Unforgettable Hakone
Hakone is a quite a popular destination with tourists in Japan due to its vicinity to Mt. Fuji and its lakes. In fact, the place we stayed in is a typical onsen that faces a lake and the mountain. But before we got to the ryokan, we made a few stops at typical touristy attractions along the way.
Lake Ashi, or Ashinoko (???) is one of the lakes around Mt. Fuji and a scenic cruise was part of the itinerary. The “cruise” was barely ten minutes long but the view was breathtaking.
We had bento lunch with chicken and udon around Lake Ashi. Tender chicken with stir fried cabbage and carrots was a good accompaniment to the fluffy rice. I have always loved the Japanese short grain rice. The fried fish was a tad cold but the hot udon warmed me up.
Another stop that we made was at Owakudani, which is famous for its kuro-tamago, or black eggs. Word has it that eating one can prolong one’s life by 7 years! Apart from the black coloured shell (due to the sulphur from the soil), it tasted no different than your regular hard boiled egg. Apart from the eggs, there are other snacks such as buns, fried fish cake etc being sold here.
We arrived at the ryokan in the evening and settled down in our rooms. During the day, the mattresses are rolled and kept away and at night, spread out for the guests. I love how the rooms were almost like a studio suite by itself, with a small seating area, complete with fridge and washing basin, and the room had tatami mats, dining table and chairs, telly etc.
Another must-do in Hakone is of course to try the onsen. In fact most ryokans here will have their own hot spring facilities. Ours was located indoors on the top floor, with a gorgeous view of Mt.Fuji during the day.
Usually dinner is served in your room at the ryokan. However we were a bigger group so we got a function room to ourselves. Dinner was also in the bento form, with many small dishes. We had a small hot pot with flat noodles and some vegetables, grilled fish, seaweed salad, squid, chawanmushi, tempura and sweets in the form of jelly and melon slice.
What’s a trip to Japan without having sashimi right? But as it was not included in our meal, it was an additional 11,000, which sounded a tad expensive initially. However our sashimi boat was fairly big and could feed 4pax, and had 12 types of fresh, raw seafood such as lobster, salmon, tuna, scallop, sea urchin, sweet prawn, prawn, squid, octopus etc. Very fresh and sweet, sashimi’s indeed not to be missed in Japan.
After our good meal, some telly, a dip into the hot spring, we had a good night’s sleep and awoke to…
this view of Mt.Fuji from our room window the next morning. It was particularly refreshing walking by the lake in the crisp morning air.
We had another simple Japanese breakfast before we set off. Rice with miso soup, grilled salmon, tamago, yasai salad and another green salad.
It was quite lovely taking this break at Hakone as one can experience all the Japanese culture we’ve come to know with the tatami sleeping arrangements, hot spring and food.
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Pyramid Shaped Hainan Chicken Rice @ Wiya Coffee Restoran
Do you know how many shapes chicken rice can take in Malaysia? As far as I know there are three with the most common one served in a semi-spherical or bowl shaped. We can all agree there’s nothing fancy about this. In Melaka, their chicken rice is available in the shape of a ping pong [...]
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Snacking in Kyoto.
As mentioned, made some travels last month and was in Japan for a couple of days. We made a pit stop in whilst on the way to . We only had time to visit the (???), which is a UNESCO heritage site. Despite it being “winter”, the autumn colours was still in full bloom and it was really a pretty sight.
On the way to the temple is a shopping street, selling all kinds of souvenirs, snacks etc. If you’re lucky, you may even spot a geisha! But there are many shops renting out kimonos etc so that one can dress up and walk around and take photos.
This stall was selling hot steamed green tea buns and beef buns, each going for ¥300. The green tea buns were filled with a generous red bean filling, with some green tea paste in the middle. It was great eating this warm, tasty bun in the cold wind.
Another shop we popped into was “Dipper Dan” which sold crepes with all kinds of sweet & savoury filling. Chose a chocolate & banana one which filled me up quite quickly. But it was definitely yummy!
It was a pity that our stop in Kyoto was so brief. From what I can see through the coach’s glass windows, this place is full of untold stories and photo opportunities. Definitely on my return list!
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Duck Thigh Noodles @ Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits & Restaurant, Bidor
Happy New Year 2010 everyone! Overall, 2009 was quite a sad year for the world. Let’s hope 2010 will be a good one!
Mention Bidor and food like duck thigh noodle, chicken biscuit (Kai Jai Peng) and ‘Sat Kei Ma‘ (squarish, sweet dessert made of flour and chicken eggs) immediately come to mind. For frequent travelers [...]
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vkeong’s The Best and The Worst of 2009
How time flies, 2009 is already coming to an end. This year I have written 156 posts, which comes to an average of 13 posts a month, or 3 posts weekly – quite consistent I think lol. To sum it off, 2009 has been a good year for my Food and Travel Blog, as I [...]
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Happy Holidays
Hope you are enjoying the holidays with friends, family, and mugs of spiked egg nog
xoxo
Mary
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