Cake Set at Saint Maria

Near Sannomiya station there is a little cafe called Saint Maria. Although the atmosphere leaves something to be desired (it's kind of like a smoky 70's diner, without any of the kind of classiness you might be trying to imagine), the cake set was perfect for a rainy day.


It was only 500 yen for your choice of cake and your choice of specialty drink. We chose the berry cake with a caramel latte.


This week we had Typhoon Roke messing up all kind of plans for sports day at school and draining the sunlight and happy weather. Despite the gloom, it was a nice chance to catch up on busy work, calm down after such a crazy busy summer, and fall into autumn. We've had chances to try and break into a bit of reading and creative endeavors, do lots of exercise, and go on fun little dates like our trip to Saint Maria cafe. Luckily sunshine is in the forecast all weekend, so we can relax in brighter moods!

Kitano Starbucks

It's been a while since I've been able to pursue my hobby of exploring local cafes, so I was happy when Chad asked if I wanted to go to Kitano to check out the Starbucks there. Obviously, I'm aware that Starbucks is hardly a local cafe. However, the Starbucks in Kitano has something special to offer. Kitano is a historical district in Kobe near our apartment, and Starbucks is located in one of the cultural properties there.

The building used to house Americans staying in the area, and has a really unique atmosphere.

There were many cozy rooms to choose from, and in the end we chose this little corner on the second floor. The building is one of a kind for Starbucks, but the flavors of their products were the same--reliably delicious! We had vanilla bean frozen frappuccinos, and then posed for a quick shot before reluctantly continuing on our way.

Something to think about...

(We'll have to try this place sometime so we can live strong!)

Fukuoka Trip: Day 2

On the second day of our trip it was supposed to be rainy, but we got super lucky with sunshine all day! We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go to a little island called Nokonoshima. First we took a 30-40 minute bus ride to get from Hakata to the ferry terminal, and then we hopped on the ferry (about 400 yen round trip).

Riding the ferry reminded us of our honeymoon in northern Michigan, and of Mackinac Island!

When we got to the island, it was very quiet without much happening and without many people. There were little shops near the ferry terminal, and a bus waiting to take tourists up to a flower park. We were a bit tired of riding bus, and we didn't want to pay 1000 yen to see the flower garden, so we decided to rent bicycles. After all, Nokonoshima is only about 5 miles round, and we biked around Mackinac Island (about twice the size) no problem. It would be fun...wouldn't it?

Turns out, the trails on Nokonoshima are almost all uphill. I don't know how it's possible--even when we were circling back, we went uphill the majority of the time. I'm not joking. Steep, steep hills for about 2 1/2 hours. We did have about a 10 minute respite of downhill on the way back, but that was it. Phew! I'm getting tired just remembering it.

We were also able to take a rest at a beach on the island. I was so excited--it had been a long time since we'd been to the beach to swim, and we've been so homesick for Michigan beaches!

From a distance, it looks quite beautiful! Unfortunately, the water was extremely dirty, but we made the most of it. One surprise for me was the taste of salt! I'd never swam in salt-water before, and it was pretty strange! (...and gross.)

To use the facilities, we would have had to pay 1000 yen (eek! They really try and get as much money as they can on this lonely little island!), so we decided to skip bathrooms and --as covertly as possible-- change right on the beach. It was a successful, albeit tricky, job.

There were gold flecks in the sand!

After hanging out at the beach, we finished our loop around the island. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore (I was getting sunburned despite sunscreen, and we were both super tired from all that climbing up and up), I spotted a pretty butterfly and was cheered up a bit.


When our hike was finally complete, we returned our bikes and headed to this lone cafe:



I loved the colors and the eccentric style of this cafe. We ordered Orange Floats with the Nokonoshima brand orange soda and orange sherbet. For 350 yen per float, it was a nice way to relax after all that work! Very yummy.




We had a good rest at the cafe, and caught the next ferry back to Fukuoka. It started to rain when we got back (we were so lucky it didn't rain earlier!), so we went shopping for a while and waited for the yatai, or street stalls, to open up and down the streets.


Fukuoka is famous for yatai, so we were sure to sample food from a couple of them. After that, we headed to Ippudo, a well-known restaurant selling Hakata ramen.

What a delicious meal after such a long --but good!-- day. I had the basic Hakata ramen (top), and Chad tried a spicier version. Both were soooo good. With full bellies and tired legs, we decided to call it a night.

Merry-Go-Round Cafe

I am in love with a little children's bookstore near our apartment called the Merry-Go-Round. There are three sections in the store: In one small area, they sell imported goods from the Netherlands, in another, larger area they sell children's books, and --best of all!-- another area serves as a coffee and tea room!

Doesn't it look inviting?

This Christmas tree is so simple and adorable.

Here is a glimpse of the book area, as well as the opening to the coffee and tea room.

On the archway we saw this cute sign:

And to the left of where we sat we saw this:

To the right we saw this:

We were given this menu:

And we saw these cute signs, drank Chai tea, and got a cute yellow bill, stamped with a little bus!

To this day, I still feel joy when looking at children's books. There is just something so exciting about opening the covers and discovering the colorful adventures on each page. Combining that pleasure with specialty imports and a simple, comfortable cafe makes for a lovely little shop.

Mori no Kichin

I may have mentioned before that I love visiting little cafes, particularly locally owned ones with character. One cafe I've been longing to try out for a long time is Mori no Kichin, or Forest Kitchen.

The cafe sign alone looked cute, simple and inviting, and the atmosphere inside held up to be the same. Despite walking into a strong smoky smell, I was determined to give the cafe a chance. I hadn't waited this long to walk right back out (and, like I said, it was inviting).

The only customers aside from us sat right up at the bar, gossiping and laughing loudly. They even talked about us, wondering aloud where we were from and commenting on how great our Japanese was (yeah! we fooled them!). After a few minutes it was easy to conclude that they were all close friends--perhaps even family.

Chad and I ordered the lunch set of the day and hoped by the time it was served we'd be used to the smoke (and that we could taste our food!). To be honest, although it was nice enough, we were a little worried about how great of a meal we'd be getting.

Clearly, we shouldn't have wasted our energy on worrying! The lunch set was soooo yummy! Miso Katsu, or pork cutlet with miso paste, miso soup, rice, tsukemono (pickled veggies) and a sweet piece of melon. All for 780 yen each.

Will we be going back to the cafe? Maybe someday. But for now, I've got others on my list to try!

Taiyo no Cafe

There are many interesting little cafes tucked away in Yokkaichi, and one of them is Taiyo no Cafe. Taiyo means "sun," and the warm feeling sunshine brings is definitely reflected in Taiyo's atmosphere. It is a very simple, open, laid-back cafe in which French, Bossa Americana music and more is played to set customers at ease. (For an example, check out this pretty little version of "Jambalaya" sung by Lisa Ono.)

I love the painting on the main wall:

I've been to the cafe twice now, and both times I ordered the tuna egg salad sandwich that comes with a side of mixed fruit and jello cubes. So yummy! They also serve all-you-can-eat-parfaits for an extra 420 yen, but I've never tried them. Some friends say the parfaits are addicting, so I guess it's safer that I stay away from that option for now! ;-)

Hope you've been able to enjoy some sunshine out your way--it's been rather rainy and overcast lately here (but at least today was sunny!).