hello !
how are you ? i’ve been so very busy with moving and transitioning from a cottage/home bakery to one that operates out of a commercial kitchen. i was crazy enough to schedule a pop up two days after the inspection (assuming i’d pass hah), unsure whether people will come since it’ll be a weekday morning, but was met with an overwhelming amount of support & love and sold out of all pastries in less than 2 hours. i then got a bit too excited and did another pop up within a week and pastry boxes a couple days later (and sold out of both !). and yet i have a better work-life balance than i did working at home doing pop ups less frequently because i now have people who are working for me (which has been so so lovely). i’m still a little worried about the financial aspect of working out of a commercial kitchen but that’s for another newsletter.
for those who don’t know, zion—my husband—and i did a short trip to japan after visiting our families in korea and vietnam last december. it was our first time visiting japan and we loved every second of walking around the city and eating to our heart’s content (90% of the pictures are of food so brace yourself if you’re reading this with an empty stomach).
first day
first thing i noticed when we started walking around the city was that these vending machines are everywhere !
our airbnb host kindly took us to a sushi place for lunch and treated us because we didn’t realize that most small businesses only take cash :’ )
this egg pudding with edamame looks very underwhelming but it was actually incredible—so silky and eggy in the best way possible
went to dunkin donuts just to get wifi access but their mochi donut was so good that i finished it in couple seconds
we then had to stop by a convenience store to get some snacks before we head to dinner because it’s absolutely necessary that we try as many snacks as possible when in japan
a quick bakery stop as well
we stayed in the outskirts of tokyo and loved how quiet it was
for dinner we went to a tiny ramen shop that was right below our air bnb
zion got a plain shio (salt) ramen and i got tori paitan (chicken) ramen—they were so good that i genuinely felt sad when i was nearly done with my bowl. easily the best ramen i’ve ever had in my life !
we also got a side of gyoza and this mini rice bowl with ground chicken and they did not disappoint. i mean look how shiny the rice looks !
after dinner we walked around the neighborhood with a full, happy tummy
i was absolutely stuffed but still wanted to try this hot sweet potato latte. regretted buying after the first sip haha
second day
did a 30 min morning run to this bakery and it was worth the sweat and knee pain
chewiest bagel stuffed with red bean and cream cheese—i still dream about this bagel
i gasped when i saw this beautiful tree casually flaunting its abundance of yuzu—how lovely it would be to own a yuzu tree of my own !
tempura heaven—i had to stop myself from getting one of everything
i got the udon with grated yam and onsen tamago (soft-cooked egg) and my god it was so freaking good. udon is one of my favorite food and this place reminded me why
nibbled on this apple pie pastry on our walk to a shinto shrine nearby
we came out quickly because there were too many tourists there but it was pretty cool to to be surrounded by a forest right in the middle of a city
walked around the city until the sun started to set
stopped at a cafe to rest our tired feet and shared this cute pudding together
probably the worst food we had in japan—sashimi was still half frozen and rice was stale : (
we shared a cup noodles we brought from korea after that shabby meal haha
third day
a rare selfie together hehe
started our day at a soba place near our airbnb
there’s something so magical about this quiet neighborhood
waiting in line at a bakery i’ve been wanting to visit
the bakery was so tiny that only 1-2 customers could go in at a time which i kind of loved because i could take my time and ask about the bakery & breads
forever dreaming of owning a space like this one day
tried this baguette with rum chocolate right away and it was perfectly bitter and sweet
we noticed a lot of people biking with their children and thought, how safe the city must be for this to be common and how lovely it would be to one day raise our children in a place like this
look how clean and nice a public bathroom is in tokyo !
quick stop at a convenience store to get some oden (fishcakes, daikon, and boiled eggs)
also grabbed takoyaki for to-go before dinner heh
we had yakiniku for dinner and marveled over how delicious everything is and mourned over how small the portion size is
ended the night at a jazz listening bar
fourth day
started our last full day in tokyo waiting in line for yet another bakery
i would have easily gotten one of everything if our bellies and wallet allowed because everything looked so good and unique
ghibli bakery vibes
we got a bun with red beans & whipped cream as well as canele and both were absolutely delicious
how cool is this wall of plants ! also how cute is my husband hehe
a curious looking building
another bakery stop because it’s our last day
the famous shibuya crossing !
went to ichiran ramen for dinner because everywhere else had the longest wait
teehee
tried the matcha pudding from ichiran and it was very underwhelming
soaked in our last night view of tokyo before heading back to our place !
this newsletter has been sitting in my drafts for way too long so i’m glad to finally publish it ! i would love to do more of this visual diary form of newsletters even for moments i’ve loved on a day to day basis and not just for travels—let me know if you would like that : )
as always, thank you for reading and until next time !
love, joy
i loved this post so much!! what a lovely trip
Those bakeries! I don’t know how you were able to choose…