Yes, that’s right! The life-sized Gundam statue that was protecting Tokyo last summer has been resurrected, this time in Higashi Shizuoka, for the Shizuoka Hobby Fair. Entrance to the Fair is free, and so is the entrance to the Gundam zone, where you can walk underneath the Gundam. There is also a Plastic Model Museum (fee 600 yen for adults), and plenty of food stalls.
It now even holds a Beam Sabre, unfortunately though, it is not self-lit, and only a projected light lights it in the evening illumination of the statue (from 5pm). However the Gundam still has a short period every half hour when it flashes internal lights and moves its head, and the statue also emits steam once an hour with the light show.
As I mentioned in my ‘good ‘cherry’ hunting’ post, the Japanese sweet factory Kikyoya that we visited has a very impressive museum of sugar flowers. Now, to be honest, I’m not sure if these were all made by hand, or if they are all made of sugar, but I’m positive they would have to have been put together by hand and would have taken a long time to make.
So, firstly we have some purple and white flowers –
and a close up –
isn’t the detail amazing?
Irises –
Bamboo shoots –
Gourds –
A hydrangea bush –
and a close up of the hydrangeas –
Imagine sticking all those flowers together!!!
And lastly, probably my favourite, autumn leaves –
although this next close up isn’t from the tree above, it’s kinda similar, being an omikuji (fortune) tied to a branch of autumn leaves –
Of course this is only a few of the photos I’ve taken, so if you’d like to see more please head on over to my flickr set! It includes fish, cosmos, lilies, snow covered grass, wisteria, cherry blossoms and more!
Sorry I haven’t updated in a while! It’s been busy to say the least! So much as been happening lately, between parties, meeting old friends, work, and the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (yesterday), I haven’t had much time for myself lately. But I did manage to take some time out a few weeks ago to go on a Hato Bus tour “Hunting for cherries”.
One of the things I love (and hate) about Japan is the difference in the seasons. And one thing that changes with the seasons is the fruit that is available. For example, in winter I live on mikan. But in June, my absolute favourite fruit becomes available – the Japanese Cherry. There are a few varieties of Japanese Cherries, and, in general, they are pinker and lighter in color than most cherries available in Australia, and are also much sweeter, although there are some slightly sour varieties.
A couple of prefectures in Japan are famous for their cherries, namely Yamagata and Yamanashi. Having tasted both, I highly recommend Yamagata cherries, but at about 600 or 700 yen for 200g, they are quite expensive. Another option to get your fill is to go to a farm that offers an ‘all you can eat, pick them yourself’ deal. Usually you are able to walk around an orchard for about 30 or 40 minutes, and pick (or ‘hunt for’) as many cherries as you like to eat right there for about 1000 to 2000 yen. And trust me, you can eat a lot in that time… However, if you want to take some home you have to buy them separately.
As I don’t have a car, the easiest way for me to do this was to go on a tour. My friend and I went on a Hato bus tour, that not only included cherry picking, but also a visit to Mt Fuji, a buffet lunch, and a brief stop at a Japanese sweets factory called Kikyoya. The cost was about 9,500 yen, but it really was worth it as it was a full day – almost 13 hours!
We were really lucky with Mt Fuji, because despite being June and cloudy we were able to see the whole mountain. Actually, when I booked the tour, I didn’t check what the extra activities apart from lunch and cherry picking were, so I wasn’t prepared for this stop. The 5th station is about 2300m above sea level so it’s much cooler. On that day it was 10 deg C and raining, and even though I had bought an umbrella, I neglected to bring a jacket.
After that it was on to lunch at the Fuji View Hotel. It’s owned by a fairly famous hotel chain, and actually had John Lennon stay there once, but their lunch buffet was pretty standard. There was one thing on the menu that is a Yamanashi original dish – Houtou. Basically a miso soup with flat udon noodles and a pumpkin flavor. It was really yummy, and I’m looking forward to trying to make it myself once it gets cooler again.
Next it was off to the Japanese sweets factory, where we were taught how to wrap Shingen-mochi. Kikyoya is also the home of a very impressive display of sugar flowers, animals and trees. There were so many different displays that I’ll be doing a separate photo!spam post later this week. But here’s a sneak peek…
And lastly, the cherry picking. Normally I’m actually quite nervous climbing up ladders, but apparently when there are cherries at the top I have no problems. On top of stuffing my self stupid at the cherry orchard, I also bought about a kilo of cherries to make sakuranbou-shu (expect a video of that adventure in about 6 months once it’s finished… stewing?).
And of course, what’s being a tourist without some shopping!
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!
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!
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!
JAPANiCAN ran a free bicycle rental day in Yokohama last Saturday. It was actually a survey for the Yokohama government in trying to improve tourism and road traffic in the area, so after riding around we had to fill in a survey (but we were also paid 2,000 yen).
I asked a friend to go with me, and we met bright and early on Saturday to get our bikes. The bikes were really interesting. I was my first opportunity to ride a powered bicycle, and while fun, I don’t think I could live with one everyday.
We spent the next few hours cycling along the waterfront in Yokohama. Both of us had been to Yokohama a number of times before, so we had seen most things already, but as this was my first time there with my SLR I took some photos of the buildings.
Here is the Red Brick Warehouses, which are now a shopping mall –
The buildings nicknamed King, Queen and Jack (respectively) –
the story of an Aussie girl living in Japan, who loves travel, hiking, walking, flowers and food.
yamaonna 