Re-creating Japan?

Our terrible heatwave is getting worse. It's impossible to do anything except think about how to stay cool. Our traditional Friday night dinner had to be a no-cook affair, so I had the brilliant idea of a visit to Kailis to buy some Japanese inspired dishes:

On the menu: half a dozen oysters, sashimi-grade kingfish, seasme seaweed and salmon & avocado maki:

E has now left school and has nothing to do, so I insisted that she should make dessert. She produced some delicious brownies:

I had to ask C for her sharpest knife to slice up the kingfish. When she was washing up this dangerous implement, she accidentally sliced into her thumb. Not a good ending to a lovely Japanese meal!

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

There was a pop concert on at the stadium which would be very noisy and keep me awake till 11.00 pm. It had a sell-out crowd of 67,000 apparently.

Perth was going mad, paying over $200 a ticket to see the British pop group Coldplay. Time to make my escape and go over to Como to sleep on C's sofa, I thought. Sunday morning and the house was up early to go for a greyhound meet-up in the local park:

Coldplay are doing a repeat concert tonight. Neighbours tell me it ends at 10.30 pm with fireworks, so I think I'll brave it out at home. I must check up for up-coming stadium events and make myself scarce in future. At least, there are not many pop groups that can attract the sort of crowds that fill the stadium. Even so, I wish they would just stick to cricket.

Pay it Forward

Today I did a very stupid thing. I went out shopping without my credit card. First stop: to buy petrol. I put $20worth into the tank and went to pay. Total embarrassment! It came to me that my card was at home, still in my money belt from my holiday. A queue was forming behind me, everyone eager to pay and be on their way, probably thinking Stupid Woman! At the counter, I had to give them my drivers licence and they gave me an invoice slip.

Then, the girl behind me in the queue offered to pay for me. But I don’t know you, I said, amazed. She just said Pay it Forward and smiled. The kindness of strangers. Incredible! I’m just pleased that I hadn’t filled the tank. The Prius goes a long way on $20.

B L D

B L D on our daily schedule meant that all meals would be provided as part of the tour. Occasionally, we had to find our own lunch or dinner, but breakfast was always provided in our hotel. Japanese people love a hot bowl of rice into which they stir a raw egg. On Day One, I thought this was a hard boiled agg and cracked it on the table to take off the shell. This was a bad move! After that, I always looked out for a Western breakfast: fruit, natural yoghourt, two cups of coffee and sometimes French toast. One day, we had a bento box on the train:

A big treat in the afternoon was finding somewhere to buy a matcha ice cream:

Group dinner in Kanazawa: DIY cooking over the gas burner:

We had another meal at a Cooking School:

A quick snack in Kyoto:

More food in Kyoto:

Two sisters deciding where to start:

Tea ceremony demonstration:

Had to try the golden arches just once; Ruthe refused to come with me!

Huge bowls of soba:

Sashimi: always fresh, always deicious, always beautifully arranged:

Dinner with Kitty and Lemon after another Onsen:

Another pretty set lunch:

On our last night in Osaka, Mayumi could finally close her eyes:

I've written this post before breakfast on Monday morning. Now I'm going to have muesli with banana and yoghourt. No photo required!

More about the food

In Hakone, it was rather chilly and wet. We didn't see Mt Fuji, but we ate well and had an Onsen in between:

Lunch and dinner photographed. Did we really eat all that?

Food!

 I invited myself to Como for Sunday lunch, in order to distribute a few presents. Guess what was on the menu: noodles with veggies. Beggars can't be choosers (no offence!)

E asked me about Japanese food, so I've tried to think about some of the best meals we had. Before I do this, a word about noodles.  Japan has 2 types: udon and soba. In the south of Japan, it's mainly soba. These are thick and chewy and made from buckwheat flour, which grows in that region. We actually had a class from two old ladies up in the mountains. There was a hand held millstone so that we could try our hand at grinding the flour. I took a few grains of buckwheat away with me and later in the trip they all spilled out onto the seat of the taxi and the driver picked up every one from his immaculate white seat cover and handed them back to me without a word!

