Okay, so, I know I’m going to get into trouble for this… But during golden week I snuck back to Australia for my grandfather’s 90th birthday. As I didn’t have much time, I only told a couple of friends, so I’m sorry if I missed catching up with anyone who wanted to. Trust me, my trip was far too short.
Going back to Australia means a few things for me, but eating some of my favourite foods is up there on my to do list. So here’s what I ate in Australia!
Firstly, the reason for the visit – my grandfather’s birthday cake. (no, wait… that’s not quite right….) The cake is a fruitcake with fondue icing. We had a friend make it, and she did a brilliant job with our instructions of a ‘cricket theme’. The bat, stumps, ball, and pads were all made by hand. She even rolled out liquorice to make the grip on the bat! And most importantly, it was delish!
We also went down to the Beerwah Pub for lunch, where I had a vegetarian lasagna, and stole some oysters Kilpatrick from my cousin.
Actually, most of my time was spent at Beerwah, where I was spoilt by my mother with a Roast Chicken dinner, and fresh scones. But during the little time I spent in Brisbane I was taken out to dinner twice by friends. Firstly was burgers at Grill’d, which live up to their reputation. Although I had a bacon and cheese burger this time, my all time favourite is the Big Queenslander, because all real burgers should have a slice of beetroot.
The other dinner excursion was to the Satay Hut, a Malaysian restaurant, at Southbank. We had a set for 2 people which included satay sticks, spring rolls, a curry, garlic vegetables, spicy fried seafood , and all you can eat rice. It was super tasty, but far too much for us, and we had to ask for a doggy bag. We also stopped at My Sweetopia to buy some cupcakes to eat later.
That weekend was Buddha’s Birthday, so we saw some of the celebrations at Southbank. And I took some funky photos 🙂
I also had fun with my iPhone driving through Brissy, and you can see some fuzzy (intentionally) shots in my new iPhone folder on flickr.
And apart from seeing my family, and a little shopping, that was my trip to BrisVegas!
Sakura 桜 (Cherry Blossom) are the iconic Japanese flower. They bloom for a short period (about a week) around the last week of April and first week of May in Tokyo. Although short-lived, they are prolific, and trees seem to be covered in masses of blooms which makes me think of pink snow.
No matter where you are in Japan, if you are here in Sakura season, a well-known and beautiful place to view the blossoms won’t be far away. Although this is only a short list, these places are my pick for Sakura in Tokyo and Saitama.
Ueno Park, Tokyo
Ueno Park in bloom
One of the most famous places in Tokyo for Hanami (literally flower viewing) parties. Always busy during Sakura season, but with good reason! More than 1000 Sakura trees line the pathways through the park, and many groups reserve their spots under the trees from early in the day. Although I have never attended a Hanami party here, almost every season I go for a walk mid afternoon just to soak up the atmosphere. Not a place for quite contemplation of the blossoms, but perfect if you want to get a feel for the party side of the season.
From the JR Ueno Station, take the Park exit and walk straight ahead over the road into the park. Most of the blossoms are on the paths to the left, but all of Ueno Park is quite interesting, with shrines and museums, if you want to wander around (and don’t mind the crowds).
Chidorigafuchi, Tokyo
Chidorigafuchi Boat Pier
Chidorigafuchi is right in the middle of Tokyo with the Imperial Palace. In fact, part of this walk is through the Kitanomaru park, and other parts use the moat and other structures of the Imperial Palace as back drops, so it’s quite scenic. You can even hire a rowboat for 30 minutes and have a paddle in the moat under the blooming trees. From here it’s also just a short walk to Yasakuni Shrine, where the tree used to announce the official Sakura season start in Tokyo resides. Not really a place to go for Hanami parties, but a very nice afternoon stroll, even in other seasons, with a few places to stop, sit and admire the blossoms. A Sakura Festival and evening illumination is also held every year, see this page (in Japanese) for details.
