2016 Japan - Osaka

4 December 2016

Dotonbori is a large scale downtown along the south bank of the Dotonbori-gawa Canal. Osaka is known as the gastronomists' town, and thus the entire area of Dotonbori is thronged with an unbelievable number of restaurants and amusement facilities, and is dearly loved by the Osakaites.

Dotonbori is often selected as a scene in the Japanese and foreign movies as the symbol of Osaka. There are promenades on both sides of the Dotonbori-gawa Canal to offer better environment for a downtown, which are always attracting visitors and residents. On both sides of the Dotonbori-gawa Canal are lined with advertisements and neon signs. The entire sides of buildings are decorated with neon lamps. The illuminated signboards and neon lamps reflect on the Dotonbori-gawa Canal at night, making Dotonbori even merrier.

Self-proclaimed as 'King of Gyoza' (meat dumplings), this outlet along the famous Dotombori food street can't be missed, not least because there's a giant display of several fibreglass gyoza outside it. But seriously, it's pretty good stuff and the dumplings contain a fairly generous filling.

Most people are probably familiar with Takoyaki, since it is now widely available in many cities around the globe. But Takoyaki in Osaka is just so good and different than what I usually have in Singapore, which is dry and hard.

Takoyaki, also known as octopus ball, is a ball-shaped Japanese street food. It is made of a wheat flour based batter that is filled with diced octopus, pickled ginger, and green onion. Topped with dried bonito, and a douse of mayonnaise and takoyaki sauce, this popular street snack is cheap and delicious. Unlike takoyaki in Singapore which is usually dry, takayoki in Japan is really soft and good.

Shinsekai (新世界) is Osaka's "new world," a district that was developed before the war and then neglected in the decades afterwards. At the district's center stands Tsutenkaku Tower, the nostalgia evoking symbol of Shinsekai.

The area was developed into its current layout following the success of the 1903 National Industrial Exposition, which brought over five million people to the neighborhood within just five months. Shortly after the expo closed its doors, work began to improve and update Shinsekai.

Paris was chosen as the model for Shinsekai's northern half, while the southern portion was built to imitate Coney Island in New York.

Kushikatsu is one of the specialties in Osaka and is known to be one of the identities of Shinsekai’s food scene. Also known as kushiage, kushikatsu is deep-fried meat/vegetable skewers. This is heaven on a stick. Every skewer is coated with light batter and deep-fried to something even lovelier than golden brown; it is delicious and not greasy at all. Many of Shinsekai's kushikatsu restaurants are open 24 hours, but only truly come alive when the lights come on at night.

We passed by this shop which allows you to take different dishes and they charge you by weight. The concept is similar to salad shops in western culture but here you can find both cold and hot dishes.

Variety of foods served in a light, soy-flavoured broth, oden is a hugely popular winter dish in Japan, and usually appears around September or October depending on the region. It is warm, filling and crazy tasty, and can be found from most convenience stores.

Some of the typical ingredients you’ll find in oden, however, can look a little intimidating, and buying some for yourself is made even trickier by the fact that staffs usually require you to tell which ingredients you want, rather than fishing them out for yourself. Among all, I like the tofu and white raddish most. Unlike our yong tofu here which is stuffed with fish paste, it is just plain tofu but its texture and taste are just so good. 

This ramen shop is located in a quiet neighborhood near our accommodation J-Hopper. We came to here when we were lost on the way looking for another ramen shop. We saw the signboard on the entrance stating they were rated as the best ramen in 2013 so we thought of giving a try. We could not understand the Japanese menu. The kind lady owner explained to us with very limited English the different kinds of soup base. We ordered one tonkotsu (pork) and one pork + fish soup. I never thought pork and fish can go so well and the taste was just perfect, and it was less greasy than the tonkotsu. 

Both soups were thick as you can see in my video below.

I do not like beer but Asahi is probably one of my favorite brands for beer.

It is time to go home..Bye Japan, the cleanest country I have visited.

2016 Japan - Nara

3 December 2016

From Takayama we traveled back to Osaka. We would be going to Nara the next morning and it would be our last stop of the trip.

Nara park is home to hundreds of freely roaming deer. Considered in Shinto to be messengers of the gods, Nara's nearly 1200 deer have become a symbol of the city and have even been designated as a natural treasure. Nara's deer are surprisingly tame, although they can be aggressive if they think you will feed them. Deer crackers are for sale around the park, and some deer have learned to bow to visitors to ask to be fed. Some deers even grab tourist map and they avoid when you try to take the map out. Nara Park is a five minute walk from Kintetsu Nara Station or a about a 20 minute walk from JR Nara Station.

We did not enter into Todaiji Temple as the entrance is charged at 500 Yen. We walked around the entrance and took some pictures though. 

We headed to Kasuga Taisha which is famous for its bronze lanterns. Beyond the shrine's offering hall, which can be visited free of charge, there is a paid inner area which provides a closer view of the shrine's inner buildings. Furthest in is the main sanctuary, containing multiple shrine buildings that display the distinctive Kasuga style of shrine architecture, characterized by a sloping roof extending over the front of the building.

