centre the bakery

Lining up for bread - Japanese (rich) ladies are probably the only species on Earth who are willing to do so. We almost backed up seeing the long line on the other side of the bakery - under the sunny bright sky, summer trees, elegant ladies lining up with their pretty parasols in hand. It was a scene that I still vividly remember. 

Then I took a photo with my phone. 

For some reason when I visited Tokyo this time, I was eager to speak Japanese to the natives. Previously I have always asked W to do the talking - but for this trip, I tried. The gentlemen outside of the bakery was probably confused when we two went up to him to ask if we could go in to eat. We were clearly travelers - with W carrying her Nikon camera and my crappy Japanese - so he quickly switched channels and explained to us in English that we could only stay for an hour and 15 minutes, since we did not make reservation and the place was fully booked. That was very generous of them, and more than enough for us. So happily we went in. 

Like other Japanese cafes, the whole place was simple, light and has simply the right amount of space to accommodate their peculiar lineup of toasters. The air carries the aroma of freshly baked bread, sweet and rich, and made me happy. 

I was clueless at choosing toasters so I picked one with a cute pastel color. We were lucky (or Japanese were just too nice) to be seated at a coffee table. We got their full butter, jam and toast set, a fruit sandwich and coffee, which took a while to be served.

And they were worth it.

Everything they put on our plate was great. Beautiful outlook, and unbeatable tastiness. However, the highlight of the day was:

Their amazing, amazing peanut butter. It was not too sweet, yet very creamy, and makes me want to make my own home-made peanut butter. So good that I hope they sell them individually at the counter but it turned out they don't :(

I hope one day I will grow to be like these Japanese ladies - would spend the time, money and have company over here to chat and share. In an environment that I would relish, and grow old with my memories.