· ✽ Mille-feuille pie ✽ · #sweetsurprise #lovelylayers #covertchocolate #scrumptiousstrawberries #TBT

This is embarrassing. Usually, the duck and I are too proud to even consider posting obviously shaky snapshots on here (shaky is for videos only), but we’re running out of photographic memories of tasty snacks we’ve eaten, so now we have to resort to fuzzy photos of fabulous outside foods we ate at home (apologies to your eyes – wait! I know! – let’s make this ‘art’ and call it a ‘nearsightedness-simulation’):

One Tokyo spring day, the duck and I came home to a lovely little dessert waiting for us: a Mille-feuille Pie with Strawberry & Chocolate from La Petite Mercerie in one of the Shinjuku Lumines. Our exceptional housemate Mm had bought it for a photographic project. But instead of eating her model herself afterward, she decided to give it to us. The duck and I were so thrilled and surprised that we took a single shaky shot of our lovely pie before devouring it. It was delicious! First of all, eating strawberries as a persistently poor person in Japan always feels like a treat which is why they were our favorite part, especially paired with the puff pastry pieces and the custard-/whipped cream topping. The layers of puff pastry, chocolate cakes, and -mousse tasted divine and made this one of the fanciest desserts the duck and I have ever had. This is why we decided to give this delectable memory a home on this blog, even though the photo doesn’t even remotely measure up to the taste. 4/5 ducks, only because of the mundane ambiance of our bedroom (but with leftover happiness about our lovely house mate).
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I wonder if the duck and I will ever eat out again. Only time (and our motivation) will tell…

♪Blueberry Pancakes #Goldenweekeats #sweetswithfriends #Shinjukumemories #pancakeseverywhere #TBT

All this writing about pancakes last week reminded the duck and me of a day two years ago when we were going to meet our sugar-appreciation-pals for an afternoon at Sweets Paradise, a dessert buffet! Unfortunately the Shinjuku store was fully booked, so we had to find another place to get our sugar fix. When we were walking through one of the many Shinjuku department stores, looking for an alternative, we decided that pancakes wouldn’t be half bad when we saw that Hawaiian Pancake Factory seemed to have a few empty tables. The duck and I aren’t huge fans of American style pancakes, but, surprisingly, we enjoyed our blueberry pancakes more than we had expected and the lovely conversation with our friends made this an unforgettable afternoon! 3/5 blueberries for the pancakes ♪ 5/5 sugar cubes for our sweet friends ♪

Coincidentally there is another reason this day is burnt into my memory. Throughout our strolls through Shinjuku my ankle started acting up and by the time I had reached my station the pain had gotten so bad that it took me about 20 minutes to cover the 200 meters home (I suspect all the walking we did on our Akita trip a few days prior). Fortunately all this happened during Golden Week so that the duck and I just stayed in, watched movies and waited for my ankle to get better… and we had the sweet memories of the pancakes (and plenty of movies) to keep us cheerful throughout those days of minimal mobility.

Do you have any vivid memories of foods you ate, conversations you had or slooooow walks home?

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P.S.: We did end up going to Sweets Paradise a few weeks later – with a reservation. Our plates were way too ugly (as in filled to the brim with random pieces of cake and other desserts) to share on here, though  😛

2017

Dear diary,

the year is nearing its end which is the perfect time to look back on all the adventures the duck and I have gone on since we arrived in Japan…

In order to get the right Tokyo feel, and to aid us in reminiscing, we took a little stroll (or waddle) around Shinjuku station where we made a few fun discoveries (like this little turquoise plastic ball – more to this at the end of this post):

Anmitsu ♪ #Japanesedessert #Shinjukustation #surpriseice #friendstime #TBT

Of course there had to be another overly cute post about all the sugar the duck and I consume! This food picture was taken just days after our last #ThrowbackThursday when Tokyo was still hot and humid (as opposed to the current temperatures that occasionally come close to the dreaded zero).

About four months ago we met our friends and went to a busy cafe at one of the shopping malls inside Shinjuku station. It’s called Cafe Amati. The duck and I ordered anmitsu, a typical Japanese dessert with agar-jelly, anko, some other sweet components and surprise ice cream! Since the duck and I aren’t really friends with ice cream, we had some reservations. But there was no way we would let anything matcha flavored go to waste, so we ate up! And, it was pretty good – even the ice cream was friendly ♥
Recommended if you love ice cream and busy places. 4/5 Ducks for variety and matcha ♪

That was fun! Catching up with our friends was also lots of fun. Oh, how I miss the good old ‘we’re new to Japan and want to try out everything’-days! The duck and I are still having fun, though – even without surprise-ice.

Sweet greetings from the past!

Cute Matcha Latte ♥ #delicious #cutestuffforlife #Shinjukucafe #liquidheaven #TBT

There has never been a title more fitting on this blog than this one. At least that’s what I think (is that how hashtags are used? I have no idea). Since the duck and I don’t have an active Instagram account we decided that, today, we will turn our blog into our own little cute food pic sharing platform.

About three months ago we met our friend to check out a cute little cafe close to Shinjuku station. I believe its name was Coto Cafe. The duck and I ordered a matcha latte with brown sugar syrup. In our excitement for a hot matcha drink we could not even anticipate the cuteness in which it was going to be presented to us. That sure was a happy first cafe experience as new Tokyo locals ♥
Do recommend. 5/5 ducks for surprise cuteness ♪

We hope you enjoyed our little alternative format adventure. It was fun doing something slightly different for a change. I think we did the duck’s afternoon tea friend proud.

Tea you next time 🙂

Walking from Shibuya to Shinjuku

Why are we always so slow to post updates, you ask? Well, let me tell you a little story instead: The other day the duck and I had an appointment in Shibuya. After getting lost for nearly half an hour despite using a map, we had to record our first severe instance of being late in Japan. That was a bit of a shock! After the meeting, we decided to walk it off on a little stroll from Shibuya to Shinjuku – to get some exercise (okay, we wanted to save money. That’s the main reason. But we did walk quite a bit, so there was an exercise aspect to it, too). I had taken my camera with me so I could document this strenuous walking tour through the blazing afternoon sun because if we do something as stupid as that, you can bet your bottom yen that we’ll let everyone know about it! This is the little video that came out of this exhausting hike through the wilderness (of Tokyo).
For my previous attempt at making a video, I got feedback that it was pretty “lame,” so for this one, I tried something a little bit different. Now, please sit back and take part in our walk from Shibuya to Shinjuku (see what I did there?):

We hope you enjoyed the product of our two-week editing adventure. I will work on my arm strength for less shaky videos, so maybe there will be more. One day. If we have the time… and energy. But first, we gotta change the water in our footbaths.

Duck, be so kind as to fetch me some of those herbs from the shrubbery behind our house, will you? No? Ugh… brb.