Buckwheat grains and a toothpick

By far the best thing I ate in Japan was Kobe beef on a skewer, straight from the BBQ. It is marbled throughout and just melts in the mouth. I didn't realise it at the time, but we were not destined to have any more, since it is incredibly expensive. We had this on our first night and I talked to the manager about it: he was Italian/Moroccan.

Tempura prawns and veg

Grilling the Kobe beef skewers

To be continued...

Sayonara

Sayonara, Japan

What a great holiday!

I just read on another blog (thank you, Weaver) that Barbara Streisand, now 81, was asked what she intends to do with the rest of her life. She said she was going to have fun: that was her priority from now on. I am now almost 79. Well, I certainly had a lot of fun in Japan. It is a fascinating country and we did much more than I've had time to describe in my blog. Our hosts, Arne and Carlos, were a pleasure to travel with. Our local guide, Mayumi, was a fount of information, so friendly and helpful, and tireless in her efforts to ensure that we all had a good time. She was brilliant! 

But, what really made it FUN was my room mate. What a risk it is to share a room with a stranger! This time the risk paid off in spades. Thanks a million, Ruthe.

See more about Arne and Carlos here

Night at Narita

Mt Fuji this morning 

I travelled by Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo: about 2.5 hours. I managed to see Mt Fuji this time: only the summit was covered in cloud. The train was packed. I had a seat in A row, a window seat, but E row on the other side is where you need to be to see the mountain.  But I was looking out for it on Google maps and succeeded in getting a really good view.

After that, I had to negotiate the chaos of Tokyo Station and find the platform for the Narita AirPort Express: not an easy task amidst the busy lunchtime crowds. It took me more than an hour and 2 stops at an Information Kiosk, with a quick lunch at a Starbucks. I wanted to stay at a Capsule Hotel at Narita, just for the experience, but only male rooms were available. I finally settled for the Nikko Airport Hotel in a single room. This proved to be a good move and I’m just enjoying an Italian buffet in their Serena Restaurant.

.

Christmas is coming

Desserts in the plural!

Last Tango in Osaka

Ruthe and I with Mayumi

We were staying at the Granvia hotel in Osaka. We were on the 24th floor and there was a terrific view over the city towards the river. We jumped on a bus at 7 o’clock to go to a restaurant across the city which specialises in dinner with “all you can drink” included. I settled for a beer and later a Highball (American for whisky and soda).

Ruthe and I had prepared a little present for Mayumi. She was the best guide ever: nothing was too much trouble for her. We hardly ever saw her eating any thing. Because monetary tips are not the thing, I gave her some fingerless mittens I had knitted and brought along for the cold weather (of which there was none) and Ruthe gave her a knitted cowl.

Mayumi trying on the mittens

Arne and Carlos with Githe and Mayumi 

To Osaka

This is the final day of the Arne and Carlos Tour. We began with a visit to an establishment up in the mountains to try our hand at making soba noodles. We had to split the group into two, in order to take smaller buses capable of negotiating the narrow winding roads. There was a steep drop down into the gorge below. We once met a rubbish truck coming in the opposite direction, a hair-raising moment, till we realised that these are expert drivers who are used to these mountain roads.

The “noodle experience” was run by 2 old ladies: my teacher was 71. She was very nimble, wielding the long rolling pins and demonstrating how to get the dough really thin. Then it was folded over and chopped up into thin strips, before being boiled in large cauldrons for a few minutes. The dough was simply a mixture of buckwheat flour and water. This is a big area for growing buckwheat. We saw how it was ground on a millstone.

Thin strips of noodle dough ready for boiling 

After that , it was time for lunch at a local restaurant overlooking the river. Of course, soba noodles were on the menu - plus a lot more delicacies from the region.

Maple tree at its best near the restaurant 

Into the mountains of Shikoku

Rihga Royal Hotel: I tried to write a bad review on Trip Advisor:

Aircon failed altogether! The room was small and REALLY hot all night long. We had a terrible night after a very hot and humid day sightseeing.

I’m not sure if it was posted or not!

