Düsseldorf 3

Day 3 was our last day in Düsseldorf. First we went to a Japanese bakery to get my favorite Japanese sweet pastry, An-pan. I used to bake An-pan by myself but I haven't done for a while. Unfortunately we didn't see any An-pan at the bakery. I asked a man there if they were making An-pan on the day. He, who must be Japanese, told me in Japanese that it would take a hour or so to bring An-pan to the shelf. I didn't want to give up An-pan. We decided to have breakfast somewhere and come back to the bakery. There was a sister cafe of Café Buur, called Buur Deli near the bakery. Since we had a good experience at Café Buur a day before, we easily expected that Buur Deli would please us, too.

Buur Deli had a larger and brighter dining space while the menu looked the same as that of Café Buur. I had Tropical Pancake. It was wonderful. J ordered Shakshuka with Feta cheese. He enjoyed it although he preferred what he had a day before.

After the lovely breakfast we revisited the Japanese bakery. There was still no An-pan. I asked the man again when An-pan would be ready. He told me another hour or so. I don't know what's wrong with the bakery... We couldn't wait anymore because we wanted to do sight-seeing in the city. We headed to the MedienHafen, a urban business district, located on the river Rhine, south of the city center. The sky was clear but the temperature was below zero, again. It was super cold!

We walked through Carlsplatz, the city's oldest farmers' market at the south of the Old Town. Many vendors there were closed somehow but fortunately a bakery called Pure Pastry, which I was interested in, was open. Their croissants and cakes looked lovely but unfortunately we just had a breakfast and weren't hungry and we couldn't carry cakes all the day. What a bad timing! At least J got a cup of cappuccino and a pistachio cookie to take away. 

The water was partially frozen so my hands were... 

Finally we got very close to the Rhine Tower!

The MedienHafen was right next to the tower. The highlight of the harbor was the eye-catching three buildings designed by the world-famous Canadian-born American architect and designer Frank Owen Gehry. Those twisted office buildings were open in 1999. Did I see a similar building somewhere recently? The Dancing House in Prague! It was designed by the Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in cooperation with Frank Owen Gehry. 

In the late 20th century the harbor area was transformed from the declined seaport with abandoned silos and warehouses to home of more than 700 companies with sophisticated building complexes. It was a weekday. There must have been numerous people working in those hundreds of offices. However, we rarely saw human beings there. The harbor was so quiet and looked like a film set. Maybe simply it was too cold for anyone (except us) to be outside.

We took a taxi and visited the EKŌ-Haus, a Japanese cultural center in the Niederkassel district on the other side of the river. It was very interesting to find a Buddhist temple and Japanese gardens in Germany. We walked around the peaceful gardens for a while. Visiting a temple and a shrine in the early January is a Japanese tradition. Düsseldorf made it possible! It was J who found the EKŌ-Haus and took me there. That was thoughtful. Thank you J!

It was about lunch time. We walked about 20 minutes from the Japanese culture center to Daidokoro Umaimon, a Japanese restaurant that is specialized in chicken. Their menu included Ramen with homemade chicken broth, Japanese curries with rice and chicken, Japanese-style fried chicken, and etc. There was a queue at the entrance. The restaurant looked very popular.  

Eventually we were seated. It was very nice to have a seat indoor after walking some hours in the freezing air. J had Japanese curry with teriyaki-chicken. He told me it tasted very good but the portion was so generous, more than he could eat! I tried Ramen with the minimum toppings. The clear chicken broth was a little salty but tasty. The light hot soup-y noodle bowl was just what I wanted at that time.  

Across the street was a Japanese Matcha (green tea) cafe, called Wakaba. We, actually only I had a dessert at the cafe. J was too full to have any. My choice was Matcha-flavored chiffon cake and a Sencha green tea. It was a lovely tea time.

It was time to go back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and take a train to Wiesbaden. According to Google direction, it would take about 1 hour 15 minutes from the cafe to the hotel on foot. We talked about taking a taxi if necessary, but we ended up walking all the way to the hotel. It was sunny but the temperature was still below zero. There was a large church on the way. We stopped by there for a quick rest away from the cold air. The heating vents on the floor gave us a great relief!

We kept walking and reached the bridge. It was about the midway point. On the other side of the bridge was the Old Town. The sky was wide and blue!

The Ferris wheel was seen over there. It looked strange... because it was being dismantled and only half remained! I guess the Ferris wheel was only for the holiday season. 

We passed by the Old Town and then walked through the shopping area. 

We stopped by the Japanese bakery one more time. It was the last chance to get An-pan. Fortunately we found An-pan on the shelf!!!!! We bought five An-pan and a Cream-pan (a pastry filled with custard cream). I couldn't be happier!

The Little Tokyo of Düsseldorf was very "Japanese." It was amusing to find and try authentic Japanese foods everyday while we were in the city. Now let's go back to Schnitzel and Mohnschnecken!