STARBUCKS COFFEE : Strawberry cream Frappuccino

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

Today I'd like to introduce a new beverage of STARBUCKS COFFEE.

This is the new beverage,"Strawberry cream Frappuccino".
It is released on May 21, 2015.

It is 550 yen at tall size.

It is a mixture of milk and strawberry source.
The strawberry source is so fruity !!
I could feel the grains of strawberry. 

It has the sour flavor a little bit, but it is so refreshing !!
I love it !

A homemade Bento

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

Today I'd like to introduce my mother's home cooking "Bento."

Bento means a lunch in Japanese.
Bento is written in Japanese as 弁当.

This is Bento which my mother made.
My mother often makes it, because Bento is economical and healthy.

The menu of this day were meatballs,boiled snap peas,hackberry rolled with bacon, tamagoyaki.
Tamagoyaki is a dish made of eggs that have been beaten, seasoned then baked.
The red thing on the white rice was Umeboshi.
Umoboshi is a pickled plum, and it is used to prevent spoilage.

It is important to make Bento thinking about nourishment balance and color.

Gullet Sand (gullets filled with condensed milk cream)

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

I found a new product of sweets.

This is the new product, Gullet Sand.
It is released on April 21, 2015.
It is sold by Morinaga.

There are 6 of that product in one box.
It costs around 300yen.

This sweets is a kind of cake which gullets filled with cream.

The cream is made of condensed milk and it has soft smooth texture.
The gullets are very moist.

It's good !!

Cup Noodles : Vegeta Cabbage & Bacon

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

Cup Noodles is the world-famous instant noodles.
There are various flavors of Cup Noodles in Japan.

Today I'd like to introduce the new product of Cup Noodles.

This is the new product,"Vegeta Cabbage & Bacon".
It is released on May 25, 2015.

Have you ever heard the name of Vegeta?
Vegeta is a character appearing on the dragon ball.
The original animation was made and Vegeta appeared on it.

This Cup Noodle contains approximately a third of vegetables of quantity necessary per day.
The vegetables are crunchy.
The pot-au-feu-like salty soup is light and delicious.

The calorie is 305kcal, even if you drink the soup.
It is healthy!!

I love it !!

Satsukibare

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

Today was very good weather.

We call "Satsukibare" such a clear day in May.
"Satsuki" means May, "bare" means fine weather in Japanese.

May is a refreshing and good season to spend easily.
However, it has been unusually hot this May !!
I felt that it was weather like the midsummer.

I think that it is the effects of global warming.
We have to be careful with the physical condition management.

Takenoko no Nimono

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

I introduced Hachiku, last time.
Today I'd like to introduce a Japanese dish using Hachiku.

This is the dish, "Takenoko no Nimono."
Takenoko means bamboo shoots, Nimono means boiled dishes.
It is one of the representative dishes using bamboo shoots.

My mother often cooks Nimono using bamboo shoots.
It has the tastes of soup stock and soy sauce.
That is really tasty.

Hachiku is in season now !!

seasonal foods:Takenoko

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

Today I'd like to introduce one of seasonal foods.

This is the seasonal vegetable now, "Takenoko."
Takenoko means bamboo shoots.

These bamboo shoots were harvested by my parents the other day.
This is one of kinds of bamboo shoots, the black bamboo.
We call the black bamboo, "Hachiku."

Hachiku is in season between March and May. 
It has little lye.
Hachiku is soft and delicious.

Next time, I'll introduce a Japanese dish using Hachiku.

A popular yogurt in Japan :Greek yogurt

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

Today I'd like to introduce a popular yogurt in Japan.

This is the popular yogurt,"Greek yogurt".
It costs about 160yen.
It is a little expensive.

There was no yogurt like Greek yogurt in Japan, so Greek yogurt is very popular recently.

It is thick and creamy !!
I've never eaten such yogurt before.
I like it !!

TULLY'S COFFEE : AnninTofu & Mango Swirkle

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

Today I'd like to introduce a new beverage of TULLY'S COFFEE.

This is the new beverage,"AnninTofu & Mango Swirkle".
It is released on May 13, 2015.

It is 580 yen at tall size.

Annin Tofu means almond jelly.
This is the frozen drink of mango with almond jelly.

The taste of mango is so rich.
The almond jelly has good fragrance of almond and it's so creamy.

This drink sure goes down well !!
Try it !!

the rice-planting season

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

The rice-planting season has come.

The landscape of rice-planting is found in various areas in Japan.

In Japan, people transplant rice-plants before the rainy season.

I like a landscape of rice-planting, because that is a very Japanese view.

The flower journey in Hiroshima :8

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

In the end of April, I went to Sera-cho(Hiroshima prefecture) for the trip around the flower garden with my mother.

After we enjoyed the scenery of wonderful flower gardens in Sera-cho, we returned Mihara Station of Mihara-city, Hiroshima prefecture.

Mihara city is famous for octopus fishing.
I bought a souvenir in Mihara-city.

This is the souvenir,"octopus sable cookie."

This is the octopus shaped cookie.

It is not only the octopus shaped cookie but also the gingerbread containing dried octopus.
This is a very interesting souvenir !!

