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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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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Happy Holidays
Hope you are enjoying the holidays with friends, family, and mugs of spiked egg nog
xoxo
Mary
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Chinese Cuisines at Restoran City Star, Petaling Jaya
I was invited by Ken for dinner together with his friends from Tour2U at Restoran City Star in Taman Mayang, Petaling Jaya during my Kuala Lumpur trip. This double shop lot restaurant owned by Mr CM Wong has a nice and clean environment with one section of the restaurant air-conditioned.
Our meal consists of several recommended [...]
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Merry Xmas and Happy New Year 2010
Today is Christmas Eve *yaay*…
Doing anything special on this eve of Christmas? A get together with family and friends, perhaps? Or spending some quite time with your other half?
Well, with Christmas just merely hours away, PenangTuaPui would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a merry jolly Christmas and to those who are not celebrating have a joyful happy holidays!!
Here is a song to all…and let’s sing aloud together ~Cheers…
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight.
Have yourself a merry Iittle Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on,
our troubles will be miles away.
Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.
Through the years
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star
upon the highest bough.
And have yourself
A merry little Christmas now.
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Enjoy your Christmas!
Unlike previous years, this year Christmas is on a very low key affair where foods are concerned. I had my lasik eye surgery today at Optimax Penang. I dare not plan anything as I wasn’t sure if I will be able to handle all the cooking and etc.
However, the intra-lasik [...]
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A Christmas without the Christmas stuffs This year will be the most…
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Village Park Nasi Lemak @ Damansara Uptown, PJ
If you like your nasi lemak with extra ingredients then you gotta give Village Park @ Damansara Uptown a try. Besides plain nasi lemak, they offer various dishes as additional add-ons like ayam goreng rempah, sambal udang, sambal petai and even rendang.
Village Park is very popular and often comes in top for nasi lemak, especially [...]
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Nyonya Restaurant, SS2
This is an old establishment that has been here for years and has undergone a facelift since I last ate there. Driving past the other day, decided to pop in again to see how the changes fare.
Clean lines in the interior.
This is the Gulai Tumis fish. The fish was cooked in this sour tamarind gravy with lady’s fingers (okra) and pineapple and garnished with laksa leaves, or more known as daun kesom. Piquant and slighly spicy, this dish can be addictive once paired with white rice.
We also tried the Beef rendang. Flavourful but the meat was not as tender as I would like it.
Ordered sayur paku or fiddlehead ferns which were stir-fried with succulent prawns. Crisp and fresh, enjoyed this too.
It’s comforting to know that this place’s food has remained consistent over the years. And they do have quite an array of other dishes to tickle anyone’s fancy.
Nyonya Restaurant ()
52, Jalan SS2/24,
47300 Petaling Jaya.
Other reviews;
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BM Best Cendol @ Medan Selera Jalan Danby, Bukit Mertajam
First, just let me say that Bukit Mertajam has never been famous for cendol. My hometown has some great food like Yam Rice, Duck Egg Char Koay Teow, Laksa, Char Koay Teow, Wantan Mee, Mee Goreng, Koay Teow Soup, Dry Prawn Noodle, Curry Mee, Nasi Lemak and so on. But cendol is definitely out of [...]
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Fleur-De-Lys Bakeshop, Brunei
Hankering for something other than curry, rendang, and the like, we decided to go to this bakery, or bakeshop as they call themselves for a bite.
The shop has some interesting items, including designer hampers for the Raya festivities and one of my favourite, .
We started off with the Mushroom soup in a loaf. It was quite creamy and yummy. And the bread loaf was perfect for tearing off to dip in the soup.
The Baked potatoes with tomatoes and mushrooms looked promising but didn’t deliver taste wise. I personally felt that the mushrooms were overcooked so it was a tad soggy. Plus the tomatoes gave it a weird, sourish taste.
The eggs benedict with poached eggs and chicken ham, topped with the yellow, creamy Hollandaise sauce.
My choice was the eggs florentine, which has the extra spinach. I must admit I didn’t like the chicken roll. Bread was soft and it was quite messy eating this. Haha.
Fleur-De-Lys Bakeshop
C5, Kiarong Complex,
BE 1318, Bandar Seri Begawan,
Brunei.
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