is a lot more enjoyable when there is no crowd. You can really take your time to snap pictures as you like.

One more by the station before leaving.

Back in Yokohama station for some gyukatsu! Lol, by the time we arrived back in Yokohama station, it wasn't even 11am yet. LOL

Bought some Krispy Kreme home for desserts as they had some interesting flavours! In Japan, I prefer Krispy Kreme to Mister Donut as I find the donuts lighter and has better seasonal toppings.