It was a very fun trip.

The flower journey in Hiroshima :7

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

In the end of April, I went to Sera-cho(Hiroshima prefecture) for the trip around the flower garden with my mother.

We enjoyed the scenery of wonderful flower gardens in Sera-cho.
We stopped by the local supermarket, "Shoji."

We bought another souvenir there.

This is the souvenir,"Hiroshima Lemon Rusk."
It was about 350 yen.
Hiroshima is famous for the production of lemons.

This is rusks which chocolate of lemon flavor are coated.

The rusk was crunchy.
The chocolate of lemon flavor was refreshed.
That was really delicious !!!

We enjoyed shopping at this supermarket.

To be continued...

The flower journey in Hiroshima :6

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

In the end of April, I went to Sera-cho(Hiroshima prefecture) for the trip around the flower garden with my mother.

We enjoyed the scenery of wonderful flower gardens in Sera-cho.
We stopped by the local supermarket, "Shoji".

We bought not only okonomiyaki for lunch but also souvenirs there.

This is one of the souvenirs,"Kagamiyama Gold".
The price was 1000 yen.

Kagamiyama Gold is a butter cake.

This is a butter cake using the rice flour and Japanese sake.
It smelled the Japanese sake.

It was moistened very much and so delicious.

It is good for  the souvenir !!

To be continued...

The flower journey in Hiroshima :5

Hello.

This is May in Japan.

In the end of April, I went to Sera-cho(Hiroshima prefecture) for the trip around the flower garden with my mother.

We enjoyed the scenery of wonderful flower gardens in Sera-cho. 

We stopped by the local supermarket. 

This is the local supermarket, "Shoji ".

We bought okonomiyaki for lunch. 

This is Hiroshima styled okonomiyaki. 

It was 420 yen. 

This is such as the crepe sandwiching cabbage, pork,  noodles in between with special sauce.

It was very healthy, because the ratio of cabbage was high in this okonomiyaki. 

The sauce was sweet, but it had an appetizing flavor!!

That was yummy.  

We loved it. 

To be continued....

The flower journey in Hiroshima :4

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

In the end of April, I went to Sera-cho(Hiroshima prefecture) for the trip around the flower garden with my mother.

We purchased the advance tickets of flower tourist facilities at the association of Sera-cho sightseeing and went to the last flower tourist facility.

This is the flower tourist facility, "La skyfarm".
There is a very large farm of approximately 10 hectares.

1,350 trees of Kiku-momo are planted.
Kiku-momo is a type of peach trees.

Because the flower of Kiku-momo resembled the chrysanthemum (Kiku), this name was acquired.

The rape bloomed there, too.
That was the scenery that seems springlike !!

We watched the flower of Kiku-momo for the first time.
The bright pink flowers were very wonderful.

To be continued...
 

The flower journey in Hiroshima :3

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

In the end of April, I went to Sera-cho(Hiroshima prefecture) for the trip around the flower garden with my mother.

We purchased the advance tickets of flower tourist facilities at the association of Sera-cho sightseeing and went to the next flower tourist facility.

This is the flower tourist facility, "Sera Highlands farm".
The total site area is approximately 150,000㎡.

700,000 tulips are planted.
There are more than 300 kinds of tulips.

The tulips were very colorful !!
That was very beautiful !!

This is a flower picture.
200,000 tulips are used it.
The scale is a biggest in Japan.

My mother was pleased with the tulips.
I was impressed by the beauty of tulips, too.

To be continued...
 

The flower journey in Hiroshima :2

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

In the end of April, I went to Sera-cho(Hiroshima prefecture) for the trip around the flower garden with my mother.

We purchased the advance tickets of flower tourist facilities at the association of Sera-cho sightseeing and went to one of flower tourist facilities.

This is the flower tourist facility, "Kamu no sato".
800,000 ground pinks are planted.
The total site area is 50,000 square meters.

The scenery was very beautiful !!

The color of the ground pink shined in the blue sky !!

There was an cherry tree blooming there.
That was lovely scenery !

My mother was moved by the scenery very much.
I thought that it was good to bring her here.

To be continued...
 

The flower journey in Hiroshima :1

Hello.
This is May in Japan.

It is early summer in Japan.
Early summer is a good season for traveling.

In the end of April, I went to Hiroshima for the trip around the flower garden with my mother.
We went for a one-day trip to Hiroshima.

We took the Shinkansen and went to Mihara Station of Mihara-city, Hiroshima prefecture.

We rented a rental car at Mihara Station and went to Sera-cho, Sera-gun, Hiroshima prefecture.
Sera-cho is a natural rich town among mountains.
There are many flower tourist facilities at Sera-cho.

At first, we came in the association of Sera-cho sightseeing.
The building of association of Sera sightseeing is in the site of the Sera-cho government office.
We got sightseeing maps and brochures there.

We purchased  books of advance tickets of flower tourist facilities.
It was 1800yen per one book.
This is a set of 3 tickets.
We have to purchase one book per person.

We can visit 3 designated flower tourist facilities.
This advance ticket is cheaper than the regular fee.

We brought the advance tickets and went to one of the flower tourist facilities.

To be continued...