From Kudanshita, on the Hanzomon, Shinjuku, and Mita Metro lines, take exit 1, and head towards Yasukuni Shrine. You can either turn left into the Kitanomaru park, or continue on to Yasukuni Shrine before doubling back to turn down Chidorigafuchi alongside the moat.
Kita Koshigaya, Saitama
Kita Koshigaya river and sakura
And lastly, my favourite Sakura viewing place – Kita Koshigaya. There are a few reasons why this is my top pick. It’s really close to where I live (only a few stations), it isn’t nearly as crowded as anywhere in Tokyo even in its peak, you can easily find a spot to have a picnic on the grass, and the contrast with the green grass, blue river and pink blossoms is beautiful! The Sakura trees line the river for about 2km, and there are well over 300 trees. During the season there is also a festival on one of the weekends, and there are a few stalls set up selling food and drinks.
To get there, take the Tobu Isesaki Line to Kita Koshigaya, and head out the west exit. You can either turn right or left, and just follow the road next to the railway until you reach the river. From there just follow the path alongside the river under the trees.
I am so excited to be blogging about this! I am far too obsessed with food (^-^)v
and with Tim Burton’s Alice, but that’s something completely different… (Mad Hatter… Tea party… get it???)
Tea!
The Park Hyatt in Shinjuku is by far most famous for its New York Bar, which was featured in the movie Lost in Translation. However, the hotel has another gem in the Peak Lounge, where you can enjoy the view of the Tokyo skyline, and dine on a fantastic English Afternoon tea.
The menu doesn’t have a vast array of eating options, but more teas than you can poke a tea strainer at. The best option on the menu is one of the two Afternoon tea sets they offer, either desserts only, or sandwiches and desserts. Each feature seasonal treats and unlimited tea, coffee, petits fours, and finger foods.
On the day we went we chose the sandwich and desserts option. Firstly you will be served your beverage. To begin with I had an English tea. Shortly after that, they will bring a three-tiered stand (pictured below). On the top are the sandwiches, in the middle the scones, and on the bottom some cakes.
the setting
The sandwiches of the day were ham, lettuce and radish, a sun-dried tomato based sandwich , and another one that I have completely forgotten… , all lightly toasted. I have to admit, I was a little surprised with the ham, lettuce and radish, as it’s a combination I wouldn’t have thought of, but it was quite tasty with the radish giving the sandwich a bit of a tang.
Sandwiches
The scones were a real treat. Being the start of April and cherry blossom season, one of the scones was sakura flavoured. The other scone was plain, but the clotted cream and fresh berry compote that accompanied it was divine.
Sakura Scone
Scone with clotted cream and berry compote
The cakes that came on the tiered stand were strawberry profiteroles, pistachio tarts, and almond cake. The profiteroles were quite nice, the filling wasn’t overly strawberry flavoured and was made with real vanilla beans. The tart base for the pistachio tarts was a little hard, but it’s possible we ate them after they had cooled down a little too much. The almond cake is something you don’t see too often in Japan, so it was nice to have an old favourite for me.
Strawberry Profiterole
Pistachio tart
Almond cake
While you are eating from the stand, the staff also come around and offer other petits fours and finger foods. The petits fours offered were a cherry jelly, chocolate profiteroles, and the best berry panna cotta that I have ever had (I think I even had seconds of this).
Cherry Jelly
Chocolate Profiterole
Fresh Berry Panna Cotta
And for finger foods, there were mini quiches, caramelized onion on french bread, pesto penne, and chilli mixed nuts. Both the caramelized onion on french bread and the pesto penne were my favourite, and a lovely savoury counterpoint to all the sweet dishes.
Mini Quiche
Caramelized Onion on French bread
Pesto Penne
Chilli mixed nuts
By now we had finished our first cup of tea, and were sampling some of the green teas. I had the green tea with orange peel (pictured), and Lauren had the green tea with lemongrass.
Green tea with orange peel
And all the while we were enjoying the changing colors of the sunset over Tokyo!
