As promised, the duck and I proudly share a photo celebrating a snack we ate outside our home:
Our friend T had wanted to visit Plants and Cakes, a cafe in Frankfurt that offers plant-based, gluten- and (refined) sugar-free treats, for a while. Almost two years later, we finally had our cake and ate it too. After a quick examination of the display case, the duck and I predictably ordered the one matcha treat we could find: A raw Mango Matcha Brownie. Its flavor was a bit too mild for our tastes – the hint of matcha, mixed with the fruitiness of the mango, couldn’t satisfy our matcha cravings. We also got a Peanut Choc Raw Cake Pod with oats to share with T and her travel friend, which was divine! Our considerate cake companions kindly let us try their raw mini cakes too. So we also got to taste passionfruit with berries, I think, and something with white chocolate and peanut, maybe? All told, we had a lovely, flavorful afternoon. 4/5 tea leaves for our culinary satisfaction (as matcha snobs), 5/5 plants and cakes for the convivial company, and an appealing ambiance. ・🪴♡🍰・
This was also the perfect opportunity to test the photographic abilities of our compact new camera friend before we went on a cinematographic adventure the next day. More on that some other time.
Our friend N’s birthday is in April. So, every year around this time, the duck and I reminisce about the Kokubunji coffee tour – in our coffee snob period – that we went on a few days before we were to leave Tokyo. After having had one of the best iced coffees of our lives at Life Size Cribe, we sat down for an Amanatsu (a Japanese citrus fruit) peel and Camomile muffin served with tofu cream at Café Slow while N, keeping with the actual theme of our outing, had her second cup of lovely coffee. This muffin was super satisfying, and getting to see a bit of Kokubunji was just as great! 5/5 ducks for an amazing coffee-themed afternoon in an area we should have explored much sooner! ☆★☆★☆
We can’t wait to continue our Kokubunji exploration and coffee snobbery, hopefully in the not too distant future!
It’s all about coffee with the duck and me! Recently we’ve begun reminiscing about one of the most expensive, but also fanciest, cups of black coffee we’ve enjoyed when we were in Kyoto foraging for fine foliage almost three years ago; after having seen lots of leaves and a few shrines and temples, accompanied by icy December winds, we decided to stop for some afternoon coffee on Shijo-dori, the road that leads to the infamous gate of Yasaka shrine (that we featured in our Kyoto travel video). Kyosendō is a sweets shop and cafe that is more famous for its traditional Japanese sweets and green tea desserts than for its coffee, but the duck and I were in a cheap mood, so we decided to go with the ‘hot coffee’ that ran somewhere between 600 and 800 yen, a relatively common price for a cup of black coffee- but this one came with a fancy coconut cookie and have you seen the sugar?! The lovely Japanese stoneware cup, the nice atmosphere and the feeling of being (back) in Kyoto – with amazing travel buddies! – made this experience wonderfully memorable and particularly delightful. 4/5 colorful leaves for a cup of black coffee with a price that made us feel truly fancy. •✧•✧•·
The duck and I tend to have rather vivid memories of a lot of the things we’ve eaten outside our home, especially the pricier ones. It seems as if, subconsciously, we force ourselves to remember all the drinks and food we decided to spend money on despite their (for our means) scary price tags. Well, the duck and I love reliving beautiful memories, so we’re not complaining!
Our friend N’s birthday is in April. So, every year around this time, the duck and I reminisce about the Kokubunji coffee tour – in our 
The Duck in... side 