On the island of Shikoku , there is a pilgrimage route which visits 88 temples. This looks like ideal walking country. I would love to do it, but I’m too old now.

We visited an indigo dying establishment and had a lecture on the process from start to finish. Then we learned how the various patterns are made, using sticks and elastic bands. In some cases you can use marbles as well. We were each given a men’s cotton handkerchief to work with. Then we had to sink it into the bath of indigo dye three times, using rubber gloves. Finally we rinsed it out in clean water and then hung it outside to dry in the wind. It was very windy this morning. Everyone was extremely pleased with their efforts. I found the whole experience a big improvement on the ball making of yesterday. I got a lot of help from one of the girls in making sure the elastic bands were really tight.

After lunch (pizza for a change!), we drove up to the Oboke Ravine for a “pleasure boat” trip. Not quite white water rafting, but exciting nevertheless. “On both sides of the river you can see rows of huge rocks. This type of rock is called crystalline chest. They contain a small amount of conglomerate shist and the conglomerate shist was formed about 200 million years ago..

Looking down on the gorge from the carpark 

Waiting for the boat 

Shinkansen to Takamatsu

Really early start (breakfast at 6.30 am) to catch the Shinkansen at 8.30. The bus dropped us at Kyoto station. This is a really busy place: chaotic night and day! We said goodbye to our first bus driver, and Ruthe gave him a little present from both of us. Tips are not the thing in Japan. Ruthe is really generous and has bought presents for all her family and many of her colleagues at school and has even bought a new suitcase to accommodate all these presents.

On the train we happened to be sitting next to our new local guide, a young American man who has lived here for 9 years. He is very nattily dressed and obviously loves Japan. He doesn’t plan to move back to the US. We quizzed him for an hour about life in Japan! His names is Hans.

We had to change trains at Okayama and left the Shinkansen for a regional, slower train for Takamatsu. The route took us over the longest suspension bridge in the world (1.7 kms). We seemed to be on it for ages, going through a NP with lakes and islands on both sides. This bridge took us onto Shikoku Island, one of the smallest of the main Japanese islands. This is the home of udon noodles.

Lunch included a big bowl of udon noodles. They are VERY chewy and fill you up, rather like Yorkshire Pudding! We had no time to linger over our food as we had to jump on the bus to our next destination. This was a workshop for making embroidered balls. These come in various sizes and are filled with rice husks. The design is very geometric and not easy to pick up in 1.5 hours. I didn’t finish mine! My aging brain couldn’t work it out. I spent some time watching the dying process round the back and chatted to the interpreter who was originally from Nepal.

There was another stop on our agenda: no rest for the wicked! This was the Ritsurin Garden. I found a machine that delivered me a hot coffee and thankfully sat down on a bench.

The balls are known as Temari. Ruthe bought two, almost the same, so that we could remember each other and the lovely time we had in Japan.

Golden Temple, Kyoto

Inlaid wood at the gate

Water Lilly Lake 

Persimmon Tree

 

Phoenix on top of the Golden Temple

Our first view of the Golden Temple across the lake

Sunday in Kyoto

Beautiful wool shop.

Today is a REALLY hot day: Max 27 degrees. Very unseasonable for November. First stop Roanji Temple, with its beautiful gardens. Second stop Golden Temple. It’s still very very busy, still the long weekend and many people are visiting these temples today. It’s really interesting to me to see what people are wearing: fashions are very different in Japan. It’s an inspiration just to sit and watch people go by.

These temple gardens are a joy to walk through, but we never see a single monk. What are the monks doing while all the tourists are here? The Golden Temple is perhaps the biggest attraction in Kyoto. It is actually gold coloured all over and many people want to have photos taken across the lake with the temple in the background. You have to fight for a space to do this.

We had a quick lunch in a Japanese set meal place and then there was free time to do what we wanted. Most of the group wanted to visit two yarn shops recommended by Arne and Carlos. One was called Itokobako and the other Avril. At Avril, we all had our Arne and Carlos bags with us, and the owner was very excited when she saw this. There was also a Rowan Magazine in Japanese on display.

Display of wool in Avril
Arne and Ruthe on the left