Sunset
Details: Afternoon tea is available at the Peak Lounge on the 41st floor of the Park Hyatt Tokyo from 1400 to 1700 on weekdays, and from 1200 to 1700 on weekends and public holidays. The price is 3,000 yen, inclusive of tax and a 10% service charge.
Finally I’m almost finished blogging about Lauren’s visit. We really did fit a lot into 2 weeks! So this post is devoted to miscellaneous things.
The first weekend that Lauren was here was all shopping. I’m pretty lucky that I have the largest shopping center in Japan only 30 minutes from my house, so after meeting Lauren at the airport and forwarding her bag to my house, we went there. We walked around for a few hours before deciding to head home and crash on the couch for the evening. Wayne’s World 1 was watched, and then quoted numerous times over the next 2 weeks.
The next day was spent in Akihabara, and Lauren managed to get the majority of her souvenir shopping done. She also bought a new video camera, and I bought a new compact digital camera. My new camera, a Nikon Coolpix S570, isn’t the latest model, but I’m really happy with it. It takes really great portraits, I think the automatic face detection software softens the face (always a plus).
Next was our trip to Hakone, followed by the Cat Cafe and Yokohama. On the 27th of March, we actually attended the YouTube Hanami party in Yoyogi park, which accounted for our slight hangovers on our trip to the snow. The Hanami party was lots of fun, but I got far too friendly, and the lines for the toilets were really really long. In the evening the party moved from the park to the Hub in Shibuya, but we were only able to stay for a few hours since we had to be up early to catch the train the following day.
After we arrived back from the snow, we needed a bit of a sleep in and easy day, so we went to the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku for high tea. The Park Hyatt has the hotel bar that is featured in Lost in Translation, but personally I went for the food (big surprise there…). I’ll be doing a blog about that next (^-^)v
A full day at Dinsneyland was next on the agenda. We spent 14 hours there that day, and it was lots of fun. Of course being the school holiday it was really busy, but we got to ride most of the ‘big’ rides, and a few of the classics. It was also interesting as, for the first time, they were holding Easter celebrations. So the decorations were really nice.
Disney's Easter Wonderland
By this time, the cherry blossoms were starting to bloom, so we went to Ueno to see the flowers (and the crowds!). Ueno is one of the most popular places to have hanami, and it’s super crowded all the time. However, you can understand why, as it’s very pretty.
Ueno park in bloom
Ueno park was actually just a stop on our way to Alkatraz ER in Shibuya, a medical dungeon themed Japanese bar. I do love going to themed bars in Tokyo, but this place was a bit of a let down. There were some cool and weird things, like drinks served out of severed heads, drinks with banana’s that looked like… well… and then there was the vibrator drink… Where the waitress (in short nurses uniform complete with g-string) mixed the drink with a vibrator while moaning (0_o)…. But overall it was over priced, as we had to order the all you can eat and drink menu, and they neglected to inform us that drinks from the special drink menu weren’t included in that deal. Next time I would prefer to go to the Lockup.
Our last couple of days were spent wandering around Costco (Japan is all about shopping at American stores…), singing karaoke, and looking at the local cherry blossoms.
You know who I’m talking about… Yes, you! Now, how many of you have won something off Facebook eh? *crickets chirping* Yeah, I thought so….
I am a bit of a twitter addict. I tweet a few times a day, and I read my feed far more often than that. So, when Lauren and I were in Hakone, of course I was checking my feed on my iPhone. And I saw tweet from @jtbjapanican with details of a competition to win a trip to the snow. This competition was a first-in-wins kinda deal, so Lauren and I were quick smart to get down the hotel’s computer room to apply. And the next day, well, we were some of the happy winners!
The prize included bullet train tickets from Tokyo to Echigo Yuzawa, and one night’s accommodation at the Takahan Ryokan (Japanese Style Inn) including dinner and breakfast. Now I have been to Yuzawa before, and it really is a great place for Tokyoites to take a quick trip to the snow. It’s about 60 minutes from Tokyo by bullet train, but, the only problem I had was finding tour packages in English. It makes me really happy that JTB seems to be looking towards offering tour packages in English.
