Little bits and pieces of my 3 favourite things in Fukuoka
I got my beautiful, perfect kagami mochi from Rabbit Moon yesterday and I’ll definitely write more about it later. To celebrate the weird time between Christmas and New Years I got this cute snowman dorayaki filled with red bean yōkan.
A little late to post, but not a reflection of how lovely my Christmas sweets were. It was a little too late in the day for caffeine so I was matcha-less for one of the first times. These came as a set and were just so pretty and perfect.
It’s been a while since I went to the fancy department stores and spend half my paycheque on sweets but hey, its Christmas! This one shop had a whole bunch oh Christmassy wagashi, who am I to say no to a little Christmas tree and snowman filled with coarse and smooth red bean paste?
Fairly quickly, I went from far-too-busy to deeply-in-vacation mindset. Wagashi for breakfast! The cutest snowflake to kick off Christmas. I’m very excited for what’s to come in the coming days.
Truthfully, I had a mini catastrophe on the way home from Rabbit Moon・兎月 when I dropped my bag and broke one of my wagashi. I audibly gasped. No other choice but to go back tomorrow I guess.
Luckily, this one survived and it was so good I might get another one tomorrow just because. Inside was smooth white bean paste with yuzu flavour.
The last week before winter vacation is a little more hectic that I’d imagined but likely could have predicted. Luckily, one is never too far from sweets here. I got this little character at the 7/11 near my place, and my slightly injured tree from Daiso, the Japanese dollar store. My sweet was so, so, so unlike the usual wagashi I get from the specialty shops. Much more dense and chewy; much sweeter, almost like a really light bubble gum flavour. Very different! Always fun to try new stuff.
My first Christmas wagashi of the season! I can’t believe it’s only a couple weeks away. This year in Fukuoka is a lot warmer than last year so I’m not feeling the Christmas vibe as much, yet.
It was my first time trying this one! Unfortunately I ate it too quickly to take a close-up, but its sweet, sticky rice with yellow flowers, filled with smooth white bean paste. It was so cute and lovely, I cannot wait to get another one.
It’s so cute! My little sweet is shaped like a hoshigaki ・干し柿 or dried persimmon, an amazing winter treat. Mine is filled with red bean paste and dusted with kinako flour which was a lovely tasty surprise.
After a very busy October and rather rainy November, I finally got outside again. A last minute decision to go to Raizan, which I went to last winter as well, was exactly what I needed yesterday even if I am more sore that I should be this morning.
We took the opposite route as I did last time and started past the abandoned pool and campsite. Very quickly there were lots of berries, shrines and mini waterfalls.
Even though it’s December, it wasn’t that cold and we had great weather heading up to the top.
There were beautiful clear views from the top, you can even see the ocean peeking out a bit. For lunch I had a famous Fukuoka instant ramen, Ichiran and it was way better than I expected but so is everything you eat at the top of a mountain.
We took the river path down and were treated with countless little streams and wateralls and just really incredible scenery. As you can maybe tell, I was having a great time. It had been nearly 2 months since my last hike! Way too long and it was nice to remember how much I love cooler weather hiking.
This year I was a liiiiiittle bit too late for the autumn leaves but we did see a couple! And of course, no day is complete without snacks. Fresh umegaemochi (toasty mochi filled with red bean) after the hike, then zenzai (red bean and toasty mochi soup) and tea at cutest old school kominka closer to town on the way back. A beautiful, wonderful day! Need to plan for the next hike ASAP.
And as always here is my course on Yamap!
Tea, Sweets and Trails 