with the temperature getting close to 35C we zipped up to nagano last weekend only to be greeted with temperatures of 32C...
i tell you what, that 3-degree drop in temperature doesn't make one feel any cooler!
while driving through the beautiful tree lined narrow roads which make karuizawa so charming, I found a simple yet relaxing cafe called "ray coffee house".
not only was the interior clean and simple, the menu was simple, as in only 2 choices of food; hayashi-rice or apple pie.
being lunch time we both went for the hayashi-rice option.
it was delish.
the man running the cafe (I guess his name is ray?) lives upstairs.
if I had enough money to get by I could so see myself living like this, maybe not running a cafe (nice thought though) but living out in the wilderness but still only a hop skip and a jump away from the trendy shops in karuizwa and only an hour or so away from tokyo by bullet train.
mmm, wonder if my company would fork out for me to commute by bullet train to the office?!
cafe info:
ray coffee house
2141-431 ohaza nagakura
karuizawa
* closed thursdays
〒389-0111
軽井沢町大字長倉2141-431
14 comments:
I've never been to karuizawa before! another reason to go! :)
* pascale
you so should go there, it's so close to tokyo if you take the shinkansen and there is a big outlet shopping mall infront of the shinkansen station too.
just don't go in winter because it's too cold and many small family-run cafes etc close over tghe winter period.
wow I've never heard of a cafe only having two things on it's menu...they must be really good!
* lavender playground
must say it's not very common.
I think because it was run by a guy (alone) that he wouldn't be able to cope with a big menu.
in Tokyo we can usually get a "set" lunch for around 1000-yen which includes a drink but everything here was separate which made around 1400-yen with a drink.
that would be frowned upon in tokyo.
wow, looks really peaceful and nice. i didn´t know nagano got that hot in the summer though.
i have this crazy fantasy about opening a cafe (one of those things that aren´t gonna happen, but the fantasy is nice!) anyways, that looks like a pretty cool place to have a cafe)
What would you call hayashi rice in English? What would be the closest thing to it? Anyway, I'd love to visit Karuizawa, too.
* luuworld
I actually have the same fantasy as you (but I'm not wearing leathers).
hang on, I mean I also often see my self as a cafe owner.
think it's more about chatting to the customers and sitting down to a good coffee over some magazine.
it would have to be a small cafe though, don't wanna worry about the other staff's shit.
*aixxx
god you ask the most difficult questions...
hayashi-rice in english.
umm, I don't think of it as a curry really, so maybe like a spicy(ish) stew with rice?
have you got any better ideas?
I'm all ears.
haha! i can assure you that leather never appears in my fantasies! although food does. which is perhaps not a healthy sign either.
anyways, your cafe fantasy is just like mine. i like the bit about talking to the regulars...reading and having coffee. in my fantasy, the cafe is never too busy so i get stressed. but i still make money. those two factors are a bit conflicting, i see that. so i guess that's why it's a fantasy...LOL
yes yes yes! i know you live in tokyo too!!
we can get a drink with everyone and sing karaoke or something! hahah
i will be staying in Tokyo, so i may be next to you! i know the main station near my hotel is Minamisenju station! and i can always go Aoyama side! i remember, thats near Shibuya right?
i cant wait to see you!!
but whats your real name again? heheh i just know you as "world of sekimachihato" in my head! hahaha
* luuworld
fantasy indeed. a cafe which is never too busy but allows us owners to live a more than comfortable lifestyle.
wonder what other fantasies we have in common?!
now that's a scary thought...
* make it easy
yup, im two stops away from shibuya and one stop from omotesando.
just call me wos for short :)
Devil and I have a secret dream to open our own book-themed cafe one day, maybe when we retire. It's a dream but a good one. :)
Thanks for sharing your life in Japan with us - it reminds me of what we have been missing since first visiting Tokyo last April. Can't wait to return in a couple of months. Woo-hoo!
* Kenny
what?! you're coming over to japan this year? tokyo?
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