So, on a Sunday morning, we dragged our sleepy (and slightly hung-over) heads out of bed to catch the train. We arrived in Yuzawa shortly after 11am, and rang up Takahan to have their shuttle bus pick us up. Takahan, like most places in Yuzawa, was only about a 5 minute drive from the Station. Yuzawa Town is really easy to get around. It’s quite small, but well geared for skiers and boarders, with a free shuttle bus taking you to hotels and ski fields.
Takahan Ryokan
Since we were far to early to check in, we caught the free shuttle to Yuzawa Kogen to play in the snow. Unfortunately neither of us ski or board, but as we come from a place with no snow, it’s a bit of a novelty to play in it. We bought a pass that allowed us to ride the ropeway to the summit, and enter the play zones to do a bit of tubing and tobogganing. At the summit there is an Italian restaurant and food hall, along with all the ski slopes. We had a lovely lunch at the Italian place, before building a snow-kangaroo. After playing about a little more, it was time to head back to the ryokan.
Snow-kanga!
Takahan Ryokan is actually a little famous, as it has a history of about 800 years, and a famous novel ‘Snow Country‘ was written there. There is also a natural hot spring and a small museum about the novel’s author in the building. Staying in a ryokan is quite an experience unto itself. After signing the register you are given a quick tour of the public areas before being taken to your room. Once you have settled in a little, an attendant comes and serves you tea before confirming what you are having for dinner. We were asked whether we liked natto, if we wanted our fish fried or salted, and if we prefered sake or beer.
Tea service
After that we were able to relax for a little before heading down to the restaurant for dinner. A lot of ryokans will serve your dinner in your room, however as Takahan is quite large, dinner was served in private rooms in the restaurant. And dinner was quite lavish, with a selection of regional and seasonal foods. Here’s what we had-
Salmon Sashimi
Raw salmon with fresh asparagus, devils tongue, and wasabi
Tofu and mountain vegetable
Green tea tofu with fresh mountain vegetables and dipping sauce
um....
Not quite sure if this was cold chicken or raw fatty tuna, served with greens
Rice pudding
Sticky rice pudding with seafood
Crab nabe
Crab nabe (steamboat or one pot)
Salted fish
Salted freshwater fish
There was also a small bowl of zarusoba (cold buckwheat noodles), pickles, warm sake, and a digestive drink which I haven’t shown. Overall, a really yummy dinner, of which the crab was my favourite. A small dessert with tea was also included, but it wasn’t anything special.
After dinner, once you return to your room the futons should be laid out. We sat and watched TV for a while, before I decided to see what the hot spring was like. Takahan’s hot spring is a clear sulphur type, which dries your skin out a little, but also makes you feel very very soft. In the lady’s bath there was a rotenburo (outside bath) that looked down at the Gala Yuzawa station. So I spent some time admiring the lights and watching the snow fall. Nothing beats sitting in a piping hot bath outside in the snow!
oyasuminasai~
The next morning it was down to the dining hall for breakfast. Breakfast was a far more casual affair, with everyone dining together. It was also a very big! We had rice, miso soup, grilled salmon, natto, mushrooms, tofu, tea and orange juice. After that, it was time to check out. Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and it was snowing pretty heavily. So, we decided to go to a strawberry picking farm, which is open in all weather. I’m not a huge fan of strawberries, but these were really sweet and tasty.
Echigo Ichigo!
It was still morning, and the weather had improved, so we decided to check out Gala Yuzawa, a ski resort where the bullet train stops right at the base. Gala is actually very foreigner friendly, and if I have the chance to learn to ski next season, this is where I’ll do it! We caught a gondola up, and up, and up to the summit where we had lunch looking down on Echigo Yuzawa. It was freezing cold, so we opted to stay inside and watch other crazy people skiing and boarding.
Echigo Yuzawa
And then finally, it was time to head back to the station, buy a few souvenirs, and catch the train back to Tokyo.