Kasuga Taisha is famous for its lanterns, which have been donated by worshipers. Hundreds of bronze lanterns can be found hanging from the buildings, while as many stone lanterns line its approaches. The lanterns are only lit twice a year during two Lantern Festivals, one in early February and one in mid August. We at first thought we had to pay to enter in order to see the lanterns but actually you can easily see them outside the buildings. 

We walked around the town and hunger started to kick in at noon. We tried to look for restaurants but what we saw were only "expensive" steamed sweet potatoes sold along the roadside. There were a few restaurants near Kintetsu station but we had walked far from the station then. We decided to complete the itinerary and only took late lunch when we went back to the station later before we took the train to Osaka. We were captivated by this restuarant selling tonkatsu. We had been saving in food for past few days as we ran out of cash. We could not wait to have a sumptous meal now. The food especially fried oysters was superb and reasonably priced with free refill of cabbage. 

2016 Japan - Hakone

29 Nov - 1 Dec 2016

Hakone was one of the best place I visited in this trip. With 2-day free pass, we enjoyed unlimited use of Odakyu-affiliated buses, trains, boats, cable cars and ropeways in the Hakone area and discounted admission to selected tourist attractions. It was a 5-hour train journey from Takayama to Hakone and again we arrived hotel late night. 

We spent two nights at Onsen Guest House HAKONE TENT, which was rather affordable, at the price of 45 USD for three persons per night. The accommodation provides kitchen, lounge and even free natural hot spa which can be locked for personal use. The hotel was cozy and clean, but the layouts was confusing. We got lost a few times while walking to the bathroom and the corridors were narrow. 

 The weather was nice the next morning. There was a good view of a sports field from our room. 

We headed to Owakudani first. From Gora station, we took Hakone Tozan Cable Car and switched to the Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan station. 

Much of the Owakudani area is an active volcanic zone where sulfurous fumes, hot springs and hot rivers can be located. From here you can have good views of Mount Fuji on clear days.

You will get the opportunity to feast on freshly boiled black eggs at Owakudani. They are regular chicken eggs.  The albumen and other parts of the egg still look the same as a traditional boiled egg, but it’s the manner in which they are boiled that makes them a little bit special (80 degrees Celsius for 60 minutes in natural spring water. Then steamed at 100 degrees for 15 minutes in steel baskets.) The water that they are boiled in contains sulfur and iron.  The black eggs, or commonly called "Kuro-Tamago" by the locals are perfectly safe, although they may smell like sulfur. In fact they are believed to add a few years to your life span -- five to seven years depending on who you talk to. I did not really taste the sulfur anyway.

The Hakone Pirate Ships are the main form of transport between the Hakone Ropeway Station at  Togendai and the two townships of Motohakone-ko and Hakone-machi. From the deck of the Hakone Pirate Ships you can enjoy the scenery Lake Ashi including the vermillion shrine gate of Hakone Shrine. There is even a small chance that the weather will be clear enough to allow a clear view of Mt Fuji.

We ended the day at Tenzen hot spring which can be accessed by bus from Hakone-Yumoto; take either the K-line bus or the ¥100 shuttle and get off at Okuyumoto-Iriguchi. The price was slightly steep which was 1300 yen per person. 

It was my first onsen experience in naked. I am not a nudist, but I was not nervous stripping off my shirt to bathe myself in a nice natural hot water with strangers. I have more concern doing this with someones familiar though.

We were given a locker each to place our belongings and then we proceeded to the bathroom where we rinsed our body with some warm water. There were rows of miniature stools, each with a shower head and a bar of soap next to it. The idea is to sit uncomfortably on these stools while you wash yourself thoroughly before and after the hot bath. 

And then we started to soak and enjoyed our time here. Tenzen is a single sex onsen so my dad was separated. In less than an hour, we got up and went for shower. My mum and I managed to soak in all pools except for the hot tub in the bathroom as the water was freaking hot and burning the skin. 

There was a weight scale at the exit of the bathroom. I was surprised to to see my weight had dropped 2kgs after the hot bath. Amazing!!!!

We walked around Hakone-Yumoto in order to change more YEN (I had over-spent for the accommodation in Takayama). Then we came to see this stall which was selling fried snacks like fish cake, crab cake and etc. We could not resist and decided to buy two to try. They were fresh and hot from stove but slightly oily. 

We went back to our hostel and had another round of onsen in the hostel itself.

Hakone Open Air Museum was the first open air museum in Japan. They create a harmonic balance of nature and art by exhibiting various sculptures on its grounds in combination with views of the surrounding valley and mountains. There is a permanent exhibition of about 120 masterpieces of modern and contemporary sculptors in the world. The Picasso Exhibition Hall is one such space and showcases two stories of paintings, sculptures and ceramic works by the artist in addition to photos of him at various points during his life.

Our last stop at Hakone was Sengokuhara Pampas Grass Field. The pampas grass field is located a few steps from Sengoku Kogen (仙石高原) bus stop (served by Hakone Tozan Bus Line T and the Odakyu Bus). The tall grasses here cover the hillside for hundreds of meters, changing color with the seasons and offering stunning views