Any passionfruit lovers out there?
Though you can find tropical/specialty fruits at UNAGI-YA fruits market in Takezono (near Terashima drugstore and Kasumi), I just wanted to inform you of some passionfruit on sale now (100yen each...they just starting selling them today and will continue until the inventory runs out, I think - they look really beautiful with shiny firm purple/red skin!) at Yao-kane supermarket. If you want to go, hurry and go now because inventory often changes. I was also thrilled to find white asparagus there recently.
That particular shop is a typical friendly local supermarket selling mostly regional produce at prices often lower than typical major supermarkets. The seafood there is QUITE fresh (my housewife friends all praised the quality of the seafood there) and the man behind the counter is happy to clean the fish for you. Special fish at the moment: saba (mackerel) and sama (saury)...saury is best eaten salted and grilled while mackerel is really tasty simmered in sweet miso sauce and ginger! Assorted sashimi fish packs are reasonable and fresh there too.
How to find the place: Go SOUTH on NISHI-odori...turn right (West) on the Andersen Bakery/Doho Park road...and you can see the supermarket just one block down. The place is easy to miss but often you can see tons of cars parked along both sides of the street, mostly customers!
UPDATE: I was told that "tonari no yasai" shop (along Nishi-odori...near Onogawa area and the Coco's around there) also sells passionfruit. Apparently someone is growing passionfruit in Tsukuba these days, hoping it will spark a demand for it.
INFO: Passionfruit is tasty when cut open and eaten as is...though it is INCREDIBLY sour. Many people choose to open it up, put the insides of the fruit into a glass, mix it up with some water and sugar for a tasty passionfruit juice cocktail. Orange juice can be used instead of sugar, too.
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Bargains at Masuda
Masuda grocery store in the Namiki Shopping Center has marked down many of their goods today. I went there around 6pm after work, and a lot of shelves were already empty. I think the store is open until 9pm today if you want to hunt for real bargains. Cashier told me yesterday that the store will be open until Sunday but it may close early if it runs out of things to sell, so it's possible that tomorrow will be the last day of business before its reopening.
Related article:
Namiki Shopping Center Getting Ready For Its Reopening
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Blomster Anna
A nice way to say "thank you" to a woman is to give her some flowers. If you want to say "thank you" to Anna Hamakoji, however, you might want to buy some flowers FROM her instead.
Anna is a 33-year resident of the Tsukuba area who has a long history of helping people in the community. Her family has recently opened a new flower shop, called Blomster Anna, in the Sengen area of Tsukuba. Anna is from Sweden and "blomster" means "flower shop" in Swedish.
The shop is in a unique building that has a tree through the middle of the awning roof. In addition to flowers and potted plants, the store includes a Swedish corner where Anna displays some of her family's Swedish paraphernalia. Some of it is for sale and some is just for show. There is also a table in the Swedish corner where you can get a drink and a free cookie or chocolate from Sweden.
The shop has a wide selection of bouquets and potted plants that would make a perfect Mother's Day gift. You can have a look at their Mother's Day flyer on the shop's website.
Blomster Anna is located just off Higashi Odori, behind the red and yellow Chinrai ramen shop in Sengen, one block south of Minami Odori (map). Stop by sometime and say hi to Anna!
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Casolea
A new store opened across from Ninomiya House on Nishi Odori on November 23. It is called "Casolea" and apparently it specializes in "organic cotton items". Casolea means "house of light" and the concept is that the store wants to bathe its visitors in light and warmth. Their products include clothing for women and infants, items for interior decorating, and other household goods.
The store is located at Ninomiya 1-1-10 and it is open from 10am to 7pm. It is closed on Wednesdays.
Here is Casolea's website and the phone number is 029-861-7752.
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Costco’s new hours
Costco is open until 8PM on weekends and on holidays starting today. I went to their website just to be sure, and yes, they are open from 10:00 to 20:00 everyday now! I don't know if the new business hours will bring more people or even out the crowd, but hopefully this will bring order to chaos on weekends.
Fastest way to get there is by train. Take TX train from Tsukuba, and switch to JR Musashino Line at Minami Nagareyama Station. Makuhari Station is only about 30minutes from MinamiNagareyama. It takes about 1 hour and 15minutes, and costs 1250yen each way. The buses are leaving from Makuhari Station to Costco and other stores every 10-20minutes, and costs 100yen per ride.
Costco Makuhari
related article: A new costco store scheduled to open in Saitama
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