I would like to send a big thanks to JAPANiCAN for such a great trip. Although nothing truly is for free, and we had to fill out a short survey, who wouldn’t mind that when you get train tickets and hotel accommodation at no cost. I would be glad to be a guinea pig for JTB any day!
And again, Lauren made a video, and you can check out her YouTube channel here!
Continuing on with the Australian Invasion (of one), the next day trip Lauren and I took was to Yokohama. Our main reason (my main reason?) for going there was the Ramen Museum, however no trip to Yokohama is complete without a visit to Chinatown. The Yokohama Chinatown is one of the largest in the world, and its a very bright and lively shopping and restaurant area, with a couple of shrines thrown in.
Chinatown Shrine
So we wandered around there for a while, and I stocked up on Chinese pork buns and egg noodles. Since we were going to the Ramen Museum later we didn’t have lunch at Chinatown, and we made our way along the bay side to the Minato Mirai area. There we took a ride on the ‘Cosmo Clock 21’ ferris wheel.
Cosmo Clock 21 Ferris Wheel
It really struck me how much the Minato Mirai district has changed since my first visit in about 2002. It’s a much more international tourist friendly place, and there are more things to do. From the ferris wheel we spotted a couple of things I want to try next time I’m in Yokohama, like the foot bath at the Manyo club, and putt-putt at Vivre. Both of which are on top of the buildings!
From Minato Mirai it was finally time to get our late lunch (or early dinner) at the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum. The Ramen Museum is one of my favourite places to go in Yokohama. Once you enter the Museum and walk downstairs into the basement, you enter a mock-up of what Japan was like in the early to mid Showa era (1925 and onwards).
Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum
At any one time, there are about nine different restaurants showcasing different varieties of Ramen from all over Japan. You can buy large or small bowls of ramen, and traditional Japanese sweets. We were only able to fit in two small bowls of ramen, so we had Tonkotsu ramen (broiled pork bone soup) from the Kumamoto shop ‘Komurasaki’
Tonkotsu ramen
and Miso ramen from the Hokkaido shop ‘Eki’
Miso ramen
Both were very delicious, but pretty heavy. I love trying different types of ramen, and tonkotsu still remains my favourite. Alas, living in Kanto, the regional flavor of ramen is soy sauce, so I don’t get to satisfy my craving very often.
And, after rolling ourselves home, that was our day in Yokohama!
Once again, Lauren made a video, and you can check out her YouTube channel here!
鳴く猫は鼠をとらぬ – ‘a meowing cat catches no rats'(all talk and no action)
The Problem: Many Tokyoites live in apartments, or work long hours, and can’t keep a pet. And yet, many still crave the love and affection of a pet.
The Idea: A place with cats where people can come and play and pet them.
The Execution: Cat Cafes
Lauren and I visited a Cat Cafe while she was in town. The idea is great I think, being able to go to a cafe and play with cats, take photos, and just chill out. And it really didn’t seem to be cruel in any way, the cafes have quite strict rules (like no waking sleeping cats, or doing things they don’t like), are quite well staffed, and the cats have an area to escape to if the humans become too much.
We visited Nekorobi in Ikebukuro, which was one of the cheapest and closest cat cafes to where I live. It was 1000 yen for 1 hour, and that included free drinks, cookies and cats! In the room there were about 10 cats, and about 6 or 7 customers at a time. The cats had plenty of toys and baskets, and there were some sofas and chairs about the room for the humans (and sometimes the cats).
'Doraemon'
Although I think it’s a great idea, you’ve gotta admit that a cat’s personality isn’t really suited for this kind of work day in and day out. Most of the time, most of the cats were sleeping. Not many wanted to play, and some would walk away as soon as you petted them. They only got active when, just as we were leaving, they were being fed. So really, we spent most of the time just taking photos of the cats. I will admit, they did have some very beautiful cats!
'Anko'
Once again, Lauren made a video! And check out her YouTube Channel!
