My neighboring cafe, NAGAHAMA COFFEE

As you may realized, I love to spend my time visiting comfortable cafe and restaurants. There is such a good cafe nearby my home on the way to my workplace. When I have time, I often drop by there, "NAGAHAMA COFFEE", and have a breakfast before going to work. This is my precious time in the busy morning that I can relax for a few moment...

Here, you can see the "Morning Set (breakfast set)" of toast, salad and coffee (500 yen per set). This time, I got a cappuccino with cute art! YAY!!
Well, I also like cakes of this store, so sometimes I buy a piece of them after work. :)
This is a nice place to enjoy coffee time without thinking about the everyday hustle and bustle.

Organic Italian Lunch at TERRA!

I've been introducing some restaurants in Akita City...And! This is my favorite restaurant, TERRA!!

I've been a big fan of this restaurant since last year. A female cook and owner offers creative organic dishes by using locally grown ingredients. My favorite menu is "Otona-no-Okosama Lunch", a set lunch coming with salad, main dish, dessert and coffee (1,200 yen per set). This menu changes on a daily or weekly basis (I guess), so I never had the same dishes so far. This is very exciting!

On the last weekend, I went there with my boyfriend and ordered it as usual. Main dish of that day was... as you can see above! =P I can't explain them well because they were all creative, artistic and mysterious! All I can say is that they were very very very good! lol

After the main dish, we finished the lunch with a cute dessert and coffee. Can you see a small tree branch under the coffee cup? According to the female cook, it adds natural flavor once we stir the coffee with it! This is such a fancy way to enjoy the coffee, isn't this?

Well, if you plan to have lunch or dinner there, you better make a reservation first.
Humm... when will be my next lunch at TERRA? I already miss it!

Locally popular sweets, Butter Mochi

Have you ever heard of "Butter Mochi"? It has a long history as local sweets in Kita-akita City, Akita. But I had never heard of it until recently, although I've lived here for more than 20 years... I think this is because the sweets originate in the very northern region of Akita which is far away from my hometown in the southernmost town.
There days, "Butter Mochi" was widely introduced on TV and gained its popularity in the nation.

"Butter Mochi" is a rice cake made of butter and other ingredients like rice, sugar, etc. In the old days, Matagi hunters in the northern region of Akita used to go hunting with this rice cake. Today, it has become local sweets of the region. It is featuring soft texture and is slightly sweet. Each family has individual tastes of this traditional sweets.

Nowadays, many stores make them with their own recipe, so they tastes a little bit different. My favorite "Butter Mochi" is the one as above photo that is made by Sen-ei-do confectionery store in my hometown, Ugo town. I love it!

When you visit Akita, please try it and find your best one. ;)

Lunch at French restaurant, Bistro Terre!

Recently, it has been sunny days in Akita! Today, I went for a drive to find something fun in the city... And, I found a small but comfortable restaurant, "Bistro Terre". (Terre means the earth or the ground in French.)

I ordered "One-plate Lunch" (1,000 yen) which came with potato soup, home-made bread, and coffee or tea after the meal. I especially liked the hamburg steak with mashed potato! Its demiglace sauce was a little bit sweet and was good to eat with the bread, too. 

The restaurant was crowded with female customers, so it was noisy sometimes... But the dish was good! Before I left the store, a staff gave me a small gift as above photo. It was handmade cookie!!! It was surprising and made me happier. :)

Well, I think I will come there again, maybe with my boyfriend next time. haha. 

Because the restaurant is hidden in tiny alleys, you better check the map carefully in advance. Hope you will have a good time there, too!

Indian Restaurant in Akita City

I love to cook and eat local dishes of Akita, such as Kiritampo (mashed rice put on a chopstick), but I also love to taste some different food. "Peacock" is an Indian Restaurant where you can enjoy the real Indian dishes while staying in Akita, Japan.

It has been more than three years since I became a fan of this restaurant. Although I am not good at spicy food very much, curry and naan of this store are so addictive! There are various menu of curry and you can select the level of hotness, size of naan, etc. My favorites are "Meat Curry Naan Set" and seasonal Coconut Juice. ;)

If you are staying in Akita City and want something different, try Peacock! 

My favorite view and Ikayaki!

I was born in the southern part of Akita, but have lived or visited various places so far. When I lived in the northern city of this prefecture, I used to have a long drive to the north areas with my boyfriend. Fukaura town in Aomori (Akita's neighboring prefecture) is our favorite place.

Because my home is surrounded by mountains, rice fields and river, such an ocean view is always new to me and is impressive! Also, you can find the very unique "view" there...

A number of squid is dried under the sun!! They are then cooked to be my favorite local dish, "Ikayaki" (broiled squid)... yummy!

Here, you can enjoy a nice drive, beautiful ocean view, besides the tasty Ikayaki. Love it!

Summer is coming! ~Omagari National Fireworks Competition~

Do you have four seasons in your country?
Yes, we do! And in Akita, we have seasonal events such as cherry blossoms festival in spring, fireworks and summer festival in summer, autumn leaves and yummy foods in fall, and skiing and snowboarding in winter. This is not all of my hometown's attractions, so you can find more entertainments here from now on. :)

One of my favorites is... "Omagari-no-Hanabi" (Omagari National Fireworks Competition), which is held in Daisen City, the southern part of Akita, on every August. Many skilled firework artisans gather from all around the nation in this event. So, a lot of visitors come there to enjoy the beautiful summer-art during this season. I am one of the audiences who love to see it! 

Have you ever been to such romantic festivals with your girlfriend or boyfriend? You can't miss it this year! 
Well, here is another local attraction that you can taste only in summer.

This is known as "Baba-hera" ice cream. It's like a sherbet (or sorbetto) featuring a cute flower shape. I have been familiar with this ice cream since I was little, but it became famous nationwide in recent years after introduced on TV. 

This is how I enjoy summer in my hometown. Hope you can also experience them in the future!

Where shall I begin?...maybe, about my hometown

Nice to meet you, I am a native Akita-girl who was born and grown up in Akita, the countryside of the northern part of Japan. First of all, thank you for visiting my blog! :)

From today, I will write down about my peaceful life here and want to share "something fun" in my hometown...Let's start from a brief introduction of my hometown, Akita.

Akita is located on the northern part of Japan and is famous for rice farming, sake (Japanese rice wine) and "Akita-bijin" meaning beautiful women created by the nature here.
The above photo, taken on September 2011, is one of my family's rice fields! Normally, the rice planting starts from May and its harvest is around September every year.

This is "Akita-komachi", one of the most popular rice brands in Japan! It is featuring sticky texture and sweetness as you chew. Smoking hot rice ball of the "Akita-komachi" is really good!

Well, as you know, the northern region in Japan was hit by the big earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. But, my hometown, Akita, had little damage fortunately because of the solid land surrounded by the mountain range. Recently, we are living here in safe with such delicious rice! Thank God!!

But still, I realize that there are many people in the northern Japan who are suffering from the disaster even today. At the same time, I found many people there have guts to move on.
The other day, I had a chance to talk to a volunteer group consisting of the local people and many people from the world, who are working/ staying in Japan. They have been doing volunteers like raising scholarship fund, providing free fruits, removing garbage, etc... They told me that it was surprising to meet lots of people who were really cheerful and powerful to overcome the event, even if they lost their house or family members. And they gave power to the volunteers... This story was impressive and I was moved to do something for them, too.

No one knows how everyone's life goes on. So, I want to take action to live my life fully!
Well, nice to meet you all. :D