About a month ago, my best friend Lauren came to visit. We had a really busy schedule because this was probably the last chance she will have to visit me in Japan. One of the first things we did was to visit Hakone using a package from JAPANiCAN.
I’ve been to Hakone so many times that I’ve lost count, but this was Lauren’s first time. The package from JAPANiCAN was really really good value. For 11,900yen we had bullet train tickets from Tokyo to Odawara, and one night at the Hakone Prince Hotel. Using the bullet train to get to Hakone was really quick, cutting a 5 hour journey from my house in half (I live in the sticks!). Once we were in Odawara we bought some Odakyu Freepasses and we were off!
Hakone Checkpoint
Firstly we caught the bus to Hakone-machi were we had some lunch at a restaurant overlooking Lake Ashi. This is also the start of the Ashinoko hike, but this time I wasn’t there for hiking. Our next stop was the Hakone Checkpoint Museum. This is a recent (2007) replica of the Checkpoint along the Tokaido Highway, and it’s pretty interesting because it illustrates how difficult it was to travel in the Edo period. Only people who had documents and legitimate reasons were allowed to travel from Tokyo. And anyone caught trying to sneak by the Checkpoint were arrested and tortured in some very gruesome ways. Although the Checkpoint buildings themselves are new, the attached museum is a bit… aged… and doesn’t have much English signage. But its pretty easy to guess things like ‘this instrument was used for torture’, etc, etc.
Inside the Hakone Checkpoint
Old Tokaido Highway
From the Checkpoint Museum we walked along a small section of the old Tokaido. The old highway was lined with cedar trees to give some shade to travellers, and even though it’s right beside a roadway, you can still get a feel for what it must have been like to walk from Tokyo to Kyoto.
Certainly something that didn’t exist back then is the Pirate Ship Cruise we caught across the lake. I had high hopes that while in Hakone we would have fine weather, but we were not lucky, and there was no views of Mt Fuji that day. But despite that, the round trip from Hakone, on the Pirate Ship, then ropeway, and finally cable car is still fun, and an interesting view of Japan for those who have only really seen the cites beforehand.
Lake Ashi
Egg Ice Cream
Of course, our next stop on the round trip was Owakudani, an active volcanic area. From the ropeway station we were lucky to catch a glimpse of the top of Mt Fuji, and then it was up the trail to try some Kuro-tamago, black eggs that have been boiled in the sulphurous hot springs. Each egg you eat is said to add another 7 years onto your lifespan, and if that’s the case I managed to add another 17.5 years to my life that weekend.
What got me really excited, however, was Egg ice cream! I’ve mentioned before how there is a lot of variety of ice creams in Japan, but this was the first time I had ever seen Egg flavour. Thankfully the ice cream didn’t really taste very eggy, but more like pudding. I truly think it was pudding flavor, but re-named so that they would sell more….
Owakudani
As we were staying at the Hakone Prince Hotel, we backtracked on the ropeway to the lake, and caught a bus around to the hotel. The Hakone Prince is kind of like a resort style hotel. It is on a large piece of land (there is even a golf course), and all buildings and attractions were owned by Prince. But unfortunately the isolation ment there wasn’t even a convenience store to be had, and dining options were either the two restaurants at the hotel or room service. As we had a late-ish lunch and eggs, we weren’t starving, so we decided that room service was the best option for us. It also gave me a bit of a thrill as I had never ever ordered room service before. I had the seafood curry, and it was the best seafood curry I had ever had. Plus it was really novel to have my dinner wheeled in for me (^-^)
Seafood Curry dinner
The next day the weather had turned bad. It was 3 degrees C and raining, and being in the mountains, the clouds had set in. We had already decided to go to Yunessun, a hot spring theme park, so the turn in weather wasn’t so bad for us. Yunesun, although a little expensive at 3,500 yen, is really great for people who don’t want to bathe naked, because it has a swimsuit zone with many different kinds of baths like wine, sake, green tea, charcoal, and more. Although, the outside area is a bit trying when you are running from bath to bath and it’s only 3 degrees! The most interesting bath for me was the Dead Sea bath, it has a very high salt content which makes you float very easily.
By the time we finished at Yunessun it was time to head back to Hakone Station and on to Toyko on the bullet train. So, the goals of 1- see (a bit of) Mt Fuji, and 2- go to an onsen were achieved.
Lauren also made a great video of our trip – you should also check out her YouTube Channel! (er, also, language warning!)
So, festivals (or matsuri) are pretty common in Japan, but some how I had managed to avoid them for the last 6 months or so. Not intentionally, it just happened like that. Anyway, at festivals there are always heaps of little stalls selling the standard foods like yakisoba, yakitori, takoyaki, okonomiyaki and chocco-banana. So when you see something new, it’s pretty exciting (well, for a food geek like me).
When I went to the Mito Plum Festival there were two new stalls that I had never seen before –
Yakiniku Onigiri
Firstly we have Yakiniku-Onigiri, basically a rice ball wrapped in thinly sliced barbecued meat served with cheese, mayonnaise, lettuce and sesame seeds. The line for this stall was really long, but well worth the wait. At 300yen or so, they are slightly expensive, but they are really good! Kinda taste like a burger actually. And since the Plum Festival I have also seen stalls at my local Cherry Blossom festival, so hopefully they are catching on!
Agemonja
Next we have Agemonja, which is Monjayaki in a fried pastry shell. Monjayaki is the Kanto region version of Okonomiyaki, a savory pancake made with cabbage, however Monja is… well… runny. So I guess in order to make it a hand held food they needed to put it in a shell (as opposed to Okonomiyaki, which they just wrap around a chopstick). Once again, the line for this stall was quite long, however this time it was due to the time it took to put it together and fry it. It priced at about 500yen which, considering the size, is quite standard. However.. it tasted kinda funky. When Monja is good, its good. When its bad, it pretty gross. I think the ingredients were turning bad, it had a slight bitter taste. But great idea! I think if you had this made well it would be tasty. Plus they should add some cheese. Cheese goes with everything!
Here’s a view of the insides, to give you an idea of the consistency –
Inside Agemonja
And finally, although not a stall, what festival is complete without ice cream!
Ume ice cream
And at a Plum Festival you have to have plum ice cream! It tasted like Umeshu, which is plum liqueur with a sweet and sour flavour. It was a little strong, and I think it would have been nicely toned down if you could get a mix of ume and vanilla ice cream, but yum none-the-less!
More ice cream adventures are coming next when I write about going to Hakone with Lauren!
Another very famous place to see Ume (Japanese Plum) is Kairukuen 偕楽園 in Mito 水戸, Ibaraki 茨城県. Kairakuen 偕楽園 is actually known as one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, and has over 3000 plum trees. The Mito Plum Festival 水戸梅まつり is held every year from February 20th to March 31st, and lends the garden a fun, festival feel on top of the plum blossom viewing.
Kairukuen 偕楽園 is accessible from Kairukuen Station 偕楽園駅 during the festival, but trains are irregular. It is also approximately 30 minutes walk from Mito Station 水戸駅. Entrance to the park is free, but to enter Kobuntei 好文亭 (The traditional Japanese house) is 190yen. More details are available on the Kairukuen 偕楽園 website.
Here are some photos from my visit to the park on March 18th.
View towards the lake
As you can see, on a Sunday during the festival there are a lot of visitors at the park
Kobuntei
Kobuntei was also really popular, with lines over 30 minutes just to enter.
White and Pink Plum Blossoms
The day I went to the park the blossoms were about 80% in bloom, and there was quite a variety.
Green Plum Blossoms
These blossoms were unusual as they have a green center. I was listening to a guide who said that even a week before the green was very strong.
White Plum Blossoms
Kairakuen also has a bamboo grove and cedar wood –
If you want to see some more pictures check out my flickr set.
Also, keep an eye out for my food report from the festival!
the story of an Aussie girl living in Japan, who loves travel, hiking, walking, flowers and food.
yamaonna 